Without warning, he sprang at the Dragon Thunder's back. "I killed my brother today," Fu Leng hissed. "Surely I can kill my sister as well!"
THE DAY OF THUNDER
Toturi roused himself, and the dust of battle parted before him. Rubble fallen from the ceiling obscured his view of the room, but he heard Fu Leng bellowing from beyond the heap.
He tried to rise, but his limbs felt like wood. His body ached from combat. He fixed his gaze on the shattered debris and saw the corner of the Hooded Ronin's green cloak peeking out from underneath.
He gave his life to save me, Toturi thought. He vaguely remembered the ronin's twirling staff deflecting Fu Leng's crimson lightning.
A comforting warmth drew over Toturi's body, and he slumped to the floor. It would be so easy to lie down here. So easy to sleep. The sounds of battle were far away, and he was weary to the bone.
Get up, fool! a sharp voice said from somewhere near his shoulder.
Toturi raised his head and peered at the armored form of Matsu Tsuko, standing before
him. She looked proud and angry. Her golden armor gleamed like the noonday sun. I didn't give up my life to have you lie here until you're slaughtered. Her form shimmered in the gathering darkness, and the rain falling through the shattered roof passed right through her.
The ronin lord opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out.
Tsuko snarled at him. You call yourself a Lion? Don't lie there like a mouse! Get up! Fight! Buy back your honor with your life if you must! Fight like a man! Fight like a Lion! Slowly, the vision of Matsu Tsuko faded. Fight like Tadaka....
Through a crimson haze, Toturi saw Tadaka struggling nearby. Fu Leng's horrible taint riddled the Master of Earth's charred body, but he fought it for control. He closed his eyes and chanted a sutra of power. His blistered hand clutched a huge stone. Slowly, the green striations webbing his body faded. The stone crumbled beneath Tadaka's touch as he drew power from it.
Tadaka rose silently, dust falling from his scorched and bloody form. He continued his chant, drawing strength from the room's walls and the untainted earth far beneath his feet. Power surged into the Master of Earth's crippled and decrepit form.
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The dark lord leapt at Hitomi's unprotected back and swung his flaming sword. It struck true, though the Dragon daimyo was no longer there.
She stood calmly, a few paces to one side, gazing at him.
Fu Leng roared his displeasure. He closed the distance between them and thrust the ebony weapon through her breast. The sword never hit its mark.
Instead, Hitomi now stood behind the lord of the oni. Fu Leng spun on her, opened his mouth, and roared. Black wind spouted forth, tearing through the Dragon's insubstantial form.
Hitomi merely laughed.
"Curse you!" Fu Leng bellowed. "Are you dead already?"
"I told you," she replied, "I am far more than I was before.
I have become the riddle of the ages. I am beyond such petty squabbles now. You cannot harm me."
An evil smile crept across Fu Leng's scaly face. "You have made a mistake, Dragon. For if I cannot harm you, you cannot harm me, either."
"Cannot and will not are separate things," Hitomi replied.
"Then," snarled Fu Leng, "you will not save your friends when I kill them."
"Perhaps I have already saved them. Good-bye, Brother." She turned and walked away. The darkness in the corridor beyond soon swallowed her lithe form.
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A tornado of rocks and small stones sprang up around the dark lord. The pebbles tore at his undead flesh, ripping it away from his iron bones.
Fu Leng howled and summoned evil energies to disperse the spell. Enmeshed in the whirlwind, he turned and spotted Tadaka near the sundered throne of the Hantei.
The Master of Earth crouched beside the Emerald Throne. Its back and seat had been damaged during the Scorpion Coup, but the stone chair remained solid enough. Tadaka clasped his blistered hands around the throne and sang to it, lifting it lightly in his arms.
The Phoenix changed his chant, funneling the power of his own soul into the throne. As he sang, the green stones changed. They became opaque and shone with the purity of the sun, the blessing of "Amaterasu's Tears"—the power of jade.
As Fu Leng dispelled Tadaka's whirlwind, the Master of Earth hefted the throne over his head and threw it at the dark lord.
The jade throne shattered against Fu Leng's iron-scaled body. The room exploded with sound and thunder. Green fire shot up to the heavens. The dark lord howled in pain. Flames sprang up around Fu Leng, clinging to his pestilent skin.
