Alyss was doing the same thing. 'You don't need to say "let's ikimashou",' she said. 'The "let's" is already included in the verb.'
'Big deal,' said Evanlyn. She was feeling a little pleased with herself. Alyss was, after all, the linguist. But Evanlyn had been the one to open effective communications with the enormous Hasanu. 'Are you coming, or what?' she threw back over her shoulder as she trudged quickly up the beach in Kona's wake.
Getting the hundred men of the hyaku down the narrow pass was an interesting exercise in logistics and teamwork.
Horace had decided it was too risky for the fighting men to negotiate the steep and rocky path burdened by javelins, shields and armour. Accordingly, when the review parade with Shigeru was finished, he marched the men to the beginning of the secret path and had them pile their shields and javelins in stacks of five. Those Kikori who had not been selected to take part in the fighting now acted as bearers, assisted by the ever-present Mikeru and a group of his young friends.
They lashed the javelins together, assigning one man to carry each bundle of five strapped across his back. The shields were similarly lashed together in flat piles and two men took each bundle of five shields, carrying them as if they were stretchers. The remainder spread themselves along the column to help the weapons bearers down the more difficult places, or to spell them when they became tired. Mikeru and his friends, unhampered and sure-footed as mountain goats, scampered ahead, placing burning torches to light the most awkward places on the trail.
Finally, the fighting men themselves, burdened only by their stabbing blades and body armour, wound their way down the narrow defile in a long line.
Half an hour before dawn, Bear Goju and Hawk Goju were formed up on the level ground at the bottom of the secret path. They were fully armed and equipped and they'd made the trip down without any casualties. By contrast, there were a dozen sprained ankles and other minor injuries among the bearers.
Horace approached the spot where Will, Halt and Shigeru had watched the men emerge from the pass and form quietly into their formations.
'We're ready to move out,' he said.
Will gestured to the huge bluff several hundred metres away, which obscured any sight of the Senshi encampment.
'Let's take a look at the enemy first,' he said. 'Keep an eye on the Emperor,' he added to Horace. He didn't want Shigeru wandering away or showing himself before they had an idea of the enemy's deployment and situation. Then he and Halt ghosted off, staying close to the edge of the bluff as they went. They reached the end of the bluff and disappeared round, moving out of sight.
Horace looked at the Emperor. Shigeru seemed calm, but his right hand was clenching and unclenching on the hilt of his katana. Horace smiled encouragingly.
'What do we do now?' Shigeru asked.
'We wait,' Horace replied.
Will and Halt slipped round the rocky outcrop, then climbed up a little from the plateau floor for a better view. They'd had lookouts posted at Mikeru's spot the entire night, ready to send warning if the Senshi moved, or were reinforced, or if there were any other change in the situation. No such message had come but Will preferred to trust his own observation in matters like these. That was the way Halt had taught him.
The camp was largely as they had seen it from the lookout point high above. Tents were pitched in haphazard lines, in a large, amorphous mass. A few sentries could be seen, pacing dispiritedly around the outer perimeter. In the time the two Rangers watched, not one seemed to lift his eyes from the frozen ground a few metres in front of his pacing feet. They were preoccupied with remaining hunched down in their cloaks, conserving as much body warmth as possible. The grey light slowly strengthened and Will and Halt could make out more detail.
In the centre of the low, utilitarian tents stood one larger, and rather ornate, pavilion. Two men stood guard outside and banners were planted at the entrance, streaming out in the wind.
'Can you make out the central banner?' Halt asked. There was a heraldic device on the flag in the centre of the group. The others were inscribed with Nihon-Jan characters. Will shaded his eyes and peered more closely.
'An ox, I think,' he said. 'A green ox.'
'Not that it means anything to us,' Halt replied. 'Although Shigeru should know who it is.'
Will glanced at him. 'Is that important?'
'It's always important to know who you're facing,' Halt said quietly. He surveyed the lie of the land between them and the Senshi encampment. For the most part, it was relatively even ground but there was one section covered in tumbled rocks. Beyond the rocks, to the east, the land fell away in a low cliff. Ahead of them, to the south, the plain sloped down towards the tents.
