Their swords met again and slid down each other until the hand guards locked. Tadaka pushed with all his might, and the undead commander staggered back.
The monster laughed. "Not so easssy to kill as you thoooought, am I?"
"Nor so hard as you believe," said Tadaka. He leapt forward, slashing at neck, breastplate, and thigh. Each time the creature beat his blade back.
The thing whirled and cut toward Tadaka's back. His blade slashed the Master of Earth's kimono but missed the flesh beneath. Tadaka chopped at the creature's chest. The Master of Earth's sword opened a wide gash on the exposed flesh below Atamashi's collarbone. Black blood oozed from the wound, but the undead commander merely laughed.
Atamashi swung in retaliation, hitting Tadaka's sword with jarring impact. Tadaka stepped back. He panted, having trouble catching his breath. The wounds on his rib and shoulder burned with unclean fire. He'd expended a lot of energy to summon the earthquake. Exhaustion tugged at the Master of Earth's sinews.
Atamashi charged , aiming his cuts in quick succession: neck, thigh, ribs. Tadaka parried them all. With each blow, his bones shook, and his wounds burned. Sweat dripped down his brow, stinging his eyes and clouding his sight. He stepped backward and almost tripped over a dead ratling. Atamashi bore in.
Tadaka met him, summoning all the strength he could into his strikes. The air thundered with the impact of swords. Their katana met. The blades slid down each other to the handgrips and locked. The shugenja's eyes grappled with those of the undead commander.
In that frozen moment, the fingers of Tadaka's left hand deftly found a small stone in his right sleeve. The Master of Earth whispered a word of power. The stone flowed like water over his fist, forming a rocky glove.
"Now, you die," the undead commander said. Sensing Tadaka's weakness, he shoved the shugenja hard. Tadaka faltered and staggered back. The katana toppled from his fingers. Atamashi raised his sword for the kill.
Summoning all his remaining might, Tadaka thrust his left hand forward. His rocky fist shattered Atamashi's breastplate and the bone beneath. Tadaka plunged his gloved hand deep into the monster's chest.
The commander looked at the hole his chest, his cadaverous face registering shock and fear. Tadaka pulled out his hand. In his fist, the Master of Earth held the undead creature's heart. Tadaka squeezed, and the heart crumbled into oily black lumps.
Disbelief washed over the undead commander's countenance. His sword waved in the air, as if it still might strike. Then lie fell backward, his bones shattering on the hard ground.
Tadaka stood panting over the body. His rocky glove crumbled into dust, the power of the stone exhausted. The Master of Earth wiped the sweat from his brow. Then he knelt and retrieved his katana. The sounds of battle had died away. Looking around the burning village, Tadaka saw no undead left lighting. The ratlings had begun to tend to their wounded. Victory was theirs.
A young ratling approached Tadaka and bowed nervously, touching her black nose to the dusty earth.
"Pardon pardon, Master," she said. She was short, thin, and dressed sparsely in a red top and khaki hakima. A gold earring dangled from her left ear. She looked up skittishly as she ended her bow. Her whiskers twitched, and her tail swished back and forth. She bobbed her head from side to side and blinked her black, liquid eyes.
"What do you beg my pardon for?" Tadaka asked.
"Not helping too much. Not helping kill not-dead warrior," she said. She looked around, as if expecting to be attacked again at any moment.
"You shouted the warning that saved my life," he said. "That's more than enough service."
She bowed again. "Domo domo, Master." The lips of her muzzle pulled back from her sharp teeth in an uncomfortable smile.
"What's your name, girl?"
"Chi'ka'chi-tkk," she said, bowing again and looking at the Master of Earth with her large black eyes. "Friends call... Hatsuka."
Tadaka smiled. Hatsuka nezumi—mouse. "You're very brave, Mouse."
She shook her head, and her long tail switched back and forth. "Not I, Master," she said. "I am lowly."
Just then, a taller, male ratling ran up to where Tadaka and Mouse stood. His brown fur was slick with mud and the blood of his enemies. He wore a breastplate salvaged from a dead samurai. The armor almost fit. He bowed low.
"Come. Come now, Master," he said to Tadaka. "Chief dying. Wants speak with you." He bowed again, scraping the earth with his twitching whiskers.
Tadaka nodded. The taller nezumi led the Master of Earth across the bowl of the valley. Mouse followed. "Ke-o-kecha, his name," she whispered to Tadaka. "He chiefs son."
