Disclaimer: I do not own Jackie Chan Adventures.
Queen of Shadows
A Jackie Chan Adventures Fanfiction
Written by Eduard Kassel
Created by Nocturne no Kitsune
Betaed by Zim'smostloyalservant
Adopted to Finish what a Friend Began
Summary: War! With preparations complete on both sides, the forces of the Shogunate in the Shadows under the Shirogeta Clan and the Shadowkhan Empire have clashed openly. Despite human forces exacting a heavy toll, the Shadowkhan have conquered Awaji and the efforts of Generals Kuro-Ri-Chi and Sanshobo have carried the naval battle.
With these victories, the Shadowkhan have arrived at Tobe itself, under the leadership of Yojimbo Ikazuki. While young Hishu carried out a desperate plan to rescue his mother from captivity on the eve of battle, he was thwarted by none other than the Peaceful Musician Nonki while on the verge of success. Jade, having been tormented by the Shogunate in the Shadows, vows vengeance for the young sealed General.
With this gambit failed, the forces array for a battle, having dropped any pretense of secrecy and instead appealing to force, cunning, and fate. For their part, the Shadowkhan strike a devastating opening move, with General Ozeki demonstrating his true power to break through all obstacles before him.
And now the battle unfolds for the fate of the Queen of Shadows.
Showdown
Goro threw his kasa aside and reached into his robes, drawing out an orange sphere with a pulsing red flaw in its center.
"Goro-san…?" one of his students asked of the elder monk. Brows furrowing beneath a shaved head, Goro bit his thumb.
"It has been an honor, my students, carry on the fight in my stead," Goro said, pressing his bleeding thumb on the sphere as the rampaging sumo drew near, tearing up the avenue like a calamity.
"COME FORTH DRAGON, AND SLAY OUR ENEMY!" Goro shouted. The red pulsing within the sphere stopped, and the orange surface cracked. With a burst of red power the sphere shattered, the pieces flying and curving to tear into Goro. Staggering, the monk screamed as red flames ignited over him and he withered down to his bones, and even those vanished in a red flash.
The dragon erupted from the blaze like a geyser, lunging forward, a face of roaring fangs threatening to engulf the charging Ikazuki, and actually engulfing the charging Ozeki. Unable to turn, the sumo pressed forward, hands raised, and as he was scooped up by the dragon kicked out one of its teeth and caught the fangs above as it tried to snap shut on him.
It was the work of an instant, unseen to most. All that most saw was the seemingly unstoppable sumo disappear before the mighty green and red dragon that had erupted from nowhere. Thrashing and roaring, its head raised, it careened down the avenue, crushing those Shadowkhan not quick enough to get away, even forcing many samurai to leap from their horses as it burst through the gate before soaring, thrashing into the air, spewing fire.
Though even as the fire burst from it mouth, some might have noticed its jaws remained open.
X X X
"Forward, secure the gate!" Ikazuki commanded. A samurai dismounted, offering him a dragon horse in place of his recently deceased mount, which he accepted. More samurai advancing with him were afoot than mounted, but advance they did, even as defenders struck out from the side streets. The cavalry's shadow blades rose and fell, taking heads and limbs. And the foot were divided, with half bearing their blades while the others pulled longbows from their shadows and strung the weapons to begin picking off targets as they presented themselves.
The samurai fanned out from the gate and made their way onto the walls, or followed their General, advancing directly for the castle. The Reza scattered in trios into the side streets and alleys; surprising and being surprised, they spread through the town, trails of blood dripping from their razor claws marking their passing. On the rooftops, mages, priests, and the Kamikiri slung spells at one another, and at times forwent the mystic for the physical, the vanquished falling to the streets in horrid states of death.
As the dragon continued to roar overhead, Jirobo watched his forces probe the dome created by the wards on the walls. Even with the samurai advancing along the fortifications, the wards outside were not wavering.
"No delays. Through the gate and onto your targets," he commanded, diving down from the heights toward the bottleneck, where the army was pouring through.
Meanwhile, the main force of the sumo advanced ponderously, canvas covered burdens held aloft in their ranks while shield barriers marched with the great iron plate held at rest. Drummers kept a beat, and a simple chant rose as the massive Shadowkhan and their cargo approached the gate, unflappable to the chaos before them.
Rokutaro watched it unfold, the advancing of the sumo in particular filling him with dread even as the enemy samurai marched up before his gate and their archers began to duel from afar with his own.
"Masks," he ordered simply to two mirrors.
X X X
Yasashi smiled in the entrance hall, where she sat in her full armor, Houka laid before her, the whetstone being tucked into its pouch. She nodded to the mirror laying next to her and put it in its own pouch before standing up and taking Houka in hand.
"Finally. And Ikazuki's knocking right on the door even," she chuckled, putting the mask on with relish. There was no flinching now; instead she sighed, with the sound warping into a wet growl as the mask covered her head.
"Now you will pay, murderer. I'll eat you alive, all of you!" she cackled as the human retainers in the hall withdrew hastily and her Gani came forth from the shadows, one after another to burst through the doorway, out toward the battle.
X X X
Rosuto sat perched high atop the roof of the tallest building nearest to the castle's walls, watching as the battle unfolded below him. Around him, his fellow archers rained arrows down on the enemy; he'd already fired more than a few, but was now taking a moment to analyze the situation. And he did not like what he saw.
The outer defenses had fallen too quickly, and Rokutaro had been forced to resort to the dragon far too soon. When he'd used his connections to get ahold of that artifact, it had been on the understanding that its use would only come after days, if not weeks of being besieged by the Shadowkhan. Now here they were, mere minutes into the battle, and already they were being forced to make use of what should have been weapons of last resort.
As if to prove his point, there was a sudden roar, and then Gani began pouring out of the castle, showing that Yasashi had donned her mask. Rosuto watched as the enemy troops paused, caught off guard by the appearance of what appeared to be their own kind fighting against them, before the Gani descending from the walls crashed into their advance ranks and began tearing into them.
Rosuto felt neither relief nor joy as he watched the free Shadowkhan fight their enslaved kind. After all, merely the fact that they had already had to make this move just showed how hard pressed they were. And the sight only reminded him of the object tucked into the pouch on his waist, untested save for the fact of being the same kind as that which was currently causing the disarray before him. One which contained the power of a type of Shadowkhan they hadn't even known existed until the day before, and now he was meant to use it.
He was not a man who normally acted without all the information and proper preparation. And yet now he found himself about to use a power he didn't understand, because if he didn't there was a very good chance his side would be overrun in short order.
X X X
Nonki hummed appreciatively from his rooftop perch as he watched the Shadowkhan in the distance make their way down the main avenue and glanced up at the dragon soaring through the sky, passing through the masses of wards like they weren't there.
"Well, that was something. Seems the enemy was hiding a great weapon in plain sight. Ah! It feels so good to see the plots of the great and powerful thrown into disarray so quickly. It's as the song goes — men plan, the universe laughs. Hahaha!" he chuckled. Watching the Bat Khan start to dive down from the sky and make their way through the hole in the wards that was the broken gate, he pulled out his sake gourd and took a long drink.
"Well, as pleasing as it for Lord Rokutaro to make such a mistake, I can't have his ambitions fail, now can I? My road to Nirvana is paved with your downfall, Shadowkhan. Nothing personal," he said, pitting the gourd away and picking up his biwa.
The Peaceful Musician started to play, and a wind kicked up, growing in power as the fliers nascent formations were broken apart. Nonki's grin widened, beginning the beat of the conflict and starting to ease his way into harnessing it.
X X X
Ikazuki turned the corner of the castle's wall, coming back into sight of the siege work being set up before the enemy gate. With a swipe of his sword, he deflected two arrows meant for his mount and dismounted in a followup motion, landing from the galloping horse in a slowing pace even as another samurai took the reins to lead t off.
