Togashi Yoshune ran as swiftly as
he could, never looking back. His bare feet moved easily over
the rugged terrain of the Great Climb. His long black hair flowed
behind him on the fierce mountain wind. The little boy grinned
eagerly as he dodged to one side, tucking behind a large outcropping
of stone. He peered back the way he had come and waited.
After several minutes a tall man appeared
on the road, fierce eyes searching everywhere as he marched swiftly
forward. He wore the topknot and daisho of a samurai and the
brilliant green kimono of a Dragon Clan lord. He climbed a tall
pillar of stone with remarkable ease and looked all around.
"I know you are here, Yoshune,"
he said. "I know you are hiding from me."
Yoshune said nothing, only crouched
deeper in his hiding place.
The samurai scowled. "You cannot
hide forever!" he promised. "I will find you!"
"Not likely, father," Yoshune
called back. He threw his voice as the ise zumi taught him so
that it would echo off the mountain walls and come from all directions
at once.
"The Great Climb is no place
for a child," the samurai answered. "These lands are
treacherous. Even the Mirumoto bushi are wary of them."
"Then when I return home I shall
be a strong as a Mirumoto bushi!" Yoshune said boldly. "Go
back home, and I shall return when I am done with my adventure!"
The samurai looked thoughtful for
a moment, shrugged, and seated himself on the rock pillar. Reaching
into his kimono, he drew out a small package and began to unwrap
it. Taking out one of the small cakes inside, he began to chew
noisily.
A few seconds later, Yoshune appeared
at the base of the pillar, looking up with wide eyes. "Are
those the rice cakes mother makes?" Yoshune asked in a small
voice.
The samurai nodded. "With the
plum jelly, yes," he replied. He took out another, looked
at it with great pleasure, and took a bite.
"Those are my favorite,"
Yoshune said. The boy's stomach growled.
"I would have brought you one,"
the samurai said, looking down at Yoshune with mild surprise,
"but I thought you were off on an adventure."
"I'm done now, father," Yoshune said in a firm voice,
watching the rice cake hungrily.
"We all learn something from our adventures," Yoshune's
father said, looking at the cake patiently. "What have you
learned, little Yoshune?"
"Not to forget to bring food
with me," he said, climbing up onto the pillar next to his
father.
Yoshune's father smiled and handed
the boy a fresh cake. Yoshune took it with both hands and chewed
hungrily. Togashi Hoshi was the most mysterious man in the lands
of the Dragon. Champion of the Dragon Clan, son of the Kami Togashi,
the legendary Man-Beast, an entire order of monks had dedicated
themselves to understanding his power and wisdom. To Yoshune,
he was just "father."
"You should not run away on these
adventures, Yoshune," Hoshi said. "You will kill your
mother with worry."
"And were you worried about me?" Yoshune asked, looking
up at his father.
"Yes," Hoshi said. "I was."
"Then why could you not find
me?" Yoshune asked. "You could have used your magic
to discover me in an instant."
"Because I wanted it to be your
choice to return," Hoshi said, chewing on his own cake as
he studied the swirling clouds far below. "If I had turned
myself into a dragon, cast my flaming eye upon the mountains,
sought you out in your hiding place, and whisked you back home
in a mighty claw then you would have learned nothing. Tomorrow
you would have left again or worse yet, you would have never
left again."
Yoshune chewed quietly for a few seconds, then looked up at his
father. "Either way, I would have learned nothing."
"Precisely," Hoshi said, smiling proudly.
"May I ask you a question, father?"
Yoshune asked. "It is something I have been thinking about
for a long time"
"Of course," Hoshi replied.
"Ask me whatever you like."
Yoshune's eyes gleamed. "Will
you teach me how to turn into a dragon as you do, as grandfather
did?"
Hoshi laughed out loud. "That
is not the sort of thing that can be taught, my son," he
said. "Though in time you may unravel that mystery for yourself."
"How much time?" Yoshune
asked, shoulders slumping in disappointment.
"I do not know," Hoshi asked,
"but when the time comes I think you will come to be even
stronger than me, in your own way."
"I want to be a dragon now,"
Yoshune said with a sigh.
Hoshi wrapped one arm around his son's
shoulder and hugged him fondly. "Some day," he said.
