by Ryan Kirk
The letter went on to say Makoto and Mashiro were bringing their forces north and east, to meet with Tanak’s Third and the remnants of his First. Tanak still had the advantage in men and material, but Makoto and Mashiro were hoping to get to the foothills in the eastern half of the kingdom before Tanak’s troops. They could set up a defensible position and fight from high ground. If they were successful, they could end the invasion.
The letter brought a hope to Akira he hadn’t felt before. Perhaps they could turn the invasion around, defeat it with nothing but their own strength. His soldiers were the best in the Three Kingdoms. They could handle whatever was thrown at them.
Akira’s mind was decided. His men were fighting and dying for their kingdom. He couldn’t throw their sacrifice away. It would dishonor their memory. Perhaps reunification was at hand, but it wouldn’t come about because of violence. It would come due to diplomacy. Akira was confident. He drafted his own message to send back to his generals, urging them forward, telling them he would be with them soon.
That night, Akira slept well. He would protect his people, never giving them a ruler they didn’t deserve. His course was open and obvious to him.
The next morning the three lords met again. Akira could see Tanak had received news of the battle also. He didn’t look like he’d slept as well as Akira. Good. Their bargaining positions would be much more even today.
Sen opened up the discussion. “Lord Akira, have you thought more about the offer Lord Tanak has made?”
“Yes. I have given it serious consideration.” Akira spoke for the benefit of the scribes. His words would go down in history. “I believe more than anything our three kingdoms need to reunite once again. It’s the dream we have all shared, and my feelings have never changed. At one time, I entertained dreams like those of Lord Tanak, that perhaps the kingdoms could be reunited through violence. Now, though, I see that reunification through violence is never possible. Some scars never heal.”
Both Sen and Tanak looked like they wanted to interrupt Akira, but he kept his speech moving forward, not giving them a chance to interject. These words would go out to all the people.
“We have all received news today of the battle in my kingdom. More life has been lost, but Tanak’s armies are weaker now than they’ve ever been. A kingdom can’t be taken from people in violence, but it can be given in trust.”
Akira looked directly at Tanak. “Lord Tanak, I can’t surrender my kingdom, not after the violence you have visited on my people. I can’t trust their welfare to your care, not right now. But like you all, I want reunification. Lord Tanak, pull back your forces beyond the river. I will order all my units to grant you safe passage back to the Western Kingdom. Then let us meet back here again and decide the fate of our people. All our people. If you do this, I will give you my word I will consider granting you the crown you seek. But it must be done in peace.”
Sen looked to Tanak. It was a reasonable offer, and Akira didn’t lie. If the terms of the treaty were good enough for the people of the Southern Kingdom, Akira would consider giving up his throne. The thought pained him, but he would do it for the people of the Three Kingdoms.
There was silence around the table as Tanak considered the offer. Slowly, he shook his head.
“I’m sorry, but I came here to bring about reunification. Not in the future, but now. If you hope to delay the process so your troops can recover, I won’t allow it. If you won’t see reason today, I don’t see how you will see reason in the future. I will not ask my troops to retreat.”
Sen looked back at Akira. “Lord Akira, will you relent?”
Akira shook his head. He would destroy Tanak if the war continued. He believed it, though he was sorry the Conclave had to end this way. “I’m sorry, but I won’t negotiate with the man who has invaded my kingdom and killed my people. Any treaty signed here today wouldn’t last.”
Akira looked to Sen, and Sen seemed more unhappy than Akira had ever seen him. Akira’s heart went out to his fellow lord, but he couldn’t relent. He believed in what he was saying. Any treaty that came out of talks today would be met with resistance from his people. It wouldn’t be a peace that could last.
Sen took a long look at each of the other lords, but neither backed down. “Well, it appears we have come to an impasse. Thank you both for coming. I would have liked to have seen reunification happen, but perhaps we three aren’t strong enough to make it work. This Conclave is concluded.”
With that, the three lords of the kingdoms stood up and bowed to one another. Akira left the room first, to return to his land engulfed in war.
