Through the river's murkey waters still dark even in the predawn light, Risako and her clan members plunged onwards. The river was shallow enough at this time of year to allow the small group and their mounts to ride through its waters safely and quickly. As their mounts plunged ahead, the fountain of water that sprayed up from their passage frightened several of the creatures of the forest in their passing.
"How much farther till we reach Bandithaven?" Izo asked as he pulled parallel to her.
"We are not far from Toscana territory and Bandithaven isn't much farther. We'll follow the river for a little while longer, then we will have to take to the woods or risk being shot out here in the open." Risako replied.
"Tell me, Risako, what is Bandithaven truly like?" he continued.
"It is a torn black and twisted form of a overgrown village. Chared parts of the original village of Dansha still stand in some places, but the ratty buildings of the bandits are what fills its borders. With the exception of the Black Tower. It was there that I dueled Kazuo. Of all the horrors I have witnessed in my life, Izo, nothing was more terrifying tormented and twisted than the Black Tower and its inhabitants. The villager who pointed me in the direction of Keiji spoke of what happened to some of his own family inside that building. When we enter Bandithaven in victory, the first thing we must do is burn the Tower." Risako answered, blinking away the memories of the failed battle she had fought within the horrible Black Tower. Why she had even survived in that dreadful place was beyond her, though she knew that now as she rode, she was heading back to the place where she had once almost met death.
A chain and knife snaked out across the water and she was forced to duck as the chain and its deadly end hissed omniously as it returned to its owner. In surprise she and the others reigned in their mounts and turned to the source. Perched on the river's bank stood a man dressed in the clothing of a Toscana. There was something vaguely familiar about him as she and the others fanned out to cover one anothers backs. Other forms dropped from the trees above into the river amonst Risako and her riders and the original attacker jumped into the river directly before Risako.
"Halt," the attacker began, "Kinlan scum. You may go no farther."
It was then that she recognized the voice and turned a pale shade of blue as she whispered, "Kage? How can it be? Keiji told me you killed yourself that night."
"I was dead, but I have been summoned back." Kage replied as he swung the chain around and openly challenged Risako.
Grimly she slid off the back of her mount and as she drew the twin katanas, she winced as the palm still sore from its wounding and the long ride clasped the hilt of the katana. She was certain that from beneath her black glove she saw a single red tear streak along the katana's hilt.
"Then I shall send you back to the Underworld, where you belong!" She answered the chain as she struck the surface of the river with the tip of the katana. Only in the flail of the water did the others see the meeting of katana and chain.
Keiji rode at the head of the thin column composed of Conlan, the fourteen former mounted samurai of Masake's army, ten of the archers who had snared Keiji in the first place, and himself. He knew his plan was risky, but he had to take a chance on it. Kazuo would be expecting the traditional plans of battle from him. By attacking this way, they had slight to slim chance of victory today. Yet everything had come down to this one day. Failure was not a option. To many lives had been lost and dishonored to let the red day dawn in Kazuo's favor. For the first time in ten years, the sun would light their backs in victory, not his.
Beside him he became aware of Conlan saying something, almost as though it were a oath, in his strange native language.
"What are you saying, Conlan?" Keiji asked of the aging knight.
"I am praying to the souls of my beloved. I am asking for the support of my departed wife and son. Today, Keiji, we will all have revenge for our loved ones." Conlan answered.
Keiji knoded in understanding. Today before the sun had looked upon the land, Keiji had found himself staring out into the darkness, silently begging Masake for his favor.
"Do you ever miss your homelands, Conlan?" Keiji asked.
"Yes and no." Conlan replied, "No, becuase I found a life here I was willing to devote myself to, and yes, becuase now I have lost that life."
"Maybe we all can begin anew after today," one of the mounted samurai, Arata, said in passing.
One of the archers who had gone ahead of them called back with a twice called bird whistle. Keiji tensed and he knew that they had passed into Kazuo's domain and that the second bird call meant a army lay ahead of them.
His hand found the hilt of Juzo's katana and for a brief moment, Keiji felt a pang of regret that Juzo was not here to see their final triumph, and then he drew it from its sleeping chamber and it blinked brilliantly in the mornings light as the sun dared to look upon the scene.
As they cleared the forest, a roar of hatred and outrage greeted their arrival as a see of rust colored armor glared back at them for their intrusion. The red and black banners of Bandithaven snaped into attention at their arrival.
Smart banners, Keiji thought with a grin as their own crimson and blue banners caught the wind and flailed in greeting to the somber army of Bandithaven.