"But until then, how about a ride back home?"
Yoshune tried to contain his grin,
pretending as if this had not been his plan all along. Hoshi
stood atop the stone pillar and leapt into the air. His form
shimmered and twisted, transforming into a coiling red dragon
that danced upon the winds. Turning agilely in midair he swam
back toward Yoshune and dipped his head. With a wild hoot, Yoshune
leapt onto his father's shoulders and seized his fiery mane.
Togashi Hoshi let loose a roar that echoed across the Great Climb
and soared into the sky.
"I can see the whole world from
here," Yoshune shouted over the howling winds.
"Mark it well, my son,"
Hoshi said. "One day it will fall to you to protect it."
"To me?" Yoshune asked,
"but you are immortal, father. Will you not rule the Dragon
forever?"
"I am no leader," Hoshi
said. "I am neither human enough to understand the Dragon
nor divine enough to guide them. My destiny lies elsewhere."
"Do not worry, little Yoshune,"
he said. "I will not leave for a long time yet. We will
still have time to fly through the mountains together. And I
would never miss your gempukku. Have you given any thought to
what name you will choose?"
"Satsu," Yoshune said without
hesitation.
Hoshi seemed surprised. "Satsu?"
he said. "For Hitomi's brother?"
"He died for the future, even
though he did not understand it," Yoshune answered. "I
do not know how he had the wisdom to do something so difficult.
I hope by taking his name I will understand. Is that a good reason
to take a name, father?"
"Yes, Yoshune," Hoshi said,
smiling with pride again. "It is a very good reason to take
a name."
Today
"I have brought you a gift," Togashi Matsuo said.
The countless Shakoki Dogu suddenly
ceased their advance on the solitary tattooed man and looked
at one another with unblinking eyes. Heichi Jianzhen looked similarly
surprised by the tattooed man's words.
"A gift?" Jianzhen replied.
"What are you talking about, Dragon?"
"Is it not customary when entering
another samurai's territory to bring a gift?" Matsuo asked.
"It would be impolite to kill me before you accepted mine,
Jianzhen-sama."
The hovering shugenja watched Matsuo suspiciously. "You
could give me nothing that I would desire save your death, which
will occur shortly."
"What if I rid you of Kokujin?" Matsuo replied.
"As I said, we do not want your
war here, Dragon," Jianzhen snarled. "We can rid ourselves
of Kokujin as easily as we rid ourselves of you." The Shakoki
Dogu began to advance again.
"No," Matsuo said. "You
cannot."
The statues stopped again, now only
a few feet from Matsuo.
"Why do you say this?" Jianzhen
asked. She moved closer to Matsuo, the Shakoki Dogu parting as
she approached.
"Look at the army you have here,"
Matsuo said, gesturing to the Shakoki Dogu. "I have been
told much of Kokujin. If you were any threat to him, he would
not be here. Somehow he has found a way to protect himself from
your spirits, hasn't he?"
"You are a clever man, Matsuo,"
Jianzhen said. She now stood only a dozen feet from Matsuo. "Even
so, what makes you believe that you can succeed where I have
failed? My Shakoki Dogu watched as your party was ambushed. We
saw your leader dragged away in chains, along with your shugenja
and your strongest warriors."
"It is true that alone we could
not defeat Kokujin," Matsuo said. "Perhaps if we help
one another we can find a way."
"Are you certain you wish to
ally with us?" Jianzhen asked with a severe look. "When
you learn the forces that are truly arrayed against you, you
might pray that I had killed you."
"A cryptic comment like that
only makes me more eager," Matsuo said with a laugh.
"Very well, then," Jianzhen
said. "Collect the wounded monk and the hiding archer, Togashi
Matsuo. Bring them to the temple at the base of that mountain."
She pointed to a nearby crest. "I shall wait for you there,
and all shall be explained."
Matsuo looked at the mountain then turned to Jianzhen to reply.
She had vanished into shadow. The Shakoki Dogu figures looked
at Matsuo in silence and melted back into the earth. Mirumoto
Rosanjin stepped out of the bushes and let out a breath of relief.
He shouldered his bow and ran to meet Matsuo.
"Well done, Togashi," Rosanjin
said. "I thought I was going to have to put an arrow through
her head at one point."