A sumo sentry holding a biesnto stepped aside, letting him into the makeshift fort the sumo had erected with their typical swiftness from the massive shields and formation they had brought to bear.
He spared only a glance for the simple yet potent engine of destruction to address the commander on site. It wasn't as if he had sufficient insight to critique the sumos at work.
"Progress?"
"The ram will be ready imminently, Yojimbo. It seems Ozeki, our intelligence reports, and theories were correct. The gate to this castle is strongly warded against magic, but otherwise only bolstered to bring forth the greatest strength of its materials."
"You are sure a ram that is purely mundane but built by the transcendent skills of your tribe and the finest materials will make short work of it," Ikazuki supplied.
"It is impossible to say until we strike the blow. But if the gate surprises us, then we will use it to break through the wall."
Ikazuki allowed a singular cackle at the boast. Noting the sumo didn't bother to remind him the ram was also to be manned by sumos who had trained at this exercise before the crossing. He had witnessed the strength and skill of a sumo kill an armored human samurai with a mere stick no thicker than his finger. A skilled display rather than practical effect that, but the principal carried over, he thought as the last bit of the apparatus was put into place and the shield walls at a whistle were pulled aside, letting the ram team begin to move the whole engine into place.
Which of course saw the false Gani in response to the revealed threat be redirected like someone playing with a water spout.
With a wordless cry of command, his samurai formed up around him, abandoning lesser posts as trained, meeting the mindless horde with the furious contempt of resolute soldiers.
X X X
Rokutaro resisted the urge to smash his mirror showing the castle gate. He had sent away the pair of samurai who had been attending him, and all other servants allowed here on this momentous day. Not to help with the battle as said, but so the need to maintain lordly composure did not press on him in addition to everything else. Hissing, he grabbed a pinching spot on his chest, an unwelcome reminder.
"Open the cage. Let me devour her, and even defeat here will be but a fleeting obstacle to victory," the Weaver said. Glancing up, he saw the horror of light and craft dangling above him, so close he could reach up and touch it without standing.
"No. The Immortals may have made you, but they also sealed you, failure. I will not trust you with that power."
"Foolish as they were. I exist to serve my master, betraying my master... well, I would say it would be like a human killing itself, but you seem to have become overly fond of that. Perhaps it would be like you sending your children to die in your place? Oh wait... Lord Rokutaro, have you ever pondered, if you weren't human, would you think your people worth saving? I mean, for me I can only serve a human master and therefore it's a moot point..."
"Watch the prisoner," Lord Rokutaro watched his monster silently ascend a wall back up into the darkness of the ceiling and turned his attention too the gate again.
He winced, watching the gate endure another blow.
"I will not be undone so close. Ikazuki..." Rokutaro muttered, eyes fixing on the General of the enemy samurai. The Lord of Tobe moved to the mirror held at the command center for the castle defense and called the samurai there to attention.
X X X
"You are mad," the onion-draped wizard spat at the samurai carrying the small mirror. They stood at the base of the wall, the nearby battle raging and arrows falling to either break on the courtyard or embed themselves in nearby.
"We must divide and conquer this enemy. Ikazuki will not be able to resist the bait. I am confident using the Gani, we can funnel him into a confrontation with minimal human casualties."
"To make such a controlled gap, one of my students will need to be present. Do you expect for a moment that the Shadowkhan would spare him?"
"Hardly. Everyone who came here placed their life and those under them in my command. Or do you think any of your students will live if we lose?" Rokutaro said through the mirror.
XXX
Ikazuki resisted the urge to strike out at the False Gani as he rushed through their ranks. No, more like a stream, he thought with disgust.
He had not expected a gap to so dramatically open in the enemy's wards, much less to be summoned by name. Clearly a trap, but the gate had been stalling them. And with his war mask in place and resolved to kill himself before being sealed, he decided it was worth the gamble.
At least he had been able to strike down the wizard whelp that invited him in, a gift to those who had failed to slip in behind him.
Besides, if the sumo could be relieved of the pressure and the lot of them manned the ram, he was certain they would break through soon enough. So if the source of the False Gani was at the head of this stream...
'To think I would find something to make Tsume's gluttons look appealing,' Ikazuki thought, as he reached the great doorway where the abominations flowed from. He dared not strike; delays were not acceptable.
Though again, this was clearly a trap. But he would simply have to be better then, wouldn't he? And if he failed, to trust Ozeki to carry the day in his place.
Then the samurai was clear, the false ones flowing from the sides to the doorway, leaving the great chamber with its high ceilings clear.
Clear save for an armored figure seated with folded legs ahead of him. Queller armor, he could recognize, and of course the great naginata Houka. But the face was hidden by a wild mane of dark hair as the head drooped toward the floor.
"General Ikazuki, at last you will-" the opponent began.
"Hiyah!" Ikazuki called out as his blade lanced through the air, the distance between them closed.
Houka sprang up, diverting the shadow blade, and he looked into the face of the new abomination.
"So, that is the way of it! Humans, thieves and usurpers to the end!"
"Take a good look. This is the destiny of all your kind. Perish or serve!" The strength of his next blow, even blocked, sent his opponent reeling, forcing her — and he could tell now it was a her — to the columns lining the room. And the flow of False Gani had slowed quite a bit, he noticed.
"This world no longer belongs to monsters like you!" she spat.
"The world belongs to no one, monster. Where is the Queen?"
"Beyond your reach. Forget the sealing, Rokutaro can have your successor. You don't deserve even a half life living sealed as a slave. I'll feast on your brains myself!" she said, mandibles surging from her mouth to grasp at the air.
"Pfeh!" Ikazuki spat, running down the chamber. He whirled to meet the enemy as they came at his back.
"DON'T TURN YOUR BACK ON ME!"
"You are not my mission, worm," Ikazuki growled, as sparks flared between the blades.
X X X
Sanshobo jerked and rose from his mediative pose just next to the broken gate.
"I have him," he declared to the half dozen junior priests that had been guarding him.
"Very good, the Queens guide your path, High Priest."
"…You are certain this can be allowed? I can pass the mantle to one of you right now and risk so much less."
"No, High Priest, your reasoning was flawless. We cannot assume to fool Nonki in such a way, and we cannot expect him to expose himself for any less prize than a General and by extension their tribe."
"If the Kamikiri Tribe is to fall in order to secure this battle, and with it clear the Yojimbo's path to the Queen, it is our fullest measure of devotion."
"Do not question the resolve of we who were entrusted to watch."
Sanshobo made a thoughtful clicking sound and adjusted his basket mask.
"A proper teacher takes pride when his students remind him of a needed lesson. Let us go," he declared. Running off, they scaled the walls of the nearest building and its roof without a break of pace. Hardly bothering to leap, they gathered speed, simply treating surfaces of whichever angle with dismissive uniformity, each coming aglow as their chanting rose and gained rhythm in contempt of the chaos they weaved through.
X X X
Nonki gave a sharp hum as he bid a wind send the Bat General of the Shadowkhan nearly crashing into the ground. Rosuto seemed to have discovered he could make arrows by magic, and was raining them down on the Shadowkhan with what seemed to be glee.
That, along with the surge of devouring shadows starting to rise over the rooftops, made him a natural target for the fliers. Which in turn made them receptive prey for Nonki's mastery of the wind. He had broken many of them already, slamming into one another, the ground or buildings. All the while, his music played through the battle, his finger on the scales of fate.
Granted, that finger's grip was much weaker than he would like. He could not afford to slip now; with all that had been sacrificed, he needed to secure his path to peace.
The wind shifted. His eyes slid to the side, and he sighed.
"So, I have been found."
He moved before his attackers, their scythe-like claws cutting through the air. He was already moving a sandaled foot, planting its heel into a mantid neck that snapped under the force and dancing away along the rooftop before it fell.
Stopping, he took stock of his attackers. Two more of the Shadowkhan's insect priests, and the High Priest himself. The Peaceful Musician smiled.
