by Ree Soesbee
The Dragon quietly ordered her retainers to remain at rest. "My lord," she spoke clearly but with a rough rasp in her voice. "There is no style that can master the Mirumoto Niten. It is the sovereign strike of the matched blades, parallel to the sword of the soul."
Yoshi paused to watch as Toshimoko and Kitsu Motso squared their shoulders, preparing for the first blow.
"Lion fights Crane. Don't you think that's more interesting than discussing the Dragon technique?" As she spoke, Hitomi moved behind her banner and pulled her sleeve down over the joint of her thumb.
Yoshi affected not to notice the glint of stone. "Not at all. The Dragon, like the Crab, fight with strength and power. The Crane fight with skill. One sword, one stroke, and no more."
Hitomi grunted savagely, "The Crab fight with cowardice."
"I'm certain Kisada-sama would disagree," Yoshi said cheerfully, deliberately baiting her.
The samurai-ko spun on her heel, nearly reaching for Yoshi's tunic. Her hand stopped only inches from Yoshi's chest, trembling, and spun into an obsidian fist.
The Kakita never moved, but simply smiled.
"Kisada," She hissed, slowly withdrawing her hand. "Can die along with his coward son."
"I don't see how that can happen, Hitomi, if you are here and they are at Beiden Pass."
Almost snarling, she responded, "The Crab have retreated from Beiden Pass, only five days ago. Yakamo's army of Shadowlands filth was not enough to defeat the army of the Dragon. But this," she tore away her sleeve and held out the stone hand. It was grafted to her flesh like a thing alive, creeping over her forearm with long tendrils of black, glossy stone. "This the Crab took from me. I will take more from them when I see them again."
"Where will you see them, Hitomi-san?" Yoshi whispered, hoping her anger was enough to spin the tale.
"When they are done with you, Crane. 1 will destroy them when they are done with you."
A chill struck Yoshi's spine, the like of which he had never before felt. Suddenly, for all his courage and mastery of the political empire, he felt deeply and totally afraid.
"The Crab march on Kyuden Doji, Crane, to restock supplies and heal the wounded that our blades have given them, l .ven your foremost scouts will not catch Yakamo's men. But with this," she flexed the obsidian hand, and veins of stone shifted within the obsidian, "I will destroy them."
Remembering his duty, though his heart failed in his chest, Yoshi asked one final question. "How do they travel, that the Daidoji cannot see them pass?"
"They travel with demonic oni, creatures of fire and acid, with claws of iron and teeth that break katana—and Cranes." She cursed. "The very ground moves for their passage." Lifting her sword to her obi, she bowed curtly.
On the battlefield, Toshimoko's blade sliced open Kitsu Motso's tunic from side to side, leaving the golden fabric twisting in the breeze. Not a mark showed on the Lion's chest.
The crowd broke into wondering applause.
Hitomi stepped onto the field without being called. A cold breeze followed her. On the far side of the courtyard, a panting Toshimoko slowly raised his blade.
As one, the duelists bowed gracefully to the emperor's balcony. Yoshi glanced up at the high pillared area, seeing only Aramoro's shadow as he stood on the ground beneath the mahogany rail. True to his word, the Bayushi guard would never leave her side.
The two samurai bowed to one another, turning toward the center of the courtyard as if pulled by a single cord. Their eyes met, the old sensei and the young daimyo. They paused in the center of the motion, respectfully saluting both the samurai and their house.
On the dais, two heads bowed to each other, the black and the white, moving slowly together behind a wooden fan.
The courtyard grew silent and still, awaiting the stroke of a single sword, the master's attack of iaijutsu.
Yoshi listened to the stillness, hearing each whisper of silk, each shifting slipper and tinkle of ivory charms.
Toshimoko was a silent statue, his gray braid moving quietly in the breeze like the tail of some great, chained cat. Opposite him, Hitomi's hand gleamed in the sunlight, as cold as ice and as devoid of soul.
At last, a bird fluttered between them in dreamy slowness. The samurai moved. With ringing whispers, two swords slid free of their sheaths. Only one sword struck.
Twisting free from her stone hand, half of Hitomi's katana clattered uselessly to the ground. She was pushed bodily backward by the force of the strike.
