"To think," He said to his lieutenant, Shinjo Tama, "that the Crane spent so much regaining the beauty of these fields after the Clan Wars." Kanjin took another look around the satled ground, destroyed to deny the Mantis any spoils, "Only to be ruined by their own hand..." The shugenja quietly felt the pain of the earth kami and shook his head.
The Shinjo lieutenant pointed to the western horizon, "It is a medium-sized detachment from Yoritomo's main army, perhaps to scout if anything was left by the Crane in their abscence." The green banners and armor moved closer, and Kanjin simply nodded. "Magistrate," Tama said quickly, his head moving to the south. "Our scout returns."
The young Shinjo bushi flew with the speed of the wind as his form appeared from atop a rise. Even from this distance, Kanjin could see he had been injured. The shugenja swore quietly under his breath as the scout drew nearer, "He's been seen," He muttered, "and the Mantis know we're here."
The scout came up to the two men and dismounted, bowing low before Iuchi Kanjin. His eyes fell to the ground, and the Magistrate saw several marks on the scout's light armor, where arrows had almost found him. "My lord," he said, without taking his eyes from the ground, "Their soldiers outnumber ours by only a few, and they do not appear to have seen battle for a very long time. They move towards your army, my lord."
"You were seen." Kanjin responded simply.
"Hai, my lord."
Kanjin looked to the armies of the Mantis, now perhaps an hour away. Already two horsemen had broken from the front to parley with the Unicorn. "It is no matter," The shugenja said, still looking to the horizon, "We are in no position to try and hide ourselves." Kanjin looked to the scout, who awaited a command. "To your horse, soldier, and prepare to make war with the Mantis."
"Hai!" The scout barked. He remounted the steed with ease and sped off to his position in the waiting army.
"We fight, then, lord Magistrate?" Tama asked, not questioning his lord, only asking for clarification. In the short time Shinjo Tama had served with the shugenja, he had learned that Kanjin was a man who desired peace above all else, despite his firey nature.
Kanjin adjusted his black kimono and nodded. "I will speak with the Mantis advance soldiers. I will demand they break off their pursuit of the Crane, and they will refuse, acting under orders from their commander." The shugenja turned to Tama and ordered, "Inform the rear guard to prepare for a surprise attack." Tama nodded and broke from his lord's side. The magistrate knew the chances of such an attack were nearly none, but wished to deal with the two Mantis samurai himself.
Kanjin waited calmly as the two Mantis bushi came to him. As they approached, the magistrate called out, "I am Iuchi Kanjin, Magistrate of Emperor Toturi the First!"
The Mantis stopped their horses near Kanjin, and one bowed his head, staying in his saddle. "Iuchi Kanjin-sama, we have been given the voice of our lord, Yoritomo Rohei."
Kanjin nodded, "You will inform your lord Rohei that he is commanded by the Emperor's Law to break off and return to the lands of the Mantis."
"Kanjin-sama, we cannot. Our lord's army pursues the Crane, who have attacked us and run as cowards. The Mantis will not allow this insult to their honor pass."
"It is the place of the Emperor's magistrates to deal with those who break his laws of peace. Those same laws command you to stop your attack."
"I am sorry, Iuchi Kanjin-sama. We cannot."
Kanjin fought back the urge to scream at the bushi, why? He knew well the ways of bushido, better than many shugenja would ever know, but he would never understand them. "I see," He said finally, "Why does your lord Yoritomo Rohei-sama not speak with me himself?"
The bushi that had stayed silent suddenly looked nervously at his companion. The Mantis that had spoken quietly bowed his head and said, "My lord Romei says he did not wish to speak with gaijin filth."
Kanjin's eyes blazed, and for no apparent reason, the wind blew harder for a moment, "Tell your dog of a general that his failure to obey the Emperor will cost him his life. Tell your lord Romei, who has run from more battles than many have ever seen, that his disrespect will cost him his name!"
