When they took her to Tsunetomo, the astonished joy on his face lit fire to hers, and she embraced him with the most bittersweet happiness.
* * *
Something cool and wet touched Ken’ishi’s cheek, at once familiar, but so long gone it could only be a dream.
It pressed into him, insistent, nudging him.
A warm, wet tongue licked his cheek, his eye, his forehead, his nose. The scent of a dog’s breath came into his nose.
He pried one eye open.
A rust-red snout and little black nose nudged him again. “Get up, fool,” said a voice Ken’ishi had not heard in far too long.
He rolled onto his back. His armor felt made of anvils, constricting his breath, pinning him to the earth.
Warm rain sluiced out of the gray sky, wind like the breath of the gods driving the rain against his skin.
The dog licked his face again.
He reached up and ran his fingers through Akao’s warm, rain-soaked ruff. Akao climbed onto Ken’ishi’s chest and plastered his face with more warm, soft tongue. The smell of wet dog, rich and earthy, came even through the rain. Tears stung his eyes, washed away in the rain. Laughter bubbled out of him, quickly stifled for fear this might not be real.
Akao bit into the laces of Ken’ishi’s breastplate, trying to tug him into a sitting position.
“How can it be you?” Ken’ishi said, his voice cracking and thick with joy, his heart so full it could not be contained. He was sixteen years old again, and his truest friend was with him.
Akao grinned, tongue lolling. “In this time, in this place, anything is possible.”
Silver Crane lay half-buried in bloody mud beside Ken’ishi. He did not want to touch it.
“You should get out of the rain,” Akao said.
Ken’ishi rolled onto his hands and knees, levered himself upright. He staggered to his feet.
“Do you have any food?” Akao said. “I feel like I haven’t eaten in a lifetime.” His sharp eyes darted around the field of the dead.
Ken’ishi half-smiled and half-sobbed. “I’m sorry, old friend, but no.”
The dog’s nose dropped to the ground, and he snuffled among the dead, moving away from Ken’ishi. “With all this water, I can’t smell anything,” Akao said with disgust.
The rain poured down, thick with fresh-smelling kami, thick with both life and death. The wind howled like a ravenous thing. Muffled thunder rumbled in the distance, and it was not barbarian bombs.
Akao stopped and his dark, earnest eyes looked deep into Ken’ishi’s. “Are you coming?”
Staggering after Akao, Ken’ishi longed to curl up in a warm place and dry off.
Silver Crane lay quiescent for now, sated and spent. But only for now.
His voice was thick. “Not yet. There’s something I must do first.”
Akao grinned at him. “Very well. Do what you must.”
Then the dog turned away and picked his way through the bodies. Ken’ishi watched him go until he had faded into the rain.
“Wait, don’t go,” he said, and sadness filled him.
He did not know how long he stood there, smelling Akao in his nose, feeling his thick fur in his fingers.
Another crack of lightning roused him to action. He picked up Silver Crane, wiped off the mud, and sheathed it.
Suddenly his belly clenched, doubling him over. A torrent of black, wriggling things spewed from his mouth and nose, tasting of death itself, like ten thousand tarry, bitter, leeches, seething, squirming out his nose and plopping into the mud. He heaved and heaved, spewing a shiny mound before his knees, more than any man could hold.
In the rain, the blind, squirming things began to dissolve like blood clots.
He spat again and again, wiped his mouth and tried to breathe, trembling and weak, spent in ways only his spirit understood.
Finally, he knew what he had to do.
He would not go back for Kazuko. She would find her own way home. The certainty, the finality of it struck him like a hammer.
In this sprawling field of storm-drenched dead men, it was not difficult to find a peasant spearman of roughly Ken’ishi’s size and build. He traded clothes and armor with the dead man, the simple breastplate of ashigaru. Everyone in Lord Tsunetomo’s army knew Captain Ken’ishi’s armor. Then he cut off the dead man’s head and carried it with him for some distance, thanking the man’s spirit for fighting well and for the use of his head.
