Reprisal

by Charles Tillman

  “Hai. I promise that I will be more cautious in the future, my friend.”

  After the remains were secured, they entered the Pod and flew back to the beach where Eve had deposited the others. The three of them made their way back into the village, and Yuko approached Yagi as he talked to the survivors from the castle.

  “Yagi-san, we have collected what was left of the remains of the ones Isamu had turned. They need to be burned to avoid the chance of infection spreading, but we wanted to give you and your people the opportunity to say goodbye before we did.”

  “Thank you. Let me discuss it with my people, and I will organize a group to bring wood for the pyre. We have several houses that can never be repaired, and we can take the wood from them.” He moved to the center of the square and called the others to him.

  By the time the villagers had moved the lumber to the beach and erected a pyre, many of the Nosferatu had succumbed to the sunlight and were unrecognizable. Akio and Yuko made short work of piling the remains on the pyre. The villagers stood silently, many with tears running down their faces as they realized they would never see their friends and loved ones again, all because Sho Mitsuro had come to their home and turned it into a Hell on earth.

  Yagi said a few words over the dead. At his signal, two of the men put torches fashioned from rags soaked in fish oil into the pile of wood. The shattered and dry boards smoked briefly, then flames quickly spread throughout. The villagers stood in silence until all that remained was a smoking pile of embers, and then in ones and twos, everyone wandered back into the village.

  Yuko and Eve spent the remainder of the day speaking to the villagers while Akio silently watched. When the Japanese naval ship arrived, they met the captain as he came ashore.

  “Yuko-san?” he inquired.

  “Hai. You are in charge of the ship and crew?”

  “Hai. I was told to offer you the sincerest thanks of the Japanese government for your assistance here. I was informed that the Bitch Protocol was invoked and I am to give whatever aid you require.”

  “Thank you, Captain. We do not require aid, but the people of this island have suffered much during the past months. They need food and medical care, and I imagine that several will need help dealing with the emotional toll as well. You are aware that there really are things that go bump in the night?”

  The captain nodded. “I have been briefed on the UnknownWorld. All military commanders have been warned what to look out for. I believe that was a request you made,” he informed her.

  Yuko was glad to hear it. “I did. It would not be a good thing for untrained people to try to deal with some of those problems. That was why the Bitch Protocol was developed.”

  “We are uniquely capable of handling UnknownWorld issues better than the government.”

  “How so?” Yuko inquired.

  “I am from Hosu,” the captain informed her. “I was there on leave when the tiger rampaged through the town a few years ago. I saw the aftermath and heard how the police shot it and it would not die.”

  Yuko recalled the incident. It had been the first of several instances of a Were attacking humans in the past few years. Eve had picked up the chatter on the police, and military communications and Akio had ended the Were’s rampage with a well-placed sword to its neck. That was also the first time that the general populace found out about Weres since there were numerous witnesses who saw the tiger turn into a naked man when Akio killed it in the center of town.

  There had been other incidents since then, and all police now carried a magazine with silver-coated bullets. Gun laws had also changed. Where the civilian population had been extremely limited in having firearms before, now many carried them openly in the rural areas. There was much demand for silver by the several ammunition manufacturers that had sprung up to meet the demands of an armed populace.

  The naval personnel set up a kitchen and a medical tent in short order, then many of the villagers had their first decent meal in a while that didn’t consist of mostly fish and got access to needed medicines that had been unavailable for months. Yuko hoped that since Japan had working ships and communications capabilities, these islanders could get some semblance of their old lives back. They deserved it.

  Chapter Eleven

  Kume Village, Kume Island, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan

  “Eve, where has Akio gone? I haven’t seen him in a while, and he has seemed out of sorts since we came here.”

  The android was still for a few seconds while she interfaced with the Pod and then the satellite that she had stationed over this region years earlier. “He is standing on the cliff near the castle, Yuko.”

  “Thank you, Eve.”

  Yuko made her way to the castle. A few minutes later, she spied Akio looking out to sea. When she approached him, he remained silent with his back to her. It was obvious something was not right, but she had no idea what it could be.

  “Akio?” she softly called.

  His eyes widened as she spoke, startled that he had allowed himself to become so lost in the past that he didn’t hear her approach. “I’m sorry, Yuko. I was remembering this place as I last saw it,” he murmured.

  “You were here before?” she asked, “After the castle was restored?”

  Akio didn’t answer immediately. Instead, he rubbed his chin in thought before answering. “No, I was last here many years ago, the day my human life ended.”

  Yuko paled. “I’m sorry, Akio. I don’t mean to intrude. Don’t feel you owe me an answer to that. I wasn’t thinking.”

  “No, it is fine. I was just remembering how different things were after that day.” He drew a deep breath and turned toward the structure. “As I said earlier, the original castle was on the cliff about fifty meters behind this one. The ruins were declared a historic site many years ago, so the Ministry of Culture built this replica here. This area was on the road leading to the original structure.”

  Akio stared out to sea, the silence building to the point Yuko was about to ask him to tell her more when he continued.

