the tower. Its body was a fifteen-foot tall crimson, ropy tangle of cords. Its muscles gleamed moistly. It looked as though someone had peeled the creature's natural skin off, leaving only the innards to walk around in a mockery of life. Its eyes were bald yellow patches in its sinewy face, but they focused immediately on the Crab daimyo.
"Hida Kisada," the creature said. Its voice was strained and unnatural, filled with resonant pops and crackles as its sinewy throat mimicked human speech.
The goblins on the Great Bear's back released their grips and fled.
"Oni," Kisada answered, raising himself to his full height. He seemed tiny and insignificant next to the hideous beast.
"I have come for your soul," the oni said.
The Great Bear nodded, almost bowed, to the oni. Then he launched himself through the air, his tetsubo raised overhead. He brought it down with a mighty swing, lodging it in the oni's forehead.
The creature laughed.
Flinging its neck back, the oni snapped the war club out of Kisada's hand. It shook its head wildly, trying to dislodge the weapon, but the tetsubo was too firmly planted in the ropy mass. The oni raised both its hands to its head. The air suddenly fled from its lungs.
Kisada, howling like a wounded bear, had kicked the creature in the gut. It doubled over. He grabbed hold of a tendril in its chest and began climbing toward his tetsubo.
Wheezing in deep, popping breaths, the oni couldn't put up much of a fight, but it did manage to wrap both of its arms around itself, crushing the Great Bear to its chest. It leaned back against the ledge of the tower and squeezed as hard as it could while it gasped.
Kisada could not move and had no weapon.
The oni sputtered, trying to regain its breath while robbing the Crab daimyo of his.
All around the tower, the goblins fled back down the Wall. Many of them merely traded honorable death in combat for an ignominious death on the rocks below. A good half dozen Limped back into the gray fog of the Shadowlands.
Freed from assailants, the Crab samurai saw the titanic struggle between Kisada and the oni. What's more, they saw that the Great Bear's eyes were beginning to glass over as he struggled to escape. Without any order, or even a word of discussion, they raised their weapons and charged. They screamed curses that even they had not thought of before.
The oni saw the odds arrayed against it. It still couldn't breathe—or even stand—properly. The oni rocked forward, then flung itself back, meaning to launch itself and its captive over the Wall.
The Crab samurai were too fast. They reached the oni and held firmly to the arm pinning Hida Kisada.
The creature had no other choice. It released the Great Bear over the Wall. The samurai let go to catch their leader and pull him to safety. The oni dropped to the ground with a thunderous crash and made off into the mists.
"That was the bravest thing I've ever seen anyone do," one samurai said to Kisada as his eyes began to find their focus again.
"Hai!" they all agreed.
The Great Bear seemed not to hear them at all.
"No!" he screamed and leaped for the Wall as if he meant to spring over it and follow the oni.
"Kisada-sama!" screamed one bushi as he grabbed the obi around his daimyo's waist.
"It's one hundred feet down," another said wrapping his arms around Kisada. "You'll never make it!"
"I don't care!" growled the Great Bear. "Don't you see? That creature—that thing has my tetsubo!"
All Crab samurai considered their weapons to be symbols of themselves—of their souls, forged and tempered into living weapons. Parents passed their weapons to their children, who in turn passed them on to the next generation. They became more than instruments of death. They were symbols of a family's history and value.
Hida Kisada stared out into the Shadowlands.
"My tetsubo."
DEFENDING THE CODE
Hida Kisada is an uncouth, arrogant bully, and he has no right to embarrass the emperor the way he has!"
Hida Sukune
"Hida Kisada," the creature said. Its voice was strained and unnatural, filled with resonant pops and crackles as its sinewy throat mimicked human speech.
The goblins on the Great Bear's back released their grips and fled.
"Oni," Kisada answered, raising himself to his full height. He seemed tiny and insignificant next to the hideous beast.
"I have come for your soul," the oni said.
The Great Bear nodded, almost bowed, to the oni. Then he launched himself through the air, his tetsubo raised overhead. He brought it down with a mighty swing, lodging it in the oni's forehead.
The creature laughed.
Flinging its neck back, the oni snapped the war club out of Kisada's hand. It shook its head wildly, trying to dislodge the weapon, but the tetsubo was too firmly planted in the ropy mass. The oni raised both its hands to its head. The air suddenly fled from its lungs.
Kisada, howling like a wounded bear, had kicked the creature in the gut. It doubled over. He grabbed hold of a tendril in its chest and began climbing toward his tetsubo.
Wheezing in deep, popping breaths, the oni couldn't put up much of a fight, but it did manage to wrap both of its arms around itself, crushing the Great Bear to its chest. It leaned back against the ledge of the tower and squeezed as hard as it could while it gasped.
Kisada could not move and had no weapon.
The oni sputtered, trying to regain its breath while robbing the Crab daimyo of his.
All around the tower, the goblins fled back down the Wall. Many of them merely traded honorable death in combat for an ignominious death on the rocks below. A good half dozen Limped back into the gray fog of the Shadowlands.
Freed from assailants, the Crab samurai saw the titanic struggle between Kisada and the oni. What's more, they saw that the Great Bear's eyes were beginning to glass over as he struggled to escape. Without any order, or even a word of discussion, they raised their weapons and charged. They screamed curses that even they had not thought of before.
The oni saw the odds arrayed against it. It still couldn't breathe—or even stand—properly. The oni rocked forward, then flung itself back, meaning to launch itself and its captive over the Wall.
The Crab samurai were too fast. They reached the oni and held firmly to the arm pinning Hida Kisada.
The creature had no other choice. It released the Great Bear over the Wall. The samurai let go to catch their leader and pull him to safety. The oni dropped to the ground with a thunderous crash and made off into the mists.
"That was the bravest thing I've ever seen anyone do," one samurai said to Kisada as his eyes began to find their focus again.
"Hai!" they all agreed.
The Great Bear seemed not to hear them at all.
"No!" he screamed and leaped for the Wall as if he meant to spring over it and follow the oni.
"Kisada-sama!" screamed one bushi as he grabbed the obi around his daimyo's waist.
"It's one hundred feet down," another said wrapping his arms around Kisada. "You'll never make it!"
"I don't care!" growled the Great Bear. "Don't you see? That creature—that thing has my tetsubo!"
All Crab samurai considered their weapons to be symbols of themselves—of their souls, forged and tempered into living weapons. Parents passed their weapons to their children, who in turn passed them on to the next generation. They became more than instruments of death. They were symbols of a family's history and value.
Hida Kisada stared out into the Shadowlands.
"My tetsubo."
DEFENDING THE CODE
Hida Kisada is an uncouth, arrogant bully, and he has no right to embarrass the emperor the way he has!"
Hida Sukune
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