The quiet bushi nodded, but the one who had been speaking narrowed his eyes, "Your words go too far, Unicorn!" and reached for his blade.
Kanjin's eyes flashed white, and he whispered a single line of prayer as his hand moved toward the Mantis. In a horrible moment, a gout of flame sprang from Kanjin's palm, and blasted the Mantis bushi to the ground, his flesh charred.
Kanjin turned to the other bushi, "Return to your lord, soldier!" The Mantis nodded and spurred his horse forward.
Tama returned to Kanjin moments later, and regarded the corpse on the ground. "The guard holds for an attack," He reported.
"We will hold this ground, and give chase only if the armies of the Mantis attempt to march around us." Kanjin spoke as he surveyed the surrounding lands. The plains gave the Unicorn soldiers, almost entirely on horseback, a great advantage. The shugenja looked around again, then to the army approaching him. The Mantis still marched towards the Unicorn, taking the same path that the armies of the Crane did only days ago.
"Spread the soldiers on horseback out to receive a narrow charge, and ready the infantry with pikes." Kanjin ordered Tama, his mind drifting into the detached place where the soldiers became nothing more than numbers, the ground becoming a tactical consideration, and the abilities of his men becoming statistics.
The flanks widened, and the Unicorn cavalry spaced themselves enough to allow the Mantis partway into the ranks.
Into the slaugter.
"Ready the arch-" Kanjin stopped himself as the Mantis army came into focus. Now only perhaps ten minutes away, he saw the light catch off their armor, as they marched. They moved as a sea of green, their colors almost blending into the grassy plains...
"Tama! Set the pikemen to the rear and north flank!" Kanjin barked, the possible guerilla tactics coming into his mind. Tama obeyed without question. Both men had faced the armies of the Daidoji twice, and both times a similar manuver would be employed. The army would move in two parts, one leading, then the other meeting up with the first half. If one was set upon, the other would be used as an ambush party, on in this case, if the enemy had wandered near where the advance party had already camped...
Just then, a great shout rose from the marching armies of the Mantis, and to the north, the grassy plains seemed to explode with soldiers as blankets were thrown into the air, revealing another, hidden, unit of the Mantis. The ambush party charged into the north flank of the Unicorn army, but the pikemen had been given enough time to receive the charge. As the green-clan bushi ran forward, the Unicorn infantry raised their pikes from the ground, and nearly every man in the first wave was killed, cutting down the surprise unit's size by a fourth. The combat on the north side continued then in close quarters, but the Mantis were not prepared to fight an even battle.
Kanjin looked to the west, where the other unit of the Mantis marched steadily in. He could see the general, Yoritomo Rohei, and could see the shock on his face as the sneak attack was repelled.
The magistrate raised a hand, signaling the archers, and hoped that Rohei was too shocked to realize the Unicorn were badly outnumbered, and they could not retreat.
"Fire!" Kanjin yelled, dropping his hand. The wave of arrows sang through the air, and many of the Mantis raised their arrow shields, but some were not so quick. Kanjin laughed bitterly as he saw the shields, tools that the Unicorn had brought to Rokugan, now being used against them. "Tama! Hold the infantry and your cavalry detachment in the center, I will lead the charge against Rohei's soldiers. I would rather fight against these two fronts and be able to move than have the two armies bring their weight against us on a single point!" Tama nodded, and with that, Kanjin held his fist to the heavens, and loosed a great battle cry.
Thunder rolled across the plains, and lightning came from the heavens, striking Kanjin's fist. The Fury of Osano-Wo flew between the two armies and struck several of the mantis soldiers as Kanjin led the charge.
Kanjin laughed loudly this time, and thought to himself, They will use the tools of my ancestors against my army, so I will use the fire of their ancestor against them!
