Takeo's Chronicles, page 151
Nicholas roared and swung his hammer into the wheelhouse, cracking the mechanism and tilting it with the force. He swung his hammer again with the same intensity he had just used to shatter stone, and the bolts gave way. A third strike, and the wheel snapped free, sliding into the nearby wall. The chain went slack, and Nicholas kissed his hammer.
“By Valhalla, am I going to miss this!” he cried out.
A samurai in blue armor plunged through the hole above and both viking and ronin leveled the intruder in a heartbeat. More voices collected above them.
Takeo glanced back at the wall. The hole was almost big enough there, too. Nicholas followed the gaze before the two shared a nod. Takeo dashed to the wall while Nicholas held his ground beneath the roof. The room vibrated with another roar as a second enemy plunged in, only to meet a swift end at the hands of a man with shoulders as broad as an ogre.
Outside, the thunder of screams and battle cries was deafening. Takeo dared hope the growing intensity meant the Hanu army was slowly winning, but his nagging logical mind didn’t discount that what he heard could be nothing but echoes.
That was until the hammer blows against the wall stopped, and no one else dropped into the hole above Nicholas. Takeo shielded his eyes and approached the wall, holding his breath and daring to hope.
Through the opening, he saw the sea of blue troops had all but forgotten him. Instead they face off against an unseen opponent to Takeo’s left, and the roars that flowed through to his ears did not come from the Katsu soldiers.
“Emy,” Takeo shouted. “Pull back the door.”
She gave him a questioning look, then checked herself and obeyed. The rakshasa yanked the door away, and a host of unprepared Katsu samurai stood in the entrance, battering ram dropped to their feet. They were looking away, back through the entrance, fighting against a tide of red that cut them off. The wide channel that marked the grand entrance beyond the lowered drawbridge was thick with Hanu samurai howling like mad. Takeo and Emy quickly put an end to the three Katsu lives that stood between them and their allies.
“He’s here! He’s here!” someone shouted, and through the mass of Hanu troops, Kuniko pushed her way into view, eyes glinting in the morning light.
“My lord!” Kuniko shouted and waved through the entrance, unable to bow in the press of bodies.
Takeo nodded, pride swelling within him, and he looked to Nicholas.
“Lift me up,” he commanded.
Nicholas’ outstretched hands became footholds, and Takeo climbed out of the hole. He stood tall on the gatehouse roof, alone above the masses, and finally got a clear view of the battlefield. The Hanu had pushed across the drawbridge and were spreading out into the courtyard. Nicholas wasn’t the only person to scale the walls, as there were small fights breaking out along the upper levels, and the Katsus were retreating to solidify their numbers. Takeo could see through beyond the fortress gate a great swath of red, roaring and waving their swords, covering the landscape outside. At the sight of Takeo, their general, who had brought down the Katsu gate, the cheers intensified. Understanding the nature of morale, Takeo pointed his sword into the keep and shouted at the top of his lungs.
“Bring me their heads!”
The answering roar was deafening, and the Katsu troops seemed to wilt beneath his command.
Takeo leapt from the gatehouse and into the fray, taking his familiar place among the soldiers. He lost his view of the battlefield, but there was no need for it. He, the soldiers, the daimyo, even the very walls of the fortress knew the outcome now. The invaders were inside, and there was no closing the gate. It was every man for himself.
Screams and shouts echoed about the stone like a chorus of gongs, occasionally broken by a particularly loud noise, such as a door being bashed open or a catapult being rolled off the walls. Those who fought by Takeo were invigorated as they spearheaded an assault into the Katsu ranks, cutting foes down like crops to harvest. Blood flowed, bodies fell, and madness took hold. That was until one voice, calm and collected boomed out over the mayhem.
“Karaoshi!” Botan yelled in that commanding voice of his. “Takeo, stop this at once! Takeo! Stop or they die!”
Takeo froze, sparing the life of the next Katsu samurai about to be felled by his blade. His sudden stop made those nearby pause, too, on either side of the conflict, and Takeo scanned the carnage that still raged on around him.
“I know you’re out there, Takeo!” Botan yelled out again. “Everyone stop! Stop, I say! Obey your lord!”
