L5r - scroll 07 - The Lion

by Stephen D. Sullivan

  The Master of Earth beat the attacks away. He retreated, almost stumbling. "Not so proficient as you thought, are you?" Tadaka gasped, a smile forming on his parched lips.

  The Master of Fire's red eyes narrowed. Rather than reply, he blasted his foe with all the blazing hatred he possessed.

  Tadaka staggered and fell before the fiery assault. He tried to rise but couldn't muster the strength. Every part of his body was scorched. He blinked blood out of his eyes. Through charred ears, he heard Tsuke's deep voice.

  "It's not too late for you to join our side. In Fu Leng's care, you would grow strong once more—just as I have grown strong. The taint is powerful in your body. Your reward will be great."

  The green striations lacing Tadaka's form tingled. He heard the seductive whispers of the Evil One. He saw himself leading a huge army of Shadowlands undead, fighting at the side of Tsuke and Junzo. Men and women died before him like rats. He tasted their blood in his mouth.

  Thunder cracked overhead. The fires burning on Tadaka's skin guttered low, and cool rain fell on his back. Moisture dripped down his head and under his charred hood. He tasted the water on his lips: sweet, salty. How simple to let his suffering end.

  "Join us!" Tsuke hissed.

  Slowly, painfully, Tadaka raised his head. Tsuke towered over him, hovering a hand's breadth off the parapet. His fiery katana hovered high for the kill.

  "Never!" Tadaka whispered.

  Tsuke struck.

  Before his blade split Tadaka's skull, another sword rose and met the Master of Fire's weapon. The gleaming katana beat Tsuke's sword aside. Lightning flashed in the heavens, and the new steel struck just as quickly.

  Tsuke's right hand flew through the air, still clutching the fiery katana. The hand, though, was no longer attached to Tsuke's arm.

  The Master of Fire screamed and reeled back, his flames barely keeping him aloft. His sticky black blood spurted from his wrist and burst into fire. He turned and gazed at his unexpected opponent.

  Shiba Ujimitsu, the Phoenix Champion, smiled grimly. "Not so confident now, are you, master of evil?" he said. He held his sword parallel to his right ear and advanced on the wounded Master of Fire.

  "You—you fled with Kaede!" Tsuke said, unbelieving.

  "I was needed, so I returned," Ujimitsu said. He dashed forward and sliced at the Master of Fire.

  Tsuke darted out the way, barely. He kept retreating, clutching his wrist to stop the blood flow, but Ujimitsu would not let him escape.

  The champion aimed cuts at his foe's chest, hips, and thighs. Twice, the gleaming blade connected. Black blood gushed from Tsuke's wounds, and he screamed with impotent rage.

  "You will never take me, Phoenix!" Tsuke threw a burst of fire at his foe, but a whirlwind of stones sprang up between them. The flames broke against the magical barrier. Tsuke turned and glared at the cause: Tadaka leaning on his hands and knees, barely conscious, chanting the spell to protect his old friend.

  Ujimitsu thrust at Tsuke's midsection. His sword penetrated the flesh just below the Master of Fire's ribs. Tsuke gasped and lost his grip on his wound. Black blood spurted from the Master of Fire's wrist, covering the Phoenix Champion and igniting.

  Tsuke laughed and danced back, over the edge of the parapet, his flames keeping him from falling.

  Ujimitsu stood engulfed in flames. Skin cracked and peeled, silk melted, hair sizzled and fell off in clumps, but the champion did not cry out.

  Tsuke laughed, hovering in the air just out of reach of Ujimitsu's blade.

  Tadaka crumpled to the stones, unable to do anything more.

  The Phoenix Champion stood atop the wall, a living embodiment of his clan archetype. The Master of Fire hung in the air before him, a burning avatar of corruption. Shiba Ujimitsu fixed his gaze upon his floating enemy.

  "You are not Uona," Ujimitsu said, a smile cracking his burnt lips. "You cannot fly with the weight of two." His eyes gleamed with the fire of his Phoenix ancestors. He leapt, wrapping his strong arms around the Master of Fire.

  Tsuke screamed and struggled, but the champion held him tightly. The two of them plummeted from the parapet to the earth far below.

  xxxxxxxx

  Shiba Tsukune looked up from her battles and saw a bright comet fall from atop the wall surrounding the Forbidden City.

  Ujimitsu!

  The blazing fireball struck the ground and exploded, not far from the Phoenix general's position. Tsukune cut down the goblin standing before her and ran.

