Heretic, Betrayers of Kamigawa

CHAPTER 16

On the border between Towabara and the Sokenzan Mountains, the bandit warlord Godo’s world had turned upside-down.

The ogre’s curse had worked perfectly at first. Each night, the yuki-onna lured a patrolling sentry or a two-man team down into the valley, where they disappeared. In the morning, their bodies were found, frozen solid with a look of primal terror on their faces. All Godo’s men had to do was sit back and watch.

The daimyo’s troops were rattled, and the bandits had become bold. With their already limited numbers dwindling, Konda’s officers kept sending smaller and smaller patrols. These four-and even six-man teams were easy pickings for Godo’s disciplined raiders waiting in ambush. He had counted thirty enemy dead with only light casualties on his own side. Another few weeks and the daimyo would not have nearly enough troops to even patrol this region.

Then things changed. Reinforcements from Eiganjo flowed steadily into the valley for a full day and night. Godo was amazed. He never imagined Konda had so many troops to spare or that he would bother. Instead of a war of attrition that he was bound to win, the warlord now faced open conflict against a larger and better-equipped army.

The yuki-onna claimed still claimed her share each night, but now the hillsides and ridges were thick with Konda’s soldiers. The revitalized force had enough manpower to cross the border in force, so Godo’s ambush parties were forced to withdraw. The more he pulled his warriors back, the deeper Konda’s forces penetrated. They didn’t stay to occupy but withdrew at each sunset, leaving nothing of value alive or intact in their wake. Konda’s officers began to hang captured bandits from the trees along the ridge line, leaving their bodies to the birds in full view of the valley below. And now this, he thought.

Godo walked alongside his great yak steed, leading it with a leather harness. His spiked club hung beside him from the great beast’s saddle. He paced several yards then turned and paced back, keeping his gaze fixed on the baleful discovery his scouts had made only this morning.

A short distance below, among a pile of cracked and broken boulders, lay the body of a sanzoku warrior. His skin was blue. His eyes were wide with terror. His body was covered in a thin layer of frost from the top of his head to the tips of his boots.

Godo grunted, releasing a cloud of white smoke. His yak snorted as if in reply.

Some of his men had already deserted. They were from this region, and their families had been here for generations. They knew what it meant when such a corpse showed up without proper explanation.

Across the valley, on the far side of the hill, Godo heard a great roar. A thousand men cheered with one voice as a huge flaming missile arced up over the hillside. Godo watched it soar over his own head and descend deep into the heart of the foothills, where it exploded in a flash of white fire and gray smoke.

Godo despaired. The daimyo had employed his siege engines to cut off the bandits’ retreat. Now that they had tested the range, it was only a matter of time before their infantry massed for a charge. The bandits would either have to stand and fight or retreat into the killing zone where they would be bombarded by Konda’s catapults.

The warlord tore his gaze from the fire that the first volley had started and climbed onto his steed. The battle was effectively over. The best he could hope for was to slip away with as many intact warriors as he could. Konda’s troops would not have an easy time of it, but there was no way Godo’s army could stand against them indefinitely.

In the meantime, the yuki-onna would prey on them all.

As he rode back to his own camp, Godo cursed Hidetsugu again for his treachery. He ought to have known not to accept an o-bakemono at his word. The ogres lived in a world that humans would never understand, and they were a law unto themselves. Hidetsugu was mad, and right now he was probably wracked with uncontrollable laughter at the trick he had played. Godo vowed to visit Hidetsugu some day and enjoy the same kind of laughter at the ogre’s expense.

The thought of appealing to his patron kami occurred to Godo, but he didn’t think he had enough warm bodies to summon him. The Myojin of Infinite Rage was fickle, and he was as likely to answer prayers with a curse as with a blessing. Still, Godo had to pursue whatever options he could. He had assigned a detail of his more adept bandits to hold a constant vigil of prayer and mediation, beseeching the myojin for his aid. Godo would have welcomed even the slightest sign of recognition, from a ghostly omen to a cleansing wave of fire. He would rather die by the myojin’s hand than be captured or killed by the daimyo.

