Takeo's Chronicles, page 136
"Sound the retreat," Takeo ordered.
Kuniko pulled out a horn and blew two sharp blasts. The akki broke and ran like a red river towards the gorge, funneled by the Hanu troops. As for Takeo himself, he stayed put, letting the sea part around him.
This was the most dangerous part of his plan.
Armies in a rout were like animals to the slaughter, especially when hounded by komainu. When retreating soldiers showed their backs, the enemy could get among them and kill with impunity. Takeo's entire army might be wrecked before it could reach the gorge if at least some didn't stay and fight.
That was why Takeo had concentrated his most experienced soldiers in the middle ranks, saving them for the retreat.
"Time to prove your worth, oni," Takeo shouted, so eager for a fight that he strode forward through the tide of akki screaming and fleeing about him.
Borota swung his kanabo off his shoulder and twisted the handle with hands as large as a man’s head. The oni grumbled something unintelligible and trudged on, as did those others chosen for this gruesome task.
“Take the lead,” Takeo commanded.
Borota snarled but obeyed, picking up his pace and plowing through the retreating akki. One particular komainu caught his eye; the beast was steeped in bloodlust, ripping akki in half with its jaws while its claws raked through those unfortunate enough to be within reach. The rider was equally enthralled, letting her mount run wild and paying little attention to her surroundings.
She never stood a chance.
The oni darted in, bounding over the last few akki and slamming the kanabo down with all his might in one grand over-head swing. The woman screamed before being clobbered, her body offering little resistance as the hunk of wood and metal crashed down on the komainu as well. The beast’s spine snapped, and it collapsed, howling in pain but now crippled and flailing on the ground. Borota reeled up for another swing, clashing down on the animal’s head and ending its suffering.
Similar howls echoed out down the Hanu line, and Takeo risked a glance to be sure everything was going according to plan. Borota wasn’t the only oni afforded to the Hanu ranks. Bringing their akki underlings in tow, a full dozen had been summoned for this campaign, and Takeo had been sure to spread their number about his ranks to counter the komainu. He only ever had eleven, though, as Tokhta had made it clear he’d never leave Nobu’s side, and Nobu was not fit to be anywhere near a battlefield.
Not that there was time to dwell on that now.
Borota swung at the next komainu to come charging in, and Takeo leapt into the fray. The komainu dodged the oni attack, deftly pausing just before the swing, only to have a fearless ronin fly into its face, sword point first. Takeo’s blade pierced the komainu’s eye-socket so deeply that the creature died instantly. It crumpled, and Takeo ripped his blade free and approached the rider. The man had fallen with his mount, his leg pinned under the beast, broken for sure, judging by the man’s screams. He saw Takeo approach and begged for the mercy he would not receive.
“Don’t get caught in a fight!” Takeo shouted down his line, ripping his sword free of the man. “Continue to fall back!”
The akki were making swift progress, their long legs perfect for eating up the distance, despite their short height. Those with space added their arms to the retreat, scampering on all fours like little red orcs. It was a struggle to keep up with them and hold back the Katsu hoard, but the Hanu managed, thanks in no small part to the oni. The creatures' massive size and huge clubs meant they could command a large swath of land, and all it took was a few dead komainu for the enemy to pause in its eagerness. Yet still, the Katsu ranks did not relent, for victory was within their grasps.
The gorge lay ahead with the first few akki reaching its mouth. The small contingent Takeo had hidden among the rocks there stormed out of their hiding places to entrench themselves at the narrowest part. Their first task was to stop the akki from fleeing further, by force if they must, and Takeo could only hope they would succeed. If not, the entire plan would fall apart, as the akki would rush through the gorge and out the other end.
“Takeo!” Qing shouted.
The ronin finished ramming his blade through an overconfident samurai and, getting it stuck in the man’s ribs, had to kick him off. Takeo risked a glance around, spotting Qing astride an oni’s shoulders, leaning out with a hand gripping one of its horns. With the other, she pointed into the distance with her wakizashi, which dripped blood down the oni’s back. Takeo followed her gaze but could see nothing over the chaos. He found Borota and shouted at the oni only enough to get its attention, then clambered onto Borota’s upper back, wrapping an arm around the oni’s neck. Borota snarled, but Takeo ignored him.
