A Better Life

[Hayate_Amatsukami]

Hayate ran to the window of his bedroom that overlooked the gardens. He couldn’t believe his eyes but nearly the whole acre of exotic Akashima flowers were engulfed in flames. It appears that the Shogun wouldn’t be taking prisoners it would seem. Was it easier just to kill off his opposition? Was he willing to show his true colors to the other noble families of Yukon? How far would this bastard go to stop anyone from knowing the truth?

The young lord took in a deep breath as he calculated the general area of the fire. It was spreading quite rapidly across the grounds but lucky for Hayate wasn’t closed to the area that housed the secret evacuation tunnels that ran into the country side. By the looks of things he would have about twenty minutes before the entrance to the tunnel would be engulfed by the flames. This would make his escape next to impossible but also make the escape of his people a guarantee. Hiruzen’s rash decision making would play a crucial role tonight regardless if he knew it.

From his balcony Hayate could see a number of men pouring into his compound like insects. He could see at least a hundred or more soldiers all heavily armed, some riding on horseback, others shooting flaming arrows down onto his mansion. Hayate was just happy to know that the bulk of his forces were here worried about taking him on. At least Shina and Amoki could see them make it to Whitevale, even if Hayate wouldn’t be close behind.

For a moment the young lord thought about how Shinsou offered him protection. And then he thought about how many times he had let others do the protecting for him in the past. But this was the end of that. Hayate wouldn’t ever accept to be protected by anyone ever again.

It was his time now.

“Rise up,” He said camly raising his sword high above his head. He made sure that those below could see him as he emerged into view of the enemy. “And bring my foes to their knees!” Yamato, his sword, began to disappear into a grey smoke as he said his incantation.

Then from behind the young lord a large ghostly figure appeared in the darkness. It looked like a larger than like samurai dressed in ethereal shogun armor. It’s eyes burn a deep red as it gazed down upon the many soldiers below. They must have gotten frightened as the moment he appeared and they noticed him everyone began to fire upon them.

The Corpse King leapt into action swiftly picking up Hayate with one arm and putting the young lord into his chest cavity. The Corpse King stood at about ten feet high and served as a larger than life suit of armor for Hayate. The arrows from the soldiers bounced off his steely flesh like children’s toys and the two of them chuckled a bit. These feeble peons were nothing compared to the men he had just fought in the Citadel.

With one mighty leap the Corpse King was standing in the flaming garden and with another he had made it to where the bulk of the army stood waiting for him.