by Ryan Kirk
“She went for a walk,” one of the guards replied.
Asa cursed. Why tonight, of all nights?
“I need every guard. Wake everyone! Find Lady Mari and bring her back immediately, no matter her orders. Everyone stands guard tonight!”
There was a moment of stunned silence.
“NOW!”
The group burst into action, and Asa saw Suzo’s leg again. It still bled freely. She couldn’t believe the woman had been able to walk. She wouldn’t be standing for much longer. Asa grabbed another guard scurrying about. “Fetch a dayblade, now!”
For a few moments, her life quieted. She was too weak to find Mari herself. She had no choice but to trust the guards.
The scheme against them was brilliant, and she’d played right into it. Asa’s swords were well known. If one of them ended up embedded in Lady Mari, House Kita would be taken over by Yoshinori, and the blades would be accused of treason yet again. There would be no haven in the Kingdom for them. Asa only hoped Suzo had rescued her in time for them to make a difference.
After a while, Jun came into the room. Asa nodded at him gratefully. He came to her, but Asa shook her head. “Her first.” She gestured to Suzo.
Jun nodded and went to Suzo. Suzo’s eyes went wide. She’d probably never been healed before. The process was painful, but often blissfully short.
When Jun was finished, he came to Asa. “Your injuries?”
“Something is torn in my left shoulder, and all the pain associated from being chained with my hands above me for a few days.”
Jun made no comment, but he started by healing her shoulder. Asa grimaced and fought back the involuntary tears.
The healing wasn’t as painful as she’d expected. She’d suffered from discomfort during her captivity, but she hadn’t been otherwise mistreated. When she stood, she felt tired but capable.
Not long after, there was a flurry of activity as Lady Mari and Takahiro were rushed into the room. The hallways immediately filled with guards following Asa’s orders. When she saw the lady, Asa felt shame well up inside her. How close had they come to disaster because of her actions? Asa breathed a deep sigh of relief. They hadn’t been too late, after all.
Mari looked at the head of her guards. “Where have you been?”
Asa related the story quickly. Mari’s eyes went wide at times, but she didn’t comment. When Asa finished, Mari turned to Suzo. “Thank you. Your actions tonight might have saved us all.”
Suzo bowed, flush with pride, but didn’t say anything.
Together, they all sat and waited. Asa knew who the third man would be, and they were all on guard. The plan was sure to fail now. If nothing else, Asa now had an alibi. Dozens of people had seen her. The more time passed, the more Asa felt certain that they’d triumphed. By the time the sun rose, she was beginning to feel ready to sleep, finally.
A shuffling of feet in the hallway beyond perked them all up. After a small commotion, a messenger came into the room, his face ashen. Asa’s heart sank. What could possibly have happened?
“It’s Lord Isamu,” the messenger said. “He was murdered last night in his sleep.”
17
Another estate stood in front of Koji and his blades. The sun was beginning to set on the horizon and Koji used the last light to observe the area.
The estate stood alone, well-designed buildings interrupting the otherwise endless plains. Koji could see a handful of guards, but there wasn’t even a wall around the property. Perhaps the noble had never worried about being attacked, but Koji assumed the noble house was so small it wasn’t worth spending the resources to protect it.
Koji felt trapped in a loop. This was the fifth—or was it the sixth?—estate that they’d raided. His warriors were becoming old hands at this, and that complacency could lead to mistakes.
Ever since the slaughter of the heavy cavalry unit, Koji had wondered if they should begin their return to the lands of House Kita. Summer was coming to a close, and while the days were still hot, in the evening cold breezes cut down from the north, signaling the change of seasons. Koji believed they had made a difference. He had to. Otherwise, what had their sacrifices been for?
But they couldn’t do this forever. He’d been fortunate enough not to lose a blade yet, but the only true challenge they’d faced was the cavalry, and their surprise in that instance had been complete. Soon, blades would fall, and they were already a small group.
Worse, he couldn’t get the scenes of this past summer out of his mind. He had nightmares about wading through rivers of blood, scenes of the slaughter of the cavalry replaying nearly every night. When he trained, he noticed that he was getting slower. He’d been bested a few times even in the past few days. The blades who’d beaten him thought it was because they were getting stronger. He didn’t want to disabuse them of the notion, but he alone knew the truth. He was getting weaker.
Below him, the estate settled into its evening routine. The guard patrol was regular and small. Koji didn’t see that many people, but considering the size of the estate, he wasn’t terribly surprised.
The blades gathered as night fell. Koji ran through the plan quickly, but there wasn’t much to say. They’d approach from a few different directions and kill the guards at once. Then they’d raid the estate, burn what they couldn’t carry, and kill the noble. Koji didn’t see any reason to alter the approach that so far had worked so well.
They split up into their normal groups and made their way toward the estate. Thanks to their gift, they could keep track of each other even in the dark. As they approached the estates, though, Koji began feeling a sense of unease. His hair stood up on the back of his neck, but he didn’t know why.
