Outlaw: Champions of Kamigawa

CHAPTER 15

Sharp-Ear led the Towabara archers into the denser woods to the northeast of the village. It would have been easy for him to lead them astray, to guide them to a deserted part of the forest and lose them among the cedars.

He chuckled as he dismissed the notion. Despite Pearl-Ear's low opinion of him, he was not a completely selfish creature. Besides, the goblins were threatening his village, and the safest course was to support the Daimyo's cavalry.

All things considered, he told himself, things weren't going so badly. Oh, yes, there was a hostile force loose in the woods, the Daimyo had called for his head, and Pearl-Ear would probably skin him and wear his fur as socks. He had survived worse. On the up side, he had prevented Michiko from going to the academy, guided her safely to Pearl-Ear, and led Choryu to a minor but well-deserved beating. Things may not have improved since then, but they had definitely progressed.

He sensed something ahead and held up his hand. Beside him, Nagao nodded and repeated the gesture. When the mounted archers saw their captain move, they all responded instantly, bringing their horses to a silent stop.

"Thirty yards," Sharp-Ear whispered. "Due east."

Nagao leaned over, steadying himself on Sharp-Ear's mount. "How many?"

"Very many. Almost all, in fact."

Nagao turned his horse around and walked it back to the column. He exchanged words with his lieutenants, pointing one to the north and one to the south. The yabusame company split into three groups, one following each lieutenant and one staying with Nagao.

"Listen," the officer said. "We are the main thrust of the attack, but we are also the diversion. My men and I are going to ride straight in, right up the middle, shooting as we go. If the akki hold true to form, they'll try to close around us and mob the horses. Once they commit to that, the others will attack their flanks."

"That sounds like suicide."

"Only if you ride at less than a full gallop, or miss too many targets. Are you ready, tutor?"

Sharp-Ear smiled. "Ready, captain. And pay attention: I just might teach you something before this day is through."

Nagao's short sword was suddenly tight against Sharp-Ear's throat. "A friendly warning," the soldier said. "I'd be very careful about what you try to teach me this day. Stay in front. If you move to the side or fall behind, I'll consider you fair game. I don't trust you, kitsune, and if you don't die before I do, I'll make sure to take you with me."

"Ahem," Sharp-Ear said. "A strong point, well made. Or, I should say a sharp edge, well applied? In either case, you can rely on me."

"No, I can't." Nagao withdrew his sword. "That's why you're staying in front."

Without another word, Nagao drew his bow and nocked an arrow. He held the bolt loosely against the bowstring as he stared at Sharp-Ear expectantly.

"Oh. Of course. Sorry." Sharp-Ear likewise readied his weapon, and both archers rose in the stirrups until they were standing tall.

"For the Daimyo," Nagao said.

"For the princess," Sharp-Ear added. He slapped his horse across the rump and galloped through the trees.

Behind him, he heard Nagao shout, "Hah!" and then the captain's huge horse digging up the turf.

For a few splendid seconds, Sharp-Ear was able to enjoy the rush of the wind in his face and the feel of a powerful war horse beneath him. The steed was unfamiliar, but he was an expert rider and the horse was well trained. Together, they were at least the equal of any other rider and mount on the battlefield.

Then Sharp-Ear was through the trees and into the goblin camp. The akki had felled another large tree and a small mob was working on it with crude tools. Dozens more were laid out in rows, resting for the upcoming ritual and night march. In the wide spaces of the artificial clearing, Sharp-Ear estimated there were at least a two hundred goblins, maybe more.

They were slow to recognize Sharp-Ear as a threat, mostly because they were too stupid to focus on more than one thing at a time. The group chipping away at the log was engrossed in their labor and the rest were drowsy, almost stuporous. It occurred to the kitsune rider that he could probably make it all the way across the clearing without engaging a single goblin. Nagao would probably shoot him if he did, however. The plan was to stir them up and focus their attention.

An akki with an axe stopped mid-chop as Sharp-Ear bore down on him. The little monster stood, eyes blank and mouth open until Sharp-Ear buried a shaft in the center of its face.

