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By Brian Yoon
Edited by Fred Wan
Not long ago
He approached the center of the circle inscribed onto the floor of the building with purpose. The markings were hardly necessary for the task at hand, yet Daigotsu Gahseng felt relief at the sense of familiarity within the ceremony. The painstaking effort and concentration required to call upon the connection at the back of his mind was immense and every little bit of ceremony helped him focus his being. He sat cross legged, closed his eyes and began to drift away from the world to a vast black emptiness. It crawled across his skin like a living thing; it was a familiar sensation, but never quite pleasant. Within moments, he was no longer in a dingy rented room in the City of Lies. In his mind he was back in the grand halls of the Fingers of Bone, surrounded by the trappings of his people.
The mental projection of Gahseng knelt and bowed his head, waiting for the thunderous voice to echo through his mind. There was no sign that the ritual had even succeeded, yet he waited patiently for his opportunity. He knew his voice would be heard when it was time. He did not understand how the connection worked, only that it was facilitated by some sort of khadi magic, but he knew enough to fulfill his mission.
Thirty minutes of complete concentration passed before a familiar presence filled his mind.
“My lord,” Gahseng thought, and he unconsciously murmured the words aloud. His partners retreated to the other room, for they knew they were not privy to the conversation at hand.
“What have you uncovered, Gahseng?” Daigotsu asked without preamble.
“As per your orders, my lord, we followed the problem to its source. As you are well aware, the plague zombies have odd characteristics that even the cherished Chuda have yet to decipher, and they do not seem to respond the same way that one would expect from the undead with which we are familiar. Instead, they seem to draw their power from some other power.”
Gahseng paused to await a response from his lord. When none came, he hurriedly pressed forward. “Your suspicions were correct, Daigotsu-sama. The plague zombies seemed mindless at first glance, but we have uncovered the foul mastermind behind the creatures’ movements. He is here, in the heart of Ryoko Owari.”
“What sort of creature can create zombies that cannot be bound to the will of my necromancers?” Daigotsu asked.
“It is the Ghul Lord, Daigotsu-sama,” Gahseng answered. He rushed to finish his report before the import of his words could fully sink in. “He is here in the city now, aided by the Ebon Daughter herself. We have spotted them both, and their involvement is unmistakable.”
“The Ghul Lord?” Daigotsu echoed. “Are you sure?”
Gahseng hung his head. “Yes, my lord. We have followed the pair to a building in the heart of the Leatherworker’s Quarter. We have not been able to gain access as of yet.”
“The Ghul Lord offered his assurances of friendship in return for our mercy, yet he has proven himself an enemy of the Spider,” Daigotsu said quietly. “How dare he lie to me? How dare he stand against me?”
“I am ready to do your bidding, Daigotsu-sama,” Gahseng said. “Allow me to act as your avatar of vengeance upon those who rouse your anger.”
The connection fell silent for one long moment, and Gahseng wondered if he had overstepped his boundaries. Then he felt the fullness of his lord’s attention turned to him, and felt the enormity of his anger as it coursed across the blackness through the ritual that the Dark Lord’s power maintained. A trickle of blood ran from Gahseng’s nostril. “Are you warrior enough to deal with such a threat on your own? I would not have the beast flee into the Empire and escape my wrath.”
“There are others, my lord,” Gahseng said with a frown. “Samurai of the Great Clans. They will be arriving soon. I have a plan to recruit them to assist in the endeavor. They will be the bait, but the blade shall be mine, enacting your will.”
“Who are these others?” Daigotsu demanded.
“I I do not know,” Gahseng admitted. “I experienced a a vision. It was a blessing from Fu Leng, I believe. He has shown me the path.”
“Really,” Daigotsu mused, and for a moment his wrath seemed abated somewhat. “Intriguing.”
“What is your wish, my lord?”
“Kill the traitor,” Daigotsu ordered, his voice seething, his anger restored. “Show him the consequences of betrayal.”
The force of his master’s will knocked Gahseng unconscious for hours.
