THE LAST KEEPER

Chapter 345: 345. KEEPER IN TROUBLE

It took Koru two days to find him. Two days of following disturbed dunes, shattered rock formations, and traces of power to finally find Sagiri.

When he finally reached the cave, Sagiri was curled against the stone, groaning in pain. He was breathing hard, and his fingers had long ago worn through the skin. Blood stained the rocks around him. The markings beneath his flesh still writhed. Every few moments, his body would spasm violently as another wave of pain tore through him.

Koru said nothing, and Zaria did not stop him when he approached Sagiri. She was a smart beast, and she knew he was not their enemy. Even so, the beast whimpered silently. It must have been agonizing for it to watch its master suffer with no means to help. Koru simply knelt beside him and drove two fingers into a point beneath Sagiri’s collarbone. Then another beneath his shoulder. Then his neck. Then his wrist. Ancient, precise strikes.

A secret art.

It could not stop the pain, but it could make it bearable. Or so he hoped

"You look half dead." Koru mattered

Sagiri’s body immediately relaxed. Not much. Barely enough to notice. But the tension in his muscles eased. The pain lessened, but it did not disappear. It was going on for months, if not weeks, for the pain to lessen.

Nothing could do that now. For several minutes, neither spoke. Only the wind outside and Sagiri’s ragged breathing filled the cave. Finally, Koru broke the silence.

"What is the price?" Was the first thing Koru asked. The man was perhaps regretting accepting imprisonment. Was he too late? Sagiri didn’t answer as he continued to pant weakly. Koru’s eyes narrowed. "Your body cannot handle this much longer." Sagiri laughed weakly. There was no humor in it.

"It is none of your business. This is my fate." Sagiri snapped, and Koru’s expression hardened. He was not in the mood to explain his cursed fate.

"What is the price? Tell me. You are now completely one with the echo. Its heart is mingled with yours. That happened overnight, plus the relics. I’m not your stupid sandshade. So tell me what the price is." The question carried more force this time. More authority.

Sagiri remained silent for several heartbeats. Then his eyes opened. The crimson glow within them seemed dimmer now. Tired. He was tired of being in constant pain for two days. The pain was far worse than the eardrop poison. It was pain that could have killed him, yet I had not let him escape it even for a moment.

"Long enough." His voice was hoarse. "...Long enough to balance the scales of the North," Sagiri said with a steady voice this time. The cave fell silent. Koru stared at him.

"The relics cannot stay in the North," Koru argued.

Sagiri did not answer this, and Koru continued.

"Their hearts are in the South." Koru’s voice remained calm. "You should have known you could not leave the South." Another silence stretched between them. Then Sagiri slowly turned his head toward the cave entrance, where the desert stretched endlessly beyond.

"Yet some things cannot be forgiven." The words hung in the air. Koru did not immediately answer. He simply watched the young man before him. The son who was quite literally breaking himself apart. The Keeper. The Last N’folu. A fool. And perhaps the only man stubborn enough to challenge an entire continent while dying.

"I do not expect you to forgive. I have not forgiven either, but taking revenge at the cost of..."

"So then you agree." Sagiri cut him off

Koru studied him for a long moment before speaking again.

"Why?" Koru asked, sitting on the stone in a meditative position. Sagiri didn’t look at him.

"Why what?" He said in a raspy voice. The pain was now manageable. Well, it was still bad, but compared to what he had already experienced, this was nothing.

"Why become Supreme Chief?" Koru asked. The question lingered between them. Sagiri remained silent for several breaths before answering.

"Because I needed the title. I am hungry for power, and what better position than standing at the top? Perhaps I am tired of people in power wanting to kill me," Sagiri answered with dry humour.

Koru’s brow furrowed.

"You know you are lying. You have never cared about being in power. Don’t play games with me. Taking this position will only make your path harder. So why, and for what?"

"To further my means." The answer was immediate. "... besides, I won’t be sitting on that throne for long." Koru’s expression darkened.

"You think the South cares about your intentions?" Sagiri said nothing. "You forced an entire city to acknowledge you." Koru’s voice became sharper. "You forced the council to kneel. You took the position of Supreme Chief." He leaned forward slightly. "Do you know what happens now?" Sagiri finally looked at him.

"Three months." Koru nodded. "Maximum." The old Sandshade pointed at him. "Within three months, every chief, elder, and tribe in the South will expect you to assume the seat properly." His voice echoed softly through the cave. "And you cannot." Sagiri’s jaw tightened.

"I know that."

"Do you also know that if you sit on that throne now, you die?" The words were blunt. Sagiri sighed. What could the man say that Sagiri was not already aware of?

"You need six months." Koru continued. "Minimum. Six months of meditation. Six months of seclusion. Six months of doing absolutely nothing except learning to survive what is already inside you." His eyes moved over the markings beneath Sagiri’s skin.

"The relics are barely stable. The Archive is still expanding. Your body is falling apart." The cave grew quiet once more. Then Koru asked the question he already knew the answer to.

"And yet you intend to leave for the North before those three months are over." Sagiri’s gaze drifted toward the desert beyond the cave entrance.

"Yes. Sagiri said," Koru closed his eyes briefly. It wasn’t anger. It wasn’t disappointment. It was exhaustion.

"You truly are your mother’s son." Sagiri laughed weakly despite the pain. The movement immediately made him wince.

"That bad?" Koru opened his eyes.

"Worse." Then the old man folded his arms and stared at him. "The difference is that your mother usually had a plan." Sagiri remained silent. Koru’s expression hardened.

"Tell me you have one too." Koru insisted.

"You need to have a plan that is not self-sacrificial or one that does not involve you dying. I ask that you do not go north before six months have elapsed. You will only be committing suicide." Koru answered himself after a while.

Koru looked at the boy again, and he was already asleep. Perhaps passed out.