"Wake up and die, beetle-backs!" Sharp-Ear fired three quick arrows in succession, knocking three more goblins from the great log. "You've come to the wrong thrice-damned forest!"

Behind, Nagao and the other yabusame archers thundered into the clearing. They were not as eloquent as Sharp-Ear, but they were louder and just as accurate. Amid a cacophony of war cries, galloping hooves, and goblin screams, the Daimyo's men ripped into the akki raiders.

Sharp-Ear shot a bone-studded club from the hands of a large goblin and then trampled the little brute and two of his fellows under his steed. He continued to gallop and fire, but apart from that single incident, no one even raised a weapon against him until he reached the far side of the clearing.

There, Sharp-Ear turned and reined in his horse. Unwilling to ride back across the clearing for fear of winding up behind Nagao, he watched as the captain's squad cut a swath through the center of the akki horde. He was pleased to notice they were following the route he himself had taken. He was teaching Nagao already.

Sharp-Ear picked off stray goblins here and there as he waited. So far, the plan was failing only in that the akki weren't quick enough to close ranks around them.

Nagao's horse charged up to Sharp-Ear and reared.

"Turn, damn you all!" Nagao raised his bow in one hand, shouting loud enough to wake the trees. "Another pass! Turn and ride!" The captain fixed Sharp-Ear with a wild-eyed stare. "You first, fox-man! Ride!"

Sharp-Ear spurred his mount back across the clearing. The akki were slow to react, but they made up for their sluggishness with sheer numbers. By now even the drowsiest goblin was awake and reaching for his weapon. The mob on the log had all made it to the forest floor and were advancing toward the riders, cluttering and clicking like mad insects.

A large goblin sprang onto Sharp-Ear's horse, locking its over-long arms around the beast's neck. It held on as the horse pounded along, struggling to dig its long claws or its jagged teeth into the mount's throat.

Sharp-Ear paused, mindful of shooting his own steed. He trusted his aim, but he didn't want the arrow to ricochet off the akki's shell. As he carried no sword of his own, Sharp-Ear's options were limited.

After a split-second, Sharp-Ear hurled himself forward, curling his small body into a tight ball and turning a half somersault as he went. When his toes touched the goblin's body, he straightened out and kicked with both feet, latching onto the horse's bridle with his hand.

The impact was enough to jar the akki loose, and it fell screaming beneath the horse's hooves. Still clinging to the bridle, Sharp-Ear swung under the horse's neck, threw his feet back over its head, and hurled himself spread-eagle onto its back. He felt the jolt all the way up his spine, but he clamped on with his thighs and wrapped his fingers into the horse's mane. Within two more strides he was fully in control once more, firing his bow at the increasingly thick mass of akki.

Sharp-Ear thought he heard a cheer from the riders behind him, but then realized it was an attack cry from the other yabusame waiting in reserve. With the goblins fully committed to the enemies among them, the attack on their flanks could begin.

More screams and battle roars filled the field as the akki slowly oriented on the newly arrived riders. Sharp-Ear's borrowed quiver held five times as many arrows as a normal one, and he had already used half of them. He began to aim more carefully, looking for kill shots instead of mere contact. The horse's hooves began to skid on the soupy mixture of loamy soil and goblin blood, but Sharp-Ear urged him on. As they forced their way through the mass of akki raiders, Sharp-Ear killed them as fast as he could aim, putting arrows in goblin eyes, goblin throats, and goblin hearts.

There was still no end in sight. The akki horde surged forward, mindlessly crushing the dead, wounded, and able-bodied alike as they squeezed into the cavalry's path. Clawed fingers closed around Sharp-Ear's ankle, and he stabbed down with the arrow he was about to load. The fox-man kicked free and leaped up onto his horse's back, balancing on the animal's spine like an acrobat. Sharp-Ear shuffled his feet, spinning in place as the horse plodded on. He fired arrow after arrow in a complete circle, dropping goblins in every direction as he passed.

Progress became easier as he reached the midpoint of the clearing. A dozen or more of Nagao's riders circled the chaotic battle, firing arrows into the center of the tumult and killing goblins at will.

