Interlude 4

Twenty-three years ago, at the Imperial Palace.

Azra ran towards Miramoto at a speed that surprised Miramoto. He never sensed Azra use any eizou to enhance his speed nor did he detect Azra release any qi force to fill his limbs to increase his speed either. Miramoto found it hard to accept that it was Azra's natural speed that he faced.

Azra's left blade went for Miramoto's legs while his right blade went for Miramoto's throat. Miramoto's excellent footwork kept his legs safe from Azra's attacks while his sword defended against Azra's upper body attack. Even though Miramoto defended well against Azra's attacks, he was slowly getting pushed towards the edge of the Imperial Meeting Hall. He knew full well that once he gets to the edge, he will be at a disadvantage because his movement will become limited and this will make his defenses less effective especially against Azra's attacks on his legs.

In a desperate move, Miramoto took a leap backward beyond the reach of Azra's attack. However, seeing Miramoto's maneuver, Azra leaped forward to pursue Miramoto. Fortunately, Miramoto's years of experience told him to expect Azra reaction to his maneuver. As soon as Miramoto landed on the floor, he executed a deadly attack. He spun his body upward with his sword extended to catch Azra on the spinning blade as he landed on the floor.

But Azra was not the helpless newbie that Miramoto expected to fall helplessly to his attack.

Azra twisted his body in mid-air and spun his body to a position parallel to Miramoto's deadly sword. Miramoto's spinning blade attack whizzed past Azra harmlessly as Azra spun his blades at Miramoto in counterattack as he dropped to the floor. Miramoto had no choice but to spin away from Azra's attack and maneuver towards Azra's previous position. Azra fell to the floor and adjusted his bearing to face Miramoto once more. Unfortunately, the shift in position gave Miramoto a bigger area to maneuver and avoid the attacks of Azra.

The two combatants faced each other and readied themselves to clash against each other once more. Neither of them has gained any substantial advantage in the battle so far. They stared at each other and prepared for the next round as the sound of battle around them started to die down. Miramoto knew that he had to finish this battle quickly. He did not have the luxury of time.

"You may be skilled enough to handle any single opponent. But are you skilled enough to handle four?" Miramoto asked with an evil grin.

"Only a dishonorable bastard like you will ask such a question," Azra replied. There was no change in his stance or countenance.

"Eduri! Hidanke! Ahir!" Miramoto called out. They were names that Azra has never heard before. They sounded more like aliases to Azra than real names. At the sound of Miramoto's voice, three masked figures who just won against their opponents ran to Miramoto's side. "Let us test the true skill of your famed house!" Miramoto exclaimed as he and his three companions prepared to attack Azra all at once.

However, before they could launch their attacks at Azra, all five fighters turned towards the sealed door that led to a secret passageway that only the Celestial Emperor and his entourage use. The door opened and two imperial guards with repeating crossbows fired at Miramoto and his men at once. Between the two imperial guards stood a woman wearing a magnificent suit of lacquered armor. The pieces of her armor looked like it was forged from the scales of a full-grown silver dragon. Her helmet was carved to look like the head of a dragon with its jaws open where a metal face protector concealed the countenance of its wearer.

Without warning, the two imperial guards fired three bolts each from their crossbows that flew straight towards Miramoto and his men. Miramoto easily deflected the three bolts that were directed towards him. However, his three men were not as successful. They were already tired from their previous battles and were hit directly by the bolts as they tried to deflect them. They fell to the floor, critically wounded.

"I am glad to see that you can hold your own against Miramoto who is almost two decades older than you," the armored woman said in a commanding voice.

"Two decades?! I am not that old!" Miramoto protested.

"We need to go Azra. We need your help elsewhere."

"I am at your disposal, Captain Commander Mayuri," Azra replied with a slight bow.

"You are gravely mistaken if you think I will let you leave our battle," Miramoto said turning to Azra.

