The Hand of Death Ch. 12

"You do not wish to burn it, my lord?"

"Is there a reason to destroy it?"

"It is Bandai. That is usually enough for me."

I couldn't help but let out a little laugh at that. "No, I may need it again." That he could understand. "Gunso Sashi san, who told you to bring this armor?" A slight look of concern crossed his face as I turned to look at him.

"Daimyo Masao handed it to me personally, Taisa. Is there anything wrong with it?"

I hadn't noticed the rank on my armor until then. "No, I just wondered how you knew my

favorite color."

He was obviously relieved. I was beginning to wonder what they had told him about me. I made them put me into the guard rotation with them and made sure we all stayed up late. The ponies needed rest and we were to travel by night. So we wouldn't be able to leave until dusk tomorrow. I was tired myself, and rest in a few hours wasn't sounding too bad. The night passed quietly, well except for some Ainu tribesmen that felt like playing.

They normally stay up in the mountains. This was a group of about three scouts I think. The sentry woke us up because he wasn't sure what their intentions were. Ainu have been known to kill. One of the other men, Goemon Kai, walked them out some rice and left it. He hollered something in their tongue and walked back. I saw them eat quietly and take the pot when they left.

"What did they want? Food?" I asked him.

"They said they would remove our skin slowly if we did not surrender our things."

I laughed. "What did you say?"

"That if they know what is good for them they will not threaten Koga. They will simply ask. After they talked that over they asked for food. I did not think anyone would mind since it was my pot."

Most samurai would think less of him for talking to these pitiful creatures. But Koga tend to be a bit more practical. Ainu make good scouts. The next day at dusk we mounted up and began our trip home. I found out the girl's name was Shotoku Kiki. She rode next to me for the journey home.

"So, you are not the whiny little girl you pretend to be, Kiki san?"

"Of course not, my lord." She was not a big talker, I laughed. The Gunso would ride next to me, from time to time as well.

"You are enjoying your journey, Taisa?"

"Yes. Though not as much as I will the end of it."

He grinned. "What will you do when we get home?"

I thought a moment. "Talk with my mother. Give her the gifts I brought for her. And you? What will you do?"

"I have a wife and small son I have not seen in over six months. Masao promised me and my mononofu no further duties for a month when this was done."

"You sound as if you did not come from Goemon Toshi to get me."

"Yes. Except for a short re-supply a few days ago, we have been away for a while, I cannot say where."

I nodded my understanding. "Then this will be a well-deserved reward for all of us." I heard agreeing grunts from all of them.

Kai asked me, "May I ask how long you have been away sir?"

I looked over my shoulder at him and said, "Longer than several months." He laughed.

I enjoyed their company. A few nights later we were riding when Fujibayashi Kajiru, the Onmyoji, noticed a light in the distance. It looked like a fire. As we approached we could make out what looked like a town. Some of the buildings were on fire but the occupants were acting... odd.

"We need to get in there and help them, sir!" Sashi said.

I shook my head at him. "No. If those people are the peasantry, then why are they just sitting around watching it burn?"

He looked again. I gave the order to approach slowly. When we got closer we could make out what was actually a horde of oni, meaning demons. Several horned oni, and what looked like a giant tar oozing oni. That one was shaped like a large grub worm with two arms and a large mouth at the top of its head. There was a horde of others we could see as well. Enenra with their smoky bodies drifting around the village, Hibagon and Yokai. Just weird things smashing and breaking everything in sight along with demonic satori apes the little monkey demons, hihi, helping them to flatten what remained of the village.

I looked at my men. "I am going to get this out of the way right now. I admit that we are in the middle of the Honshu territory and these are not our people." They all nodded. "But we are going to do something about this anyway. If you believe that samurai owe no protection to peasants and that they are just there to service us, then you have found yourself in the unfortunate position of being under my command."

I was pleased to see them smile. Just then Kai tapped my shoulder. When I looked at him he pointed into the darkness.

"The Ainu from the other night are here. They want to help in return for the rice we gave them."

I had to squint to see them. They were keeping a very safe distance from us. I gave the OK. While they were gone I started coming up with a battle plan. I had been reading about a Bandai Shogun, Mito Yurei, a few months back. He was credited with many victories and he always won when vastly outnumbered by the enemy. That seemed to apply here. His secret was he would attack the enemy and run away. Then he would attack again and run away again. Not too difficult. I started working on the contingencies of the situation. Either the smaller yokai attack us after we attack them, or they run away.

If they attack we fire two arrows each at the oncoming horde and mount up and run, then dismount and do it again. I like simple. If they run, we have to chase them down till they're within bow range. If they turn and attack, see plan A. I spoke with Kajiru next.

