Blade of Retribution Read online

  Sherrie McCarthy

  Blade Of Vengeance

  Book 3 of the Blood Samurai Series

  Copyright © Sherrie McCarthy, 2018

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

  This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

  Sherrie McCarthy asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

  Sherrie McCarthy has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party Internet Websites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such Websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

  Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book and on its cover are trade names, service marks, trademarks and registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publishers and the book are not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. None of the companies referenced within the book have endorsed the book.

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  Contents

  負けるが勝ち

  Free Short Story

  Author's Note

  Proluge

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Epilouge

  The Kitsune Wife

  Sutoku's Story

  負けるが勝ち

  負けるが勝ち Makeru ga kachi

  To lose means to win

  Free Short Story

  Visit www.lynnfrancis.com for your free copy of The Kitsune Wife, a Blood Samurai short story prequel. You can also learn how to be a beta reader in exchange for free copies of upcoming works as well as to learn of new promotions and events.

  Author's Note

  I have continued with the English tradition of first names first, except in the case of the onmyōji, or the official astrologer to the emperor Abe no Tanetadai and the nine tailed fox, Tamamo no Mae. I admit for no other reason than I like the way it sounds! I did the same with The Kitsune Trap.

  Again, all mistakes are my own! Some of them inadvertently and some with full brandishing of my right to create a fictional world.

  I have also included a few more historical figures to play on these pages and some of the names are very similar indeed. If you need help in keeping some of them straight you can grab an overview copy of everyone in the Blood Samurai series here.

  I do not want to insult anyone by implying that the names are too similar to track. But during the Genpei war the three major players from the Minamoto side were Yoritomo no Minamoto, his brother Yoshitsune no Minamoto and their cousin Yoshinaka no Minamoto. These may appear to be very similar to a reader, especially if encountering them for the first time, in the same way that having Sam Richards preceded by a Stan Richards a few chapters later and then yet another S Richards by the name of Sean, could confuse that exact same reader. Authors are advised not to have characters with overlapping initials - especially as family members. The historical record pays no heed to such guidelines! Those were the names I have to work with. And although this is entirely a work of fiction, it does play within the confines of the Genpei War.

  The same can be said about the names Karasu and Kaeru. Convention would have it that those names are so similar to each other that they should not be used. But Kaeru means both frog and to return in Japanese (in particular to return to the point where you began) and it is Takeshima Hime’s desire to return to a time where her family still lived that Kaeru represents to her. Karasu means crow, again, the language did not care that I wanted to play with it!

  Finally, although this books is the last dealing with Riku directly in the Genpei war, it wont be either the last book by Lynn Francis or the last in the Blood Samurai universe. I enjoy writing in a time period with free reign to let pieces of folklore step in and play.

  Follow along the Lynn Francis amazon page to keep up on the latest releases and updates!

  Proluge

  The small child known as Tan to everyone but herself and her mother tossed next to her mother on small mattress on the floor. Her dreams were dark and she didn’t have the words to express what she experienced at night when the darkness descended upon her.

  Sometimes she saw nothing and instead just felt pressure, as if an entire ocean was weighing down on her.

  Occasional during these pressure dreams she would catch a glimpse of something loom out of the darkness. Large eyes, flashes of scales and claws.

  As terrifying as those dreams were she preferred them to the dreams where she could actually see.

  Those dreams always involved so much blood. And pain. And a man who wanted to hurt her so badly. And he always did.

  Both dreams ended when the pressure inside her chest felt so tight that she was sure her lungs and heart would explode.

  Then she would wake screaming and crying and her mother would hold be trying to hold her as the fierce toddler was just as frantic about fighting her off. Until she could recognize who it was trying to hold her, and in a loving embrace rather than strangulation.

  And she would feel her little body yield to the woman who stroked her head and whispered how much she loved her, rocking her and soothing her.

  The child could tell her nothing, for she had no words in her little mind for what she had experienced, other than it terrified her.

  And her mother would curse and swear inside her head, blaming herself entirely for her tiny child’s trauma.