He would regret not saying farewell to Storm. The stallion had been as fine a mount as any warrior could desire.
When he reached a populated village, he would buy a jar of saké and drink to Hage.
More than ten years ago, he had passed Mount Kurama. It lay to the northwest of the capital. It was said to be a home of the tengu. Perhaps they would know what to do with a thing like Silver Crane. Its power did not belong in the hands of human beings. Perhaps they would help him finish what Ken’ishi and Lord Abe had begun. Besides, Mount Kurama was near the capital. Perhaps Lord Abe would be willing to help him reclaim his humanity once and for all.
He hoped Kaa was not still angry about their duel.
Without even a last look at the carnage he had wreaked, he carried Silver Crane into the lonely rain.
EPILOGUE
Live in simple faith...
Just as this trusting cherry
Flowers, fades, and falls.
—Issa
“Why this the Ronin Shrine, Mama?” the little boy asked.
Lady Otomo no Kazuko squeezed her three-year-old son’s hand.
The sakura blossoms fell around them like velvety pink and white snowflakes, blanketing the earth. The castle loomed above, silhouetted against the sunset sky. Captain Michizane, her chief yojimbo, hung back a respectful but watchful distance.
They stood before the shrine she had had erected in the sakura orchard. Incense sticks lent bittersweet aroma to the air. She checked the saké cup before the battered, rusted do-maru with the fading laces, and found it empty. The rice ball from two days ago was also missing. Good that she had brought another.
She spotted a tanuki footprint embedded in a nearby patch of moist earth.
“Why, mama? Ronin dangerous, Father say.”
Wiping a tear, Kazuko knelt and stroked his plump cheek. “Sometimes ronin are wild, desperate men, Tsunemaru. Sometimes they are heroes.” She kissed her son on the head, her son in whose face she saw the one she loved, her son who had become the love of her life. “The waves of life can toss people in many directions, some easy, some difficult. The kami of this shrine watch over them….”
Ken’ishi’s armor had been found, but not Silver Crane. And she had a piece of him still, right here with her. His eyes looked at her with adoration every day.
“...Wherever they are.”
SO ENDS THE FINAL SCROLL
AFTERWORD
I started writing the story that would become the Ronin Trilogy in about 1998, fueled by a passion for samurai films like Ran, Seven Samurai, Yojimbo, and Lone Wolf and Cub. That decision launched me into an overwhelming research effort, which propelled me into further research, which drove me to start learning the Japanese language, which ultimately led me to moving to Japan, Fukuoka Prefecture, where I lived for three years, which led me to even more research, much of it first-hand, including the fortifications around Hakata Bay, the museums, the shrines, and more.
If you’re curious about how far down the research rabbit hole goes, be assured it’s more like a wormhole. It goes all the way down, and beyond is a new galaxy.
When I started this journey, I found what I thought was plenty of research material in printed form, encyclopedias, library books, etc. Those were the days when the Internet was still in its infancy and the best research sources were only available in Japanese. Now, however, the sheer volume of digital information that is readily available astonishes me, and it continues to expand. More and more sources, both scholarly and otherwise, have become available in English
, digitally and in print. (I could do the research in Japanese, but that doesn’t mean I want to.) If I had had this much information available in 1998...I probably wouldn’t have started at all. I’d have been paralyzed by overload.
One of the challenges with a work of this nature is that historians disagree on a myriad of small details like exact dates, the order of the events, who was there and what they did. The disparate sources I consulted often spanned many decades of scholarly research, and, like scientists, historians often change their conclusions when new evidence arises.
In the case of the Mongol invasions of Japan, the archaeological research is ongoing, much of it happening under the waters of Hakata Bay. That research offers new insights not only into the culture of 13th-century Japan, but also into the Mongols and their Chinese and Korean subjects. These archaeological discoveries allow new and ever-changing suppositions, which were unavailable to George Sansom in the 1950s when he was writing A History of Japan to 1334, one of my most comprehensive sources.