The screams and shouts began to be stifled, as did the killing. The growing silence spread, sapping the madness from those who had not heard Botan’s voice, until the two armies came to a standstill. A thin yet clear line parted them.
Takeo searched and found what he was looking for, a glint of blond in the sea of red, blue, and black. On one of the middle levels leading into the keep, Gavin had been brought forward and forced to his knees at the top of the stairs. The knight’s hands—no, hand—was resting in his lap, while the stubby end of his left arm hung at his side. A large, white patch was wrapped about his head, pressing a bandage to where one of his ears used to be. Gavin blinked as his eyes strained against the morning light. That was until he found Takeo and the two locked eyes.
Takeo couldn’t say what he read in Gavin’s expression. It was stoic and, at this distance, hard to make out. It wasn’t happiness, yet it wasn’t anger either, and all Takeo could do was nod. Gavin dropped his head.
What interested Takeo, though, was the blade held to Gavin’s throat, and the Katsu samurai who wielded it. Botan was still nowhere to be found.
“I know you’re out there, Takeo!” Botan yelled. “Don’t try anything! My samurai are on strict orders to kill the knight unless my commands are followed in the absolute. Where are you? Come forward! Alone.”
Now that the silence was all encompassing, Botan’s voice rung clear. Takeo deciphered the direction, yet he did not move. His mind spun as he stared at Gavin, whirling around as he tried to figure out what to do. He took in the Katsu soldiers surrounding the knight and the distance from them to his nearest ally, but the distance was too great. And the man holding the knife to Gavin’s throat had a snarl on his face. There was a fanaticism in that look that Takeo didn’t want to test, yet he had to. There was no other choice. He couldn’t lose him, not Gavin. It was all for nothing without him, wasn’t it?
Someone had to live, someone had to be worthy of it all. The prophecy couldn’t end with Gavin’s death. Takeo wouldn’t allow it.
“Clock is ticking, Takeo,” Botan shouted again. “Come to me. I have the ogre. It’s time we put an end to this.”
He’d been about to look away when someone caught Takeo’s eye. On second look, he realized whom he was seeing. Emy met his gaze, disguised as a commoner, and she disappeared into the Katsu line. She headed towards Gavin, and hope re-entered Takeo’s heart.
This was her plan. She can drift about unnoticed on both sides dressed like that, and she goes to free our friends. Clever girl.
Takeo strode into the Katsu ranks heading for Botan’s voice, the lines of blue armor parting as he went. The closest Hanu soldiers made a move to follow, but Takeo stayed them with a wave of his hand. He marched alone into the enemy’s lair, the eyes of every soul in the fortress following him.
Out of the masses, Takeo came upon what he feared: Lord Botan Katsu standing behind Krunk. The ogre had been forced to his knees, and the Karaoshi family sword was pressed tightly to his throat. Botan had his other arm around Krunk’s head, using one of the tusks for leverage to keep the ogre rooted in place, assisted by the infernal power of the sword’s enchantment. Even still, Krunk’s strength was immense, and two other Katsu soldiers flanked him, wrestling with the ogre’s arms to keep the purple brute pinned.
One might assume that Krunk would cooperate with a blade to his throat, but Takeo saw why so much restraint was necessary.
Krunk’s drooling was so intense that he almost frothed at the mouth. His yellow eyes shifted in quick, seemingly random motions, settling on his captors one after another as if shocked to see where he was. He kept trying to stand, with Botan forcing the ogre back to his knees, only for Krunk to forget and attempt the motion again just a few seconds later. At each restriction, the ogre grunted and growled, fighting against those who held him. The blade dug so deeply into the ogre’s skin that it bled, yet Krunk appeared oblivious, attempting to stand again and further lodging the edge into his vital flesh.
At the sight of Takeo, though, a long look of recognition crept over the ogre’s face. Confusion wracked his eyebrows as he squinted and thought, contemplated and pondered, until slowly his yellow eyes widened.
“Krunk know you,” the ogre said.
Besides the two others holding down Krunk, there was a very small clearing about Botan, roughly one sword length, which was clearly intended for Takeo to occupy. The Katsu soldiers all around stared intently, yet the only gaze Takeo met was the shogun’s.
