Samurai in the Time Rift 5.1

Part 5

The New Land

5.1

In the last three days, the race to the river was an intense one, with the dragons outpacing the group of men. Their orders was to secured the river crossing and patrol the rive river banks, while those on foot are spread out in a line to searched the ground. Their pace may be slower but they are thorough in their attention to every cracks and cover.

The samurai are used to the fast pace set but the ones who complained the most are the Ainu. Their prowess was in the handling of boats and rappeling across boats but now running with loads on their back. That was not their only concern as there were predators on the land outside here. In the cavern, they have seen some creatures; the Hibagon, the small catlike ones, the serpents and there were the smaller ones which they have squashed under their feet. But out here, the predators differ in threat and ferocity. More to that, as they approached the river, the landscape changed with more vegetation and less rocky terrain.

Bento saw the creature in their path; he halted the group from moving forward. Taisa caught up and checked the situation. He saw the creature with the back to them looking at a hole Without any warning, Taisa rushed forth while drawing his katana. He slashed the creature in the back of the knees and kicked at the monstrous creature down the hole. The creature fell down with a scream.

Taisa proposed the group to run fast past while he kept watch. Once the last one had passed, he took one more peek into the hole. He saw the creature lying there not moving. That was his cue to catch up with the group. As he was to take off, he felt someone on his back. The creature grabbed him by the lapel of his coat but Taisa reflex was to down a rear thrust with the katana still held in his hands. The blade caused the creature to screamed out in pain, and that caused the Taisa to panic. If the shout brought on more creatures, he would be trapped and dead soon. He struggled to pull the blade when the creature hit the side of his head with the hand. He lost his hold on the blade and fell forward.

Taisa tried to get up but his body was not responding. He looked up and saw the creature having drew on the hammer to hit him, but the hammer did not come down as expected. Taisa saw the creature dropped the hammer when the arrow struck its elbow. It was not one but two successive arrow at the same time. Then he saw the blur movement of a blade that slashed at the creature midriff. It was all he remembered.

"Gunso, the neck!" Edo called on the Gunso when his blade cut the creature. He pulled out the blade, and thrust it back into the creature chest and then twisted the blade to widen the wound. Meanwhile Gunso had thrusted his yari into the creature neck, stifling the scream from it.

The creature fell down dead and Edo had the body thrown down the hole. He then told Gunso to carried the Taisa with the others. He looked back and saw there were no more creatures coming there.

Bento pulled the bow to his back and assisted in carrying the Taisa while Sun, the other archer was keeping vigilant on the flank. As he was carrying the Taisa, his mind was on the archery skill by Sun. The other was always lagging behind but then in the last few days he had improved. He heard that among the Mongols was one archery master who coached Sun. He envied his friend on the pace of improvement. He was thankful, the Mongols have all perished in the last battle so that mean Sun have lost a master. He would now improved on his own and best out Sun once more.

Sun who caught up from the flank was smiling to himself. He was thinking of the shot he made with Bento. He thought of the short training by the Mongol master, Timun who told him some tricks to get the shot accurate on moving targets. He still have much to improved on the static target. He looked at Bento who was in front carrying the Taisa' legs.

'Bento, my friend and rival. One day I would be better than you.' Sun thought to himself. It was then he saw what may had been a shadow of the creature. He signaled Edo on his action as he crouched down to await the creature. It was a creature on a dragon as mentioned by the Ainu before. Now he was to see the close up of the dragon. The dragon was a hideous creature with its tongue lashing out. Sun heard of the creature's venom in its bite. An idea came to him; if he can injured the creature, he may delayed the creature.

Sun notched the arrow onto the bow and aimed at the dragon. He timed the arrow to hit the eye of the dragon. He wants to blind the creature. His first shot found its target; the right eye causing the dragon great pain. It reared up on its legs and toppled the rider. In its rage, the dragon lashed out at anything near it. It saw its rider but in its anger, it attacked the creature. That achieved Sun' intention as it ran up to the fleeing group.

Taisa woke up with the head swatted with some big leaves coated with herbs. He tried to sit up but Gunso Mita had held him down.

"Taisa, we are by the river but we can't cross." Gunso sighed.

What Gunso Mita did not tell Taisa was that the river was infested with flesh seeking river predators; creatures which resembled the serpent but these one are with a single head and flippers on their body to swim in the water. But their deadly bites were to be feared; a man sized frame of flesh could be removed within seconds. They are named Caribes; the deadly one. As mentioned by Tairi, the Ainu knew that as they had arrived the first time near the river. They tried to find their life there but it did not work out. So they left for inland and met the Gaijin Captain.

Edo and Tairi have been planning on the crossing while the rest kept vigil on the creatures. It was their fourth day at the river banks. The creatures have been searching; of late have reduced in their patrols.

"Edo-san, if we build a larger raft then we may made it across. We can reinforced the raft with more padding of woods." Tairi explained his theory. "My men can built it but we need materials."

They planned it; they would build during the night when the sun is down, and only assembled it on the day of sailing. It was agreed and they proceeded to get the work done. It took them two weeks to gather the materials as wood was available but the means to cut and shaped it was difficult. It helped as the creature patrols are few now; with more time for the group of men to do their work.

"We will assembled tomorrow." Tairi told the Gunso. It was all planned and they tied the parts to make the large raft. It was an easy task except that the creatures have planned an ambush on that day. They came charging; seven of them attacking the group of men.

"Ambush!" Gunso Mita shouted out.

The first casualties were the wa'kuo men; four went down with blows when they retreated in haste. The creatures were all armed with serrated blades on wooden hilt, except one was with a long handled hammer. That last one was Satui. He was now confronting Gunso Mita, who was fallen by the hammer blow. Gunso Mita defended himself with his yari while trying to figure out how to get out the trap.

