第10节

to go before we reach that

bend in the road. They haven't even begun to consider the military

options yet. Even with the help of the Min-Orota, Yama-Shita and his

friends are not strong enough to topple the Shogunate with one, swift,

bloody stroke."

'They might if Toh-Shiba's family was to change sides."

'We must make sure they don't."

'So, in other words, I must let sleeping dogs lie."

'I'm sure we can come up with some ploys that'll give them a few

restless nights. But even if the TohShiba went over, it still wouldn't

guarantee Lord Yama-Shita a clean hit. Neither side wants to get

bogged down in another long-running civil war. We've all got too much

to lose. No - what we've got on our hands right now is a battle for

hearts and minds."

'The most difficult kind of battle to win."

Toshiro bowed. 'Sire, with you at the helm..."

'Is that aliT' 'Not quite."

Yoritomo sighed again. This time, the air of regret had been replaced

by a note of weary exasperation. 'Tread carefully, my friend. You're

beginning to spoil the view."

Toshiro accepted this philosophically. The risk of incurring the

Shogun's wrath by being the bearer of bad tidings went with the

territory. 'A rumour, sire, nothing more. I just thought you ought to

know about it."

'I'm waiting."

Toshiro steeled himself. Rumour it might be but it was still

dynamite.

'The flying-horse was driven through the air by an engine whose

workings could not be fathomed."

'I know. Yama-Shita ordered it to be destroyed."

'It wasn't."

The news raised the Shogun's painted eyebrows.

'Nothing's happened yet, but the word is our friends in the north have

decided to ask their tame long-dog to reveal its secrets and help them

devise ways to ' 'To what...?"

'To recapture the..." Toshiro's throat dried.

'... The Dark Light." The words conjured up a chill spectre of death

and disaster.

The five samurai guarding the Shogun did not understand what he was

saying, but they sensed the feeling of dread in his voice and looked at

each other uneasily.

Toshiro averted his eyes as Yoritomo willed himself to remain calm. In

this situation, the laws of etiquette forbade him to look at the

Shogun. He had to kneel with his head bowed until Yoritomo addressed

him.

As the present holder of the supreme office and guardian of the sacred

principles and traditions that governed the world of the samurai, the

Dark Light was the thing Yoritomo feared most. It was the evil force

that had led to the destruction of The World Before; the power that

must never again be allowed to fall into the hands of men. Its secrets

had become hidden knowledge, shunned and feared like the magic spells

cast by the wizards and witches of ancient times.

The long-dogs were masters of the Dark Light and also its slaves. It

gave strength to their awesome weapons and controlled their thoughts.

It was the lifeblood of their underground world; its beating heart.

But it was a diseased organ; within it were the seeds of a plague that

weakened the body, paralysed the brain and destroyed the soul. In

time, the Sons of Ne-Issan would find a way to tear that heart from its

earthly body. And once it was stilled, the long-dogs would be trapped

like maggots in a buried corpse, forced to feed on each other in the

darkness until the last were overcome by suffocation and the stench of

decay.