"You should take it easy for a couple of days," Tsukune said, concern playing on her handsome face.
Ujimitsu shook his head. "No time," he replied. "There are three different places I should be right now."
"All right," she said, folding her arms across her chest. "But there's one thing you should do before running off to get yourself killed."
"What's that?"
"Hoturi's asked to see you."
Ujimitsu slipped his sandals onto his feet. "All right," he said. "Lead the way."
She pulled back the tent flap and stepped out into the brilliant sunlight of a clear winter afternoon. He followed, shielding his eyes against the glare.
As he passed the threshold, his knees buckled, and pain like lighting shot through his body. The Phoenix Champion fell to the ground, clutching his stomach, trying to keep his guts from spilling out.
The voices of a thousand ancestors filled his ears.
"What is it?" Tsukune cried, kneeling beside him.
Ujimitsu opened his mouth to answer, but no words came out. The voices roared inside his head, each clamoring for attention. They sounded like the surf pounding on the rocky shore near Kyuden Isawa.
"Is it the wound?" Tsukune asked, fear etching her pretty features.
"N-no!" Ujimitsu managed to gasp. "N-not the wound!"
The voices in his head built to a crescendo. Suddenly, he understood.
"What is it, then?" Tsukune asked, anger mixing with her fear. "I'll get a shugenja—"
Ujimitsu reached out and grabbed her arm. "No!" he said. "No shugenja. They can't help." He rose to his knees, breathing hard.
"Tell me what it is," Tsukune said. "What's wrong?"
"It's not the wound. It's the Soul of Shiba."
"What?" Tsukune asked, her fear turning to confusion.
"The spirit of our champion ancestors," he said, "all of them crying out at once. Something is terribly wrong in our homeland."
Tsukune licked her suddenly dry lips. "Are you sure?"
"As sure as death," he replied. She helped him to his feet.
"I must go," he said.
"What about Hoturi?" Tsukune asked.
"Hoturi will have to wait," he said. "Tell him I'm sorry. I'll try to catch up with him soon. Now, though, I must return home at once."
"What's happening at home?" she asked. "Why must you leave so suddenly?"
"I don't know for certain," he said, "though I fear I may already be too late."
the black scrolls
Isawa Kaede choked back a scream.
"Don't break the circle!" Tadaka hissed through clenched teeth.
Kaede clamped her mouth shut and held tight to her brothers' hands. On the wall of the underground chamber, monstrous shadows danced in the firelight. Sweat poured down the Mistress of the Void's forehead, though her bones felt chilled. Damp hair clung to her face. She bit her lip and focused, willing calmness into her soul. Strength flowed from her into the other Elemental Masters.
Holding her left hand, Tomo looked pale and nervous. His skin was clammy. Tadaka, on her right, looked stern and confident behind his black hood. The Master of Earth's grip was firm and warm.
On the far side of the circle sat Tsuke, his brow furrowed in deep concentration. Uona and Tadaka held the Master of Fire's hands, lending support to him as he chanted.
In their midst lay a single black scroll. As Tsuke wove his spell, the scroll slowly rolled itself open. Green phantoms appeared above the wizened silk—spectral tentacles reaching for the Master of Fire. The lamp at Tsuke's side flared, and the ghostly forms dissolved into the darkness.
On the surface of the scroll, words of power burned with a diseased light. Tsuke's eyes darted over the kanji, absorbing their knowledge. A wicked grin tugged at the corners of his mouth. His breath came in short gasps. A black star sparkled magically at Tsuke's throat—an amulet of protection.
The scroll's pale green tendrils reached out for Tsuke again. The Master of Fire was ready. He inhaled deeply. The smoky tentacles flew to his mouth, and he sucked them into his body. Tsuke clamped his jaw tight and remained absolutely still. Many-limbed shadows scampered across the stone chamber's walls. Red eyes gleamed in the darkness. A voice whispered, "Come!"
Kaede looked around but saw only darkness.
Finally, Tsuke exhaled. The scroll's mystic vapor—now bone-white—hissed out from between his teeth. It rose above his head and lingered there like a crown.
Tsuke coughed. "Not so bad," he said hoarsely. "Not nearly as terrible as I feared. Who's next?"
