Archive Stories/Saga of the Redcrane

**Saga of the Redcrane** is a story from The Archives, revealed piece-by-piece across several Tomes.

This page intends to collect all parts of this story in a single place.

## Summary

In a strange city adorned with glowing, massive vines and flowers, Saku and her horse Maurice found themselves amidst an unsettling atmosphere. As they tried to navigate through the city, Saku was attacked by the aggressive vines and Maurice was dragged away by them. As she attempted to save him, an undead army emerged from a living fog, wearing armor she faintly remembered. To keep the army away from Maurice, Saku fled towards a mountain. Upon her ascent, she deduced she had been ensnared in a trap set by the Black Serpent Clan, her old enemies who used the fog and her memories against her. Reaching a dead end atop the mountain and surrounded by a vast chasm, Saku prepared herself for a final confrontation with the undead army, hoping she had given Maurice a chance to escape and continue their mission against the Black Serpent Clan.

## Story

### Through the Garden of Doom

This part of the **Saga of the Redcrane** was revealed in Tome 15 - Ascension.

#### Part 1

*Riding at a gallop through pools of moonlight and shadow, Saku ordered Maurice to slow down as they entered a strange city overgrown with giant vines and huge, glowing flowers. Carefully, Maurice picked his way through the narrow streets and only halted when Saku tugged on his mane. With a grim expression, she searched the buildings for signs of an ambush but didn’t spot anything. She was about to order Maurice to move on when she heard a strange blend of whispers and sounds coming from the fog. Sounds she couldn’t quite make out but somehow recognized from her childhood.*

*What strange realm had they happened upon?*

*What were these giant vines?*

*What were these strange sounds?*

*She didn’t know. She couldn’t know. The nightmare was beyond words, beyond reason, beyond comprehension, and she had stopped trying to understand what could not be understood long ago.*

*Maurice neighed, and she understood him. “I don’t like this place,” he said. “Let’s get out of here.” This, too, she didn’t try to understand but was grateful to have a friend she could communicate with even if he was a horse.*

*Saku nodded and pointed to a mountain range just beyond the city realm. “We’ll find refuge in the hills. Let’s—”*

*A sudden explosion interrupted her. Bulbous flowers suddenly burst into clouds of shimmering mist as a massive vine struck her so hard her teeth rattled! Then—from the shadows—another smashing, thundering vine thrust her off Maurice!*

*Instinctively, she reeled to her feet as countless vines attacked her from every direction. With a high-pitched ring, she withdrew her katana, spun, thrust and sliced away. And just as she sliced the very last vine, she heard a desperate whinny.*

*Saku turned to see vines dragging Maurice into a dark alley, his hoofs desperately chopping air, his head thrusting back and forth to break free.*

*With a great sense of urgency, Saku bolted after Maurice but stopped suddenly when she heard another strange noise. From behind her came the march of feet and the clang of metal.*

*Saku turned slowly to register a mass of fog advancing on her as though it were alive. And then, from the swirling, mass of fog came undead warriors clad in Armor she vaguely recognized. And not wanting to lead this undead army to Maurice, she charged toward the mountain silhouetted by the moon.*

#### Part 2

*Charging up the jagged mountain trail, Saku searched for a cave or crevice to hide from the undead army. Now she was certain that she had somehow been lured into a trap created by the Black Serpent Clan who could manipulate the fog and use her memories against her. She had hunted down and executed most of the clan members back home, and she had followed the remaining cowards into this living nightmare that had trapped them all.*

*With a rasping breath, Saku halted when she reached a bottomless chasm.*

*The end of the trail.*

*Nowhere to run.*

*Nowhere to hide.*

*Gathering herself, she stared long and hard into the endless darkness below. There were too many soldiers to contend with. She would likely die here.*

*At least she had given Maurice a fighting chance by diverting the army from him. She hoped he had found a way out of his entanglement and that he would continue to hunt down the Black Serpents in her absence. Then, taking a deep breath, Saku closed her eyes and visualised the battle to come as she prepared for the inevitable.*