by Lance Wilson
“Mr. Simon… .” Byrdi says with a smile summoning his friend to him.
“Captain?” Simon says walking over nervous.
“Would you please stay with the horses?” Byrdi says seeing that Simon doesn’t have the mental fortitude of a soldier and so he of course would be frightened of the situation.
“As you suggest.” Simon says with a look of relief.
“Mr. Simon… Take this.” Byrdi says stopping Simon dead in his tracks and hands him the journal he has been writing in for as long as he can remember.
Simon looks at him for a moment in shock. What could have brought this on?
“Maybe you can use it for your book.” Byrdi says smiling at him
“I will.” Simon says smiling back, he wonders if this is Byrdi’s way of saying goodbye.
With this said Simon heads back to the relative safety of the horse corral. Meanwhile, the Vulkoori remain impassive as artillery is stepped in closer, the range bracketed. Then artillery rounds begin to fall among them. Vulkoori are blown to pieces as they bravely stand and await death. Bai Shi-zi barks a command to Ujio. Suddenly, the Vulkoori break ranks and trot into a new defense alignment. The artillery rounds now fall ineffectually where once they stood. Patroclus directs the artillery to be re-targeted; it is a laborious, clumsy process. They fire again. Another command. The Vulkoori change position again. Patroclus is furious. Their fluid tactics have rendered his field artillery useless. Bai Shi-zi and Byrdi share a look of grim satisfaction. They are leveling the playing field. Horn calls are heard from the Imperial Army.
“The call to advance.” Byrdi says understanding the calls
There is a boom of war drums, the sound of marching boots. And then they appear. Thousands upon thousands of them. The Imperial Army marching relentlessly forward in strict formation. The Rising Sun displayed. Bai Shi-zi gazes at the awe-inspiring sight. His 500 Vulkoori face a staggering 5,000 soldiers.
“Tell me… what happened to those three hundred warriors at Thermopylae?” Bai Shi-zi says smiling at him without a look of fear
“Dead to the last man.” Byrdi says with a grim smile.
Bai Shi-zi glances to him, smiles. The two share a chuckle. This is a fate that Vulkoori could accept, death on the battlefield facing a staggering enemy.
The First Division of the Imperial Army moves into the funnel, their numbers reduced by the size of the access, and head toward the barricade.
Bai Shi-zi and Byrdi watch as they move closer and closer. We are expecting the Vulkoori to open fire, but they do not. They just wait. Finally the Imperial soldiers are in rifle range. They stop to fire a volley. Spells begin hitting among the Vulkoori. Many fall. Byrdi nods to Bai Shi-zi, Bai Shi-zi then calls out a command and the Vulkoori retreat. They race back toward the rear of the funnel. The Imperial Army soldiers climb awkwardly over the first barricade and pursue The Vulkoori, meanwhile, have taken cover behind a second barricade that had been hidden from the Imperial soldiers’ view. Now safely behind the second barricade, Bai Shi-zi calls out a command and the Vulkoori fire! 500 arrows explode almost instantly followed by 500 more like an image from Agincourt, the clouds of arrows sweep across the sky Imperial Soldiers fall, the attack falters. From behind the new barricades, archers fire flaming arrows that hit the old barricade. It explodes into flames trapping the Imperial army between the two barricades. And from the second barricade, two large catapults send balls of flaming pitch into the already panicking soldiers. Colonel Patroclus, Kage, several dwarven advisers and Salatar Officers watch through binoculars. Stunned as the First Wave is routed.
“What the hell?” Patroclus says confused at the new tactics of the Vulkoori.
“It seems Bai Shi-zi will resist his destiny. Send in the second wave. Two divisions.” Kage says with a snarl, he will not be denied this land over something as trivial as honor.
Byrdi and Bai Shi-zi wait behind the second barricade. This barricade unlike the others however is the real thing and not some form of trap. Bai Shi-zi removes a piece of shattered armor from his left forearm, a spell has made it through his armor and wound lay beneath it, bleeding and now the outer rim of the wound turning a festering green color. Byrdi does not see this however he is looking over the barricade. They see Imperial soldiers using flags to communicate with their commanders on the opposing hilltop.
