Part 8 – A Flash of Lightening Chapter 4 (The End)
The magistrates shared a look between each other as they were left alone in the courtyard.
“The Dark Thunders,” said Asahina Ayame. “If they see us, they could simply go another way in. Or through a wall. We saw the Kitsu turn himself into bees. They could even summon an oni.”
Matsumoto Eiko nodded. “The naginata and the power of Bishamon will act against them, and maho will not work near it. But we must be faster than they.
Mirumoto Kenuchio gestured to the garden. “Perhaps they won’t expect to be met. They have chosen to wait until the battle is well joined, so they are confident in their lord. They have no reason to believe we would be here.”
The samurai scattered themselves across the garden, waiting in ambush. The garden seemed empty except for the four standing lanterns that marked the path to the Throne Room.
They did not need to wait long.
A high-pitched nasal laughter preceded them. “When we’re done, I want the Unicorn. So pretty…so very pretty.” It came from a spry, unpleasant-looking man they recognized: the Kitsu shugenja they had fought for the soul of Matsu’s first husband. Kitsu Bashu.
A deep pitched grunt. “No so pretty when I’m finished with her.” The man who went with those words was a hulking tower of a man, with his face painted in white and black. He carried over his shoulder a massive weapon, like an iron staff with blades on either end. They didn’t recognize him, but Koshi remembered his father’s description: Kuni Genru.
A woman laughed nervously. “I still think we must be careful. Isawa Tadaka is a powerful shugenja.” She wore the colors of an Iuchi shugenja, her long hair threaded through with gray. Around her neck, she carried twin strings of round yellow gourds, like giant prayer beads crossing her chest. “He will never expect my polvara, but we should be quiet and not attract the attention of the Thunders until we strike.” Iuchi Kyoru.
A man clad in black, a mask over his face, chortled quietly. “Besides,” he said barely above a whisper. “The Crane is much prettier.” With the mask, they could only guess that his identity was Bayushi Joro.
“Enough! I may need to associate with you for the good of our lord, but I am not required to listen to your blasphemous prattle.” THAT one many in the Empire, including the magistrates,would have recognized, at least by his mons. Asako Monoro, Head Inquisitor of the Phoenix. Ayame felt a familiar chill.
The next who entered the small inner garden they also recognized, as the Agasha courtier who had led Hitomi so far astray in her attacks on Unicorn Lands. “No need to fight...we simply are here to serve the Dark Lord. Though...I sense a presence in this courtyard....” Agasha Sano.
The last of the seven did not speak, but immediately fell into stance, resting his hand palm-up on the grip of his katana. His long white hair hung around him. Daidoji Hitsuo.
Asahina Ayame didn’t wait; she knew her role. From her position hiding in the shadows on the far edge of the garden, she immediately cast the spell that she had prepared. An explosion of wind surrounded the entire garden in a circular wall of wind, trapping the magistrates and the Dark Thunders in the confines of the garden. It would not last against a concerted effort to dispel it, but for the moment, it kept the Dark Thunders trapped within. Her hope was to at least buy time for the Thunders by prevent the Dark Thunders from getting past or leaving.
Some kind fortune was with them, for the winds whipped so fiercely that they knocked over one of the standing lanterns that had been lighting the courtyard, turning the whirlwind, momentarily, into a circle of fire. The fire licked out at the Dark Thunders that had been startled in the courtyard, and lashed out at them. A tongue of flame touched Iuchi Kyoru. She screamed and pulled away, but it was too late. The polvara that tainted her clothes and the gourds she carried hungrily seized the flame and exploded, sending a great fireball throughout the courtyard. The Kitsu and the Agasha stumbled in the blast.
The other Magistrates took no time at all in attacking, leaping out from hiding to strike out at their attackers. Asako Monoro immediately tried to pull away from the attackers to give himself the space to cast a spell, but Hiruma Izuko darted from the shadows and struck, burying her blade in his chest. He fell to his knees, bleeding heavily.
Matsumoto Eiko dove at Bayushi Joro, the purity of Bishamon’s naginata cutting through the strands of Shadow he tried to summon about himself. Once struck by the blow, the Scorpion found himself unable to draw on the dark magics of the Shadow Brands.
Mirumoto Kenuchio leapt in front of the Daidoji, ready to block him from striking at his companions, and certain that any man trained by in the Kakita school could not be caught flat-footed by their ambush. The Crane eyed the others arrayed against his fellows and then gave Kenuchio a resigned nod and fell into a dueling stance, making a gesture of challenge.
The Mirumoto was torn. He knew the Daidoji was just stalling for time and taking one of the fastest bushi out of the melee, but in his heart he knew that his honor would not allow him to refuse the challenge of the duel. The world fell away as he embraced the Void.
The Kuni was unslowed though he had to turn to face the attackers. He readied the large two-bladed sword he carried and turned to face his attackers. Moto Koshi made the first strike at him, a telling wound, but there was no doubt the power of Earth was with the mighty shugenja.
