Ranger's Apprentice 10: The Emperor of Nihon-Ja (32 page)

‘Next time,’ Halt said, ‘we won’t get off so lightly.’ They had lost only six men in the battle, with another dozen wounded, four badly. In contrast, they had captured over seventy swords, armour breastplates and helmets from the fallen Senshi – and there were many more of Arisaka’s men injured as well.

As Shigeru’s Senshi and the Kikori warriors were retreating up the narrow pass, Halt had detailed Mikeru and a dozen of his followers to obliterate the tracks leading back to the mouth of the secret entrance. The teenagers did this by dragging large pieces of canvas, sourced from the enemy’s abandoned tents, across the snow over a wide area in front of the gully. Mikeru was a very handy person to have around, Halt reflected. He was keen, energetic and he used his initiative. A small group of Senshi from Shigeru’s bodyguard remained on watch in the narrow gully, in case the enemy happened to stumble over the entrance.

Now the leadership group were reviewing the battle in Shigeru’s cabin. Halt had just voiced the thought that was in most of their minds.

‘Arisaka is no fool,’ Shigeru agreed. ‘He won’t rush in blindly, the way Todoki did. He will look for ways to defeat these new tactics devised by
Chocho
.’ He nodded at Will, who frowned slightly at the term but knew that now wasn’t the time for a language lesson.

‘What we have to do is put ourselves in Arisaka’s place,’ Halt said. ‘Try to work out how
we
would counter the tactics used by the two
gojus
.’

‘Four,’ Will said, and when Halt’s eyes swung to him he elaborated. ‘We’ll have at least two hundred men trained by the time the valley is open again.’

Selethen nodded in confirmation.

‘Good,’ said Halt. ‘But we’ll still be outnumbered and this time we won’t have the advantage of surprise. Arisaka will know how we’re going to fight. So if you were him, what would you do?’

Selethen cleared his throat and the others all looked at him.

‘We discussed this in Toscana,’ he pointed out. ‘Heavy weapons or artillery could break up the
goju
’s formed ranks. Once they lose their integrity, the Senshi can fight in their usual style – one on one.’

‘Arisaka has no heavy weapons,’ Halt replied. ‘And no way of getting any up through the mountains.’

‘True,’ Selethen admitted. ‘Then archers would be the next best thing.’ He turned to Shigeru. ‘How many archers do you think he could muster?’

The Emperor considered the question for a few seconds.

‘Perhaps thirty,’ he said. The rank and file Senshi didn’t practise archery. It was a skill reserved for the nobility.

‘Thirty archers can do a lot of damage,’ Will put in.

Horace leaned forward. ‘But the
kamé
counters that effectively,’ he said, referring to the tortoise formation Will had taught the Kikori.

‘Not if they can flank us and then attack from the rear,’ Selethen said. ‘The second rank will have to turn and face the new attack – and that destroys the
kamé
formation. They can’t keep their shields up over their heads if they’re facing a flank attack.’

Horace made a dismissive gesture. ‘Then we choose a spot where they can’t flank us. The valley below the palisade is narrow enough for that. Or we can simply wait behind the palisade itself.’

‘We can’t do that,’ said Halt. ‘We’ll have to take the fight to Arisaka. He’ll have reinforcements coming from the south. With enough men, he could take the palisade. But the problem is…’ He tailed off, not wishing to voice the thought that was in his mind.

Shigeru looked at him. ‘The problem, Halto-san?’

Reluctantly the Ranger answered. ‘We can’t afford to simply sit behind the palisade and fight a defensive battle indefinitely. If we do that, Arisaka will win. Ideally, he’d like to wipe us out. But if that’s taking too much time, he’ll simply leave enough men here to keep us bottled up, then march south and claim the throne. He can say you’re dead and nobody will be any the wiser,’ he told the Emperor.

Shigeru nodded thoughtfully. ‘And once he has claimed the throne, it will be twice as hard to unseat him.’

‘Exactly. So we need to force him to fight – to make him think it will be worth his while. And if we’re to do that, we need to second-guess him, and work out how he’ll counter our tactics.’