22
Ryuu stretched his muscles. It had been another long day of training, but he was beginning to understand the technique Tenchi was teaching him. He could snap his mind on command now, and he was learning how to move faster every day. His growth was worth the pain he went through.
His entire body hurt. His back and shoulders were sore from a full day of swinging a sword, and much of the rest of his body was covered with bruises. Tenchi could move fast for an old man, and Ryuu suspected the leader of the island was still holding back. But then again, so was he.
Ryuu was rubbing his shoulder when he sensed Rei come up behind him. He turned to look at her face, practically glowing with excitement. "Yes?"
"You're walking the wrong way for food."
"Not tonight, Rei. I'm exhausted and all I want to do is sleep."
Rei's look of disappointment couldn't be matched. She was a voracious eater, and if Ryuu skipped a meal, it meant she did too. Ryuu found it silly. He was more than capable of taking care of himself, and he didn't think the island held any real dangers for him, despite Shika’s cryptic warning.
"Rei, I'll be fine. Go grab a meal, then if you want to camp out outside my place, go for it. I'm just going to fall asleep anyway."
Rei looked torn, but her desire for food won out over her typical discipline. "Don't worry, I'll be right back."
Ryuu watched her go. He hadn't been completely truthful. He would search for Moriko, the same as he did every night. But then he'd fall asleep.
Ryuu looked up at the stars, burning bright above him. He had grown up with the stars and always found them comforting. Whatever they were, they were far, far away, and just watching them made Ryuu feel small. Perhaps he was strange, he thought, but the idea of being small and insignificant comforted him, made his problems seem less pressing. He wondered if Moriko was looking at the same night sky tonight.
It was the thought of her that saved his life. Maybe it was some correlation in his mind, but as he thought of Moriko, he sensed something was off. Shadows were nearby, two of them.
Ryuu frowned. They felt familiar, but strange. Why did they seem familiar? He placed them just a moment before it was too late. Hunters, like the ones that had come for him at Shigeru’s hut. He didn’t question how they had gotten on the island. He trusted his sense. They were here.
Ryuu drew his blade as the shadows detached from the walls of nearby huts. He had been right. They were hunters. He felt a pang of nervousness as he saw their short blades, and he remembered how he had almost lost Moriko. His rational mind was screaming questions, but he shut it off as he dropped into a combat stance.
His mind snapped and he found the energy flowing through and around him. As the hunters took their first steps, Ryuu fell into the flow of energy, moving to meet their attacks.
They came from each side, their short blades darker than the night. Ryuu shifted, leaping towards the hunter on his right. Isolate and defeat, just as he’d drilled over and over here on the island. Their blades met, the hunter just getting his up in time. The strength of Ryuu's attack sent him scrambling backwards, trying desperately to keep his balance.
Ryuu wasn't going to let him stand, but the second hunter moved faster than Ryuu expected. He was the dangerous one. Ryuu could sense him, a malevolent shadow. He turned and met the attack, blades dancing against each other. This hunter's attacks felt
random and uncontrolled, challenging Ryuu's sense of proper swordsmanship. The hunter attacked with big, powerful swings not suited to his short sword, masking them with remarkable agility.
It took Ryuu a moment to adjust to the new style. It was designed to confuse opponents with the sense, make them doubt what they were sensing was real. Ryuu trusted his sense and tried to strike, but the agile hunter melted away from each attack.
Then the first hunter was up again and Ryuu was on the defensive. He had taken on two nightblades before, but two hunters were a different order of deadly. They had blood on their hands.
Ryuu dove out of the way of two cuts, rolling to his feet and gaining just a moment of freedom. The agile hunter leapt into the air, ready to bring his sword slicing down on Ryuu's head. The other hunter came in from the side, attempting to strike at the same time.
The smart move would have been to move back and dodge, but they would be expecting it. Ryuu stepped forward at the last moment, his cut a hair faster than the agile hunter's. Ryuu felt the attacker’s sword graze his back, but his own sword slid through the hunter like he was cutting water. The agile hunter fell to the ground in two pieces while Ryuu focused his attention on his second opponent.
