by Sarah Ash
“Just be careful.” Umeko raised her hand to stroke his cheek affectionately. “You’ve grown into such a handsome young man; you could become a real heart-breaker, Kai.” And she withdrew, her robes whispering silkily over the polished boards.
***
Sakami was in charge of serving the rice for the men’s evening meal.
“Only one spoonful each,” Yuna had said, “and if anyone complains, send them to me.”
The grumbling began the instant the archers realized how little there was to go round.
“Is that all there is?”
“How can we fight on empty stomachs?”
“Yuna says there’s plenty of vegetables and pickles.” Mai set a pot of seaweed soup in front of them. “You can fill up on those. We’re under siege, remember?”
“And who’s keeping you safe?” said one of the archers. “Don’t we need feeding to keep our strength up?”
“Take your complaints to Yuna,” said Mai. “We’re not eating any rice at all. We’re saving it all for you.” And she twirled away, blowing them a kiss.
“How’s Shun?”
Sakami blinked; looking up, she saw that Rikyu was next in line.
“Still feverish,” she said, lacing a spoonful of rice in his out-held bowl; it looked such a meager amount that she felt ashamed to have to be so frugal. “And there’s only one dose of the medicine left.” Honou had not yet returned and she was beginning to worry; supposing he hadn’t been able to find any itadori?
“Don’t worry.” Rikyu put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder. “I’m sure he’s going to pull through. Put your trust in Lord Kaito.”
“Hurry it up, Rikyu, we’re all starving!” called out the archer behind him. “You can talk to your girlfriend later.”
Sakami felt herself blushing; so others had noticed the time that she and Rikyu had spent together looking after Shun.
“I’ll go and visit him when I’ve eaten,” said Rikyu, moving away. He had said nothing to deny the allegation and she turned to see Mai glaring at her, hands on hips.
“So that’s what you’ve been up to behind my back.” She heard the indignant whisper as she was scraping the last grains of rice from the pot. “You and Rikyu? Had you forgotten, Sakami, that he’s mine?”
“It’s not like that at all – ” Sakami began. But a sudden loud bang cracked through the air, cutting her protest short. Several of the men leapt up and Mami let out a piercing shriek. A moment later there came a second explosion, and then a third.
A conch trumpet blew several short blasts: the call to arms.
Rikyu scraped the last grains into his mouth, grabbed his bow and quiver, and hurried outside, members of his squad following.
“Take care, Rikyu,” Mai called after him from the doorway. And then she let out a cry. “Smoke! I can see smoke coming from the main courtyard.”
Fire. Sakami dropped the pot and hurried to the doorway to look out over Mai’s head. The old childhood fear overwhelmed her as she sniffed the air and caught the raw scent of burning timber. And, as if to exacerbate her fears, the castle fire-fighting squad ran past, carrying buckets and fire axes.
“What’s happened?”
“A Kite attack,” one called back.
“What are you waiting for, Sakami?” Mai was already moving. “Come and help pass buckets.”
Sakami clenched her fists. I have to master my fear. I have to go and help. She ventured out after Mai, wishing that the smell of the smoke wasn’t making her feel so dizzy.
And then she noticed a familiar mane of russet hair ahead of her caught up amongst the fire-fighters.
“Honou – where’ve you been?” she cried. “I thought you’d been caught by the Kites.”
Honou thrust a bunch of greenery into her hands. “For you. For the medicine.”
“Ooh, it’s Sakami’s handsome cousin.” Mai seemed to have forgotten all about Rikyu and the fire.
Sakami wavered, not knowing what to do first. She wanted to make sure that the precious itadori reached the guards’ hall, but everyone else was hurrying to try to put out the fire.
“Just how did you get back in?” Mai turned on Honou, wagging a finger in his face. “Were you out on the mountain spying for us? Or,” she added, narrowing her eyes, “perhaps you’re a Kite agent?”
“Don’t be so daft,” Sakami snapped back, improvising rapidly. “Of course he was spying for us. He’s working for Lord Kaito.”
“Lord Kaito?” Honou echoed in horror, then yelped as she elbowed him in the ribs.
