The Great Clans of Rokugan: Legend of the Five Rings: The Collected Novellas Volume 2 by Robert Denton III & Marie Brennan & D G Ladaroute

Author:Robert Denton III & Marie Brennan & D G Ladaroute [Denton III, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: epic fantasy, magic & mystery, legend of the five rings, samurai
Publisher: Aconyte
Published: 2022-05-03T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Sukune sat on a fallen tree, apart from the rest of the Crab, and stared at nothing. His aides sat where they could watch over him, but otherwise left him alone.

A dozen bright spots of pain glowed across his body, myriad small injuries. But they were minor hurts; he didn’t even know when most of them had happened. Nor did it matter, because he was used to his life having a pervasive background of pain.

Besides, there were others in far more pain than him.

They had fallen back to higher, drier ground not far from the Cave of Bloody Ghost Fire. The gashadokuro hadn’t followed; it menaced the Tattered Ear while they covered the withdrawal, but likewise didn’t pursue when Sukune finally pulled them back, either. For now, it seemed intent on remaining close to the cave – but even that seemed uncertain, given the Transcendent’s dreamplea to Sukune. He certainly couldn’t discount the possibility it would return and resume its attack.

Sukune rubbed his eyes. Yes, the expedition had regrouped, so they would not be taken by surprise. Now they huddled in a defensive ring, wary of the Tainted swamplands around them, ready to fight, or to further withdraw. But that offered no solution to the greater problem. They had suffered grievous loss – the Hida could barely field more than a third of their original strength – they were still mired in the swamps, their jade would soon be insufficient even to see them safely back to undefiled land – and not only were they were no closer to defeating the gashadokuro or retrieving Kikyo, but those things actually seemed even more out of reach.

At least they had recovered Kuni Yori. A Tattered Ear scout had found him stumbling through the swamp, dazed, a purpling bruise on his forehead. Kana had apparently struck him and Daigo before her delusional rampage, and then he’d become separated from the rest of the Crab during their retreat. It was a small piece of good news, as was Daigo’s recovery from her attack.

Kana. Sukune sighed out a breath. Yori claimed he’d had at least some suspicion about Kana after they had summoned the kansen, and that he’d been prepared to deal with her – at least, mostly prepared. “What I had not anticipated,” he said ruefully, “was that she would negate my most painstaking preparations by hitting me with a stick.”

But Sukune should have suspected her himself. Whatever personal burden of pain she had borne had left her vulnerable to corruption, because such was the insidious nature of the Shadowlands. Indeed, instead of discreetly ignoring it, Sukune should have thought to find a way to help her. After all, did they not all have vulnerabilities, cracks through which the Taint could infiltrate? Did it really make sense to hide their respective pain behind a mask of determined strength, rather than sharing it, and dealing with it?

No one should have to be that strong.

But it didn’t matter now. The damage had been done.

Sukune sighed again.

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