Near the wall, a ratling lay dying. The fur around his muzzle was silver with age. Long whiskers adorned his wrinkled face. He wore armor cobbled together from suits taken off dead foes. His breath rattled out in long gasps. A great wound split his chest from breastbone to belly. Though it had not been deep enough to kill the nezumi immediately, Tadaka saw at once that the wound would be fatal.
The ratling chief, Gin'nabo-rrr, gestured with one shaking paw that Tadaka should draw closer. The Master of Earth knelt by the nezumi's side.
"Domo, domo ... domo-arigato," Gin'nabo-rrr gasped. "You save my people. You ... drive off... forces of Dark Power."
"Your people saved themselves," Tadaka said. "I merely provided some timely assistance."
"... Legends say humans are—no friend. Yet, friend you are, samurai. Gin'nabo-rrr likes you."
"I am honored, great chief."
"How are you called, human?" the chief asked.
"Tadaka."
"Tadaka-sama," chief Gin'nabo-rrr said, his voice rasping, "Pack member, you are now. Always welcome with Long Tail Pack." He reached out one shaking paw and touched it to Tadaka's hand. The Master of Earth did not draw away. "Never can," Gin'nabo-rrr said, "repay debt for what you have done____"
His hand slipped from Tadaka's, and his life wheezed out. He closed his eyes.
A small band of ratlings had gathered around their chief. They hung their heads and closed their eyes. Ke-o-kecha raised his muzzle and uttered a mournful wail. Soon, others in the village took up the cry. The sound echoed off the walls of the valley and drifted into the heavens. Tadaka knelt in silence.
Finally, three ratlings came to bear the chief's body to his hut—one of the few buildings left standing after the battle. Ke-o-kecha turned to the rest of the assemblage. "Gin'nabo-rrr is gone. I am chief of the Long Tail Pack," he said. The ratlings swished their tails and rattled their weapons in assent. Several look up a growling chant, repeating Ke-o-kecha's name in low, feral voices.
Chief Ke-o-kecha turned to Tadaka. "Gin'nabo-rrr could not repay you, shugenja Tadaka-sama," he said, "but my people will make good good try. We tend your wounds. We give you food and drink. We find you whatever you wish."
"I need to be going," Tadaka said. "I have a mission to complete."
"We will help," Ke-o-kecha said, his black eyes shining. "Powerful we are here. Many generations in shadow, yet untouched. After you rest, we help." He looked at the Master of Earth and smiled, showing his sharp teeth. "Even great great shugenja must
rest."
Tadaka nodded his head wearily. "Hai," he said.
The ratlings took the Phoenix master to one of the unburned huts. There they made him a bed of clean straw to rest in. They brought fresh water and salves to soothe his wounds. Tadaka accepted these remedies gracefully, but applied some of his own jade powders when the nezumi weren't watching. Neither the wound on his ribs nor the one on his shoulder appeared serious, but he didn't want them to become infected with the Shadow-lands taint.
His hosts offered him food as well. This he politely declined in favor of his own provisions. "I must eat my shugenja food," he explained, "to maintain my powers." Secretly, his reasons for refusing the food were less noble. These ratlings may be immune to Shadowlands' poisons, he reasoned, but I am not. Taint within I he body is much more difficult to cleanse than the taint of a wo
und.
After eating, Tadaka rested for a bit. The ratlings stood guard outside his mud-hut sanctum. His mind wandered for a time in the land of dreams. He remembered the words of the Hooded Ronin, and the warning his father had given Ujimitsu. A familiar voice broke his reverie.
"That was a close one, eh?" said Ob.
Tadaka kept his eyes closed. "I thought you'd gone."
"Nope," the mujina replied. "Though I know enough to get lost when things become dangerous."
Tadaka opened his eyes. "I'll use you as a warning system."
"Now I wouldn't..." Ob began. Then, looking at the opening to the hut, he said, "Oh, rats!" and vanished.
Tadaka tensed, and his hand stole to the hilt of his katana on the mud floor next to him. A moment later, Mouse's muzzle appeared in the doorway. She bowed.
"Tadaka-sama, great master," she said. "Ke-o-kecha is here to see you ... if your fur shines enough now."
Tadaka nodded, took his hand from the sword, and sat up. "I'll see him, yes, thank you. I'm feeling much better. I have questions I need answered before I move on."