“It’s secret. He’s not allowed to talk to the likes of us about it.”
“There were a few Kites snooping around back there,” Honou said offhandedly.
“Just ‘a few’?” Yuna had overheard their conversation.
“Near the tunnel entrance.”
“Well them don’t just stand there, boy, go and tell the general.”
Honou looked at Sakami, confusion glazing his amber eyes.
“We’ll both go.” Sakami grabbed his hand and dragged him after her.
Around the corner, in the main courtyard, the roof of the gatehouse was on fire. Sakami forced herself to ignore the blaze, even though her knees had begun to tremble.
Armed Cranes were making for the main gate, but their progress was impeded by the servants passing buckets of water from the well to douse the flames.
“Where’s the general?” Sakami tried to stop one of the guards as he ran past.
“Out of my way!” He pushed her aside. “Can’t you see we’re under attack?”
She sensed Honou bristling with anger at the man’s response and tightened her hold on his hand, dragging him behind her as she made her way determinedly toward the main house. If no one else would listen to her, then she would just have to brazen her way inside and find Lord Kaito.
A muffled thunderclap rumbled close by and Sakami felt the ground tremble beneath her feet.
“A storm?” Honou looked up at the clear sky, which was pinpricked with the first silvered stars beyond the haze of rising smoke.
“That’s not thunder. Those Kites you saw must be trying to break in through the tunnel.”
***
Naoki heard the distant thud of an explosion and felt the castle shudder to its foundations. He leapt up, the weight of his fetters dragging on his injured shoulder.
The Cranes were under attack.
Have you come for me at last, Masao? He hardly dared to allow himself to hope after being let down last time. And then a faint acrid smell sharpened the air, a smell that brought back flame-etched memories of a burning castle.
Smoke.
“What’s the point of setting fire to the Cranes’ castle, Father, if you’re going to burn me alive as well as the Cranes?” He began to laugh, a painful sound that racked his throat and made his ribcage ache. Am I losing my mind? Must keep a clear head. But who was the last person the Cranes would think to save if the fire took hold?
The smell of burning shingles reawakened old nightmares that he had never outgrown. He was ten years old again and terrified, surrounded by a ring of fire, blinded by drifting smoke… He began to tug at his fetters, but they were firmly embedded in the wall.
I’ve got to escape. He went to the window and grasped the iron bars. What am I thinking? Even if I could pull these bars out, I’m still chained to the wall. If the flames don’t get me first, the smoke will suffocate me…
***
“The Kites are attacking the main gate?” Kai said, shaken by the sound of sharp explosions. Then there followed an ominous rumble, as if of distant thunder.
“What in Inari’s name –” Susumu ran to the window to scan the courtyard.
“Is this Lord Toshiro’s response to my mother’s letter, General?”
“It seems so.” Tachibana’s reply was curt. He put on his helmet and thrust his sheathed katana into his belt. “Stay here, my lord. Susumu: protect Lord Kaito.”
Kai was about to follow w
hen the general shot him a warning look and he stopped. I’ll only be in the way. All this armor is just for show; I’m too slow to be of any use. Even so, he put his hand on the hilt of Takeru’s sword, wondering if he would be able to use it if the Kites broke through the Crane defenses.
“Someone’s calling for you, my lord.”
Kai limped across the room to gaze down into the courtyard. Servants were passing water buckets from hand to hand to quench the fires. Guards and archers were hurrying to take up their positions defending the main gate. And in the milling chaos he saw two familiar figures trying to make their way toward him, like swimmers fighting against a strong current.
“Sakami!” he called. “Honou!”
“Kites in the tunnel!” Sakami yelled, jabbing her hand in the direction of the siege tunnel.
“In the tunnel? Susumu,” Kai turned to the boy, “round up as many guards as you can and get to the tunnel entrance as fast as you can.”
“B – but the general said –” stammered Susumu.
“Just do it!”
Susumu hesitated a moment and then, to Kai’s astonishment, vaulted out of the window, landing in the courtyard one storey below, as agile as a cat.
