Takeo's Chronicles, page 176
“Watch carefully,” Takeo whispered now, as much for Pleiades as for those around them. “The fire will spread throughout the tunnels, burning the supports. It will take some time, but those timbers bear a lot of weight, and when they break, the tunnels will collapse. The entrance will collapse first, but that won’t snuff out the flames. Fire, if it gets hot enough, will continue to burn even underground, so long as there is something to consume. The ground will collapse, if not today, then by tomorrow, and when that happens, Seiji and his family will no longer occupy a fortified tower, but a pile of rubble. If they don’t die in the collapse, they’ll be consumed in flame. If they survive that, they’ll perish to the sword soon after. Won’t they, Anagarika?”
The lady snapped an order at the nearest guard, sending him running to fetch soldiers to surround the tower. No one would escape.
“Watch,” Takeo whispered to Pleiades. “Watch and learn what happens to those who oppose me.”
The scene played out as described. The timbers were dry, and the oil was a strong combustible. They worked fast, and by nightfall, the tower had collapsed into a cauldron of burning wood and oil. The breath of fresh air stoked the flames, and the ruins became an inferno. The screams of the short-lived survivors filled the night air for a brief time before all was silent.
In the morning, the ruins were examined. Only ashes and stone remained, and it was assumed no one had survived. Takeo gave orders to have the place watched for an entire month, day and night, just to be sure, then left. He took his guards, Aiguo, Anagarika, Pleiades, and the oni with him.
It was important, he thought, that the oni remember whom their lord was. Takeo Karaoshi wasn’t some typical mortal, powerless without aid from supernatural beings. He was cunning, resourceful, and vindictive. Seeing the Phan fortress fall the way it did should have reminded them of that but, just in case, he would show them one more.
The Ngo fortress was next.
* * *
On arrival, Takeo was once again greeted with a full report, though this time from a source he was more familiar with. Qing and Lord Oiu both spoke to Takeo from a bowed position in a comfortable tent while Takeo sipped hot tea.
“If I may, my lord,” Lord Oiu began, “I’d like to congratulate you on your recent victories. I know I asked to kill my brothers personally, but I’m glad they’re dead. I’m that much closer to having the position I never thought possible. Thank you.”
He bowed, and Takeo sipped.
“My lord, if I may,” Qing cut in. “As much as we’d like to celebrate the destruction of the Nguyen and Phan fortresses, there is still one more nut to crack before we can claim victory.”
“That’s why I like you, Qing,” Takeo said. “You think practically, like I do.”
He lied about the first part, they both knew, but it was the second part that stung Qing to hear.
“Yes, well,” she continued. “We appreciate the reinforcements you sent us, but the situation remains dire.”
She paused, but Takeo waved his teacup, indicating that she should continue.
“The good news is brief, though important,” she said. “We were able to quarantine and kill off the plague, though it was costly. It’s lethal and spreads quickly, and as far as I know, every soldier we sent there died. We had to institute some harsh laws for a time, but I won’t bore you with the details. The good news is that the plague is contained to a dead village, and once we’re sure no one else is infected, we’ll have the place burned to the ground to wipe the disease out.
“Now, though, for the bad news. Despite being told about the fall of the Nguyen and Phan fortresses, Lord In-Su refuses to believe that both his brothers are dead. As we don’t have the bodies to show him, he’s in denial, and he sees no reason to leave his place of safety. The Ngo fortress is still nigh impregnable. The walls are thick, out of reach, and the fortress gate is still in a place that can’t be easily breached. We’ve built the mobile catapults you asked for, but we haven’t had much luck using them. Because they’re light and easy to move, they lack the power to crack down the walls or the gate. We can only toss a few small boulders from them before we’re forced to retreat from the enemy trebuchets, and we’ve not made any progress. We even tried raining fire into the city itself, but to no avail. They have a good system in place to deal with that sort of attack, apparently.
“I see you have the oni under your command now, but I’m not sure what help they can offer. These walls aren’t like the ones at the Nguyen fortress. They are taller and larger. Plus, the city is much bigger. A whole army is inside, perhaps too large for even these oni to handle.”
