The Lotus War - Kinslayer Part 1

Kinslayer.

The Lotus War.

Kristoff, Jay.

PART 1.

SKIN.

"The prelude was Void, And unto Void they return. Black as mother's womb."

So spoke he the first; holy Lord Izanagi, Maker and Father, Unto the second; great Lady Izanami, Mother of All Things, Not his to foresee, the doom of all mortal men, Would also be hers.

-from the Book of Ten Thousand Days.

PROLOGUE.

Now witness the end of the beginning.

A ghost-pale girl, sixteen years old, wisps of dark hair and warm scarlet scrawled across her face. A smiling tyrant, stained with his own sister's blood, a smoking iron-thrower in a white-knuckle grip. The pair standing in the crowded Market Square as children's ashes swirl and dance in the gulf between them. And she stretches out her hand, and opens her mouth, and speaks the last words the tyrant will ever hear.

"Let me show you what one little girl can do."

Fifty-five days ago. Almost two months since the last son of the Kazumitsu Dynasty perished at her hands. So much chaos since then. The earth s.h.i.+fting beneath our feet. The threads beginning to unravel. One by one by one.

Our war of conquest against the round-eyed gaijin collapsed as news of the Shgun's death spread, the threat and promise of a now-empty throne coalescing in every clanlord's mind. And as the shadow of civil war reared over the Seven Isles, the Lotus Guild urged only calm. Obeisance to their puppets in the Tiger clan. Threatening embargoes of their precious fuel-the blood-red chi driving the Shgunate's iron heart-to any who disobeyed their will.

Then came the truth of how that fuel was made.

The words that would begin the avalanche were transmitted over the pirate radio frequencies of the Kage rebels. The Shadows revealed that inochi-the wondrous fertilizer used on blood lotus fields across the Seven Isles-had been manufactured with the remains of gaijin prisoners of war. And s.h.i.+ma's people awoke to the horror that the Imperium, the technology driving it, their entire way of life-all had been watered with innocent blood.

Like flames on long-dead leaves after a breathless summer, or ripples on still water after rain's first falling, the riots took seed and spread. Outraged. b.l.o.o.d.y. But brief. Brutally suppressed beneath the heels of Iron Samurai still loyal to the vacant throne. Uneasy peace settled over the clan metropolises, broken gla.s.s crunching underfoot, as the forty-nine days of official mourning pa.s.sed in s.h.i.+vering, breathless silence.

Until she returned.

Yukiko. Aras.h.i.+-no-odoriko. Stormdancer. Astride the mighty thunder tiger Buruu, fire in her eyes, lightning crawling along his clockwork wings. Flying to every capital, from the Floating Palace in Danro to the Market Square in Kigen city. Her voice a clarion call. Urging the people to open their eyes and open their minds and close the fingers on their hands.

How I wish I could have been there.

How I wish I could have heard her speak. But since the moment Yoritomo's corpse hit the cobbles, I have been running. Fleeing Kigen in a trail of blue-white flame. Abandoning the burnished bra.s.s I had worn all my life in some fallow field, my touch lingering on its surface as if I were saying farewell to my oldest friend. Long miles of empty road under my bleeding feet, endless skies of b.l.o.o.d.y red before my burning eyes, flesh hardened and torn from the weeks it has taken to make it back to the Iis.h.i.+ wilds.

Back to her.

And here I am. Almost there, now. The Lotus Guildsman who betrayed all he knew, all he was. Who gifted a crippled thunder tiger with metal wings to bear him from his prison. Who helped a lone girl slay the Kazumitsu Dynasty's last son and plunge this nation into the tempest. Traitor is the name I will wear in the histories. Kios.h.i.+ was the name I inherited after my father died.

But in truth, my name is Kin.

I remember what it was to be encased in metal skin. To see the world through blood-red gla.s.s. To stand apart and above and beyond and wonder if there was nothing more. And even now, here in the depths of s.h.i.+ma's last wilderness, the dogs closing in around me, I can hear the whispers of the mechabacus in my head, feel the phantom weight of that skin on my back and on my bones, and part of me misses it so badly it makes my chest hurt.

I remember the night I learned the truth of myself-my future laid bare in the Chamber of Smoke. I remember the Inquisitors coming for me, swathed in black and soundless as cats, telling me it was time to see my What Will Be. And even as the screams of those brethren who failed the Awakening echoed in my head, I felt no fear. I clenched my fists, thought of my father, and vowed I would make him proud. That I would Wake.

Thirteen years old and they call you a man.

I had never watched the sun kiss the horizon, setting the sky on fire as it sank below the lip of the world. Never felt the whisper-gentle press of a night wind on my face. Never known what it was to belong or betray. To refuse or resist. To love or to lose.

But I knew who I was. I knew who I was supposed to be.

Skin was strong.

Flesh was weak.

I wonder now, how that boy could have been so blind.

1.

THE GIRL ALL GUILDSMEN FEAR.

Three Guild wars.h.i.+ps rumbled across a blood-red sky with all the finesse of fat drunkards lunging toward the privy. They were capital wars.h.i.+ps of the "ironclad" series; the heaviest dreadnoughts constructed in the Midland yards. Balloons the color of flame, shuriken-thrower turrets studding their inflatables, vomiting black exhaust into opiate skies.