"When she threatened to rid herself of me?" Matsuo
asked.
"Actually, no," Rosanjin
said with a smirk. "It was when she said I wasn't the strongest
Dragon warrior."
"Careful, Rosanjin," Matsuo
warned as they headed off to collect Wayan. "The mountains
whisper their secrets to her, you know."
As if the horrors of war were not
quite horrible enough, now disease ran rampant in the lands of
the Dragon. Satsu knew that outbreaks of disease were a part
of war - the presence of rotting corpses and lack of decent food
often lead to pestilence. To know it and to see it were two very
different things.
Satsu stood at the edge of Mikoto
Mura, a small Dragon village named for a minor hero of the Clan
Wars. Now it was a dead husk. Many of the houses had been burned
to try to contain the plague. Many others were marked with bright
red kanji to prevent those yet uninfected from entering and becoming
victims. A few Dragon shugenja in silken green robes, robes now
stained with blood and filth, moved about the village trying
to bring hope to the survivors and peace to the dying. There
were too few.
Satsu steadied the large sack over
his shoulder and strode into the village. An old shugenja immediately
ran forward to stop him. "Togashi-san," the man said,
noting Satsu's shaven head and vibrant tattoos. "This village
is not safe. You must leave before you are infected."
Satsu bowed respectfully to the shugenja.
"Do not fear for me, Tamori-san," he said. "My
tattoos protect me as your magic protects you. I am Satsu, son
of Hoshi."
The man's wrinkled face suddenly brightened
with hope. "Satsu-sama?" he said in a quavering voice.
"Here?"
"I have brought food and medicine,"
he said, nodding to the sack he carried.
"Arigato, Satsu-sama," the shugenja said, bowing deeply.
"Such things are greatly needed, and deeply appreciated.
Please follow me."
The shugenja led Satsu through the dying village, toward a large
temple in its center. A statue of Jurojin stood watch over the
temple gates. Satsu could not help but think that the elder Fortune
looked saddened by the fate of Mikoto Mura. He bowed his head
respectfully to the Fortune of Longevity and stepped inside.
The stench within the temple made him choke. Heaps of dead bodies
wrapped in straw mats stood stacked beside the doors, prepared
for later cremation. Beyond the doors, the temple had been transformed
into a makeshift hospital. Infected villagers lay everywhere.
A few shugenja tried to make them as comfortable as possible
with straw pallets and small cushions. Sadly the number of sick
was small compared to the number of dead.
"Togashi Satsu-sama, allow me
to introduce Tamori Chieko," the old shugenja said, pausing
beside one of the nearest pallets. "She leads the fight
against the plague here. Her healing powers are matched only
by her boundless compassion." A dainty woman knelt beside
a dying man covered with festering boils. Her head was bowed
in prayer, and when she looked up her cheeks were stained with
tears. Satsu was surprised by her beauty, especially amid such
horror.
"I am sorry," Satsu replied.
"I wish I could do more."
"Then do more, son of Hoshi,"
she said as she rose. "End this war with the Phoenix. Bring
peace so that no more innocents will die."
"It is not that simple,"
Satsu said.
"Then stop wishing for what you
do not truly desire," Chieko said coldly. "This war
is a war of pride. Your father has the power of a god. Why does
he allow this misery? Is the pride of the Dragon Clan so valuable?"
"Hoshi cannot stop this plague,"
Satsu said. "If mortal problems were solved so easily we
would only make greater mistakes."
Chieko looked down at the dead man,
then back at Satsu. "This man was the father of three children,"
she said. "Tell me what fate is worse for them than his
death."
"I hope a future worse than this
never comes to pass," Satsu replied. "My father is
not ignorant of your plight. He sent me to give you all that
you require."
"All he cared to give, you mean,"
she said.
"I am not your enemy," Satsu
said calmly. "Would you turn me aside? Would you commit
the same sin of which you accuse my father? Would you kill these
people for your pride?"
Chieko looked down at the ground and
was quiet for a long time. The wails of the sick and dying filled
the silence. When she looked up at Satsu again, her anger was
replaced by respect and understanding. "Follow me, Satsu-sama,"
she said. "I will show you how to help us."
Today
"The old monk will live," Jianzhen said, startling
Matsuo from his meditations. "I have not drawn upon my magic
for healing in some time, but he is very strong. He is too stubborn
to die, I think."