Takeo was high enough to see over the carnage, but it was difficult as the oni swiveled from side to side, raking the battlefield with the kanabo. A moment’s pause allowed Takeo to look in the direction Qing had pointed, to the woods to the north, where Lord Yoshida and his komainu troops were supposed to have gathered and stayed hidden.
That was the plan, anyway, for Takeo clearly saw glimpses of red troops sticking out among the green trees. It wasn’t many, but just enough that any intelligent general would sense a trap. This couldn’t be by accident. Lord Yoshida was up to something, as Takeo’s mind raced through the possibilities, he could only come to one conclusion.
“What do you see, human?” Borota asked, irked to no small degree. “Are you going to get off my back, or am I going to have to rip you off?”
“You might as well,” Takeo replied. “We’re being betrayed.”
Chapter 6
“Run!” Takeo yelled, leaping from Borota’s back. “Full retreat into the gorge!”
Kuniko, always nearby, heard the command and didn’t hesitate to rip out her horn and give it two more sharp blasts. The first she’d given some time ago had been more a signal to the troops than an actual retreat, but the second would let them know that the situation had changed.
“My lord, what is it?” Kuniko asked, stowing the horn and joining her general in his sprint.
A half second later, Qing darted into view beside them.
“You saw?” the ninja asked.
“Lord Yoshida has allowed himself to be seen,” Takeo said. “Intentionally, I’m certain.”
“How can you know that?” Qing demanded.
“Regardless, the outcome is the same. Botan will direct troops to impede Yoshida now, and Yoshida won’t be able to aid us, if he ever intended to. We’re on our own. The gorge is our only hope now, as it will prevent us from being flanked.”
“But we’ll be trapped,” Qing countered.
“I know!” Takeo shouted back but did not slow his pace.
Damn that Yoshida! That slimy, good-for-nothing politician. I’ll bet he gave me this position just so I’d let my guard down, and so that he could pin the loss on my corpse. A two-for-one stroke, eliminating his competition while deflecting any blame. What a fool I was to trust him. One would think I’d have learned by now.
The Hanu ranks funneled into the gorge, this time in great haste. The akki had already sprinted far ahead, and Takeo had to push his way into the ranks to get a look at the back of his army. He wanted to be sure the akki had been stopped and breathed a sigh of relief to see the mass of red bodies pushing up against a solid wall of samurai. The akki surely would have kept fleeing otherwise, despite the Katsu ranks giving pause. Yoshida had been noticed, and there was a delay as that information slithered its way through the Katsu army. Takeo knew it wouldn’t last, though, for he’d made sure of it.
Botan wanted him dead.
A horn blast sounded, loud and low to signal the charge should continue. From within the low line of the gorge, Takeo could no longer see the open plains above, as the gorge descended some forty feet below level, but he could make out some of the Katsu riders splitting off from the main mass toward Yoshida’s position. Meanwhile, the Katsu infantry leveled their weapons, cheered, and descended into the soon-to-be cauldron of blood and death.
Takeo swore.
“All the oni to the front,” he commanded.
Borota scoffed and replied, “You are not Nobu. We will not die for a losing battle.”
“We’ll only lose if you don’t get your fat red masses to the front,” Takeo spit back.
“I stay,” Borota said, then added with a smile, “to ensure Botan does not take you alive.”
The cries of the enemy horde vibrated off the jagged rock walls, making the ground shake along with the thunder of so many feet slamming into the ground, weighed down with armor and weapons. The soldiers under Takeo’s command grimaced and tightened the grip on their weapons, and a profound stillness washed over them. They looked to Takeo from all directions, drawing strength from his presence. Hanu troops were used to fighting alongside their commander, as this had been the way of things until Lady Zhenzhen had come along. Takeo could see in their faces that they took solace in the fact that as grim as things were, their commander shared their fate. They would not break.
