The Return of the Dark Fire

The Return of the Dark Fire
The Dark Oracle of Fire continues his all-consuming quest to locate and acquire the Dark Covenant of Fire, the artifact that prevents his entering the Emerald Empire.

By Rusty Priske

Edited by Fred Wan

Mirumoto Ichizo and Kasuga Keiko rode hard, through day and night. Keiko had insisted on accompanying Ichizo, claiming that the honor of the Tortoise Clan demanded it, as they were the ones who should have protected Sunset Tower from agents of the Dark Oracle.

They had sent word the moment they crossed into the lands of the Dragon – to both Mirumoto Kei and to every outpost they could reach within their lands. Ichizo hoped that they could somehow intercept the Dark Covenant before it left Rokugan. It may have been a foolish hope, but the thought of it falling into the hands of Chosai was too much to bear.

“So this thing that we guarded is a weapon? Something with which he could threaten?” Keiko had asked Ichizo as they rode.

“A weapon? Not a traditional one. It is much more dangerous that that.”

“How so?”

Ichizo never even glanced at Keiko as he pushed his mount. He was not a natural rider, and his training was not extensive in the area, but he appreciated the speed the mount granted. “The Dark Covenant of Fire is the only thing that the Dark Oracle truly fears. It gives the wielder dominion over him. It is through the power of the Dark Covenant that the previous Dark Oracle was defeated and how Isawa Nakamuro banished Chosai from Rokugan.”

Keiko’s eyes widened. “Power over the Dark Oracle? Why was it hidden away? Why didn’t the Dragon use it to take the battle to Chosai and defeat him utterly?”

“If only it were that easy. First, the Dark Covenant obeys rules older than ours and it behaves in ways that are not comprehensible to our minds. Did you ever hear the story of how it came to Sunset Tower in the first place?”

“I have not.”

“That is because there is no story. Nobody knows how it came to be there. It vanished from the keeping of the Phoenix only to reappear in the Tower, with no sign that it had be borne there by mortal hands.”

“But you had it in your keeping. Why not use it?”

Ichizo frowned. “To what end? Chosai is contained. His attacks or nothing compared to what he could do if he were allowed across the border. If we had killed him the mantle would have passed to another, who would not be so restrained. Now, though” he trailed off.

“What has changed?”

“I have heard that the Phoenix believe that the shift in the Celestial Heavens, combined with the inactivity of the Oracles themselves, means that killing a Dark Oracle will not necessarily prompt the creation of a replacement.However, we Dragon see no benefit from acting on a theory.”

Keiko was silent for a moment. “I still do not understand the danger. If the Dark Covenant can control the Dark Oracle, I can see why he would want it destroyed, but if you weren’t going to use it regardless, why does it matter that it is gone?”

The Dragon samurai shook his head. “He could never destroy it. Even the Wrath of the Kami could not render it so but still he wants it. Yes, it can control him; or rather it can order him. What was done can be undone only by a truly equal power.”

Keiko pondered for a moment and then said, “It can free him.”

Ichizo looked straight ahead without nodding and said, “His banishment will end.”

* * * * *

Tamori Futaba stood on a rocky outcropping, arms outstretched in front of her. Her eyes were closed and her face was passive to the point of being blank. Her awareness of the air around her was minimal, but only because it was required elsewhere. The earth kami through the rock were her eyes. They spoke directly to her mind, using a language of symbols and images.

Earth spirits were usually sedate and exacting to the point of sluggishness, but now Futaba was communing to kami that had recently flowed like water, enveloping and consuming like fire. They were slowing again and returning to their place of waiting, but not before they answered the Dragon shugenja’s call.

Futaba opened her eyes and pointed to a spot on the broken mountain face. “There,” she said simply.

Tamori Akana nodded and with a quick wave of his hand he grabbed the attention of those further down the rock. A couple of further motions and his message was received as intended.

Tamori Sugi pressed his palms together as he called on the earth kami for their aid. He concentrated, lending his strength to the kami and in exchange accepting their strength from them. He focused on the spot indicated by Futaba and slowly pulled his hands apart, as if some invisible, incredibly powerful force held them together.

Almost instantly cracks appeared in the rock. It was slow at first, like the spider web cracks that appear in ice that is just too thin for the weight upon it. Then, all at once, the rock burst outwards with the force of a small explosion, leaving a rift in the stone big enough to hold ten men.

Sugi signaled back up the mountainside and Akana to Futaba. “This will take some time. The force unleashed by Shimura-sama was great and very difficult to undo.”

Futaba nodded. “The power beneath the mountain is immense. It is to Shimura’s credit that he was able to replace the stopper once he had uncorked the mountain. The destruction of Shiro Tamori could have been a hundred-fold, laying waste to all of the Tamori provinces, or possibly more.”

“Our only concern now,” Akana said, “is to find what is left of Shiro Tamori for us to salvage.”

* * * * *

“I have great faith in the scouts here, gunso, but no efforts can be spared. We are not watching for Chosai’s legions now, but the Dark Oracle himself. Any warning for us is like jade for a Kuni. It may mean the difference between life and death, not for just us but possibly the entire clan or even Rokugan itself. Do you understand?”

