Reprisal

by Charles Tillman

  Akio retained his calm exterior as Yagi poured out his woes. “What happened next?”

  “They come here weekly and take tribute from us in the form of blood,” Yagi told them. “What was once a town of over four hundred has dwindled to just over eighty since they arrived. The elderly and infirm were the first to die, and many more have been taken by his men since.”

  Yuko walked forward to put a comforting hand on Yagi’s shoulder but paused when he recoiled from her touch. “We will end this, Yagi-san. You will no longer have to fear Mitsuro and his men when we are finished.” She spoke gently, trying to extend calmness as Akio had taught her.

  “What can two people do in the face of these monsters? For that matter, how did you come here without dying? Sho Mitsuro turned our children and others into monsters that stalk the darkness. You will bring them down on all of us. I must get inside before they come.” His voice rose until it was almost a shout. His wide eyes showed the whites all around, and his head jerked as he searched for danger on all sides.

  Akio projected a sense of calm toward him again.

  The man quit trying to run but was still visibly terrified. “We cannot be outside after dark. Sho Mitsuro forbids it and has placed the beasts to keep us in. It is a death sentence when they find you. Please go before you get us all killed.”

  “Where is this Mitsuro? He must have a base here.” Akio faced the panic-stricken man and waited for his answer. When he looked away, his fear preventing him from speaking, Akio read his mind, then turned and walked away. He called over his shoulder as he strode away, “Go inside and lock your doors. Tonight is the last time you sleep in fear of this false emperor.”

  Yuko was lost in her thoughts as they walked back to the Pod. Once aboard, her quiet voice broke the hush. “What did you see, Akio?”

  “I know where Mitsuro is hiding, and that he has at least four more Forsaken with him. We will arrive in a short time,” he informed her as the Pod silently lifted into the air.

  Chapter Four

  Uegusuku Castle, Kume Island, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan

  “Sho Mitsuro, we have intruders,” a vampire wearing the armor of a fifteenth-century samurai warrior announced as he strode into the throne room of the castle.

  The man sitting on the throne wearing the regalia of an emperor raised one eyebrow as he looked down on him without replying.

  “My apologies, Sho Mitsuro,” he murmured as he quickly bowed ninety degrees at the waist. He held that position for almost a minute before the man on the throne addressed him.

  “Do not let it happen again, Ogawa. Report.”

  He stood, relieved that Mitsuro had not made him wait longer. “Hai, Sho Mitsuro. There was a disturbance in the village. The pack that was patrolling tonight have all been killed. It looked like the killers used swords, and there were no other bodies present. Yagi claimed that a man and a woman came to the village tonight and threatened you.” He reported in the manner that Mitsuro required—short and concise, just the facts.

  Mitsuro remained silent for the span of a few heartbeats. “Get the others and find them,” he ordered. “Do not return to me until you have put their heads on the wall.”

  The vampire bowed low again. “It will be as you have commanded, my Lord.”

  The Pod silently descended in front of a tall log bulwark on the highest point of the island. It surrounded an imposing castle, the type which dated back to the days of the samurai in feudal Japan. The building was four stories high and had a gently curved roof that covered its entirety. The walls were traditional rice paper panel construction that could be slid aside or removed depending on the whim of the occupant. Torches spaced along the wall provided illumination.

  It was a sight to behold, appearing much as the original had in the fifteen hundreds when it was a functional seat of power. Akio also noted that there were few signs of damage from the earthquake that had destroyed much of the rest of the island.

  Yuko looked around with curiosity. “What is this place, Akio?”

  “It is a reconstruction of the original Uegusuku Castle.” He paused for a moment, lost in thought. “A very accurate one, at that. There was a movement to restore some of the historic structures around the country before everything came crashing down. It appears that this one was completed, or close to it. The original ruins are on the peak just behind this. If I remember correctly, the Ministry of Culture planned to lease the site for movie sets as well as lodging for people who wanted to experience how the Shoguns lived.”

  Yuko sighed. “It’s beautiful.”

