by Lynn Francis
Takiyasha-hime nodded. “And now?”
“A herd of deers” Riku answered.
“You ready to begin the march to force a stand after feasting on a head of deer?” Takiyasha-hime asked.
“Do you judge me Takiyasha-hime?”
“I do not judge, I just wonder as to where your head is. You almost died. And then you return with a tattered crew of men, send the Tengu off to report everything he seen and then run off into the forest for a few hours to feed on some deer. It is less judgement and more worry that i have.”
“Would you have prefered I fed off of the Tengu Michiari?”
“YES!” Takiyasha-hime exclaimed. “Of course I do. You would have eliminated a threat to us while improving your strength and keeping yourself out of the woods. Lord Ishikawa thinks you are unstable and I am starting to wonder if he is right.”
“Of course I am unstable!” Riku hissed. “I drink blood to survive. But what I do know is that Michiari allowed us to live. If he had not plucked me out of the sea as if I was fish and he a gull I would be dead right now. Ishikawa for all his worries about my mental stability, would also be dead, and although we came back tattered we only came back at all because of that Tengu!”
“And feelings like that are what are going to get you killed. Misplaced loyalties are not what wins wars.”
“How is that misplaced?!?” Riku erupted. “The Tengu serve me!”
“Reluctantly!” Takiyasha-hime cried. “They want to take over in your place. There are those among the Yokai that do not want a half life in this world but rather to fully inhabit it. And you showing any signs of weakness will encourage their plotting. That tengu may have rescued you but he will repeat to the others what he saw. Even if he didn’t do it maliciously there are plenty among them that will take that as a sign to rise up, to continually push, to find a weakness and exploit it. And now they have seen it. They know you have one.”
“A God’s blood Takiyasha-hime? Do you truly believe that is something that is easily used against me?”
“Once a weakness has been discovered you throw all your energy against it. A concentrated attack will always yield more results than one that is spread out and without focus.”
Chapter 16
Yoshinaka wanted to howl. Go-Shirakawa had been recaptured hours after Yoshitsune crossed the river, forcing Yoshinaka to flee and hold up at Awazu, but other than the arrival of Kanehira and his men to join him in his stand off there had been no more good tidings. The arrival of Kanehira had meant he was able to replace the men he lost at Uji. Given the extra flags fluttering across the field it was not lost on him that Yoshitsune’s ranks had also swelled. Noriyori had arrived to join his forces with Yoshitsune and Yoshinaka was forced to admit that he doubted his own side’s ability to defeat either, let alone both, of his cousins.
“Not without Riku and his witch” he thought. For as much as the failure to capture Yashima and defeat the Taira for good had disturbed him, he was still confident of Riku’s promise and his ability to fulfill it.
Kanehira came in and bowed to his milk brother before speaking. “There is movement. I believe they are getting ready to attack.”
Yoshinaka did not look at him but continued to stare into out onto the field where the flags he could see hadnt moved.
“No one is moving”
“They are split, the others attack from behind. We should also split. It is our only chance to survive, let alone win” Kanehira said.
Yoshinaka felt a dark chill spread across the room.
“Such a bad omen” he said out loud absentmindedly. “This darkness that prevails. It has spread throughout everything. It’s chill has even come to me here, I fear we may never see each other again.”
“Don’t speak like that” Kanehira insisted.
“If we do not see each other again, know that all future battles must be fought on land” Yoshinaka said. “Whenever there is water involved we always lose. We must stay to land and we can take over both the clan and rule Japan.”
“Let us fight here now on land and win then!” Kanehira cried.
Yoshinaka nodded, stood up and left the room and he had the feeling as he left that the dark feeling also lifted as soon as he was back out and striding towards his men.
“A magnificent sign” he thought to himself. “Perhaps it just the fear of indecision that I struggled with.”
Karasu appeared before Inoue and she demanded that he make himself visible to Yoshitsune as well.
“He should hear everything you have to say and see you while you speak.”
Karuso flickered into sight. “I do it because Abe no Tanetadai told me to be of help to both of you, not because you ask of it fox”
“Bring the battle to water” Karuso said. “It would appear that there is a weakness within it.”
Chapter 17
They were on the road to the capital with their men when they were intercepted by a messenger.
Lord Ishikawa accepted the scroll and read it before passing it to Takiyasha-hime.
“What does it say?” Riku asked her.