  “My father was the king of the Ryukyu Kingdom, which was comprised of Okinawa and all the islands in this region. I was his firstborn and destined to rule. He had gained the allegiance of all the warlords in the region, and the kingdom was flourishing. There were trade routes established to the Korean kingdoms as well as to other islands. The Ryukyu Kingdom was experiencing a time of peace and prosperity unheard of before.

  “Pirates were our biggest problem. I was the second in command of a group that was sent here to deal with a pirate lord who was preying on merchant ships in the area. My mentor was our commander and my best friend.”

  Yuko remained silent, wanting to ask more but realizing this was the most Akio had spoken about himself in the twenty-plus years she had known him.

  After a few beats, Akio continued, “We had taken a pirate ship after it plundered and burned a Chinese trader.” He paused, remembering the event. “Had they not murdered the crew and fired the ship, we wouldn’t have seen them. As it was, their actions led to their capture and ultimate demise. When we interrogated the pirate crew, we discovered that they were part of a group that had taken over the castle here. After executing them, we came here and discovered that the pirate lord had a small force of seasoned men occupying the castle.”

  He was quiet again as he walked through the open gates. When he entered the throne room, he stopped and briefly looked around. After a few seconds, he nodded to himself and walked to the rear corner of the room.

  “The gates of the original keep were here, and they were heavily braced and covered in iron. There was no way for us to take the castle by overwhelming the gate, so we decided on a different approach. We were an elite group of warriors. Most of us had trained together since we were children and were closer than brothers. We had lived together, played together, and fought together all our lives and were all masters in many different styles of warfare. We were the equivalent of a Special Forces unit in modern militarie
s.”

  Akio stopped talking and closed his eyes, momentarily lost in events long past. He drew a deep breath and released it slowly before he continued.

  Kume Island, Ryukyu Kingdom, 1582

  “Togu-san, the pirates have taken over Uegusuku castle as we were told. Our scouts have seen only twelve pirates inside, but the gates are barred from within, and they have lookouts around the wall,” Akio reported to his friend and commander.

  “How do you suggest we take them?” Togu shot back as soon as the report was finished.

  Akio’s reply was equally quick. “I suggest waiting until just before dawn and taking a small group to slip over the wall and open the gates from inside after eliminating all of the sentries. They should be tired and less alert at that time. We have watched them for a few days, and they always change the guards after first light. The men appear to be lax at that time, and I believe they can all be eliminated without rousing the others. Then it is merely a matter of cleaning out the vermin.”

  Togu’s lips turned up in a hint of a smile, proud of how confident and competent his student had become as a military leader since he had started his training. “Hai, that is a good plan. Select the men to accompany you and make it so.”

  Akio bowed to his sensei and turned as soon as he was dismissed to assemble his team.

  “We go over the wall here.” He pointed to a crude drawing in the sand as the nine warriors he had selected looked on with interest.

  “This guard gets lazy a few hours before daybreak and starts to take longer between his patrols. He tends to stay in this corner nearest the sea,” he pointed to the indicated spot, “for a half-hour or more during the last three hours of his watch.”

  “His lack of focus will be their undoing.” Ryu smiled.

  “Hai, and you will be the instrument that sees to it this is his last night on a boring duty.” Akio chuckled.

  “He will never know I was there.”

  “Hirotoshi, after Ryu silences the guard, you and the twins make your way to the one on the land side of the keep. I will take Yoshi with me, and we will deal with the one on the seaward side. When both are down, Niwa and Gao will take the two on the gate with their bows.” He turned to the two men and cautioned, “Be sure of your shots, because as soon as you loose your arrows, Ryu and I will open the gates. Then the real fun will begin.” His smile did not reach his eyes. Both men nodded.

  “Move silently as the night, and we will be done with these pirates and back home in a week.”

  All the warriors nodded their agreement as they were dismissed to prepare for the night’s events.

  “Ryu, your man is headed to his corner again,” Akio murmured as they watched the guard’s head go below the edge of the wall. “He must have had a hard day because he started taking longer rests earlier than normal tonight. He was there almost an hour this last time. Give him ten minutes to get comfortable and we will move.”

  Akio pointed out a darkened section under the wall where the failing torch was. “When the others reach the wall where that torch has nearly burned out, you go over and make sure he doesn’t have to answer to his master for the lack of attention to duty.”

  The warriors worked their way down to the base of the wall in silence. They moved from shadow to shadow until all of them were gathered in the darkness.

  Akio signaled, and three of them knelt with their heads facing the wall. Two more carefully climbed onto their backs. Akio and Hirotoshi climbed onto the top two and slowly stood. Ryu stepped between them, and they effortlessly lifted him until he could grasp the top of the wall. He pulled himself up as they pushed him from below, and he silently slipped over the top.

  A soft gasp was heard from the top of the wall, and after a short time, a rope fell to the ground. The remaining men climbed onto the dark section of the wall, and seconds later, the guards on both sides died as silent shadows rose behind them and cut their throats without a sound.

  “Ryu, let’s open the gates for the rest of our men,” Akio called softly as the twin twangs of bowstrings releasing came from the front of the castle.

