Robert Newcomb: Rise of the Blood Royal

The Black Ships’ journey from Ryoto to these distant flatlands had been accomplished by way of azure portals. Several Shashidan divisions, orbunkatsu, had gone through first to make sure that the staging area south of the lower Tani Kinkiro entrance was clear of the enemy. Each division held ten thousand male and female katsugai mosota. Only after the staging area was deemed free of the enemy were Tristan’s two Black Ships and the remainder of the Shashidan army allowed to follow. As Tristan watched the Shashidan forces continue to pour forth from the whirling airborne portals, their growing ranks seemed endless.

Once gathered, the Shashidan forces would be staggering in their power. Each cohort, orkensai, held ten divisions, for a total of one hundred thousand fighters. Like the Rustannican legions, each kensai was commanded by an expert mystic ormahotsukai. The Shashidan army held thirty kensai, meaning that it easily numbered three million katsugai. Julia Idaeus had informed them that the Rustannican legions numbered at least that many soldiers, perhaps more. As Tristan looked around he realized that when finally assembled, the Shashidan forces would stretch across the sky as far as the eye could see. Six million warriors would soon clash in one of the mightiest struggles ever witnessed on earth.

The Shashidan attack would be partly an airborne assault and a partly a ground assault, Mashiro had told the Eutracians. The goal was to strike with speed and surprise while Vespasian’s troops were still busy plundering the gold. Half of the Shashidan forces were already on their way north by azure portal to a point above the far entrance to the Tani Kinkiro. When both staging areas were ready, two opposing Shashidan attacks would crush Vespasian’s legions guarding the valley entrances and then proceed toward each other down the valley’s length, killing as they went. Vespasian’s legions situated in the valley would be forced to hold their positions if they wished to keep on harvesting gold. But the trapped Rustannican forces would surely fight back with everything they had, and the struggle would be savage in its ferocity.

TheInkai guessed that Vespasian would realize it was better to keep what gold he had taken and retreat to fight another day, rather than remain in the valley and fight it out. The loss of the gold would be unfortunate, Mashiro said, for it would enable Vespasian to continue fighting this war for decades to come or longer. Even so, during the brief time available to them, the Rustannicans could not have pilfered enough gold to make any appreciable difference to the Shashidan coffers.

Taking back the valley was the main goal, theInkai decided. But should Vespasian foolishly decide to fight to the end, the katsugai would gladly oblige him. So as to speed the lightning Shashidan attack, no slow-moving supply lines would be established unless the battle became a protracted one. Like the Rustannicans, the Shashidans had conjured beasts at their disposal. But because transporting and handling the various Vigors beasts was a laborious process, it was decided that they would not be employed despite the presence of Rustannican Blood Stalkers and Bedevilers. The katsugai mosota understood that they alone would bear the full weight of the attack, and they accepted the responsibility with relish.

As Tristan and Wigg watched, ever more Shashidan airborne war barges exited the azure portals, each one crammed full of katsugai mosota. Soon the great airships would blot out the sky. When Tristan had first seen the Black Ships, he was staggered by their size. He couldn’t imagine that any vessel of the sea or of the air might eclipse them in sheer magnitude. But he had been wrong.

Unlike the frigatelike Black Ships, the Shashidan vessels were true barges. Also known astataki fune, their primary mission was to bring as many katsugai to the fight as possible while protecting them at the same time. Azure portals were infinitely faster at transporting soldiers and materiel, but their inherent drawback was the immediate vulnerability of those rushing from its depths as they emerged onto the battlefield. Although far slower, the flying barges afforded greater protection to the troops while deploying them where the real fighting raged.

Each tataki fune was square in shape, measuring four hundred meters on every side. Their hulls were flat, and each one could accommodate a full Shashidan division of ten thousand katsugai. Made of wood and protected against harm byInkai enchantments, they carried no sails but were empowered by expert katsugai craft practitioners, four to each barge. Their wooden sides were straight and flat, with portholes through which the katsugai mosota and barge pilots could look out. Each tataki fune was painted a vibrant color matching the armor color of the katsugai division that it carried. To give them a fearsome appearance, intricately carved heads representing various Shashidan mythological beasts projected from their bows, and corresponding tails were fixed to their sterns. They were truly amazing craft constructs, and their magnificence only added to Tristan’s growing sense of awe.

And commanding it all-her authority over all the Shashidan forces absolute-was the woman called Hoshi of the House of Lotus Blossoms.

Tristan had not seen Hoshi that day, but he knew that she was there somewhere, busily preparing the Shashidan forces for their attack. He knew so little about her, he realized.

How old was she really, he wondered, and how had she come to be the supreme commander of all the Shashidan forces? Was she in fact ancient and protected by time enchantments, as were the other members of theChikara Inkai? Her youthful appearance was incongruous among theInkai elders, yet her vision and counsel were equally respected. Tristan assumed that only theInkai superseded her military authority, but he could not be sure. One thing was certain, however: She was a true warrior. Moreover, she brooked no misbehavior from her katsugai, and her orders were sometimes expertly enforced by the use of her sword. As well they should be, he thought grimly.

Just then Tyranny, Scars, and Ox approached. Saying nothing, Tyranny produced her gold case and lit a cigarillo. Like Wigg and Tristan, today she wore her Eutracian clothes. Tristan smiled as he was reminded how piratical she could appear.

Tousling her dark hair in disbelief, she took another deep lungful of smoke as she watched the huge tataki fune taking up their massive formations in the sky.

“I see it, but I still can’t grasp it,” she breathed.

“I know,” Tristan answered, remembering to speak only Eutracian in her presence.

“Ox always believed Black Ships big,” the huge Minion said. “They be nothing next to Shashidan vessels.”

Tristan was about to respond when one of the Shashidan war barges floated dangerously near theTammerland. It was packed to overflowing with eager katsugai. As the barge pulled alongside, its katsugai bowed to Tristan reverently, but foremost in his mind was the worry that the two vessels might collide. He was about to order Wigg to shear theTammerland away when he saw an armored katsugai mystic officer levitate from the barge to land on the Black Ship’s foredeck.

The fighter stood there for a moment, looking at him from behind an elaborate war mask. This was Tristan’s first glimpse of a fully armored katsugai close up, and the effect was chilling.

Armor covered the katsugai’s head and body, leaving virtually no place vulnerable to attack. It was constructed of lightweight metal plates bound together by leather cords, each plate overlapping the next. The plates had been lacquered a shiny black to make them waterproof and to identify the cohort and the air barge to which he belonged. Chain mail connected the plates at strategic joints, allowing for freedom of movement. The various pieces included a breastplate and back-plate, greaves, gauntlets, footwear, and an elaborate helmet. Broad shoulder pads of bright red woven metal draped down over the upper arms. The gloves were of black chain mail.