The akki felt differently.
As the Katsu ranks slammed into the Hanu ranks once more, another shudder ran through the press of bodies. Screams and the clashing of steel filled the air again, this time twice as loud, as the sounds echoed off the rock walls and reached an ear-splitting volume. A heartbeat later, the sounds were matched by the squabbling and screeching of the akki, as they broke into a panic. They scrambled over one another, pushed and shoved against the back rank, but Takeo’s men held firm. He’d chosen the largest of his soldiers for this task, and they beat the smaller akki back with ease. Some of the red creatures became so bold, or perhaps so terrified, that they tried to attack their allies, but a quick kick to the face ended those attempts. Takeo’s soldiers held no sympathy for these beings. Few humans did.
“Fine, die here if you wish,” Takeo shouted to Borota. “But at least command the akki to take your place. Quickly, lest I send you back to the realm you call home—in pieces.”
“Order them yourself. Haven't I told you this already?” Borota mumbled. “They respond to brutality. Must I repeat myself at every turn?”
The Katsu lines pressed in, and Takeo watched in horror as a line of red troops began to skirt the upper ridge, headed for the back end. The Hanu mass was about to be flanked, as originally intended by both Botan and Takeo, but the results were soon to play out to the former's favor. Takeo didn’t like the odds, and neither did the akki.
“Takeo, look!” Kuniko shouted.
He ripped his gaze from the oni to see the little red creatures had taken to the rock walls. They reached with long limbs, strengthened with terror, grabbing ledges and scrambling up. Takeo glanced back to his line of troops engaged with the Katsu, where the battle was fierce and soldiers on both sides pressed closer than lovers. It was only a matter of time until one side gained the upper hand. Takeo wouldn’t let his soldiers fall alone.
“Tear them off the walls!” the ronin yelled.
Human hands flew up the rock walls to grab akki limbs and yank the little creatures back into the fray. They yelped and screamed, but there were too few within reach. So many had begun to climb the walls that the brown and gray rocks now looked a sea of red, as the akki fanned out like a burst of blood from a wound. They screeched and howled their triumph, those in the back emboldened by those ahead. Their long limbs made them ferocious climbers, scampering almost as fast as they could run.
All the while humans died.
I won’t let them escape. I can’t! These wretched creatures get to live while samurai die. Worthless bunch, all of them. Worse than worthless. They are a plague, and I will treat them as such.
“You want brutality,” Takeo shouted at Borota. “I’ll show you brutality.”
He looked at the spear warriors that surrounded him, those intended to stop Botan, and ripped the weapon out the hands of the nearest one. The man gaped, but Takeo ignored him and scanned the mountain side. He found the akki nearest to the top, leveled the spear, and then hurled with all his might.
The weapon sailed true, piercing the air with ease until it struck hard against a little red scaly ball of flesh. There was enough weight behind the spear to ram straight through the akki and stick into the crevices of the rocks. The akki died instantly, releasing its grip and falling back onto the spear. It didn’t have enough weight to rip the weapon free, instead wedging the tip further into place. There the corpse hung, over the Hanu and Katsu line, dripping blood along its shaft.
The akki just below stopped and screamed when the dead one’s leg smacked it in the face. The cry made others look, all pausing to gape, and a hoard of blue eyes and hooked noses swiveled to Takeo. The ronin yanked another spear from one of his soldiers and leveled it at the next highest akki.
“One more step and you join him!” the ronin shouted, unsure if his voice would pierce the uproar.
The akki Takeo locked eyes with cackled and feinted a move upwards, but like a child testing the boundaries of their parents’ tempers, didn’t actually move.
Takeo didn’t hesitate.
His second throw struck truer than the first, sticking the akki dead center of its ball-shaped body and splattering the rocks behind it with akki blood. The spear tip bounced off the rocks this time around, and the akki plummeted to the ground, striking two other akki along the way and almost knocking them off the wall.
