The Hidden Path

 The village was unusually quiet.
Shinju walked behind the princess and her two guards, one hand resting on the hilt of his sword.

Every step sent a dull pain through his body. His wounds were still fresh. But he refused to stop.

Rin glanced back at him.
“Are you sure you don’t want to rest for another hour?”

“I’ve rested enough.”

“You almost collapsed when you stood up.”

“I didn’t.”

“You nearly did.”

Shinju looked at her.

She smiled faintly.
“You’re stubborn.”

“So I’ve been told.”

Seren walked ahead of them, keeping watch, while Valko stayed close to the princess. Neither had lowered his guard around Shinju.

Shinju couldn’t blame them. He was a stranger who had appeared out of nowhere, carrying a legendary sword and claiming to be hunting the man who had conquered their kingdom.

Trust wasn’t something he expected them to give easily.

They eventually reached the edge of the village, where a thick wall of trees stood before them.

The princess stopped.
“This is it.”

Shinju looked around. “There isn’t anything here.”

“That’s the point.” She walked toward an old tree with a wide trunk and brushed her fingers against its bark.

“I remember coming here with my father when I was little.” Rin closed her eyes. “I thought we were playing a game.”

A small smile crossed her face.
“He told me that every kingdom needed a secret way out.”

The smile disappeared. “I didn’t understand why back then.”

She pressed her hand against a section of the trunk.

Click.

Something moved beneath the ground, and the earth trembled. A section of the ground slowly sank, revealing a narrow stone staircase that descended into darkness.
The guards immediately stepped forward.

“So it really was here,” Valko murmured.

Shinju looked down the stairs.
“Your father was a clever man.”

The princess nodded. “He told me never to reveal this place to anyone.”

She turned to Shinju.
“But if we’re going to take back the kingdom…” Her voice became firm.
“We need to use it.”

Shinju stepped toward the stairs. “Then let’s go.”

The passage was dark. Only the small lantern carried by Seren lit their way.
Water dripped from the stone walls, and their footsteps echoed through the tunnel.

For several minutes, nobody spoke.

Then Valko broke the silence.
“Samurai.”

Shinju looked back. “What?”

“Tell us the real reason you’re hunting Akaza.” Valko hesitated. “Why?”

Shinju’s eyes remained fixed on the path ahead. “My mission is plain and simple.”

He slowly rested his hand on his blade.
“To unearth the Six Cursed Blades and take down their wielders before they can wreak havoc upon the world.”

He paused.

“Five wielders have already fallen. Only one remains.”

The tunnel grew quieter. “The strongest of the six.”

Shinju’s expression hardened. 

“Akaza.”

Valko scoffed.

“But you’ve already gone toe-to-toe with the other five. You defeated every one of them. You could handle Akaza, right?”

Shinju looked at him. “You’re assuming that defeating the five wielders was a victory.”

Valko frowned. “Wasn’t it?”

“No.” Shinju’s answer was immediate. 

“It was a double-edged sword.” The tunnel fell silent again.

Shinju’s voice echoed off the stone.
“Under normal circumstances, the Six Cursed Blades are already dangerous enough on their own. But if their wielders ever united, their combined power would be enough to tear this world apart.”

He shook his head slowly. “But there was something we didn’t know.”

Valko leaned forward.
“What?”

“When a wielder falls, his blade doesn’t simply disappear.” Shinju’s eyes darkened. 

“The curse seeks another vessel. And with five wielders dead…” He let the words hang for a moment.

“All five blades were drawn to the only remaining wielder.”

Valko’s voice dropped. “Akaza…”

“Yes.”

Shinju clenched his fist. “Every blade I destroyed eventually found its way to him. Every curse. Every power.”

His gaze turned distant.
“They all became his.”

Seren stared at him in disbelief. “Then what exactly is he carrying now?”

Shinju’s expression became grim.
“A power capable of bringing ruin to the world."

They all stared at him, tension mounting after what they had just heard.

Valko swallowed hard. “But you defeated five of them. Surely that means you’ve already proven you can defeat him.”

Shinju shook his head. “No.”

His voice was calm. “But it does mean I know exactly what I’m walking into.”

Valko lowered his head. “So what are you going to do?”

Shinju turned toward the darkness ahead.
“What I came here to do.”

He paused.

“I’ll bring Akaza down, and I’ll destroy the Six Cursed Blades for good.”
“No matter what it costs.”

Silence returned.

The princess looked at his back.

There was something strange about him. He spoke about death as though it were an ordinary part of his journey.
But she could sense something else, too.

Loneliness.

As if he had been walking this road alone for a very long time.

“Shinju.”

He stopped.

It was the first time she had said his name.

He turned.

“How did you defeat the five cursed-blade wielders?” she asked.

Shinju looked down at his sword.
“Because I have this, Kokuten.”

The princess stared at the black blade.

“Kokuten,” she said quietly. “Black Heaven.”

Her eyes widened.

Shinju studied her.
“You know it?”

“My father told me stories about it.”

She kept her eyes on the blade.
“Kokuten, the sword born from Heaven itself. The first and only warrior to wield it defeated the demon bound to the Cursed Blades, the one with six hands, before it could destroy the world. During that ancient battle, the warrior’s immense power split the world apart and created the separate lands and nations we know today.”

Shinju’s expression became serious. “Then you know why Akaza must be stopped.”

She nodded.
“The sword created by Heaven to oppose the Cursed Blades.”

Shinju slowly drew Kokuten from its sheath. The blade reflected the faint lantern light. “Normally, it’s just a sword.”

The princess frowned. “Just a sword?”

“A powerful one.” He sheathed it again.

“But when it faces one of the Six Cursed Blades…”

For a moment, something seemed to stir within the sword. ”

The princess stared at him.“What happens?”

Shinju looked ahead. “I don’t know.”

The answer surprised her. “You don’t know?”

“I’ve never understood it completely.”

He continued walking. “But I know one thing.”

His voice became colder. “When Kokuten recognizes one of those blades…”

He glanced at his blade. “It responds, at a cost.”