* * * * *
Now
They stood on the side of the street, watching as carts and workers passed by. The group made quite a sight. Samurai were not often seen within the heart of the Leatherworker’s Quarter, and fewer still seemed to be there with nothing to do but stand idly by.
“A frontal assault? You must be insane,” Kakita Hideo spat. Yoritomo Saburo glared at the Crane, but the duelist did not seem to heed the warning.
“Not mad, just determined,” Gahseng corrected. “Are you so unsure of your skills that you would sneak in some undefended side entrance like a thief?”
“You have convinced us that this building houses a threat that could tear Rokugan apart,” Mirumoto Ichizo said. He gestured to the nondescript wooden building across the street from their current position. “Such a threat should be taken seriously, and we will do no good with a frontal assault on a superior foe.”
“I am not accustomed to planning an attack on a merchant building in the heart of a city,” Akodo Shunori said quietly, “but I see few entrances. Perhaps we will have no choice.”
“I must agree with the ronin,” Utaku Kohana said. The Unicorn seemed vaguely uncomfortable with the situation, yet Saburo could not figure out why. “There is no point in delaying the inevitable,” she continued. “The building is small, and any guards that may be waiting for danger will be able to oversee the entire floor with a few steps. Any surprise we could garner would remain our advantage for a very small period.”
“That is exactly my point,” Gahseng said. “The longer we wait, the longer they have to fester and spread their poison among the land. Delay only hurts us without giving us anything in return. We must go now.”
Hideo shook his head. “We have waited an entire day without going off headstrong into the heart of battle. I doubt five minutes is going to make any more of a difference.”
“If you are so afraid of facing creatures of the Shadowlands, perhaps you should stay with the others and protect them from your enemies,” Hiruma Akio said.
Hideo glared at the Crab scout in annoyance, who looked nonplussed by the attention. Saburo noticed that the ronin Gahseng was directing an intense stare at the Hiruma as well.
“What makes you think we are facing Shadowlands creatures?” Gahseng asked.
Akio shrugged. “You say you are not sure what is in there, other than an answer for the plague that has corrupted our lands. What else could it be than the Shadowlands Taint? I do not have much jade on me – the shortage means that every excess piece remains on the front lines to combat the Destroyers – but the tiny amount I have will greatly help us if my suspicions prove correct.”
“When a Crab carries a tetsubo, every problem looks like a nail,” Hideo added with a smirk. “You have few solutions but apply them with great vigor and relish to anything in your path.”
“Enough,” Saburo said. “Gahseng, we shall proceed with your plan. Lead the way.”
Gahseng nodded and strode across the street without a second glance back to see if the rest of the group was following. His companion, the ronin Setsuko, followed one pace behind. Saburo and the rest of his friends were further behind. Saburo knew that there was no way to disguise so many samurai entering one building, but he hoped to avoid detection for a little bit longer. He hoped that they were up to the task.
No one stopped them as they crossed the street and reached the front of the building. Gahseng opened the door and made his way inside, and the rest quickly followed suit. He looked around the large, open courtyard with a suspicious glare. Nothing seemed out of place; even the plants seemed in perfect health.
The sound of rustling drew their eyes to the inner building, and an old, portly man appeared from deep inside. “Samurai-sama,” he said. He dropped to his knees and bowed deeply. “I did not know I would receive any guests today, my lords.”
“We are not guests, just visitors,” Saburo answered. “Tell me, what business runs through these buildings?”
The man looked flustered at even broaching the topic with the samurai. “We cure leather into usable strips, my lords,” he answered. The voice was muffled, as he had yet to raise his head from the floor. “The work is beneath your attention, but it must be done to serve the Celestial Order.”
Saburo could sense the others around him fidgeting in uncomfortable silence. Truth be told, he could not blame them. He felt a bit of it himself, as they were speaking of deeply unclean matters that a samurai should never handle. However, the suspicious portion of his mind made him wonder if their enemies would count on that feeling to act as another layer of secrecy.
“There is nothing else here?” Gahseng continued in the silence. Saburo noted that the two ronin did not seem to be discomforted by their surroundings.
“Nothing but our work, my lord,” the old man said.