Edo saw the uneasy position of Gunso and rushed in with his naginata on the creature. He evaded a blowing move by another creature with the serrated blade, and reached the rear of the one carrying the hammer. He swung his naginata on the back of the knees of the creature. That caused the creature to fall down, and he swung his naginata hard on the neck but missed it by cutting onto the right shoulder.

Satui felt the pain on its knees and then its shoulder. If it had not moved, then it would had been its neck severed from the shoulder. It jumped to avoid the next blow and landed on the far side.

Gunso Mita saved from imminent death, pushed himself up and charged at the creature who was wounded, but the call by Bento for assistance could not be denied. Gunso looked to the situation and rolled over with his body like a barrel form before he reached the creature side. It was a move he taught himself as that way the creature taller frame found it difficult to reached a lower target but the shorter opponent was there with his yari thrusting at the creature lower torso from the rear side. The yari tore the lower torso vulnerable flesh causing the creature to cried out

Bento still on the ground; saw the opportunity to draw his katana to thrust into the left thigh of the creature causing it to fall deeper into the yari blade. He then got up and jumped up high to slash the blade on the right side of the neck. His katana did not made full cut on the neck but slashed just on the front side with a wound that cut from the right to the left side. The wound removed the main arteries that flow its essential fluid to the head. The creature fell forward on the cut, causing Bento to jumped aside.

Edo saw Gunso Mita was out of danger, then he focused on the creature he had wounded but that creature was gone. He spied on another which had just killed another wa'kuo. He rushed over and jumped up high with his overhead swing of the naginata.

"Hachiman ( Japanese God of War ) guide my strength..." Edo twisted his body to the side in the jump to placed his naginata against the side of the creature's neck. The naginata cut into the side of the right jaw into creature skull; killing it with that blow.

"To the river!' Taisa shouted as his opponent fell down clutching the left knee and screaming out. That was the last of the fighting creatures; only two ran away from the trap set by them. The men heard his command and hand carried their wounded to the river bank. The scent of blood have driven the Caribes to the river banks, but the raft was almost completed' fifty feet length by forty feet wide to cross the river. It had been reinforced by one feet thickness of wood and vines. They had constructed three long staff to act as steers for the raft.

"Get on the raft. We would cross then." Taisa commanded.

The ones who rode the raft were five samurai, three farmers, two slaves with three Taira sailors. Thirteen men unknowingly were crossing the boundary of one nation to another. The others did not make it for the crossing.

Satui with his hand over his shoulder wound looked at the departing men. He told himself that he would report to Tut this.

Unknown to him, Tut had reported to their Lord; the Mighty Lord Zethre, mightiest of the creatures in his stronghold on the rock mountain of Crema. The Lord resides in the large caverns inside the mountain with his few thousand creatures warriors and the two hundred slaves that he had captured when they come through the skies or rocks into his land. They are kept as slaves and on their expiration, they are sent to the caverns for the Guardians. There are some who are troubled, would be sent immediately.

"Senior Leader Tut, what you are telling me sounds like a raiding party from across the river?" Lord Zethre looked to his warrior with the keen eyes that was his namesake; they said that nothing evades his eyes.

"They are not raiding parties but slaves, my Lord. They came from the rocks like that one." Tut pointed to the serving slave. "They speak the same words like that. They are not ...."

"Silence, you fool. I am the Lord. My words are king in this land. If I said they are raiders from the opposite land, they are whom I denounced. If you displeased with my words, then leave my land." Lord Zethre was an old creature with many years of conflicts with those from across the river. They are not the same as these creatures as they are smaller in frame but equally ferocious. More to that, they are better equipped to fight than Lord Zethre' warriors but the disparity in size gave Lord Zethre the added leverage. With his impatience and arrogance his other namesake was whispered as the Mad One.

"We had a truce for over seven hundred sunrise but that ....incompetent leader there need to be taught a lesson." Lord Zethre spoke and then called on a war council be formed. It was then the Leader of the Senior, the one eyed Hibagon walked in.

"Intai, your presences are late. How come...." Lord Zethre wanted the update on the fight at the cavern.

"I was pre-occupied, my Lord." Intai glared over at the Senior Leader Tut. "The rebel slaves took time to handle. I heard too of a group that crossed the river. Perhaps it would be wise to discuss among the Councils."

"Senior Leader Tut, your presence is not required anymore. Please attend to your own matters." Leader of the Senior dismissed the Senior Leader. Senior Leader Tut excused himself as he was a warring warrior; not a strategist warrior like those in the council.

Tut walked out of the cavern into the open courtyard. He turned his look towards the stronghold of the creatures of Crema. The forefathers build this land when they were chased by the more intelligent but smaller cousins of theirs and banished to here. Their forefathers fought the predators and built this stronghold. They breed and grew their numbers in the cavern and have their pets, the serpents to safeguard their young ones. The gestation of the eggs needed at least one hundred sunrise to hatched and with thir once mating in every four hundred sunrise cycle, their numbers are small but growing.

In the pursuit of lengthening and widening the caverns to make it bigger, they found the God given gift in the inner cavern. They took a long time to break down the solid wall of rocks and stumbled on the eight limbed rare rocks that resembled a sharp cone on eight limbs. It was an accidental move by one of the early forefathers who called on the God to whirl it cone head. It then would vibrate in periodic cycles with spate of time when it remained dormant. Most time when it vibrate, there would be new slaves to be collected on the land. It was discovered by the forefathers much later into its spin offering.

The discoverer was named Tito, and so the God was named Tito Father by the forefathers.