L5r - scroll 01 - The Scorpion

by Stephen D. Sullivan

"My lord," she said humbly, "the forces outside the wall... they say the Lion leads them."

  "Tsuko?" Shoju asked, incredulous. "She doesn't have the mane."

  Kachiko bowed and said, "No, my lord. Not Tsuko, Toturi."

  The Scorpion's eyes grew wide behind his mask. "How is that possible?" he asked.

  "I do not know," Kachiko said, "though I have sent Asami to find out. It took many of our shugenja to get the message to her."

  Shoju nodded. "When Toturi went to see his geisha and did not appear at court, we assumed him dead. It appears we were wrong."

  "It seems so, my lord. If the rumors are true," Kachiko said, bowing.

  "Find out," said the Scorpion emperor, seating himself before the window.

  "Hai, my lord." Kachiko bowed again and left the room.

  When she returned three hours later, she found her husband sitting in the same place.

  "The rumors are true, my love," she said quietly. "Toturi is with the other clans, leading the assault on the Fudotaki Gate."

  Ride out! sang the bloodsword. Crush him!

  "Asami reports that she did not find his body in the gamekeeper's cabin," Kachiko continued, "though she did find the remnants of the poison."

  "The geisha?" Shoju asked coldly.

  "Gone as well, though the bloodstained tatters of her kimono were found at the bottom of a waterfall nearby. Whether she jumped or was thrown, Asami could not say."

  Shoju stood suddenly and roared as if he were an animal trapped in a cage. He drew Yashin and stalked around the room, slashing at the empty air, dancing a kata of destruction.

  Kachiko fell to her knees and put her head to the floor. "I am sorry, my lord," she said. "I beg your forgiveness."

  Shoju stopped and looked at her where she lay quivering. His face drew tight behind his mask.

  Strike out! Kill her! urged the sword. Betrayer! Whore!

  The Scorpion emperor sheathed the ancient weapon. He walked to his wife's side, making no more noise than a cat.

  "You have never failed me," he said quietly, "not since our son's birth."

  The reminder of her previous infidelity stuck in Kachiko's gut like a knife. "I am sorry, Great Lord," she said, surprised to find herself crying.

  He reached down and lifted her so that she stood and looked into his eyes. Suddenly, he embraced her, so tightly that he took her breath away. Then, just as suddenly, he let her go and stepped back.

  "Send our best people to the Fudotaki Gate," he said. "Tetsuo, Aramoro, your woman Miyuki, even Junzo if you must."

  Kachiko wiped the tears from her face and nodded. "Junzo is already there," she said. "But your brother is wounded, my lord."

  "Send him anyway," Shoju replied. "Tell them to find and kill Toturi, no matter what the cost."

  She bowed, "Hai, my lord."

  xxxxxxxx

  Toturi's plan worked just as he had hoped. Throughout the day and into the night, he fought with the others at the Fudotaki Gate. Then, under cover of darkness and smoke, he returned to the western wall, near the River Gate. A carefully chosen double wore his armor and maintained the deception that he fought with the rest of the army. Clothed in simple robes, Toturi blended in with many other unar-mored samurai.

  The allies' shugenja had done their job well. Distracted by the eastern assault, Shoju's people failed to notice the subtle manipulations of the wall near the River Gate. They didn't detect the spells that slipped in to deceive their senses. Nor did they realize it when their lines of communication came under the control of Toturi's people.

  Quickly and carefully, the loyalist shugenja gained dominion of the great gate itself. Their willpower replaced the willpower of the Scorpions sealing the gate shut. With their best wizards at the Fudotaki Gate, the Scorpions never even suspected their mastery of the River Gate had been subverted. The allies' counterspells hid their actions completely.

  In the hour before dawn, Toturi's samurai struck. The River Gate opened to the will of the Lion's shugenja. Toturi's forces rushed through. Before any could raise the alarm, the allies killed the Scorpion guards and shugenja controlling the gate. Toturi's shugenja quelled suspicion by keeping the telepathic bonds intact, though allied sorcerers now filled the gaps in the mental circuit. This, too, Toturi knew would be to his advantage.

  Using the cover of the gardens, Toturi's forces came upon the palace gates undetected. A powerful spell shattered the outer doors and shook the very palace. The deafening boom signaled those outside the walls that the real assault had begun.

