Sou reached the gates before Ayane was even half way up the hill. How his horse could carry so much weight so fast she would never know. Toshio followed not far behind his lord, his men hot on his heels. As usual Riko was nowhere to be seen. Screaming inside the castle walls let Ayane know the fighting had already begun. If you could even call it fighting, she supposed. It was more likely to be a massacre.

Kazu was standing by the gate as she reached the top of the hill. He was covered head to toe in mud and blood. He looked horrific, but he smiled and winked when he saw her. Unsure of what to say, Ayane simply bowed her head at him and entered the castle grounds. She spotted Sou up ahead, heading straight for the lord’s residence. Toshio and his men had taken a detour left, riding for the samurai’s residence. Men were rushing them with nothing but swords in hand, rudely awoken from their slumber by the invasion of the enemy. They had no time to get dressed and they fell, one after the other, to the swords of the Yashiro.

Ayane dismounted her horse. Despite all her riding lessons she felt most comfortable with her two feet flat on the ground. She spotted Riko in the distance, ordering men in different directions to cover any possible surprise attacks on their lord before she was gone again. Sou moved through men like a god amongst ants. Several men in their sleeping clothes attempted to hold him back, only to be batted away like insects. One soldier, who had managed to get the top half of his armour on, ran straight for Sou with a loud scream, his legs as bare as the day he was born. His sword landed uselessly on Sou’s shoulder, glancing off his armour with a loud clang. Sou cut his head off without a single break in stride.

A scream sounded just behind Ayane. Instinctively she dropped, a sword swinging just over her head. She twisted and thrust upwards, her own meeting the torso of a Wada soldier. He gasped and dropped to the ground, slowly bleeding to death. Another man charged, this time hitting Ayane at full speed and sending them both tumbling to the ground. A fist hit her face and her jaw exploded in pain. So this is how it ends, she thought. Dead underneath a half naked man while fighting for the enemy. Only death didn’t come. Her face continued to ache, in fact the pain just got worse. But she wasn’t dead. The weight on her lifted. When her eyes finally focused she saw a large, dark grinning creature above her. All she could see were teeth and eyes.

“Need a hand?”

It was Kazu. She’d never been so happy to see the foot soldier. She took the offered hand and he pulled her up.

“You should be careful, ma’am. These men in their undershorts sure are a dangerous lot.” He smiled and ran off with what she could only describe as a high pitched giggle before she had the chance to thank him. He ran his dagger through another man’s neck, kicking him off and dropping into a roll to avoid yet another man charging him in his undershorts. He’s like a monkey, Ayane thought. So tiny and nimble and perhaps not quite cooking with a full tub of rice upstairs.

In the meantime Sou had reached the lord’s residence. Six men stood before him, fully armed and armoured. Wada Kuniaki’s elite guard. The courtyard was littered with dead bodies. Very few men remained standing. An eerie silence descended over them.

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“Give me your lord and I’ll allow you to live.”

Everyone had stopped to listen to Sou. The guards didn’t move.

“You’ll have to kill us first, Oni of Miharu.”

Were they crazy? Even six against one they had to know they wouldn’t win. Couldn’t win. And even if they defeated Sou, what then? They were surrounded, most of the Wada forces dead or captured. There was no way out.

“Very well. That can be arranged.”

The smallest of the guards moved first. Sou’s sword swung clear over his head as the tiny man slashed at Sou’s leg. Without even missing a step Sou booted him in the face, crushing his nose. Two men approached him at the same time, both swinging dual swords in front of them like a tornado of steel. Sou watched, waiting. The first man attacked and Sou thrust his sword up through his chin and out through his helmet. He grabbed the dying man’s sword as he fell and used it to lop the head off his companion. Three moves, three men dead.

The remaining three men eyed him cautiously. The man standing furthermost to his left had his hands clenched tightly around his sword, so tightly that he was shaking. Sou stood up to his full height and looked at the man, his companion’s lifeless head now sitting at Sou’s feet.

“Would you like to die next?”

The man dropped his sword and threw himself prostrate on the ground before him.

“Please don’t kill me, I’m sorry, please don’t-” The guard standing next to him pulled his sword from the prostrated man’s back, the words dying on his lips.

“Coward,” the guard muttered.

Sou gave a small laugh. “I take it you haven’t reconsidered my offer then.”

The guard nodded with his head and the man to his right charged. Sou grabbed him by the neck and lifted him off the ground, his legs swinging beneath him. It was a sight Ayane had seen before but it never failed to shock her. The guard planted his feet firmly against Sou’s chest and pushed off, allowing him to escape and fall to the ground with a loud thud. He pulled two daggers from his hip, throwing them towards Sou’s head. They bounced off his helmet, but it gave him the chance to attack again. Sou saw him coming and planted his hand over the man’s face as he ran towards him, in one swift moving shoving him down into the ground, hard. The guard stopped moving. Sou stood back up.

“Last chance.”

The head guard cracked his neck and stepped forward. All five of his men were dead before him, killed almost effortlessly by this giant of an enemy. There was no way to overpower him, he was simply too strong. Ayane wondered why he didn’t just surrender, there was clearly no way he was going to win this fight. Yet still he charged, sword in hand, running headfirst into his own death.

Unlike his companions this guard actually managed to give Sou a run for his money. His blows were not hard but they were calculated. Each hit mattered, and he timed them precisely. It was as though he could read Sou’s movements before he made them, and was waiting to connect when he did. He was also nimble enough to dodge each of Sou’s attacks before they hit him. Sou was so used to using overwhelming power to annihilate his enemies that he struggled with one much faster than he.

The guard’s sword connected with Sou’s calf, forcing him to one knee, blood running down the back of his leg. He picked up a sword lying on the ground before him and swung to his blindside. The guard crumpled, caught unawares in what he thought was a safe spot. Sou stood up, kicked the man over and placed his foot on his neck. He was breathing hard.

“You fought well. Your ancestors would be proud.”

Ayane felt something sharp press into her neck. Not again…

“Sou, my dear! How nice of you to join us! I’ll have you kindly unhand that man or your little girl here dies.”

Well, she had found Izue.