Sliding effortlessly down the shattered katana, Toshi-moko's blade rang against Hitomi's obsidian hand. The sword leapt up to point at the hollow of her throat.
For a moment, frozen in time, Yoshi looked up at the faintly concealed dais above the mesmerized court. The two heads behind the fan parted, their lips opening in faint smiles. His heart fell to the ground in fear. Hitomi's words rang once more in his mind. Parallel to the sword of the soul....
Hitomi's face, contorted with rage, shone up from where she lay upon the ground. Above her, Toshimoko removed his blade from her neck. Stepping back into the shadow of the courtyard, he raised the steel katana in front of his face in salute to the valor of the fallen.
a daidoh's will
The wide field should have been empty. Instead, it was filled with soft movement. Tents rustled. Horses stamped in broad swaths of grass. The Lion encampment seemed peaceful enough from afar, but within the orange tents, murderers rested.
These Lion—their helmets doffed and placed in neat rows beside sleeping soldiers— gathered not to face honorable battle, but to destroy and pillage Crane villages. Already, three more had been razed to provide food for the marching horde. Three more villages filled with Crane, set to the torch.
Like the flames that blazed behind them, the bright orange and yellow banners of the Lion snapped in the strong wind of a stormy midnight. Around them, the darkness trembled with the weight of sleeping souls. Matsu Suzemeri led more than five hundred men—a full command to prepare
the way for Matsu Tsuko's armies to take Sayo Castle.
In the forests beyond the Lion encampment, silent shadows moved.
On other nights, the Lion would have set sentries and allowed the rest of the soldiers to sleep, but tonight, the Lion troops camped in Daidoji territory. Ten men on guard was not enough. The Matsu commander had posted thirty.
In high trees, two Daidoji men raised their hands, wound willow branches around their wrists, and slid gently to the ground. Beneath them, four more crept from the low brush. It was a simple matter to remain hidden in the thick Crane woodlands, a much more difficult thing to stay silent over the dried autumn leaves that covered the ground.
Daidoji Uji glanced at his lieutenant, the black kohl on his face dimming reflection. The man's blue-gray eyes glittered in the open moonlight, watching as his daimyo flickered his fingers against his stocky chest. Smiling, the younger man nodded. The raid would come soon.
Samurai were expected to be straightforward, honorable, loyal to their lords, and servants to the code of bushido. Crane, in particular, held themselves to high standards of honor and to Kakita's lessons, known collectively as the Sword. They were duelists, masters of defeating one opponent with one strike.
Uji scowled as a branch snapped somewhere behind him. The Kakita knew nothing of using few men to defeat ten times their number. Victory came to those most prepared to take it. Let them call the Daidoji honorless. Let them decry their hidden ways and revile their dangerous and dishonorable methods. Because of the Daidoji, the Crane lived to speak such things.
Three of his samurai crossed an open patch of ground, their dark blue gi covered by patches of darker brown. Uji smiled. These men, forty in all, could destroy five hundred Lion tonight, if the Fortunes favored their strike.
Already, five of the thirty sentries had been killed, their passwords learned, their helms worn by Daidoji that marched in their place through the woods. The ground of the encampment itself... Uji almost laughed. Like a snake through
vines, he scaled a tall tree. The very ground would be the death of the Lion.
The maps of the Daidoji showed every tree, every bush and rise. Uji knew them all as if they were brothers. Though I lie Crane lands were wide, every plot had been covered by Daidoji troops. Now that knowledge was being put to the test.
Lord, one of the Daidoji signed, kneeling before the tree where Uji surveyed the Lion encampment. Nodding, Uji summoned the man into the tree. While the samurai climbed, Uji studied the battlefield.
The Lion were camped in small clumps for warmth. Their I ires blazed high. They would be blind to the night around them, once the sentries had been breached.
How do the Lion rest? Uji asked without speaking, his fingers moving lightly against the bark of the tree.
Deeply, sir. The right flank has been opened, and the pits and spikes are prepared.
Ten months ago, Uji had known the Lion would march through these plains, known they would be forced to camp in this valley, if harassed by his men. He had been correct, and now the preparations were about to pay off. A lot of brave I >aidoji samurai were about to die, but if they succeeded—if Uji had accurately predicted the Matsu's strategies—Sayo (Castle could be saved. Ten days of constant harassment, of lulling scouts and sentries, of using firecrackers to terrify the Matsu supply horses, had served the Daidoji well.