Takeo waved, indicating Qing should stop. She did so. Takeo set down his cup and showed Pleiades how to properly pour tea. The girl did okay for having one good hand. Qing watched the girl but said nothing. She’d heard the rumors by now. Takeo and Nicholas’ argument had happened well within earshot of gossiping peasants and guards. Everyone would know what had been said between them, and Takeo didn’t care.
“Where are the one hundred that Kuniko sent?” he asked.
“My lord?” Oiu replied.
“I didn’t just send the main bulk of the Hanu army here,” Takeo said. “I had Kuniko carefully select one hundred soldiers prepared to die. Where are they?”
“They’re in the camp,” Qing answered, “awaiting your orders, same as all of us.”
Takeo sipped his tea, letting the warmth spread down his throat, all the way to his stomach. His comfort seemed to increase Qing’s unease.
“Do you remember the Old Woman of the Mountain?” Takeo asked.
“My mother?” Oiu piped up.
“Yes, somewhat,” Qing answered.
“She had a saying about her enemies,” Takeo said. “What was it, Oiu? Do you remember?”
“Never do unto others what they will gladly do unto themselves.”
Takeo nodded.
“Wise words,” he continued. “Like watching people hang themselves with their own nooses. Qadir and Xianliang sent oni to kill me, and I used the oni to destroy them. Seiji burned my army. I used the very same oil to cremate his family. Lord In-Su has taken to a cowardly tactic of creating some deadly disease to infect my army, but it is he who will fall upon that sword.
“Qing, relay these orders to the one hundred. They are to take the mobile catapults and go to the plagued village. They will collect up all the corpses and haul them to the Ngo fortress. In the night, they are to surround the city and fling all the dead bodies over the walls. Spread them out as much as possible. Blanket the city with plague. When they’re done, they’ll load themselves onto the catapults and do the same. The last man left standing will burn the catapults and throw himself on the flames. I expect to find only ashes in the morning.
“Afterwards, we will clear the forest around the city as far back as we can and surround the place. Arm the men with bows and set up ballistae. The Ngo fortress will be our new quarantined area, and no one is to enter or leave.
“Then we wait.”
Chapter 20
The scene unfolded as Takeo expected.
On the night that the corpses were rained into the city, sporadic screams filled the air as people within the walls awoke to a barrage upon their homes. Surely the first fear they had was that, now that Takeo was here, he was finally attacking their city in a more traditional manner. However, afterwards, when they went outside to inspect the damage, an even more grisly scene awaited them.
Takeo imagined what they’d seen. Showers of decayed flesh covering their homes and streets, filtering through the cracks of wood and stone, contaminating their food, their water, their beds—the very air they breathed. If anyone had suspected Takeo’s plan at that moment, he would never find out because by then it was too late.
Although Takeo had never seen the infected, he was quite familiar with how a body rotted after death. He estimated that enough time had passed that his sacrificial men wouldn’t be flinging whole corpses into the Ngo city, but something more akin to thin bags of decayed flesh. Upon impact against any hard surface, especially when flung from a catapult, what remained of the corpses would explode and spray the entire area in infected remains. The result meant that there was no way to clean the mess up completely. Unless the entire city was burned to the ground, there could be no stopping what was to come.
It was only a matter of time.
But Takeo’s army kept busy. They cleared the trees back from the Ngo fortress and made projectiles available on all sides, from ballistae to bows to javelins. Every soldier was expected to be ready to slay at a distance, and Takeo added a level of protection by assigning a group of ‘fire-starters’ who would be ready to set alight any plague-infected corpses they found.
Then Takeo stretched out in his tent and did what his doctor had ordered not so long ago—he relaxed.
It took a month, an entire month, and Takeo was surprised because he didn’t think Lord In-Su was a man of such fortitude. Then he remembered what Lord Oiu had said about his brother, and he realized that In-Su likely lasted so long not through grit, but through indifference. While the people of the city began to fall to the plague, filling the Ngo fortress with sobs during the day and silence by night, Lord In-Su would have remained walled up in his pleasure rooms, behind an extra thick layer of stone, wine, and women. But then his guards and servants would have been infected, then his courtesans, and then his cook. His infected doctor would have explained the weird symptoms and how they bore a striking resemblance to the very infection that had occurred outside the city before they’d retreated inside the walls ahead of Takeo’s invasion. Only then would it have sunk in for Lord In-Su that he had lost.