There was a burst of noise, barely audible over the swirling winds, as the door to the throneroom burst open and the body of Otaku Kamoko was hurled out. But the body did not reach past the wall of winds Ayame had constructed. Slowly, painfully, the Unicorn Battlemaiden crawled back towards the throneroom as the battle raged. But the magistrates were engaged with their own battle and could not help her.
In a well-practiced dance, Izuko traded partners with the Matsumoto, closing on the Scorpion, while Eiko whirled away to slash with her naginata at the Kitsu. The Lion shugenja was swift, but not faster than Eiko’s naginata, and found his maho-fueled magic unreachable thanks to the power of Bishamon’s blade. He drew his wakizashi and lashed out.
The Agasha recovered quickly and directly attacked Asahina Ayame with a powerful spell, having determined the source of the whirlwind that surrounded him. But Ayame had prepared the spell she had used to good effect at the Asahina temples, casting quickly to strip the Agasha from the power to commune with the Kami. He was staggered, but continued to chase after her, finding in her the key to continuing to the throne room.
The Daidoji and the Mirumoto’s duel began in a flurry. He felt the wakizashi chime against his opponent’s sword. Kenuchio could feel the Crane slip around his guard, and then he had a flash of recognition. This was the maneuver Kakita Hideyoshi had used back at the Academy to defeat him. The memory of that fight came back in a flash, as did all the time he had spent afterwards to counter the move. He twisted his wrist up just so, and lunged, his katana plunging deep into the duelist’s chest.
Thank you, Hideyoshi. You were part of this story.
The Kuni swung a mighty blow at the Moto, and the Moto fell back, wounded. But still, he was able to get a second strike in of his own against his opponent before he was hit, and the Kuni was beginning to show a little weakness.
Now wounded, Koshi moved on to attack Ayame’s opponent, he Agasha, while Kenuchio closed on the Kuni. Izuko and Bayushio Joro sparred, but without his magic and with her skill, she was able to master him in such toe-to-tow fighting. Eiko quickly dispatched the Kitsu with only a small wound, and then closed with Kuni Genru, who was already engaged with Kenuchio. Genru was having a difficult time hitting the Mirumoto, but was unable to cast spells under their persistant attacks. Koshi caught his second wind and was able to prevent Agasha Sano from closing with Ayame, and Ayame turned herself to healing his wounds while they fought. The dance of the battle continued until only the Kuni was left standing, but even he was unable to hold against their combined might. The Dark Thunders were brought down. Izuko felt no compunction about finishing off the fallen Dark Thunders who still lived; it was more honor for them to die than be tried.
The wind died, and it was only then that they could hear silence from the chamber within.
Heavily wounded, limping, the magistrates stumbled to the door to the throneroom to find out if Shinsei and the Thunders lived.
The days that followed were a whirl. Toturi was proclaimed Emperor. The bodies of Togashi, Doji Hoturi, and Isawa Tadaka were given honorable funerals. The magistrates found themselves mourning Hoturi in particular, remembering the months they had traveled with him. They hoped that in his final moments he had found the peace he sought. At least Bayushi Kachiko seemed to have some sort of peace and the forgiveness she was seeking, though she did not acknowledge them. Bayushi Mai had slipped out of the throneroom before the armies had reached the throneroom, leaving all the glory and consequence, for good or ill, upon the Shosuro actress. Many years later the twinned sai buried in the eyes of Fu Leng were described as Kachiko’s jade hairpins, something which probably would have amused Mai greatly. Shinsei privately thanked them for all they had done and then left, a crow on his shoulder. They never saw him again.
They found themselves at a loss. The glory of the Thunders, the victory, all had completely passed them by, and they drifted on the tides of the events in Otosan Uchi, waiting to be recalled. Kakita Toshimoko personally honored them, but he too was mourning the death of Doji Hoturi and it was hard for him to think beyond that great loss.
In the end, each was released to their clans. Hiruma Izuko was granted permission by Hida Yakamo to continue to remain as a leader among the Emerald Magistrates, along with Matsumoto Eiko. Ikoma Nejii continued to lead in the Legion of Two Thousand serving Akodo Toturi. Moto Koshi eventually returned to the lands of his father to take his father’s place as leader of his father’s men. Mirumoto Kenuchio, in accordance with his father’s will, and after several interrupted attempts to change his will, married the “high-ranking Scorpion maiden”, Bayushi Mai, and served her loyally if unhappily, while she, in turn, respected his honor while enjoying her small victories. Asahina Ayame became an Asahina Temple maiden, and spent many years becoming the greatest expert in the Empire on the nature of the walls of Otosan Uchi.
There were other stories, sadder stories, but they are not told here.
Such stories are ones for a different age.Statistics: Posted by KakitaKaori — Tue May 09, 2017 12:01 pm
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