The Mantis set no pikes, only moved their men to receive the Unicorn advance. Kanjin screamed another order, and the front line of the Unicorn leveled their banner-poles to reveal long lances. The Shinjo lancers collided with the armies of the Mantis and more than one green-clad soldier was thrown far from where he had stood. Kanjin pulled out his katana, and thanked Togashi Amadan for the time he had spent training the shugenja in its use.
Kanjin saw Yoritomo Rohei, and charged. Kanjin raised his katana and screamed, and then saw a line of archers stand behind the Mantis army. Without hesitation, the archers let fly their arrows, and Kanjin saw many of his soldiers fall beneath the rain. Kanjin felt his steed jolt, then neigh as an arrow found the animal's neck. The magistrate barely had enough time to leap from his saddle before the great horse fell, and would have crushed him.
The shugenja stood and saw three Mantis soldiers advance him. He lowered a plam to the ground and began to chant softly. As the soldiers ran to him, the ground beneath their feet burst into a towering flame, consuming them.
The shugenja heard a great cheer rise from the Unicorn infantry, and he turned to see the Mantis ambush party retreating back towards the west. Tama ordered them to hold their ground, and a look of pride crossed the Shinjo lieutenant's face for a moment.
Kanjin turned back to where he had created the wall of fire, and thanked the spirits of flame for aiding him before he dismissed them. As the flames flickered away, he saw Rohei on the other side, just as he cut down a Unicorn.
"Rohei!" Kanjin screamed over the sounds of battle, and many of the soldiers stopped their fighting as they saw the two generals approach each other cautiously. A wave of silence fell over the battlefield as Yoritomo Rohei wiped his blade on a carcass and placed it back in his saya. The Unicron shugenja stood ten feet from the Mantis and said, "Yoritomo Rohei. Your ambush party retreats, and my soldiers will trample yours to dust should I give the command." He pointed to the short blade in Rohei's obi, and locked eyes with the Mantis general.
"You have insulted me," The magistrate continued, "and thusly insulted the men who follow me. Those men and myself have proven to be greater than you and yours. You have violated the laws of the Emperor, and after all of this, I still give your men the chance to retreat after you have admitted your error."
Rohei's jaw clenched as he regarded the Unicorn, and all eyes turned to him. The Mantis snapped his fingers, and said "Hatori!" A large Mantis samurai walked from the middles of the soldiers, his long no-dachi bloodied, and came to kneel in front of Rohei.
"Yes, my lord?"
Rohei readied his wakizashi and commanded the other man to rise, "Take heed of the lessons learned here today, my friend." Rohei knelt on the ground and his eyes glazed over as his mind drifted to the Void. Hatori cleaned his blade with a small cloth and readied it over his lord's head. Rohei's mouth flinched as he made the first cut. "You will take these men, now your charge, and you will rejoin Lord Yoritomo. You will tell him of the events that happened today, and you will leave nothing out." The Mantis general closed his eyes and made the second cut. He continued, "I have insulted a worthy opponent, and for this, I will pay the price without hesistation."
Rohei bowed his head, and Hatori made the final cut, cleanly, erasing Yoritomo Rohei's shame.
That evening, the war pyres blazed against the darkening sky, and Kanjin watched as the Mantis dissapeared into the western horizon. The magistrate looked down at the papers in his hand, a report of the lives lost and the supplies now needed. Another paper was his writ given to him when he was named magistrate for his deeds on the Day of Thunder. Kanjin walked from the pyre and stood alone as he gazed across the night sky. Not once did he show the Mantis the paper.
It wouldn't have mattered.
The shugenja's eyes turned to the north, to the Mountains of the Dragon, and a single tear formed in his eye. The last paper in his hand was a letter penned by Agasha Tamori, daimyo of the Dragon shugenja family himself. Kanjin's greatest friend, Togashi Amadan, had been killed in the Dragon's war with the Naga.
Kanjin looked down at the papers, and knew he had to keep pursuing the Mantis, as his cousins attempted to stop the Crane. The fighting would not stop anytime soon, and the dead would continue to haunt him.