A signal for truce was waved over the city gates, and Takeo selected four oni bodyguards as his escort to travel out into the no-man’s land between his camp and the Ngo fortress. Some time passed, and then the Ngo city gates were cracked open, and Lord In-Su rode out with ten guards of his own, all mounted.
Lord In-Su turned out to be short, chubby, and balding prematurely. Despite this, he wasn’t an ugly man, and Takeo got the sense that Lord In-Su was rather carefree in most situations, judging by his rosy cheeks and the permanently upturned corners of his mouth. It appeared Lord In-Su was cursed with a face that always smiled, even when encountering something as terrible as the slow death of his only defense against the Dark Lord.
Lord In-Su attempted to close the distance between them, but Takeo held out his hand to stop the daimyo short. Lord In-Su stopped dead in his tracks at Takeo’s command.
The ronin smirked.
“Lord Takeo Karaoshi?” In-Su called out.
“Lord In-Su,” Takeo replied, nodding. “Pardon my request, but I prefer you keep your distance for now. I don’t know which of your men are infected with the plague.”
“They’re all clean, I can assure you.”
“Assurance isn’t good enough. I’ve seen what this plague can do. Send them back. Only you and I will talk, unmounted.”
Lord In-Su balked. In customary parleys, each side brought a guard. It was only reasonable. To outright demand that In-Su remain alone while Takeo kept his guard was not only dangerous, but also rude.
“If you refuse, we have nothing left to discuss,” Takeo continued, seeing the lord hesitate. “You can go back to your city, and I can go back to watching you die.”
Lord In-Su spoke to his guards. The conversation was short yet heated.
“Will you concede to sending them back halfway?” Lord In-Su asked. “I’m afraid my leg has been giving me trouble, and I don’t walk so well as I used to. I’d like to have my mount nearby.”
“Lord In-Su, am I correct to assume that you came out here today with the intent to join me?”
In-Su hesitated again. He started to sweat and drew out a handkerchief to dab his forehead. When he didn’t reply, Takeo continued.
“If I’m right and you’ve realized your city is doomed, then you’re about to submit to my rule. I’m not here to broker a compromise or listen to terms of surrender. You’re here to offer total submission to my will, and my will is that you will dismount and send your soldiers back.”
Another heated debate followed between the lord and his guards, which was a sign of weakness in Takeo’s eyes. No lord should debate with their underlings. However, in the end, the result was unsurprising.
Lord In-Su dismounted and sent his guards away. Takeo, feeling generous, broke away from his oni and came forward to meet the daimyo halfway. Lord In-Su smiled, or rather forced a smile, as he dabbed his forehead in the sunlight.
“That, uh, em,” Lord In-Su stuttered under Takeo’s gaze, his words forced out like a not-so-well practiced first line. “That was a dirty trick you played on us, spreading a disease. My people are dying.”
“It was your idea to bring a plague upon my army. I had to sacrifice a lot of soldiers to contain it. If you didn’t want to die like this, then you should have fought with honor rather than subterfuge. What is it we tell children? Don’t play with fire if you don’t want to get burned.”
“It wasn’t my idea,” In-Su begged. “It was that rakshasa. You know how it is. Sickness happens among the villagers sometimes, and when this one did, he decided to use it against you. I followed the wisdom of my advisors, and they said no one was as clever as a rakshasa, so just do what he says, and victory will follow. He brought the plague upon your army, not me. It’s him you want dead. I’m just a puppet, you see? I’m no threat.”
“And he’s paid for his mistake,” Takeo replied. “Qadir is dead, along with all your brothers except Oiu. This may be news to you, but did you know you’re currently the shogun of the Nguyen empire? In some regards, you and I are the last two ruling powers fighting over the fate of Juatwa. Your life stands between me and absolute victory.”