‘In broad terms,’ said Will slowly, ‘he’ll need to smash our shield wall – and outflank us at the same time. Correct?’

The others nodded agreement and he continued.

‘We know he has the numbers to outflank us if we fight him on open ground. If he can attack us, but still keep us at a distance, he’ll force us to advance. After all, our stabbing blades are only effective at close range. And if we advance from a prepared position to get to close quarters, we expose ourselves to a flanking movement.’

Horace was following his line of reasoning thoughtfully. What his friend said made sense. ‘But how can he attack us and keep us at a distance at the same time?’ he asked.

‘I was thinking of something like the Macedon Phalanx,’ Will said.

Shigeru noted the sudden, simultaneous intake of breath from Halt, Horace and Selethen. They all nodded thoughtfully.

‘What is the Macedon Phalanx?’ he asked.

‘The Macedons were warriors who developed a highly effective formation called the Phalanx,’ Halt explained to him. ‘It consisted of warriors armed with long, heavy lances, up to four metres long. They could smash through the front rank of an army before the enemy could make any reply.’

‘And you think Arisaka might know about this phalanx?’

‘No,’ Halt replied. ‘But the idea of using spearmen or pikemen could well occur to him. I’d be surprised if it didn’t – it’s a logical idea. They could attack our front rank and they’d be safe from our short blades.’

‘We’d have to close with them,’ Horace said. ‘We’d have to advance to fight them or our shield wall would be smashed to pieces.’

‘And as soon as we advance, their comrades can outflank us,’ Selethen said.

‘We could use our javelins as lances,’ Horace suggested. ‘We could throw the first volley, then retain the javelins from the second and third rank as stabbing weapons.’

Halt rubbed his chin thoughtfully. ‘That might work. The odds are that Arisaka won’t have men who could handle anything as long as the Macedon lance. It takes years to develop the strength and skill necessary. My guess is they’ll use normal spears, so we’d be fighting spears with spears. But at best, that’ll be a stalemate. Eventually, we’ll need to get to close quarters. That’s where all the advantages lie with our men. So we need a way to stop any flanking movement.’

‘Fifty or so archers would come in handy,’ Will said.

‘If we could train them. And if we had fifty bows,’ Horace replied.

Will nodded despondently. But as he glanced up at his old mentor, he saw a light in Halt’s eyes.

‘I might have an idea,’ the older Ranger said. ‘Will, let’s you and I go and find young Mikeru.’

Will, Halt and Mikeru stood on the parade ground where the Kikori
gojus
usually trained. The troops were resting at the moment so they had the ground to themselves.

‘Mikeru,’ Halt said, ‘can you throw a spear?’

The young Kikori nodded enthusiastically. ‘Of course, Halto-san. All Kikori learn to use a spear when they are very young.’

‘Excellent.’ Halt handed the young man a standard Kikori throwing spear and nodded to a pole some forty metres distant, on which he had placed one of the captured armour breastplates. ‘Let me see you hit that breastplate.’

Mikeru tested the weight and balance of the spear, then strode forward until the target was thirty metres away. His right arm and body weight went back, his left leg extended and then he hurled the spear in a shallow arc. It smashed into the breastplate, piercing it and knocking it from the pole to clatter on the ground.

Halt noted the co-ordination of the throw, with right arm and shoulder, body and legs all combining to put maximum force behind the spear.

‘Very good,’ he said. ‘Will, would you replace the target please?’

Will moved forward to replace the damaged breastplate on the pole, jerking the spear free as he did so. When he turned back, Halt had led Mikeru back to a point fifty metres from the target. Will rejoined them quickly and Halt took the spear from him, offering it to Mikeru.

‘Let’s see you do it from here,’ he said. But Mikeru shook his head apologetically.

‘It’s too far. The spear is too heavy for me to throw so far.’

‘Thought so,’ Halt said. He now opened a rolled piece of canvas he had been carrying and produced a strange weapon, which he handed to Mikeru.

It was a giant dart, over a metre long and made from light bamboo, but with a heavy iron tip at one end. At the other end were three leather fins, laced and glued to the shaft like the fletching on an arrow. Just ahead of these fins, a shallow groove had been carved all the way around the shaft.