"I am," said Tadaka.
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Kaede leaned against the wooden rail and walked wearily up the steps from the bowels of the castle.
From the great library below came the chant of Phoenix shugenja. They channeled energy to the four Elemental Masters who studied the open scrolls. These supporting shugenja worked in shifts; as one tired, another would appear from the castle and take her place in the ring. While these twenty-one adepts chanted, the Elemental Masters would need neither food, nor drink, nor sleep. The power of the Phoenix would sustain them.
The blessed circle had worked like this for days now. They would work for weeks, or months if necessary.
Even until the ending of the world, Kaede thought.
Though the enchantment might continue until the leaves bloomed and fell again, Kaede herself had limits. During the past week she'd pressed past those limits. Her body begged for rest. She needed to get out of the library's darkened corridors. Her soul pleaded to see the sky and ocean once more, to feel the wind on her face and taste the sea breeze.
She walked up the mighty oak staircase and into the castle's lower floors. Samurai bowed and whispered supportive prayers to her as she passed. Only when Seppun Ishikawa stepped before her, though, did Kaede raise her eyes.
"Are you all right?" he asked, concern playing across his rugged features.
She nodded. "No .. .Yes ... I just need some fresh air."
"And food, too, more than likely," he said. "Come with me. I'll get you some of both."
She nodded again and put her arm atop his for support. The Iwo of them walked to one of the castle's outer rooms. Ishikawa whispered instructions to a servant they passed on the way, and the woman scurried off to fetch food and drink.
When they entered the room, Ishikawa pulled shut the fusuma screen, and helped Kaede sit on the thick tatami mat.
Kaede looked at the many-paned outer wall of the room and admired the sunlight filtering through the thin paper. "Pull back the shoji, please, Ishikawa," she said.
"Are you sure?" he asked. "It's cold outside."
"It's been so long since I've seen the sun," she said, "my soul aches for it."
He nodded, went to the many-paned paper screen, and pulled it back. Late afternoon sunlight streamed into the room. A harsh wind followed, tugging at Kaede's black hair, billowing it out behind her like a silken cape. Her eyes teared, and she wiped them with the sleeve of her kimono.
Ishikawa took the cloak from his back and put it around her shoulders. Then he turned and sat down next to her. To warm his fingers, he stuck his hands out over the small brazier in the center of the room. Kaede sat placidly, staring out over the Isawa gardens, past the castle wall, to the great sea.
Food came, and Ishikawa rose to take it. He sent the maid away before shutting the screen once more. Then he returned to his spot beside Kaede and laid out the food in small lacquer dishes: natto bean paste, dried fruit, white rice. Ishikawa poured sochu— strong sake—into two cups and set one before each of them.
"You really need to eat something," he said to Kaede.
She nodded and picked up her food, but she ate and drank listiessly. He ate and shifted uncomfortably where he sat, waiting for her to speak.
Finally, she said, "They have sacrificed themselves for me."
"What?" he asked puzzled. "What do you mean?"
"Tadaka, Tomo, and the others. They have taken this bur
den upon themselves so that I would not."
Ishikawa shook his head. "They're all samurai, proud to do their duty—proud to serve your people, and the empire."
She nodded and took a sip of sochu. "Yes, but they have also done it to spare me. They fear this knowledge will taint their souls, and they hope to spare me that evil."
"But you're aiding them," he said encouragingly. "You assist their studies."
"As do many others," she said. "I should do more."
"Your people still need a leader," he said. "Your brothers and the rest can't lead from inside the library."
"Junzo is marching north. Those who stand in his way perish. We need to know how to defeat him. This is the only way. But the cost..." She let her voice trail off, and her eyes wandered farther out to sea.
She stood. "I must return to my duty now," she said.
"Rest a while longer," he urged. "You're no good to them if you're tired."
"No," she said. "I must return. I must stand beside my brothers and my friends. Together we will win through. Together we will fathom the Evil One's secrets. Together we will turn back his dark hand."
"I pray to Amaterasu that is so," Ishikawa said. He slid pack the fusuma panel, and they both exited the room. Their path to the great stairway took them near the entrance of the castle. As they passed it, a haggard figure ran up to them.