"Well, this is fortunate."
"You will no longer have your way, human," the High Priest declared, starting to work beads hung across his chest, igniting blue flames across his form.
"Your prayers against my songs? That sounds like interesting music. But it seems better suited as a duo," Nonki said. With a forceful note on his biwa, a massive wind kicked up, nearly but not able to knock him off his feet, sending two of the monks flying. And the third braced himself, only for a chunk of wood caught in the wind to smack into him, sending him falling away.
"Shall we?" Nonki said, brushing his hand against the pouch that held a blank mask.
X X X
Gurando laughed at the collapsed tower filling half the square that minutes ago had been full of Reza troops, including one he was sure was Kamisori. Striking his weapon's pommel to the ground, he cracked the stones. The spells still glowed under the edge of the rubble; even if any Shadowkhan survived they would be immobilized.
"As I told you, their flanking maneuver was predictable, and a General was caught as well. First squad, move to the defensive positions for any followups. Second squad, move to reinforce our allies! Third squad, we will dig that General up and see him sealed," the siegemaster declared, to the cheering of his troops.
Gurando had not received a mask yet, and he was not going to await on Rokutaro's pleasure. So long as he recovered a mask, he was certain to survive this battle, if not win it himself. Let his men hold the lines, in the meantime he would not be distracted from the mask there for the taking under this rubble.
A thunderous howl tore though the air as he he began to sift the first beam, making him look up. The siegemaster blinked as the dragon spiraled down toward the ground, spewing fire. The expected pull-up from the dive never came, with the creature slamming into the ground, making everything tremble.
Gurando stood firm as his men fell around him, raising an eyebrow as the out of sight dragon gave no noise.
"There's easier pickings on a mask there, men. Squad two, change of plans. Come with me."
The men quickly took to follow the siegemaster's orders, and before long they had approached the fallen dragon. To Gurando's surprise, it appeared to be stirring despite lying in a small crater, but as it was mystically compelled to not harm anyone on the defenders' side, he shrugged off any potential threat from it.
But Gurando's smile slipped as the dragon's head continued to rise. It did not look like it was awakening, or even breathing; sure enough, the amount of blood spreading on the broken intersection could only be from it.
Then the head was tossed aside, flopping to the ground with a horrid sound of metal and flesh on stone.
Ozeki heaved a huge breath. The armor gone from above his belt, whose buckle still steamed red, it and his leggings tattered. His left eye was swollen shut, and burns covered his body.
Without a flinch, he walked forward, cracking his neck and stretching his arms.
"You're in the way," the Sumo General declared to the siegemaster.
X X X
Nonki fled with the wind at his back and his fingers dancing across the biwa. Turning amidst the alleys and into the streets of the town, he wove through debris and fights akin to the wind himself, a blustery tune springing from his fingers. And behind, cutting sharp and cleaving straight, came the enflamed Sanshobo, his chant lost into a single mass of noise, one on top of the other as every stray blow was deflected from him and allies deflected harmlessly, while humans screamed and burned from drawing too close.
"That's right, focus on your goal," Nonki chuckled lightheartedly, glancing back to his pursuer and even turning around to fly backwards as they passed into a courtyard of cloth sheets held up to dry from dying.
Letting the music fall to near silence, Nonki ducked amidst the hanging sheets. Sanshobo paused, looking over the sheets flapping in the wind, sight obscured and the flapping of the cloth near thunderous in this moment. Reaching into his robes amidst the flame, Sanshobo withdrew a metal brand, his blade-like claw easily holding it through a handle glowing green, and touched it to the nearest clothesline. At the touch, hungry red flames spread along the line, catching the sheets ablaze. Then, resuming the clacking of his beads with his free claw, the High Priest advanced into the blazing courtyard, brushing away the cloth and lines as the fire spread.
A burning sheet fluttered to his left against the wind. A claw bisected it, and a rock clattered to the ground. Nonki's sandaled foot struck Sanshobo's basket mask on the right bottom rim, and it went flying upward to be carried by the wind.
Seeing the General's face, the musician paused, eyes wide, before dozens of eyes fixed on him in silent fury. A single whistling note of a scythe claw ended in wood shattering and strings snapping as the biwa was destroyed.
Amidst the blaze, it became a dance of blades as Nonki tucked his arms close to his chest and, humming a hasty tune, stayed just barely ahead of the blue-wreathed blades of the priest, each eye boring into him.
'There!' Nonki thought. Turning on a heel that was bleeding, with the haste having worn away sandal and callouses, he kicked the "wrist" of the incoming claw, nailing it into the ground. It was only a moment for the High Priest to pull it out, but in that moment Nonki twisted into the great mantis' guard and whipped out the white mask.
As he slammed the mask home, he blinked as the High Priest twisted his free arm utterly unnaturally and jabbed him in chest with the green burning brand.
"Fool, begone!" Sanshobo snapped as the mask latched onto his face and the stunned musician was struck silent, only able to hastily pat at the flame engulfing him before being overtaken. With a snap and a hiss, both man and Shadowkhan vanished. No trace of the man remained, save stray green flames blowing themselves out in the wind, and a mask in the General's likeness clattering to the ground.
A Reza Khan cut away a burning sheet to reveal himself and, with clacking haste, scooped up the mask and stashing it in his tunic.
"The wind, is dying. Kamikiri, we will not let your sacrifice be in vain," the Reza remarked, looking at the sky before beginning his run to the gate, and from there to deliver this mask and what laid within to safety.
X X X
"Bin, you are certain then that this is the path you would walk?" Ozeki asked, sipping his sake. The garden was immaculate; the mountains rose as if to embrace the horizon, and below them the terraces of the Sumo tribe's fortress descended in simple implacable majesty, as if they were an extension of this mountain.
"I am. Of all those who could take your mantle, I am the most qualified," Bin answered.
"Humble enough, aren't you?" Ozeki chuckled. Picking up the bottle, he offered it, only for Bin to instead refill his teacup from the pot.
"Am I wrong?"
"As a manager and as builder, certainly."
"That is our greatest role. All Shadowkhan must fight if need be, but we can do much more. Let those who hold fighting in such regard excel at it."
"Unacceptable," Ozeki said, throwing the bottle into Bin's face. The younger sumo had no time to react, and was sent tumbling back, falling into an ornamental pond.
Bin blinked, trying to banish the sparks blinding him, realizing how far he must have been sent back to hit the pond.
"That was just a bottle, clay," he muttered.
"Of course it was. The buildings you take such pride in are, in the end, mere materials reshaped and used in the desired configuration. Organization is similar. Construction, organization and destruction. That is our sacred trigram. To create, to use, and to destroy. Destruction may be the simplest in execution, but without it the other two collapse under stagnation. The best builder can and should be the greatest demolisher of that which he has made. And likewise, as the great organizer, he will understand as the great destroyer how to hold off destruction until it becomes the ideal rather than an impediment.
"The General of the Sumo tribe embodies this trigram, embracing and mastering all. We do not glory in battle. Our greatest heroes deal with little fanfare and little mourning, because in our proper place our great deeds are not seen as exceptional but merely the expected outcome of who we are meeting the situation in front of us. We, as a tribe, do not march to wage war but to win wars so that we can carry on to the work that lies beyond that.
"And an Ozeki, likewise, is no hero to challenge the odds in bold defiance. Ozeki means 'Champion'; to be Ozeki is to be the final pillar that stands when others fall so the castle, though it wavers, will not collapse. It means where others break against the wall, the Ozeki breaks through. We set aside our own names because we accept we do not matter. Every builder should want their works to long outlive them. Every administrator's joy is that his system will carry on without trouble when he is no longer there. And every destroyer knows what he has cleared the way for is far more important than the destructive acts he has carried out.
"Ozeki, for our Queen and our race; we set aside everything to open the way."