Shards of jade rained back on Tadaka, but he turned them aside with a word.
Burning, the dark lord pointed his flaming sword at the Master of Earth. Crimson fire shot from the tip of the evil blade.
Tadaka drew his jade fan from his tattered sleeve and flicked the artifact open. The fan shattered under Fu Leng's magic, but it turned the evil fire bolt aside. Tadaka dropped the remains of his shield and focused his power once more.
Sharp pillars of stone shot up through the wooden floor. They closed around the burning dark lord like the fingers of a great rocky hand.
Fu Leng swung his blazing sword and cut the stone fingers in half. He strode through the gaps toward the Master of Earth, his eye burning.
Tadaka's eyes blazed as well, but with the purity of jade and the strength of Amaterasu.
The dark lord blasted red lightning at the Master of Earth, but rock rose up and protected Tadaka. Still, the Phoenix master's power waned as he drew upon the last of the castle's pure stone. The throne room walls crumbled.
Slowly, inexorably, Fu Leng strode forward to snuff out Tadaka's life. Crimson bolts lashed the Master of Earth. They flayed the charred skin from the Phoenix's trembling form.
Tadaka thrust his hands forward, pouring every last bit of energy into a final, desperate spell. Jade winds burst from the Master of Earth's emaciated body and crashed against Fu Leng's corrupt form.
The dark lord reeled back, screaming in agony as his skin slowly turned to jade. Deadly blasts of red energy poured from the Evil One's remaining eye, only to be turned aside by the power of Tadaka's spell. For long moments the elemental forces of earth battled the powers of corruption.
Thunder boomed, and black rain fell. Timbers already weakened by the battle cracked and toppled to the floor of the throne room.
Tadaka screamed his agony, his power crashing like waves over the evil kami. In his mind, the Phoenix lord saw the faces of his brother Tomo, of fair Uona, of brash Tsuke—corrupted by Fu Leng's evil—and finally the placid face of his half-sister, Isawa
Kaede. The visions sustained the Master of Earth, driving him beyond the breaking point.
Fu Leng reeled, buffeted by the Phoenix's power. The dark lord's skin burned and blistered. His limbs grew stiff like stone. He called to his minions to draw upon their lives. Beyond the castle walls, they crumbled into dust to feed him.
Finally, the Master of Earth's battered frame could give no more. Tadaka collapsed like a paper lantern folding into itself. The Phoenix fell to the floor, his body little more than a charred husk.
Fu Leng gazed down at Tadaka's pitiful form and laughed.
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Fight like Tadaka.. ..
Bloody and dazed, Toturi rose to his feet.
THE FINAL BATTLE
Her face contorted with pain, Kachiko crawled to where Doji Hoturi lay bleeding. She tore a long strip of silk from her kimono and pressed it into the wound in her former lover's chest, saying a prayer to Amaterasu for the Crane's soul. She held his hand, and tears welled up on her bruised and bloody face.
At the touch of her fingers, Hoturi's eyes flickered open. "Am I in paradise, then?"
"No, damn you!" she hissed. "You're not dead yet! You must fight! Toturi will be killed if you don't. My hip is broken; I cannot stand. I cannot help him. You must!"
Hoturi raised his aching h
ead and gazed across the room. Toturi stood toe to toe with the evil kami, his lion-headed blade flashing against the dark lord's fiery katana. Strength ebbed out of the Crane, and he collapsed once more, resting his head in Kachiko's lap.
She looked down at his dazed, confused
eyes. Her tears fell on his cheeks. "Hoturi! Get up! If you don't, Fu Leng will win!"
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Toturi brought his sword up just in time to parry a blow that would have split his skull. Fu Leng's blazing katana slid off the Lion's blade, scorching Toturi's shoulder as it passed. The Lion stepped back, but the evil kami bore into him.
A hideous smile wrinkled Fu Leng's scaly, half-human face. "The boy whose form I've taken admired you, once—until you let his father die, that is. He watched you when you came to court, studied accounts of your battles. He memorized every tactic of your swordsmanship." Fu Leng struck high, then low, then to Toturi's gut.
Toturi beat the fiery blade away twice, but the third cut traced a long gash across his ribs. He fell back farther, gasping for breath.
The dark lord laughed. "I know everything that foolish boy knew. I know where you will strike before you do!"