The soldier bowed. “Understood, Ichizo-sama. Our vigilance is unparalleled.”

Ichizo nodded. “I cannot remain so this duty is yours and yours alone. I must get to the next tower. We can not be sure where his attack will come from.”

The gunso bowed again and Ichizo turned away, leaving the outpost to see if his new mount was ready. These mountains were not easy for ponies, but as long as they changed beasts at every tower they would continue to serve.

Kasuga Keiko fell in beside him. “How many more towers are there?”

“Two. The samurai stationed in them are brave and reliable, but the structures were sorely tested, damaged and some of them destroyed when the Army of Dark Fire last came through. This is grave weight I am placing on them, but we have no choice. They will either be up to the task or they will not. We have no alternative.”

Keiko said nothing further until they had reached the small stable where their fresh horses were being readied. “Chosai’s army was very costly for the Dragon.”

“The War of Dark Fire cost us much. Yet we persevered and repelled them. The threat is never gone, but the samurai of the Dragon will not easily be defeated.”

“Did the Dark Oracle always utilize the Yobanjin?”

Ichizo shook his head. “No. It was only when he was unable to set foot in Rokugan that Chosai brought them under his thumb. A Dark Oracle has no use for an army, normally. His powers would dwarf one anyway. Without one he could” Ichizo trailed off.

Keiko, realizing the magnitude of the Dragon’s words, said nothing.

Ichizo stood in silence a moment before saying, “We are wasting our time here.”

Keiko shook her head. “No. In the minor clans we know something about distraction and misdirection. His army will still attack and you will still need to defend against it.”

Ichizo scanned the mountains. “But Chosai will be somewhere else.”

* * * * *

Tamori Sugi mopped at the sweat pouring off his forehead. The section of rock, scooped out by the force of the earth kami he entreated, he turned into a gulley, fifty feet long. The strain was great, but he took breaks after each exertion, in order to maintain his strength and the near-infinite patience of the earth kami.

Futaba and Akana continued to entreat the kami in their own way – probing to find what was hidden beneath the rock. They needed to uncover access to the ruin of Shiro Tamori, while watching for unstable areas or spots where the lava had bubbled up from the volcano beneath the mountain.

“That seems like a difficult task.”

All three shugenja were startled by the voice, seemingly coming from the air around them, with no source apparent. They each called on the kami, to ensure they were ready for any eventuality.

“It is,” said Futaba, “but we always have time for a stranger lost in these mountains. Come out from there and we will help find your way for you.”

“Oh, I know where I am.” The voice did not boom or float on the wind. To each of them it sounded like the speaker was right next to them. The only other noticeable effect was a slight raise in the temperature around them. “I lived here once, though it has been many years now.”

“Then come out so we can welcome you properly.”

The voice laughed. “I know what sort of welcome I would receive. Still, I have been impolite.”

All six eyes were drawn to a point above them on the mountainside where the air grew hazy, like great heat was coming off the rock. The figure that appeared, whether they had seen him previously or not, was immediately obvious.

Akana was the first to say it, “Chosai.”

“Once.”

A wave broke from the stone to the right of Chosai and bore down on him like an avalanche. The Dark Oracle sneered and the stone melted into a wave of lava which settled harmlessly around him. He then looked towards Tamori Sugi, but made no motion towards him. “That was a mistake,” he said.

Sugi stood motionless for a moment until his face started to contort and smoke started seeping out of the top of his collar. With a flash he erupted in a flame, glaringly bright as he was consumed in a gout of white fire, leaving only ashes behind.

“Now,” said Chosai, “I hope neither of you are brash and stupid enough to believe that you can defeat a Dark Oracle with the little magic your possess.” He paused but when neither shugenja made any indication they would speak or attack he continued. “Good. Now, I saw what happened when my army reached Shiro Tamori. It seems you would rather have it destroyed than fall into the hands of your enemies. I understand that thought. In fact that is the exact thing I have thought the entire time I was restricted to that northern wasteland. My enemies were occupying my home. That is unacceptable.”

Akana said, “Shiro Tamori has been destroyed. Nobody can occupy it now.”

Chosai smiled. “Yes, but my home was not merely that structure. It was the mountains and lands of the Tamori – the lands of the Dragon. It is there that my enemies still walk, arrogant in their belief that I cannot reach them. I have come to remind you that the Dark Oracle of Fire does not forget and does not forgive. These lands are mine – your lives are mine, to do with what I wish.”

Akana and Futaba felt it before they saw anything. The ground beneath them shuddered deeply. It was a sustained movement that seemed to encompass the whole world around them until the side of the mountain itself erupted in fire and stone.

“The volcano!” Futaba yelled. “He has released the volcano!

Akana tried gathering the kami through the chaos. “We have to stop it! It could destroy all our lands!”

Chosai merely watched as the two shugenja attempted to create a barrier against the lava while dropping boulders into the source, trying to quell its flow.

Akana yelled, “The fire it will not die!”

Chosai laughed as the ground beneath the two shugenja tore open, exposing the burning morass below.