“How long?” Bai Shi-zi asks knowing that Byrdi knows the codes having been one of their own at one time.
“They need to regroup and report our position. Then they’ll come hard.” Byrdi says taking a long deep breath. It is the battle he expected, all odds against them.
“It is sad to see brave men die without faces, you cannot tell one warrior from another.” Bai Shi-zi says looking down at all the imperial army, the uniforms all the same, it looks as if each where poured out of the same mold.
“They’re not warriors. They’re soldiers. It’s a modern army.” Byrdi says now knowing the differences between a warrior and a soldier.
“Not my world anymore.” Bai Shi-zi says with sadness in his voice as he shakes his head.
The horns call again. The attack is reforming. Ranks now bolstered by reinforcements. They come at a trot, through the narrow defile, skirting the first barricade, continuing at a trot toward the second barricade. Bai Shi-zi pulls his long sword. Byrdi does the same. Bai Shi-zi calls out an order and the archers fire another round. The Imperial soldiers are being annihilated but still they come in great waves for every one who falls it seems there are ten to take his place. They race forward, stepping over their fallen comrades, bayonets poised and ready the Kainith elf rifles flash, spells explode around the Vulkoori, many are hit. The Imperial Army has been trained to keep firing on the run. The waiting Vulkoori will be decimated, except, from the hills on either side, half of the Vulkoori force who has been kept hidden until this moment, they charge, screaming into the flank of the attacking Army. Even rifles cannot fire in three directions at once. Byrdi and Bai Shi-zi lead the charge over the second barricade. Some are cut down, but in moments swords engage bayonets in brutal hand-to-band combat. Byrdi And Bai Shi-zi fight back-to-back, as if one person, slashing with their swords, shattering bayonet, dealing death on all sides.
Ujio crouches, his back leg straight and planted, his front leg bent. Still using his bow, firing off arrows with Stunning speed, refusing to budge. On the opposing hillside Patroclus and Kage watch the battle through binoculars.
“A classic “V” ambush. Son of a bitch is using Unagi tactics.” Patroclus says furious but impressed at the same time.
In the midst of the battle A charging soldier thrusts his bayonet into Bai Shi-zi’s arm—Bai Shi-zi kills, the soldier with his short sword but is awkwardly tangled with his body, a second soldier races toward him for the kill—Byrdi spins and attacks killing the second soldier—but a third races toward Byrdi, bayonet flashing He dodges but the bayonet slices into his side. Byrdi kicks the soldier away and tries to use his sword but the soldier springs back athletically. Ujio appears like a black spectral figure to deliver the coup de grace. Something begins to come over Byrdi and as the battle continues all the sound gradually fades and is replaced by the soothing soft sound of a bamboo flute. He can only see fragments of the battle as he deals his own blows and he can see that no matter how bravely the Vulkoori fight, they are simply outnumbered and all will fall sooner or later. Nakao is like a cornered Bear, arcing his two swords wildly around him. He is shot in the chest, and staggers a moment before continuing. Another soldier shoots him in the arm at point blank range. Nakao’, sword goes flying, so the giant Vulkoori leaps forward and picks up the shooter bodily, twirling him around like a wrestler, throwing him finally onto the upraised pike of a fellow Imperial soldier. But now three more soldiers have leveled their weapons, and a ruthless volley staggers him again. Shots rain on him as he tries to continue fighting, but his strength l
eaves him. Finally, with one last lunge, he manages to pull an Imperial soldier with him, crushing him as he falls. More and more fall as Byrdi, Bai Shi-zi, and their comrades fight desperately. Ujio is mortally wounded. The grim award master is cut through with bullets. Still he fights. An Imperial soldier holds up a rifle to protect himself, and Ujio’s blade cuts through the barrel. The soldier just has time to look at the gun in amazement before a second sweep of Ujio’s sword beheads him. But there are too many to take the man’s place, and finally five men run Ujio through with bayonets, and he is pinned against the barricade, still upright in death. At last, what is left of this second wave of the Imperial Army, retreats.
The plain before the barricade is littered with Imperial Army dead. Byrdi and Bai Shi-zi sit exhausted, leaning against the barricade. They are
Both wounded. Only about a hundred Vulkoori are still alive. Byrdi looks over the decimated warriors for a moment. Even those still alive are in bad shape as they wait for the next wave of Imperial soldiers.
