L5r - scroll 05 - The Crab (24 page)

The Crab lines held most of the day. As afternoon wore on, O-Ushi occasionally heard the sound of a war-horse whinnying. Finally, with less than an hour before the sun would sink below i lie peaks, a single samurai-ko riding a pure white steed rounded .1 bend in the path and urged her horse up the ridge.

Her armor was purple streaked with yellow, and her helmet had a flowing golden mane. She guided her steed using only her feet and rode holding her katana in a classic dueling position. She seemed more graceful and ready for action than many samurai standing on their own two feet.

One of O-Ushi's men charged the Battle Maiden. He brandished a no-dachi and howled like a demon. In spite of his weapon's long reach, the Unicorn easily avoided the Crab's blow. She neatly dispatched him with one slice of her katana. Then she turned her eyes on O-Ushi.

A simple nudge from the rider urged the horse to resume its charge.

O-Ushi waited, her shoulders turned and her hammer resting near her left ear—as patient as a cat by a rabbit hole.

The Battle Maiden locked eyes with O-Ushi. Just before her steed came within striking range, she used her knees to command I he beast to stop its charge and withdraw. The Crab unit was too much to handle without the aid of her sisters.

The Batde Maiden rode back around the bend to rejoin the lighting below.

The sun was now less than a quarter hour from setting.

Just when O-Ushi thought they would see no more of the Unicorn cavalry today, the same rider rounded the bend in the path. This time, she was followed by two more mounted samurai-ko.

"Here they come again!" she shouted.

Her fellows aligned themselves in a staggered pattern. O-Ushi had ordered this tactic so that any rider would have to pass through a gauntlet of attackers on both sides to get up to the archers. She might strike down one Crab, and her war-horse might take down another, but a third and fourth would always be close enough to strike back.

However, with three riders, the odds shifted in the Unicorn's favor. They were skilled enough riders to send two horses up the path nearly side by side and still be able to use their swords in combat. O-Ushi did not have enough samurai to counter.

With an earsplitting, "Kiiiiya!" the lead Battle Maiden led the others in a charge. All three were attacking at once.

"Stand back," O-Ushi ordered her men. "If I fall, give the signal for the archers to open fire into our midst!"

"Hai!" said her second in command bravely.

O-Ushi resumed her earlier stance—feet squared, chest facing the oncoming Battle Maiden, dai-tsuchi cocked by her ear, ready to try to unseat the lead rider.

The horses climbed the hill at a lightning pace.

O-Ushi nodded her head in time with their hoofbeats. She breathed slowly and deeply, calmly awaiting the right moment to strike.

She seemed a bit too calm. The Battle Maiden was nearly upon her, and O-Ushi hadn't even tensed her arms. The Unicorn rider lashed out with her blade, striking right for the seam between O-Ushi's shoulder and neck.

But the samurai-ko was not there anymore.

She dropped to her knees. Instead of attacking the rider, she swung her hammer with all her considerable might into the horse's chest. It crusted its sternum.

The beast reared in pain and threw its rider. The Battle Maiden twisted in midair, trying to angle her body toward the narrow path. It was no use. Instead she bounced off the rocks just below the path and tumbled end over end to the canyon floor below. To her credit she did not scream once.

The other riders reined in their steeds and retreated down the path. Crab arrows peppered the path behind their mounts' hooves. As they rounded the bend and withdrew, the sun dropped below the mountains. Dusk settled over Beiden Pass.

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"It cannot go on. I have no choice." Sukune hung his head in abject defeat.

Kuni Yori's voice dripped with mock compassion. "You are merely following the path your father laid before you."

The young samurai glared at the shugenja. The Hida temper flared so bright in his eyes that Yori took a step backward. If this were not his father's most trusted adviser Sukune would surely kill the man on the spot. Sukune knew when to accept defeat, but he never accepted gloating. Not from his brother, not even from his father, and certainly not from this snake.

"My honor, indeed my soul may be forfeit for a decision I must make," Sukune growled, "but I will not delude myself that this is a good choice."

Yori lowered his shoulders and approached again.

"You must make your own peace with this," Yori said in a more neutral tone. "I am certain you will see the wisdom of your actions tomorrow evening when the number of Crab samurai in the pass still outnumbers the Shadowlands troops in our midst."

At the end of the second day of fighting, Sukune's army was only slightly larger than half its original size. They still held Bei-den Pass, but they were now evenly matched with the Dragon and Unicorn forces opposing them—and the enemy had reinforcements on the way.

Of course, with any luck he did as well. Would enough troops remain in Yakamo's army to let the Crab secure the pass once and for all? In truth, they had to hold it only another three or four weeks. By that time, snow would cover the countryside and make further battles nearly impossible. Before spring, the Crab would be able to fortify their position and bring more troops from the Wall. By that time his father would arrive; that would certainly raise the samurai's spirits.

Sukune still had to hold the pass until Yakamo's troops arrived, but he wasn't sure he could, given the losses of the first two days. He had no choice. He had to move at least
some
of the

Shadowlands troops into the contested territory. They were fresh warriors, unscathed by the recent skirmishes. What's more, they were creatures of evil. Their mere presence would unnerve even the most disciplined veteran.

Placing goblins and zombies at important junctions would surely save Crab lives and shift the tide of the battle for at least a day. None of that made the action any more palatable.

"We cannot lose this battle, Yori," Sukune said wearily. "But in order to win, I must lose my last shreds of honor."

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On the third straight day of battle, Hida O-Ushi got her wish. She and her troops were relocated to the floor of Beiden Pass. The Crane and Unicorn troops had not yet renewed their assault on the pass, but already on the ridge she defended the day before, Battle Maidens urged their steeds up the narrow mountain trail. The sounds of shouting, neighing, and steel against steel told O-Ushi they had already met the company of Crab warriors positioned at the first bend in the path.