Gurando grinned under his war mask as the Sumo General flinched under the blow he had dealt.
For a moment, he had been frightened of the battered Shadowkhan that had slain the dragon. But his tactician's senses had served him well. First destroying the gate, now battered and burned by dragonfire, so what? In battle, the first to fall was the one to be defeated.
Not only was his foe fatigued and suffering so many wounds, his right eye was swollen shut. Being unable to take advantage of that, he would be a disgrace as a warrior. That blindspot let him dive in and elbow his way through the block. And strike the sumo in the face with his mace. Not a proper blow to bring out the destructive power of his weapon, but enough to keep his foe off balance as the wizards gathered on the roofs above them.
Soon it would be over, he thought, kicking out to break the stance of his foe, a short powerful blow he knew could crack eight tiles, even without his armor augmenting it. His foe managed to move with the kick, losing ground with his back nearly to the dragon's corpse, but still standing.
Gurando chuckled at the sight of the Shadowkhan on his last legs, trying to assume a proper stance, shouldering his weapon.
"You have impressive strength and resilience, I will give you that. But a soldier is more than all that. A fool who uses himself up before the battle is over is useless in war, no matter how impressive his feats. When the blade and the armor meet, the winner is nothing more or less than the last one to break!" Gurando roared, raising his weapon for the hammering blow that would end this fight.
His grin widened at the thunk of connection. Then vanished, since he saw the blow had connected with the raised palm of the Sumo General.
"I am no soldier, I am an Ozeki," the Shadowkhan ripped the weapon from his hands. Gurando cried out, gauntlets and the skin of his palms and fingers tearing as his grip was utterly overripe.
"Get him!" Gurando yelled, stepping back, arms raised to defend his head and chest as his mighty weapon was hefted in one hand, tossed and caught. The enchantments ignited, burning at the Shadowkhan with green fire. And gave no reaction as Ozeki pursued him casually.
"Begone braggart," Ozeki declared. Gurando blocked the blow perfectly, but it didn't matter. The giant human's arms had the armor torn from them by the blow, and bent under the impact, with the breastplate behind them cracking. Then flew off his feet, across the courtyard and bursting through a stone wall and out of sight.
Ozeki took a deep breath as the mace cracked and fell apart, throwing it aside casually.
"I needed to catch my breath," he muttered, before glaring up at the chanting wizards whose gazes were fixed on him. Planting his feet, he settled into a form stance as the group spell reached its crescendo, lines of burning light surging from their hands and wrapping around his body, three even snaking under his chin to tighten around his neck.
"Bah," he said, the muscles in his neck flexing against the tightening. A final word from them sent a surge of magic into him, making green fire ignite across his frame in three places and hands balling into fists.
His knees bent; more than a few wizards grinned at him starting to fall.
Ozeki leapt, their eyes widening as he came up to their level, the bonds slackening and letting him reach out and grab nearly half of them in his hands.
Plummeting back to the ground, he tucked in his legs and, at the final moment, kicked the ground with all his weight behind it. Wizards cried out, either pulled down by grips on their spell or their footing crumbling away beneath them as destruction rippled out from the strike.
X X X
The blades clashed again, and both combatants winced at the shriek of metal on metal. Backing up, the abomination shook her warped head.
"Houka cries out. It thirsts for your blood. It shall have it!"
'No, that's not it,' Ikazuki realized. Looking to the blade of his old foes, his eyes narrowed.
"Fool, you are deaf and blind. I pity your ancestors to have their line fall so low," Ikazuki said, shifting his stance.
"Ahh, an end then?" she said, reading his stance. She twisted the pole of Houka in her hands and cracked her neck, the mandibles on her face clicking in anticipation.
"Yes," Ikazuki said, dipping and lifting his blade, inviting her.
She charged, not even caring when he stood his ground instead of rushing to meet it.
"Keh," Ikazuki grit, changing to a one hand grip on his sword.
It was over in a second, the reverberations of the clash and his opponent rushing past him to halt.
"What?" the heretic said, standing stunned, with an arm falling to the ground by Ikazuki and Houka held in his hand by the cutting edge.
Her reflexes were excellent. She managed to leap backward and his slash that could have cut her in half instead destroyed her breastplate, leaving a wound bleeding lightly from her shoulder to her side.
And left him holding Houka by the blade, with sparks licking at his hand in reaction to him.
"You countered Houka's power! You didn't chant any spell!"
Ikazuki ignored her, tossing Houka slightly, letting him grab its shaft instead.
"Houka, my sympathy for having fallen into the hands of the unworthy. You were forged to empower humanity against its foes; those who compromise their humanity for a petty measure of power are not worthy of your aid. Yet this one is the last of your clan. Tragic for your tale to end so ignominiously. But better than for you to suffer this disgrace. FAREWELL OLD FOE!" Ikazuki said, drawing the weapon back, his muscles tensing. And smashing the ancient weapon of the Demon Quellers broad blade against the floor. His foe cried out in confused rage as the blade shattered, shards raining down between them.
"No! Houka! How?!" his foe screamed, charging him thoughtlessly. Sneering, Ikazuki brought his sword to bear. He saw her jolt into her senses as his blade fell, and his footwork removed him from a wild swipe. His blow tore through her side, coming short of her spine but a lethal strike nonetheless.
"That blade should have lasted for ages yet. But you broke its spirit long before I broke its steel, wretch."
She screamed in a grotesque mix of Gani and human howl, falling to her knees. Ikazuki contemptuously flicked her blood from the black blade and turned to march toward the castle's interior.
"Finish it!" she shrieked at his back.
"No," he answered. Unarmed and crippled, what could she do to him now, he thought? And in the next moment, realized the mask she was still wearing. That stopped him in his tracks, cursing himself as the fallen foe let out a roar that shook the rafters overhead.
Turning, he watched wide-eyed as shadows — twisted and skincrawlingly corrupt shadows — surged to the screaming abomination. Into the mask, the wounds bleeding through her tunic, and into her fresh stump.
She swelled. "Growing" would make it sound too natural, he would later recall. It was stretching, like a fool was stuffing a sack too much but each tear was answered by the sack closing over the bulge.
Upward and onward, muscles overlapping each other, bursting out of her armor and clothes until only a few rags hung from a hulking creature that he would never have even guessed was female, while patches of black shell bloomed from her chest and side wounds like pox. And then, with a higher pitched scream, a black mass erupted from her stump.
"Disgusting!" Ikazuki spat, as the oversized Gani claw dripping with ichor thumped on the floor, denting it.
His foe stopped screaming, and in a choked, warped voice spoke.
"KILL. ALL. YOU."
The speed surprised him, again to his fury. His sword came up in time, but he felt it break as the monstrous claw slammed into it. Reflex let him dodge the headbutt as he was slammed into the wall. No, not a headbutt, he realized with actual unease as he glanced and saw the messy bite she had taken out of the wall.
Reaching into a shadow, he drew a new blade and watched as the monster turned to face him ponderously.
'First speed, now this? Curses, the Queen needs me, but this creature is too many unknowns. If it sees the Queen it might ignore me and attack her. I can't risk leading it to her, she's beyond even the enemy's control now or I'm a kappa.'
"Yojimbo, you require assistance."
Ikazuki's surprise gave way to a smile directed at his foe as the heavy footsteps further announced the arrival.
Behind his enemy, Ozeki passed through the grand entrance. Wounded, his armor a mess, and one eye swollen shut, but his posture and pace undaunted.
"General, I command you to deal with this beast and claim that mask. When done, either follow to support me, or guard the way against enemy reinforcements. I leave the choice to your discretion."
Ikazuki turned and dashed, tearing through a paper inner wall. He heard the beast cry out in anger, and a sturdier wall breaking. He did not look back to confirm the battle between the strongest warrior and the fallen beast had begun.
