Lost Kingdoms Gaiden

Ross Erdmann
Lost Kingdoms Gaiden
Assault on Zhi Shao
“Now I know what you are
The soul’s lighthouse.”
The young man sang beneath the cherry tree. His brown eyes set into light tan skin and short black hair told of his Oriental heritage. He wore a simple black tunic along with a plain black pair of pants. The only thing that stood out was a small red scar on his right check, the graph “Majin,” the Demon People.
“A beautiful song,” Shizura Jen said as she entered the glade. “Although I only came in time to hear part of it, what’s it about?”
“Lord Jin Karnishu,” he replied. “He is my soul’s lighthouse. He is the star I’ve chosen to follow through this sea of darkness. Would you like to hear the rest?”

“Somewhere a forgotten star shines
For some reason, I think it wants to give something to me

No one’s found it yet
Lost in the endless sea

But I’m determined
I want to get it!

At a crossroads with many different signs
I think I’ve lost my way

Throwing out the oracle bones of myself
I try to find what’s real

Yet you still send out the same warm glow
Shining through the tears

Now I know what you are
The soul’s lighthouse”

“’My soul’s lighthouse?’” Shizura mused. “Well, it’s your style anyway.”
“’Your style?’” Suun thought whether he should take this as a compliment or not. After turning it around a few times in his head, he decided to change the subject. “Shizura, what are you doing here? I thought you hated fighting.”
“Not all that is dark is evil,” she replied. “Nor all that is beautiful good. People have to learn that. It is how something looks at the surface that is the most dangerous because it’s the first thing they see and the first thing that they believe. You need to cut through the surface and judge what’s inside for yourself. That’s the only way to make your own ‘good.’ Anyway, why are you here?”
“This glade,” Suun motioned to the surrounding green fields. “One day the whole world will be this way. We will make it this way; my lord will make it this way. That is why I fight. To end this era of chaos and bring in the new age of peace.”
“To bring in the new age of peace,” Shizura turned to start heading back to the Jin camp. “It’s getting late. I’m sorry but we’ll have to continue this later, Suun-chan.”
“’Chan?’” Suun looked down at his small body. His small frame-less then five feet-and soft features combined to give him an almost feminine appearance. “Hey! Don’t call me ‘Chan’!”
“Why?” Shizura laughed as she ran away. “You look even more girly then I do!”
In the clearing, the cherry blossoms began to fall. A harsh wind blew, scattering them over the ground. No one was around to see them.
“It has begun,” Lucied observed. “The Jin forces have already begun their movements. It is only a matter of time before they lay siege to us here. I believe their plan is to cut through here at Zhi Shao and head straight for our fortress at Yuan Ping.”
“We could retreat to Yuan Ping and make our stand there,” Tokguyo So suggested. “Zhi Shao is desperately understaffed for the assault force that’s coming, and we can’t expect any reinforcements to come in time.”
“No,” Yuan Zhang disagreed. “If we run, than the Jin will just follow us and attack our backsides. It’s safer to fight then to run. Even you should know that, Tokguyo.”
“Even me?” So roared as he rose from his chair to address the assembly. He cast his gaze around at the other members before returning to his previous seated, calm position. “I suppose you all think this will be easy. I hear Li Suun is among the officers Jin has sent.”
Lucied, who had previously only been half-listening, became suddenly attentive at that mention of that name. “The demon swordsmen? I thought that he was in the Zin province.”
“Li Suun. The demon swordsman,” So sneered. At least one person was paying attention. “Known for the sign of ‘Majin’ on his cheek. Sometimes called the most fearsome warrior in all of the empire.”
“And he’s not all!” So continued. “He commands the Black Lotus Shock Troops! Some of the fiercest men alive are in there.”
“Suun Li. The Black Lotus,” Ping snorted. “They’ll be a lot less fierce when they’re dead.”
That started another argument as So questioned Zhang’s battle prowess and Zhang accused So of cowardice. Both warriors had a point. Zhang was getting old and his skill with the pike wasn’t what it once was; So was known to be only comfortable when surrounded in safety and was the first general to leave the field when things were going bad. “Children,” a voice snorted. “Its no wonder we’re having so many problems with Jin.”
“Master?” Lucied looked up at the speaker. “What do you say? Fight or flee?”
“There is no question,” he answered. “Let all who question run. Those who value life above all else have no place here. Only those with the courage to fight join me.”