“Nothing else?” Saburo echoed. “This is a large building, but the smell doesn’t seem too strong. What else are you doing with the rest of the area?”
“My lord” the man started to say.
Gahseng stepped forward and placed a hand on the hilt of his sword. The blade shone in the thin stream of sunlight from the nearby window for one brief flash and the eta’s head rolled off his shoulders. The ronin calmly shook the blood from his blade and sheathed it once more.
“The liar deserves no sympathy,” Gahseng said. “He is wasting our time and we need to move fast. We can find the cancer and rip it out without that man’s help.”
Saburo frowned but did not say anything. “We’ll move as one group,” he said. “We don’t know what’s waiting in this place, so it would be best if we remain together.”
“That will take more time,” Gahseng growled. “We should split up then rally behind whoever finds the horror first. Setsuko and I can–”
“You asked for our assistance,” Saburo said quickly. “You are free to wander off by yourselves, but the rest of us will stay as one group. You have not told us who would be defending this place, let alone what exactly we are facing, only that you suspect some manner of cult. Do you expect me to charge mindlessly into combat without considering what could happen?”
Gahseng acquiesced and fell into place, with Setsuko behind him. Saburo led the men through the building in a careful pace, as they watched for traps, signs of maho or rituals, or even any other humans. They could find nothing. It seemed that the building was just what the eta had claimed it was – a place to cure hide. They had found many of the buckets of salt and animal skins and nothing that looked suspicious.
Finally, Saburo stopped in place and pointed a finger at Gahseng. “There is nothing here, Gahseng. Where is this threat, this cancer?”
Gahseng did not answer and closed his eyes. Saburo was not sure, but for one fleeting moment it looked to him as if the ronin’s hands glowed a dark black. He blinked, and the after image was gone. None of the others seemed to notice the anomaly, though they were all staring at Gahseng. Saburo shook it off as a trick of the sun.
“We’ll make one more pass of the building,” Gahseng said. “There must be something on the bottom floor that leads to secret passageways underneath. I am sure of it. Follow me.”
The ronin moved quickly, once again without waiting for a response. He led them in a meandering path across the entirety of the building without any success. He did not seem phased at all at the failures and instead kept them moving. Finally, he turned around and addressed them in front of the last room.
“This is the most logical place to hide a secret entrance,” he said. “What samurai in his right mind would want to search through buckets of unclean animal hide to look for something that might not even exist?”
“Your speech is horrible at instilling confidence,” Shunori said.
Gahseng shook his head. “I promise you the door is here. We just need to move twenty buckets to clear the floor.”
“No,” Hideo said flatly. Shunori did not say anything, yet it seemed he agreed with the Kakita.
Setsuko went into the room without hesitation and emerged, a bucket in each hand. Gahseng followed her in for the second trip while the rest of the samurai hesitated. Saburo and Akio followed them in on the third trip, and the rest begrudgingly followed after.
Working in concert, it took the group five minutes to clear the room to reveal a perfectly hidden trap door, leading below to the building’s cellars.
“Perfect,” Gahseng said.
* * * * *
They stepped into the cellar and entered Jigoku.
The sense of alienation was clear from the moment they entered. The air was unnaturally hot. The smell of copper hung in the air, leaving it sticky and uncomfortable within. Every inch of the walls was covered with indecipherable scribbles in a mysterious script. Someone – or something – had smeared a viscous black fluid across some of the walls and boxes. It was not blood and no one was willing to touch it to figure out exactly what it was. Strange iron cauldrons full of pools of blood and rotting intestines littered the cellar. Some of the boxes spilled gaijin statues and cups onto the floor when they were disturbed. Most of the cups seemed to be stained with blood.
They moved slowly through the maze of boxes and cauldrons, senses alert for the dangers they were sure surrounded them. None spoke. The horrors surrounding them were overwhelming, and many privately wondered how they would defeat whatever rested at the heart of the fiendish lair. Still, they continued making their way through the cellar without running across a soul. Saburo raised a finger and gestured when he could hear a low murmuring from below. There was another set of stairs leading further down.
