Chapter 7 - Descent Into Madness

7-9-1581

Yamatai - Midstream & Solarii Fortress

In the past few days, squad Segundo and Quarto cautiously navigated São Brandão de Ardfert e Clonfert through the Yamatai midstream. The wild humid subtropical Yamatai forest was like a femme fatale. On the surface, it was absolutely beautiful like a paradise of bliss. Yet, on the inside, it was filled with horrific diseases like malaria, cholera, yellow fever and dengue. It was only a Divine Miracle that the expedition was immune to such slow and deadly attrition.

Currently, Lara was armoured with Sacra Umbra and a black morion. She wore a carmine linen shirt with loose sleeves underneath, a pair of leather gloves, tight khaki breeches and dark brown knee-high leather cavalier boots. Her brown ponytail was tied with a huge silver grey bow scrunchie. Lara was fully equipped with a rapier on her left waist, a parrying dagger on the right, dual wheellock pistols in her twin-thigh holsters, ammunition waist-pouches at both front and back. Alex was equipped with munitions-grade almain rivets with black clothing set underneath. He wore his white plumed burgonet with the huge grass crown attachment that Lara made weeks ago. Whenever the plants started to wither, Lara would immediately replace it with fresh picked leaves, grasses or flowers. Alex had his halberd in hand, a rapier on his left waist and a wheellock pistol in the right thigh-holster.

The duo just finished their rowing shift and was now on duty providing overwatch for São Brandão de Ardfert e Clonfert. The long navigation of endless trees and streams eventually resulted in severe aesthetic fatigue. Lara thus decided to have some small talk with her fiancé to kill time and lighten up the tedious mood. As her mind was busy searching for an interesting topic, Lara suddenly realised that she knew little about Alex's past except for his family background and military adventure.

Throughout the free time of the expedition, the lovebirds constantly exchange stories of their past. While Lara was basically an open textbook without secrets, Alex was rather selective regarding topics. Sure, Alex told her much about his poor but happy farming household - loving parents, a caring older sister and an awesome blacksmith brother-in-law. He vividly narrated his thrilling experience and electrifying tales of valour among his fellow brothers in arms. However, these conversations actually contained very little information about Alex's private life like his living habits, personal interests, food preference, dreams, political views, education and interpersonal relationships outside family and friends.

The last category suddenly struck like lightning - did Alex have any prior relationships? Maidens of all societies loved masculine and mature men of rich life experience as it provided them a perfect sense of trust, dependence and safety. Alex perfectly matched these criteria. It was only natural for him to have some ex-girlfriends back in the Swiss Confederacy, Spanish Netherlands or Portuguese Empire… right?

Alex was Lara's first ever romantic interest and would be the last if everything went smoothly. To think that some random woman on the other side of the globe had victoriously claimed her man's earliest affection absolutely pissed Lara off. It made her less unique and lost the sense of superior primacy in the relationship. Uncle Roth once taught her that choosing a spouse was like selecting a weapon. No matter how perfect the brand new sword (Lara) was, the first and original blade (old flame) would always hold a special place in the owner's (Alex) heart.

This was a crushing defeat that Lara could never accept and her feminine jealousy instantly exploded. She bit her lips and internally cursed that why she had never thought of it in the past month. Her first-time lovey dovey affection blinded her from better judgement and it was a disastrous strategic error - a stupid mistake. Yet, instead of throwing a childish tantrum like a spoiled princess, Lara was going to interrogate her fiancé in a civilised manner.

"So… I want to ask you something. Can you be completely honest with me?"

"Of course, honey. I will never lie to you."

"Good. Now tell me, am I your first love?"

The uncharacteristic question came outta nowhere and took Alex completely by surprise, "What? Why suddenly ask this?"

"Just be a dear and answer the question.", Lara's affectionate demeanour suddenly grew cold and deadly serious.

Alex looked a bit uncomfortable and mumbled, "No. You are my second."

"Hum… I wonder who was that lucky one before me...", Lara hummed aloud while glaring at her fiancé.

Alex stayed silent for a few seconds but eventually sighed in defeat. He reluctantly answered, "Her name was Amanda Everts - a Dutch antiquarian whom I met while stationed in Upper Guelders 7 years ago. She was beautiful with shoulder length blonde hair, crystal blue eyes and pale skin. We planned to marry once the Dutch Revolt was over but it never ended. She despaired and fell under Calvinist heresies. It corrupted her and she became a spy for the rebels, nearly annihilating my company because of her betrayal."

Lara's petty jealousy was now replaced by genuine curiosity. She was completely captivated and thirsted to learn more, "What happened to her then?"

"I slew her."