  She forced her way through opposing troops and allies alike, knowing she hadn't a moment to waste. She found Shiba Ujimitsu lying on his back, alone in a wide, scorched area at the base of the wall.

  Tsukune sprinted to her friend and knelt at his side. Gently, she put her hand under his head and lifted his blackened face.

  Ujimitsu seemed not to see her at first, but then his scorched eyes focused on her pretty face. "Tsukune," he said, "I am so glad it's you."

  "Don't talk," she said quietly, tears streaming down her cheeks. "I'll get our shugenja. They can save you!"

  He shook his head weakly. "The damage is ... too great... for even a Phoenix to mend," he gasped. "I gladly join my wife and daughter.... Sending Tsuke to Jigoku was worth it."

  She held his broken hand and pressed it gently to her face. "Please," she said, "don't go!"

  He leaned forward and whispered seven words into her ear. For a moment, he held her with his deep brown eyes as the breath rattled out of his charred lungs.

  Tsukune saw the fire die within her old sensei's orbs. His hand grew cold. Tsukune's body tingled with a new flame. As the fire grew, Shiba Ujimitsu quietly slipped away.

  Tsukune rose, leaving the broken body of her mentor where it lay. The voices of her warrior ancestors echoed in her head, offering comfort and advice. Foremost among them was her friend Shiba Ujimitsu. He chuckled and spoke in a quiet, gentle voice, just as he had in the prime of his life.

  Tsukune smiled, and the fire of the Phoenix Champion danced in her eyes. "Yes, I understand." A smile drew across her pretty face. It all seemed so easy now: the fighting, the strategy, the weakness of the enemy, all burned into her brain with amazing clarity. This battle was but another test among many—one she could effortlessly pass. With a thousand years of experience, how could she lose?

  Turning, she sprinted back into the fray, her gold and red kimono fluttering in the breeze like a living flame.

  xxxxxxxx

  Toturi scowled and hacked away the arms of the goblin clinging to his saddle. The creature fell to the muddy ground, its body joining a growing carpet of the dead and dying. Gray rain washed the blood from the ronin lord's body. Doji Hoturi rode beside him, hacking and slaying in tandem with his old friend.

  Toku pushed through the frenzied crowd. "Did you see the falling star?"

  The Black Lion shook his head. "Where?"

  "I spotted it near the top of the wall, and it landed somewhere near the base," the boy said.

  Hoturi added, "I think it came from where Tadaka and the traitor were fighting." He kicked the face of a skeleton trying to pull him off his horse. The monster's skull stove in, and it toppled into the mud.

  "Tsuke's fires have died away," Toturi said. "Probably the star means Tadaka has defeated him."

  "You think the fireball was Tsuke's body?" Hoturi asked.

  "I hope so," said Toku.

  "As do I," said Toturi. "I also hope that Tadaka survived."

  "I'll go see," said Toku. He vanished into the vast melee.

  "One day he'll get killed rushing off that way," Hoturi said.

  "We need to gather our forces, not dissipate them," Toturi replied. "The Shadowlands army is splitting us apart."

  "The clans aren't used to working together," Hoturi said. "We still have a natural distrust of each other."

  "If we can't overcome that, we're doomed," Toturi said, his face stern. "Gather your forces. We have to reinforce the Crab as they push inside the gate."
r />   "What about the Unicorn?"

  "They can hold the outer city with the Mantis," Toturi said.

  "But Junzo is there," Hoturi said gravely.

  The Black Lion frowned, and the muscles in his jaw tightened. "We'll have to trust Kamoko and her Battle Maidens to handle him."

  "But if she should be killed ..."

  "Hoturi, my friend, there are no good choices today," Toturi said. "Until we can breach the castle's inner walls, every battle we fight is just a holding action." He whistled for his commanders, and Matsu Yojo rode to his side. "Form up! We'll push inside the gates and take the battle to the palace."

  Yojo nodded his understanding and rode off, barking orders as he went. Hoturi did the same, and soon he and the Black Lion rode at the head of a mighty column of samurai. They pushed through the Shadowlands troops, killing and maiming as they went.

  Just beyond the gate, Toturi spotted Yakamo's embattled Crabs. The army of evil swarmed around them like a black tide. Yakamo's tetsubo smashed the head of many an evil samurai. Blood streamed down the Crab lord's massive body. A thundering call to arms boomed from his huge chest.