It was over in three moves. The hunter was balanced well, but Ryuu was too fast and too strong. Ryuu's first cut opened the hunter's belly, the second his neck. He dropped to the ground, not long for this world.
Events sped up to normal speed again. Ryuu sensed the commotion his battle had caused. With the energy he'd been putting out, he assumed he'd alerted the entire island. It was Shika who was first to him, blade drawn. Ryuu had never realized she was so fast.
"I saw the end of the battle. Where's Rei?"
"I sent her off to get a bite to eat."
Fury erupted on Shika's face. "How dare she leave you! I warned her something like this would happen."
Ryuu quieted her. "It was my idea. She'll feel bad enough as it is."
Shika turned to the assembled crowd. "Somebody clean up this mess, and somebody find Tenchi.” She turned to Ryuu. “This has gone too far. It's time we settle this once and for all."
Ryuu, Tenchi, Shika, and Rei sat in a circle in Ryuu's hut. The tension was so thick, Ryuu was afraid someone was going to choke on the air before they had a chance to make their point.
Tenchi glared at Shika. "Our island has stood safe for over a thousand cycles, and now this. Were you involved?"
Shika looked like she'd been expecting the question. "No."
Ryuu understood. His death would have brought the political battle to its final stage. If the blades weren't safe here, there was no reason for them not to go back to the Three Kingdoms. Shika would win, but would she have killed him? She had been the first to show up. Ryuu didn't know. He didn't know anyone here well enough. All he knew is that he wanted to trust them all.
Ryuu tried to turn the questioning in a direction that didn’t bring Tenchi and Shika nose-to-nose. "They had to have come through the harbor. Is everyone fine down there?"
Tenchi shifted his glare from Shika to Ryuu. "Everyone's fine, and most everyone down there is loyal. They didn't come through the bay. I've had my men searching every ship."
"Why?"
"Because this island is splitting up, and I’ve been worried for some time that someone would try breaking the rules we’ve lived by for so many cycles." He glared at Shika.
Shika’s voice was soft. “That’s not fair, Tenchi. We may disagree, but I’d never break the rules which govern us. It’s not the right way.”
Ryuu was trying to keep up. "If they didn't use the bay, how did they get here? There's no way to climb those cliffs."
Rei spoke quietly. "There are other ways up, ways that have been hidden well. No one searching could have found them."
Tenchi elaborated. "We don't just have the two ships. There are many boats scattered around the island. Long ago it was decided we needed enough transportation to get off the island in case of emergency. There are boats down near the water, well disguised and covered, and only checked occasionally. They would be next to impossible to find. The only way they could have used one of those passages was if we were betrayed."
There was a sound of footsteps at the doorway. Tenchi looked out and saw a messenger. "Yes?"
"Sir, we've found two things. First is this note. It was on the body of one of the hunters. Second, we found the boat they came in on. Smuggling vessel. They killed the entire crew. It looks like they came up through one of the emergency ship tunnels."
Tenchi nodded and dismissed the man. He unfolded the note. Three words were written on it. "War is coming."
"Cryptic enough," Tenchi remarked.
Ryuu caught a glance from Shika. He wanted to speak out, to let Tenchi know Shika had predicted the attack, but her glance told him to be silent. He swore to himself. Politics couldn’t ruin this island. It was too great a treasure. People needed to start trusting each other.
"Tenchi, Shika warned me I might be in danger. I don't think she's behind the attack."
Shika looked like she was willing to finish the job the hunters had failed at, but Tenchi fixed his stare on her.
"What do you know, Shika?"
She looked as though she was about to be torn in two. She deflated, all the pride knocked out of her. "I think it was Renzo, sir."
Tenchi stroked his beard. "You have proof?"
Shika shook her head. "He is actively plotting with Lord Tanak, sir. He's raised a militant faction among my own supporters."
Tenchi stood up. "I see."
Tenchi paced the small hut, back and forth, and Ryuu worried he'd wear a hole in the ground. They all sat in perfect stillness, afraid to incur the wrath of the old man.