  At once, Hoturi and the others rushed to the River Gate, leaving Kisada and his men to hold the assault on the eastern wall. The Crane forces charged the palace only slightly behind the Lion. The Unicorn rode swiftly to open the Fudotaki Gate and let the Crab in.

  The liberation of the Forbidden City had begun.

  XXXXXXXX

  By the time Doji Hoturi reached the palace doors, the Scorpion guards already lay dead—killed by advancing Lions.

  "Follow me," Hoturi commanded. "Find the hostages. Kill any who oppose you."

  The Crane forces rushed after their young daimyo. Hoturi knew the palace as well as any man alive. The twisting corridors baffled him not at all.

  He headed straight for the inner chambers. The Scorpion would want to keep his prisoners close at hand. Dungeon rooms would be too insulting if the Scorpion hoped to persuade the captives to his cause. Instead, the Bayushi usurper would choose to keep his enemies nearby, where they could be watched.

  In ones and twos, Scorpion retainers jumped from concealed corridors, attacking the Crane. They were no match for Hoturi and his troops, though they did slow the progress inward. It took precious time to slay them. Hoturi took the time.

  Finally, deep within the palace, near where the hostages must have been, Hoturi and his band rounded a corner to confront a small band of Scorpions. Hoturi smiled. A mere boy commanded these guards of last resort.

  "I am Bayushi Dairu," the boy said bravely from the midst of the crowd. "You shall not pass."

  The Crane's lips drew back in a sneer. "The son of the Scorpion," he said through gritted teeth. He gestured to his men on either side. They leapt forward and engaged the Scorpion samurai.

  "Leave the boy to me," Hoturi cried over the clashing of swords.

  He advanced quickly, a smile drawing across his handsome face. The faces of the Scorpions remained hidden behind their masks—the better to hide their lies.

  Hoturi beat back the sword of the man opposing him and cut him down with a slash from collarbone to heart. Another man stepped between the Crane and his intended victim.

  Bayushi Dairu waded into his foes without fear. He wouldn't wait for the Crane daimyo to come to him. For years Dairu's father had told him of Hoturi's undisciplined, selfish ways. In this battle, Dairu could see what the Scorpion lord meant. Hoturi's carefully polished armor and weapon fairly screamed self-importance. Even in the midst of the fight, not a hair was out of place on the Crane's head. He looked as though he'd never suffered a battle scar in his life.

  Dairu brought his sword up and parried the attack of a Crane samurai. He slashed down, opening the man's chest. The Scorpion heir kicked the dying samurai away and moved to the next man.

  Hoturi's smile widened. His men were winning the battle. Clearly they'd caught the Scorpions by surprise. The usurpers didn't even have any armor. Only a few men stood between him and the Scorpion heir—and most of those men were his own.

  He plunged his katana into the gut of a Scorpion samurai-ko and twisted. The woman gasped out her life and fell. Hoturi strode atop her.

  The Crane daimyo and the Scorpion heir drew nearer.

  Dairu found himself glancing from the man he was fighting to the Crane leader. If I can kill him, Dairu thought, the day will be ours. Father, lend me strength!

  He spun as he had seen Shoju do, leveled his blade, and took off a Crane samurai's head. Dairu flicked his blade in the shiburi motion, cleaning the blood from it. He saw
the Crane close by. Dairu looked Hoturi in the eyes.

  I'm coming for you! the young Scorpion thought.

  In the face of the Crane daimyo, Dairu saw something unexpected. Hoturi did not look as Dairu imagined he would. The face returning his gaze was familiar, handsome. Dairu had seen a face like it many times, staring back from his own mirror.

  "Back away!" Hoturi cried to his people. "Leave the pup to me!"

  The Crane samurai did as their daimyo commanded.

  A few moments later, Dairu stood alone in a circle of dead samurai. His sword and kimono were stained with blood— though none of it was his own.

  "I will not surrender," Dairu said, assuming a defensive stance.

  "I won't ask you to," the Crane replied, smiling. Hoturi leapt forward, swinging his sword as he came.

  Dairu parried, turning aside the blade with enough force that Hoturi winced from the wound Shoju had given him.

  Dairu spun, dancing like his Scorpion father. He aimed his blade at the Crane's back.