  Yakamo's scattered troops formed up once more, pressing ever deeper into the enemy's sanctuary. Toturi's combined forces of ronin, Lion, Crane, and Dragon fought their way to the Crab's flanks.

  The melee intensified. Samurai and ronin battled undead warriors, skeletons, goblins, and minor oni. The tide of the fighting pushed Toturi away from Hoturi and the other commanders.

  His steed fell out from under him, pulled down by the claws of his enemies. The ronin lord found himself surrounded by green-skinned goblins intent on his death. Toturi whirled in a wide circle, chopping at shoulder and thigh in a classic Lion sword tactic. Some of the goblins fell, hamstrung. Others dropped their weapons from their disabled arms.

  Toturi beheaded the two goblins left uninjured and stepped past the others, sparing only a brief glance for his fallen horse.

  Togashi Yokuni appeared suddenly beside him. Gore dripped from the Great Dragon's golden armor, but the daimyo seemed unharmed.

  "Hida Yakamo's wisdom has deserted him," Togashi said. "He has left his troops to chase the Yakamo no Oni. Even now, the Crab is surrounded by his enemies, though he does not know it. His desire for revenge may be his undoing."

  The Black Lion nodded grimly. "I'll order the troops to press on. We'll take the battle to him, bring him back into the fold."

  "It is too late," Yokuni said. "He is too far away."

  "Is there no one who can arrive in time to help?"

  "My daughter Hitomi pursues Yakamo, though the desire for revenge burns brightly in her as well," the Great Dragon said.

  Toturi looked at him darkly, "If Yakamo falls or if they slay each other, Fu Leng will triumph."

  Doji Hoturi, blood dripping from his armor, rode through the bodies to his friends' side. "Hitomi must choose mercy over revenge? Then everything we've done, all we've sacrificed, is lost!"

  TRAPPED

  Junzo cackled with delight. Flesh sloughed from the bones of a Unicorn Battle Maiden. The samurai-ko didn't even have time to scream before she died.

  Nearby, his lieutenant Yakushi set a home ablaze. Folk ran from the burning doorway into the street. Yakushi fired flaming arrows into the backs of each family member in turn. They died pleading for mercy. Yakushi got off his steed and kicked their bones from the ashes of their bodies.

  "Stop wasting time," Junzo growled.

  The charred samurai bowed and remounted his onikage. Junzo pointed toward a square where Utaku Kamoko fought alongside her daimyo, Shinjo Yokatsu, and many other Unicorn samurai.

  Yakushi nodded and led a contingent of Junzo's undead troops to crush the embattled Unicorns.

  Behind them came Junzo himself, lording

  over the carnage and drinking the deaths of his enemies. A crimson aura, brighter than the setting sun, surrounded him. His laughter shook the burning buildings nearby.

  xxxxxxxx

  Shinjo Yokatsu, Master of the Four Winds, looked up as a new Shadowlands contingent joined the fray. A frown tugged at the corners of his mustache, and a look of deep concern washed over his handsome face. Utaku Kamoko's eyes followed her daimyo's gaze and mirrored his concern.

  The odds against them had been perilous; now they were overwhelming. Still, the Unicorn fought. Despite the plague, despite the long occupation by Fu Leng's minions, Otosan Uchi was home for many untainted, innocent people.

  The Unicorn fought for these oppressed and forgotten peasants. Even Utaku Kamoko, though she'd heard the call of the Thunders, could not ignore people in need. All her Battle Maidens felt the same. Kamoko gazed over her troops and wondered if any of them would survive the day.

  Utaku Tetsuko fought close beside her general. Dirt smudged the young Battle Maiden's face. Her mouth was set in a grim line. She charged an ogre and impaled the beast on the horn of her horse's armor. The dying monster tried to grab at her, but Tetsuko cut off its hands.

  Kamoko smiled; she had trained her samurai well. If they could not live through the day, at least they would make brave deaths for themselves.

  A howling wind rose on the battlefield, whipping hot ashes into Kamoko's eyes and blinding her. The Unicorn general reined her horse and blinked, trying to clear her vision. When the gray haze lifted, she saw Yakushi charging toward her.

  A halo of fire surrounded his evil face. Flames burned brightly up the length of his katana. He clutched the weapon in his bony hand and aimed at the Unicorn's neck.

  Kamoko brought her sword up just in time. Yakushi's fiery weapon skidded past, scorching her cheek. She spun and slashed at his back as he rode by. Her katana cut through the burning man's armor and into the skin beneath. Fire leaked from the wound.