Lord In-Su shrank before Takeo’s gaze. His eyes flicked to the Karaoshi blade, sheathed yet no less dangerous. He dabbed his forehead vigorously.
“Listen, Takeo, eh, I mean, uh, Lord, well, my lord, yes, my lord—you have to see that I’m no threat. If what you say is true, then you’ve won. There’s nothing to gain from ending my life. You can ask Oiu, really, he’ll tell you. Not every daimyo is a power-hungry tyrant looking to stab you in the back. Some of us just want the good life, you know? The three W’s as it were: wine, women, and warmth. Please, hear me out. I’m sure a man like you is constantly looking over his shoulder, am I right? Well, you’d never have that problem with me . . . my lord. You’re looking for a puppet for the Nguyen throne? I’m your guy. Eh? My little brother, well, you never know. Just look how he used you to come after us. You can’t trust him. None of us ever did. But me? Ha! I mean, come on. Look at me. You don’t think I earned a gut like this sprinting out onto the battlefield, do you?
“Just, let me take my brother’s place. You don’t even have to kill him. I’ve had no news from my other brothers, but seeing those oni behind you, I have to assume what you’re saying is true. My other brothers are dead, and you’re on the cusp of victory. Let me make it that much easier for you and give up, huh? Just think what you could do with two Nguyen brothers, eh? Can you do that? I—I just want to live.”
Lord In-Su let out a long sigh and dabbed his forehead again. The ronin furrowed his eyebrows.
“That’s it?” Takeo asked, and In-Su froze. “I killed your mother, rose to power in the Hanu, subjugated the Katsus, sacked the Nguyen fortress, burned the Phan city to the ground, and brought the ancient Ngo plateau to its knees, and now here you are before me, who has done all of this, and the best you can offer is a poorly delivered promise that you’ll never be a threat?”
“Well, I, uh,” In-Su stuttered. “Uh, hm, I can, uh, maybe I should have said something like, well, what do you want from me?”
Takeo sighed. He realized with sudden clarity that the old Lady Nguyen had been a terrible mother, or at a bare minimum a terrible teacher. Her sons had been less people and more tools of the trade to her, and she’d never spent much time raising them with the sensibility to rule and conquer. The most attention she’d given to any of them was to Oiu whom she’d raised like the daughter she’d never had. The rest of her sons had been allowed to grow however they pleased, and this one had chosen the path of least resistance. Hidden by age between his older and younger brothers, he’d settled into a life of decadence and had never had to beg or argue for anything. He didn’t know how. If he did, he’d have known that Takeo had no use for such people. He’d have figured out that Takeo, being a warrior, wanted other warriors. He’d have heard that Takeo didn’t intend to stop at the domination of Juatwa. He’d have put it together that Takeo needed soldiers and generals to conquer the known world, and it didn’t matter who wanted to stab Takeo in the back because the ronin had always expected that and, in some ways, even welcomed it. Lord In-Su's promise to never be a threat was meaningless. No one was a threat to the Dark Lord.
“Pity,” Takeo whispered. “I’ve drawn this out long enough.”
“No, wait!” was all Lord In-Su got out before the ronin drew his sword and decapitated the man in a single swing.
In-Su’s head rolled, smoke drifting from the severed neck while the body collapsed. Blood sprayed out. Takeo stepped back to wait for the next part of his plan.
It didn’t take long.
When In-Su’s corpse started to rock, the oni behind Takeo looked at each other in realization. Takeo waited until one large, red arm burst from the body before he gave the order.
“Pull him out,” he commanded.
The oni rushed forward and yanked Tokhta from Lord In-Su’s remains. Tokhta gasped a lungful of air as his head broke free into this world once more.
“Put him on the ground,” Takeo said. “Hold him there.”
Tokhta yelped rather un-oni-like as his own kind obeyed the human, pulling him free and dragging him across the grass. There, soaked in royal blood, Tokhta was pinned to the ground, still reeling from what had happened, as Takeo paced over to the oni and laid his sword on the creature’s neck.