‘Try it with this,’ he said.

But again, Mikeru, after testing the weight of the projectile, shook his head.

‘This one is too light, Halto-san. I can’t put any force behind it.’

‘Exactly,’ Halt agreed. Then he produced a leather thong, knotted at one end and with a loop at the other. He wound the knotted end once around the groove at the rear of the shaft, then, holding it firmly in place, crossed the thong over itself, close to the knot, to hold it in place. Then, keeping tension on the thong, he extended it down the shaft to where Will noticed there was a section bound with thin cord, forming a hand grip. He took Mikeru’s right hand and slipped the looped end of the thong over it, then placed the boy’s hand on the cord-bound grip on the dart, making sure he kept the thong tight as he did so.

Understanding dawned in the Kikori youth’s eyes as he held the dart, with the tensioned leather thong extending back over half its length, retained in place by the cord passing over the knot.

‘Now try it,’ Halt said.

Mikeru grinned at him, sighted on the breastplate, leaned back, then hurled his body and arm into the throw. The leather cord acted as a lever extension for his arm, adding enormous extra thrust to the throw. As the missile hissed away on a murderous, arcing flight, the knotted end of the thong simply came free and fell clear, swinging from Mikeru’s wrist.

The dart just missed the breastplate, then thudded point first into the ground some eight metres past it. Mikeru shook his head in wonder.

‘This is good,’ he said. ‘Very good.’ He started out to retrieve the dart but Halt stopped him, pointing to the roll of canvas. There were three more darts lying there.

Mikeru was a natural athlete, with excellent hand-eye co-ordination. And he was already an expert spear thrower. It didn’t take him long to become accustomed to this new technique. His fourth cast smashed into the leather armour, the heavy iron point tearing a jagged hole.

Halt slapped his back in encouragement.

‘Show this to your friends,’ he said. ‘Make more of them and practise with them till you can all do it. We’ve got another seven or eight weeks until spring and I want thirty of you trained and ready with these weapons when we face Arisaka again.’

Mikeru nodded enthusiastically. He had been chafing at the fact that so far he had taken no active part in the battle against the usurper. And he knew his friends felt the same way. This would be their chance.

‘We’ll be ready, Halto-san,’ he said, drawing himself up to his full height and bowing formally.

Halt nodded in acknowledgement. Then he and Will turned away, leaving Mikeru to retrieve the darts and continue perfecting his new skill.

‘Now let’s see what happens if they try to outflank us,’ Halt said.

‘Are you sure this is a good idea?’ Evanlyn asked anxiously.

Alyss glanced up from where she was checking her equipment.

‘No. I’m not. But it’s an idea, and it’s the only one we’ve got. I just hope you’re as good as you say you are with that sling of yours.’

‘I never said I’m all that good. Other people might have said it, not me,’ Evanlyn protested.

Alyss regarded her cynically. ‘Maybe. But I never heard you contradict them.’

The discussion was interrupted by a light tap on the door frame of the room they shared.

‘Come in,’ Alyss called and the screen door slid open to admit Lord Nimatsu. The Nihon-Jan nobleman wore a worried look on his face. He glanced at the bed and saw Alyss’s equipment laid out ready.

‘Ariss-san,’ he said, bowing to her, ‘I see you are determined to go ahead with this.’

‘I’m afraid I have to, Lord Nimatsu. Your people won’t go through that forest unless we show them that we have killed the Terror. And this is the best way I can think of to do that.’

‘But couldn’t you try with another pig – or a goat, perhaps – as bait?’ Nimatsu asked.

Alyss shook her head. ‘The Terror has shown it’s not interested in animals. It only killed the pig to silence it, so that we’d get no warning that it was there. But once that was done, it didn’t touch the carcass. It sat under our tree for hours, waiting to see if we’d come down. It wants people. It’s a man-eater. So this time, I’m the pig.’ She waited a second and glanced at Evanlyn. ‘You could always object to the way I phrased that,’ she suggested.

Evanlyn made a disclaiming gesture. ‘This is too serious to joke about, Alyss. You’re putting yourself in terrible danger. And you’re putting a lot of trust in my skill with the sling. Why don’t we draw lots to see who’s the bait?’