“Lord Li Suun will take the north,” Zhou Yin, the Jin lead general spoke. “The guards outside the fortress will try to secure a route to escape. They must not retreat. Our march to Zhi Shao depends on it.”
“It is an honor,” Suun said. “My Black Lotus forces will take them in a storm of fury.”
“Excellent,” Yin said. “Lord Han Zhon will hold the west and Lord Rin Thon and I will guard the other two sides.”
“There is one other thing,” Thon spoke up. “The rebels lack the supplies for a lengthy siege. I give them three, maybe four days at most. They will be frantic to hold the escape routes. Once the troops outside have been defeated, we should hold the fortress in a stranglehold.”
“That is the last thing we should do!” Suun exclaimed before regaining his composure. “I mean, despite me being unworthy in wisdom and lacking in virtue, I object to such a course of action. Was it not said that sieges are to be used as a last resort and to make campaigns as sort as possible?”
“You are correct,” the aged strategist agreed. “But the majority of the Ikkon rebels here are non-combatants. Taking this into consideration, a siege is the most prudent option. Our goal is to defeat Ikkon, not to decimate Ikkon.”
“Understood,” Suun bowed. “Forgive my doubts.”
“’Surrender?’” Suun laughed to himself. “I don’t think so.”
“That’s the plan anyway,” Cheng said. Cheng was a young man, one of the leaders of the Black Lotus, and lieutenant under Li Suun. He fit the “warrior” image much better then Suun did with his almost 6 foot well-muscled body. Walking together once, someone had once mistaken Suun for Cheng’s sister. Hence, Cheng sometimes called his senior officer “Suun-chan.” Right now he was leaning against a tree, his Blue Dragon pole arm beside him.
“I did not come to make friends with you,” Suun said, referring to Ikkon. “I came to kill you.”
“Well said,” Cheng said. “I don’t know what the rules of war are, but I don’t know who told the enemy that we would follow them.”
“Indeed. Well, Cheng, what are you doing here? What do you plan to do after the chaos ends?”
“I’ll think about that after you achieve glory,” Cheng replied almost instantly. “Although, I just remembered something I found in one of your strategy books. ‘Give your enemy a way out.’”
“Oh, I remember that part,” Suun laughed. “I am giving the enemy a way out. The way out is the afterlife!”
“There may be a day when the courage of men fails!” Yuan Zhang rode on his white warhorse while he addressed his unit. “But that day is not today! Today we fight! The true measure of a man is not the deeds that he does in life but the world that he leaves to his children!”
“Destiny lies in our hands!” he continued. “History begins today! Your actions will dictate the course of this land. Follow my orders and I swear you will conquer death!”
A cheer came from the men as they flung their weapons into the air. “’The true measure of a man is the world that he leaves to his children’” Huang Lin said as he road up.
“Soon we will inherit the child,” Zhang sighed. “My wife is about to give birth, you know. That is why I fight. I fight to create a world where he does not have to live in chaos.”
“And for me to create that world,” he said as he flourished his pike. “Suun Li, Yin Zhao; you die here!”
“Let me give you the first rule of combat!” Li Suun spoke to his Black Lotus troops. “The first rule of combat is that there is no rule of combat! Kill every man, woman, and child that stands in our way! Attack!”
“Here we come!” Cheng added as the troops charged forward. “I hope you’ve made peace in this world because today you all die!”
The Ikkon forces were taken completely by surprise by Suun’s attack. The madness at Zhi Shao had begun.
“Jin general Lord Li Suun has begun his attack,” a messenger ran into the now-empty conference room. “The first line to the north was taken completely by surprise. The slaughter is everywhere. It’s only a matter of time before he gets here.”
“Li Suun,” Lucied said. “So he’s finally come.”
“I’ve been hoping to avoid this day,” Master Qin Liang shook his head. “But in my heart I knew it would happen. Send word to Lord Yuan to strengthen our defenses.”
“Lord,” the messenger bowed and then left.
“Li Suun,” Master Liang said. “Wasn’t he the man that killed your family, Zhen?”
“Zhen is dead,” Lucied retorted. “She died back there with all the others.”
“Very well,” Master Liang sighed. “Zhen is dead. Wasn’t he also the one who left that mark on your face?”
“Yes,” Lucied took off the mask she always wore. On her face was the large scar “Andedo,” undead. “He was the one who did this to me after he killed my family.”
“And now he’s come here,” Master Liang observed. “A most interesting opportunity. Will you take it?”
“I will,” Lucied then changed the subject. “About Tokguyo though. What do you think we should do about him?”