Another akki launched himself at Sharp-Ear, screaming. The fox-man dropped back onto the horse's back with an arrow ready, but the flying akki's scream was cut short by five separate bolts to the chest. More akki fell all around him, each skewered through the head, but no bolts came anywhere near Sharp-Ear himself. He smiled, impressed. The Daimyo trained his archers well. In other circumstances, he would have applauded.

A soldier screamed behind him, and Sharp-Ear spun about so that he rode facing backward. A squad of akki had latched on to one of Nagao's riders, two on each leg, one on his right arm and one hanging from his neck. Before Sharp-Ear could act, their weight pulled the soldier down.

Then Nagao and two more mounted archers rode up on the pile of goblins that had engulfed the rider, firing as they came. Six arrows found six goblins as blackish-red blood filled the air. The soldier at the bottom of the pile struggled free. He wiped his own blood from his face and waved his commander on.

The chaos began to die down as the archers on the perimeter mopped up the last of the akki horde. Sharp-Ear spun back around on his horse. The forest floor was thick with corpses and blood. He counted only a handful of human bodies, some of which were still moving. He quickly scanned the entire area, calculating in his head. Five human dead or wounded compared to a hundred or more akki, all dead. If the Daimyo's troops always achieved this sort of ratio, it was no wonder he had conquered Towabara.

Nagao trotted up alongside Sharp-Ear. He was covered in brackish blood and down to his last three arrows, but he was unharmed. One of his lieutenants rode beside him.

"Well done, sir," the lieutenant said.

But Sharp-Ear saw no joy in Nagao's face, and he could guess why.

"There aren't enough," Sharp-Ear said. "Where are the rest?"

"And where are the twins?"

The sharp-eared fox heard the arrow before it hit. He opened his mouth to warn the captain, but he only had time to say the first syllable of his name.

"No-"

The arrowhead erupted from Nagao's chest, spattering Sharp-Ear and the lieutenant with rich red blood. Nagao's leathery face twisted into a grimace of pain and he slumped forward in the saddle.

Sharp-Ear's body worked faster than his mind. In the time it took Nagao's face to make contact with the horse's neck, Sharp-Ear had noted the bolt's trajectory, nocked an arrow of his own, and returned fire. He watched his missile fly, almost unaware of having fired it.

One hundred yards away, Sharp-Ear's arrow disappeared into a deadfall of dead branches and dry vines. Seconds later, a tall man with a top-knot looped around his right shoulder tumbled from the deadfall, shot through the neck.

"Captain!"

Sharp-Ear turned as Nagao fell to the blood-slick ground.

Something like an explosion boomed beyond the deadfall. Sharp-Ear readied another arrow.

A man exactly like the man he had just shot stepped into sight, careful to keep his body half-hidden by a stout tree trunk. The second twin turned and barked an order. Three goblins quickly scurried to the base of the deadfall and started hauling the fallen barbarian back into it.

Sharp-Ear killed two of them where they stood, but then he was out of arrows. The last akki dragged the motionless twin out of sight.

The lieutenant was on the ground next to Nagao, struggling to turn the officer over without breaking the arrow off inside him.

"He's alive," the lieutenant said. "Help me-"

Another explosion sounded from the far side of the clearing, and Sharp-Ear's horse reared. He regained control, but only after the steed had lunged several yards away from Nagao and the lieutenant.

A huge, two-legged creature with a goat-like upper body lumbered into the clearing. It had long, curved horns on its head and a bushy mat of fur across its shoulders. Its arms grew out of its rib cage, with a third sprouting from the center of its back. Its chest featured a large, black hole with wisps of smoke coming from it. Its entire head was encased in flame like the tip of a giant, freshly lit match.

Sharp-Ear's heart sank. Behind the monstrous kami was the rest of the goblin horde. They capered and gibbered like mad things, scratching the ground and hurling dirt into the air. There were over three hundred of them, fully twice as many as the ones that had soaked up nearly all the Daimyo's arrows. Whatever rapid recruitment or breeding program they were using, it was operating at peak efficiency.