  Akio didn’t disagree. “Hai, the architecture of that period was something to behold.”

  As the Pod settled, the gate opened, and four figures dressed as samurai warriors stepped out into the flickering light of the torches.

  Akio and Yuko exited the Pod and faced the four.

  “Look, brothers, we have a celebrity with us. The famous Bitch, Akio,” one of them faux-gushed as he stepped forward. His face turned to a mask of rage as he continued, “He is also the honorless dog who turned coat and joined the people who murdered our Queen.”

  Akio stiffened slightly, then his mouth turned up in a feral smile. “Ogawa, I see that you survived like the roach you are. It will give me great satisfaction to correct that unfortunate situation.”

  “The dog shows his teeth.” Ogawa smirked. “I will enjoy making you scream as I did in the past before I end your traitorous life.

  “Akio, who is this thing?” Yuko snapped, her face dark with anger.

  “This is Ogawa,” Akio informed her. “He was one of Kamiko Kana’s enforcers, and ‘thing’ is an apt description. She used him to torture people who displeased her and terrorize the Wechselbalg to keep them in line.” He grimaced. “She also had him torture and torment her followers if the whim struck her. He was Ogawa Sato of the Imperial Army when he was still human—if you could say someone with his particular taste in entertainment was ever human. He was a torturer then as well, and he enjoyed his work. He grew worse when he became Forsaken.”

  “Ha, you question my practices. That is rich, coming from one who has your taste in companions,” Ogawa barked.

  Akio’s eyes narrowed at the jibe. “He was a guard at a prisoner of war camp during the war. His commanding officer learned that he liked to hurt people and took him in as his apprentice. He turned him into an expert in the ways to cause pain to a human body. In some ways, the student surpassed the master, but both took great pleasure in the suffering of others.

  “Before the war ended, his commander was transferred to assist with the defense of Okinawa and brought his pet torturer with him. Ogawa was the one who suggested that they use schoolchildren as soldiers on the front lines and as suicide bombers. Over half of them were killed when the Americans took the island.

  “His commander, Isamu, tried to commit seppuku after the battle was lost, but Kamiko’s mother found him and turned him before he died. She also turned this one. As humans, they were as bad as Forsaken. As Forsaken, they were allowed to become true monsters.

  “After Kamiko’s mother died when the bombs dropped, Kamiko used them as enforcers to keep her followers in line. She gave those who displeased her to them to torture for their failures or imagined slights. With victims that did not die easily, they were able to advance their entertainments to a new high.”

  “Oh, Akio, you embarrass me with your praise.” The Forsaken smiled as he let his eyes wander up and down Akio’s body. “I did so enjoy the sound of your screams as I played your body and mind like a violin. You were always so tough, so determined not to show any reaction to the things I did to you. What was the name of your little friend again? Kenjii, wasn’t it? I still smile when I remember the anguish you suffered as Isamu and I tortured him in front of you. His eyes begging you to help him as we slowly turned him into a screaming pile of flesh and you could do nothing to save him.”

  “Yes, I remember, Ogawa,” Akio growled. His fangs showed as he slowl
y slid his katana from its sheath. His eyes glowed red like the fires of hell, and his voice turned as cold as a grave. “Now there is no one to save you from me.”

  “Kill them,” Ogawa ordered.

  The other three Forsaken surged toward Akio and Yuko, swords at the ready. As the first reached Akio, he blurred out of sight at preternatural speed and the Forsaken lurched to a halt as his head slid off the stump of his neck, blood spraying as it fell into the dust.

  Yuko stepped back as she was rushed by another, her sword held high with the blade pointed toward her attacker. His blade flashed down in a move designed to eviscerate her from shoulder to waist but abruptly stopped as she brought hers down to block.

  The Forsaken stared at the crossed blades, his eyes wide with shock that such a small woman could block his swing, not to mention stop the blade entirely. He jerked the sword back and slashed at her face, only to have his blade stopped cold again.

  Yuko slid her blade off his, pushing it to the side, and feinted a stab toward his exposed leg. As he snatched his blade back to block, she smoothly reversed her swing, and a gash appeared in his shoulder.