Another triumphant roar came over the hill, and a pair of white-hot fireballs arced into the sky. Godo himself said one last prayer to the myojin before he went to address his men, one last spiteful wish for his most hated enemy.

“Let the akki have their way,” Godo whispered.

Above him, another fireball rose into the sky. Godo gripped the yak’s reins tightly and guided the shaggy beast down the ridge toward camp.

In the tower of Eiganjo, General Takeno had taken charge.

On the daimyo’s orders, he had assembled the finest cavalry unit and a full division of infantry. With their help, he rounded up as many of the Towabara refugees as he could, clearing the entire courtyard of them and their humble belongings. There was some resistance, mostly from fear, but after twenty years of the Kami War, these traumatized people were used to following soldiers’ orders. Takeno also ordered runners to move through the streets, announcing that any permanent resident who cared to join the refugees was welcome to do so.

All told, over five thousand people stood at Eiganjo’s north gate, shivering, confused, and frightened. The soldiers and horsemen were lined up along the walls on each side of the gate. Takeno climbed into the saddle of his fine white charger and cantered up to the gate.

The sight of the old general quickly silenced the crowd. They were skittish but not stupid. They wanted answers, and Takeno looked official enough to provide them.

“Children of Towabara,” he said. His voice carried across the entire crowded courtyard, though every ear still strained to hear, desperate not to miss a single syllable.

“Daimyo Konda has decreed that anyone who can take refuge inside the tower must do so. Those who cannot must be evacuated. The walls of Eiganjo are no longer enough to protect us all.”

“What about the kami?” someone screamed.

A nervous muttering swept the crowd, but Takeno’s voice rose over it. “These loyal retainers will go with you, to protect you from whatever dangers exist.”

“What is that thing in the southern sky?” a woman yelled.

“Why have the kami turned against us?”

“Where are you taking us?”

Takeno waited for the bold shouters to wear themselves out. “There is … grave danger to the south. Less so to the east and west. We have decided to go north, to the plains. The daimyo will send for you when it is safe to return.”

Takeno looked across the sea of faces. They showed fear, anger, bewilderment, and despair. He wished he had more to offer them.

“That is all,” he said. He urged his horse forward and rode back to the front of the tower, ignoring the questions and pleas they hurled after him. As ordered, the officers going with the refugees began opening the north gate.

Takeno followed the tower perimeter until the throng was no longer visible. He turned the corner to the south side of Eiganjo and brought his mount to a stop.

The courtyard was empty-no refugees, no marketplace, no people of any kind. Archers patrolled the parapet atop the outer wall and heavily armored sentries guarded the door into the tower, but the entire area was quiet as a graveyard. Even the great moths circling overhead made no sound.

The guardian dragon Yosei still circled the top of the tower. Konda had somehow communed with the dragon and calmed it down, so it was no longer streaking in circles like a bee trapped in a jar. Now it cruised around the perimeter like a hungry shark, alert and obviously eager for action. Konda’s plan was simple: the tower was strong and well defended, with spells in place to fend off the mightiest attacker. Yosei and Konda’s army would do battle when the enemy came, and smite him. The citizens of Eiganjo would be safe with their ruler inside his stronghold. The other refugees were at risk outside the walls, but they were safer there than they would be on the battlefield when Yosei met O-Kagachi.

Konda had still not explained what the creature was or how he knew its name. Takeno looked up into the southern sky, which was still slowly filling with the gigantic three-headed form of … of whatever O-Kagachi was.

It approached the tower like a great storm cloud, rolling closer inch by agonizing inch. It was far larger even than Takeno had first thought, and the closer it got, the larger it seemed. By the time it reached the tower, it could easily be big enough to swallow all Eiganjo. Perhaps it would prefer to take three big bites, one for each head.

Takeno watched the terrible serpentine form in the sky. It was growing more solid and distinct at it approached, but it was still hazy and ill-defined, as if viewed through wet gauze. Takeno could make out a pattern that appeared to be razor-edged scales along the thing’s long necks, and each massive, square head was crowned by two long, pointed tips-horns? Ears?