This was just like the Kite attack on the monastery; the assault on the main gate must be merely a diversion.
That shinobi who was tailing me must have seen us using the hidden entrance, Kai realized as he took up his father’s sword and went out into the courtyard. And now he’s back – with reinforcements.
***
At first Sakami had not recognized Lord Kaito. With his hair brutally scraped back and knotted at the back of his head, he looked like a stranger. Now, as she saw him come out of the main house, carrying a katana, she could only stand there, shamelessly gaping.
He looks like one of the warrior elite.
As others in the courtyard noticed him, they drew back respectfully, murmuring his name. The glossy black and silver scales of the armor had altered the way he held himself, and the lacquered shoulder plates made his upper body look broader.
She sensed the gap between them widening, as if a deep fissure had suddenly opened up.
“Sakami?”
Kai stopped in front of her and Honou had to nudge her in the ribs to make her respond.
“My lord?”
“Come with me. You mustn’t stay out here while the Kites are attacking us with fire arrows.”
She was touched that he was concerned for her safety. “But it’s gone very quiet, my lord,” she said as she and Honou followed him. “Do you think the attack is over?”
He shook his head. “We can’t afford to assume anything where the Kites are concerned,” he said gravely.
They turned into the kitchen courtyard to see Susumu and a cluster of armed guards gathered at the far end in front of the tunnel entrance.
“Any sign of intruders?” Kai called.
“No, my lord. I sent men down into the tunnel and it’s empty.”
Sakami turned on her companion. “Honou, were you playing a trick on us?”
“I swear I saw Kites by the entrance,” Honou said, and there was no malicious glint in his eyes. “Perhaps they’re still out there, hiding, waiting to break in.”
Kai’s squire was looking at his master expectantly. Sakami looked at Kai too, wondering how he would react.
“Susumu,” he said, “I want two groups of guards; one to search inside and the other outside the tunnel. I’ll take the first, and you lead the second.”
“But isn’t that dangerous?” Sakami cried out.
As the guards turned to stare at her, she realized that she should not have spoken out so familiarly. Kai merely smiled at her and said chivalrously, “I appreciate your concern for my safety.”
The guards began to lift aside some of the timbers blocking the tunnel entrance until there was a hole big enough for a man to go through. They went in one by one, Kai last of all.
“I’m hungry, Sakami,” whined Honou.
“Go and find Mai; she’ll feed you. She likes you, Honou.”
“Do you really think so?” Honou bounded off toward the kitchen.
But Sakami stayed until Kai had disappeared into the tunnel. Then, her heart heavy with foreboding, she turned away and reluctantly trailed after Honou.
Chapter 26
“Saburo!” Yelling out the armorer’s name, Masao tore back across the rocky incline through foul-smelling clouds of dispersing smoke. His mind had already begun to conjure horrific images of what he might find when the smoke cleared.
Was he caught in the blast?
The iron dragon lay on its side; in the closed rear end of the cylinder in which Saburo had packed the fire drug and shrapnel there was now a jagged hole. But worse still, Saburo lay sprawled behind it. In the moment of ignition, the detonation must have knocked the eruptor off its support, blasting debris from both ends, catching Saburo even as he dived to take cover.
“Saburo?” Masao repeated, his voice breaking as he knelt beside him. Please just be stunned. His hand stole out to feel for a pulse in the armorer’s throat and came away sticky with blood.
Yoriaki alighted beside them. “Is he – ”
“I don’t know.” He ripped off the black scarf covering his lower face to use as a tourniquet. Between them, they moved the armorer as gently as they could onto his side. Even in the gloom Masao could see that blood was leaking from innumerable lacerations on Saburo’s head and neck and there were burn marks on his tunic. The eye-watering smell of the fire drug smoke mingled with the stench of scorched cloth and flesh.
“I don’t know what to do.” Masao felt utterly helpless, just dabbing ineffectually at the wounds, not knowing where to start to staunch the bleeding.
“Support his head.” Yoriaki knelt on Saburo’s other side, and deftly folding his own scarf into a pad, pressed it to the largest gash in the armorer’s temple.