'That's our position,' he said, indicating it to Will. 'That broken ground will give our left flank some protection and the Senshi will be attacking uphill.'
'Not much of a hill,' Will observed.
'We'll take whatever advantage we can get,' Halt told him. 'Now, let's head back and start the ball.'
They made their way back to their waiting companions and held a quick council of war. Will described the broken ground on the left.
'We'll start there,' he said. 'Then we'll advance in line. Put the men in two ranks so we have a longer front. Selethen, put your men on the right of Horace's goju and about ten metres behind. That way, when the enemy try to work round his right flank, you can advance and hit them in the rear. Horace, when they do that, remember the plan we made last night.'
'I know. Swing the gate shut with my second rank,' Horace said. 'I have done this before, you know.'
'Sorry,' Will said. 'Later this afternoon, I'll teach your grandmother to suck eggs.'
The two old friends grinned at each other. Shigeru and Selethen both looked a little puzzled.
'Why does his grandmother want to suck eggs?' Shigeru asked.
The Arridi warrior shrugged. 'I have no idea.' He looked at Halt but the Ranger waved away the query.
'Long story,' he said. 'I'll tell you later.'
'Oh, Shigeru,' Will said, remembering a detail. 'The enemy commander has a green ox as his symbol. Does that mean anything to you?'
The Emperor nodded. 'That is General Todoki. He's one of Arisaka's most ardent supporters. His men attacked the palisade. He'll be eager to avenge that defeat.'
'Good,' Halt said. 'That'll mean he's more likely to act without thinking. Always a good thing to fight an enemy who's angry.'
'Let's get moving!' Will said and the five of them shook hands, then moved to their positions. At a word of command, the men of the two goju, who had been resting on the ground, conserving their strength, climbed quickly to their feet.
They formed in three files and set out at a steady jog, their equipment and weapons rattling in rhythm to the thud of their feet. They rounded the bluff and the enemy camp came into view.
As the two gojus reached their positions, Halt, Will and Shigeru diverted to a small hillock from where they could observe the battle. They were a little behind the Kikori ranks. Moka, Shigeru's senior bodyguard, had wanted to accompany them but Shigeru refused.
'I want the Kikori to see that my trust in them is complete,' he said.
Moka had remained with ten Senshi at the entrance to Mikeru's Pass. If the worst came to the worst, it would be their task to hold the pass against Arisaka's men while the Kikori made their escape up the secret path.
The gojus deployed now, forming into two extended ranks, twenty-five men long. Each man in the second rank held two javelins. The front rank were armed with their stabbing blades only. All of them, of course, had their massive shields on their left arms.
Remarkably, there was no reaction from the enemy camp. Not one of the slouching sentries seemed to have noticed that one hundred armed men had suddenly appeared barely one hundred and fifty metres away.
Halt shook his head in disgust. 'I thought this might happen,' he said. He took out a fire arrow he had prepared the night before – a standard shaft with a bunch of oil-soaked rag tied around the head. 'Light me up, Will.'
The younger Ranger worked briefly with flint and steel and in a few seconds set a tongue of flame to the oil-soaked rag. Halt waited until he was sure the flame had taken and was well established. Then he glanced at the enemy camp, raised his bow to almost forty-five degrees, drew and released.
The fire arrow left a thin black trail of smoke behind it as it rose into the overcast morning sky.
They lost sight of it as it plunged down past the apogee of its flight. Then Will saw a bright tongue of flame flare up at Todoki's ornate pavilion. After a second, the entire roof of the pavilion, daubed with oil to make it waterproof, burst into flames and they could hear shouts from the camp as several men ran out of the tent, one falling in his haste.
'I'm afraid you'll have made Todoki-san very angry now, Halto-san,' said Shigeru.
Halt smiled grimly. 'That was the general idea.' He glanced at Will and nodded. The young Ranger filled his lungs and shouted across the intervening space to Horace.