Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
After that ominous warning, there was an eerie silence, followed by a pounding in Ryuichi’s chest. He was about to head toward the main fortress and speak with Lord Hayasaka, when suddenly Masaru grabbed him and tackled him to the ground.
“Hey!”
Masaru snarled at him. “Head down!”
Ryuichi had no idea what was going on until he saw the two-ton boulder flying overhead.
It struck the top of the castle with a deafening boom. A huge cloud of dust and smoke bloomed where the impact occurred. When it cleared, Ryuichi could see that part of the building had collapsed.
“It’s Orochi’s army!” In total contradiction of what he’d just done, Masaru pulled Ryuichi to his feet and shoved him forward. “We need to take cover.”
More boulders pummeled the fortress, as did blasts of raging fire.
It was as if the entire sky was exploding.
Ryuichi, Koichi, and the others left the vulnerable courtyard to seek some kind of shelter, but there was nowhere to run.
Still, they all sprinted away from the fortress as more of it crumbled.
Ryuichi feared Hayasaka and Katsu had perished in the initial onslaught. But another blast scattered the heavy debris to show Hayasaka shot toward the sky with his wings expanded in all their glory. He joined a formation of tengu who had just launched an arial attack on Orochi’s army.
Ryuichi was surprised by Hayasaka’s bravery. That wasn’t the nervous bureaucrat who’d screamed at Katsu about teacups.
“Archers, in position!” Hayasaka shouted as he swept low over the ground, where Ryuichi and his friends were still looking for refuge.
None of them were armed, and all of them were targets waiting to be struck.
Hayasaka’s archers assembled immediately. Their bows were made of pure gold. Their arrows were as sharp as knives and radiant with blistering heat.
Orochi’s yōkai seemed to be advancing from every direction. Still, Ryuichi couldn’t see any of the dragon’s soldiers. It was like they were hiding under some kind of invisibility cloak.
But probably not for long.
“Let’s get in this fight!” Ryuichi-kage yelled to no one in particular.
“With what? We don’t have any weapons!” Koichi shouted back.
“Ugh! Do I have to do everything?” Masaru said, sighing loudly and dramatically. He made a circle with his hands and closed his eyes. In the blink of an eye, Ryuichi and his friends were all magically outfitted with swords and shields.
“Show-off,” Haruki said under her breath.
Katsu and dozens of samurai tengu officers magically appeared above them, scattering through the air and then nose-diving toward the remnants of the fortress. Once they landed, Katsu immediately set about rousting troops and directing soldiers to their posts.
Ryuichi and the others clamored in their direction, watching with amazement as Katsu forged a floating map made of fire in the air above them. It somehow showed their enemy’s positions as they advanced, and where Hayasaka’s men were pushing back.
“That is one beast of a battle map,” Masaru said as he summoned his black-leather armor that looked more like a shinobi than samurai. Yet Ryuichi knew from experience it could repel any weapon—man- or yōkai-made.
Quite an asset in a dangerous situation like this.
Hayasaka flew down from the remnants of the burning castle and skidded to a stop in front of Ryuichi and his friends, who hadn’t left his side despite the chaos unfolding around them.
“I need you to defend the gate!” he commanded all of them.
Koichi shook his head. “We’re here to protect the kid.”
“Defending the gate takes precedence,” Hayasaka argued.
“The Ryukage gave me one bloody task before disappearing. If I’m going to die, I’m going to die doing the one thing I was assigned to do: Guard. That. Gate.”
Ryuichi had to admit—the old tengu was much more loyal than he had given him credit for.
It said a lot that he didn’t leave Ryuichi and his friends alone to face their enemies.
Katsu, beaming with pride that his master was finally showing his worth, leaned in and whispered to Ryuichi, “Lord Hayasaka is one of the best. There is nothing he can’t do when he puts his mind to it.”
That was well and good, but Ryuichi wanted to see what was coming for them. Without waiting for the others, he ran up the stairs of the badly damaged and cracked northern wall. There he would have a clear view of the gate.
As soon as he reached the top, he wished he hadn’t. No wonder Katsu had been so brutal during training. Orochi’s motley yōkai soldiers went on for what seemed like miles. Never in his life had he beheld a sight like this.
Giants, oni, dragons, all of them fiercely battling each other.
But where was Orochi? For a vicious, fearless demon, he certainly was letting his army take the brunt of this fight.
As thoughts ran through Ryuichi’s mind about how they would repel this gruesome assault, he was suddenly teleported from the wall back to the courtyard where he and Katsu trained. Masaru had brought him safely there along with others, the barrage of firepower now focused only on the main fortress.
Just as Ryuichi appeared on the scene, a messenger did the same. So close that they were lucky they hadn’t collided on the spot.
The messenger bowed to Hayasaka. “My lord, they’ll be through our final line of defenses soon.”
Lord Hayasaka grabbed his sword. “Then I’ll go meet them.”