These samurai were not meant to stop the Unicorn cavalry, but merely to slow them. O-Ushi had worked with those troops to prepare them for a cavalry assault. By now, they'd dug plenty of small but deep divots into the ground, deadly for riders. They'd also rolled small boulders into the path to keep the Battle Maidens from having an easy ascent. The Crab would strike hard at the horses and try to keep the Unicorn off balance, and then retreat to the next switchback on the ridge. If all went well, it would take the Battle Maidens most of the day to reach the archers' stations.

"I wonder if they'll like what they find at the top?" She chuckled.

The sound of archers above, shouting and loosing their first volley toward the pass' mouth, told O-Ushi her own battle would begin soon. The Crane and Unicorn troops were inside the pass. It wouldn't take long for the first wave to charge through the deadly rain of arrows and reach her.

"To victory—or a glorious death!" she shouted to her troops.

"Hai!" they responded as one and bowed perfunctorily. Weapons drawn, they stared down the canyon for the first sign of the enemy.

A line of Crane samurai charged around a corner and raced headlong at the Crab defenders. Some of the Crane wore bandages over wounds suffered the day before. Others had fresh arrows protruding from their arms or shoulders.

O-Ushi noticed her breath coming in short puffs of steam. It was a cold day for a battle but a fine day to die.

The Crane reached their position, and the battie began. Some of her samurai tried to challenge two enemies at a time. There weren't enough Crab samurai to stop the entire line, so other Crane continued their charge down the pass. Out of the corner of her eye O-Ushi noted that the vaunted Crane chivalry remained intact. None of the attackers stopped to engage the Crab in groups—even in a war, the code of bushido demanded that duels be settled between individuals. The unopposed Crane quickly disappeared around another bend in the pass.

O-Ushi stood nose to nose with a samurai who was a full head shorter than she. His katana pressed hard against the shaft of her dai-tsuchi, forcing the great hammer against the samurai-ko's chest and pinning her arms back where she could get no leverage. However, the Crane needed both hands to keep her off balance and couldn't draw his wakizashi. The two stood locked in a contest of strength and will. O-Ushi's greater size and power countered the Crane's proximity and leverage.

All around, other duels raged. To O-Ushi's right, her second in command slew his opponent with a brutal crushing blow from his tetsubo. To her left a Unicorn samurai evened the score. The young Crab who fell had joined her company only three weeks earlier. She didn't even know his name.

The whole time O-Ushi and her opponent remained practically motionless, each waiting for the other to make an exploitable mistake. A faint but impassioned battle cry reached the two combatants. As it grew louder, the short man smiled. The second wave of Crane samurai was nearly here. His company's mission clearly was to tie up the Crab defenses and allow the following waves to penetrate deeper into the pass—and it seemed to be working perfectly.

The grin disappeared when he realized the shouts came from the south, not the north. A second later, the Crane who had so bravely charged around the bend rounded the corner again, this time in full retreat. When the short samurai saw the reason, his arms went numb and his katana slipped from his hands.

Now it was O-Ushi's turn to smile. The Crane were being chased by a horde of enraged goblins and, if the powerful footfalls were any indication, at least two ogres. The whole lot ran past the ongoing struggles and back around the first bend. The Shadow-lands were taking the fight to the Crane.

One well-placed swing of her hammer ended O-Ushi's first encounter of the day.

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"We lost fewer men today."

Sukune shot another exasperated look at Kuni Yori. "And I suppose if my brother is in a duel and his opponent takes off only three of his fingers, you'd consider
that
an improvement as well?"

The shugenja was right, though. The Crab samurai suffered much lighter losses today, but because the Shadowlands troops would not take orders from Sukune, they were less help than he would have liked. They killed large numbers of the enemy but did nothing to hold key locations like the northern ridge.

After the fighting ended, O-Ushi reported to her brother that the goblins along the mountain path were only moderately successful in protecting the archers above.

"When the Battle Maidens first saw them they reined their horses to a dead stop. But they could see that the goblins did not have the same fighting spirit as my troops. They were easily frightened and run off by the threat of a full cavalry charge. Luckily for us, the only place for them to run was up with the archers, and the combined group was able to hold off the Unicorns until nightfall. I doubt we'll be as lucky tomorrow."

Sukune had to agree.

He needed a better plan, and he needed it
now.
He was one bad decision away from having to pull the Crab army out of Beiden Pass altogether. If that happened, Yakamo's only escape would be through an enemy-controlled pass. Could he maintain his position long enough to protect his brother? Would Yakamo and his army arrive soon enough to turn the tide of battle? Or were both armies hopelessly outmatched?

"Where are you, Brother?" Sukune said to himself.

His only answer was a chill wind sweeping into the tent as Kuni Yori turned his back and left.

HOMEWARD BOUND

We are surrounded." Yakamo paused for effect. "The Unicorn army has cut off our only escape. They have set their battle lines, most of their troops ride trained war-horses, and they are completely rested. Our troops, on the other hand, are almost exclusively foot soldiers. We've been traveling for five days and fighting for three. We outnumber the enemy, but conventional wisdom says the advantage is theirs. As long as we stay here in the woods, we're safe."

Every ear strained to hear his next words. Every eye focused on his slightest movement. Every heart begged him to say three simple words.

"Prepare to charge!"

The generals were as desperately gleeful as children running to the river on the first day of summer. As the word passed from company to company, Yakamo could feel excitement warm the cold autumn morning. The woods hummed with life and energy. Despite the frost on the ground, he could believe the trees themselves

were so stimulated by his samurai's passion that they might burst into full bloom.