X X X
A glance to the sides affirmed his flyers were taking to the sky in force again. Free of the enscrolled winds, their formations took shape. He did not watch, though. They had their orders, and he trusted them to carry them out. He had his own battle to face, eyes locking on the tower where the abominations born of Hishu's tribe were flowing from.
The arrows came at him in a flash. Supernaturally quick and powerful, he was certain many of his warriors had perished by such before realizing they were under attack.
With a tilt of his wings and twitching of his body, he did not evade the arrows, instead striking them from the air, sending shards crashing to the ground as he began to chant, making a curved advance on his foe. The masked archer continued to loose, seeming to have an endless supply of arrows.
The skill was impressive, but the gap was enough that Jirobo was able to evade well enough to carry on the chant he had begun, and the distance closed between them. The wards still standing on the walls fought him , but the power built regardless, reaching between him and the sky.
"Fly through the shadow of the storm.
"Catch the wind in your claws.
"Return the gaze of the furious kami with pride.
"By guile and speed.
"By might and courage.
"Lift the rod from his belt and strike down your enemy!"
The chant reached its climax as Jirobo nearly rolled through the air as a single archer poured a volley at him. The defense was not sufficient; arrows racked across his armor, finding flesh, spilling blood, and even baring bone in some gouges. He couldn't stop the arrows, but they could not stop him.
Rosuto stopped, arrow nearly drawn as Jirobo spread his wings, stopping in front of him, close enough to touch. The wings seemed to cover the world, and even wounded and running blood, the form and face loomed before him with lightning playing across it left him stunned in awe.
"Susano's wrath."
With a ripple in the air, the massive thunderbolt penetrated the failing shield, explosions along the walls declaring the barrier's demise and, the arch and tower crumbled in light and thunder, careening to the ground as Jirobo flapped in the air.
Glaring down, perhaps hearing a scream of rage from his foe, Jirobo laughed to the battle and with powerful motions cut through the air once more, lesser lightning bolts following him like salutes, striking at the ground below.
X X X
Ozeki knew he was reaching his limit. This foe was more beast than warrior, but they retained a warrior's reflexes, and the blows from their Gani claw were numbing his arms even as he deflected.
Burns of dragonfire could be powered through, but that did not mean they simply washed away, and before that breaking the gate had been accomplished, but not without price. The siegemaster had fallen short, but that did not mean he or his wizards had been impotent in the blows they scored.
Ozeki was losing momentum, and even as he landed an open palm strike on his foe, striking their chest and sending them sliding back, they crumpled but did not fall, and caught his descending fist on their claw and drove their still human fist into his jaw.
That blow should have sent them flying. Too heavy? Or was he too weak now?
No. So long as he could stand, he still had more power. Death was the one thing, the only thing, that excused an Ozeki to fatigue.
He needed a fight-finishing blow.
Black shell ripping his foe's chest open, plates shredding the human skin as they engaged, brought disgust as well as inspiration.
The mask! He was a fool! The mask was the source of this power, an engineering weakness of a single stone holding up the totality of this strength and endurance.
Clarity presented a path, and doubts were expelled from the paving stones like the detritus leaves they were.
X X X
Rosuto heaved the hunk of debris off himself and stood up, spitting blood and dust to the side.
Holding up his bow, he fumed, confirming it had indeed snapped. But the dark thoughts were replaced with puzzlement as shadows bubbled from his blood-streaked hand to cover the ruined bow, and surged from the broken edges to stretch and solidify into a fine long bow. Tracing the path with a finger, he even drew a string of night across it.
"Haha! I was foolish to be wary. Small wonder they dominated humans," he mused, drawing a shadow arrow from the air.
Eyes narrowing, he looked to the skies and saw the flyer General raining lightning down nearby. Hmm, the ringing in his ears… had he gone deaf? Well, that could be fixed with this power, he was certain. More pertinently, revenge.
Notching the arrow, he let the shadows flow freely now, the bow radiating shadows like smoke and the arrow growing denser and heavier in his grip, a deadly sheen forming across it. He was certain assuming him dead would be the last mistake his flying foe ever made.
The arrow flew, wild and nearly flowing in the wind, tearing through the roof of an inn nearby, as if a giant had casually smacked it.
Rosuto blinked at the horridness of his shot, and looked to his bow. The bow was fine, but the hand that had held the arrow was barely holding onto the string as it dangled with a grip any archer would chastise. He barely noted other chunks of that arm on the ground before reflex had him swing the bow to meet the next blow.
Catching the dusty Reza General's claws on the bow, he was both confused at the sneak attack and impressed the bow had blocked.
He did not hear what Kamisori said, as the General swatted the bow aside with his next blow and, with the followup, took the archer's head.
X X X
Ikazuki knew a trap when he saw it. Resistance had crumbled as he descended into the caverns. Not just mere caverns; this place was once inhabited, and not by mere humans. Old, strong magics hung in the air like the scents of a battle recently concluded, yet long passed. His spine tingled — he was certain this was near where Hishu met his doom, Hiruzen too. The darkness about him mocked that it had seen the downfall of Shadowkhan Generals before, and he would just be the next.
He dismissed it with a veteran's contempt. Doom was the companion of any warrior, much less a samurai. But he did pause before the entryway before him.
There was thick smoke wafting to his nose. Light, recently extinguished. And the Queen… his bones seemed to vibrate to her nearness and pain. Instinct urged him to rush in, sword drawn to right this obscenity.
He was Yojimbo, though. With three words of power, he formed a ball of chi the size of a marble in his free palm. When he asked after a spell, this simple matter had stunned his conscripted teacher. She would claim it hardly counted as a spell.
"Welcome, General Ikazuki. Your Queen has been expecting you," a distorted voice called from the darkness. Another masked abomination; he had expected as much, and was certain whose mask he would face.
Throwing the chi marble down to the ground, he closed his eyes in time with its shattering, the light bursting and writhing from the released energy, casting the chamber beyond in a red-purple light. As the hollow shinobi in their assembled masses cringed and their master cursed amongst shattered mirrors, Ikazuki spied a cage and a still figure slumped within.
There was no war cry. This was execution, not a field of battle.
Steel in hand, the samurai advanced as blue flames ignited anew across the chamber and carnage began of one against many.
X X X
Jade struggled from the pressing mass of dreams to blink awake. Not that waking brought much relief, back to the cold, aching cage.
Her head felt like it was going to split and she reflexively cursed in worry she had strayed into the Weaver's reach. Frowning, she noticed something was different. What was that racket? It seemed familiar.
"A fight," she realized, sitting up.
Jade forced herself to roll over so that she could look through the bars at the source of the sound. Rokutaro stood a few yards away, wearing Hiruzen's mask and surrounded by those disgusting fake Ninja Khan. And further beyond them…
"Ikazuki?" Jade croaked, eyes wide in shock as she watched the Samurai General fighting the shinobi, blade dancing in his hand as it tore through the constructs, dispersing them into shadow. As she looked on, one ninja tried to jump him from behind, and without even looking, Ikazuki's hand shot backwards to grab the ninja by the face; using this grip, he lifted the shinobi into the air and tossed it at the group in front of him, knocking them all over like bowling pins. Not pausing to acknowledge this, Ikazuki spun in a full circle, cutting down a dozen ninja that had tried to rush him from every direction at once.
"Is this all that you can do with this abomination, human?" Ikazuki hissed. Growling, Rokutaro hefted his own blade and dashed for the Samurai General, the remaining shinobi following him.
Jade watched the fight, blinking. It felt familiar, something tugging at her mind, her memories.
Yes, that was it, she realized. How many times had she been caught? In situations that should have been hopeless? As much as she prided herself on getting out of trouble herself, help had often been needed. Such as a distraction, like this. The fight with the bad guy taking eyes off her, letting her slip out like a magic trick. Not just to escape but to turn the tide.
