John Flanagan - The Emperor of Nihon-Ja

'Coward! Deserter! They are peasants! You are Senshi! Turn and fight!'

The man raised his eyes to meet the general's. There was shame there, Todoki saw, but also confusion and fear.

'Lord,' he said, 'they killed Ito and Yoki beside me.'

'Then go back and avenge your comrades!' Overcome by rage, Todoki slapped the man hard across the face. A trickle of blood ran down from the corner of the warrior's mouth but he made no move to turn back.

'Kill them!' Todoki screamed. 'Kill five of them for each of your dead comrades! Go back and fight, you coward! Teach them they cannot stand against the Senshi!'

Which was all very well in principle. But these men had just seen at first hand that the Kikori, the despised peasant class, could indeed stand against the Senshi – and kill them. Thirty-five of their comrades lay dead on the battlefield to prove it.

'Lord,' said the warrior, 'how can I kill what I can't see?'

Aware that the eyes of the other Senshi were upon them, Todoki felt an overpowering rage building inside him. These men had shamed him by their craven behaviour. Now this insolent coward was daring to bandy words with him! Rebellion like this could be infectious, he realised. Let one man refuse an order and others would follow.

His sword flashed in a blur of reflected light, striking the man in the gap between helmet and breastplate. With a startled, choking cry, the Senshi staggered and fell. Todoki stepped over his body to face the other Senshi, who backed away before him. He gestured with his reddened sword blade towards the silent lines of the Kikori.

'There is the enemy! Attack! Fight them. Kill them!'

The immediate fear of his sword, and the ingrained discipline in which they had been raised, proved stronger than their fear of the Kikori gojus. Shoved and harried by Todoki's staff, the men turned back to face the enemy. They did it reluctantly, but they did it.

Will, watching from his vantage point, saw the Nihon-Jan general rallying his troops. He was tempted to try a shot at the general but Todoki was surrounded by dozens of milling figures and hitting him would be a matter of luck. Better not to waste the element of surprise with a stray shot, he thought. The time would come.

He had suspected that something like this might happen, and now was the time to put the second part of his plan into effect – to catch the Senshi with another unexpected tactic.

Now he put his fingers in his mouth and emitted two short, piercing whistles.

Selethen and Horace heard the signal. Horace gave the order for both gojus.

'About face. Double time forward!'

The Kikori pivoted in place, then began to jog back to their opening position, their feet hitting the ground in perfect unison.

'Halt!' shouted Horace and the four lines of men crashed to a stop. 'About face!'

Again, that machine-like precision showed itself, with every man moving in perfect unison.

General Todoki watched the movement and shouted encouragement to his reluctant warriors.

'See? They're retreating! They will not stand against you a second time! Attack!'

His men weren't so sure. They had seen the precise, co-ordinated drill of the Kikori as they withdrew. There was no sign of panic or defeat there. The more astute among his warriors realised that the enemy had simply withdrawn to a better defensive position – and they had done it with great efficiency and speed.

Todoki could see the doubt. He looked around wildly and, for the first time, noticed the group of three men on a small rise behind the Kikori lines. He stared for a moment, not believing what he saw. There were three men standing, observing. Two of them were vague and indistinct shapes, somehow confusing the eye as he tried to make them out more clearly. But the third figure, dressed in a Senshi's full armour, was unmistakable. It was the Emperor. He shouted to his officers and they joined him. He pointed his sword at the distant figure.

'It's Shigeru,' he said. 'Get your bows. If we kill him, then attack, the Kikori will break before us.'

The four officers ran back to the tent lines and returned a few minutes later, carrying their massive recurve bows. Senshi noblemen trained in archery as a matter of course. Now Todoki pointed to Shigeru once more and ordered them to shoot.

'What's happening?' Halt said as they saw the small group detach and run back to the camp. It was difficult to make out what they were carrying as they returned but, as they prepared to shoot, the actions were unmistakable. He and Will unslung their own bows.

Will saw the first Senshi officer release and instantly knew where the arrow was aimed. 'They've spotted Shigeru!' He was about to turn and shove Shigeru to the ground but as he did so, his eye caught a flicker of movement and he spun back.

When asked later about what he did next, he could never explain how he managed it. Nor could he ever repeat the feat. He acted totally from instinct, in an unbelievable piece of co-ordination between hand and eye.

As the Senshi arrow flashed downwards, heading directly for Shigeru, Will flicked his bow at it, caught it and deflected it from its course. The arrow head screeched on the hard rocky ground and the arrow skittered away. Even Halt took a second to be impressed.

'My god!' he said. 'How did you do that?'

Then, realising that there was no time for more talking, he shot the Senshi bowman.

Todoki saw the first shot on its way. He was exultant. His four lieutenants were excellent shots. Shigeru had no chance of surviving a hail of arrows from them. Then he heard a thudding impact and the man who had shot the first arrow staggered, then collapsed. A black-shafted arrow had come from nowhere and punched through his leather breastplate.

Even as Todoki bent towards him, two of his other officers cried out and fell. One never moved again, transfixed by a grey arrow. The other clutched feebly at a black shaft in his shoulder, groaning in pain. The fourth archer met Todoki's eyes and the general saw the fear there. Three of his men struck down in seconds, and they had no idea where the arrows had come from. Even as the man opened his mouth to speak, another grey-shafted arrow came slicing down out of the sky. He staggered under the impact, clutching feebly at the shaft, then fell, mortally wounded.

Todoki was momentarily stunned. He looked back to where Shigeru was standing and realised that the two vague shapes either side of him, masked by dull grey and green cloaks, must have done the shooting. He glanced at a fallen bow on the ground beside him and instinctively knew that if he took it up, he would be dead within seconds. He crouched, gesturing to a group of nearby Senshi.

'To me! Stand with me!'

They were reluctant. They had seen the fate of the four senior officers. But years of discipline asserted themselves and the men grouped around their general. Todoki was shorter than the average Nihon-Jan, and the warriors formed an effective screen. But before he could feel any sense of relief, he heard a massive shout from the Kikori lines.

'Okubyomono!'

The word, emanating from nearly one hundred throats, carried clearly across the the ground to them. Then it came, again and again, as a swelling chant, shouted in derision by the Kikori.

'Okubyomono! Okubyomono! Okubyomono!' Cowards! Cowards! Cowards!

The Senshi stirred uncomfortably as the rolling chant continued. Todoki saw his opportunity. The men might not respond to his threats, but the taunting from these inferior beings must goad them to attack. The enemy had made a mistake, he thought.

'Attack!' he screamed, his voice cracking. 'Attack them! Kill them!'

His men streamed forward, heading for the nearer of the two groups of enemy.

Horace watched them coming, then shouted an order.