Takeo grabbed another spear and looked for his next victim.
“Fight or die!” he yelled.
Or maybe I’ll just kill you all anyway. Worthless scum, the lot of you, I’ll butcher your entire race if I make it out of this alive.
The next akki in line met Takeo’s dark gaze and then looked up to the pinned corpse just above. Blood dripped onto its forehead, and Takeo waited for the thing to try and scamper up the mountainside. That seemed the inevitable thing, as he was only one man and the akki were many. He couldn’t hope to kill but a handful while hundreds would flow up over the wall. Any creature with a basic level of survival, sentience, and sanity would take the risk and continue fleeing.
Borota laughed.
“Well done,” it grumbled.
The akki beneath the pinned one reached up a long arm and slapped the dangling foot of its dead cohort, which flopped lifelessly. The living one giggled manically. The giggle then turned to a cackle as it smeared the blood dripping on its forehead across its face. It shook its head, splattering those close by, and the cackling spread and turned into a high-pitched laugh. A few started hooting, at odds at first, but then their voices collated into a pattern, and they waved their spears about. Those at the second rank from the top poked at the ones above, pointing at the dead akki and laughing. Those at the top snarled at this, as no creature with an aptitude for pain appreciates being stuck with a spear, and they attacked back. The laughter increased from those below, while angry chatters mixed from above. One got so mad that it hurled its spear, but the throw was so poorly aimed that it sailed out into the open and struck some random soldier, judging by the scream that followed the weapon’s landing. It had landed somewhere close to the Hanu and Katsu line, so it could have been anyone, but Takeo was so angered that he went to throw another spear when he was interrupted by the oni laughing again.
“Akki only know two states of mind, fear and mayhem,” Borota said. “And those can never coexist. This is going to be fun.”
The akki on the walls pointed at the unfortunate soul on the ground and howled. One of them with an eager smile on its face tapped it closest friend and leveled its own spear for a throw, eyes crazed. Others mimicked, and Takeo shouted.
“The enemy, you idiots,” he yelled and pointed. “The ones in blue!”
The many akki glanced his way, sighed or snarled, and then raised their spears just a little higher. One let out a triumphant cry and then hurled its spear, the weapon sailing through the air and piercing some soldier deep in the Katsu ranks. The man screamed, and the akki howled their laughter. Spears began to pour in from all around, the akki turning to feverish enthusiasm to impale as many Katsu soldiers as possible. Takeo heard one of the Katsu leaders shouting at his men to take cover, but an akki spear snatched him right off his mount. The akki found this particular death so hilarious that some fell from the walls, gripping their sides, which only caused the others to laugh harder. All the while, men and women fought and died beneath them.
Some of the akki pointed to their fallen comrades and raised their spears, but one thought it funny enough to imitate the others by leaping off the wall altogether. He did so in epic style, spear in both hands, legs and arms back, and screamed all the way down until it landed on the top of some poor Katsu samurai’s head, piercing the short spear into the man’s skull. Other akki, not to be outdone, soon followed suit, screaming and leaping from the walls as insanity took hold. All but a heartbeat later the sky darkened as a flood of red akki bodies rained down upon the battlefield.
“Ah, this is why we keep the akki!” Borota roared, raising his kanabo. “Look how fearless they fight when given over to bedlam. Haha!”
“Well don’t celebrate yet,” Qing shouted. “Look!”
Takeo followed her gaze and found the Katsu ranks had finished encircling them. A line of blue troops was visible up above, fighting with those akki who’d climbed the walls to attack. Still more had reached the back end of the gorge and were pouring in like a small wave. Takeo knew Botan’s forces weren’t large enough to encase the gorge, which meant the shogun had split his forces to cut off the ronin’s retreat. There could be no escape now, and trapped as they were, it was only a matter of time before the Katsu ranks overwhelmed the akki above and started raining projectiles and boulders down upon them. Takeo had hoped for more time to make a retreat. He’d hoped Botan would hesitate to divide up his forces, but it was not so.