  He stumbled back, his eyes wide. He was not used to anyone doing that. Before becoming Forsaken, he had been an enforcer in the Yakuza and was accustomed to people fearing the organization, not resisting. He had relied on his superior speed and strength to keep the humans in line since becoming Forsaken. Against Yuko, he was as disadvantaged as humans were against him.

  As he stared at the blood streaming from his shoulder, he didn’t see Yuko pivot with her sword extended straight out from her shoulder. He was still gaping at the bloody wound when her razor-sharp blade sliced through his unprotected neck, ending his confusion along with his life.

  Akio continued to move at preternatural speed as he easily dispatched the third attacker. To Akio’s enhanced perception, his opponent moved as slow as humans seemed to move to the Forsaken. That, coupled with his lack of training with the sword he carried, left Akio with time to observe Yuko efficiently dispatch her attacker. Both crumpled to the ground in front of Ogawa at the same time, their blood splattering across his shoes.

  Akio moved to stand in front of Ogawa and stopped, looking at him contemptuously. “Ogawa, I have waited many years for this moment. If I didn’t need to deal with this false Sho, I would take my time and make you suffer before ending your miserable life. As it is, I will have to be satisfied with your death and not the suffering you deserve.”

  Ogawa sneered. “Always the arrogant one, Akio—so certain of your superiority. I will not go as easily as the children you just killed. Until Isamu turned them, barely a year ago, they were gangsters and thugs. When I am done with you, I will make your woman scream louder than your little catamite did.”

  Akio’s lips curled into a feral grin as Ogawa spoke. When he finished, Akio blurred forward. Ogawa’s mouth opened in shock as his sword, hand still wrapped around the hilt, fell into the dust at his feet.

  Akio continued his swing as his body turned and Ogawa screamed as the blade cut into his midsection, blood flowing down and soaking his ancient armor. Akio reversed his blade, and in the blink of an eye, Ogawa’s head separated from his body and fell to the ground.

  With a nod to Yuko, Akio walked toward the closed doors of the castle. When he reached them, he hesitated only long enough to raise his foot and smash it into the center of the twin doors. The impact slammed the doors against the walls with a loud boom, knocking one off its hinges.

  He strode into the castle as the sound echoed through the open room.

  Chapter Five

  Uegusuku Castle, Kume Island, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan

  Another Forsaken in the full regalia of a fifteenth-century emperor was sitting on an ornately carved throne. Two women in traditional geisha attire knelt at its foot on either side with their heads bowed, their eyes staring sightlessly at the floor. The numerous bite marks and scars on their necks made it evident the Forsaken fed on them frequently.

  The Forsaken glared at them, his eyes flashing red as he snarled, “Who dares come into my home in such a disrespectful manner? I will see your heads hanging on my wall before daybreak for this insult. What gives you the right to so boldly enter Sho Mitsuro’s keep?”

  Yuko stepped up beside Akio as he halted just inside the doors. “Full of himself, isn’t he?” she murmured.

  “Still your vulgar tongue, harlot!” Mitsuro raged as he surged to his feet and drew a well-worn katana from the sash around his robes. “I will remove it from your mouth if you speak again,” he growled as he pointed the blade at Yuko.

  Yuko’s eyes flashed red as she raised her sword and started toward him.

  “Yuko, hold. This one and I are old acquaintances. He is mine,” Akio told her coldly, his voice holding a hatred she had never heard from him before.

  She lowered her sword with a huff, still glaring at the man in front of the throne. Her lips were tight with anger as she murmured, “If he calls me a whore again, I’ll shoot him.”

  Akio cut his eyes toward the infuriated woman. “Who is this?” he chided. “When did the Queen’s Vicereine become so bloodthirsty? I thought you preferred to negotiate with your voice, not your Jean Dukes.”

  Yuko lifted her chin. “I am my Queen’s Vicereine, and as such, I will not tolerate this disrespect. To disrespect me in such a way is also disrespectful to Bethany Anne. That will not be tolerated.”