It made no sound at this distance, but its blurred mouths were constantly open, either roaring or snapping at the air. He felt its presence more clearly than he saw it, prickly waves of force that lapped across the skin on his face like a tide.

Takeno glanced up at Yosei, restrained only by the daimyo’s force of will. The general spurred his horse toward the entrance to the tower. The sentries saw him coming and saluted.

Whatever O-Kagachi was, it was coming-and Takeno had sworn to die in the service of Daimyo Konda, for the good of the nation.

Takeno returned the sentries’ salute, dismounted, and strode into the tower.

The plains northeast of Eiganjo covered more than ten thousand acres between the forest and the swamp. Arable farmland ran from the northern border of Towabara right up to the walls of the daimyo’s tower.

Captain Okazawa of the daimyo’s cavalry rode swiftly north through the plains at the head of a five-man unit. They were scouting ahead for the twice-displaced refugees of Towabara, and though he would have preferred to stay and fight, Okazawa was a loyal and true retainer. If his lord ordered him to leap into a pit of poisonous snakes, he would go gladly. If his blood would help preserve the realm, he would open his own veins and die praising the daimyo.

Okazawa saw something in the fields ahead. Without slowing, he narrowed his eyes and peered for a better view.

Hundreds of people were already on the plains, arranged in what appeared to be a large, impromptu camp. They were all sitting or lying down, though the sun was high in the sky behind the yellow haze.

Had other Towabara refugees already fled to the plains? Okazawa quickly explored the possibilities-either they had been there for some time, which meant the plains could support such a large and hungry gathering, or they had arrived recently, which meant there would be competition for whatever resources the plains had. Okazawa hoped he could merge the two groups into one or that they could convince the squatters to move on. The people under Okazawa’s protection took precedence over anyone else he might encounter, and he didn’t want to force these unexpected guests to fend for themselves if he could avoid it.

Okazawa turned to his lieutenants along side him and jerked his head. They looked forward, nodding as they saw the squatters’ camp.

A shocked look crossed the face of his subordinates. The captain signaled for the scouting party to slow down as both lieutenants gestured and pointed in alarm at the camp.

Okazawa followed their gestures and looked again. They were closer now, and he had a clearer view of just who had set up camp in the daimyo’s back yard. They weren’t sitting or lying down. They were all low to the ground, a horde of thick, stunted figures with stony armored domes on their backs.

Okazawa understood what he was looking at but could not believe it. A horde of akki goblins had circled around Eiganjo and was within a day’s march of the tower.

The captain shouted for his scouts to halt and brought his horse to a panicked stop. His heart pounding, Okazawa’s head darted from the army of goblins before him back to the mob of Towabara refugees. He wasn’t sure he had enough soldiers to defeat this many akki and protect the civilians, but to go back would be certain death for the people as well as a violation of the general’s direct orders.

In the distance, the akki began to stir. They unfolded themselves, rising to their full height and stretching their grotesquely long arms. Huge, clawed hands took hold of clubs, cudgels, and other crude weapons. Their demonic, pointed faces slavered and snarled.

A hissing, grating shriek went up from one end of the goblin horde to the other. At the forward edge of the akki mass, two full-sized humans stood. They wore sanzoku bandit gear, and their hair was top-knotted to one side. The man on the left supported the man on the right, who wore a heavy bandage around his shoulder and throat. The daimyo kept all his officers well informed, making sure they could recognize all of the most dangerous bandit chiefs by sight. From an elegant line drawing circulated months ago. Okazawa recognized Seitaro and Shujiro Yamazaki, twin bandit raiders who of late acted as Godo’s lieutenants. There was a special price on the brothers’ heads, as they had once served Konda but turned against him in the chaos of the Kami War.

Okazawa drew his sword. Bandits and goblins working together, this close to Eiganjo, had made his decision easy before he recognized the twins. He calculated they had roughly twenty minutes before the first goblin invaders reached his position.

“Return to the unit,” he told his fastest scout. “Have one quarter of the infantry stay behind with the civilians. Everyone else should come here, with all available speed, swords drawn and ready to fight.”

Okazawa raised his sword. “For the daimyo. For Eiganjo. We have found another war to fight!”