8 by Christopher M. Struck

Author:Christopher M. Struck
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Asian Fiction, Japanese History, Miyamoto Musashi, Betrayal & Revenge, Biographical Historical Fiction, Samurai warriors, Asian Myth & Legend
Publisher: BHC Press
Published: 2020-12-16T00:00:00+00:00

We receive word that Gifu Castle is under attack before dawn. We pack and ready for the journey to defend one of the key positions on the Nakasendo Pass under the light of the full moon, which casts the world in splendid silver. When the sun rises on this place, mere hours from now, it will be as if nothing and no army ever set foot on this field. The only memory will be the blood stains that will wash away in the next rain.

Rumors circle through the ranks that the situation is dire and that we fell into a cunning ruse set up by the fabled military leader, Tokugawa, who was known for strategic genius in the seven-year war. A war where he would have met and known Toda-sama well. They may have even fought alongside each other in the great Battle of Bunroku, yet now they have been recast as mortal enemies fighting for control of the unified Japan that they once swore to protect.

Eight years is a long time. In those same eight years, I went from novice to samurai and now lead fifty men in the defense of one of our most important garrisons along the road between Edo and Kyoto.

I feel my sword hilt where my hand rests and watch the army march at a deliberate, but quick pace on the long, dirt road north. The uniformity and the array of colors. We, the blues. Others, the greens and reds.

We march and my mind drifts to the memories of the child of not long ago. We went off to war so quickly that I forgot to appreciate fully the moment when I earned my sword and earned the magnificent armor I now wear. I barely remember it.

They handed it to me just after or just before the arrival of Sasaki-sama from the East. Walking along now in this solemn march, I smile thinking of how I had longed for that day more than any on my road to becoming a samurai, and still, despite all that yearning and building toward that moment, I had forgotten it like any other trivial step on the path toward now.

For hours, I would dance in the dojos with my wooden sword. Or under the open sky with only the woods to watch and hear my grunts and cries striking the air with open hands and the trunks of iron trees with closed fists.

Now, I could dance, I could twirl, I could run along carving a line of rage through the ground with the blade kicking dirt up into the wind, but all I really want to do is raise my chest to the air and yell with the men. My men who march beside me full of all the same purpose, but for similar reasons.

It will be glorious indeed. Our battle with the eastern armies of Tokugawa. They will write songs of this day, the day that the men of Toda arrived in Gifu to save the castle on the western shore of the Kiso River.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.