Toturi frowned and spat the blood from his lips. His keen mind flashed back to his previous battle in this same throne room—the battle he'd fought against Bayushi Shoju, the Scorpion usurper.
Shoju had beaten him, then—beaten him soundly. It was the only duel Toturi had lost since coming of age. The Scorpion's graceful movements danced before the Lion's mind; he saw them in perfect clarity, their every detail etched upon his brain. A wry smile drew across Toturi's battered features.
Fu Leng came in, aiming a deadly cut at Toturi's neck. Toturi parried the blow, but instead of aiming a counterthrust at the dark lord's neck, he spun aside, as Shoju would have done.
The demon cut low, but Toturi wasn't where he had expected. Instead, the Lion whirled at the dark lord's side. His katana flashed and bit deeply through Fu Leng's armor and into his ribs.
Fu Leng staggered, blood and fire spurting from the wound. He barely ducked under the Lion's follow-up blow.
Rather than pressing in, Toturi danced away, studying his foe closely.
The monster roared and charged, his blazing sword raised high overhead.
Toturi moved lightly on the balls of his feet, his arms held wide in a welcoming gesture. When Fu Leng swung at his head, Toturi dived under the blow and rolled to his feet behind the monster. He chopped again at Fu Leng's ribs, opening up a gash opposite the one he'd made earlier. As the demon lord whirled, trying to take his head off, Toturi danced away.
The dark lord pointed with his left hand, and razorlike fingernails shot out like darts.
Toturi stepped aside, realizing almost too late that the deadly volley had been only a ploy. He swung his blade around just in time to avoid having his skull crushed. The power of Fu Leng's blow traveled down the parrying blade and shook the Lion to his bones. As Fu Leng reared back and sliced at Toturi's neck, the Lion dropped and with all his might kicked his enemy in the chest. Fu Leng staggered, and Toturi danced back, breathing hard.
Fighting like Shoju may save my life for a while, Toturi thought, but I will tire long before this monster does!
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"Do you want your friend to perish, and the empire with him?" Kachiko whispered into Hoturi's ear, piercing the red haze that filled his consciousness. Her once-lovely voice, now clipped and filled of pain, echoed inside the Crane's head.
Hoturi felt her tears running down the side of his face. In his mind, the Crane daimyo saw the capital burning. He heard the cries of the dead and the damned as the fire spread from Otosan Uchi over the whole of Rokugan. The Great Clans withered and died, friend and foe alike. The land turned black and evil. Demons roamed the countryside, torturing those unfortunate enough to have survived.
"Save him!" Kachiko whispered. "Please! Do what I cannot!"
Blood leaked from Hoturi's nose, and he tasted the sweet bitterness on his lips. Soon, the whole world would know this taste, this pain. He could not let it happen.
Slowly, the Crane daimyo rose to his feet. He felt his lifeblood oozing out past the bandage that Kachiko had shoved into his riven gut. His breath wheezed out of his lungs in ragged gasps. He retrieved his katana, gripping it so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
Before him, Fu Leng and Toturi stood, locked in deadly battle. The dark lord bore in on the Lion, but Toturi danced away, cutting beneath Fu Leng's guard. The evil kami bled from nearly a dozen wounds, while Toturi seemed little the worse for wear. Still, the Lion gasped for air as the monstrous emperor bore relentlessly down on him.
Toturi tripped over an unseen stone and stumbled backward, recovering only just in time. Fu Leng pressed the Lion back toward a rubble-strewn corner of the devastated throne room.
He will trap Toturi there and finish him, the Crane daimyo thought.
Hoturi willed his battered legs to run. Step by painful step, they responded. The Crane's speed built as he charged across the room. Anger and pride welled up within his shattered breast. He screamed, bellowing his fury against the dark lord.
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Fu Leng spun toward Hoturi. Surprise flashed across the demon's hideous visage. He retreated a step to face both Lion and Crane at the same time. The evil kami's sword flashed toward Toturi's neck.
The Lion spun away from the blazing katana. Hoturi ducked under the evil kami's guard. He thrust his sword at Fu Leng's chest, putting all his weight behind the blow.
Toturi whirled lightly, his lion-headed blade describing a graceful arc in the air.
Hoturi's katana plunged through the dark lord's black heart.