When he stopped, he was grinning the same grin he always seemed to have on his face. "Well, this is a problem that will take me a little while to solve. Ryuu, I'm glad you survived. It was an impressive display you put on for the rest of us."
Ryuu wasn't sure how to respond. "Thank you."
Tenchi turned to Shika. “Shika, there’s much we must talk about, and much I need to think on. Let us meet again, soon, and let’s be honest with one another. The time for our disagreements has passed. We’re in more dangerous waters now, and I’ll need everyone’s help.”
Tenchi led the other nightblades out into the evening coolness. As he was leaving, he turned to Ryuu. “Be careful, Ryuu. I know you can take care of yourself, but a storm is coming, and I don’t know if any of us are prepared for it. Be safe.”
Ryuu nodded, and Tenchi left, leaving Ryuu alone with his thoughts.
Two days later, Tenchi, Shika, Rei, and Ryuu were in conference again. Ryuu had barely seen Tenchi since the attack.
Today he looked haggard and worn. For the first time since they met, Ryuu thought Tenchi was showing his age. He had the look of a man who had a distaste for everything he did.
"Thank you all for coming. I've been doing a lot of thinking since Ryuu was attacked. It's obvious our island is divided, now more so than ever, but I never thought it would get this far. Shika and I may disagree, but we both want what we believe is best for the blades."
Tenchi paused for a moment. "Today we need to be honest with one another. Shika, I haven't dug any deeper into your theory, but you seem to know things I don't. Will you share them with me?"
Shika nodded. Ryuu could see she'd come to her decision before the meeting started.
"About two cycles ago, Renzo sent me a letter, asking me to join forces with him. He outlined his plan and asked me to support him and be his other half here on the island."
Ryuu looked up. Two cycles ago he had killed Orochi in battle. Was it a coincidence? Or were the two somehow related? Had Orochi been preventing Renzo’s plans? His mind spun, but he kept his silence.
"What was his plan?"
Shika shook her head. "His letter wasn’t specific. He didn't trust me completely, but he said he knew the Three Kingdoms would soon be involved in ci
vil war, and his dream was that the war would provide sufficient motivation to bring the blades back to the Three Kingdoms."
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Shika met Tenchi's questioning look straight on. "I didn't like his plan. It relied on spreading chaos in the Three Kingdoms and would cost many lives. But at the same time, I wasn't sure he was wrong. I refused, but I've tried to keep an eye on his actions ever since."
"What do you mean?"
"I've worked hard to figure out who his people on the island are. I've been watching them to ensure they didn't try anything foolish."
"But you didn't prevent the attack on Ryuu's life."
Shika bowed her head. "I never thought Renzo would give anyone the location of the island. He's a believer, in his own way. I never thought he’d try to recruit outsiders. Truth is, I was blindsided as much as anyone here. I thought he'd try something with another nightblade. It was why I've had Rei sitting watch for these few moons."
Tenchi nodded. "And here I thought it was just because she liked him."
Ryuu's gaze darted over to Rei, who was blushing. Perhaps Tenchi's guess hadn't been that far off either.
Everyone sat around in a moment of silence. Ryuu looked from face to face, and each of them seemed deep in thought. But he still felt he was missing part of the story. He raised his hand and spoke when Tenchi addressed him.
"Why is Renzo in the Three Kingdoms, anyway?"
Shika was the one who answered. "The practice can actually be traced back to your master, Shigeru. After he escaped from the island, it was only a matter of time before Orochi followed him. Orochi was young and obsessed with power when he landed in the Three Kingdoms. We're not sure how it happened, but he eventually worked his way into service with Lord Akira. While we didn't condone his actions, it presented an opportunity and a challenge for us."
Tenchi picked up where Shika left off. "Orochi gave us valuable information, information that helped shape our path here on the island. It was useful for him to be stationed so close to Akira, but it also created a shift in the balance of power in the Three Kingdoms. I feared if one kingdom had a nightblade, the Three Kingdoms would only become more unbalanced. The council at the time, led by me, made the decision to send two other nightblades, one to Tanak and one to Sen."