Free The Wind and the Void by Ryan Kirk

noticed there were some curious eyes peeping out from windows and doors. She had hoped to get through the evening without being seen, but a battle in the public square wasn’t the way to make that happen.
    Refocusing her attention, Moriko jumped two steps back, putting some space between her and her opponent. She didn't use the space to rest, but to launch her own attack, coming in with cuts as quick as she could make them.
    If it had been a contest of skill, Moriko wasn't sure she would've won. The hunter was excellent, and maybe even a hair faster than Moriko was. But the difference lay in their ability to sense their opponent. Moriko’s sense worked against the hunter, and she knew where the hunter’s cuts were going to be a moment before they happened. Moriko, with her ability to hide her intent and her strikes, may have been a little slower, but the hunter was reacting on sight alone, and a mistake was inevitable.
    In two more passes it happened. The hunter tried to strike at Moriko, not sensing Moriko’s own cut. Moriko cut a blood vessel in the hunter’s leg, and although the hunter still stood, she was losing too much blood to live much longer. Her return to the Great Cycle was inevitable. Moriko watched the hunter’s last moments carefully. A part of her wanted to ensure the hunter died without hurting anyone else, but another part of her was curious if impending death would change the hunter’s mind. Perhaps, as the end neared, the hunter would have some revelation, some change of heart towards the terror she had committed.
    Moriko was sorely disappointed. The hunter glared at her and spat blood, even as she struggled to stay on her feet. She spoke loudly in the Azarian tongue, and although Moriko didn't know what she said, she was certain she was being cursed. It was, she reflected, a horrible way to spend one’s last few moments. And then it was over.
    Moriko looked around at the devastation. She had stopped the hunters. But they had already caused an incredible amount of damage, not just to this village, but to many of the villages in the area. Moriko shook her head. She still felt like somehow she was losing.
    Since she had already been seen, Moriko went from house to house, checking to make sure people were okay and seeing if there were any injuries she could treat. By the time the sun rose, Moriko was tired enough to be a walking corpse, and gratefully accepted an offer of shelter for the day. She fell asleep and felt no more.

 
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 5
     
    Ryuu's journey to the west became more curious every day. The old man had been interesting enough, and although Ryuu believed him, a part of Ryuu doubted how serious the situation had become. However, every day he traveled farther west and south it became more apparent to him the old man had not been exaggerating. If anything, he had understated the severity of the problem.
    For three days after the meeting on the road Ryuu traveled in peace. The days were cold, but the sky was cloudless and the bright sun warmed Ryuu as he covered the leagues to the hut he had grown up in. There were few travelers on the road, and those he did encounter seemed to be going about their business as usual.
    On the fourth day, the atmosphere on the road changed. It started in midmorning, as Ryuu was approaching a small village he had sometimes passed through growing up. He was three or four days of travel away from the hut, and the village had been one he and Shigeru had visited on occasion in the guise of wandering healers. They had not visited often, for it was a small village, with few goods to trade. But Shigeru had not liked to appear in the same village twice in a row, and this village was one he occasionally visited to break up the trips to the others.
    Ryuu was only a league away when he encountered a large group of people walking towards him. He stopped and stood aside as they approached and began to pass. Even though it had been cycles since he had