  Akio’s lips turned up in an almost undetectable smile before he addressed the Forsaken. “Sho Mitsuro?” He sneered. “I knew you had an overinflated sense of worth, Isamu, but this is a bit much, even for Kamiko’s favorite errand boy.”

  “Errand boy?” Mitsuro echoed. “Akio, you who abandoned Kamiko Kana in her time of need, dare call me that? I alone have remained faithful and kept her dream alive. I have worked to establish a world controlled by us, the true masters. A world where the human cattle and the Weres know their place. You are no better than a rabid dog. I will take your head and offer it as a tribute to Kamiko Kana’s memory.” He glared at Yuko. “Then, I will take your whore and make her part of my personal harem.” He leered as he indicated the two kneeling women.

  Yuko’s face darkened in rage as she reached for her Jean Dukes Special, only to be stopped by Akio’s outstretched hand as he responded to the Forsaken.

  “Isamu, it would have been better for all if you had died in that cave when you were bleeding out from your wounds. You were without honor as a human, you had no honor after you were turned, and the evil you have inflicted here, along with the beasts we were forced to destroy proves that you still lack honor. You always felt that you were above everyone else. Naming yourself emperor shows that you are still infected with that same pretentious arrogance.”

  “Do not call me that name again,” he yelled, his eyes wide and spittle flying from his mouth. “Isamu was weak and died in that cave the day Okinawa fell to the American forces. What emerged was much more. I am Sho Mitsuro to you, cur, and that is the name that will be on your traitorous lips when you die.”

  Mitsuro stepped off the dais that held his throne and stopped between the two women kneeling there. They showed no signs of being aware of anything around them, continuing to look down at the floor in front of their knees. He laughed. “Your whore will make a nice addition to these that I took from that simpering fool of a Mayor.”

  Enraged beyond reason or logic, Yuko shoved past Akio as she drew her katana and flew across the space between them, her eyes burning red.

  Mitsuro smiled as he pressed the button on a remote hidden in his hand.

  The floor beneath Yuko disappeared when a trapdoor that covered nearly all the space between the door and the throne gaped open under her feet. Her forward momentum carried her to the edge closest to Mitsuro, her toes contacted the rim and gripped it.

  Before she could gain her balance, Mitsuro casually raised his sword. The point struck her lightly in the center of her chest. The steel didn’t penetrate t
he Jean Dukes armor under her clothes, but gravity took control. She fell into the dark, gaping hole as Mitsuro smirked at her.

  Akio watched helplessly as Yuko plummeted backward. The snarls and the stench of death emitted from the dark told him there were more Nosferatu below. Before he could react, the floor snapped back into place and locked, cutting him off from her with a solid thud.

  “Now that your whore is a plaything for my pets below, it is just us,” Mitsuro growled as his eyes turned red again. “I think I will make you suffer before you are allowed to die, traitor.”

  Chapter Six

  Uegusuku Castle, Kume Island, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan

  Yuko twisted as she fell through the darkness. She landed hard on one knee and was immediately swarmed by a group of blood-crazed Nosferatu. They knocked her to the ground and buried her under a mass of teeth and claws. Her armor blocked most of the attacks, but the enraged horde repeatedly ripped her exposed skin.

  She pushed against the floor, launching her body with her enhanced strength and scattering the creatures as she surged upward. She landed on her feet with her blade ready and sliced the arm off a Nosferatu as its clawed fingers reached for her face. She followed through with a twist of her wrist that left a headless body where her blade passed. As it crumpled to the ground, she spread her feet and braced for attack from the numerous others rushing at her.

  In the dim light of a single torch, she saw that she was in a room almost the size of the throne room above. She also saw that she had located more of the missing villagers, who had become feral beasts. Their clothes were in tatters, their bodies as gray as corpses, wasted and gaunt. There were almost twenty of them closing in on her from all sides. Although her enhancements healed the damage from their claws and teeth, being mobbed again was not something she wanted to experience, so she started cutting her way through the horde in the direction that had the fewest opponents.