"What can you do about that large grub worm?"

"I was speaking with one of the Yosei. She said his name is Kui Biggu Minikui. He bleeds his filth around and it is not flammable until it is off of his body. He likes to eat what is left"

"And?"

"Well it is more of a "but" Hiro sama. She can do something to change it so he will ignite. It will take her a moment but she can do it."

"Fantastic! Have her wait until we are set. What else can you do for us here?'

"I am more of a healer than anything else but I do have several friends I can call upon and more than a few blessings for us and our gear."

"Very good. Once your work is done I want you out of the way so we have a healer if we make it through this." He nodded. "And Domo arigato Kajiru san." He laughed.

The Ainu returned with what we needed. There were 40 Hibagon and Satori, three Horned Oni, and of course the one big grub. The Enenra were hard to count but there looked to be eight of them. Right now they were contenting themselves with eating the town. The Ainu saw no living people but may have seen one or two undead. They weren't sure. I gave the word for them to run to safety. Kai relayed it to them and they took off at an incredible rate. I wish I could run that fast right now. I passed the battle plan along to my men. Kiki had a problem with it.

"You expect us to run like dogs?"

"I expect you to obey." I said.

"It is not the plan our Taisa would have come up with."

"That is true. And you would die. Leaving most of these creatures alive to ravage Giapan." I waited until they all nodded their agreement. "I know this is not the honorable way. But I also know that honor is given to the victor. If you want your honor, win this fight."

The four of us got ready with our two arrows. I gave the command, and Kajiru started. The little yosei appeared in front of him. She was only a few inches tall and floating in the air. Then she zipped across the field toward the horde of yokai. It was several moments before we saw a large fire erupt on the back of Kui Biggu Minikui, and his whole body burst into flame instantly. He started thrashing around in pain, crushing and burning many of his servants. I realized the town was not going to make it, but this fight was never for this town. It was for the next and the one after that. The vile army was in utter confusion. While it lasted I gave the order to aim for the large horned oni closest to us and we loosed, which made him very mad. We notched our second arrow and I gave the order again. While they were still in the air I gave the order to mount. The Oni went down. One arrow had found his brain.

Now that they knew what was happening, and had seen where the last flight came from, what remained of Kui Biggu Minikui's army chased after us. We sprinted our horses out of range and dismounted. I had to wait for them to come into range again. When they did I gave the order and three more fell. They were approaching fast; we loosed a second and remounted. Not many of these creatures were intelligent. This was a major advantage for us. We retreated and attacked until all that was left was one large oni and a few stragglers. He had three arrows sticking out of his chest, but showed no sign of slowing. We were all out of ammunition by this time.

I gave the order to mount up and ride away at a fast pace, not a sprint. The horses were exhausted and we would have to close with the remnants to kill them. As we rode I told them that when I gave the order to separate they were to spread wide to the sides and loop around behind the oni. I would distract him if I could. I gave the order, Kiki broke a hard right with Kai going to my front right. Sashi headed to the left front. I slowed some more, looking over my shoulder constantly, trying to act nervous, I wanted to be good bait. I drew my katana and waved it in a fashion meant to deter the oni. He really wanted to kill me and he was only twenty feet back.

I saw Kai come up from behind and take a swipe but the ogre, stupid looking as he was, had been ready. He swung his large katana and took Kai from the saddle. When he stopped to finish him off, I pulled my horse to a halt. I turned the tired old girl and charged her at him. Unbeknownst to me Kiki was doing the same thing on the other side of him. When the ogre swung to kill Kai, both of us pierced his chest with our weapons. I had turned my horse left, while she turned hers right. We collided. The horses managed to turn their bodies away from the ogre. Kiki and I weren't so lucky. We came off of our horses and would have met in the air but I somehow misted at the last moment. Kiki managed to roll with it and only twisted her ankle a little. I became solid just to the side of a satori and took his head off. I had surprised what remained of the enemy enough that my follow through was able to cut the next hibagon in half. By that time the remaining satori and hihi turned to run but a spear appeared through the side of one and another pierced the last satori's back. He stopped immediately. When he fell I saw one Ainu standing there with his spear planted in the ground. When his friends showed themselves to recover their weapons, I bowed to them all in gratitude.

We helped bandage up Kai's gut wound. After a little help from Kajiru he would be able to make it to the small town for some rest. We checked the dead and the town for any survivors. We found a few monkey demons, but we dispatched them easily. The town was destroyed and the large worm was just kindling now. I never did find out what happened to the Enenra smoke demons.