'I am not done. I am down but I AM. GETTING. UP!' she said, moving into a crouch, 'Focus Jade, the Weaver is probably around, but it will be watching them. Because of course. But how to take advantage of it?'
She took a deep breath, trying to center herself, to rise above the aches, pains, hunger, and her own throbbing head. And then realized something.
The cage was broken.
Not broken open, but broken nonetheless. Hishu had popped the lid, and thanks to that musical bastard it had fallen back down, but it was not tidy. None of the humans had given it more than a glance, and neither had she, until now.
Even at her strongest as a human, minus talismans of course, she couldn't have lifted the roof of this cage. So instead, she looked at the bars. They had bent and twisted a bit at the abuse, their cold-warded iron chafing too even and close together in order to lock at their tops. But one, one had warped oh so slightly that its top was about halfway clear of the stone above. And Jade could feel the shadow faintly through that narrow weakness. Not enough to draw on, but enough to tell the difference.
That was it, the thread to tug to unravel this horrid situation, she decided.
Bracing herself, she grabbed the bar, and felt like she had grabbed a red hot brand. She managed to swallow all but a pained grunt as she pushed, a pained hiss her concession as she pushed against the bar.
Releasing it before being forced to scream, she choked the sound back down as she fought against a blackout.
Okay, that wasn't working. Glancing up, she amended that, seeing a tiny amount of scrape marks on the stone. The bar had moved. But not enough. She was certain what she needed was to break the contact between the base and lid via that bar. To push it properly out of alignment. But she needed more force. No tools to work with and no magic. Her hands still felt numb, so…
She didn't just have hands to work with.
X X X
Jirobo perched atop an inn as he and Kamisori watched the battle progress. The day reached its end, and the shadows grew long. And per their orders, their forces were splitting, the greater portion reinforcing the siege of the castle and the remainder investing against the remaining isolated pockets.
Jirobo turned is attention to the white mask in his claws. It felt strange beyond the magic; at first glance he assumed it was wood, but it surely was not, his touch said. Some kind of silk? Or it had been silk.
"Lieutenant." A Komomori officer lurking nearby sprang to attention, "Take this like the others to the fleet."
"Hai." The Generals watched him leave with a hastily-warded sack secured to his chest. Kamisori scratched his chin with a claw and glanced to the castle.
"Are we done waiting then? If there was some final trump card to be played, turning the castle into a trap…"
"I will remain, our exit for the Queen must not be compromised. I will make an entry for you, though."
"Fair enough, your wings are useless inside a castle anyway."
"Hooo, far from it, but yes, your speed is superior in such close quarters," Jirobo chuckled as he rose into the air. Kamisori blinked in surprise at the words, before chuckling and leaping off the roof, dashing towards the castle with other Rezas emerging from the alleys, following their General's lead.
X X X
Jade knew this probably looked even more stupid than it sounded.
She was awkwardly curled up on her back in front of the warped bar. Her plan being to grab the neighboring bars and then use her feet to push the bar with her legs.
Even if it worked, would she be in any state to get out of here? She remembered how she had cried in pain from the incident with Hiruzen; her pain threshold was not what it had been, and this would be agony.
And the fight was still going on over there, time was limited. Which meant she had no time to waste on doubts.
So, praying to any deity that might care to listen, and reaching out in her thoughts to her family and friends, and — she found herself almost without meaning to — thanking Hishu for this narrow chance, Jade grabbed and pushed against her cage.
She couldn't stop her scream this time.
X X X
Ikazuki chastised himself for the error. He had let the Queen's scream distract him for a moment. That let his foe land a blow across his upper sword arm, right through the armor. Too shallow to bother him for the moment, but he could not risk being worn down.
Rokutaro himself was chuckling, flicking the blood off his blade. He held an advantage, with Ikazuki having to worry over the Queen. And more — Ikazuki watched as the minor wounds he had inflicted on the lord sealed themselves. It was not like the grotesque display from the other mask wielder upstairs, but proper healing. It might be the difference in masks, but he would wager the old human had another magic trick in store.
This was infuriatingly difficult, Ikazuki thought, gritting his teeth and reengaging.
X X X
"Stupid," Jade cursed herself, blinking away the dots covering her vision. She must have blacked out, but for how long, she realized. Sitting up hurt, but it kind of didn't? Probably a bad sign, and oh, she seemed to be a disgusting shade of purple? More importantly, she couldn't have been out long, as Ikazuki was still fighting Rokutaro, while ninja abominations tried and failed to take him out.
And then the moment of truth, she went on her hands and knees and looked at the bar she had fried herself pushing. It was out of alignment, a space not even as wide as her finger, but the stone and iron had a gap. And she could feel the shadows shifting through it like wind through a hole in the wall.
Grinning wide enough she actually felt her face for a moment, Jade sat down and started chanting a simple spell, planting her hands on the floor.
The wards pushed back. They were strong; the shadows entered only as a trickle, like the lines of a scribe's brush. But even as it thinned, still more reaching her, it didn't stop, and began to pool between her hands, forming into the Substance. The flow was thin, but it was there. It was evaporating, but not as quick as she was pulling it in.
She had magic, she had a weapon. She had her way out.
She wanted to laugh, but didn't. Everything went into the chant, calling the shadows with urgency and authority, commanding, gathering and forming.
They sang to her, a wordless melody older than words, and she subtly swayed to the rhythm, cold assurance wrapping her smoldering fury at all that had happened. Under other circumstances, she might have pondered this strange peacefulness as a pillar of shadow began to rise before her, straining against the ceiling.
With a glorious creak, the ceiling moved, the shadow column rising against the strain and thickening under the weight.
Jade was aware of the strain; even if sheer simplicity compared to her disguise and other magics, she was in terrible shape here. But none of that mattered. She kept chanting, watching as the lid of her cage rose. A gap opening as the bars popped free, still secured to the base.
Still chanting, she reached out and grabbed the column, the inky mass seeming to suck her fingertips in and grab them, pulling her up with the flow, above the tops of the bars. Looking at the bars, she grimaced — even as the weak little Queen, she could have made that jump, easy. But right now, she could see impaling herself on those things.
"XING," she intoned an end to the enchantment. Which made the column burst outward, propelling her through the air, landing on the floor. The floor of the cave, the floor outside the cage.
Giggling and not able to stop, Jade pushed herself to her feet, her skin feeling a strange prickling as the immediate effect of those horrid wards faded. The shadows… oh, the shadows were singing, and yes, desperate battle of one samurai against many, but her senses were flooding back, except for pain it seemed. She just found herself stumbling a bit along, trying to hum to the shadows but unable to stop giggling. And she wondered what it was that a part of her said she was horribly overlooking.
Then a giant crystal spider dropped down in front of her, aglow with sickly green light. Its face and fangs were all broken up, but that did nothing to stop its front left leg from stabbing her in her own right leg.
Jade's giggling gave way to silence as she looked down, blinking at where one of her kneecaps had just been.
The spider said something, but Jade drowned it out with a shriek that could have been terror, agony, or rage as shadow burst from her palm and coated the hand. She swung down, breaking the tip off the leg but also sending herself tumbling to the ground as her lower leg went in the wrong direction relative to her hip. The spider said something, but she couldn't understand it. Its words were wobbly and warped, only making her head hurt more.
Raising her fist and jerking the elbow to her waist, streams of shadows erupted from around them, constricting around the spider's legs. Fall, Jade ordered the Substance. She wasn't sure if she spoke it or thought it. But the Substance obeyed, slamming the spider into the floor.
One raised fist clenched was somehow holding this overpowered too simple spell together, she realized. But the problem was that this bastard was not dead yet. All her torments since being kidnapped played through her head in a broken recollection. While there were many, just now it seemed to her every last thing, including being stuck in this era, was this monster's fault. She had not shown Shendu mercy, and she saw no reason here.