His hair hung loosely out of his topknot, and his kimono was stained with mud. His face was pale and drawn. Concern furrowed his brow. For a moment, neither Kaede nor Ishikawa recognized Shiba Ujimitsu.
"Kaede," the champion said, gasping for breath, "I came as quickly as I could. You and the others .. . you must not do the terrible thing you're contemplating. You must not open the Black Scrolls."
"You are too late, Ujimitsu," she said. "It is already done."
The Phoenix Champion sank to the floor like a puppet whose strings had been cut. "If only I had come sooner!"
Kaede knelt and put her hand on his shoulder. "My friend," she said, "you could not have changed our minds. Do not worry. We have turned all our powers to the task."
Ujimitsu looked up at her. "It will not be enough. I know it. My soul cries out to me with the voices of a thousand years. I knew, even before I spoke to you, that I was too late. I only hoped..."
"You're not too late, Ujimitsu," Kaede said. "Our people still need your strength. I need your help and support." She rose, and he did as well.
The champion inhaled deeply. "What can I do?"
Kaede held Ujimitsu with her dark eyes. "The people are worried. While we have toiled, the rift between the bushi and the shugenja has widened. They have asked to meet with the council, but our studies will not permit it.
"Ishikawa has volunteered to help, but he is an outsider," she continued. "Our people will not listen to him as readily as they will listen to you. You are the Phoenix Champion. Talk to the people, Ujimitsu. Calm their fears. Speak with the voice and backing of the council. See that we are not disturbed."
Ujimitsu bowed. "Hai, Kaede-sama. I will do as you ask."
She bowed in return, though not as low. "Good. I return to my brethren now." She turned and walked away.
"Pray for her, Ishikawa," Ujimitsu whispered.
Ishikawa nodded and said, "I do."
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Isawa Tadaka lifted his head from the silk of his black scroll. Despite the shugenja's chanting, he had slipped into sleep. The fire of the scroll's kanji filled his brain; taint ravaged his body. His lungs ached with the oppressive air of the underground chamber.
In the shadows of the room, he glimpsed a monstrous shape. But when he turned, it had vanished. His head pounded with the intonations of the adepts outside the chamber. He heard something else as well: a soft whisper.
"Call, and I will answer," the voice said. "Ask, and I will grant your every desire."
Did the voice belong to the black scroll? Tadaka shook his head to clear it, but the seductive whisper repeated.
A new shadow flitted across the chamber wall. In its form Tadaka saw serpents, tendrils, teeth. He spun to meet it, a deadly spell forming on his lips.
Isawa Tsuke stood in the door to the chamber, smiling at him. Tadaka let the spell die away. "You know what we must do, of course?" the Master of Fire said, his rich voice filling the room.
Tadaka nodded, and a lock of sweaty black hair slipped from under his hood and fell over his forehead. "Yes, I know."
"The others have felt it, too," Tsuke purred. "Our studies have given us the power we need. They've opened the gates of knowledge for us. Now we must walk through." The Master of Fire looked drawn, but excitement burned in his eyes.
Uona stepped into the room behind Tsuke; manic joy played on her gaunt face. "Our strength is almost complete," she said. "Just one more step."
On the other side of Tsuke, Tomo appeared. His eyes darted nervously, and his cheekbones stood out, as if the skin had been drawn tightly across his skull. "That step is the most costly, the most terrible. It has driven the Crab mad."
Tadaka's eyes blazed in the darkness. "We are stronger than they."
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Isawa Kaede walked past the chanting shugenja and into the underground council chambers. Days had melded into weeks; time had become irrelevant. Only the Void sustained her in this never-ending moment.
Ujimitsu had brought the bushi and shugenja together, but they still did not agree. The bushi pressed for war, the shugenja for patience and peace. Neither path seemed right to Kaede anymore.
She entered the study chamber and was surprised to see all the other Elemental Masters gathered in the main room. They stood around a low stone table where the four Black Scrolls lay open. Almost irresistibly, Kaede's eyes were drawn to the shimmering kanji on the ancient silks. Green fire burned into her brain, seeking her soul.