Mouse bowed and left. A few moments later, Ke-o-kecha entered the hut. He bowed and crouched on the floor across from the shugenja. "Your fur shines again, Tadaka-san. Have you rested?" he asked.
"Enough for now, thank you, Ke-o-kecha-san," Tadaka replied. "Those creatures, why were they attacking your people?"
"The dark ones grow strong. They kill any in their way," Ke-o-kecha said. "Long Tails leave this village soon soon and find new home."
"Why?"
"The Jun-zo builds great army in Unaru Numa—the Howling Mire. Army will ride out and destroy all, like bad ants."
"You know where to find Junzo's lair?" Tadaka asked.
Ke-o-kecha turned away, and his tail quivered. He ran his paws across the brown fur below his ears. "All that see Jun-zo die," he said. Then he sighed and added. "Long Tails know way, though. How else our tribe avoid evil place?"
Tadaka leaned forward, his eyes blazing in the room's dim light. "I intend to battle Junzo—to steal his secrets so that he can no longer hurt my people ... or yours."
"Then you are great great shugenja, or great great fool."
"Perhaps a little of both," Tadaka said. "Will one of you show me the way to Junzo's lair?"
"The Jun-zo slay us if we discovered."
"I know that. It is a very great risk for whoever goes with me, but I need to know the way. The sooner I find it, the more lives can be saved."
Ke-o-kecha nodded grimly. "Tribe in your debt, Tadaka-sama. We show you path to Evil One's warren. Though not many Long Tails remain, Ke-o-kecha will gather great raiding party to go with you."
"No," Tadaka said, shaking his head. "We must go quietly, quickly, so that Junzo doesn't suspect. Only in this way can we ihwart his plans."
A toothy smile spread across Ke-o-kecha's brown muzzle. His whiskers twitched. "Quiet and quick what nezumi do best," he said.
THE WAY OF THE VOID
I know you're uncomfortable here," Seppun Ishikawa said. "I know you'd rather be with your people, but I'm glad you returned." He gave Kaede a smile as they walked beneath the cherry trees in the imperial garden. "The castle shines less brightly when you are gone."
Kaede turned away so that her friend would not see the blush on her cheeks. "Uncomfortable is too strong a word," she said. A chill wind from the sea blew in, rattling the trees' red-brown leaves. Kaede watched as the leaves leapt from their branches and danced briefly in the cool air before settling to their graves on the wilting grass. Autumn had come early this year, and winter was close behind. "I wish ..." she began, but paused and walked onward.
"Wish what?" Ishikawa asked.
Kaede sighed and looked into Ishikawa's brown eyes. Despite herself, his handsome face brought a smile to her lips. "I wish that things could be as they were," she said.
"Not a very practical wish for the Mistress of the Void," Ishikawa said. His tone was playful, but the words stung her slighdy, nonetheless.
Kaede stopped and cast her gaze out, past the high cliffs and over the vast blue sea. Boats darted to and fro on the glassy surface, mirroring the seagulls circling above them; both hunted for fish. Kaede wondered where her brother Tadaka was, and what was happening to him. Her mastery of the Void usually allowed her to sense her siblings' presence. Even now she felt Tomo's comforting placidity in the back of her mind. Since Tadaka had entered the Shadowlands, though, she had felt nothing. His long absence worried her more than she would admit.
"Even the Mistress of the Void can have childish wishes," she said.
Ishikawa nodded. "Hai, we're all allowed that much."
"I wish the Scorpion had never plotted their coup," she said. "I wish they'd never sacked and burnt the white-walled city. I wish Hantei the 38th still sat upon the Emerald Throne. I wish that the throne had never been sundered."
"In days like this, it's easy to wish for such things," Ishikawa said, a touch of wistfulness in his voice. "Everything seemed much easier in the days before the coup."
She looked at him, nodded, and forced a faint smile. "Hai."
Ishikawa kicked the dirt with his foot and spat. "The empress and her ninja yojimbo are behind much of this trouble. Once a Scorpion, always a Scorpion. Are you sure you want to meet with Kachiko today?"
Kaede smiled at him. "Want may be too strong a word," she said. "But it is necessary. Every stone removed from a wall is one less to climb over."
"You speak of these meetings as if they were a slow siege," Ishikawa said, falling into step beside her once more.