“Yoshinaka has been killed by Yoshitsune. It would appear that he was losing his fight against them and he wished to commit seppuku. Before he could start Yoshitsune was upon him and removed his head. He died without honor and as a tyrant the scroll says.”
Riku sighed heavily. “And Kanehira?”
“His grief at the loss of his milk brother was intense. He is also dead but at his own hand. Although not by Seppuku. He jumped from his horse with his sword in his mouth.”
“So they are both gone?”
“Yes, and their men mostly destroyed with them.”
“We should have moved sooner” Riku cursed.
“There is more” Lord Ishikawa said. “Keep reading to him Takiyasha-hime.”
“Yoshitsune has been successful in his attack against the Taira on Yashima. The Taira along with emperor Antoku have fled to the Straits of Shimonoseki. Yoshitsune is believed to be finalizing his attack.”
“There is more” Lord Ishikawa growled.
“And our spies write that they believe he intends to turn on us after he defeats the Taira. There has been a traitor among Yoshinaka’s men. They revealed his plan to bring Go Shirakawa to us to Yoshitsune and his brother Yoritomo. They are aware of dark forces at work and they will not allow it to impact Japan” Takiyasha-hime continued.
“We should not be headed towards the capital. We never should have left Kyushu. We could have remained where we were, tried to find a way to control your blood lust Riku, or at the very least allowed you to be blood starved when the Minamoto arrived after destroying the Taira. And although it looks like they will very much have done the destroying of them for us, it will not be at all as we hoped” Lord Ishikawa exploded. “Instead we will have men who want us destroyed too and who will fight your control every step of the way, if they do not find a way to kill you, since it is now obvious that you are able to be killed.”
“I do not fear the Minamoto’s or the Taira” Riku said.
“Then I will fear them for you plenty. For if fate continues the way it has you may well find that even if you do kill them all you will also have lead the rest of us to death. Your victory will be celebrated by the tengu and the tengu alone.”
Takiyasha-hime let out a little gasp and both men turned to her. A part of the scroll that had appeared empty was now glowing.
At the look of shock on both men’s faces she exclaimed “You do not think I would entrust such an important task as spying to someone whom I could not both bind with magic as well as trust their basic competence in getting the most secret of messages out do you? The monk Shinji has joined with Yoshitsune as an advisor. He is accompanied by a woman at all time.”
Lord Ishikawa swore loudly “Shinji and Inoue!”
But Riku felt as if he was free falling within his body.
What was Shinji doing with the Minamoto’s and how did Lord Ishikawa even know who
Shinji was.
Chapter 18
The dragon king watched the girl as she played on the shore and as her mother watched her. There was no evidence in the woman of the strong Ama that she had once been. Now she was skin and bones and she looked like her lungs would explode on her first dive. Her nervous eyes followed the girl. Ryūjin knew that she would rather the little girl never went near the water again. And yet both mother and daughter had the call of the sea in their bones. The mother could no more live without it than she could currently bare to be around it.
“I understand this” Ryūjin thought. He also wished to remain deep in this part of the sea, settled as an older God is not only prone to do but had also earned. He should not have to leave this part of the sea but he was being called to the Straits of Shimonoseki. There his emperor would make his last stand. He wanted to send his daughters as was right. They were younger and still felt the urge to travel, but Rikus had made this personal now. Antoku was his chosen emperor, the one he himself had blessed to be on the throne. Riku had not only dared to overthrow his declared emperor but had defied his wishes and continued to live.
“I can not allow that” Ryūjin said to himself. “To think that living human that harbors not one but two different souls within him!” And it was true, Ryūjin had been nervous about it as soon as he had Riku in the water and had understood his true nature. The demon Sutoku was in there, just as the fox spirit had told his daughters he would be. But she had not told them about the fox energy that also circulated within him. A total of three different soul pieces inhabited Riku’s body, and only one of them was complete and actually belonged there.
“I do not want to know what such a body could do if left unchecked, if allowed to run rampant through the land. What if he made more of his kind? The balances of nature would be upended.”
Ryūjin once again examined the young girl playing on the shore, in a body that belonged to her even if it was not meant for her.
“I do not know what your piece in all of this is, but I feel it vividly. There is something about you that sings you are the missing piece. I will summon my daughter to come for you and to bring you.”
And with that the serpent sank beneath the sea to head towards his temple on Itsukushima.
