L5r - scroll 04 - The Phoenix (23 page)

The mountain was unreachable by normal folk—a phantom seen only fleetingly above the clouds. The Mistress of Air located Narayama quickly on the fourth day of her journey. It lay deep within Rokugan's northern range, Seikitsu sano Yama no Oi. Narayama's icy peak thrust high into the air, its summit curving back down toward its lower slopes. It looked like the immense, beckoning finger of a frozen god.

Uona soon discovered the hiding place of the Black Scroll she had been sent to fetch. The research she'd done in the Phoenix library gave her good directions. Yet she did not claim the artifact at once.

Instead, she perched atop the sloping peak and drank in the world below. She sat there for days, perhaps longer, her powers shielding her from the elements and sustaining her through hunger and thirst.

Though the quest for the scrolls was urgent, she had time before she needed to return home. She cherished that time. The other Elemental Masters would be able to reach her—just as they had on her last journey to a mountaintop. She did not expect any such message this time.

Tsuke's mission was complete. Isawa Tomo had likely finished his task as well. She had utter confidence in the Master of Water. In fact, she quite liked him—though she would never admit it to his face. Tomo always seemed so happy. Necessity didn't drive him the way it did Tsuke, Tadaka, Kaede, and—yes—even herself. Of all of them, Tomo seemed best to understand the Tao of Shinsei.

For a fleeting moment, Uona wished her heart held such enlightenment. She pushed the thought aside. Tomo's placidity could also be a weakness. Of them all, he was the one most likely to be content where the river of life took him. Uona did not like the river's current direction.

The Black Scroll. In her mind, she saw it, encased in ice, in a cave just below the summit of Narayama. What secrets the scroll held! How it might help their people in the war against Yogo lunzo and his dark master! Yet...

Yet she worried, in a way she could never admit to anyone, even—at times—herself. Did she deserve such knowledge? Could she control such dark power? Could any of them? A frown creased the Mistress of Air's pretty face.

She felt suddenly ashamed. Surely she had put such doubts behind when she ascended to her lofty position. She was the Mistress of Air, one of the Council of Five—supreme commanders of the Phoenix and the best shugenja in all Rokugan. Such thoughts were unworthy of her.

How the others would laugh if they suspected her doubts.

Uona drew a sharp breath. The cold air bit into her lungs. The time had come.

Standing, she put her foot on the slope and glided effortlessly down the icy peak. She slid along the frozen surface, arms extended to her sides, reveling in the sensation. Her red and gold kimono billowed out like a sail. The wind crept between the silk layers and caressed her body.

She skidded to a stop, her feet kicking up a spray of ice crys-lals. The sun turned the frozen shards into a glittering rainbow. Before her loomed the ice cave, its depths tinted blue with frigid air. At the limits of her vision rose a sheer wall of ice. In that wall lurked a dark shape—the case of the third Black Scroll.

Uona stepped into the cave. Her sandalled feet made small puffs of snow as she walked. She passed the threshold and entered the blue gloom. Huge icicles, like stalactites, depended from the ceiling; their stalagmite brothers thrust up from the lloor. Uona felt as if she were walking into the maw of some gigantic, frozen beast.

She wound her way through the icicles to the translucent wall. The Mistress of Air put her hand against the frozen surface and chanted. The wall was riddled with small cracks, fissures that would make her job easier. Howling winds came to do their mistress' bidding.

Uona manipulated the wailing breezes into the cracks, widening the fissures and pushing the ice apart.

Suddenly, the wall shattered.

Uona started, barely able to form a protective barrier around herself as shards of flew. An icy dagger ripped her kimono and traced a line across her hip where the winds hadn't surrounded her quickly enough. Uona bit her lip and ignored the pain. A thousand razor shards fell to the floor.

Then, something strange happened. Before Uona's startled eyes, the shapes on the floor reformed. Soon a thousand tiny ice samurai surrounded the Mistress of Air. The samurai screamed, a sound like breaking glass, and charged.

They were on her before Uona fully comprehended what was happening—climbing her kimono, cutting with their tiny swords. Uona shrieked with pain. She tried to brush the diminutive samurai away, but was cut deeply on her right palm.