Joints flaring in protest, she bent down and picked up a rock her hand was barely able to get a grip on, and advanced on the spider in a stumbling limp. Her magic was all tied up tying it up, but she concluded "hit in head with rock until done" was a good enough tactic.
The only thinking that made her pause was the scary sight of a monster bearing its fangs. But realizing she was just getting reflected in the cracked crystal of the spider's head, she resumed her advance, raising the stone in her hand.
X X X
Ikazuki knew the Queen was fighting. He had seen her escape in the midst of his battle and chosen to keep his foe's attention on himself. He had failed to realize the foul spider horror was actually willing to reveal itself. He had assumed it was a noncombatant and perhaps the Lord of Tobe was protecting it as much as the captive Queen. The best scenario was that she would escape the chamber, and once Ozeki had finished that pretender upstairs or he managed to land a killing blow…
But that had been waylaid by the spider making a move. And while the Queen had restrained the creature, she had been revealed to Rokutaro. Which led to their current stalemate, with him having to defend the Queen's back from the ninjas as Rokutaro advanced.
Despite wielding Hiruzen's power, Ikazuki noted the lord seemed to be tiring. But of course, he had been ancient to start with, and unlike the pretender this power was acquired much more recently. If he had taken his measure right in this fight, Rokutaro had likely wanted to test these masks on his followers before risking one himself. A wise choice, but it meant he was poorly practiced in wielding this power.
Though even then, it was taking all his skill to let the Queen carry on unmolested.
X X X
Ozeki almost missed his block at the sight of Kamisori entering the doorway.
"No, follow the Yojimbo!" he yelled. The Reza General hesitated, and Ozeki had to make a reckless palm strike to keep its attention on him.
He was certain his jaw cracked in the counterblow the claw landed on him. But a scan as wide as he dared after showed the Reza nowhere in sight. Mere moments could decide everything for the Queen; any aid his comrade lent to him would effectively withhold it from her at this juncture.
Besides, he was the Ozeki, was he not? He would finish this himself while the others were free to do what was needed.
He let the enemy lead as they closed again, but their actions had become predictable, as a beast was wont. He offered his arm as bait, and sure enough the horror of a Gani mouth bit into the muscles of sumo. How fortunate he had experience with such a wound, and his opponent did not know, as he tightened his muscles, that sumo was no easy meat. Not even for a Gani General.
He took the monster to the floor, slamming them headfirst into the boards, caving it in to hit the grind of wood and stonework below.
Planting a knee on the transforming torso with still more black shell emerging, he grabbed the claw arm with his free hand and began to pull with the other, pulling against the mask by its own mouth. The humanoid arm, now swollen and streaked with black, lashed out, punching him. It hurt, but he didn't stop.
He couldn't tell if his foe was too dumb to stop, biting down in the face of pain as a popping sound was heard, or simply gave up attempting to escape to try and chew his arm off instead. Whatever the case, his arm was set against their jaws.
A strange popping, tearing sound reached his ears, and a cry unlike anything from his foe emerged. It was not the sound of a head getting ripped off; he knew what that sounded like.
Feeling befuddlement through the pain and battle focus, he peered at his foe around the punches and his own arm obstructing it. There, for a swiftly passing moment, he saw a pair of human eyes clouded with horror. He would recall the strangeness of realizing his opponent was a woman just as the mask was ripped off and her face along with it.
The force of the mask coming loose and a final blow set Ozeki back up onto the floor, stumbling and having to right himself as a black mask clattered to the ground beside him. His opponent followed, or perhaps simply writhed in the same direction. Blood was streaming from her face unnaturally, like a dam bursting through a leak, stumbling as she screamed through the bloody ruin, parts of her deflating while others crusted over in carapace.
Mercy was not on his mind as he struck a finishing blow to her chest, now reduced to carapace plating lacking any feminine features she may once have had. The blow that made her chest crumple and her cry cut off before she was set through a wall and flying out into the town beyond was to make sure no lingering sorcery could save this monster. Because with that blow, he fell to one knee, his ravaged arm falling near limp to the ground, breathing raggedly.
"No, not yet. Enough for one more. The final pillar must not waver until the castle has been emptied," he spat around his own blood. With trembling knees, Ozeki rose to his feet and assumed a stance for whatever came next.
X X X
At the edge of her consciousness, Jade was aware that Ikazuki was keeping the ninja constructs off of her, and that Rokutaro was advancing on her. But at the moment, that didn't matter to her, anymore than the pain and weariness racking her body. All that mattered was taking sweet vengeance on her foremost tormentor, raining blows down on the Weaver with the stone in her hand.
Whether it was inherent magic or just whatever material the crystal spider was physically made of, the rock didn't do much damage at first, but eventually cracks started forming in its monstrous face. It shrieked threats and pleas at her, but they didn't register with her. The only thing filling her ears was the pounding of her own blood as her vision reddened with her rage.
Shriek rising in pitch, she brought her rock down on the spider leg that had earlier stabbed hers and howled as it shattered under her blow. She pitched forward as she lost her balance to the intensity of the strike, only to be held upright by shadows erupting from the ground to practically pummel her waist from all sides to prop her up. Wheezing in fury at the draining sensation that seemed to be darkening her vision, she managed to raise her rock again as the shadows convulsed, both dragging the maimed spider abomination closer and crushing against her, trying to hold the lightheadedness at bay.
She wasn't sure if her howl was in her head or aloud as she brought the stone down again in the midst of what had been the spider's eyes. But she knew she heard the final shriek of her prey give way to a beautiful sound of crystal breaking and jangling first on itself, then upon stone.
As her vision darkened, the shape of the spider simply fell away, its form undone into countless shards whose light was fading before her eyes as they tumbled to the ground.
Trying to laugh, she found she couldn't draw the breath, and the shadows retreated, leaving her to draw in cool air even as she toppled, her maimed leg bending obscenely in the wrong direction.
The last thing she felt was surprise that she hadn't hit the ground; an armored arm had snatched her out of the air and slammed her face first into a breastplate.
'Mm, delicate, na, so rough,' Jade thought groggily.
X X X
"NOOOO!" Rokutaro screamed, falling to his knees before the fading light of his abomination. Ikazuki could not help the savage glee showing on his face as he held the Queen close.
He should be terrified at her state. She had been dealt a blow while he was at hand, a disgrace! But she had won. His frail, sheltered Queen had savagely beaten her enemy beyond pitiful submission and to death with no hint of mercy or hesitation. This was a pride he had never expected to feel for Joo Heike!
Still, it was time to go. Killing Rokutaro was not his mission.
Then the false Khan surrounded him and the Queen anew.
"This will not change anything," Rokutaro said, getting to his feet as Ikazuki assumed a new stance, one arm occupied with the unconscious Queen.
"Even one mask is an army without end. So long as I escape with it, I can start anew. I will find a way to restore the Weaver, and then I will return for the rest of you. Assuming you live that long with your Queen dead!" Rokutaro's voice warped into a snarl as he raised his blade to Ikazuki.
And then spat blood. He and Ikazuki both looked down to his chest, where four blades protruded.
"Well, we can't have that, now can we?" Kamisori said, standing to his full height behind Rokutaro now.
Rokutaro cursed around more blood flowing from his mouth.
"He healed earlier, General!" Ikazuki warned.
"Alright then, thorough it is!" Kamisori declared, stabbing the Lord of Tobe with his other claw hand as the false Khan turned their attention, and pulled his arms wide. With ripping flesh, cracking bone, and shattered armor, Lord Rokutaro of the Shirogeta Clan fell to the floor in two pieces.
"Not enough?" Kamisori asked, planting a narrow foot under Rokutaro's top half to roll him to face up.
The man's eyes were glazed, but he was still breathing, and a green glow pulsed on his now bared chest. Seeing the false Khan stand unmoving, both Generals looked at the source of the glow, the head of a great nail seemingly of iron and newly familiar crystal.