Rosanjin laughed. "That sounds like Wayan." The samurai
leaned against the temple wall and nodded respectfully to the
Boar.
Jianzhen knelt beside Matsuo in the
small shrine. The wind moaned through the mountains around the
tiny temple. The building was little more than a ruin, with many
of the walls crumbling badly in places. The shrine bore no symbols
of any ancestors or Fortunes. Whatever had been here once had
long since been removed.
"So how did the Boar return?"
Matsuo asked.
"We never left," Jianzhen
replied. "We merely changed."
Matsuo looked at Jianzhen patiently.
"Our clan was founded when a
band of Crab became lost in the Twilight Mountains. The small
fortress they had constructed was buried in an earthquake. For
almost sixty years they were forgotten until, unexpectedly, the
descendants of the lost samurai returned. They considered themselves
Crab no longer. They had spent their time mining the wealth of
the Twilight Mountains, wealth they used to secure their position
as a Minor Clan. They became the Boar. They were my ancestors."
"An incredible story," Rosanjin
said. "They remained undiscovered all that time and no one
looked for them?"
"The Crab were at war; they could
not afford to lose so many troops," Jianzhen said. "They
looked for my ancestors with all the troops they could spare,
but they found nothing. My descendants were nowhere that they
could be found."
Matsuo and Rosanjin quietly waited
for Jianzhen to explain.
Jianzhen looked down at her hands, trying to choose the right
words. "My ancestors should have perished in the earthquake,
but they were saved by the Shakoki Dogu. They are ancient spirits
who dwell deep within the earth, but were brought to the surface
by a great catastrophe."
"The earthquake?" Rosanjin asked.
"No, something far worse than
that," Jianzhen said. "A thousand years ago a terrible
beast came here to die," Jianzhen said. "Its name has
been long forgotten; legend speaks of it as the First Oni. Wounded
by the Kami Shiba, it perished in the Twilight Mountains. Its
blood tainted the earth. It was the First Oni's foul essence
that awakened the Shakoki Dogu. It is their duty to contain the
First Oni's evil, to prevent it from returning to the mortal
realm."
"So why did they save your ancestors?" Matsuo asked.
Jianzhen smiled. "They were lonely,"
she said. "They saw my ancestors as worthy companions to
while away their endless vigil. So they took the lost Crab to
the place where they dwell, a place that is a part of the mortal
realm, and yet beyond it. After sixty years, my ancestors convinced
the Shakoki Dogu to release them, to let them return to the mortal
world, in return for the promise that we would forever guard
the Twilight Mountains. We kept our promise for many centuries
until Yajinden came."
"Asahina Yajinden?" Matsuo said with a shiver. "He
served Iuchiban the Bloodspeaker."
Jianzhen nodded. "He came in
the company of a corrupted Dragon named Agasha Ryuden. Ryuden
and Yajinden had heard legends about the rich iron beneath the
Twilight Mountains, and wished to use it to forge weapons of
evil. A foolish Boar allowed the two Bloodspeakers to enter the
mines, where they found the veins of iron corrupted by the First
Oni's blood. Using corrupted Agasha metal smithing techniques
and Yajinden's own perverted skill with artificing, they made
a nemuranai more horrible than any the Empire has seen - a tainted
nemuranai that creates other tainted nemuranai. The Anvil of
Despair. Yajinden began to slaughter the Boar Clan to feed the
Anvil. The Shakoki Dogu could not fight him; the Anvil is so
strong with dark magic that they could not approach it. The best
they could do was to gather the surviving Boar and take us back
to their realm."
"And there you have lived ever
since," Rosanjin said. "That is why your castles lie
in ruins. That is why this temple looks as if no one has worshipped
here in years."
Matsuo reached out one hand impulsively
toward Jianzhen, his fingers passed through her arm as if she
were only smoke.
"You say you are protected," Rosanjin said in a disgusted
voice. "It seems to me you are imprisoned."
She looked at him with a sad smile, tears welling in her eyes.
"It is not such a bad life, really," she said. "The
Shakoki Dogu have it much worse than we do. They eternally feel
the pain the First Oni's corruption inflicts on these mountains.
It drives them mad sometimes. We Boar do all that we can to ameliorate
their pain."
