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  Ran’s mouth grew dry. The weapons he had concealed upon himself had all been taken. Seiryu moved around and then held aloft Ran’s katana. “This is not nearly as beautiful a piece as what was stolen from me.” He rested the blade against Ran’s chest and Ran caught his breath as he felt the razor edge slice his skin. “Tell me where my sword is.”

  Ran frowned. “I don’t know anything about your sword.”

  Seiryu smiled again and pressed the edge further. Ran grimaced as the blade bit deeper.

  “I know that you are trained to reveal nothing under duress. But you should know that I have spent a lifetime studying the weaknesses of man. And I know that there comes a point in every man where he will break and reveal even those things he wishes most to keep hidden.”

  Ran licked his lips. “You are wasting your time.”

  “Perhaps,” said Seiryu, “the sword rests even now with others in your clan? I have heard talk of a school for those like you that lies deep in the mountains. Protected by snow and fog and dead-end valleys and rockslides, few would dare venture there.”

  “Fewer still might ever make it back alive,” said Ran. “Given such precautions.”

  “But for one such as myself,” said Seiryu, “I could easily journey there and find what belongs to me. And I could do it without even leaving the comfort of my home here, such is my power.”

  The candles overhead flickered and a breeze swept up through the room. Ran caught a strange new scent and the chanting seemed overpowered by a low growl emanating from all around them.

  Seiryu pointed at the portal overhead. “The time grows near and my master hungers for the blood of one such as you. Strength and vitality flow within your veins. Shortly, they will slake his unnatural thirst.”

  Ran bucked against the ropes but even with his strength, he could do little to free himself. Seiryu’s laughter filled the chamber and the wind in the room grew even more powerful. The tapestries flapped against the stone walls and the chanting increased.

  “Look at me now,” said Seiryu. “And you will look upon the visage of one who controls the depths of night and shadow. Where your kind only play, I rule with the power of the mighty overlord of darkness.”

  Ran gasped and saw Seiryu’s features changing. His skull seemed to lengthen and draw out to an absurdly narrow shape. His eyes vanished and became blackened pools of obsidian. Serrated teeth burst from a gaping maw dripping with a greenish bile.

  Seiryu turned around and lifted his hands to the open portal high overhead. He started chanting in a dialect Ran had never heard before.

  Ran yanked at the binds holding his wrists.

  And then felt one of them give.

  He jerked and saw a figure cloaked in shadow slicing through the cordage with a darkened blade. It cut his left hand first and then his right.

  Ran kept his eyes on Seiryu, who still had his back to him.

  The figure rushed to Ran’s front and cut away the binds holding his feet.

  Ran rolled off the altar.

  Seiryu turned and saw Ran free and roared. “No!”

  Ran glanced at the figure that had cut him free and felt something thrust into his hands. His katana!

  Ran ripped it from its saya and held the blade in front of him.

  Seiryu eyed him for a mere moment.

  “Kill him.”

  From behind him swarmed six armed warriors. Ran recognized them as some of the guards he’s passed earlier. They bore an assortment of short swords and halberds.

  Ran took a deep breath and met the first of them. The guard swung down at his head and Ran ducked to the outside, cleaving up and through the man’s midsection. He gurgled and dropped.

  The second guard stabbed at Ran and he barely had time to chop down and then backhand his blade up into the man’s throat, severing his neck almost entirely.

  Ran spun and dropped, evading the third attack from his left side. He cut up and under the swordsman’s armpit, driving the blade deeply into it, hearing the man gasp and then slide off the blade.

  More wind burst about the room and Seiryu continued chanting as if it would somehow aid his men. But Ran was his own tempest now, sweeping left and right as his blade executed the finely honed movements that he had studied religiously for years.

  He stepped under a fourth assault and drove his blade into the man’s heart, yanking it free and cutting horizontally as the fifth attacker attempted to cleave his skull with a war hammer. Ran sliced him open and then faced the sixth and final guard who started to cut down at Ran’s head, only to suddenly freeze as the blade of a small knife suddenly exploded from his chest. He dropped and Ran saw the cloaked figure that had freed him standing there, still holding the blade.

  Ran nodded curtly and then wheeled to face Seiryu. The evil wizard now looked more like some bizarre creature than the man he had once been. But if Ran expected fear in its face, he was sorely mistaken. Seiryu seemed completely unfazed by Ran’s sudden quest for freedom and the death of six well-trained warriors in the space of moments.

