The Gate of Sorrows by Miyuki Miyabe

Author:Miyuki Miyabe [Miyabe, Miyuki]
Language: eng
Format: epub, azw3
Tags: fiction, Fantasy
ISBN: 9781421592060
Publisher: Haikasoru
Published: 2016-08-16T06:00:00+00:00

Midnight.

For the third time, Kotaro stood on the roof of the tea caddy building.

The night he’d encountered Shigenori here, the freezing wind had cut to the bone. Now the night breeze felt good. It damped the heat in his breast and calmed his burning heart.

The sky looked just as it had that first night. The skyscrapers loomed like vast starships. Looking down he could see the pulsing life of the city, the vibrant lights and pockets of darkness, the haze rising from kitchen vents, filled with the smells of food.

He dropped his backpack next to the hatch and sat on it, arms around his knees. He rested his head there.

Kenji’s disappearance was quite a shock, wasn’t it?

He remembered what Ayuko had said after he’d returned to Kumar.

Men can be surprisingly fragile when things like this happen.

That lovely voice. Those gentle eyes.

Words don’t disappear.

No one can run from the words they leave online.

Be careful, Kotaro. If the real world is stressing you out, deal with your stress in the real world. Okay?

Forgive me, Ayuko, he thought. I have to ignore your advice. In fact, I’m going to do the opposite of what you told me. I can’t handle the world as it is without help from a power that’s real but doesn’t exist. I need that warrior. I need her black wings and the cold light of her crescent blade.

An entity that was real yet didn’t exist had entered Kotaro’s world. Now he was reaching out to her to create a bond that was real—

A puff of air caressed his ear. It was not the wind. It came again stronger, tousling his hair.

He turned around and rose to his feet like a puppet on strings.

The warrior in black stood before him, wings peaked and half-folded, head cocked slightly, arms crossed on her chest. Galla had answered Kotaro’s call; it had been triflingly simple. There she stood, as real and as unreal as a dream. He hadn’t even heard her touch down.

“Speak.”

He took a deep breath. “I want you to hunt someone for me, Galla.”

Maybe I am hallucinating.

Kotaro was dreaming with eyes open. He was stepping off the borderline between dream and reality and was about to plummet into the world of dreams.

Then let it be so.

“You offer me prey? In return for what?”

Her voice resonated deep in his chest. She was scanning him; she had to be sure.

“When two strike a bargain, each must have something of value to offer.” She uncrossed her arms and raised an index finger. The long, sharp nail was as black as her wings. “You summon me to a hunt. Yet you come empty-handed. You would have me act on your behalf.” She wagged her finger lightly, as though admonishing a child. “One does not negotiate in this way.”

Kotaro stood his ground, but he was shivering so violently that the creature before his eyes almost seemed to shimmer.

She answered my call. We’re communicating. I can actually negotiate with this warrior.

“What I’m asking is selfish. I know that as well as you do.

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