Kaede closed her eyes. The Void rushed up to protect her, driving away the darkness. She opened her eyes again and gazed at the faces of the other Elemental Masters. They looked pale and skeletal, but their eyes blazed with power.
"Brethren," Kaede's said softly.
They turned and gazed at her. The shadows in the room shifted, and for a moment, Kaede imagined she saw an immense, many-tentacled form.
"We've come to a decision," Tadaka announced.
"We have power but need more knowledge," Uona said.
Tsuke nodded. "Enlightenment such as the Crab have. Moment to moment knowledge of the Evil One's plans."
"There is no other way to save our people," Tomo added.
Fear gripped Kaede's heart. Nausea welled up in her stomach.
"You can't mean ..." she said breathlessly.
"Yes," Tadaka replied. "Tomorrow night, we will summon an Oni.
tainted victory
Shiba Tsukune drove her katana though the eye socket of a walking corpse. The point of the blade shattered the back of the zombie's skull. The creature's head shook atop its rotting neck. The Phoenix general slashed to her left, and the top of the corpse's skull flew off. The zombie toppled to the earth, dead once more.
Before her, the Fields of the Morning Sun lay strewn with the minions of the false Hoturi. Beside her rode her Phoenix cavalry. They laid into the remainder of the evil troops with gusto, slicing off heads and trampling corpses beneath the hooves of their horses.
All around, a cheer rose from the surviving samurai. Their forces had won. After a long night of death and darkness, the Crane had regained their heritage. Doji Hoturi had reclaimed his rights as daimyo and slain his evil double.
Tsukune laughed and lopped off the head of the only remaining zombie in sight. She raised
her katana high overhead and shouted for joy. She whipped off her helmet and let her long hair blow in the brisk wind. How she wished Ujimitsu could be here with her!
A Phoenix ashigaru ran up to her and offered Tsuke an earthen jar. "I've been saving this for victory," he said, his smile showing several missing teeth.
Tsukune took the jar and p
ut it to her lips. The sake inside wasn't warm enough, but it tasted sweet nonetheless. She drank deeply and handed the jar back to the foot soldier. "Arigato."
He rubbed his unshaved chin and bowed. "Domo arigato, Tsukune-san," he said. He ran off, laughing, to join his fellows, his battered armor clattering as he went.
"Your men seem pleased." The pleasant voice coming from so close to her side startled Tsukune. She turned and saw Doji Hoturi riding beside her, a smile playing across his handsome face.
"They have much to be pleased about, as do you."
Hoturi nodded, and his smile grew wistful. The wind caught his white hair and whipped it around his face. "And much that I am not proud of as well," he said thoughtfully. Then he brightened. "But now is not the time for such things. Enjoy your rest while you may, Tsukime. Soon, the rebuilding begins."
He tugged on his reins, and his horse veered away from the Phoenix general. He spared her one backward glance as he rode away. A sparkle in his eyes reminded her of happier times. She smiled back. Then he turned away and rode off among his troops.
A low moan nearby brought Tsukune back to reality. The wounded, she thought. How could I forget about them?
Looking down, she saw Fumina, a young samurai-ko under her command. Tsukune dismounted and knelt by the woman's side. An enemy sword had opened Fumina's stomach and spilled her intestines.
"Aid! I need aid!" Tsukune called, looking around for a shugenja healer.
"Too late, my general," the dying woman said, blood burbling from her lips. "But at least, we won the day ...!" Fumina's eyes rolled back, and her mouth grew slack.
Tsukune stood and looked at her own gore-spattered hands. She wondered how she would ever wash the blood away. The sun dipped behind the mountains. Tomorrow, the goddess would be reborn—like a phoenix rising from the sea. Tsukune wondered if her kinsmen watched the same sunset. She wondered if the Phoenix would emerge from the long, dark winter and take their rightful place in the sun.
In her mind, she felt Ujimitsu's presence or, perhaps, his absence. Tsukune wondered about her friend. Where was he now? What was he doing? Was he eating dinner on Kyuden Isawa's western parapets, or was he knee-deep in blood on some forgotten battlefield?
L5r - scroll 04 - The Phoenix Page 22