"Do all your clan walk the mountains
like you do, as a ghost?" Matsuo asked.
"Only me," Jianzhen answered,
"and only recently. Something is happening here that the
Shakoki Dogu do not understand; they often do not understand
the behavior of humans. They allowed me a small bit of freedom
to help unravel the mystery. My magic can still affect the mortal
world, even if I cannot."
"What have you learned?"
Matsuo asked.
"Since the arrival of Kokujin
and his minions," Jianzhen replied, "The Shakoki Dogu
can no longer enter Shiro Heichi. Every time I approach I sense
a great evil."
The realization struck Matsuo suddenly. "Kokujin has the
Anvil of Despair," he said. "He is using the tainted
iron to craft some kind of weapon."
"What do we do?" Matsuo
asked.
Five months ago
"To the south!" Satsu shouted, knocking a Shiba samurai
to the ground with a fierce kick. "Their shugenja are hidden
behind the tree line!"
The attack had been unexpected. Satsu
and his retinue had been returning to the Shrine of the Ki-Rin
to bolster the Mirumoto forces there. His group was mostly composed
of ise zumi, traveling swiftly and silently off the commonly
used roads. The Phoenix forces should not have predicted their
arrival, let alone had time to ambush them, and yet they had.
Samurai in brilliant orange armor surrounded them on all sides.
Bolts of screaming white lightning exploded from the heavens,
though Satsu noticed the bolts never struck anyone directly.
Instead they hammered the ground nearby, stunning and deafening
his Dragon allies.
Satsu seized the naginata from the
fallen Phoenix and looked back to see if any had heard his rallying
cry. His comrades were still engaged in battle with the Phoenix,
unable to answer his call. He set off alone; if the Phoenix shugenja
could be dealt with then they might yet have a chance.
"There he is!" shouted a
triumphant voice. "There is the Man-Beast's son!"
Satsu looked up to see a quartet of
Phoenix horseman galloping toward him. The leader wore the extravagant
back banner of a shireikan, obviously the leader of the group.
The riders kept their swords sheathed, wielding short handled
jo staves instead. Their intent was obvious; they meant to capture
him alive, to use him as a hostage against his father. Satsu
held his spear low, aiming it against the chest of the closest
horseman. A bolt of lightning hammered the earth behind him,
pitching him forward onto the ground. His mouth filled with dirt
and blood. A piercing ring echoed through his head, numbing all
other sound. He tried to command his legs to stand again, but
they would not. He was weak, helpless, and any moment he would
be a prisoner of the Phoenix Clan.
Except that he was not. Slowly, the
ringing faded and the strength returned to his limbs. Satsu sat
up painfully and looked around. The earth was strewn with the
bodies of dead Phoenix. A horse lay beside him, its neck twisted
savagely. Satsu looked around for some sign of his savior. A
massive ise zumi sat cross-legged on a tree stump. The dark tattoos
of a kikage zumi, the Moon-worshipping order of the tattooed
men, crossed his thick chest but his face was familiar.
"You are Hogai," Satsu said
in disbelief, "the Crab ambassador."
"Not a Crab anymore," Hogai said bluntly. "Yesterday
I heard the Lady's call. I am Hitomi Hogai now."
Satsu was surprised despite his disgust for the carnage that
surrounded them. He looked up at the sky. Lady Moon shone brightly
upon them. "So Hitomi has taken to recruiting members of
other clans again, even from the Heavens?"
"Only when it is important,"
Hogai said. "Shiba Hayoto would have taken you hostage.
I convinced him such an action was not wise and sent him back
to Shiro Shiba. He was not pleased." Hogai looked at the
dead horse. "I think he did not want to walk."
Satsu looked at Hogai in disbelief.
"What happened to the other Phoenix?"
Hogai regarded Satsu calmly. "I
killed them," he said. "Just as they killed your retinue."
Satsu felt a cold sensation deep in
his chest. He suddenly felt very tired. He rubbed his eyes with
one hand as the enormity of it all sank in. He had seen death
before, but not like this. "No," Satsu said. "I
killed them. None of them would have been here if I had not come.
Father could have sent another emissary, but I thought I could
help. I should have known better."
