Dale Furutani - Jade Palace Vendetta

Kaze jumped over the body blocking the doorway and found himself in a room with four guards scrambling for their swords and a panic-stricken maid who, having dropped a tray of food, was cringing in a corner.

Kaze killed two before they could get their swords out. He sparred briefly with a third before delivering a deathblow and caught the fourth from behind as he tried to flee the room.

The maid watched the carnage with bulging eyes, her mouth open but no sound issuing from it. Kaze looked at her. “I won’t hurt you,” he said. He pointed at the five dead bodies in the room. “Is this all in the house?”

“Th-th-there are two more,” the young maid said, stuttering in her terror.

The two Kaze disposed of in the hall. “And Ando?”

“I don’t know, Samurai-sama. I don’t know where Ando-san is. Please don’t hurt me!”

“I have no intention of hurting you. You go to your room and stay there. Tell all the other maids to stay in their rooms, too. In the morning the authorities will come and things will be all right.”

The maid scurried off to do as she was directed, skirting the two bodies at the door. Kaze made his way to the back of the villa and the drum bridge.

As he approached the drum bridge, he saw a group hiding in the brush, out of the moonlight that bathed the entire garden.

“Psst! We’re here!” Elder Grandma said in a harsh whisper.

“Good. Stay there.”

He came to the bridge and started climbing up the stairs that led to the central span.

“Who is that?” challenged the guard on the other side of the bridge.

“Death,” Kaze answered.

“Huh?”

Disgusted, Kaze said, “Take out your sword and defend yourself. Enomoto-san has not been gone a whole day, and you are already slackening your vigilance.”

What the guard lacked in ability to assess the situation, he made up for in ferocity. He drew his sword and rushed at Kaze, yelling and taking the steps of the drum bridge two at a time.

Kaze waited for his opponent to get to the central span of the bridge, where he met his furious attack. The moon silhouetted the two men, standing on the half-round bridge attacking and counter-attacking, swords weaving together in a deadly dance amid the music of steel clanging on steel. Kaze knew he was not completely fit, and the torture and exertions with the other guards had taken their toll. Yet he beat the guard back across the span toward the island and delivered a deathblow just as the guard reached the stair portion of the bridge. Staggering backward, the guard stepped off the central span and tumbled down the stairs.

“Come on,” Kaze called to the trio hiding in the foliage. “Follow me, in case there are more guards.”

Kaze entered the Jade Palace amid a strange silence. After the fighting and shouts and groans of dying men, the palace provided a tranquil respite, despite the fact that Kaze knew it was a place of horror. The wooden grate blocking the hallway was open. He walked down the silent hall, a silence that saved him. As he approached a corner in the hallway, he was able to hear a creak from one of the floorboards.

Kaze didn’t change his pace, because that might alert the person waiting in ambush around the curve in the corridor. Suddenly, there was a mad shout, and a spear was thrust at Kaze as he rounded the corner.

Kaze caught the top of the spear shaft with one hand and diverted it slightly, so it missed him. The other hand, holding Fly Cutter, came down, and the shaft of the spear was cut in two.

Kaze threw the spear tip to the ground and looked at his assailant. It was Ando.

She threw away the butt end of the spear and retreated. Kaze stepped forward.

“You wouldn’t kill a woman?” she said, holding her hands out in front of her.

“No, but I would kill a monster.” Kaze’s sword cut a fast arc, and Ando’s head and one of her hands went flying down the hallway. A surprised look was still on her face. Kaze stepped past the headless corpse and made his way to Yuchan’s room.

The room seemed unchanged. The emaciated creature huddling in the corner of the cell didn’t look up.

“Yuchan,” Kaze said gently.

She looked up with feverish eyes, half-hopeful at the sound of Kaze’s voice.

“Merciful Buddha!” Nagatoki exclaimed. Kaze looked over his shoulder to see the young man, Sadakatsu, and Elder Grandma standing behind him in the doorway. They all had shocked looks on their faces, and Kaze thought he detected tears in Sadakatsu’s eyes.

“It’s all right, Yuchan,” Kaze said. “Your grandmother and cousin are here to bring you home, and you must remember Sadakatsu.”

Yuchan looked at the trio, then looked at Kaze. “Is it a dream?” she mused.

“No, it’s no dream. You’re saved. You will be going home.”

Yuchan crawled over to the cage wall closest to the door. She put her fingers around the bars and stared out. The fingers looked like dried twigs, they were so thin.

“Go get the key to the cell,” Kaze ordered Nagatoki. “It’s probably on that body in the hallway.”

“But that body doesn’t have a head!” the grandson said.

“Yes, but she probably does have a key. Check her kimono for it.”

Nagatoki left, and Sadakatsu went to the cage and fell to his knees, copious tears now streaming down his thin face. Yuchan looked at him and said, “Sadakatsu! Look, Sadakatsu, for once you are not the skinniest one in the room.” She held her hands out. Every bone in her hand was visible. “Even you are not as thin as this, Sadakatsu!”

When she made that joke, Kaze immediately knew two things. One, she was indeed from the same strong stock as Elder Grandma. Two, although it would take a long time to recover, Yuchan would eventually prevail over this ordeal. She might never be as pretty again, but she would always be as strong.

Nagatoki came back with the key. He held it away from his body like a repugnant thing. Perhaps it was. Kaze took the key and opened the cage. Yuchan painfully crawled out of the cage, too weak to walk.

“Get up and walk!” Elder Grandma ordered.

Yuchan tried to stand with the help of Sadakatsu but collapsed back to the tatami like a fragile autumn leaf. “I can’t,” she said.

Kaze picked Yuchan up in his arms. She was as light as a small child. “Thank you,” she whispered as he held her.

Elder Grandma handed her spear to Sadakatsu. “Here, let me have her,” she said gruffly.

Kaze hesitated a moment, and Elder Grandma turned her back. “Put her on my back. I used to carry her as a baby that way and I can certainly carry her that way again.” Kaze took Yuchan over to Elder Grandma and loaded her onto the old woman’s back, piggyback style. It seemed to give Yuchan comfort to be next to her grand-mother.

“That’s fine for getting out of here,” Kaze said, “but it won’t do for getting you back home. We should all leave Kamakura immediately. I don’t know what the authorities will think of all this and don’t want to bother finding out. We’ll have to roust some porters out of bed and have Yuchan carried in a palanquin. That will take money.”

Elder Grandma bit her lip. Her penurious nature did battle with her practical side, and for once practicality won. “All right,” she said. “Sadakatsu has the money.”

“Good,” Kaze said. “You start and I’ll join you. I have one last piece of business here.” Kaze had no desire to carve a Kannon for the dead in the villa and the palace, but he did want to do one thing.

Kaze left the room with the cell and made his way to the back of the palace. There, in a large common room, he found six girls, all dressed in sumptuous kimonos. They were startled by Kaze’s appearance and sat staring at him with wary eyes.