Masao raised Saburo’s head onto his knees as gently as he could and heard a low, dragging groan issue from the armorer’s throat. “He’s still alive!”
“The force of the blast must have knocked him unconscious.” Yoriaki took Masao’s scarf and began to bind the pad firmly in place over Saburo’s damaged skull.
Saburo’s fingers twitched. “Masao…” His voice was so indistinct that Masao had to bend close to hear.
“I’m here. Don’t try to talk. Save your strength.”
“Saltpeter…too strong. Don’t use…” His words ended in another groan that made Masao’s stomach crawl.
Why can’t I do anything to ease the pain?
“Forget the saltpeter. Just hang in there, Saburo. Don’t die on me.”
“Ha…” Was that a ghost of a mocking smile? Saburo’s eyes opened a little, gazing up at Masao. “Tell Beniko…I…” A spasm twisted his lacerated features and he suddenly went limp.
“Tell Beniko what? What should I say? Saburo?”
“He’s fainted.” Yoriaki looked up at Masao over Saburo’s body. “Listen. We have to get him out of here.”
Masao had been so intent on tending to Saburo that he had not noticed until that moment that the distant sounds of fighting had died away. Chikaaki must have heard the explosion at the tunnel entrance and called his shinobi off.
Yoriaki fetched the improvised shield sledge and between them they rolled the unconscious man onto it, tying him on as best they could with spare rope.
“Once we’re clear of the bamboos, I’ll signal for help,” Yoriaki said. “Until then we’re on our own. On my mark – lift.”
They set off, Yoriaki at the front, Masao at the rear. Saburo was sparely built and not as tall as Masao, but it was hard work carrying his dead weight over such difficult terrain. Bamboo stems snapped back in their faces as they tried to make their way downhill in the dark and soon Masao was panting with the effort, sweat making his hands slippery.
“Kites!” The challenge rang out from behind them. “Stop – you’re surrounded.”
&
nbsp; “And now here come the Cranes,” Yoriaki muttered. “Ignore them, Masao.”
If we don’t get Saburo to Manabu as soon as possible, he won’t make it. He’s losing too much blood.
The sound of Crane guards crashing through the undergrowth after them grew closer. Last time he and Saburo had been pursued down the mountain, Chikaaki had come to their rescue. But Chikaaki and his squad were on the other side of the castle, with a thickly forested ravine separating them.
They stumbled doggedly on, trusting more to instinct than to any clear sense of direction.
And then Masao lost his footing on loose stones and felt himself sliding, out of control, as his legs buckled beneath him. Wrenching his ankle, he lost his hold on the shield stretcher.
“Damn you, Masao, can’t you be more careful?” Yoriaki swore, forced to support the full weight of Saburo’s body.
A jagged current of agony shot up through Masao’s leg and he slithered to a halt on the gritty slope.
“There’s nothing for it but to use the Kite Shadow.”
“And leave Saburo behind?” Masao shook his head. “No way.”
A flurry of arrows sped through the air, lodging in the tree trunks overhead.
Yoriaki let out a grunt of exasperation. “Summon the Shadow, then lift him. On my mark.”
Masao had never attempted to carry anyone but himself using the Kite Shadow. Wincing as he moved his twisted ankle from beneath him, he followed Yoriaki’s lead, pressing his hands together, seeking deep beyond the pain for the Shadow skill within him.
Night Wind of the Seven Stars…
“Now!” cried Yoriaki as another volley of arrows whizzed toward them. Masao closed his eyes and felt the tremendous surge of dark energy flooding through his body, lifting him. He grabbed his end of the stretcher and he and Yoriaki shot upward. Arrows grazed the soles of his sandals as they rose faster than their pursuers could reload their bows and fire again.
Far below he heard the Cranes’ cries of frustration. He felt like laughing at their helplessness. The Kite Shadow bore them higher still, through the overhanging pine branches, toward the tops of the trees. The rush of unleashed Shadow energy sharpened Masao’s senses. He could taste the salt off the starlit waves below and hear the sea breeze stirring the coarse grass on the cliffs.