The Sword of Kaigen

by M.L. Wang

Despite his power, he did not wish to rule through fear. ‘I am the blood of gods,’ he said to the assembled crowd, ‘as are all of you. The moon and ocean fear no change.’

“I wish I could explain it—My brother was my shelter in all things. His death left me shaken, flayed, like nerve and muscle exposed to the air.”

Flayed and boneless, he faced the creature he had awakened, this woman of gods’ blood and fury. Her face was flushed, strands of hair flying free of her bun, as she swept her glass sword through what remained of the dragon. Then she came at him, black eyes gleaming as bright and sharp as the obsidian. So many years, he had avoided touching this porcelain doll he had been given for fear of breaking her. He hadn’t wanted to see this beautiful, strange woman crumble the way his mother had. Somehow, he had broken her anyway, but she hadn’t broken quietly like porcelain. She had broken like black glass and ice—jagged and more dangerous than ever.