Over the course of writing this novel, I discovered more up-to-date research sources, some of which contradicted information I had already used in previous volumes, or which contradicted areas where I had applied artistic license. Tying the perspectives of so many sources together is a challenge. Relying on only one source might give the perception that the Battle of Takashima, for example, took place largely at sea, whereas a different source might imply that most of the fighting must have been on land. It is easy to become myopic and overlook the fact that the Mongols’ second invasion was of breathtaking scope, with purportedly 3,500 ships in total and more than 100,000 men in the Sung fleet alone. I have tried to get it all to jibe as best I could. In every case, however, the story’s needs were the final arbiter.
Astute readers of some previous editions of Sword of the Ronin will also note that I have changed the name of Tsunetomo’s castle town from Oita to Hita. This was an error I felt obliged to correct. Oita and Hita are both real, modern day cities on Kyushu, but the geographical locale I intended was situated more properly in the location of modern-day Hita. I hope those readers will forgive the inconsistency.
The end result, I hope, is that the reader experiences the kind of wonder that I do when history meets fiction: trying to figure out where the real history begins and ends. The historical record is full of stories of incredible heroism and astonishing courage. I hope the reader will seek out those boundaries and explore them further.
Travis Heermann
June, 2015
GLOSSARY
ashigaru – literally “quick legs,” called such due to their minimal armor, peasants enlisted or conscripted during times of war to serve as spearmen or archers, forming the bulk of a warlord’s forces.
awabi – raw abalone served in the shell.
ayu – Plecoglossus altivelis. Fresh water fish indigenous to Japan and Korea, often called “sweetfish” because of the sweetness of its flesh.
bakufu – literally “tent government,” but came to mean the dwelling and household of a shogun, or military dictator. Generally used to refer to the system of government of a feudal military dictatorship, equivalent in English to the term ‘shogunate.’
biwa – short-necked fretted lute, often used in narrative storytelling, the chosen instrument of Benten, goddess of music, eloquence, poetry, and education in the Shinto faith.
bokken – wooden practice sword, designed to lessen damage. Swordmaster Miyamoto Musashi was renowned for defeating fully armed opponents with one or two bokken.
bushi – synonymous with “samurai,” military nobility, warrior gentleman.
cho – unit of distance, equivalent to 119.3 yards (109.3 m).
daikon – literally “big root,” variety of large, white radish with a mild flavor.
daimyo - literally “great name,” feudal lord of Japan, vassal of the Shogun.
do-maru – literally “body wrap,” style of armor constructed of lacquered metal plates and leather, lighter and closer fitting than the o-yoroi style.
eta – one of the Unclean, a class of people typically relegated to such jobs as leatherworkers, gravediggers, and prostitutes.
futon – padded mattress flexible enough to be folded up and put away during the day.
geta – elevated wooden sandals.
Go – a board game for two players, originating in China more than 2,500 years ago, noted for being rich in strategy despite its relatively simple rules. Players place black and white “stones” on the intersections of a 19 x 19 grid, the object being to use one’s stones to capture a larger total area of the board than the opponent.
hamen – the temper line of a sword blade.
hara – the belly or stomach, believed to contain the soul or the “center of being.”
hyakume – a unit of weight, 100 momme, corresponding to about 13.2 ounces (375 g).
jitte – literally “ten hands,” also called a jutte, weapon consisting of an iron bar and U-shaped guard, designed to catch and hold sword blades, often used to disarm unruly samurai, typically 12-24 inches long (30-60 cm).
kabuto – helmet, comprising many different styles, secured to the head by a chin cord, often adorned with crests.
kachi-guri – dried chestnuts.
kai-awase – a game played by wealthy nobility, wherein the insides of seashells were painted with pictures (e-awase) or poetry (uta-awase). The object of the game was to find the most appropriate matching shell, such as the visually related or thematic match to a picture or the second half of a poem.