"Regroup on me," the lieutenant called. He nocked his final arrow. "We fight our way back to the village."

The three-armed goat-thing roared. It lifted its head, threw its misplaced arms back, and the hole in its chest began to rumble.

"Don't regroup," Sharp-Ear yelled. "Split up, spread out, run!"

The creature inhaled deeply, puffing its cheeks. It screwed its eyes shut and clenched its three fists.

Something boomed deep within its chest, and then a massive red fireball erupted out of the creature's body. The burning projectile arced up over the clearing and bore down on the growing cluster of Towabara archers.

Again, Sharp-Ear moved before he thought. He spurred his horse, which charged forward. Sinking his fingers once more into the mane, Sharp-Ear slung himself down almost to ground level, hooked the collar of Nagao's leather mail shirt, and dragged the captain clear of the impact zone.

The horned kami's missile exploded on impact. Sharp-Ear heard the archers scream just before the shock wave blew him out of the saddle, Nagao still in tow. Sharp-Ear curled himself around the human as they sailed across the clearing. The fox hoped they would both survive the sudden landing in their future.

Sharp-Ear's back brushed the bloody soil and he rolled. A stray stone cracked against his elbow, numbing the lower half of his arm. Nagao slipped from his grasp as Sharp-Ear's forward momentum carried him out of the clearing and down into a small, stagnant pool at the bottom of a trench.

Dazed, the fox-man sank the fingers on his good hand into the mud and forced himself to his feet. Up over the lip of the trench, he heard the hoots and howls of blood-maddened akki. More explosions boomed and more soldiers screamed.

He prodded his numb arm and nearly fainted when the white-hot pain shot up through his brain.

"Stupid," he growled at himself. All he needed right now was to pass out because of a broken arm.

Sharp-Ear shook his head to clear it and listened to the carnage above. Half the akki were dead. The other half were in a killing frenzy, a sound that Sharp-Ear hoped to never experience firsthand again.

"Forgive me, Captain Nagao," he said solemnly. "It looks as if I shall desert you after all."

Painfully, Sharp-Ear struggled to the other end of the trench. He gingerly scaled up and out, keeping a careful eye on the entrance to the clearing.

The village must be warned, he thought. Silver-Foot, Pearl-Ear, Lady Silk-Eyes, they all needed to know what happened here. What they truly were about to face. A growing army of goblins and bandits backed by a kami with a cannon in its chest.

Sharp-Ear got to his feet and started to run as fast as his broken arm permitted.

Lady Pearl-Ear heard the footsteps outside and rose to her feet. She was one of the only people awake inside the crowded storehouse, and she carefully made her way across the tangle of bodies on the floor. She reached the doorway just as it opened.

Sharp-Ear, Silver-Foot, and Lady Silk-Eyes stood outside. From their expressions, the sling on Sharp-Ear's arm, and the palpable feeling of tension in the air, Pearl-Ear knew something had gone horribly wrong.

"Wake your charges," the elder whispered. "It's not safe here after all."

"What happened?"

Silver-Foot's tone was grimmer than his expression. "The goblin horde is larger than we expected. Much larger. They are coming."

Pearl-Ear shook her head, unwilling to accept the news. "But the yabusame-"

"All dead," Sharp-Ear said. "Or soon to be dead. We rode out and conquered two hundred goblins. There were more than that still waiting, plus a powerful kami. We routed and then were routed." "Captain Nagao?"

Sharp-Ear just shook his head. "I did what I could. I barely escaped myself."

"You must get the princess and her friends away from here," Lady Silk-Eyes said. "It would not do to have Michiko captured or killed, especially not here. Beyond what such a loss would do to us all, the Daimyo would take it even worse."

Pearl-Ear closed her eyes, her mind awash in a flurry of thoughts. "Back to Eiganjo?"

"Anywhere but here," Silver-Foot said. "The kitsune can fight or melt into the forest if need be. But without the riders or reinforcements, I can no longer guarantee the princess's safety."

Pearl-Ear glanced at Sharp-Ear, then fell to one knee before Lady Silk-Eyes. "We gave our word to Nagao. For his sake-"

"Nagao is gone," the elder said. "And we must put our trust in the spirit vision. Seek you the snakes."