  Hoturi turned and parried; their blades slid apart. He thrust at the boy's midsection.

  Dairu batted the sword away and lashed out with his foot. The Scorpion's toe connected with the Crane's knee, and Hoturi staggered back. A lock of hair fell from Hoturi's topknot and caressed his brows. The Scorpion heir smiled. Not so perfect anymore, he thought. He lunged, aiming at the Crane's chest.

  Hoturi parried and counterattacked, thrusting his katana at Dairu's neck.

  Dairu parried high. Before he realized his mistake, Hoturi made a slashing cut downward. The blow opened the young Scorpion's belly, and he collapsed on the floor.

  "For Satsume," Hoturi said, stepping over the body. He wiped the blood from his blade onto Dairu's kimono and motioned his men to follow.

  As they left, the Crane turned back to the dying boy. "Tell your father 'hello' when you see him in hell," he said.

  XXXXXXXX

  "The Lion is in the palace! The Lion is in the palace!"

  The cry shattered the Scorpion emperor's sleep. He hadn't realized he had dozed off. Behind him, the Emerald Throne felt cold and hard.

  Instantly Shoju was on his feet, drawing his sword. His lame arm ached in complaint, and the fire from his tattoo burned his shoulder.

  Not now, he thought. Not now!

  Kachiko ran into the room. "My lord," she cried, "our defenses are breached!"

  "How?" he asked.

  "I don't know, my lord," she said. "But the Lion is in the palace. The River Gate has fallen."

  "Curse me for a fool!" Shoju said. "The assault to the east was only a feint! Summon my people!" he said. "Tetsuo, Aramoro, Miyuki, Junzo."

  Kachiko shook her head. "They have not returned from the battle," she said. For the first time, her husband saw worry and possibly even fear in her face.

  "Where is the Lion?" he asked.

  "On his way to the throne room," she said breathlessly. "I don't know if our forces can stop him."

  Shoju's face grew grim behind his mask. He sheathed his sword and embraced her, crushing her body against his chest. She returned the hug and lifted up her face to kiss him. He pushed back his mask.

  Frantically their lips met, and then parted.

  "We are undone," Shoju said. "Find our son. Take him to safety. Spread the word among our people. They are to scatter, hide, assume new identities. They should do whatever is necessary to survive, and pray that history will prove out our cause."

  Kachiko nodded, blinking back tears. "And you, my lord?"

  "I will face the Lion alone," he said. "If the head of the enemy is removed, the body also will fall."

  Kachiko embraced him, and they kissed again. When they parted, he pulled down his mask once more.

  The Scorpion emperor had worn his favorite face today. The mask was neither happy nor sad. Instead it showed a grim resolve. The face said, "I shall not be defeated."

  He opened the door to the throne room, and Kachiko passed into the corridor beyond. She slid open a secret panel and slipped inside, taking one last, lingering look before she closed it. She mouthed the words, "I love you."

  He nodded. Then she was gone.

  Moments after she had left, footsteps clattered up the corridor. Lion retainers met and slew Scorpion samurai.

  Gracefully, Bayushi Shoju crossed to the Emerald Throne and seated himself on it, the sword Yashin hanging at his side. Blood pounded in Shoju's temples, but the song of Ambition almost smothered the sound. Almost.

  Quietly the Scorpion emperor sat as Toturi's forces charged up to the throne room door and skidded to a halt.

  The Lion spotted his enemy and took a step forward.

  One of Shoju's long fingers stabbed a hidden stud on the arm of the throne.

  Weights and counterweights fell into place. The iron doors

  to the throne room suddenly slammed shut, trapping the Lion inside.

  Toturi's men pounded on the door, to no avail. Behind his grim mask, the Scorpion emperor smiled.

  WORDS BETWEEN MEN

  As well as Hoturi knew the palace corridors, Bayushi Kachiko knew them better. Long ago, while the other clans built the great walls, Scorpions had built the palace and its defenses. Among these were the twisting maze of corridors that Hoturi had taken to secure the hostages. Intertwined with the corridors were a second set of passageways—secret ones known only to members of the emperor's family and, of course, to the descendants of the Scorpions who built them.

  It took little time for the Scorpion mistress to find her way from the throne room to the chamber where the hostages were being held. Unfortunately, Hoturi had gotten there first.