In the same instant, Toturi's blade found Fu Leng's neck. The Lion's katana bit through the corrupt flesh, shattering the demon's spine and carrying through to the other side.
A look of utter disbelief marked Fu Leng's horrible countenance. His immense body tottered a moment as his head fell to the rubble-strewn floor. Hoturi withdrew his sword from the evil kami's chest, and the huge, scaly carcass toppled. It landed atop the demonic skull, crushing it to a bloody pulp.
Thunder shook the palace, and rain cascaded through the huge openings in the roof. Not the black, pestilent rain of the evil lord, but good, pure rain once more.
Fu Leng's gruesome corpse burned where the rain hit it, dissolving quickly into a puddle of black slime. In moments, nothing remained of the evil kami.
A cry of victory burst from Toturi's lungs. He thrust his lion-headed katana into the air and cried "We've won!"
Doji Hoturi nodded weakly. "Hai," he said. "We've won." Then his knees gave way, and he crumpled to the floor.
GOOD-BYES
Toturi knelt by the fallen body of his friend. Blood oozed past the bandage and out of the gaping wound in Hoturi's front.
With Fu Leng dead, the evil kami's magic also faded quickly. Shaking off his chains, Hida Yakamo rose and walked to the Crane's side. He looked down at Toturi. "Is he ... ?"
Toturi rose and nodded. "There's nothing more we can do."
"Nothing more . . . you . . . can do, you mean," said a pained voice from nearby.
The Crab and the Lion watched as Empress Kachiko dragged herself toward them. A horrid clicking sound came from her broken hip. Despite the pain, she labored across the floor to the Crane's side.
"Can you heal... ?" Toturi started to ask. She shook her head, tears streaming from her black eyes. "Leave us!" she commanded.
Toturi and Yakamo turned away and went to check on the other Thunders.
Kachiko rose painfully into a sitting position and cradled Hoturi's head on her lap.
The Crane's eyes flickered open. "Paradise, again?" he asked weakly, blood leaking from the corners of his mouth.
"No," she replied, sobbing. "Not yet."
He took her pale hand in his and gazed into her tear-filled black eyes. "Forgive me."
Kachiko choked back her tears. "For my son and
my husband ... ? Yes," she said. "And for loving me too much."
Hoturi nodded weakly. "I forgive you as well. I know that everything you did, you did for love."
He squeezed her hand one last time. Then he closed his eyes and died.
Kachiko buried her head against the Crane's shattered breast, her long, black hair covering the terrible wound that had killed him. Rain fell through the broken roof and washed away her tears, mingling with them and Hoturi's blood. For a long time, the sound of her weeping filled the vast chamber.
Finally, Utaku Kamoko came and knelt at the empress's side. "We need to tend your wounds."
Kachiko looked up. "Kamoko," she said, surprised, "you survived."
The Unicorn general nodded. "Hai. All the rest of us live, though there is not much left of Tadaka, I fear."
Toturi and Yakamo were helping the Master of Earth to his feet. Burns covered much of Tadaka's body. Only small patches of ashen, dead-looking skin remained. The Phoenix's face looked haggard and skeletal. No trace of the evil green taint marred his form, though. The battle with Fu Leng had freed him, though it had also exhausted his magic. A fit of coughing shook Tadaka's frail body.
"The ronin?" Tadaka gasped. "Where is he?"
Toturi shook his head. "We don't know."
"All we found under the rubble was his cloak . . . and this," Yakamo said. He held out the ronin's flute-topped staff.
Tadaka took it gratefully and clung to the stout wood. He gestured for the Lion and the Crab to step away from him, and they did. "We've won, then?" Tadaka asked.
Toturi surveyed the rubble-strewn throne room and the scarred and bloody bodies of his friends. Every one of them looked exhausted beyond imagination. His eyes settled on the corpse of Doji Hoturi and lingered there. "Hai," he said finally. "We've won."
Yakamo looked around the ruins. "Where's Hitomi?"
"She left," said Toturi.
The Crab nodded. "Perhaps its just as well. I've no desire to fight any more today."
"We've spilled enough blood here to end all feuds forever," said Kamoko.
"Hai," Yakamo replied. He turned and walked out the ruined back wall of the throne room and into the palace courtyard. The rain and the descending darkness quickly swallowed him.
L5r - scroll 07 - The Lion Page 24