John Flanagan - The Emperor of Nihon-Ja

Shukin allowed himself a grim smile. 'And that might solve the entire problem.'

Shigeru said nothing. They both knew that, as fine a warrior as Shukin might be, Arisaka was one of the best swordsmen in Nihon-Ja. In a one-on-one battle, the odds were vastly in his favour.

'I'll stay with you,' Horace said suddenly, breaking the silence. But both his friends shook their heads.

'I can't ask that,' Shigeru said. 'It's bad enough that my cousin is ready to do this. I can't ask an outsider to sacrifice himself as well.'

'And besides, Kurokuma, I'm depending on you to advise Lord Shigeru in my absence,' Shukin told him. 'He needs an experienced soldier standing beside him. I can see now why you were sent to us. I can command this rearguard with a much clearer mind if I know the Emperor will have your experience and knowledge to call on. You can serve him in my place. That will be worth more to me than having another sword to help me.'

Horace drew breath to argue but Shigeru laid a hand on his forearm.

'Shukin is right, Or'ss-san,' he said, foregoing the use of the Horace's joking nickname. 'I'll need all the help I can get.'

After a few seconds, Horace capitulated. He nodded sadly, eyes cast down to the ground.

'Very well.' He looked up and met Shukin's gaze. 'You can depend on me,' he said simply and the Senshi leader nodded.

'I know that, Or'ss-san.'

Horace looked around for some way to break the awkward silence that fell over them.

'Keep some of those sharpened stakes and have your unengaged warriors use them as pikes,' he said. 'You can stop some of Arisaka's men before they reach the bank.'

Shukin nodded, recognising a good idea.

'You see?' he said, smiling. 'This is why I want you to stay with Shigeru.'

'Just don't let your ideas of honour get in the way. Stop Arisaka any way you can. All right?'

'You have my word. Now give me your hand, Or'ss-san. It's been a pleasure knowing you.' All pretence that Shukin and his men might escape from the ambush site was now abandoned. Horace gripped his hand and Shukin embraced him around the shoulders with his left arm.

'There's a gift for you in my pack,' Shukin told him. 'It's wrapped in yellow oilcloth. Something for you to remember me by.'

'I don't need any gift to remember you. Take care, Shukin.'

As he said the words and stepped back, Horace realised how ridiculous they were. But Shukin merely smiled. Then he embraced Shigeru. The two men moved a few paces away from Horace and he turned away to give them a moment of privacy. They spoke softly in their own language. Shukin dropped to one knee, his head bowed, and Shigeru placed his right hand on his cousin's head in benediction.

Then the private moment was over. Shukin rose to his feet and briskly called the names of half a dozen of the Senshi. They stepped forward as he called them.

'We're staying here to swat these annoying mosquitoes who are following us,' he told them and they all smiled, then made stiff little bows towards Shigeru. No calling for volunteers, Horace noted. These men were all volunteers anyway.

'Now, cousin, you had best get on the move. You need to be at that bridge before Arisaka finds another way across the river.' Shukin had returned to the pretence that they would stop Arisaka permanently at this spot.

Shigeru nodded and turned away. Horace, after a moment's hesitation, followed him and they began the long, difficult slog up the next ridge.

Behind them, Horace could hear Shukin issuing instructions to his small party, pairing them off in teams of two.

The ridge they were climbing was one of the highest and steepest so far. The track was cut into its side in a series of switchbacks, so that they continually reversed direction and passed above the spot where Shukin waited to meet their pursuers – each time a little higher. Occasionally, in places where the trees cleared, they could see the small figures by the ford quite clearly. Shukin had despatched one of his men to the far side of the ford, sending him several hundred metres back up the track to give warning of the approach of Arisaka's men. The others sat on the grass beside the ford, resting. Their weapons were kept close to hand, however. Once, Shukin looked up as they passed a clear spot and waved to them.

Reito, as the senior surviving adviser of Shigeru's bodyguard, had taken command of the column and kept pushing the pace as they wound slowly upwards, zigzagging back and forth along the face of the ridge. They were two-thirds of the way up, and had just reached another switchback in the trail, when one of the Kikori let out a warning cry, pointing across the valley to the ridge opposite.

Horace stopped, leaning heavily on the staff he had cut to help him keep his footing on the steep, muddy trail. The rain misted down, preventing the track from ever drying out. It came and went in waves, alternatively shrouding them in mist, then passing so that they could see clearly across the valley. One such shower had just gone over and now the air was clear again. He looked across the valley as the Kikori pointed and saw movement on the mountain-side opposite.

Tiny figures were making their way down the track.

'Arisaka,' he said quietly. This was no advance party. There were several hundred warriors and they were moving at a brisk pace. Halfway along the column he could see banners waving in the brisk mountain wind. That would be the command party, he thought. Arisaka himself was probably there. He squinted, straining to see if he could make out the enemy leader, but it was impossible to pick out an individual from the group. Even if he could have done so, the distance was too great to make out any detail.

The Kikori had come to a halt, watching the pursuing army nervously. In a straight line across the valley, they were less than a kilometre away – although the distance they would have to travel to catch up was many times that. But it was unnerving to see them so close.

He caught Reito's eye and gestured to the opposite ridge.

'They're moving fast,' he said. 'Faster than we are.'

Reito nodded. 'They don't have wounded to carry with them,' he said. 'Lord Shukin will slow them down,' he added confidently.

'Maybe,' Horace said. He wondered how much time Shukin would be able to buy them. 'But let's keep moving anyway.'

Reito turned away and shouted an order. The column began to move again, slipping and sliding in the mud. Those at the rear had the hardest time, as the surface of the track was churned by hundreds of feet before them. Eyes were turned towards the far ridge as they continued upwards. But then the trees blocked it from sight. Horace wasn't sure which he preferred. Seeing how close the enemy were might be an unnerving experience, but not seeing them, yet knowing they were there, seemed worse somehow.

Reito called a ten-minute rest stop and ordered a change of stretcher bearers. Those who had been carrying the wounded set their burdens down gratefully and fresh bearers came to take over the load. The rest period seemed to pass in an instant and Reito had them on the move again. He moved up and down the column, sometimes chivvying the weary travellers to greater efforts, sometimes joking and encouraging them as the situation seemed to demand. Horace thought wearily that Reito, with all his back and forth movement along the column, was covering twice as much ground as the rest of them.

They were close to the top of the ridge when Shigeru pointed to a rocky outcrop, where a gap in the trees afforded a clear sight of the valley. As the group of Kikori and Senshi toiled upwards, he and Horace clambered onto the rocks and looked down.

The ford was below them. On the far side, Arisaka's men were massed. A small group of warriors was struggling across the river, waist deep in the swift water, to attack the defenders. It was obviously not the first attack. Several bodies were slumped over the hedge of sharpened stakes that had been driven into the ground of the river bank. More were visible, drifting slowly downstream in the deeper water below the ford. The river itself was streaked with red ribbons of blood.