Katsu shook his head. “There’s too many of them. For all our sakes, we should issue a retreat while we can.”
“Let them come and feast on your blood!” Haruki was jubilant.
No one could argue that the threat of their imminent deaths excited her.
Another blast of fire from a dragon yōkai managed to hit the base of the castle, causing a great, terrible crash to roar out. The castle was nothing more than a pile of rubble.
“Come, youngling!” Katsu grabbed him by the arm and led him away from the fray. The others followed close behind.
Arrows, fire, and blinding light exploded around them, making it hard to tell who was winning.
Although Ryuichi was rather sure it wasn’t their side.
Lord Hayasaka puffed out his chest as he saw the melee closing in on them. “Follow me! I have a plan!”
Masaru glared at him. “You said that before, and it didn’t accomplish much.”
He led Ryuichi and his friends toward the gatehouse.
While Ryuichi admired the tengu’s confidence, he wasn’t quite as sure about this tactical move. What was he intending to do?
“Come with me, boy”—Hayasaka quickened his steps—“and I’ll show you how a real mastermind deals with imminent disaster.”
Koichi rushed toward them. “My advice is to run.”
“Just wait. Do nothing!” With no further warning, Lord Hayasaka immediately turned into a gigantic crow and flew off toward the enemy camp.
Ryuichi’s eyes widened. “Did he just abandon us? It looks like he just abandoned us.”
Koichi rubbed his neck. “Maybe I shouldn’t have told him to run.”
“Lord Hayasaka never runs,” Katsu said sternly. Then he looked a bit worried. “I’m sure this is all part of his plan.”
* * *
Hayasaka looked back over his shoulder, hoping none of his own men feared he was turning on them. The last thing he needed was for a flock of angry tengu to come after him because they thought he was betraying them.
Though, to be honest . . .
He was never honest.
That was what war often required. Dishonesty and trickery. It was why creatures such as he did so well at war. Why they were sought out and put in command.
And there was only one way he could think of to save his hide and that of those who served him.
Hayasaka dodged a fireball hurtling toward him and flew past a large-horned blue oni, who tried to swat him down. There were more in his path, but he swerved past them all.
And there below was what Hayasaka sought.
A snake-headed officer, dressed in red armor, was in the middle of it all, swinging his sword as if he were a tengu.
Tanaka Ishida.
As soon as Hayasaka made eye contact, Tanaka froze in battle, staring him down with a look that could kill.
Wary of Tanaka’s treachery, Hayasaka blew fireballs at everyone around the demon until the field was cleared enough for him to land. But that was easier said than done, given the number of enemies who fired back.
It was a terrifying game of duck and weave that left many of his feathers scorched.
Luckily, it also left him alive.
Growling, he magically formed a protective barrier around himself that wouldn’t last for more than a few minutes. He swooped in and landed in front of Tanaka, who immediately launched fire and daggers at him. They hit the barrier and bounced away.
As soon as he was on the ground, Tanaka rushed him with a sword, only to hit the barrier with full force and fall flat on his behind.
“Well, that was embarrassing,” Hayasaka said, snickering.
He might as well get his laughs in before he died.
Meanwhile, Tanaka eyed him suspiciously. “Hayasaka Saburo. I knew I smelled something foul.” Even though he couldn’t get close enough to kill him, he still angled his flaming sword at Hayasaka’s throat. “Do you really think your meager shield can protect you from me?”
“Long enough to bargain.”
“Bargain? We have you surrounded. Your forces are dead or dying, and soon so will you. I don’t believe you have very much to offer at this point.”
Hayasaka tsked at him. “Ah, my fork-tongued friend, that is where you are wrong.” He tossed the mon from Ryuichi’s armor toward the old beast. “I have the Ryukage’s son.”
Tanaka chuckled. “Why do you think we’re here, you stupid bird? Soon he will be ours.”
Hayasaka swallowed hard. He hadn’t counted on this. His messenger said Orochi wanted to exploit the weakness of the gate. He had no idea that the dragon demon and his minions knew Ryuichi was here too.
His plan was to negotiate. To use Ryukage’s son as leverage and end this battle before all was lost.
Now it appeared the only thing left to do was submit to death at this ugly snake’s hands.
“Once we have Ryuichi, the realms will bow to Orochi!” Tanaka sneered.
With that, he blasted the invisible wall around Hayasaka and landed a vicious blow that sent the old tengu flying.
Hayasaka cursed in pain, but he wouldn’t surrender to this pathetic yōkai’s blade.
At least not yet.
As Tanaka’s archers began firing on him, the tengu leaped up and spread his wings, flying while twisting to avoid being hit. He soared toward his castle but could not outrun the arrow that pierced his shoulder.
I’m finished, he thought as he tried to teleport himself to the fortress.
He had enough of his powers left to make it back alive.
But so many others weren’t as lucky.
And their blood was pooled everywhere.