Now was the time to strike.
Tell them we are ready. It begins.
Two simple movements, no more, and the other samurai slid down the tree in perfect silence, motioning to the others that the time had come.
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"What was that?" A Matsu samurai raised his head, wishing the campfire were warm enough to keep away the bitter chill.
"Nothing. The fire crackled. The sentries are fine. You are dreaming again, Mosu-san."
He lifted his head from the thin woolen blanket. "Something else." A sharp crack, the whinny of horses. Mosu reached for his sword and drew it to his side.
Yelling erupted from the edge of the encampment.
Even Mosu's weary companion could not ignore the summons to battle. "Daidoji!" he cursed, leaping to feet bloodied by marches across stone-covered ground.
Men raced among tents that suddenly blazed with fire.
"There!" one shouted.
A Crane samurai leaped ahead of them. He threw something into the fire. A sharp series of crackling pops showered the men with sparks. They howled as the fire burned through clothing and singed flesh. More firecrackers detonated, sending out charcoal, ash, and flame.
Mosu charged relentlessly past flailing Lion, determined not to be turned back by his pain. He spotted the saboteur crossing the encampment. Screaming, Mosu pursued. He raised his sword to slash another Daidoji across the back. The Crane fell, cut in two by the massive stroke.
Mosu shouted, "They are not ghosts!" He cuffed a fallen Ikoma. "They are men, and they can be beaten!"
Screaming Tsuko's name, four more Lion joined Mosu.
The saboteur wove through the camp, leaping over horses and tossing more fireworks into the bonfires. Smoke erupted along with screams of pain and fury—some cut short by death. The man dropped a flaming torch into stacked bundles of rice. The sudden flare showed his dark blue gi.
"Daidoji!" Mosu snarled.
The man turned to run.
Mosu and his men gave chase, screaming for blood. "After him!" Mosu yelled ferociously, holding his father's sword before him as he began his swing.
The Daidoji leapt into the woodlands and turned, reaching for his sword. His smile was as feral as winter.
Suddenly, the ground collapsed beneath Mosu. The screams of his followers echoed in dumbfounded ears. His feet flailed without purchase. A shower of earth and thin balsa wood scattered across his eyes and face.
Then he landed upon the spikes, and knew no more.
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"What's happening?" Matsu Suzemeri came out of his tent, girding his sword to his side with an obi of orange and yellow cloth.
"The Daidoji, sir," a nearby guard fell to one knee, his face blackened by soot.
Suzemeri saw fire among the supply tents. His men raced tli rough the night, screaming for their commanders. Flames spread through the dry grass on which they camped.
Striding through the chaos, Suzemeri shouted, "Mosu! Mosu! Where in the twin furnace of Jigoku is that man?"
"My lord, he went to the forest, chasing some of the Daidoji saboteurs."
"Damn him!" he shouted with frustration. "I'll have his head for this!"
Horses screamed as they charged through the encampment. Firecrackers whirled and hissed, tied to their stubby tails. Hooves tore through tents and shattered posts.
"I'll have his head!" the commander repeated.
Another group of samurai fell, clutching their throats as if to remove the Daidoji arrows that had sprouted beneath their chins.
"As you wish, Matsu," a voice shouted from the safety of a
high tree branch. "We've pulled it from the pit for you." Something flew from the saboteur's outstretched hand and rolled across the blazing clearing.
Mosu's head.
At that moment, grass fires reached the strings of powder buried just beneath the ground. The entire plain exploded into flame.
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"The nearest troop of Lion are seven days from Sayo Castle," Uji reported, kneeling in the wooden court chamber of the Kakita. "Our troops have gathered the local heimin to transport the rice from those silos farther south."
"Seven days," Ameiko echoed quietly, looking at Doji Kuwanan thoughtfully. Hoturi's brother made no reply. His eyes were dark and lifeless, but beneath their stony facade, intelligence burned. She asked, "Will that be enough time to empty Sayo Castle's reserve?"
"No, Lady." Kuwanan's deep bass voice rumbled through the room. "It would take twice that, or more."