Nimatsu’s gaze switched quickly between the two girls during this exchange. He nodded several times.

‘You are risking a great deal, Ariss-san. Is Ev-an-in-san as skilled as you say?’

‘She’s a lot better than I am with the javelin,’ Alyss told him. ‘So it’s logical that I’m the bait and she’s the hunter. A friend of ours says she can knock out a gnat’s eye with a shot from her sling.’

‘I’m not sure I’m that good,’ Evanlyn said doubtfully.

Alyss raised an eyebrow. ‘Well, this isn’t the best time to tell me that.’

Evanlyn let the comment pass. She knew Alyss’s sarcasm stemmed from nerves. The tall girl was putting herself into a position of appalling danger. She might try to pass it off lightly, but it was only natural that she should be fearful of what was to come.

‘In any event,’ Alyss continued, ‘once it all starts, I’ll be safely tucked up under my shield. You’ll be the one out in the open, having to deal with the big kitty cat.’

She indicated the big wooden shield that had been made to her instructions. Almost two metres high, it was rectangular in shape and formed into a shallow curve. It was, in fact, identical to those being used by the Kikori and she planned to use it to protect herself from the
Kyofu
’s attack.

Nimatsu sighed deeply. He admired this tall, courteous girl and he feared that she wouldn’t survive the coming night.

‘I still say, I don’t like this idea,’ he said, with a note of finality in his voice. He sensed he would not dissuade her. Alyss grinned at him, but there was little real humour in the grin.

‘I’m not mad about it either. But currently, it’s the only idea going round.’

Somewhere close to hand, an owl hooted at regular intervals. When she had first heard the sound, Alyss’s hair had stood on end. Now she had become accustomed to it and it had become part of the overall tableau of the night, along with the occasional rustle of small, nocturnal animals moving under the trees and the soft breath of the wind through the branches.

She stood with her back to the largest tree she could find, the heavy shield planted in front of her, her arm through the support strap, ready to lift it into position. Only her head showed above the rim of the shield. In a scabbard on her right hip, she wore Evanlyn’s saxe knife. The shorter weapon would be more useful and easier to wield than her long sabre – assuming everything went to plan. Her two javelins were rammed point down into the ground beside her. She doubted they’d be any use, but she’d brought them anyway. Her head, face and right arm were wound with tough leather for protection against the Terror’s claws. By now she was convinced that it was some form of giant predatory cat. She had heard tales of tigers and their almost supernatural ability to take prey silently and unobserved. She couldn’t imagine a bulky, clumsy animal like a bear doing that.

She leaned back against the tree. Her legs were aching. She’d been standing here for several hours and the unrelenting cold was creeping up her legs, stiffening the muscles. She longed to sit down for a few minutes but knew that would place her at a disadvantage if the monster appeared. Standing, she could move instantly, bringing the shield up to face an attack from the front or either side. The tree protected her rear.

She moved her legs, trying to get the blood flowing, easing her weight from one to the other. The momentary ease only made the discomfort worse when she placed her weight on the tired muscles once more. She wondered what time it was. The narrow moon had long departed and the shadows under the trees were deep and inky black. She looked up to the platform they’d built in the tree opposite her position. She could just make it out, and see the dark bulk of Evanlyn’s form as she kept watch. At least Evanlyn could sit down, she thought. And that was…

Something was wrong.

She sensed it. Something in the forest had changed. Her heart pounded as she tried to pinpoint the difference. Then, she had it.

The owl hadn’t hooted. Without realising it, she had been counting in her mind after each hoot. The owl had been making its mournful sound regularly, after she had counted between one hundred and fifty and one hundred and sixty. Yet her automatic, almost subconscious count had just passed one hundred and seventy-three.

There was something here. Something close by. Above the rim of the shield, her eyes darted from one side to another, searching the shadows, trying desperately to gain her first sight of the predator, striving to discover where the attack would come from.

‘Alyss! Left! Left!’

Evanlyn’s warning cry shrilled through the forest and Alyss swung to her left, lifting the shield as she saw a vague blur of movement coming at her.