kami – sometimes translated as “god” or “deity,” but also referring to the ubiquitous spirits of nature, the elements, and ancestors, which are the center of worship for the Shinto faith.
kappa – supernatural river creature or spirit, about the size of a child, with a turtle-like shell, a beak for a mouth, a flat saucer-like indentation on its head that must remain filled with water when it is on land, or else it loses its power. Their behavior and feeding habits range from pranksterish and lecherous to predatory and vampiric.
katana – style of sword, later design than the tachi; also the long sword of a pair used with a wakizashi.
kemari – an ancient game wherein the players strive to keep a leather ball in the air using various parts of their bodies.
ki – spirit, life, energy.
kiai – battle cry or sharp cry meant to focus technique, awareness, and fighting spirit, sometimes to startle an opponent or express victory.
kimono – literally “thing to wear,” traditional garment worn by men, women, and children, typically secured at the waist by an obi. Straight-lined robe that reaches to the ankle, with a collar and wide sleeves.
kirin – creature of folklore resembling a scaly horse engulfed in flames, with either one or two antlers, cloven hooves, and scales. Said to be a good omen, signifying luck, justice, wisdom, prosperity, and fertility. Often conflated with the European unicorn.
koi – catch-all name given to many species of carp, a fish that symbolizes warrior spirit, perseverance, courage, and prosperity.
komadori – Erithacus akahige. Japanese robin.
kozuka – small utility knife fit into the side of a katana scabbard.
maku – curtain erected around the headquarters area of an army on campaign.
menpo – metal mask, armor covering the face from the nose to the chin, often fashioned into fearsome shapes.
miso – a thick paste made by fermenting soy, rice, and/or barley, used as seasoning. Very healthy. Miso soup is an excellent hangover cure.
mochi – rice cake made from pounding short-grain glutinous rice into a thick, sticky paste.
momme – unit of weight, approximately equal to 0.13 ounces (3.75 gm).
mon – emblem in Japanese heraldry, similar to coats of arms in European heraldry, used to identify individuals and families.
naginata – a polearm with a stout, curved blade 12-24 inches (30-60 cm) long, with a wooden shaft 4-8 feet (
120-240 cm) long. Sometimes called the Japanese halberd.
nodachi – also called odachi, lit. “great/large sword,” averaging 65-70 inches long (165-178 cm), typically used from horseback.
nori – seaweed.
obi – sash used to secure robes, of a myriad of lengths and styles. Typically men’s obi are narrower than women’s.
ofuda – a paper talisman, written with spells and charged with magic.
ofuro – a deep, steep-sided wooden bathtub, but also sometimes referring to the room where bathing is done.
oni – supernatural creature from folklore, translates as demon, devil, ogre, or troll. Hideous, gigantic creatures with sharp claws, wild hair, and long horns growing from their heads, mostly humanoid, but sometimes possessing unnatural features such as odd numbers of eyes or extra fingers and toes.
onigiri – rice ball.
onmyouji – practitioners of a form of divination based on esoteric yin-yang cosmology, a mixture of natural science and occultism.
oyabun – literally “foster parent,” but most often used to refer to the boss of an organized crime family.
o-yoroi – literally “great armor,” heavy, box-shaped armor, used primarily by high-ranking samurai on horseback, consisting of an iron breastplate covered with leather, lacquered iron scales, woven together with silk or leather cords, and rectangular lamellar shoulder guards.
ramen – noodle dish consisting of wheat noodles served in broth, often with pork, miso, green onions, pickled ginger, or other toppings.
ri – unit of distance, equivalent to 2.4 miles (3.9 km).
ronin – a samurai with no lord or master, having become masterless from the death or fall of his master, or after the loss of his master’s favor or privilege.
saifu – A cloth, drawstring wallet used by men of means to carry money, papers, or small personal items.
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