  Yakushi laughed. He wheeled his onikage to charge Kamoko again. Black smoke blew from the smoldering buildings, obscuring the distance between the foes.

  A white Unicorn charger burst from the sooty cloud. The animal lowered its head and rammed its armored horn into the side of Yakushi's demon steed.

  The burning samurai looked up, surprise registering in his blazing eyes.

  Utaku Tetsuko, mounted on the charger's back, swung her sword toward Yakushi's neck.

  The evil samurai brought up his sword, parrying the blow.

  Tetsuko spurred her horse hard, nearly pushing her enemy's steed off its feet. The warrior maiden swung again, but Junzo's lieutenant ducked out of the way.

  Yakushi tugged on the onikage's reins, trying to regain his momentum, but the living horse crashed into them again. The onikage lost its footing. The evil samurai toppled sideways, crashing into a supporting timber in the front of a burning building. Under the onikage's weight, the charred log gave way. Junzo's lieutenant howled as the building fell on him. Tons of burning rubble buried Yakushi, silencing his cries.

  Tetsuko reined in her horse before it skidded into the flaming ruins. She glanced at her general and smiled.

  Kamoko wiped the remaining soot from her eyes, bowed slightly, and said, "Domo arigato." Tetsuko bowed in return.

  Junzo screamed his displeasure. He spread his arms wide, and a black wind billowed forth, blistering the skin of every untainted person it touched. The evil shugenja's troops surged forward, pulling down many confused and injured Unicorn riders.

  "Form a circle," Shinjo Yokatsu shouted, his deep voice booming over the howl of the wind. The others turned to obey, quickly riding to their master's side. At the tail end of the group rode Kamoko and Tetsuko. Their foray had cut them off from their fellows, and the evil horde was fast closing around them.

  Yokatsu's shugenja worked furiously to counter the black gale. They clasped hands and chanted, summoning the east wind to beat back the scalding cloud. Kamoko and Tetsuko rode into the shugenja's protective circle just as the evil wind began to dissipate. They turned to reinforce the line.

  Wave after wave of undead crashed against them.

  Tetsuko jerked suddenly upright
in her saddle. Red lightning coursed through her body. The Battle Maiden fell from the back of her horse and lay twitching in the mud.

  Kamoko gasped but didn't dare dismount to help her friend; the undead army was just too close.

  Junzo laughed and rode toward his trapped prey. He turned his attention to the Unicorn shugenja. The crimson lightning struck again, felling the allied sorcerers.

  The Shadowlands horde encircled the embattled Unicorn, hemming them in the small plaza. Devastated homes and piles of rubble surrounded Shinjo Yokatsu's samurai, cutting off the horsemen's avenues of escape. The Unicorn tried to push through the enemy line, but goblins and undead held them back. Slain Unicorns rose to join Junzo's unholy army.

  Fu Leng's general loomed over the battle, sitting astride his onikage, savoring the victory to come. His minions hung on his every word, waiting for orders.

  A frightful smile parted Junzo's red lips. "Slay them all!"

  xxxxxxxx

  Kachiko ran, her heart pounding. Her feet fumbled across the floorboards, nearly tripping on her ornate robes. A lock of her long hair came undone and trailed across her face like a black ribbon. Sheer terror marred her beautiful countenance.

  Behind her came her husband, the Hantei Emperor, his pace slow and methodical. No longer was he a callow, sickly youth. Now the fires of hatred burned bright within his eyes. Supernatural power suffused his gangly limbs. His long toenails scraped the floorboards as he scampered after his wife. An evil smile creased his boyish face.

  Kachiko darted through a secret panel and pulled it shut behind her. She thrust one of her sandals into the door's base, jamming it closed. Quickly, she turned and ran to the other end of the hidden corridor. She opened the panel at the far end and closed it behind her, jamming her remaining sandal in the exit to keep it shut.

  She turned to run again, but as she did so, she tripped on the hem of her robe. The Mother of Scorpions landed hard on the moist wooden floor. Before she could rise, the panel behind her shuddered and erupted into a shower of splinters, paper, and stone.

  Hantei the 39th stood in the sundered portal, his eyes blazing with eerie green light. "Hello, my loving wife," he purred, stepping through the opening. "I've been looking and looking for you. But you kept running away. Why is that?" Not waiting for an answer, he reached down and seized her by the neck of her kimono. "You've caused ever so much trouble for me. Ever so much. In fact, I think you're the cause of all my problems. Perhaps I should end those problems ... right now."