Ameiko sighed, placing her chin on her hand. "So sorry, Kuwanan-san, but seven days is all the time we can give you. Use it wisely."
He nodded. His broad face lowered. "And what about the rice we cannot get out of the keep before the Matsu arrive in enough force to capture Sayo Castle?"
"Burn it, Kuwanan-san."
Uji's swarthy face darkened with anger.
Beside him, Kuwanan bowed curtly, disliking his orders but knowing nothing more could be done. Many Daidoji troops had died during the conflict with Matsu Suzemeri. Kyuden Kakita could spare few more men.
"I received a letter from Yoshi-san today." Ameiko lifted a folded piece of parchment from her sleeve. "He tells me the tournament for the Emerald Champion is finished. The emperor once more has a champion. And that man," her voice lowered dangerously, "is a Crane. Toshimoko-san has become the emperor's hand."
Blotches of color appeared on Uji's cheeks, and his hands clenched.
Kuwanan smiled with pride. His thick face brightened like the sun through clouds.
Ameiko placed the letter on the dais before her knees. After a moment, she stood. "Kuwanan, you should be on your way to Sayo. They will be in need of you."
Kuwanan bowed, took a single stride backward, and turned to pace through the sliding shoji doors. He walked with pride. For him, the news meant honor to the Crane. Flis father's position at the emperor's side remained in the clan most worthy. Even more than Hoturi, Kuwanan could be blind to the deeper machinations.
"Uji, remain." Ameiko stood from the dais and motioned for Uji to follow her. She led him onto the wide stone balcony overlooking the Kakita forests.
Silently, he followed, his mood black.
"You do not approve of the appointment, Uji-san?"
He rested his hands on the stone railing, feeling ivy crush beneath his fingers. "Do you wish my frank opinion, Ameiko-sama?"
"Do you think I would ask you otherwise?" Green eyes leveled sharply, and her fan tapped once on the stone.
Uji nodded, running a hand slowly over his unshaven face. The black kohl he wore to assault the Lion still darkened the shallow slop
es beneath his eyes, clinging to his cheekbones in a thin gray smear. There had been no time for bathing—Uji had far too much to do to waste time with fashion. His clothing was clean, his hands washed. It was enough.
Calmly, the Daidoji Daimyo considered his lady's question. "Toshimoko is a brave fighter, if a chaotic one. His valor is unquestioned, and he was certainly the most qualified to win the challenge."
"I want your opinion, Uji-san. Do not repeat the babbling of the court."
"His appointment takes one more Crane away from Crane lands, and gives us an obligation we cannot possibly fulfill. Toshimoko will be alone, and we will be without his assistance when the Lion come. No doubt, the empress has several errands that the great and honorable Hantei must have completed. The Emerald Champion will become her handmaiden." The scorn was thick. Uji's snakelike face contorted in barely controlled anger. "We cannot afford to lose more samurai. To lose one such as Toshimoko...."
"If the Emerald Magistrates could be called, they could be of great use to us," Ameiko noted. "We must pray that the spirit of our ancestor, the First Doji, has watched over us. Perhaps we can turn Toshimoko's victory to our cause."
"The Magistrates are useless. Worse than ronin. It will take more than a Crane with a strong arm to turn them from raiding villages and hiding like dogs."
"It is all the hope we have, Uji-san," Ameiko said unwillingly. She pointed beyond the forest, over the faraway hills of the Kakita provinces. "We have already turned back the Crab, though after their defeat at Beiden Pass and the plague that roams our southern lands, they will no doubt assault our provinces for provision. The ronin army at Beiden Pass cannot keep them back forever, nor can the Unicorn harass them enough to send them home to their Kaiu Wall. They have attacked one of the lesser palaces of the Kakita. Who is to say they will not return and do so again?"
A string of lights illuminated the distant hills, sparkling like stars against the velvet night.
"In seven days," Uji paced the balcony like a caged animal, his footsteps padding against the stone. "The Matsu legions will take Sayo Castle. There is nothing we can do to prevent them. We must allow Kuwanan to do what he can, and then withdraw all of our troops to Kyuden Kakita and prepare to defend ourselves against Tsuko's assault. War will come to us whether we wish it or not, Ameiko. It will come, and we must be prepared."