  By the time Kachiko found her son, there was little life left in him. She let out a soft cry and raced to his side, lifting Dairu from the gore-spattered floor.

  "Who?" she asked, cradling his bloody head in her arms. "Who did this to you?"

  "Hoturi," was all the boy had time to say. He reached for her tearstained face. Then he was gone.

  A small cry escaped Bayushi Kachiko's lips.

  She bowed her head and wept long and piteously. Only when she heard the noises of the returning Crane did Kachiko gather her resolve.

  She carried her son into a secret passage, so the Crane would not find him. Then she closed the panel and left him there. She still had a mission to complete.

  Dairu's fair face haunted her dreams ever after.

  XXXXXXXX

  Bayushi Shoju stood as his foe entered the room.

  "These doors will not save you, assassin," Toturi said.

  Shoju shook his head. "I am not the one who needs saving," he said.

  Toturi drew his katana. "Defend yourself, Scorpion."

  Shoju bowed. "If you insist." He drew Yashin, and the room suddenly grew dark.

  "Power is a sword with two edges," the Scorpion lord said. "Even wielding it carefully, you may still get cut. You have not been careful, Akodo Toturi."

  Like a dancer, Shoju moved gracefully around the room. Ignoring the stiffness in his right arm, he swung Ambition in long arcs.

  "Your lust for power shall be your death, Scorpion," Toturi said. He assumed a defensive stance and watched the Scorpion lord for weakness—as he had done with Ishikawa not long ago.

  Unfortunately, the Master of Secrets was not so easy to read as the captain of the guard.

  Toturi realized with sudden shock how little he knew

  about the man he faced. Bayushi Shoju was reputed to be one of the best swordsmen in all Rokugan—but almost no reports of his technique or style had ever reached the Lion's ears.

  Toturi had seen Scorpion swordsmen in battle—even left-handed samurai. He'd faced a number of them himself. Left-handed warriors were always more dangerous because Rokugani swordsmanship was based on fighting right-handed opponents. Still, Toturi had overcome the handicap before.

  As this graceful black cat of a man stalked around the throne room, Toturi realized he'd never seen anything like Bayushi Shoju in his life.
It wasn't just the Scorpion's left-handedness that made a shiver run down the Lion's spine. It was the way the Usurper moved: fast, agile, twirling on the balls of his feet.

  Shoju had slain the Emerald Champion only a few days before. He'd also given Hoturi a nasty scar across his chest.

  Hoturi could've taught me how to get killed by Shoju, Toturi thought, but I need to know how to win.

  Hidden behind his grim mask, the Scorpion's face betrayed none of his intentions.

  "I don't lust for power," Shoju said, his voice quiet and sonorous. "I live only to serve." He continued to circle the room; Toturi followed the Scorpion's movements.

  "You serve only your evil self," Toturi said, almost spitting the words.

  "Not true," Shoju said calmly. "I serve Rokugan. What I have done, I have done for the greater good."

  "What good can come from killing the emperor?"

  "The good of saving the empire. By slaying the Hantei, I have preserved Rokugan. I have prevented the return of Fu Leng. Uikku prophesied that the last Hantei would bring the Evil One back to Rokugan. Even the emperor himself charged me to do whatever I must to save the empire."

  "More Scorpion lies," Toturi said.

  Shoju shook his head. "The truth. Hantei would have considered his life, and the life of his son, a small price to save all of Rokugan."

  "Madman!" Toturi cried. He charged, aiming a cut at the Scorpion's throat.

  Shoju parried easily and danced aside, putting some space between himself and the Lion.

  "The only madness," he said, "is pursuing a path that will lead to destruction. You should know that, Toturi."

  The way he said the words made Toturi think of Hatsuko and her betrayal. The fire in his belly grew. He charged the Scorpion again; again, Shoju whirled aside. This time he left a slashing cut on the Lion's right shoulder.

  Shoju now stood in front of the Emerald Throne. The long blade of Yashin gleamed red in the light of the room's lanterns. "Fortune has been kind to you once, Lion," Shoju said. "Perhaps you have an even greater destiny than I. But I have met my fate, fulfilled my destiny. Never have I shirked my responsibilities, not even when they called for the death of the emperor."

  "You may deceive yourself with lies," Toturi said, "but you will not deceive me."