They lowered themselves into the second cellar and discovered a nightmare.
The horrors suggested in the first cellar were stated outright within the second hall. Human corpses hung from the walls. Streams of blood pooled below them, drained from a multitude of wounds. A woman stood in the center of the room, facing away from the stairs with her arms held upright above her. Her long black hair cascaded down her back, but the hair did nothing to cover the countless wounds that crisscrossed her skin. She turned around and faced them.
“So we are discovered,” the woman said. “Ghul Lord, destroy these intruders so that we may return to our duties.”
The shape behind her shifted and rose – and rose and rose. Saburo’s eyes widened as the humanoid thing turned to face them. The creature was giant; its head nearly scraped the cellar’s tall ceiling, and his arms were easily twice as long as his own. Its muscles seemed to flex just under the creature’s sickly yellow skin. Things seemed to crawl under the skin as well, and the flesh seemed to ripple at their wake. He stepped forward between the Rokugani and the woman. The creature was so large Saburo could no longer see any hint of the strange woman behind the creature’s back.
“Gladly,” the creature said in a heavily accented voice, and picked up a maul that looked to be fit for an ogre.
“You are responsible for the plague that devastates the lands,” Gahseng shouted.
“I am,” the Ghul Lord said. A smile crossed its face. “And I have just completed a ritual that will bring this Empire to its knees!”
“You will die before you can spread more of your filth!” Hideo said, his hand firmly on his katana.
“You are unequal to the task,” the Ghul Lord replied. He swung his club with vicious force toward Saburo, and the battle was on.
* * * * *
The woman retreated to the corner of the room. Saburo did not want to allow her to escape, yet his attention was firmly placed upon the Ghul Lord’s menacing frame. When it swung its club, it could reach most of the room. The group scattered to the corners to avoid the strike. Kohana fell back to the tips of her toes and launched herself at the Ghul Lord. Her katana flashed out and struck it directly on its center. A cut blossomed out across its broad chest, the flesh ripping outwards. It struck back, swiping the maul with the force of his entire body behind the blow. It flung Kohana across the room, and she landed against the wall with a sickening thud.
Ichizo approached next with the nimbleness of a butterfly. He danced from left to right as the Ghul Lord swung wide with his strikes. He held both blades in front of him in a defensive position, but he knew that he could not survive more than a single blow from the giant. He weaved left and right but could not enter the creature’s dangerous personal zone.
The Mirumoto held the creature’s attention, and Gahseng seized the opportunity. He held his katana with both hands and leapt through the air. He landed on the creature’s back and impaled it with the full length of his blade. It convulsed, flinging the maul all about him. Surprised by the sudden gesture, Ichizo took the blunt of the blow across his face. The sound of what might be bones breaking echoed through the cellar and the Dragon collapsed. Gahseng struggled to hold on.
The Ghul Lord reached behind him. His long claws dug into Gahseng’s neck and pulled him away from him. The creature lifted the ronin in front of him and dug his other hand deep into Gahseng’s chest. He gasped and spat blood onto the Ghul Lord’s face. It chuckled and dug his grip deeper.
“Now!” Saburo shouted and the rest of the warriors made their attack. Akio struck low, her tetsubo held with a powerful two handed grip. She struck the creature’s knee, buckling him lower to the ground. Saburo slashed down with both kama through the Ghul Lord’s shoulder and severed its arm from its body. Gahseng fell to the ground, leaving the body open to attack. Hideo stepped forward, his face serene. His arm moved quicker than lightning.
The Ghul Lord’s head dropped to the ground.
* * * * *
A shockwave of pure energy exploded out through the room. An earsplitting shriek echoed through the room in its wake and continued to grow louder. Swords dropped to the floor as every samurai in the room grabbed their ears and fell to their knees. Hiruma Akio remained standing with holding her tetsubo with both hands. A small trail of blood trickled down her lip, but her eyes were steady – and fixed on the crumpled body of her opponent.
The noise was only growing louder, yet the initial shockwave was beginning to die down. Ichizo slowly rose to his feet and grabbed his katana. He staggered repeatedly and threatened to go down again, but then Shunori was there to support him.