Whatever had been here before was not recognizable now. Any inhabitants were gone or eaten and all of the buildings were nothing but ash. When we returned to Kai I had him ask the Ainu to come closer. The nice thing about being an assassin is you always have a plethora of weapons on hand. I gave a good knife to each of them as a 'thank you' for their help and asked if they could track where the oni had come from. They agreed and took off after making sure their interpreting friend was alright.

Kajiru had to rest before he could help Kai so we waited there. I had taken the time to search for herbs but the best I could do was a mild painkiller. We waited for Kajiru's turn. In the morning we double checked the village and located ten of the women and children in a false floor below the barn, which made all of us very happy. The peasants were pretty surprised at who had saved them but grateful none the less. They explained the oni came out of nowhere and the men did their best to defend the town while getting them to safety. The Yakuza in this area had put a battle plan together in case of a surprise bandit attack. That is the only reason all of them had survived. From what little they could see and hear from the basement, the ronin and merchants of the Yakuza had died defending them.

There had been no Yoriki or any other police in this town for years although the local lord did send his Zei-Dansei for the harvest regularly. I asked what town their lord resided in and they told me Honshu-ko shiro, another small town some two hour walk away. It was out of our way but the safest place for them. Also, if five samurai show up to vouch for the peasants then they will live on at his town. Otherwise some lord may start to think they did something to cost him money and this story of oni attacks is just to cover their duplicity.

Kajiru was able to soothe and heal Kai. Once he stopped glowing he felt much better, although he would still need some rest. We were able to piece together enough from the wreckage to make three carts. This was enough for the survivors, Kai and three drivers as well as what money and weapons we could find in the daytime. Most of it was scorched but still serviceable. We tied the extra horse and pony to the last cart and set Gunso Sashi to ride up front with me bringing up the rear. Kiki and Kajiru were set as guards to our left and right. A half hour ride out of town the Ainu caught up with us. They had found a new chasm in the ground that the trail originated from. There had been a small tremor a few days before so we assumed that must have opened the ground. I gave them three of the katana from the village in thanks for their help. The swords were dirty but still very useful. Once Kai explained where we were taking the survivors, our three friends decided to head back to their home. For my first fight with the tribesman, I found them very useful.

The trip to Honshu-ko shiro was thankfully without incident. We had to stop several times to give everyone a rest and swap out duties so by the time we got there, I was driving the lead cart. The town looked typical. The Honshu are samurai's samurai. Very utilitarian in nature and conduct. The town was bare and clean. The people were quiet and obedient. We pulled up to the gates of the town, as it was surrounded by a small one story wall, and I stepped down from the cart to greet the guard.

"I am Taisa Shotoku Hiro and I am here to speak with Kokujin Utsunomiya Nobu."

The Gunso guarding the gate took a moment before bowing. I couldn't blame him. Five dirty Koga samurai just rode up in three rickety carts and said they were here to see his lord. That would have thrown anyone for a moment. I returned his bow.

"Right this way, Hiro sama."

The meeting with Nobu went well. He was a stern man but even he appreciated the information about the new chasm on his land and the 150 gold pieces we were able to salvage from the village. He allowed us to get cleaned up and a few days for Kai to recover. I think he had not received a guest in a long time and enjoyed our surprise visit. At least as much as a Honshu can enjoy anything. I didn't like sitting here doing nothing for so long. I was still being plagued by thoughts of a beautiful Karafuto Samurai-ko and I longed for my home.

I made sure to send a pigeon with the news of what happened and where we were to

Grandfather. If I had sent it to Daimyo Masao then our host would know how much pull his guests had and that might not be a good thing. I got confirmation from Sensei that evening that all was still well and everyone was eager to see me. Great. Nothing like a Daimyo you don't really know being eager to see you. The week passed well. We escorted Nobu to the chasm and back to the town. Discussed his options for rebuilding the town and what he could do to protect himself from any further attacks. After all of the tactical debates about the chasm it was decided to build traps just inside the chasm and a thick defensible wall around the opening in case another invasion force tried to come through. A new town would be built nearby to make supporting the defense against the chasm that much easier.

By the end of the week, Kai was completely healed up and I realized my attitude toward this little plot of land in the Honshu had changed. I had begun the week a little bored but by the end of the week I was feeling a little sad. Kokujin Utsunomiya Nobu was a quiet man but very practical. I liked him. And all of the planning and work had given me something productive to do.

Despite my change in feelings we still had to get home. The leaving was melancholy but the journey went fast. We crested the last ridge well into morning when I finally saw it. Goemon Toshi never looked so good.

I was home.