The flags.h.i.+p leading the trio was a hundred feet long, three red banners embroidered with lotus blooms trailing at her stern. Her name flowed down her bow in broad, bold kanji-a warning to any fool who would stand in her way.

LADY IZANAMI'S HUNGER.

If Brother Jubei felt any trepidation about serving on a s.h.i.+p named for the Dark Mother's appet.i.tes, he hid it well. He stood at the stern, warm inside the bra.s.s sh.e.l.l of his atmos-suit despite the freezing wind. Trying to still the b.u.t.terflies in his stomach, quiet his pounding heart. Repeating the mantra: "skin is strong, flesh is weak, skin is strong, flesh is weak," seeking his center. Yet try as he might, he couldn't still the discontent ringing inside his head.

The fleet's captain stood at the railing, surveying the Iis.h.i.+ Mountains below. His atmos-suit was decorated with ornate designs, bra.s.s fixtures and pistons embossed with steel-gray filigree. A mechabacus clicked and chittered on his chest; a device of counting beads and vacuum tubes, singing the tuneless song of windup insects. A dozen desiccated tiger tails hung from the spaulders covering the captain's shoulders. They were rumored to have been a gift from the great Fleetmaster of the Tora Chapterhouse, Old Kios.h.i.+ himself.

The captain's name was Montaro, though his crew preferred to call him "Scourge of the Gaijin." He was a veteran of the Morcheba invasion, had commanded the Guild fleet supporting Shgunate ground troops against the round-eye barbarians across the Eastborne Sea. But when the war effort had begun disintegrating in the wake of the Shgun's a.s.sa.s.sination, Chapterhouse Kigen had recalled the captain and set him tracking a new foe, back on s.h.i.+man sh.o.r.es. To Brother Jubei's great pride, of all the newly Awakened Shatei in Kigen, Second Bloom Kensai had selected him to serve as the Scourge's new aide.

"Do you require anything, Captain?" Jubei stood at the Scourge's back, a respectful distance away, eyes downcast.

"A sniff of our quarry would suffice." Faint annoyance in the crackling buzz that pa.s.sed for the captain's voice. "Other than that, this weak flesh abides." He touched a switch, spoke into his wrist. "Do you see anything up there, Shatei Masaki?"

"No movement, Captain." The lookout's reply was faint, despite him being perched only thirty feet above their heads. "But this forest canopy is thick as fog. Even with telescopics, we're hard-pressed to pierce it."

"Clever rabbit," the Scourge hissed. "He's heard our engines and gone to ground."

Jubei watched a spire of rock drift past their starboard; a black iceberg in a sea of maple and cedar. Thin cloud clung to the mountaintops, peaks crusted in snow, the rumble of engines and heavy thupthupthup of propellers echoing in the forest beneath them. Autumn cupped the Iis.h.i.+ Mountains at the edge of a cold embrace, the colors of rust waiting at the edge of the stage.

The Scourge sighed, hollow and metallic.

"I know it to be the impulse of my weak flesh, but I confess I missed these skies."

Jubei blinked back his surprise, wondering if he should engage his commanding officer in idle chatter. After long empty moments, the young Guildsman decided it would be impolite not to respond, speaking with hesitance.

"... How long were you stationed in Morcheba, Captain?"

"Eight years. Eight years with nothing but blood-drinkers and skinthieves for prey."

"Is it true the skies above the round-eye lands are blue?"

"No." The Scourge shook his head. "Not anymore. Closer to mauve now."

"I would enjoy seeing them one day."

"Well, the sooner we butcher our rabbit, the sooner we get back there." Gauntleted fingers drummed the wooden railing. "I'd hoped to run him down before he reached the Iis.h.i.+. But he's resourceful, this one."

Jubei looked at the s.h.i.+ps around them, bristling with weaponry and mercenary marines. The discontent rapped at the inside of his teeth, demanding to be let out for air.

"Forgive me, Captain," he ventured. "I know Old Kios.h.i.+'s son is a traitor. I know he must be punished for crafting the thunder tiger's wings, aiding in its escape. But this fleet ... all this effort to kill one boy seems..."

"Excessive?"

"Hai." A slow nod. "I have heard rumor that Old Kios.h.i.+ and Second Bloom Kensai were as brothers. That Kensai-sama raised the traitor as his own son. But, forgive my temerity-does it not seem to you there is more important prey for us to be hunting?"

"You speak of Yoritomo's a.s.sa.s.sin."

"And the Kage rebels who shelter her."

The Scourge glanced at him, grim amus.e.m.e.nt in his voice.

"Shelter her? She is not exactly hiding from us, young brother. Visiting all four clan capitals in the past fortnight. Bringing the skinless to the edge of outright rebellion. Slaying the Shgun of this nation simply by looking at him."

"All the more reason to hunt her down, surely?" Jubei felt righteous anger curdle his voice. "The citizenry say we in the Lotus Guild are afraid of her. A slip of a girl. A child. Do you know what they call her, Captain? The skinless, gathered in their filthy gambling pits and smoke houses? Do you know the name they give her?"