Even with Krunk at his knees, the ogre was almost as tall as Botan, and there was no mistaking this was purposeful. Botan was completely sheltered behind Krunk's mass, besides his exposed arms and half his face peering out.
“This is it, Takeo,” Botan said. “You should have quit while you had the chance. If you had left, you could have lived, but it’s over now. Tell your army to retreat, or I kill them both. Do it!”
Krunk gasped, and the enchanted blade pressed further into his throat, hissing and burning. Thankfully, an ogre’s neck was not a fragile thing, yet Takeo could only imagine the damage being done. It seemed Krunk was truly poised on the fringes of sanity.
“Takeo,” Krunk said. “That your name. We friends?”
“What will it take for you to let them go?” Takeo asked the lord. “I mean right here, right now, completely. All of them.”
Botan thought for but a second.
“Kill yourself, after you order your army away.”
“Not just going to have your minions do it, eh?”
“And have you become a martyr? Do I look like a fool? Order your army back and take your own life. These foreigners will mean nothing to me, then, and I’ll let them go. Everyone wins.”
Takeo nodded and drew his blade. Botan tightened his grip on Krunk, making sure only half his face was exposed. Yet Takeo knew it would be useless to strike there. The lord would see an attack coming, and his enchanted strength would protect him from harm.
“No!” Gavin shouted. “Damn it, no!”
The loud yell echoed out across the courtyard and turned every head, including Takeo’s. Still on his knees, perched above the crowd, Gavin had come to life and strained against the knife at his throat, tears in his eyes.
“Takeo, please! Don’t do it! I’m begging you, please,” the knight pleaded.
“Gavin, there’s no other way,” Takeo shouted back.
“No, please no,” the knight continued, dropping his head and letting his voice fall to a whimper. "Not Krunk."
Tears fell from Gavin’s face, and his shoulders convulsed.
Nearby, Takeo caught sight of Emy again, now just an arm’s length away from Gavin.
Takeo turned back to Botan.
The lord had not been idle during this exchange. He’d watched carefully Gavin’s tearful plea. Botan saw that Takeo had a shine to his eyes, like tears, but with a mix of determination. He did not see defeat.
“Kill him!” Botan shouted, too late.
Takeo dropped to the right, blade held low and point forward, blocking Botan’s sight for a fraction of a second, and then dashed forward and rammed with all his might. Takeo’s blade entered Krunk just under the middle ribs, passed through the ogre’s lung, scraped along his massive spine, then exited the other side. When the sword’s guard struck Krunk’s flesh, the tip pierced Botan’s chest.
Chapter 21
Lord Botan Katsu gasped as a finger’s length of blade stabbed into him, missing his vital organs by a hair. He’d pulled away from Krunk on instinct, saving him from further injury, and the relief that washed over him was his last as Takeo ripped the Karaoshi blade from Botan’s weakened grasp and decapitated the shogun a moment later. Botan’s head went flying, but before it ever hit the ground, Takeo whirled about and slaughtered the five closest Katsu soldiers in a flash.
Six bodies hit the ground, oozing blood, smoke, and burning flakes of skin set adrift in the wind. The fire that flowed through Takeo was palpable, and he immediately set it to use again to catch Krunk.
A collective gasp broke the silence of the courtyard, and a quiet jolt swept through the crowd. Gavin did not flinch, instead continuing to weep silently on his knees, even as Emy had ripped the blade from the knight’s throat a half-second before Takeo’s attack. The rakshasa had not dropped her disguise, but her identity was clear now that she stood beside Gavin, mouth agape, dagger in one hand, former Katsu executioner’s throat in the other. The man fought against her grip, but his attempts were futile, his legs swinging beneath him. Just as the man lost consciousness, she dropped him over the side and into the crowd but otherwise did not move. The soldiers around her were too stunned, or perhaps terrified, to interfere.
The latter was certainly true of those around Takeo. No one dared step beyond the dead to challenge the ronin, even as he stood preoccupied.
Krunk blinked and looked down, his brows bouncing as he found the source of his pain. He blinked again, a moment’s reflection passing over his features.