  He spoke now and the rasping gargle of words that spilled forth reminded Ran of a rabid animal, sick and evil as disease twisted its very soul. “You will never leave this castle alive.”

  Ran kept the altar between him and Seiryu, doing his best to use his environment to his advantage as he’d been taught.

  But then Seiryu bounded across the room and leaped over the altar, landing on Ran before he could even sense the motion. Seiryu’s fingers had become claws and they tore through his chest muscles, scoring his torso and drawing deep crimson blood.

  A growling purr arose in Seiryu’s throat. Ran gritted his teeth and rolled, bucking the wizard from his chest. Seiryu wheeled and then sprang again, but Ran’s blade flashed in the air.

  He felt the katana bite deep into Seiryu’s side. He twisted his hips, driving the blade through bone and organ alike, spraying the room with the vile stench of innards and gristle.

  Seiryu fell sprawling at the base of the altar, his blood spilling about him in an ever-widening pool. His features melted again, a swirling miasma of flesh and scale that defied man and beast alike.

  Ran stepped forward, raised his sword and brought it down quickly, cleaving Seiryu’s head cleanly from his shoulders. A sudden stillness dropped over the room and then everything went silent.

  Sweat and blood ran down Ran’s torso and he let out a long shuddering breath.

  He sensed movement behind him and whirled.

  The figure swathed in black approached. Ran frowned. Something about it seemed familiar.

  “Ran.”

  And then the figure drew back the cloth wrapped about its head and Ran gazed upon the eyes of the woman he’d freed only a short time before. He smiled in spite of himself. “Cassandra.”

  She glanced about the room. “It would appear as though the debt I owe you has been repaid.”

  “Indeed.” Ran frowned. “But why did you come back here? He would have killed you if you’d been recaptured.”

  “I never left,” said Cassandra. “Fleeing would have been futile for I hid and heard him give the order that the passes to the west be closed. I would have never gotten past them alive. So I stayed here, biding my time until I could get close enough to kill him. Only then would I have been able to return to my home.”

  Ran pointed. “I see you still have the knife I gave you.”

  She smiled. “And a good thing you did give it to me. It saved your life tonight.”

  Ran shook his head. “My life was spared not because of that tool, but because of the bravery of a woman to whom I am now indebted.”

  “You owe me nothing. I would have languished in that cell until he saw fit to feed me to whatever creature he called forth from the depths of hell.”

  Ran stepped over to the side of the room and slid his tunic back on, feeling the material quickly absorb the sweat and blood. Cassandra pointed at his chest. “You should get that treated. Seiryu’s claws might have had some poison
under them.”

  Ran frowned. “There will be time enough for that later. Right now, we need to get out of here.” He grabbed his wakizashi and his katana saya and thrust them into his belt. “Come on.”

  They turned and froze. Seiryu’s body suddenly ignoted with a bright green flame that devoured every inch of his flesh. It grew hotter in the room until they could stand it no longer. Flames leapt to the tapestries and then the scrolls blew into the rising inferno.

  Ran grabbed Cassandra’s hand and they dashed from the room. More fire exploded in the hallway. Overhead, they heard a rumbling of bricks and stone. Bits of the ceiling crashed down around them.

  From elsewhere in the castle, screams and moans filled the air. Ran pointed around them. “Whatever gave Seiryu his power seems to be taking it back.”

  Cassandra gripped his hand and they ran back toward the main entrance. Flames and explosions rocked the castle around them, but they ducked back out onto the ramparts, following the towers stairs back down toward the main gate. The guards and servants paid them little mind and only one stood to confront them, but Ran cut him down with no effort.

  They dashed through the main gate and did not stop until they reached the edge of the forest. Turning, they saw the castle shudder and then tumble in upon itself, its lofty towers plunging toward the ground, until only a massive pile of boulders and rubble stood in its wake.

  “I have never seen such magic,” said Cassandra quietly.

  “Nor I.”

  She looked at Ran then and kissed him quietly on his lips. “Where will you go now?”

  Ran looked north. “Back to my clan. I will tell them what happened here tonight. Seiryu is no more.”

  “And what then?”

  Ran smiled. “I don’t know.”

  “Stay with me. Let me show you my kingdom.”

  Her eyes twinkled under the starlight and Ran felt his heart thunder for a different reason. She pressed close to him and he felt her warmth.

  But then he stepped back. “I have an obligation to fulfill first.”

  Cassandra nodded. “There are those who say that your kind are without honor; that you are not true warriors.”

  Ran grinned. “Yes, there are.”

  “But they do not know you the way I do.”

  “No. They do not.”