He paused, pushing out with his sense to understand why he worried. Then he realized his mistake. From their observation at a distance, the estate hadn’t been very crowded. To his sense, though, as he got closer, he could feel the energy of the lives inside. There were a number of people there, far more than he would have expected.
Did it change his plans? He could think of a few reasons for the difference. Perhaps the nobles were hosting another family, and they’d all been indoors for their meal. Perhaps the family was much larger than he’d guessed. But he couldn’t quite get the pieces to fit with his intuition. This was wrong.
Just as soon as he’d come to that decision, he heard a soft whoomp off in the distance, and a red, burning ball of light hung in the sky. There were several more of the deep sounds, and soon the entire ground was bathed in an eerie red light. They were like fireworks, but not exactly.
Koji sensed a trap, even if he didn’t know what exactly it was. Before he could react, archers stepped out of the main buildings in orderly lines. The guards who had walked the perimeter must have been acting as spotters, because they pointed out where a group of blades stood, visible to a watchful eye. Koji’s people had gotten complacent.
Bows came up in unison, and Koji just barely had time to yell, “Shields!” before the first wave came at them.
Koji brought his shield up just in time to feel the solid thunk of an arrow. Several others went wide. His small group hadn’t been injured, but he didn’t have time to check on the others.
They’d only been about thirty paces from the estate perimeter when the fire, now slowly drifting down, had shot into the sky. Koji didn’t dare turn his back on the archers. “Charge!”
His group of blades ran forward. Koji sensed the other two groups doing the same. A small part of him recognized the groups were smaller than they should have been, but he was in the thick of battle and didn’t have time to think.
Some of the archers had switched to swords. Others were trying to fire their bows at close range. Koji could tell the group had some training, but not enough. His blades fell into them, tearing them apart now that they were inside effective bow range. Koji attacked with the others, losing himself blissfully in the battle.
He felt slow, like all his limbs were weighted. He could still
sense his opponents, and they were still slower than him, but Koji knew he was capable of more.
As soon as they reached the archers, the battle was over. The trap had been sprung, but the archers still hadn’t been prepared to fight the blades. The group worked their way through the house, and Koji stepped into the main room just in time to see Sakura cut through an older man’s neck.
The man had been on his knees, pleading, and from the quality of his clothing Koji guessed he was the head of this family.
Koji froze as he saw the scene. Not because it was unusual; their orders were to kill the nobles and leave the land in chaos. But something about the scene suddenly struck Koji as wrong. The man had been on his knees, and Sakura’s face was devoid of expression. It didn’t affect her in the least. She might as well have been harvesting rice as killing a man.
Koji shook his head, trying to straighten out his thoughts. Another noble family had fallen, helping Mari reclaim her land and heal the Kingdom. He just had to keep that in the front of his mind.
Reports came to him quickly. First was the news that the storerooms of the estate were almost entirely empty. Somehow, Koji didn’t find that surprising. They’d been ready for the blades. Either the food was all gone, or it had already been sent off to the armies.
Then came the word he’d been dreading. They’d lost two blades in the initial attack. Koji ordered pyres built so they could be sent to the Great Cycle, as befitted a blade. He knew the sorrow would come, but for now, he simply felt empty inside.
He wanted to go home.
After the raid on the last estate, Koji decided to begin heading northeast. The path would take them back in the direction of House Kita lands, and would hopefully take them out of the way of enemies chasing them. As far as Koji knew, the far north was quieter than the south, where all the armies and supply routes were focused.
They traveled for two days without incident, but on the morning of the third, disaster found them.
One of their scouts came running toward the main group, a look of fear on her face. Before she even spoke, Koji knew something horrible approached.
Koji didn’t even have time to ask what happened. The scout shouted as she approached. “There’s a large regiment in front of us!”
She stopped in front of Koji, out of breath, hands on her knees.
“Tell me what you saw,” Koji demanded. He’d worried that this would be a consequence of their success. Eventually, Katashi had to devote forces to stopping them. It had been part of the plan all along.
“I got as close as I dared, but even that wasn’t close. I’d estimate five hundred soldiers, all well-trained. They are marching in good order. Although I couldn’t be sure, I’d say we’re looking at a frontline unit.”
Koji didn’t waste time questioning the scout’s assessment. In the time his group had been together, he’d learned to trust the other blades completely. Although part of him didn’t want to believe it, he suspected the time had finally come. Katashi was coming for him.
The blades only needed to discuss their actions for a few moments. The scout reported that the force was moving west. If Koji and the blades moved further north, the force would pass behind them and the blades could keep moving toward home.
Koji redeployed his scouts and they turned north. He would’ve liked to hurt Katashi’s army in some way, but they didn’t have a chance against a force that size. Fortunately, there wouldn’t be any need to fight.
When Sakura, who had been scouting to the north, came running back, Koji felt a stirring of fear. Running into one force was unfortunate. Running into two wasn’t a coincidence. His group was being hunted, and by no small number of people.
When the blades reconvened, the tone of the conversation had shifted. All of them felt the same as Koji. No one was naive enough to believe that running into two strong forces was chance. Their conversation, by necessity, was brief.
“Are we sure these are frontline units?”
