The Samurai led their horses carefully up the ancient stone steps and across the heavy rope bridges, arriving at the upper landing where Yuki and Kirito had seen the Oni.
There was nothing about at the moment; just the cold wind that whipped through the spires of rock upon which the citadel was built. The horses jostled nervously, though there was plenty of room for them on the landing – which offered a spectacular view to anyone who cared to look over the edge. Below was a sheer drop, six hundred feet to a jagged floor of broken rock and stone.
From the landing, the Samurai only had fourteen more steps to climb and one final rope bridge. Having situated the horses, they moved up the steps and across the bridge, knocking loudly on the heavy ironbound door that led from there and into the citadel.
There was the sound of a bar being raised, and then the massive door swung outward slowly, revealing the beautiful, yet cold face of one of the four Samurai-ko who had made an appearance at the tournament with the mysterious old man.
“Welcome Samurai of Sendai; Master Yunikawa is expecting you,” she said with a soft yet unemotional voice, as she made a bow – “Come inside out of the wind and into the warmth of the Master Yunikawa’s fire.”
Moving in cautiously, the Samurai and little Kioko saw a large and inviting meeting hall, set with dark and intricate wood furnishings and lit by a large fireplace on each side. To the far end was a raised platform with a small rock garden and coy fish pond built into it. Seated on a high-backed chair bordered by a carved pair of dueling dragons was the mysterious old man from the tournament – Master Yunikawa; blind-eyed and baldheaded. Seated before him on the floor were the three other Samurai-ko he had been seen with earlier.
“Welcome to my home,” Master Yunikawa said in a frail yet deceptively articulate voice. “I am glad to see that you have come. I have a matter to speak with you about, but first I will show you all the proper hospitality. Please come in and warm yourselves. We will eat and see to your rooms for the evening and then we can talk business.”
“Oh, what’s this then? You brought a little So-Kitsune with you? She is welcome too of course – you can tell me all about her as we dine.”
At that, the three Samurai-ko seated before Master Yunikawa rose, and after a short bow to the Samurai of Sendai, they and the one who had opened the door, retired through an archway exiting the room to prepare the dinner.
Looking around, everyone could see a number of these rounded archways, all leading away into other parts of the citadel – and one of which (immediately off the meeting hall) looked to lead into an expansive library and study.
Kioko clamped onto Yuki’s leg and had a look of extreme uncertainty about her – and her little spirit familiar was still hiding inside Yuki’s armor, having yet to even so much as peek out. Kioko was staring at the archway leading into the library and would not turn away, practically hiding behind Yuki’s leg from it.
Master Yunikawa seemed to notice this and spoke to her in a reassuring voice (though the last part was obviously meant as a warning to the Samurai as well – “Do not fear little one, they will not harm you, or even move from that spot, as long as you do not try to pass that arch – it is forbidden and to do so is death. It is important that you understand this.”
Still having Spirit Sight up, Yuki and Kirito understood what had gotten into Kioko and just who ‘they’ were – two massive unmanifested Oni stood guard outside the archway entering the library. They were Me-Zu-Oni, fourteen foot tall, seven feet wide, shaggy horse-headed demons that wielded great iron ono (double-headed pole axes) – each of the massive axe blades wreathed in a strange bubbling silver energy.
These were Captains of Dai-Oni-Nai-Anchi’s Iron Circle’s Army – Independent demons of the First Circle and they stood guard, scanning the area with a piercing gaze that could actually be seen radiating from their eyes – a gaze that Kirito knew could pierce any illusion.
Their presence here, and the Kyoso-No-Oni outside, spoke volumes of Master Yunikawa’s power – These were the very most dangerous of Oni to summon and exceedingly difficult to bind – only the most powerful of Wu-Jen could even attempt such a thing and few there were brave enough to take the terrible risk involved in doing so.
Then looking upon Master Yunikawa, Yuki’s heart jumped a beat. At the tournament, she had been sure that she had seen a feint line of spiritual attunement (exactly as hers) with him, while in the Magically warded area. Here however, there was no such line and the area was certainly not warded against magic – far from it – the place was simply overflowing with arcane energies!
As for her danger sense, she could feel no immediate threat - though this place was certainly not safe.
It made her feel on edge - sort of like she imagined she would feel if she decided one day to sit on the edge of a volcano to have tea with a dragon...
Author
Topic: Mythic Nippon Adventure III (Read 361342 times)