Poison and Opium, book 1
Date Published: 03-26-2025
Publisher: Shadow Spark Publishing
Daisuke’s heart has always wandered far from home, hoping for a life beyond what he’d have as a Northern Nomad raised in slavery. One evening, when he learns the Giahatio’s imperial military has arrived in search of recruits, he seizes his chance to flee Okara’s plantations and start anew. However, becoming a footsoldier isn’t the easy escape he expected, and he soon finds himself struggling for a place within the infantry and Giahatian society.
Obito knows he should be grateful for the opportunity to serve as one of the Empire’s elite intelligence operatives, the onmitsu—it’s one of few he’ll ever have in life, and the highest possible honor for a nobleman’s youngest son. But with demons of anger and shame haunting him as he tries to pick up the pieces in the aftermath of a scandal, any pride to take in rank or family name is entirely hollow.
When an act of mercy is born from a senseless murder, the already unlikely friendship between Daisuke and Obito takes an unexpected turn. Not only are they now partnered together as onmitsu, but dark politics are on the rise, leading them toward an ancient, furious magic.
After a while of aimlessly wandering,
Daisuke found himself on the ringside of an enchanting acrobatic performance.
They flipped, stretched, and bent their bodies in seemingly impossible ways on
the tatami mats they’d put down to prevent their performers from freezing. They
wore all-black clothing with bone-white masks covering their faces, symbolizing
the dance of balance between dark and light, the small space of existence in
which Hikari could grant human life. Drums and flutes played, synchronizing everything
to a beat, as their matron stood near the tent with a commanding presence,
dressed in a kimono and mask to match her performers with another woman in a
pale blue kimono at her side. He marveled at the challenging work one had to
put themselves through to achieve such mastery of movement and balance. When
the show finished, Daisuke instantly dug around in his cloak for whatever coins
he had—primarily coppers, typical for someone still in basic training—and
dropped a few of them into a large, glazed ceramic teal bowl on a small
platform near their tent. Alerted by the clinking sound of coins in their
collection pot, the matron winked at him from under her mask, followed by a
giggle from her companion, before both women turned away again.
His vision went black when he stepped
back to see if they’d planned an encore.
“There you are, little silk-spinner.”
Junpei. What other fuck would bother? The
woolen cloth itched at Daisuke’s eyes and any skin it touched. He heard
Junpei’s lackeys snicker and jeer indistinguishably and could feel the rest of
them closing in as the bulkier boy forced him to hold still.
“What the fuck do you want?” Daisuke
grumbled, uselessly attempting to turn his head to glare.
“It’s festival night—we’re just looking
to have some fun, aren’t we?” Another round of obnoxious taunts agreed with
Junpei’s statement. Someone grabbed Daisuke by the arms; he felt their breath
on his face. Quite unfortunately, he could smell it, too. It was like having
his head dunked into a tankard of ale.
Great. Fucking great. Who the hell was
stupid enough to buy alcohol for these morons, anyway? Daisuke mentally whined as he
simultaneously tried to decide which god he’d pissed off most recently. Junpei
was the eldest of the bunch, but being his senior by two years meant he was
still too young to drink. He wriggled in another bid to free himself, at the
very least hoping to get away from the worst-smelling of the lot, but to no
avail.
“What in Kuro’s Hells do you think you’re
doing?” an unfamiliar boy’s voice cut in; Daisuke’s shoulders forcibly jerked
back when Junpei startled at being reprimanded. “Basic infantry? Who’s your
commanding officer?”
Junpei tried stuttering out a response,
but quickly abandoned the endeavor and shoved his blindfolded victim forward.
Daisuke stumbled as he heard the idiots scrambling to get out of sight, which
was probably the most brilliant thing they’d done all night. If someone
reported them for misbehavior, General Aki would likely revoke his decision to
promote any of them whether or not they passed their second evaluations. Just
as he didn’t tolerate Daisuke’s smart mouth, he refused to put up with anything
he viewed as disrespectful nonsense between his soldiers. He stuck his thumbs
under the cloth to get it off his face.
“Did they hurt you?” the boy asked as he
helped peel the makeshift blindfold away from covering his eyes, which he
immediately scrubbed with his hands to relieve the irritation.
“No, I’m fine. I—” A strange, unexpected
heat bloomed in Daisuke’s cheeks when he could finally see who came to his
rescue, immediately entranced by deep green eyes illuminated by the overhead
light of dangling paper lanterns. He cleared his throat and awkwardly took back
the scarf when offered. “I’m fine. Thank you for helping.”
“That’s…good.” The other boy looked a
little taken aback, too, though Daisuke couldn’t imagine why. He, however,
recovered more quickly and smoothly, aided by yet another soldier coming to his
rescue; they must’ve been from a patrol unit in the regular infantry.
“The fireworks are about to go off,” the
newcomer said with a radiant, genuine smile. “Let’s go find a good spot.”
The first boy looked unimaginably
unimpressed at the suggestion, but didn’t have much time to protest before his
companion grabbed him by the sleeve and dragged him away. Laughing, Daisuke
waved at them as they disappeared into the crowds again.
He didn’t fully realize the faint smile
still tugging at his lips when a loud boom and crackle sounded from the skies,
casting a pink light over the crowded streets as he nearly jumped out of his
skin. He searched for the source as a high-pitched whistle filled his ears,
which he traced to the sky as another burst of color exploded above him, the
green peony glittering in midair for seconds before the sparkles faded into
blackness again. However small, the act of kindness still warmed his heart, as
did the bliss of an otherwise enjoyable day, so he decided to bask in it while
it lasted as he watched the fireworks in peace.
About the Author
She can be found on BlueSky and Instagram @5FeetofRedFury, ready to nerd out.
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