  When the child fell asleep once again her mother stood up and stepped outside to sit on the steps leading to the small house.

  She wrapped her arms around herself and watched the stars still bright in the sky and listened the to the waves that crashed against the shore only a few meters away. The sea she loved as much as she hated it.

  It was the only thing keeping this village alive. The fish were still plentiful, the diving of the ama’s who were able to retrieve treasures that nowhere else in Japan had.

  The famine was widespread. For almost a year and a half not even war had progressed. And then it came back in full. Only with those bloody Taira no longer looking to the samurai to defend them. They had come for the farmers again. And to a lesser extent the fishermen. Not that it had helped her husband. He had been brought in. The ama were called on to feed their village from the sea now.

  The Sessho had died and famine moved in.

  Everyone knew it was a bad omen and a sign of how angry the Gods were with what was happening in this land.

  And yet she knew in her heart of hearts it had much more to do with what happened to her little baby girl beneath the waves that day than anything with the court and the stalled war.

  She stood again and inha
led the breeze that carried in it the salt from the ocean.

  “Why is that it is always the very things we love more than ourselves are the very things that tear our hearts out and feed them back to us?” she wondered as a tear rolled down her face.

  Chapter 1

  “I do not understand why we need to make an agreement with them at all!” Lord Ishikawa roared.

  He stood before Riku and Takiyasha-hime and his rage made his otherwise handsome face contorted.

  Takiyasha-hime raised an eyebrow at him. “Control yourself Lord Ishikawa, this is very unbecoming of you.”

  “Unbecoming! What is unbecoming is how I have been manipulated the past two years. You think because you have sided with that tengu of Sutoku’s that you can displace me completely.”

  Takiyasha-hime sighed deeply and although she began calmly her voice rose as she spoke. “We have done no such thing and you know it. Making an agreement with THAT tengu has kept you alive. Allowing them free reign to cause destruction has both weakened the Taira and kept the tengu very happy. Without them accepting Sutoku as now being a part of Riku rather than Riku being a vessel of Sutoku we both would be dead, perhaps Riku too. Instead we have the tengu accepting Riku as their leader as opposed to Sutoko direct. What I did was a master achievement of diplomacy and it came at no small price to any of us! So no, I do not see why you feel you have been manipulated, unless you mean manipulated in being kept alive!”

  “And yet you still feel the need to make agreements with the Minamoto rather than destroy both the Taira and the Minamoto, which you know we are both capable of!” Ishikawa countered.

  “My path leads to the complete destruction of the Taira. The Minamoto are of no concern to me other than they are allies in my quest as they wish the exact same thing!”

  “But my desire is to eliminate BOTH! That was my deal. That was the deal Sutoku wanted as well!”

  Riku broke in “MY desire was to bring peace to Japan. And now my desire is still to do so. We will eliminate the rot of the empire by ensuring that the Taira are eliminated and that in particular, retired emperor Go-Shirakawa dies at my hand. He has already lost his son Prince Mochihito. The fact that the Taira and Minamoto are tearing each other apart, and that the famine has hurt both sides makes my blood surge and sing with sickening joy. Sutoku is happy that his revenge is finally playing out. Destruction, bloodshed, that is all he wants. The imperial family is hanging on by a thread. We will use the Minamoto to destroy the Taira. And I will then destroy the retired emperor myself. Things are moving along as well as can be expected.”

  Lord Ishikawa stared at Riku and mourned the days when Riku was a young youth on the samurai path trying to make the best decision for the whole of Japan while simultaneously so unsure of himself that he looked to others to give him the guidance to do so. They had created a monster in him. One he no longer controlled.

  “How stupid and consumed with revenge was I to ever assume I could control a demon beast. He doesn’t even know he is my son. And what did I hope to do with that information? That somehow the family bond would hold? Stupid rage filled man that I was” Ishikawa thought to himself. Out loud he asked

  “And do you truly believe that siding with anyone makes sense? Why not storm in and wipe them all out?”