An awkward silence immediately followed. Alex refused to elaborate any further and sorrowfully looked at the flowing river. Lara was ashamed that her jealousy brought up her fiancé's old wounds. Her insecurity completely ruined the initially romantic atmosphere. She thus swallowed her aristocratic pride and slowly apologised, "I… I am sorry-"

"Hoi!~", Samantha suddenly emerged from kobaya's hull behind and her greeting abruptly interrupted Lara. She wore her full samurai equipment of Nanban dō gusoku and kabuto, with green clothing underneath. She had her huge Ferrum Praevaricator slinging on her back, uchigatana and a wakizashi on her left waist. The onna-musha noticed the awkward atmosphere between the couple but decided to ignore it and reported to Alex in Portuguese as enthusiastically as ever, before returning to her post. Alex's sorrowful expression immediately turned stalwart and vigorous. He explained to Lara, "We are now close to the Solarii Fortress. We will scout around on foot once we find a suitable spot to berth the kobaya. Stay sharp, soldier."

Lara nodded and kept quiet for the remaining river navigation. A proper apology could wait since Alex was now in full command authority, obviously not in mood for sweet-talks.

São Brandão de Ardfert e Clonfert eventually stopped by a hidden riverside well surrounded by trees. The troops immediately disembarked and secured the perimeter. Squad Quarto stayed behind to guard the kobaya while Segundo ventured into the forest in search of Solarii Fortress. The latter marched in staggered formation - 8 melee troops on the left and 8 matchlock musketeers on the right. Alex and Padre Sebastião spearheaded the unit as commanding officers, while Lara and Samantha were entrusted as rearguards.

As the unit marched cautiously, Samantha quickened her pace and asked Lara quietly, "So… what happened between you and Alexander back on the kobaya?"

"I asked about his past relationship and accidentally triggered some really BAD memories."

"Oh, really? Tell me! Tell me!"

"No, I won't spill Alex's privacy without his consent."

"Come on, Lara! I am a qualified keeper of secrets."

"Yea, and you did your job so well that Alex knew all my weird fantasies."

"Don't blame me for being a perfect wingman."

"Perfect wingman?! I got mass hickeys everyday simply because of your foolish whistleblowing-"

Lara was untimely interrupted as the entire marching formation suddenly halted. Everyone looked at each other in confusion but stood firm and held their weapons tight, ready for any unforeseen circumstances. Nobody dared to make a sound and the suffocating silent tension ironically allowed Squad Segundo crystal clear audibility of the surrounding environment:

"Da-Dum-Da-Dum-Da-Dum-Da-Dum-Da-Dum-Da-Dum…"

Distinctive low bass of taiko echoed vaguely from afar continuously, indicating that Solarii Fortress was nearby. After a few minutes of emergent tactical cogitation between the commanding Alex and Padre Sebastião, Squad Segundo stealthy moved towards the sound source. They eventually reached a hillock that provided a safe and elevated observation spot over the Solarii Fortress. It was a huge stronghold based on a Kamakura era city a few centuries ago. The structure was huge in size and well protected by its tall ancient walls and field of stakes.

Shockingly, the taiko sounds were not from the Solarii Fortress but… the besieging Stormguards outside. The undead samurai retainer-army had already surrounded the entire architecture complex with trenches. They relentlessly deforested the land to obtain logs for building siege ladders and mangonels. A prolonged siege was underway.

Since all the Solarii Cultists were pinned in their fortress and most Stormguards were preoccupied by the siege, it implied that the Chasm Stronghold-Shrine-Ziggurat complex was less defended due to resources dispersion. This was a perfect diversionary opportunity. Padre Sebastião thus suggested Alex to immediately sail upstream, stealthily infiltrate the Chasm Stronghold-Shrine-Ziggurat complex and destroy Himiko once and for all. Alex agreed but insisted on scouting around Solarii Fortress a bit further before leaving. It was crucial for the expedition to learn more about these satanic Stormguards before infiltrating their home base. It was better to be cautious and steady in an uncharted hostile territory.

Squad Segundo then stealthily approached the Stormguard siege camp by hiding in the bushes. They carefully avoided enemy patrols and observed the cursed undead as close as possible. Stormguards were armoured with outdated Kamakura period Ō-yoroi; equipped with a mix of naginata, tachi, daikyū and uncharacteristic large round shields. While most fought as elite infantry, some were deployed as mounted cavalrymen and sorcerers. The most eye-catching was a 4m tall Stormguard giant with a huge kanabō. He seemed to be the commander as his looming aura was absolute and he constantly barked orders around. Padre Sebastião also roughly estimated that there were 350 besieging Stormguards. If the number given by the previously executed Solarii Cultists were correct, there would currently be only 50 Stormguards left guarding the Chasm Stronghold-Shrine-Ziggurat complex.