“Wherever there is light there is shadow,” Master Liang sighed. “But the shadow cannot shine. Do what you will.”
“Master,” Lucied bowed before vanishing from the room.
“Wherever there is light there is shadow,” Qin Liang said again after Lucied disappeared. “Find your own light, kunoichi.”
There is no honor beneath a grave that says ‘I lived honorably,’ Tokguyo So thought as he sped along the path to Yuan Ping. I’ve sworn to help end the chaos. I cannot die here.
“You know there’s a safer place to run to then Yuan Ping,” a feminine voice rang out as a chain sped from out of the treetops before impaling So. “It’s called the underworld.”
“Zhen,” So gasped. “Why?”
“It would ruin Master Liang’s name to be associated with cowards like you,” Lucied said simply.
“But Zhen,” So coughed. “I’m doing this for you. Don’t you see? It is Li Suun you should be fighting, not me. Zhen, don’t you get it? I lov…”
“Zhen is dead,” Lucied snapped as she ripped the chain out of So’s body, killing him. “Only shadow remains.”
“The first line just fell,” Huang Lin reported. “Li Suun has broken through and he’s coming right for us.”
“Already?” Yuan Zhang demanded. “He’s fast. I didn’t expect him to get here so soon.”
“Perhaps we should call for reinforcements. I hear the left flank is doing exceedingly well,” Lin reported.
“No,” Zhang shook his head. “After what I said, how could I show my face again if I asked for help this early in the fight?”
“I guess you’re right,” Lin said as he climbed down from his horse.
“I suppose I should apologize,” Zhang chuckled. “If it weren’t for me, you could escape to Yuan Ping.”
“No need to apologize. I would have stayed anyway,” Lin turned his gaze to the rolling fog of dust coming closer. “They’re almost here.”
“Alright then! Archers ready! Shoot all enemies down!”
The Jin troops under Li Suun walked out of the dust that they had kicked up only to find a rather unpleasant welcoming of a volley of arrows. The attackers fell one after another but still the group wouldn’t even pause over their dead.
“Charge!” Suun yelled about 20 yards away from their target. “Annihilate every last trace of the enemy!”
There was time for one last rain of arrows before the two forces closed in for melee. “Have at them!” Zhang commanded. “Don’t let them take another step!”
The Black Lotus had a slight advantage. Zhang had some more troops and his forces were well rested. However, Suun’s troops were fanatical. They didn’t tire and fought to the death. “Victory at any cost. Next to the mission, an individual life is irrelevant,” Suun had hammered into the brain of each one. Unfortunately, the same could not be said for the Ikkon forces. Many of them were visibly shaking, much of the rest were just barely sustaining their courage.
“My lord!” a soldier ran up a few minutes into the skirmish. “I’ve brought the item you asked for!”
“Excellent!” Suun exclaimed. “I’ll protect the ram as it heads for the gates. Cheng, down their throats.”
With the enemy lead general gone, the momentum took a small shift to the Ikkon side. Still, it was only enough to slow Cheng’s advance as the Black Lotus continued to show their superior training.
“My lord,” Lin said to Zhang as he continued to watch the battle progress. “Please flee! Tell Yuan Ping to get ready for the coming assault. We’ll do our best to hold them here.”
“Flee?” Zhang asked as if surprised that such a thing would be even mentioned. “No. I won’t just turn coward and leave my men here.”
“But staying here is suicide,” Lin argued. “My lord, do not forget. Your wife is expecting. What will she say if you die here?”
“If I were to leave my men, then what would she say?” Zhang retorted. “And what of you, Lin?”
“There is no one waiting for me to come back alive!” Lin proclaimed fiercely. “But my lord, your wife.”
“If I were to withdraw, what would she say? If I were to retreat what would she tell our child?” Zhang asked. “That I was a coward? No, my child will never be ashamed of his father. He will never be looked down upon because of who his father was.”
“I want to be a great man worthy of praise,” he continued. “Regardless, I don’t intend to die here! It is written; know your enemy, know yourself, never know defeat!”
Energized by those words, Lin rushed right into the midst of the fray in an attempt to rally his troops and to help defeat the enemy. He managed to slay a handful of enemy troops before Cheng heard news that the enemy lieutenant had charged. The two met and Cheng killed Lin in three passes.
“Lin?” Zhang looked in dismay at his fallen subordinate. “Lin, you son of a bitch! You bastard! I did not give you permission to die!”
“My, my,” Cheng said. “It would seem that you still have some strength left in you, old man.”