  “Because we need someone we trust to rule and the only person I trust is myself. I will be the overseer to Japan. I will ensure the Minamoto win, and that the imperial family is erased. And it will be me they listen to, just as for years it was the Fujiwara or the Taira. Only I will ensure the code of bushido is carried out. I am the only person I trust Japan too. That is what you created me for. That is what I will now ensure no one breaks.”

  “Do you mean that” Takiyasha-hime asked after Lord ishikawa had left.

  “Mean what?” Riku asked.

  “That you mean to stay and rule Japan yourself. That you will ensure Bushido continues on? Is that you speaking or Sutoku?”

  Riku took a deep breath in before answering.

  “I honestly no longer know who I am Takiyasha-hime. I am sure of only two things. One is that I will wait until the end of time to see Akemi once more. The other is that the evil I have helped to unleash on this land is one I need to help fix. Those are the only two things I can swear to.”

  Chapter 2

  Shinji sat on the temple grounds and felt the bruise of his heart.

  Breathing deep he knew it was ego that was telling him that the calamity that had fallen upon his country was his fault and yet, had he not failed in his duty to keep it safe?

  “You look rather defeated monk” a female voice said behind him.

  Shinji wanted to say that there was a reason women were not allowed in this part of the temple complex, but he knew better than to antagonize this particular woman. He often wondered how she had allowed him to live the past 2 years.

  “Great and honorable Inoue” he said instead “it has been such a long time since I have seen you. What do I owe this honor too?”

  “I am not here to kill you if that is what you are thinking” the fox spirit in it’s human female form said as she slid up and sat next to the monk.

  “I deserve it” Shinji sighed.

  “Only in that you have given into self pity. Although I guess you are not alone in that and for that I can not become too angry with you. It would appear the entire country has fallen into mourning. The famine is so widespread that it even stopped the civil war. Perhaps nature herself feels self pity has its merits.”

  Shinji snorted “you mean that at least she is killing us herself as opposed to us killing each other as we normally do it.”

  “Yes, something like that. The tengu in particular took advantage of the disruption to push chaos. And yet, here we are, we haven’t won but neither have we given up. Much like everyone else.”

  Shinki shifted in his seat so he could look directly at the spirit. “I have been a complete failure. I went to see the monks in Nara and they laughed at me. They wanted to turn me out for suggesting that we gather together and work to fight back. Even Kazuki Nagatok left me when he realized I have no plan other than to seek others out to help us.”

  “I know, I sought help from the water dragons and came back with no real answer either. I was told that they would wait and if it was needed they would do what needed to be done. Maddeningly elusive creatures. And my sister seems to have given up as well. Yet after two years of a scorched earth my soul still feels like it can still bleed. I will take that as a good sign.”

  Shinji looked at her but could think of nothing to say other than “what?” so he said nothing.

  “We have been trying to build an army against Riku and we have been unsuccessful. Perhaps we need to be our own army.”

  “What do you mean?” Shinji asked.

  “That I am a nine tailed fox and the daughter of the most powerful nine tail to walk this land. I am a force of nature onto myself and instead of going straight to confront my nephew I have been trying to shield him and protect him. You are one of the greatest warriors to ever walk this land. You rescued Riku as a newborn infant and protected him for years. We may have failed in keeping him from his fate, but that doesn’t mean we will fail to protect Japan. It is time we go together, to confront him ourselves. The way we should have done from the beginning.”

  “You want us to confront him directly? Just the two of us?”

  Inoue nodded. “No more secrets and lies Shinji. To ourselves or others. We go to fight direct or we die trying. The time of skulking has come to an end.”

  “So you expect that we will march towards Kyushu and expect to encounter Riku and just challenge him to a duel?” Shinji asked.

  He saw a smile play around the corner of Inoue’s mouth. “I have learned, often over and over, that the only way to get somewhere fast is to go direct. In chasing him we will be shown how we will confront him. It is only in trying to avoid that confrontation do we also avoid the meeting with him. It is time for us to trust t
hat the path that unfolds is the one we need to take. No more pushing. No more trying to trick and turn reality into what we want it to be.”