“Takeo,” the ogre said, groaning. “You, you stab Krunk.”
“I know,” the ronin replied, voice shaking. “I did.”
Krunk reached for the sword, but the motion only jostled the blade, spurting blood out and almost dropping the ogre. Takeo held the ogre up by bracing himself against the stone, drawing strength from his enchanted blade, as Krunk leaned into him. The ogre’s massive head dropped onto Takeo’s shoulder, leaning one drooling tusk onto the man’s neck.
“I,” Takeo started, pausing, words getting caught in his throat. “I’m so sorry, Krunk. I want you to know that you saved us. You saved us all. I didn't have a choice.”
“Gavin?” Krunk mumbled.
Takeo could only nod. He could feel Krunk’s warm blood seeping into the cracks in his armor, as well as the increasing weight that the ogre put on him. His stomach hurt, his limbs felt numb, yet what bothered Takeo the most was the complete lack of feeling in his heart. Where he should feel the greatest pain, he felt only the sword's fire, as if his heart was burning away.
In the background, Gavin’s quiet sobs filled the air.
“Was, was,” Krunk mumbled, saliva rolling down Takeo’s back, “was accident?”
Takeo bit his lip. Somewhere, a tear fought up from the darkness and rolled down his cheek.
“Yeah,” Takeo pushed out. “Yes, it was an accident.”
“Oh,” Krunk said. “It okay. Krunk forgive . . . you.”
The last of the ogre’s strength faded into Takeo’s arms, and a long, final breath shuddered out over Takeo’s shoulder. Krunk’s limp arms scraped across the stone as they fell free, and Takeo slowly lowered the big creature to the ground. The ring of bodies had made a shallow of pool of blood, yet Takeo had no choice but to set Krunk’s lifeless body in it. Red pooled about purple skin, and Krunk’s yellow eyes stared, glossed over.
Takeo let those eyes bore into him for several seconds before he closed them. He took one steadying breath, and then stood and turned upon the army, his enchanted blade dripping shogun blood, hissing smoke along its blackened edge.
Those closest stepped back.
“This ogre was my friend,” Takeo said.
There was no need to shout. The only competing sound was Gavin’s sobbing.
“Look at him and imagine what I would do to my enemy,” Takeo went on. “Your leader is dead. Your fortress invaded. Your lives rest in my hands. I’ll say this only once: surrender. Do so now, and not only will I let you live, but I’ll also let your families live. Do not test me.”
Takeo let his words sink in, but only for a moment. He was smart enough to know that within every army lay at least one self-righteous dullard who would think this cause worth dying for. The only chance at heading such a zealot off was to make the first move.
He surveyed those soldiers closest to him, singled out the one with the most beads of sweat on his forehead, and took a step toward him.
The man dropped his sword as if it had bit him and fell to his knees. The clanging of the sword was quickly followed by a second as Takeo cast his dark gaze on a second soul, then a third rang out nearby. Takeo knew it was only the cowards that were ditching their weapons so enthusiastically, but herd mentality was a hard thing to resist when coupled with gripping terror, and soon a dozen swords were clattering about the stone courtyard as men and women dropped to their knees in surrender.
That one brave idiot somewhere out there went to shout, but he’d missed his window, and those nearby with more concern for their lives than their honor silenced the fool with a series of punches. More swords hit the ground, followed by knees, and so it went.
The Katsu army kneeled before Takeo, and their collective shuffling of armor rang out loud enough to blot out Gavin’s sobs, if only for a moment.
Over the cowed masses, Takeo spied the Hanu army watching. He selected Kuniko and Qing out of the crowd and nodded to them. They each slipped through the courtyard to his side. Kuniko bowed low. Qing hesitated, then offered a shallow version.
“My lord,” Kuniko said.
“Take them out, but do not disarm them,” Takeo commanded. “They are allies, not prisoners—or at least they will be within the hour. We may need them soon.”
“My lord?”
Takeo turned to Qing. The ninja nodded.
“I’m certain the rest of the daimyo have figured out what has happened to Yoshida by now,” she said. “They’ll want to collect their sworn samurai and execute you for your crimes.”