“He was Kaishaku… my trusted friend.” Bai Shi-zi says a crack to his voice as he looks over at the still standing body of Ujio
“We won’t be able to hold them back this time.” Byrdi says telling him what he is sure Bai Shi-zi already knows.
“This is not your battle. You do not have to die here.” Bai Shi-zi says looking deep into Byrdi’s eyes.
“I died a long time ago.” Byrdi says remembering the day he and his family were separated at Ronin, then the death of his brother Bear.
“But now you live again.” Bai Shi-zi says with a smile, he has seen the way he held those children, how he looks at Neckity.
“Yes.” Byrdi says no longer denying that they have brought him back to himself.
“It was not your time.” Bai Shi-zi says smiling
“No. Maybe I survived just to live this one last day.” Byrdi says looking around him; there are worse ways to die, and far worse reasons.
For a short moment they look at each other, a kind of understanding falling between them.
“I’ll stay.” Byrdi continues and pulls himself up.
He and Bai Shi-zi gaze at the plain before them. At the infantry troops massing on the opposing hilltop.
Byrdi looks at Bai Shi-zi. He reaches into a pouch at his belt and takes out the Medal of Honor he received, long ago, at Sutter’s Hill. He looks at it for a long time. How little he knew back then, Honor, you cannot put it in a piece of metal and call it good, it is something that lives inside you, something you hold with every breath, every decision, it seems like a lifetime ago, could have been so recent. Bai Shi-zi looks at Byrdi. They are both thinking the same thing, a silent agreement is made.
The hundred-mounted Vulkoori are a beautiful sight. They wait in formation in front of the barricade, the long plain through the funnel to the opposing hilltop before them. Bai Shi-zi draws his long Vulkoori sword. Byrdi draws his. And they slowly begin to trot forward. And then to canter, Colonel Patroclus and Kage watch, transfixed. There is something approaching admiration on Kage’s face. On Patroclus’s, face there is only malice.
“The gatling guns. Quickly.” Patroclus says a snarl to his voice.
Bai Shi-zi points his sword and screams out his war cry. And they charge. It is suicidal, but it is glorious. It is the end of the Vulkoori. They charge forward, their war cries echoing in the canyon. The Imperial troops fire rifles and Vulkoori fall, but still they come, pounding over the earth like something from an ancient dream Byrdi and Bai Shi-zi charge side by side. Alive. Warriors. Patroclus and Kage watch as the Vulkoori fall, one by one. Fifteen or twenty of the Vulkoori including Byrdi and Bai Shi-zi somehow manage to fight their way through the lines. They break into the open. And continue riding straight toward the rear. Byrdi and Bai Shi-zi Are both wounded, yet still they charge. They have only one thought in mind, the death to their enemies. They gallop forward toward Patroclus and Kage. Patroclus looks around in abject terror. He screams out an order. Two wagons are now moving into position. Their rear gates fall open revealing the Gatling guns. Byrdi and Bai Shi-zi Are near enough to see them. Yet they will not be deterred. They charge on. Up ahead. The Gatling guns are not yet ready to fire. Salatar soldiers slam ammo belts into the chambers. Byrdi, Bai Shi-zi and the remaining Vulkoori Have almost reached their goal. Patroclus cowers in fear, looks around, but there is nowhere to hide. The Vulkoori charge, even while riding at a full gallop, they have fixed arrows into their long bows. They let loose a lethal volley.
“Fire! Fire, damnit!!!!!” Patroclus shouts his voice echoing his fear.
But before the guns can open up, he is impaled by arrow after arrow, a human pincushion. The final arrow pierces his forehead. Then the Gatling guns finally fire. Ripping into the Vulkoori, Destroying them.
One after another is hit and still they come their voices raised in glorious cries of triumph. Simon watches from a hilltop, tears in his eyes.