The discomfort brought her to her senses. She raised her arms above her head and calmed her mind. The samurai climbed steadily upward, scaling the Mistress of Air as if she were a mountain. Uona summoned the power of the air. Winds howled in anger and rushed to protect their mistress. They encircled her, thrusting the tiny invaders aside and embracing her.

The small samurai flew away. Many fell to the ground; smashing when they hit. Some were blown out of the cave entirely. They toppled helplessly until they struck the mountain face far below. Those few that remained, Uona crushed under her sandals. She took some satisfaction in the crunching sound the samurai made when they died.

Uona inhaled deeply and looked down. Her legs and hips were covered with tiny cuts, as if she'd scraped her body against a rocky hillside. The skirts of her beautiful red and gold kimono had been completely shredded. The silk hung in tatters from the obi at her waist. She frowned, wishing brieflythere had been more samurai to vent her anger on.

Pushing the thought aside, she reached into the gap in the icy wall and seized the Black Scroll. The case was bitter cold, colder than ice; her hands burned at the touch. She turned the wind into a protective barrier, but where her magic met that of the scroll, angry green sparks flew up.

Uona worried the conflicting magics might harm the artifact. She tore some tatters from her kimono and wrapped the scroll case in them.

Thus protected, she took up the scroll. The cold still stung her, but Uona could bear it awhile. She flew out of the cave, back lor Kyuden Isawa. Behind her, Narayama vanished into the clouds.

JUNZO'S LAIR

The floating Black Scrolls held the Master of Earth's attention for long moments. Then he noticed something else.

A pedestal made from writhing iron scorpions sat in front of the three floating scrolls. On the stand lay a sealed scroll case. It was wrinkled, like the skin of an ancient serpent. Shimmering kanji covered its black surface—spells intended to hold the evil power within.

That power whisper to Tadaka. The ancient case held a fourth Black Scroll—Tadaka felt it in his bones. What's more, the scroll had not yet been opened; Junzo hadn't used its dark power.

The Master of Earth smiled grimly. The evil shugenja would never wield the power of that scroll. Tadaka crossed to the pedestal, a sudden impulse compelling him pick up the artifact. At the last second, he stayed his hand.

Surely Junzo would not leave such a prize unguarded—even here, in the heart of the Iron

Fortress. A low chant whispered from Tadaka's lips. He closed his eyes. When he opened them again he could see the dark enchantments surrounding the pedestal.

Malevolent red energies, like the arms of an octopus, twined around the scroll case, binding it to its base. Other auras left the scroll and snaked out across the room, embracing a freakish sculpture, two sai hanging on the wall, another scroll, and several additional artifacts. These objects were the scroll's guardians. Tadaka would have to break the magical connections before he could take the scroll. Otherwise, the powers of the ensnared artifacts would attack him.

Sundering the magical tendrils might also awaken the items, so Tadaka would have to twist the auras, bend them away from the scroll case. None of the standard spells would do. He would have to create a new variation.

Sweat beaded on the Master of Earth's brow. The Fortunes only knew how much time he had. The room's dark magic tugged on his mind. He rubbed his brow and closed his eyes. The chants and invocations for dozens of spells flashed through his memory—none quite right. Mystical auras were tricky, far more suited to his sister Kaede's magics.

The knowledge you need is before you,
a voice whispered in his mind.

Tadaka started and opened his eyes. Looking around, he saw no one. Nothing moved in the room. The sound of his own nervous breathing filled his ears. Had it been his own mind that spoke? Tadaka forced his will into iron. He would find the proper spell to release the scroll. If he calmed his mind, the solution would be within easy grasp.

Slowly, Tadaka realized that he was right—literally.

The three Black Scrolls glowed brightly in their supporting auras just a few paces away. The scrolls were repositories of great magical knowledge. Surely they would have the power to free their "brother." If Tadaka were to scan them ...

The Master of Earth took a tentative step forward. He felt the power of the scrolls calling him. He took another step on leaden feet. A third step. He put his hand out, but a warning sprang up in his mind. No. He wouldn't touch them. He didn't need to. He needed only to look, to study—to read the blazing kanji on the black silk.