On the shore Suki caught a glimpse of scales and a long snake like body shimmer briefly before disappearing down into the depths of the sea. She let out a moan before standing up and calling her child to her and hurrying back to her home.
She was asleep when the toddler woke up believing that mermaids were singing to her. Her mother had always warned her of their lust for legs and to avoid them at all costs. In fact, her mother warned her of all kinds of dreadful things about the sea. And yet life came from the sea. The ami dove deep and all of their honor came from the ocean. More importantly, even her mother herself could not ignore the call of the sea for long. Why else did they go to the shore so often, her mother allowing her to collect shells as long as she did not get too close to the waterline. Anywhere the water would actually touch was forbidden, but still her mother would sit above it.
Tan knew that it had not always been that way. She listened to the ami talk about her mother, how she used to be brave and now she wasn’t. The why for this she had yet to learn, her mother would often shush her, remove her, make her move along. Her mother no longer wanted to be associated with the ami and so they remained only on the periphery of Tan’s life. They did not even know Tan’s secret name. That Tan would keep secret. She had promised her mother and it was very very important.
But to ignore this mermaid song, that was a harder promise to keep. No one even questioned her as to if she could possibly have another name. This drove home the importance of the secrecy to Tan. If no one ever spoke of it it must be the most important secret thing in the world.
But the mermaids, this could be like the beach and the water. Worthy of caution but not worthy of ignoring completely.
Tan slipped from under her blanket and stood up. She watched her mother sleeping on the floor before she slipped her shoes on and made her way down to the water’s edge where the mermaid waited for her just out from the shore.
“Come with me little one” the mermaid called, Tan could see her shining scales. They seemed to stretch on forever.
“Haha has refused to allow me to talk to you” Tan replied. “I am not allowed to go with you.”
The mermaid smiled “aaaaaaa but if your mother told you not to come, why are you here. Surely you can still come with me then. You are a good little girl, and would not do anything to terrible upset your mother.”
Tan thought about this a little more. She did so love the way the waves rolled up against the shore.
“I will keep you safe” the mermaid promised.
“It is true” Tan said to her. “Haha hates the idea of me not being safe. That is why I am not to come to the water.”
The mermaid came closer and held out her hand to Tan.
“I promise I will keep you as safe as I possibly can.”
And Tan smiled and stretched out her little hand.
She never heard her mother screaming at her to stop.
Chapter 19
Lord Ishikawa and Riku stared down at the boats that were clashing against each other in the straits below.
Yoshitsune no Minamoto and the men he had brought to fight for his brother’s right to take control over Japan were losing. It was obvious that the Taira were the better sailors and were maneuvering their boats with far more deftness and skill. The Minamoto appeared to be struggling with the tides while the Taira seemed to almost control them.
Although she stood near the men, Takiyasha-hime was not watching the battle below but rather had her eyes closed and was chanting. Suddenly they snapped open.
“Ryūjin is below. He is not alone. His daughters are helping him. That is why the Taira appear to be able to control the tides. It is Ryujin and Netsuke that are doing the mainupulating.”
Riku heard her but his brain barely processed what she had said. He was desperately seeking out if he could find Shinji among those below, although even with his heightened sense he was unable to find him.
“What about the Tengu?” Lord Ishikawa asked.
“They will come. I believe this. But as always they will arrive when they feel they are needed. I have no doubt they are watching even now” Riku replied. He did not say that he had passed on the information that if they were to find a monk they were not to kill him but to bring him straight to Riku, whatever the circumstances were.
“What do you plan to do” Takiyasha-hime said. “Last time you lasted less than a minute against the Dragon God.”
Riku nodded. “I do not intend to enter the water. I will fight against those who return to land, not those who are warring on the water.”
“And when you plan to cross back over to Honshu? Do you really think Ryūjin will allow you to pass?”
“That is why you are to live and stay here, to determine when Ryūjin leaves and it will be safe for me to cross” Riku said.
He turned to Lord Ishikawa and nodded, lets descend and ensure no Taira sets foot on shore and remains alive.”
Inoue hated water, but as a fox spirit she thrived on deception.
“You don’t have to look like Netsuke, you just have to have them believe you are her” Shinji had said.
And that much was true. The Taira had no idea what the yokai they worshipped as ancestors and guardians actually looked like. Laying title to one was not difficult for her.