As Squad Segundo was returning to São Brandão de Ardfert e Clonfert according to the original route, Stormguard patrols became a lot more frequent and larger in size. It forced the long 16-men staggered column formation to break up into shattered pieces and change coordinations multiple times in order to evade enemy patrol parties, causing extremely confused sense of orientation. Eventually, Lara and Samantha found themselves completely lost and alone in the bushes with no other squadmates in sight apart from each other.

"Em… Lara… I'm afraid I've got some bad news...", Samantha nervously whispered.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"Yes… we just got left behind. What now?"

Lara took a deep breath to calm herself down, "These damn bushes disorientated our sense of direction. We should find a high ground to figure out our current position first."

"Alright, let's do this."

The duo eventually travelled through the thick bushes and reached a small hill with clear visibility of surrounding environmental geography. Their current position was awkwardly on the complete opposite side of the original route and was only a few hundred metres away from the Solarii Fortress. The bushes were now filled with Stormguard patrols which made backtracking impossible. The duo thus had to find an alternate way to regroup. Luckily, Lara discovered a small descending cliff trail to the river below. They could return to São Brandão de Ardfert e Clonfert safely by following the streamflow.

The duo descended on the trail and swiftly encountered a waterfall. The rocky path was very narrow and wet. They walked steadily until both accidentally stepped on drenched pebbles and slipped, fall-sliding down a slope into a massive rock shelter underneath.

"Arrgh!", Lara screamed in horror.

"Wooooo! Ow!", Samantha yelled in excitement.

The reaction may be different but the fall-sliding impact on the rock solid ground was equally hard and painful. The duo quickly helped each other up and checked for any potential wounds. Luckily, there were no broken bones except some bruises.

"Damn… My back…", Lara said as she observed her surroundings. The huge cave directly resembled the Scavenger's Cove that they purged a month ago. It was filled with lit candles with satanic writings all over the walls. Crude wooden and stone structures were decorated with piles of human bones. Sunlight penetrated the waterfall to shine over a huge ritualistic stake in the middle of the cave. Lara worryingly continued, "Tell me… tell me we aren't where I think we are…"

"Hate to tell you… I think we are inside some underground satanic shrine of Solarii Fortress. So yea… we are screwed."

Suddenly, the duo heard footsteps coming from a far hallway and immediately went hiding behind a huge rock. They carefully peeked and saw a hooded pagan shaman, presumably Mathias. He led a huge group of muli-ethnic cultists into the cave. Among them was a young Japanese teenage girl dressed as Shintō miko. She was then tied to the huge ritualistic stake with piles of flammable dry branches surrounding her.

"Fuck! They are gonna burn that poor girl alive!", Lara whispered in righteous fury and was ready to unleash her dual wheellock pistol.

"Wait! Don't do anything stupid!", Samantha whispered as she pulled Lara back by the shoulder.

"What?! We can't just let her die!"

"I want to agree but does she look like a person who wants to be saved?", Samantha explained and pointed at the teenage girl. She somehow looked very happy for the grim fate waiting for her. The onna-musha continued, "I know this is hard to accept but that poor girl was so brainwashed that she thinks being sacrificed by burning alive is an honour. Some people are just beyond save."

Lara calmed down and sighed in frustration. Her sister-in-arms was right. There was nothing they could do. As the satanic cave shrine was fully filled with cultists, Mathias gave his blasphemous speech in English. Since Samantha could understand none of it, Lara simultaneously interpreted it into Ecclesiastical Latin for her, "My brothers, listen to me now. Out in the world, we were nothing. But here… here, we are the Solarii, the Sun Queen's children. She bought us her for a reason. I know you want your freedom. I know you want to escape this place. But to do so, we must release our Queen. Like us, she is a prisoner. If we can free her, we free ourselves! This girl… she carries the blood of this land. She could be the key. The Ritual of Flames will show us the truth! Himiko, you are the first and the last… Speak to us now!"

With that said, his assistant threw a lit torch into the flammable dry branches and quickly ignited the ritualistic stake. The wicked Himiko of course did not answer and the poor girl was slowly burned to death. The horrific scream of agony and disgusting smell of roasted human flesh filled the entire cave. The sacrificial ritual failed miserably. Mathias did not bother to give a face-saving speech and just left the cave in silent frustration. The cultist crowd somehow still had faith in him and all quickly returned to their original post like nothing happened, while the corpse of the poor teenage girl was still burning.

"Seriously? Calling yourselves Himiko's children while her soldiers are slaughtering your men like pigs. That's some of the most ridiculous bullshite that I have ever heard.", Samantha couldn't help but laugh out loud.

"Least delusional satanist. What do you expect from their copium?", Lara chuckled and continued, "Anyway, we need to get outta here now. Our kobaya won't wait for us forever."

Author's Note

- "Hoi" is the Dutch and Swiss German variant of "ahoy".