"Stormdancer," the Scourge replied.

"Worse," Jubei spat. "They call her 'the girl all Guildsmen fear.'"

A hollow chuckle echoed inside the Scourge's helm. "Not this Guildsman."

Jubei lost his voice, stared at his feet, wondering if he had spoken out of turn. The Scourge glanced at one of their support vessels, the Lotus Wind, rumbling a mile off their stern, twin trails of blue-black exhaust spewing from the ironclad's engines. He touched a switch at his chest, spoke again into his wrist, iron in his voice.

"Captain Hikita, report."

"... o sign," came the faint reply, almost inaudible through the static. "... ut we are almost directly abov ... site where the Resplendent Glory picked ... tsune girl last summer ... ronghold should be ... rby."

"He cannot be far," the Scourge growled. "He left the river only last night, and on foot. Have your munitioneers prepare a fire barrage. Five-hundred-foot spread from the water's edge. Time to flush this rabbit from his hole."

Confirmation crackled down the comms channels, tinged with reverb.

The Lotus Wind banked ponderously and trekked back south, the drone of its propellers smudged across the sky. Jubei saw fire crews swarming over the decks like tiny armored ants, loading incendiary barrels, setting ignition charges. He was scanning the forest canopy when the Wind's captain signaled the barrage was finally primed and ready. The Scourge's voice hissed down the all-comms frequency.

"Lookouts, eyes open. Captain Hikita, commence bombardment."

Jubei saw a cl.u.s.ter of black shapes fall from the Wind's belly, tumble down into the autumn shroud below. A second later, all peace shattered, a series of dull whumping booms accompanying the blossoms of flame bursting amidst the trees, unfurling a hundred feet into the air and buffeting the Hunger like a child's toy. Faint vibrations pressed against Jubei's metal skin as the Wind cruised the shuddering riverbank, setting huge swathes of the forest ablaze.

The flames caught and spread, licking autumn leaves with fevered tongues, a curtain of choking soot and char drifting through the woods on blackened feet. Off the starboard side, their second escort, Void's Truth dumped a second cl.u.s.ter of firebombs amidst the ancient trees, trembling reverb echoing down the river valley. Flocks of shrieking birds took to the wing, animals of all shapes and sizes fleeing north through the undergrowth, away from the grasping flames. Jubei watched it all unfold with a kind of fascination-the power of his Guild's technology obliterating what had taken centuries to grow in a matter of moments.

"Any sign?" the Scourge asked over all-comms.

"Negative," reported the Wind's lookouts.

"No sign," from the Hunger's eyes above.

The Truth's reply popped with faint static. "We have contact. Three hundred yards, north-northeast. Acknowledge?"

"I have him," reported the Hunger's lookout. "Seventy degrees starboard."

The Hunger's pilot kicked the engines to full burn, the propellers' song rising an octave as they swung about to begin pursuit. Jubei engaged his telescopics, scanning the s.h.i.+fting c.h.i.n.ks in the forest canopy as a sudden sweat burned his eyes. The vista below crackling sharp in his vision. Smoke coiled amidst moss-encrusted giants. Falling leaves and fleeing birds. An empire of bark and stone. But at last, yes, he saw him, he saw him-a thin figure in dirty gray, darting between two gnarled and looming maples.

"There!" Jubei cried. "There he is!"

Short dark hair. Pale skin. Gone.

"Ground crews, prepare for pursuit." The Scourge's command was calm as millpond water. "'Thrower teams full alert. Second Bloom has ordered us to liquidate target on sight."

The Truth's shuriken-throwers opened up, followed by the Hunger's; twin batteries of razor-sharp stars spraying from their flanks and shredding the curtain of curling leaves below. Severed branches crashed earthward, the chug!chug!chug!chug! of the 'throwers ringing over the rush of starving flames. Jubei thought he saw their quarry flitting amidst the undergrowth, a hail of gleaming death raining all around him. The Hunger's marines were performing final weapons checks, readying to drop into the woods below. Flames to the south. Troops and spinning death from above. Ironclads overhead.

Jubei smiled to himself, surging flames reflected on metal skin. The rabbit had led them on a long chase, to be sure. But at last, his luck had come to an end.

The Scourge turned from the railing, grim satisfaction in his voice. "You may get to see Morcheba sooner than you-"

A flash of light.

Searing. Magnesium-white. It took a split second for the shock wave to catch up to the flare. Jubei saw the air around him grow brighter, highlights glinting on bra.s.s skin. And then came thunder-a shuddering, bone-shaking report sending Lady Izanami's Hunger skidding sideways across the sky, engines wailing in soot-smeared protest. Jubei lost his balance, and to his shame, clutched the Scourge's arm to stop himself falling.

A rush of superheated air. Tortured metal screaming, the hollow thudding booms of secondary explosions. Jubei turned, breath catching in his lungs, unable to comprehend what he was seeing.

The ironclad off their starboard. Void's Truth. A complement of twenty Guild marines, twelve Lotusmen, four Artificers, six officers and thirty crew. All of them.

They were falling from the sky.