Something huge slammed against the shield and sent her flying several metres. She gripped the handles desperately to retain her hold on the shield, her only hope of safety. She crashed onto her back on the ground, skidding in the powdery snow, the breath driven from her body in one explosive grunt. Then something huge and heavy and incredibly strong was on top of her, with only the curved wooden shield between them as she cowered under it, drawing herself up to protect her head and body and feet, clinging desperately to the handles as the monster tried to tear it away to get at its prey. Now she could hear the blood-chilling snarl of the
Kyofu
as it tore at the wood with its claws, and bit at the top rim of the shield with its massive teeth.

As huge cats do, it had drawn up its hind legs to disembowel its prey with one savage downstroke. But the raking claws met not flesh but hard wood, reinforced with iron. They splintered the first and gouged deep grooves in the second.

The beast snarled in frustration and fury as long splinters of hardwood stabbed into the pads of its paws. Somewhere beneath this unyielding surface, it knew, was warm flesh and blood, and it redoubled its efforts to get to it.

Evanlyn saw the sudden blur of movement from the edge of the clearing as the
Kyofu
launched its attack. She just had time to shout her warning before the monster slammed into the shield, sending Alyss flying. So far, Alyss’s plan was working. She’d managed to keep the big shield interposed between the predator and herself. Now it was Evanlyn’s turn. She kicked the coiled rope over the side of the platform, slid down a few metres, then dropped the remaining distance to the forest floor.

Her sling was already in her hand and as she regained her feet, she was feeding one of the heavy, egg-shaped lead shot into the central pouch. She wanted maximum velocity, so she spun the sling twice, then released, whipping the brutal projectile across the clearing at the predator.

The scene seemed to unfold slowly in her vision. She could see now that the
Kyofu
was a huge cat – much larger than the sand lions Selethen had pointed out to her when they were travelling through Arrida. This was immense, and its coat was white, marked with blurred dark grey stripes.

A snow tiger, she thought. Then her shot hit the animal with a sickening crack, taking it on the left shoulder, smashing and splintering the bone beneath the fur. She moved automatically, reloading the pouch, whirling the sling, releasing again.

Smash! The second shot slammed into the creature’s ribs, fracturing them. The tiger howled in agony and fury and swung its head to see where its attacker lay.

Beneath the shield, Alyss heard the violent, thudding impacts as the two shot hit the beast in quick succession. At the first, she felt a lessening of the pressure on her right side, as the creature’s left foreleg was smashed at the shoulder, leaving it limp and useless. Then she heard another cracking thud and the
Kyofu
was no longer intent on tearing the shield loose. As it raised its head to search out Evanlyn, the weight on Alyss was suddenly lessened and she could move her right arm. She released her right-hand grip on the shield and, with the strength of desperation, clawed the saxe from its scabbard.

Evanlyn placed her third shot carefully, sending it crashing into the animal’s rear left hip. Again, bone crunched and the tiger’s left rear leg suddenly went limp, so that its intended leap towards the figure it could now see beneath a tree across the clearing came to nothing. It flopped awkwardly, without thrust on one side.

The agony in its rear leg flared and, mad with pain, it snapped at the injury with its massive fangs.

As it twisted to do this, Evanlyn’s fourth lead shot hit its head with shocking force.

And at the same instant, Alyss reached round the edge of the shield and drove the razor-sharp saxe deep into the creature’s underbelly, cutting upwards to create a wound almost half a metre long.

The monster roared, a shrill note of baffled terror overriding the heart-chilling savagery of its normal challenge. Crippled, gutted and dying, it collapsed sideways on the snow, now running red with its blood.

Desperately scrabbling with her feet, Alyss forced her way backwards from under the shield, sliding on her back to escape the reach of the horrible creature. Evanlyn ran to her, grabbed her arm and dragged her clear, bringing her to her feet. The two girls clung to each other. Then the
Kyofu
gave one last shuddering screech and lay still.

‘It’s dead,’ Evanlyn said numbly.

Alyss said nothing. Overcome by shock at her ordeal, reacting to the terror of those minutes crouched under the shield, she felt her stomach heave and was violently sick.