“Get up, get up, get up!” Akio shouted loudly over the noise. The others looked in her direction and immediately shook away the distractions that vied for their attention. The Ghul Lord’s corpse shivered and twitched as it lay on the floor. The severed limb inched closer to the creature’s torso before their eyes. The Ghul Lord’s eyes suddenly flickered open and focused on the wounded group in front of him.
“Impossible,” Kohana stammered. “The undead are destroyed when their head is severed from the body! Can this thing be killed?” She stood up, holding a hand against her bleeding chest. Her eyes were watery with pain, yet she rose to her feet. She pressed a hand against her bleeding chest, wincing when she made contact with her wound.
“You may be right, Unicorn, but it does not matter. We Crab have only one way to deal with impossibilities.” Akio said. She narrowed her eyes and tightened her grasp on her tetsubo.
The shriek abruptly ended, and the sudden silence felt as shocking as the inhuman wail. The deep voice of the Ghul Lord spoke once more, and in the close confines of the cellar it seemed to engulf them all.
“You are too late, children,” the voice spoke in a stilted tone. “You have only unleashed the greater danger in the heart of your precious empire. My death will bring about a torrent of power that will pervert every creature within the–”
A kama flew through the air and bisected the creature’s head, interrupting the dark thing’s speech. The skull’s eyes closed, the voice faded away, and an instant later the infernal shriek began once more.
“Leave this building now,” Gahseng shouted over the din and gestured to the cellar stairs. “Run! I will hold him off here while you burn this building to the ground!”
“You should leave with us,” Shunori protested. “It is still just a corpse, despite whatever it may say, and we can all reach safety before we destroy this creature.”
“Can’t you listen? We have not stopped the creature, we’ve only delayed it,” Gahseng said. He hesitated for a long moment and continued. “My wounds are too severe I fear that the Ghul Lord’s pestilence may have corrupted my being with his attacks. I I would rather stay here where I can be of some use. Burn the building down without regret and end this thing’s threat against the empire.”
“He’s right,” Saburo said. He nodded to the ronin. “I will always remember your sacrifice, ronin. You have proven your worth this day.” He gestured to the cellar stairs, and the others began to quickly run to the exit. Saburo lifted Ichizo’s nearly unconscious body under his shoulder as Shunori moved to help Kohana. He paused and turned to look at the ronin’s companions, who had not moved with the rest of the group. Setsuko walked closer to the fallen ronin. She leaned over Gahseng, a concerned frown plastered on her face.
“Gahseng-” she started to say.
“Go with them, Setsuko,” he answered. His eyes met her eyes, and they stared at each other. Neither seemed willing to back down. Suddenly, she grabbed Gahseng’s chin with her hand and yanked him into an upright position. She kissed him with ferocity, grinding her lips into his. Saburo looked away as they continued, unwilling to shatter their moment of privacy. Finally, she broke away, an uncertain smile on her face, and ran to the stairs.
“This will not be forgotten, I promise you that,” Saburo said. Gahseng nodded and the Mantis disappeared into the higher floors.
Gahseng waited until Saburo’s footsteps no longer echoed in the wooden planks above him before he made his move. He gritted his teeth and pulled the obsidian blade out of his shoulder with one swift jerk. He grimaced and wiped the blade clean of his own blood. His blood was already beginning to blacken and clot in the open air. He slowly rose to his feet and stumbled over to the Ghul Lord’s fallen form. His gait improved with each step as the power of the Shadowlands coursed through his body.
“It is fortunate that my new allies are not so perceptive,” Gahseng said to the corpse. “The sight of my blood could have caused uproar among those moralistic fools, and that might have given you a chance to escape your fate.”
He swung the obsidian blade in the air in a loose arc around him as if he were tracing a painting around him. The body of the Ghul Lord had begun to reform. Tendrils of muscle and black, viscous fluid had reached out through the space between the severed limbs, slowly mending the cut. The neck completely healed itself and the mending flesh had ejected the kama from its forehead. It was only a matter of time before the Ghul Lord regained consciousness. Gahseng knelt on one knee beside the Ghul Lord’s corpse. Time was short, but he waited patiently for the Ghul Lord to open its eyes.
