Free Shadows of Moth by Daniel Arenson

be rid of your prattling."
    "And soon after you would
die of hunger." He shook his head sadly. "You are foolish.
You are rash and angry. Slay the animal. Prove yourself strong and I
will train you. Otherwise turn and leave. I have no patience for
fools."
    Madori grumbled. "And I
have no patience for cruel masters, Lan Tao. That is your name, is it
not?" She spat at his feet. "I had a cruel master at Teel
University. One was enough."
    The old hermit smiled thinly.
"Did that cruel sunlit master teach you to fight with magic?
Perhaps he saved your life. If not for him, that wolf would now be
digesting your flesh. Perhaps a cruel master is exactly what you
need, for a great wolf of sunfire rises in the west. Yes, I have seen
it, even from here—a great light mustering along the dusk. If you
show the enemies any mercy, as you've shown your adversary here, they
will cut through you and all those you love." He stepped closer,
and his eyes narrowed. "Now kill the wolf."
    She shook her head and sheathed
her sword. "No. If I kill without reason, I'm no different from
the sunlit demons. You cannot fight a monster by becoming one
yourself. If you do, you've already lost. Salai of Oshy, my
grandfather, was a noble man. He would scoff at your words." She
turned to leave.
    His voice rose behind her. "Did
you know your grandfather, child?"
    She froze. She looked over her
shoulder back at Lan Tao. "I heard tales of his great deeds."
    "Tales turn killers into
heroes. Tales turn monsters into men of valor. Legendary men were
rarely honorable; the poets of later generations ennobled them."
Lan Tao nodded. "You bear his sword, Sheytusung. A sword I
taught him to wield. A sword he slew many with. How many widows did
your grandfather create, how many orphans? How many did your own
mother slay with this blade? Most were not murderers, not criminals,
not bloodthirsty beasts. They were boys and girls like you, caught in
a war. They were souls like that wolf, simply hungry and lost,
seeking a meal or a coin. And your grandfather killed them. He killed
dozens of them. He did not let his morals get in the way. He did not
pause to ponder the nature of life or death. He slew his enemy
because that is all the world is, child. Enemies to slay. You kill or
you are killed. That is all."
    "The world is not black and
white!" she insisted.
    He nodded. "The world is
infinite shades of gray. But not to a soldier. Not to a soldier who
wants to survive. In war, a soldier must see the world in black and
white, must destroy his or her enemy. We leave philosophy to the
philosophers. We soldiers deal in steel."
    With that, he drew his own
steel. His katana arched down toward her. Madori parried. The two
blades clanged together.
    "You are slow," said
Lan Tao. "I could have slain you a dozen times by the time you
parried."
    She summoned her magic. She
chose his sword and began to heat the hilt. He replied by slamming
the flat of his blade against her cheek, and she yowled in pain.
    "Magic is slow." He
slapped her again, a blow to her arm. "A blade is fast as
lightning, sharper than a dragon's claws, and as elegant as a
nighthawk across the moon."
    Her wolf growled and leaped
forward, placing himself between Madori and Lan Tao. The animal's fur
bristled, and he bared his fangs at the old man, protecting Madori,
shielding her with his body.
    Madori stared over the wolf at
Lan Tao. "I won't kill my nightwolf. He is mine now. I showed
him mercy and I earned his loyalty. Now he defends me." She
smiled crookedly. "You call my mercy weak, but it just saved me
from another swipe of your blade. Perhaps I have a thing or two to
teach you as well."
    The old man stared at the
nightwolf, then back at her. He nodded. "I will let you keep
this companion, but I will not let you keep your pride. If you stay
here, I will break you. I will shatter your impudent soul until, like
the wolf you tamed, you are subservient. You will surrender your will
to me . . . and I will forge your soul into