Sniffing the air, Ikazuki frowned. "Jiangshi mimicry."
Kamisori nodded, his own frown deepening. "And look at this spell inscribed. That explains why there are so few young Shirogeta heirs running around before today."
"Pathetic excuse for a lord and family head!" Ikazuki accused, pointing his sword at the defeated human.
Rokutaro just groaned, looking weak even with the mask still on.
"I doubt we will be getting any interesting rants or explanations from this one, Yojimbo."
"Just finish him. The motives and justifications of a vanquished enemy are no longer relevant."
"Hai," Kamisori said. With a little fiddling, cutting into the well-toned but elderly flesh, the nail came loose, dripping, and blood bubbling from the new wound. Rokutaro breathed his last without a word, and the false Khan melted back into the shadows as the mask warped and popped back into wood and fell away from the elderly human face beneath. And tossing the nail into the air, Kamisori swiped with his claws, cutting it into four pieces for good measure to fall to the ground with pings. Finally, he pocketed the mask in his pouch.
"The Queen needs the healers immediately. Support my exit, General. But first, gather some of those spider shards, it may prove useful to study."
"Hai, I left Ozeki to take care of your former dance partner; either he awaits us upstairs or will meet us coming down," the Reza General said, as he took point in front of Ikazuki further shielding the Queen from any harm that lay ahead of them.
X X X
Ozeki did not meet the two Generals in their ascent. Instead, they were greeted by Jirobo and a full squadron of his warriors, passing from the castle into the ancient caves.
"Praise Amaterasu, you succeeded," the Komomori General said, catching sight of Ikazuki's precious cargo. His warriors gave a succinct salute, and without a word needing to be spoken formed up to better protect the Queen as the Generals spoke.
"How goes the battle?" Ikazuki demanded.
"Little changed from General Kamisori's descent. Pockets of resistance remain, but are ours to destroy at leisure. My flyers rule the sky uncontested with the wards broken completely. We have been gathering our forces to secure our withdrawal path and the castle in case support was needed to rescue the Queen. General Ozeki defeated his opponent and reclaimed the sealed Gani tribe mask. He is holding position above to defend against any attempt by the enemy to to take us in the rear. Though even he is at his limit, I fear."
"Let us go to him, then," Ikazuki commanded.
X X X
They emerged to see how the sky had changed through the hole in the wall, created presumably by Ozeki defeating his foe. A group of sumos were coming and going, and someone had given field dressings to Ozeki's wounds as he stood steady among the makeshift command center.
At the sight of them, his posture did not shift from battle ready, but his eyes softened a bit.
"Well done. We have a report that just arrived," Ozeki declared. With a gesture of his hand, a Komomori duo stepped from the shadows and bowed to the Generals. It was well understood that the formalities the Queen's presence should entail were waived
"Honored Yojimbo, a human host approaches. They bear no Shirogeta mons, but a number of lesser daimyos' mons are displayed. And the Sage is with them," the senior of the two fliers reported.
The Generals stiffened at this news.
"You are certain?"
"The power that struck down the rest of our squadron was that of a sage. His chi… it wasn't just enormous, it seemed to go beyond even good chi and the elements. It was, balanced."
"Reinforcements?" Kamisori asked. Jirobo shook his head.
"Unlikely. Such a mobilization likely began near in time with our own. To appear now, it is more likely the Sage and his allies wanted to bring down the victor. But he has blundered. If his army needs him to defend it from my scouts, he must lack any powerful disciples or mystic allies to reveal himself so. A human army in the open we can still wipe out, and even a sage would fall to our combined efforts. We will sweep all threats to the Shadowkan from the board this day."
"No," Ikazuki declared, walking out of the castle into the fading light.
"Yojimbo?" Ozeki asked.
"Whether we can destroy this new force does not factor. Our mission was to rescue the Queen, and now we must see her to safety. This location is insecure, as would be the fleet without our presence. We withdraw to Shikoku at once. All forces disengage, form up for defensive withdrawal to the fleet; nothing gets near the Queen. Send word to General Kuro-Ri-Chi to be ready to sail the moment the army has boarded."
"Should we not at least ensure the city is demolished?" Jirobo insisted, as the others bowed and set to task.
"The Queen takes priority over all. But have your flyers start what fires they can. They are not to risk or delay; destroying this stronghold is a lesser goal, make clear."
"Hai."
X X X
"Well, they certainly sent me quite a ways off," Nonki remarked, as he sat on his old associate's Roc feather, the jungle island beneath giving way to ocean. By his estimate, he was in the far south, far from Nihon.
Well, that was no great obstacle, he supposed, though he wondered if any of the others quite appreciated how much his luck had let them get away with? Or maybe he was being vain on his own value.
Thinking it over, he almost uncorked his sake gourd, only to think better of it and lie down on the feather to take a nap. This was likely a long trip, and it would get longer when he ran out of sake, so better ration it to put off that dark day.
Drifting off to sleep, he wondered who would claim to have won the battle, and if his favorite dumpling maker inn would survive the carnage.
It would be as it would be; fate was neither kind nor cruel, only horrifyingly indifferent, he mused. Displeased at such thoughts fouling his mind before sleeping, he focused on his goal - Nirvana to escape this whole mess, let that define his dreams as he flew across the ocean to the tormented land of his birth.
Author's Note:
So much block on this one. Still not sure if I am happy with it, and I had to go back and plug gaps on review already.
And with this, the Tobe Arc and the war against the Shogunate in the Shadows comes to an end. While the membership is not completely wiped out, the originators of the masks have been toppled as a major faction, and going forward we have a new challenger, and of course you can be assured Shendu has been watching events unfold.
But let's take some time to dwell on this organization before the narrative moves on.
The Shogunate in the Shadows was developed by me and Nocturne no Kitsune as the "heroes" opposing Jade's place as the villain. But are in fact a subversion of the usual heroic team up. Their failure as shown in this chapter being one example.
I suppose the one I feel most bad for is Rosuto; one of Nocturne's, he was originally going to be the right hand to Rokutaro, but that role got taken over by Murakami and his role in supplying the underworld connections and off screen dark matter was not something I was good at showing. So in effect he ended up as, I think, the flattest character, more presented as an amoral archer than anything else. If you're watching, sorry about that Nocturne - I never connected to him like you seemed to.
Yasashi and Rokutaro show the well-intentioned extremists. Justifying their dubious actions with the idea of justice/revenge or a greater good. Unlike many heroes in mainstream narratives, they never overcome these narrow-minded outlooks or really become self-aware of how monstrous they are. And with their defeat, those good intentions seem rather moot, leaving only the corpses of defeated monsters as the culmination of their efforts. It remains to be seen if they have more legacy than that.
Rokutaro was supposed to have a motive rant to reveal more on his character, but I decided it not only didn't fit well, but him and the Weaver both dying without getting their info dump seems more fitting for people lost to their egos. Ikazuki himself even dismissing their origins and motives as unimportant.
I suppose failure is the theme well before this battle for these humans. Despite teamwork getting them success, as soon as they can they work as alone as they can, not learning the value of unity, just using it until they felt they didn't need it anymore. And likewise, none of them overcome their character flaws, making it harder for them to truly come together.
Murakami in particular sticks out to me, being the good man doing nothing. Unwilling to compromise his sense of honor, clashing with his morality and also being unable to change to save what he values. While his sacrifice is in part an acknowledgement of his weakness, it also was him not making the hard choices that could have saved this endeavor.
Basically, I see the Shogunate in the Shadows as the mirror of a heroic band's journey. They fail to really grow as people, a team or heroes, and so they end up being little more than the villains of the Shadowkhan's story, their very secrecy making it likely they will sink into obscurity, with others picking up what they left behind in the ongoing conflict.
But the shape of that upcoming conflict is for next chapter. Hope we brought this arc to a satisfying close for you.
Long days and pleasant nights to you all.