The creature’s eyes flew open with the same abruptness as before. Gahseng smiled. The Ghul Lord immediately began to stand up, but Gahseng was ready. With one swift gesture he twirled the obsidian sword in his hand so that it was angled downward and slammed it into the creature’s chest with all his might. It screamed once more.
“Do you see this, fiend?” Gahseng asked. He pulled a jewel encrusted gaijin dagger from his kimono and brandished it in front of his victim’s face. “Daigotsu-sama sacrificed much to ensure this would arrive in time for me to destroy you for good. I hear it is made to rot every inch of your flesh, rendering it impossible to recover. Death is a mercy for you,” Gahseng continued. “For betraying my master, you deserve much worse. Perhaps I should leave you for the Scorpion, but why deny myself the pleasure of your death?”
The Ghul Lord was not yet finished with his taunting, despite his situation. “Your master is an ancient relic! He will be crushed beneath our heel, along with the rest of your pitiful race.”
“You can try!” Gahseng roared. He smashed the dagger into the Ghul Lord’s forehead. He pulled his hand back and repeated the motion. He stabbed with reckless abandon, splattering blood, brains, and pieces of bone all around him.
Gahseng did not know how much time had passed before he came to again. The zombie creator’s former head was nothing but a red pulp. It did not look to be regenerating. Breathing heavily, Gahseng nodded and began to look around the room.
Somewhere, the Ebon Daughter had escaped, and he had little time to try and find her trail before she would be gone forever.
* * * * *
Saburo pulled himself up to the ground floor and walked out the front door and was greeted by the sight of seven armed Scorpion brandishing their weapons. His companions stood to the side of the street, looking uncomfortable and wounded as they were guarded by the Scorpion troops. The man standing closest to the building – a magistrate with a skull face mask – gestured him closer.
“Surrender yourself quietly and you will not be harmed,” the man said in an even tone.
Saburo frowned. “For what reason would you detain me, magistrate?”
“Who are you, and what are you doing in my city?” the man continued.
“We have uncovered a great evil within that building,” Saburo said. “We must take immediate action! We have not destroyed it, only stalled it from unleashing its fiendish plan. You must step in where we could not continue!”
The magistrate frowned. “As an arbiter, I face liars every day,” he said. “You, on the other hand, are not lying. I wonder if your wild tales have some merit in them, or if you have lost your mind so completely that you believe your own fantasies.”
“Shall I send men into the building to inspect their claims, Sihaken-sama?” his assistant asked.
“No!” Saburo interjected quickly. “The beast is still alive, and it is likely that it will devour the souls of anyone who steps within the threshold of its lair. You do not have to believe my claims, but you should not throw the lives of your men away to spite me!” The Mantis took one small step forward the magistrate without any regard for the sharp movements of the Scorpion guards around him. “Trust me, Sihaken-sama, you must not underestimate the danger of this building. The lives of everyone in the Empire are at stake.”
Sihaken turned his head and took in the numerous blows and wounds the group had taken in combat. He came to a quick decision. “An assault on the spirit can never be handled lightly. Yoshihara, call the firemen, seal off the entrances to this quarter and contact the Soshi. We will make sure that this creature never sees its evil plans in fruition.”
The guards seemed to have been waiting for the order as they pulled torches from a nearby stash. They approached the building with caution and slowly began their work. Controlling a fire within the city was normally considered an impossible task, yet the Scorpion seemed to hold no hesitation in starting blazes within their own city.
Soon, the Ghul Lord’s lair was burning to its foundations. Saburo watched the death of the building, his eyes fixed on the sight even as he was escorted away from the area. The Leatherworker’s Quarter became an inferno under the watchful eye of the Scorpion. The flames danced and raged as it razed everything in its path. The smell of burnt flesh filled the air quickly, overcoming even the cloying stench of the Leatherworker’s Quarter.
The sight of the burning city could be seen for miles, a vibrant reminder of the dangers that still lurked within the heart of the Empire.