"They are, in a way," she said. "Just as our games of ishii mimic a battle."
"I have never seen her lose," Ishikawa cautioned.
"Nor have I," Kaede replied. "But I'm playing for different stakes. I know my place. I am Mistress of the Void. Not even Kachiko can take that from me."
Ishikawa nodded, but she got the impression that he didn't completely believe her.
They came to a place in the path where the trail curved toward the late emperor's favorite lotus pond. The two of them stopped, knowing that Kachiko would be waiting for Kaede a short distance ahead.
"You're sure you don't want me to walk in with you?"
Kaede shook her head. "I hardly think Kachiko will kill me while we're sitting by the lotus pond."
"I wouldn't put it past her," Ishikawa said.
Kaede laughed. "Well, if she wanted to, I don't think you could stop her," she said. "I'll meet you tonight after the poetry reading, as planned. Will your brother be there, too?"
"I believe so, yes," Ishikawa said.
"I'll see you then," Kaede said, bowing.
Ishikawa bowed to her in return and took his leave. Kaede's eyes lingered on his rugged form and confident gait. She took a deep breath and set her foot on the path to the lotus pond.
She didn't see any guards as she walked, but that was to be expected. As the emperor became more and more ill, Kachiko assumed a greater proportion of his duties. In assigning guards, the Mistress of Scorpions reverted to her old ways. The late emperor Hantei the 38th had kept this guards in plain sight, a visual reminder of his power. The Scorpion, on the other hand, watched without being noticed, struck without being seen. Kaede suppressed a shudder.
She rounded a corner in the path and stepped into the garden surrounding the lotus pond. Beside the water sat Kachiko in a flower-patterned kimono. The robe was long and luxurious, its pleats carefully folded into pleasing arrangements. Her hair glistened, and her black eyes gleamed in the late afternoon sunlight. Seeing Kaede, she smiled—her deep red lips parted to show pris-line white teeth. The empress' beauty almost took Kaede's breath away.
The Mistress of the Void bowed, turning her eyes demurely toward the ground.
"Isawa Kaede," Kachiko said, her voice like music. "How kind of you to come. I enjoy our little games."
Kaede calmed her mind and said, "As do I, Kachiko-sama."
The empress gestur
ed around her, indicating the pool and gardens. "This place reminds me of my gardens at Kyuden Bayushi," she said. "I enjoy its serenity."
"As do I, Highness," Kaede said. She wondered, at the reference. Was Kachiko reminding her of the lost kingdom of the Scorpion, or merely of who controlled the castle and its grounds? Kaede summoned up the spirit of the Void and silenced the questioning voices inside her head.
"Sit," said Kachiko, indicating a spot on the grass next to a wooden ishii board. Kaede did so, noticing that the grass was not so green as she first had thought. Indeed, the edges were quite dry, almost sharp. Early frost had robbed it of life. The trees surrounding the lotus pond also showed the premature withering she had noticed in the rest of the gardens. Even the lily pads in the quiet pond looked dried out. Inwardly, Kaede frowned.
Kachiko held out her hands for Kaede to pick one. The Mistress of the Void reached and indicated the left. Kachiko opened her palm to reveal a smooth black stone. Kaede would be black, the emptiness of the Void. Kachiko would be white, the color of death. Kachiko smiled. She handed Kaede a tray of black stones and took the white tray for herself.
"Again, you play first, Kachiko-sama," Kaede said.
"As is only right," Kachiko replied, smiling. She placed her white stone on one of the intersections in the lower left quadrant of the board.
Kaede considered the board for a moment. Its thirty-eight lines intersecting in three hundred sixty-one points looked like a spider web, at the center of which sat the smiling Mother of Scorpions. She placed her black stone down in the corner opposite Kachiko's white one.
They proceeded, alternating turns as the board filled with playing pieces, each trying to surround and capture the other's stones. As they played, they chatted amiably.
"Does the emperor still play?" Kaede asked. "He used to when he was a child."
"He did," Kachiko said, capturing one of Kaede's pieces, "but he never much enjoyed it. It was more his father's game, I think."
"Yes," Kaede said. "Hantei the 38th and I played many games here by his lotus pond." She kept her face pleasant and neutral, but it was plain Kachiko caught the allusion to the emperor killed by Kachiko's late husband.
L5r - scroll 04 - The Phoenix Page 12