Bai Shi-zi is hit, blood explodes and his horse falls. Then Byrdi is hit, he falls. Byrdi drags himself to Bai Shi-zi, Spells exploding everywhere. Byrdi looks up to see the remaining Vulkoori still charging, the Gatling Guns tear through them and still they charge, until they are all down. A Salatar Officer shouts out an order the Gatling guns stop. Kage screams at him to continue firing! The Salatar officer barks out response. Refusing. Kage sees all the Vulkoori are dead or dying. But he also sees Byrdi kneeling by Bai Shi-zi, dragging him away. He screams at the Salatar officer to resume fire! But the Salatar officer refuses. He just looks over the plain of dying Vulkoori for a moment. Then he does the most remarkable thing. He slowly kneels and touches his head to the dirt.
Then a soldier near him does the same thing. Then another and another. And then by the thousands. They kneel and touch their heads to the dirt. Honoring the last Vulkoori.
Byrdi drags the dying Bai Shi-zi to a8 copse of cherry trees nearby. Both men are bleeding profusely.
“Help me up.” Bai Shi-zi says his voice weak and strong at the same time.
“Just—stay there.” Byrdi says a tear in his eyes as he watches the lifeblood flow out of his friend.
“Help me up.” Bai Shi-zi says his voice stern.
Byrdi helps him to stand. Without Byrdi’s support, he would fall.
“My sword” Bai Shi-zi says his voice calm and now at peace.
“No.” Byrdi refuses knowing exactly what he plans to do.
“You have your honor again. Let me die with mine, Kaishaku.” he says using the Salatar word for truest friend.
Byrdi looks at him, deeply moved. Bai Shi-zi manages to pull out his short sword.
“You must help me. Hold it firmly” Bai Shi-zi says his face one of stern pride.
Byrdi supports Bai Shi-zi as he holds the sword’s point firmly to his stomach.
“Are you ready?” Bai Shi-zi asks smiling at Byrdi.
“No, Kaishaku.” Byrdi says his voice now like that of a child
“We will ride together again.” Bai Shi-zi says warmly to Byrdi as he embraces him firmly, the short sword impaling him.
Byrdi holds him tightly. Bai Shi-zi is looking over Byrdi’s shoulder as he dies. Bai Shi-zi sees something. A look of joy and absolute peace comes to his features.
“It is perfect… They are all perfect.” Bai Shi-zi says the riddle of the cherry blossom finally solving itself in his final moments.
His eyes close. He is dead. Byrdi gently kneels with Bai Shi-zi’s body. He holds him for a moment and then turns to see what Bai Shi-zi was looking at. Cherry blossoms, a display of perfect beauty.
Days have passed since the battle with the Vulkoori and now in the thrown room Ambassador Swanbeck, Kage, and a retinue of advisors is presenting the treaty documents for the Emperor’s signature. The Emperor sits restively on his throne.
“This will usher in an era of unprecedented pros
perity and cooperation between our two great nations.” Swanbeck says presenting the documents in front of the Emperor.
Before the Emperor can say anything a servant comes and whispers into the Emperor’s ear.
“Highness, if we could just conclude the matter at hand.” Kage says irritated at the interruption.
The Emperor ignores Kage, and gestures that the doors to the chamber be opened. Through the doors Byrdi enters with Simon. Byrdi carries something wrapped in a blanket. He approaches the Emperor. Kneels and sets the bundle at the Emperor’s feet. Byrdi remains kneeling with his head bowed as he unwraps the bundle. It is Bai Shi-zi’s long Vulkoori sword. The Emperor looks at it.
“
The Emperor continues to look at the sword. He does not look up. The emperor then whispers something to his translator who nods and then looks over at Byrdi.
“You were with him at the end.” The translator asks calmly
“Yes. He asked that I bring you this, that the strength of the Vulkoori will be with you always.” Byrdi says still not raising his head.
The Emperor rises from his chair and sits on the floor, in the traditional Salatar fashion, before the sword.
“Enlightened One, we all weep for his loss, but the future of our country lies in… .” but his sentence is stopped short at the emperor shoots him a glare.
“My ancestors have ruled the islands of Salatar for 2,000 years. And for all that time we have slept. During my sleep I have dreamed. I dreamed of unifying the islands of Salatar. Of a country strong and independent and modern. And now we are awake. We have railroads and cannon and Western clothing. But we cannot forget who we are. Or where we come from.” The emperor says as he gently touches the sword, the sound of his voice shocking everyone in the room, Simon almost faints.