Hogai folded his arms across his chest
and leaned forward on his knees, cupping one meaty hand on each
shoulder. "So what will you do?" he asked eagerly.
"Return to Togashi Mountain?"
"No," Satsu said. "I
have come this far. I will not hide from this war."
"So then you will go to Ki-Rin's
Shrine and feast on the blood of the Phoenix?" Hogai asked
eagerly. "If so, I am with you."
"I will go to Ki-Rin's Shrine,"
Satsu said, "but not to seek revenge. I want to find an
end to this war. Thank you for saving my life, Hogai-san."
"I ask a favor in return,"
the kikage zumi said bluntly.
Satsu studied Hogai warily. "What
is that?" he asked.
"When you go into battle, take
me with you," Hogai said with a savage grin. "I am
not the sort who fears spilling blood."
"I do not fear battle either,"
Satsu said. He was uneasy in the kikage zumi's presence, as if
Hogai might explode into violence again at any moment.
"There is a difference between
a warrior and a killer, Satsu," Hogai replied. "You
are a warrior. I am a killer. Keep me by your side, to guard
against your enemies."
"And why would I want a killer
by my side?" Satsu asked.
"So that you can see my example,"
Hogai said, "and never become like me."
Satsu considered the grim tattooed
man's words. He nodded slowly. "Very well, Hogai-san,"
he said. "I accept."
Today
"I choose Hogai," Satsu said, lowering his head in
defeat.
"Are you sure that is the wise
choice?" Kokujin asked in an amused voice. "The kikage
zumi has a great deal of blood, and his heart is the heart of
a killer. His soul will give my sword quite an edge."
Satsu looked up at Kokujin. "You
asked me to choose and I have chosen," he spat. "I
choose Hitomi Hogai." Satsu looked at Hogai. The kikage
zumi looked back at Satsu with quiet courage, resigned to his
fate.
"Very well," Kokujin said
with a small smile. Behind him, a quartet of tattooed goblins
filed into the chamber and looked up at their master curiously.
Kokujin looked down at them with a charming smile. "Chain
the girl to the Anvil," he said.
The goblins cackled and obediently
hurried to Tamori Chieko. They loosened her chains and led her
toward the Anvil of Despair. She stumbled along numbly, unwilling
to believe what was happening.
"Kokujin, no!" Satsu shouted.
"I chose Hogai!"
"I know what you chose,"
Kokujin said. "You forget that I am a Dragon too, so not
all that I say is as it appears. You think that my objective
here was to force you to condemn a friend and watch him die.
No. My goal was for you to condemn a friend and watch him live.
Now every time you look into Hitomi Hogai's eyes you will remember
how you damned him."
"Damn you Kokujin," Satsu
hissed. "I will kill you for this."
Kokujin frowned. "Damn me indeed. That's all you have to
say? How disappointing. Perhaps you will think of something more
clever after I kill Chieko."
Kokujin turned back toward the Anvil, lifting his unfinished
katana high. Satsu's eyes met Tamori Chieko's. Strangely, he
saw no fear. She was serene, as if all that was about to occur
was meant to be. For a single instant, she smiled at Satsu.
Then the castle filled with screams.
"We are here," Kaelung said,
gasping for breath as he collapsed against a large boulder. The
Twilight Mountains lay before them, eternal and foreboding.
Togashi Mitsu fell on his knees, bracing
one hand against the ground as the world returned to normal speed.
He gasped as he fell into a sitting position and wiped the sweat
from his eyes. "We should begin our search at Shiro Heichi,"
Mitsu said. "It is well fortified; Kokujin would find it
a suitable fortress."
"You know where to find it?"
Kaelung asked.
"I have been there once before,"
Mitsu said. "Some days I think I have been everywhere once
before."
"We have to rest," Kaelung said. "The Centipede's
power has drained us both. We cannot fight like this."
"We cannot rest for long,"
Mitsu replied. "Satsu and the others are in danger."
"Then Satsu and the others should have never come,"
Kaelung replied, glaring at Mitsu. "I am not here for them,
Mitsu. I am here for Kokujin. If you place us in danger to save
their lives, I will leave you behind."
"And if you place the others in danger to kill Kokujin you
will find me equally unforgiving," Mitsu said.
"Then let us hope that we are
not forced into disagreement," Kaelung answered.