  “Your ways are different, but no less honorable.” She smiled. “My offer still stands. If you find yourself in my lands, I would ask that you visit me.”

  “It would be my pleasure,” said Ran with a bow.

  Cassandra kissed him once more and then turned.

  And Ran watched her vanish into the night.

  Six

  “His sorcery is finished.”

  Tozawa regarded him, but Ran could discern little from the expression on his face. “You very nearly compromised the entirety of this clan and all it has worked so hard to achieve.”

  “And yet, Seiryu knew plenty about us before my arrival. Perhaps our secrets are not as secure as we would like to imagine them.”

  Tozawa sipped his tea and then placed the cup back down. “There are those within the clan who would have your name stricken from our scrolls. They would have your head for the insolence you showed by pursuing a personal vendetta against Seiryu.”

  “There was no vendetta,” said Ran. “Seiryu’s very existence was a threat to us. He should have been killed long ago.”

  “As I told you, that was not a matter for you to decide. Such things are only for the elders of our clan to ponder.”

  Ran held his tongue and waited for Tozawa to continue. “You showed a lack of foresight by returning. He might well have sprung a trap for you. Seiryu’s reputation for intellect and deception were reportedly second to none.”

  Ran kept his eyes fixed on Tozawa. There seemed little point in relaying how Seiryu had indeed trapped him and how Ran had come so very close to death. Such revelations would only serve to undermine his accomplishments. Better to let his jonin believe that Ran had successfully reinfiltrated the castle and assassinated Seiryu.

  Tozawa sighed. “The point is that you disregarded the clan’s best interests in favor of your own. You put a personal matter ahead of the clan’s.”

  Ran took a sip of his tea and let the bitter green taste settle in his mouth before answering. “You once told me that the point of all of this training was for us to reach a point where we trusted our own instincts – where we saw with our own eyes instead of relying on the word of others.”

  “I did say that,” said Tozawa.

  “And that is precisely what I did,” said Ran. “I was the one who had firsthand knowledge of what Seiryu was doing, the evil he was inflicting. And I used my knowledge to form what I believed to be the best course of action. Precisely as I’d been taught.”

  Tozawa said nothing for a moment but then allowed a brief smile to split his lips. “You are young, Ran. And you believe that you know what is best. And perhaps, in some situations, you do. But there are things that you do not yet know. And there are things that truly are best left to an objective opinion, rather than a subjective one.”

  Ran bowed his head. “I see the wisdom in that.”

  Tozawa nodded. “You are one of the finest pupils to ever graduate from this school. But you are inexperienced and somewhat rash. Such things can only be cured by time.”

  “And what would you have me to do to make up for this perceived affront to the clan?” asked Ran.

  “Do not worry, Ran. No one is going to kill you. You are far too valuable to us to permit such drastic measures.” His eyes narrowed. “However, something will have to be done.”

  Ran waited, willing himself to accept his fate with steadfast resolve.

  “Musha shugyo.”

  The two words spilled from Tozawa’s mouth and Ran nearly broke into a huge grin.

  Tozawa saw through his attempt to keep himself reserved. “Yes, I think that is the best thing for you.”

  Ran bit back the grin. It was far more than he dared hope for. A wandering quest!

  “You will be without a home,” said Tozawa quietly. “Nor will we claim you as one of ours as long as your quest lasts. You will be without any protection from us and you will not be permitted to utilize any of our assets.”

  “I understand.”

  Tozawa raised an eyebrow. “Do you truly, Ran? Do not treat this so lightly. While I know you envision a glorious time of adventure, know also that a musha shugyo is also a time of severe trial and hardship. And you may not ever return alive from it.”

  Ran nodded. “I will endeavor to learn as much as I may from this judgment.”

  “See that you do,” said Tozawa. “And make sure you don’t come back here for a while. It will take some time for those who are clamoring for punishment to forget what you have done.”

  “How long should I stay away?”

  Tozawa shrugged. “You will know when it is time to return. As you said, you apparently have an easy time listening to your instincts.” He winked at Ran. “I just hope you find that to be true once you are alone.”

  “I hope so, too,” said Ran.

  “You leave tomorrow at dawn. Take the night to pack your things, bearing in mind that you must adopt the manner of an ordinary person, even though you are anything but.”

  “I shall.”

  Tozawa finished his tea and looked at Ran. “And where will you go first, Ran? Where will your quest take you?”

  Ran hesitated only a moment, bowed to his teacher and then smiled.

  “West.”

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  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright

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  Six

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