“You impudent little whelp!” Zhang yelled before charging. “I’ll teach you a lesson!”
“Fighting’s what I do,” Cheng said before rushing in to meet the challenge. “Got a problem with that?”
The two jumped before meeting each other. Zhang tried to strike low at Cheng’s groin while Cheng tried attacking Zhang’s head.
“Not bad old man,” Cheng said as he landed. “This will be fun.”
“Insolent little freak!” Zhang growled before continuing his attack.
Zhang moved with a speed belying his own age. As the two pole arms clashed together again and again, Cheng found himself surprised that he was having a hard time keeping up.
“Our lord is in danger,” one of the soldiers instructed another. “Hurry, hurry!”
Cheng managed to use his strength and size to push the other man away. He planed using this moment to collect his breath before a few more passes with Zhang. The others; though, had their own plans.
“Fire!” the soldier shouted and one arrow flew at the panting Zhang before slamming into his leg. The elderly warrior fell onto one knee before, to everyone’s astonishment, managed to pull himself up again.
“Again! Again!” was ordered and Cheng could only watch in dismay as another arrow planted itself in Zhang.
“I cannot die,” Zhang managed to spit through the bloody foam before struggling to his feat and managing to totter the distance between him and Cheng. “I will return to my wife’s side. I must not die here.”
“Old man,” Cheng said as he finally understood.
“Again!”
“Enough!” Cheng yelled but too late as a third arrow flew but still Zhang refused to stay down as he continued to limp forward.
All fighting ceased on the battlefield, the winds seemed to cease, Zhang struggled forward, and Cheng waited in respect for the old man to arrive. Finnaly Zhang stopped and lurched forward. Cheng rushed to the falling warrior, he fell onto his shoulder. “I think I’ve thought of a name,” Zhang breathed. “Hato.” Those were the last words Yuan Zhang ever said.
“’Dove,’” Cheng said as he let Zhang’s dead body fall to the ground. “Is this it? To take fathers away from children? Is this it? What am I fighting for?”
All at Zhi Shao heard Cheng’s cry of sorrow.
“Weaklings!” Suun yelled as he slew three more of the enemy. “Return to dust.”
“Preparations are complete, my lord!” one of the engineers reported. “We can begin at any time.”
“Begin!” Suun barked. “Tear down the gates and then destroy everything in our way!”
The sound of thump, thump, thump could be heard coming from the walls as the ram tried to break an entrance. It is a true melody of madness.
“Hurry up you fools!” Suun yelled as he cleaned up the last of the enemy guards. “How long can it take to knock down one wall?”
“Just a little longer, I assure you, my lord,” as the head engineer spoke, a crack sprang from the wall. Soon enough an entrance was made.
“Good,” Suun congratulated. “Disturb a nest of rats and some are sure to check on you. I’ll finish up here, you attack.”
The small group of troops that had escorted the ram burst into the halls of the fortress. They expected to see a mass of enemy guards waiting for them. They thought wrong.
“I guess Lord Li took care of them,” one of them grinned. “Let’s rest here a mome-“
His voice ended in a scream as a chain lashed out and ripped through his body. “Vanish into shadow.”
“Who’s there?” another asked as they clamored for their weapons.
“Lucied,” she identified before walking out. She pulled her chain out of the man before twirling it over her head and around her body. The blood and all the other bodily fluids dripping over her red ninja uniform making her look like a creature from some primal nightmare. “But you may call me ‘The Angel of Death.’”
“I am not on any one side,” Shizura said as she walked through the bloody graveyard of the battlefield. “I am on humanity’s side.”
Dead bodies littered the ground as far as the eye could see. Ikkon and Black Lotus, Li and Qin, Imperialists and Rebels; what was the difference? The blood of each side mixed together now in a vile liquid. In the end, each would be buried in the same mass grave.
In the end, what was accomplished? Neither side was defeated, neither side was even significantly weakened, nor would the battle be remembered. An excerpt in the text books, and those weren’t even always accurate. Was this what so many fought and died for?
“Can you tell me?” Shizura said as she picked up a small body from amongst the cadavers. “The difference that is so important that violence is the only solution? Can you tell me what is so important that so many would die for?”
The body did not answer. Hatred had taken its voice, now madness had stolen his future. All what was left was her to gently set the body down, like a mother placing a baby down on his bed.
“There is nothing wrong with true peace. The question is: is humanity ready for it?”