  The two warriors ran to the gates and strained as they silently lifted the heavy rough-hewn wooden beam from the brackets that held them closed. As the gates slid open, the remainder of the warriors came through and moved into the castle like silent, deadly shadows.

  Akio signaled for Ryu to follow as they made their way inside to the stairs that led to the upper levels. Stepping carefully to ensure they didn’t alert the occupants, they slowly climbed to the second floor. This level contained several sleeping chambers. As Ryu moved to the door of one and Akio to another, a pirate stepped out into the hall.

  “What? Who? Intruders!” he yelled right before Ryu’s blade took him in the throat. Although Ryu moved as soon as he saw the man, the damage was done as sounds of alarm echoed throughout the building. The sounds of running feet came from above, and in seconds, men started pouring down the stairs.

  Akio and Ryu dragged the pirate’s body into the room he came from before they were seen. The sounds of battle soon came from below as the defenders descended to the first floor.

  “I think our scouts missed a few.” Ryu deadpanned over the clash of swords and the screams of the injured and dying.

  “Hai, it seems so,” Akio replied.

  “Sounds like they’re having fun. Should we join them?” Ryu raised his eyebrows with a smile.

  “After you.” Akio gave a slight bow.

  They made their way down to the first level and saw that the battle was not as evenly matched as they had thought it would be. There were thirty pirates still standing, and only twenty of their men. Akio and Ryu moved in behind the pirates who had come from the upper level and announced their presence by promptly running two of them through from behind.

  Four pirates separated from the group and attacked them. Akio ducked a slash that narrowly missed his head while blocking a stab from the other foe. Ryu had it better because one of his attackers had misjudged his reach and was gagging on his own blood around the blade Ryu had put through his throat.

  Akio shuffle-stepped to the right and darted back to stab one of his attackers in the chest. His blade stuck between two ribs, and he had to let it go to dodge the other’s attempt to run him through. He snatched his tanto from his belt and hurled it at his assailant with deadly accuracy. The sharp tip penetrated the pirate’s eye, killing him in mid-stride. Akio slowed long enough to put his foot on the first man’s chest and wrench his katana free, spinning half a turn as it came loose and hamstringing Ryu’s attacker.

  “That’s four for me and two for you,” he chided as he finished the screaming pirate with a downswing that left him missing the top of his head.

  “You’re showing off now.” Ryu laughed as he blocked a slash from another and finished him on the backstroke. “Three to four.”

  Akio grinned as the two of them waded into the fray with furious swings of their swords, each swing killing or wounding a pirate. In moments, it was over. Akio’s group had been reduced from twenty to twelve, and the pirates were all dead or dying on the floor.

  Akio flicked his wrist to remove the blood from his katana and motioned for Ryu and Hirotoshi to follow him as he made his way up the stairs to check the floors above. A quick search of the second level revealed only the dead pirate who had sounded the initial alarm and nothing else.

  As Akio stepped onto the third level, he was thrown back as a bow twanged and an arrow slammed through his shoulder. Ryu caught him as Hirotoshi bounded forward and sliced the archer from waist to throat with a savage swing of his katana.

  “Akio, hold on. We will get you to the healer.” Ryu’s voice was urgent as he looked at the wound, the blood pulsing out around the shaft in time to the beat of Akio’s heart.

  “All is well, Ryu. We defeated the pirates. I can meet my ancestors with honor,” Akio murmured.

  “No, no, you will be fine. It’s only a flesh wound,” Ryu lied.

 
; “Hai, only a flesh wound,” Akio mumbled weakly as everything faded to black.

  When they reached the first floor, an overwhelming sense of fear hit them. Ryu and Hirotoshi dropped to their knees, unable to stand under the onslaught. Akio’s unconscious body went down with them and lay unmoving. The other warriors were all down and barely registered when two men wearing all black with their faces covered by masks strode into the castle.

  One of the men went to Akio’s prone form and lifted him as if he weighed nothing. He snapped the shaft of the arrow and shoved it through the wound, and Akio’s eyes shot open as the pain forced him back to consciousness. When the head of the arrow tore out the back of his shoulder, he screamed.

  Uegusuku Castle Ruins, Kume Island, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan Present day

  Akio stood silently, staring at nothing for a moment. Yuko watched her friend until his eyes focused and he continued his tale.

  “Ryu told me this later—about the overwhelming sense of fear and how it made all of them fall to the ground, helpless.” He paused to gather his thoughts. “I came to with an unbearable pain where I had been shot and saw a demon with glowing red eyes holding me. I watched in horror, not believing it was real, as the demon raised its arm to its mouth and slashed it open, then shoved his bloody arm forcefully against my wound. The pain caused me to lose consciousness again and was the last thing I remembered until I awoke sometime later in a dark room that stank of rotting fish.

  “The next sensation was pain, like my blood was boiling inside of my body. I had never experienced its like. I tried to cry out but was unable to make a sound. My body was frozen in place, unable to move. I wanted to die, but a voice ordered, ‘You must fight the pain. Do not allow it to control you. You are stronger than it is, and you must not let it win.’ These words continued to flow through my mind as the agony reached new heights. Each time I wanted to give in to it the voice came again, and I resolved to fight a little longer.