John Flanagan - The Emperor of Nihon-Ja

Kona looked a little surprised. He pointed to the two of them. 'Fwends…Nimatsu-san?'

'Hai!' Evanlyn told him.

'Hai!' Alyss said in her turn.

Kona, they were pleased to see, looked impressed.

'You…take us…to Nimatsu-san?' Evanlyn reinforced her meaning with gestures.

Kona seemed to understand. 'Eh-van-in, Ah-yass…Nimatsu-san ikimas?'

'Ikimas is "go",' Alyss told Evanlyn in an undertone.

Evanlyn felt a small surge of triumph. 'Hai!' she said. 'Evanlyn, Alyss, Kona…ikimas Nimatsu-san.'

'Verb should come last,' Alyss muttered. Evanlyn made a dismissive gesture.

'Who cares? He got it.'

Kona considered the request for some time, nodding to himself as he did so. Then he seemed to come to a decision.

'Hai!' he said emphatically. 'Nimatsu-san ikimas.'

He stood abruptly and loped across the beach in long strides to the treeline. He paused there, looking back at the two girls, who had been taken by surprise by his sudden acquiescence. He held his hand out to them, fingers down, and made a shooing motion at them.

'Ikimashou!' he said.

Evanlyn, halfway to her feet, paused uncertainly. 'What's he doing? He's waving us away. I thought he was taking us?'

But Alyss had seen the gesture several times before, in the Kikori encampment.

'It's how the Nihon-Jan beckon you towards them,' she said. 'Ikimashou means "let's go".'

'Then what are we waiting for?' Evanlyn said, hurrying to grab up her pack and sword. 'Let's ikimashou by all means.'

Alyss was doing the same thing. 'You don't need to say "let's ikimashou",' she said. 'The "let's" is already included in the verb.'

'Big deal,' said Evanlyn. She was feeling a little pleased with herself. Alyss was, after all, the linguist. But Evanlyn had been the one to open effective communications with the enormous Hasanu. 'Are you coming, or what?' she threw back over her shoulder as she trudged quickly up the beach in Kona's wake.

Getting the hundred men of the hyaku down the narrow pass was an interesting exercise in logistics and teamwork.

Horace had decided it was too risky for the fighting men to negotiate the steep and rocky path burdened by javelins, shields and armour. Accordingly, when the review parade with Shigeru was finished, he marched the men to the beginning of the secret path and had them pile their shields and javelins in stacks of five. Those Kikori who had not been selected to take part in the fighting now acted as bearers, assisted by the ever-present Mikeru and a group of his young friends.

They lashed the javelins together, assigning one man to carry each bundle of five strapped across his back. The shields were similarly lashed together in flat piles and two men took each bundle of five shields, carrying them as if they were stretchers. The remainder spread themselves along the column to help the weapons bearers down the more difficult places, or to spell them when they became tired. Mikeru and his friends, unhampered and sure-footed as mountain goats, scampered ahead, placing burning torches to light the most awkward places on the trail.

Finally, the fighting men themselves, burdened only by their stabbing blades and body armour, wound their way down the narrow defile in a long line.

Half an hour before dawn, Bear Goju and Hawk Goju were formed up on the level ground at the bottom of the secret path. They were fully armed and equipped and they'd made the trip down without any casualties. By contrast, there were a dozen sprained ankles and other minor injuries among the bearers.

Horace approached the spot where Will, Halt and Shigeru had watched the men emerge from the pass and form quietly into their formations.

'We're ready to move out,' he said.

Will gestured to the huge bluff several hundred metres away, which obscured any sight of the Senshi encampment.

'Let's take a look at the enemy first,' he said. 'Keep an eye on the Emperor,' he added to Horace. He didn't want Shigeru wandering away or showing himself before they had an idea of the enemy's deployment and situation. Then he and Halt ghosted off, staying close to the edge of the bluff as they went. They reached the end of the bluff and disappeared round, moving out of sight.

Horace looked at the Emperor. Shigeru seemed calm, but his right hand was clenching and unclenching on the hilt of his katana. Horace smiled encouragingly.

'What do we do now?' Shigeru asked.

'We wait,' Horace replied.

Will and Halt slipped round the rocky outcrop, then climbed up a little from the plateau floor for a better view. They'd had lookouts posted at Mikeru's spot the entire night, ready to send warning if the Senshi moved, or were reinforced, or if there were any other change in the situation. No such message had come but Will preferred to trust his own observation in matters like these. That was the way Halt had taught him.

The camp was largely as they had seen it from the lookout point high above. Tents were pitched in haphazard lines, in a large, amorphous mass. A few sentries could be seen, pacing dispiritedly around the outer perimeter. In the time the two Rangers watched, not one seemed to lift his eyes from the frozen ground a few metres in front of his pacing feet. They were preoccupied with remaining hunched down in their cloaks, conserving as much body warmth as possible. The grey light slowly strengthened and Will and Halt could make out more detail.

In the centre of the low, utilitarian tents stood one larger, and rather ornate, pavilion. Two men stood guard outside and banners were planted at the entrance, streaming out in the wind.

'Can you make out the central banner?' Halt asked. There was a heraldic device on the flag in the centre of the group. The others were inscribed with Nihon-Jan characters. Will shaded his eyes and peered more closely.

'An ox, I think,' he said. 'A green ox.'

'Not that it means anything to us,' Halt replied. 'Although Shigeru should know who it is.'

Will glanced at him. 'Is that important?'

'It's always important to know who you're facing,' Halt said quietly. He surveyed the lie of the land between them and the Senshi encampment. For the most part, it was relatively even ground but there was one section covered in tumbled rocks. Beyond the rocks, to the east, the land fell away in a low cliff. Ahead of them, to the south, the plain sloped down towards the tents.

'That's our position,' he said, indicating it to Will. 'That broken ground will give our left flank some protection and the Senshi will be attacking uphill.'

'Not much of a hill,' Will observed.

'We'll take whatever advantage we can get,' Halt told him. 'Now, let's head back and start the ball.'

They made their way back to their waiting companions and held a quick council of war. Will described the broken ground on the left.

'We'll start there,' he said. 'Then we'll advance in line. Put the men in two ranks so we have a longer front. Selethen, put your men on the right of Horace's goju and about ten metres behind. That way, when the enemy try to work round his right flank, you can advance and hit them in the rear. Horace, when they do that, remember the plan we made last night.'

'I know. Swing the gate shut with my second rank,' Horace said. 'I have done this before, you know.'

'Sorry,' Will said. 'Later this afternoon, I'll teach your grandmother to suck eggs.'

The two old friends grinned at each other. Shigeru and Selethen both looked a little puzzled.

'Why does his grandmother want to suck eggs?' Shigeru asked.

The Arridi warrior shrugged. 'I have no idea.' He looked at Halt but the Ranger waved away the query.

'Long story,' he said. 'I'll tell you later.'

'Oh, Shigeru,' Will said, remembering a detail. 'The enemy commander has a green ox as his symbol. Does that mean anything to you?'