"No," Choryu said. He stepped up to the doorway, alert and concerned. "The snakes are worse than the akki. We should go north to the Academy, and go quickly."

Sharp-Ear slowly turned and stared at the wizard. Pearl-Ear was grateful that her brother had captured such a perfect expression of scorn and disbelief so that she didn't have to bother.

"Hello, young wizard," he said evenly. "I'm eager to finish the conversation we started in the tower. You should be less eager for it. Stand aside and let the adults talk."

Choryu unabashedly held Sharp-Ear's steady gaze. Then the young wizard nodded and withdrew, backing away from the doorway until he was shrouded in shadows.

"You need a healing charm for that arm," Silver-Foot said to Sharp-Ear. "And I will send three kitsune samurai with you into the forest. That's all I can spare, but it will make a difference." He read Pearl-Ear's expression and added, "Everywhere is dangerous for Michiko now, Lady Pearl-Ear. Whether she goes back to the tower, on to the Academy, or deeper into the woods, she runs the same risk."

"Trust in the spirits," Lady Silk-Eyes repeated. "I know you will make the right decision. Fare well, Lady Pearl-Ear."

The elder and Captain Silver-Foot bowed to Pearl-Ear and then went into the storehouse, gently waking the kitsune villagers.

"I don't like this," Pearl-Ear said.

"There's nothing to like," Sharp-Ear replied. "But I trust Silver-Foot's warriors and our own fieldcraft to get us through the dangerous bits. The elder briefed me on the safest route to orochi-bito country. With the akki on their way here, we should be able to skirt them and head southeast without any trouble."

"And what of our village? Our family and friends?"

"That is a matter for another day. We must collect the children and go now."

Pearl-Ear bristled. "That is not your decision to make."

"Of course it is. You left me in charge of Michiko while you were away from the tower. You have not returned, and I have not ceded my responsibility back to you yet. I say we go."

Pearl-Ear's hand lashed out and caught Sharp-Ear by the scruff of the neck. She hauled him up to her face.

"You are still playing games, brother. I believe you let Michiko leave the tower, just to see what would happen. I won't let you risk her life again for personal amusement."

Sharp-Ear leveled his eyes at Pearl-Ear and deliberately plucked her hand off his neck.

"Lady Silk-Eyes said to seek the snakes, sister. I intend to do so, and if Michiko-hime wishes, I will accompany her. What will you do?"

Pearl-Ear stared hard into her brother's eyes, searching for any of the tell-tale signs he was hiding something. For the first time in a long time, her brother was completely in earnest." "Go with Silver-Foot," she said. "Brief his warriors on the route we shall take. I will collect Michiko and the others."

Sharp-Ear bowed his head. "Thank you, sister."

"For what?"

"For trusting me."

"I don't trust you, Sharp-Ear. On this occasion, however, I believe you are correct."

Sharp-Ear took a step, then stopped. "What will you tell the princess?"

"The truth. For a change. I will tell her that the village is no longer safe and that we have decided to follow the elder's advice."

Sharp-Ear smiled sadly. "No matter what the snakes may tell us."

"Or do to us. Quickly now. The sooner we're away, the less time I'll have to change my mind."

Sharp-Ear squeezed her hand and padded off into the storehouse after Silver-Foot.

Pearl-Ear watched him go, grateful that she had been able to conceal her own deep misgivings. Once more, the portents from the spirit world were in conflict. The elder's vision showed both the Daimyo's tower and the orochi's bed as possible destinations for Michiko. Was this a sign of her father's great desire to have her back? Were the patron spirits of Towabara eager for their prized daughter's return? Or were the kami themselves in conflict, unable to decide on the proper course of action?

Pearl-Ear tied her robe and silently approached the corner where Michiko and Riko slept. Choryu stood, silent and sullen, watching from alongside the doorway.

The spirits may be wavering, but Lady Pearl-Ear had to be strong. Michiko was not safe, not here, not in the tower, perhaps not anywhere. It was time to find out why.