Slowly, he forced his eyes to the first scroll.

A bolt like lightning blazed into his eyes. Tadaka's body shook. His brain tingled, as if a thousand ants were crawling over it. The kanji burned into his mind, setting off thoughts and memories that the Master of Earth didn't know he possessed. The power to free the fourth scroll was here—that, and so much more.

He moved quickly from one scroll to the next, drinking in what he saw, not daring to touch the artifacts or unroll them fur-I her. Time slowed to a crawl. How long he lingered over the black silks, Tadaka could not have said. The scrolls scribed their arcane knowledge on his mind. He could read their powerful kanji even with his eyes shut.

When he finally forced his eyes away, Tadaka knew the answer. It was so simple, he couldn't imagine why he hadn't seen (he solution before.

He stepped back to the ensorcelled scroll case and began to chant. The energies surrounding the scroll pulsed and danced. They grew brighter, and then dimmer, keeping time with the Master of Earth's drone. He attuned his mind to the spell, and then attuned the spell to his will. Finally, the magical auras parted. They drew back slowly, like metal bars bending in the hands of a strongman. A gap in the magical cage opened—a hole l.irge enough to retrieve the prize.

Tadaka stuck his hand through the opening and withdrew the sealed Black Scroll. He clutched the ebony scroll case to his breast and chanted the auras shut once more.

He stepped back and exhaled slowly.

Without warning, red energy streaked from the case and up through the vaulted ceiling. The chamber trembled, as though with an earthquake. A crimson glow took shape opposite the room's main door. The malevolent energy opened like the maw of a giant oni. Through the portal stepped the corrupt form of Yogo Junzo.

A smile cracked the evil shugenja's wizened face.

"So, Tadaka," he said, "come to visit your old friend Junzo, eh?

You should have informed me you'd be dropping by. I would have arranged a proper reception." Junzo's tattered robes and ornate jewelry made no sound as he walked toward the Master of Earth.

Junzo circled the Phoenix master slowly. Tadaka turned with him, keeping his eyes on his enemy. The Master of Earth clutched the fourth scroll tightly to his chest.

"To what do I owe this honor?" Junzo asked, his honeyed voice dripping venom. "Have you come to join me after all? I hope so. Together, we could rule all of Rokugan."

"If you had your way, Fu Leng would rule the world," Tadaka said, "and you would be his lap dog."

"Not a dog," Junzo said, still circling, "a friend. A confidant. A mighty daimyo serving his emperor. You could be one, too. We would be equals, you and I—like brothers: I, the first servant of the lord, and you his first follower."

As Junzo circled, the room's artifacts assumed a life of their own. Oni statues climbed down the chamber's skeletal walls. The skin-covered seat grew a demonic face and crept forward. The great chest snapped its drawers open and shut, hoping to find flesh to devour. Tadaka cursed himself for not seeing the trap sooner.

Junzo held out his plague-stained palm to the Phoenix shugenja. "Take my hand, Tadaka," he said. "Fu Leng is generous with his friends, but merciless to his enemies."

"Never!" Tadaka cried. He found a small jade star in the sleeve of his robe and flung it at his enemy.

The star sliced through the air. Junzo brought up his hand to ward it off. The points of the dart sliced across Junzo's palm, and he bled evil red energy. Tadaka shoved the scroll case into his belt and drew his katana.

"Kill him!" Junzo shrieked, pointing his wounded hand at the Phoenix.

The scorpion stand that had held the fourth scroll shattered into pieces—each an iron scorpion. The creatures quickly devoured one another, growing as they did. Soon, only four of the monsters remained, each the size of a large dog. The scorpions scuttled forward to attack.

As the monsters grew, Tadaka reached the entrance, but the serpents and centipedes on the door had twined their metal bodies around each other, forming a dense, tangled lock. Metal snakes struck out at the Master of Earth. He fended off the attacks with his sword. Then, realizing he could not escape quickly, Tadaka turned back to the giant scorpions.