Sakura nodded. “I’m almost certain of what I saw.”
“So we think all this pressure is coming from the invading armies?”
There were nods around the circle. They all knew what that meant. If the armies were coming from the east and north, the safest direction was west, farther into enemy territory.
“Do we chance going deeper into Katashi’s lands?” Koji hated the idea. He wanted to be home, not chased endlessly through hostile plains.
The group stood silent. No one knew the answer. Going west might only prolong the inevitable.
“The only other idea I can think of is to sneak through the gaps before the groups converge. Do we risk it all in one attempt, or do we make them chase us?”
“That’s assuming they don’t have forces coming from the west, too,” Sakura said softly.
She had a point. They didn’t know if they were surrounded. If they chose to go west and ran into another force, the noose would already be tight around their necks.
“I’d rather try to sneak between the forces while we have a chance,” Koji decided. Some of Mari’s leadership style had rubbed off on him. He didn’t want to move unless most of the blades agreed with him. Fortunately, they all seemed to share a mind regarding this.
The decision made, everyone secured their gear tightly and began running. Koji pushed them as hard as he dared. He needed to balance the need for speed with the awareness that they had to keep some energy in reserve in case they needed to fight. They kept together as a group, with some of the faster runners a few hundred paces ahead to act as scouts.
The sun was high in the sky when the scouts returned to the rest of the group, chased by mounted archers. When the scouts reached the main group, the archers rode in circles around the blades, lazily shooting arrows at them. The horses never came close enough to counterattack, and Koji was forced to gather all the blades into a circle, forming a wall with their shields. Arrows thudded into the protection, but the archers didn’t seem particularly ambitious. They never neared, and eventually rode back to their lines. But for that entire time, Koji and his group had been pinned down.
Koji felt a knot forming in the pit of his stomach. He’d never quite seen tactics like these before, and they made him uneasy. This opponent they faced knew they were blades, and he had no desire to risk his people. A single cavalry charge might be enough to destroy Koji’s group, but it would come at a cost of lives this commander didn’t see fit to sacrifice.
Koji didn’t see any other way forward, though. As a single group, they resumed running, trying to squeeze between the quickly closing gap between Katashi’s forces. Twice more they were found and harried by mounted archers. The archers never came closer than fifty paces, and both times Koji and the blades were forced to stop while they acted as targets. Fortunately, none of them were killed during either attack. By the time the attacks finished, Koji’s shield was almost filled with arrows. Every rider seemed to continue firing until his quiver was empty.
They ran again, and when they crested a small rise, they stopped completely. The gap had closed. Instead, they faced over a thousand cavalry and archers. Koji closed his eyes, tasting death on the air. He felt the knot in his stomach release. Having the opportunity to survive had been terrifying, but a certain peace came upon him once he knew they were trapped and done for. Behind them, cavalry encircled them, cutting off any hope of retreat, small as it had been.
Koji ordered a charge. His blades were tired, but they deserved to die with a sword in hand. Legs burning, they ran toward the enemy lines, their swords and voices raised.
Out of the corner of his eye, Koji saw two units of mounted archers spur themselves to action. Koji cursed. They’d be in range before the blades even reached the enemy lines. “Shields!” he yelled.
The blades slid to a stop, forming a circle of shields. The archers galloped around the circle, again never coming close enough to attack. But they didn’t fire on the group, either.
Koji recognized it for what it was. The enemy
commander was sending him a message.
Koji looked around the circle. These were the blades who had followed him most closely. The faces he saw were determined. Everyone knew they weren’t going to survive this battle, but that didn’t frighten them. They wanted to die with honor.
Koji knew the enemy commander wasn’t going to allow such a battle. Mounted, they had every advantage, and the commander would take every one. If Koji and the blades charged, they’d be shot down by mounted archers. If they sat still, eventually enough arrows would fall to kill them. Either way, not a single one of his warriors would die with a bloodied blade.
He nodded to himself, his decision made. He stood up, breaking the wall. As he expected, though, no one attacked him. He pulled his scabbard from his hip and held it in his right hand, above his head. He heard the gasps and mutters behind him.
“We won’t be given the chance to fight,” Koji told them.
He advanced slowly, not making any sudden moves. He knelt in the middle of the field that would have marked the deaths of the warriors who followed him, laying his sword down on his right side, where it would be almost impossible for him to draw it quickly.
The enemy lines fell silent, the only sound the creak of leather and the occasional shuffling and snorts of horses. Eventually the lines opened and a single, older man came forward. Unlike Koji, he wore his swords, ready to draw in an instant. Such was the right of the victor.
The man approached and knelt across from Koji. Koji bowed, introducing himself. The man’s eyes widened just slightly at the mention of the name. “So, you really are him.”
Koji nodded slightly, but noticed the man did not bow to him. “I am General Emon. You come to discuss terms?”
“I will surrender to you if you promise safe conduct for the warriors who serve me.”
Emon shook his head. “You are not warriors, but murderers.”
Koji was angered by the accusation, but pressed forward. “Will safe conduct be granted?
“No. You will all suffer very painful deaths for the crimes you’ve committed.”