"That is not up to you, traitor," Captain Commander Mayuri said. She signaled the two imperial guards on her sides and they fired a volley of bolts. Miramoto was forced to defend against the incoming rain of bolts. Azra leaped high and landed at Mayuri's side as Miramoto defended against the bolts that were fired at him. Azra and Mayuri immediately went into the emperor's private tunnel, leaving the Imperial Meeting Hall. Miramoto frustratingly watched them leave as he continued to defend against the onslaught of crossbow bolts. The two imperial guards followed Mayuri and Azra through the passageway and immediately sealed the door behind them before Miramoto could follow them.

"I must warn you that you will likely be blamed for what happened. And I will not be around to defend you. I must continue with my duty to protect the Imperial Throne. This time, the emperor's heir," Mayuri confessed.

"So, they got to the emperor," Azra said in a cheerless tone of voice. He took a deep breath as they rushed through the passageway.

"I know you're close with the emperor, but you must not blame yourself for what happened. If anyone should be blamed, it should be me. It was my duty to prevent situations like this. I am now completely dishonored and must try to redeem myself by protecting the heir until he is old enough to claim the throne," Mayuri declared.

"But the emperor does not have a child," Azra protested.

"He does not. This is why the last and only possible heir is the newborn son of the emperor's youngest sister," Mayuri revealed.

"Who will be the emperor in the meantime?" Azra asked. They stopped in front of a large pair of doors. Mayuri tapped the door in a specific coded rhythm with her gauntlet. A moment later, a loud grinding sound came from behind the doors and it opened. The opening was only wide enough for them to squeeze through. The door was immediately closed and sealed once they were inside. Azra has never been to this part of the Imperial Palace. He noticed that they did not travel straight which should bring them straight to the waiting room of the Imperial Bedchambers. Instead, they turned right and traveled through a slightly inclined corridor. From what he remembered, there should be a blank wall on the passageway where they turned right.

"A temporary ruling body will take over the empire for twenty-five years. The members of the ruling body will come from the three other houses in the Imperial Clan."

"They do not have a claim to the throne? That could complicate things."

"No. Paragon ordained that only Naoryu Heithrid and his male descendants could become the emperor. Unlike the ruling clans of the Five Kingdoms where the Celestial Dragons ordained an entire clan to rule. The other houses in the Imperial Clan are only there to protect the Imperial House."

"What happens after twenty-five years?"

"If no member of House Naoryu steps forward to claim the Imperial Throne, the rulership of the empire will be abolished, and the Imperial Lands will be divided evenly between the Five Kingdoms. The Holy Celestial Mandate of Paragon for the Celestial Emperor to keep the peace will be abandoned with no one to enforce it."

The circular chamber has a low ceiling. Only two torches light up the chamber. Another imperial guard manned the mechanism that sealed the twin doors that they passed through. A circular metal door lies in the middle of the floor. It can be opened by sliding the metal cover horizontally under the floor. There is a spiral staircase that led deeper into the vertical tunnel from the opening in the center of the room.

"Once we exit through that opening, the sealing mechanism will bring the roof down and it will fill this entire chamber with a solid cylindrical boulder," Mayuri said pointing to the opening on the floor. "It will be impossible for them to follow us. At the bottom of that tunnel are three exits. Each exit leads to an underground river. One of the rivers goes eastward to the sea towards the Pirate Isle. Another river flows northwest to the Kingdom of Wushu-Noji. The third underground river empties into a larger river that eventually ends up west before turning south to the sea. We will be taking that western exit. It will bring us close to Goruumshimi and to the Flaming Heads before turning south."

"I will take the river northwest. I will assume a different identity as a kashin in Wushu-Noji."

"I will look for you there if we require your help. Answer only to the sign of a burning palm. What about your family?"

"I warned my brothers before I went to the Imperial Palace. We already expected what was about to happen and my house is always prepared for the worse. We're the best assassins in a clan whose main function is to perform tasks that cannot be known by anyone else in the kingdom. We were trained to expect to be the scapegoat of the Zeiken-Shi or of the empire at some point. Although, I never expected to be the scapegoat of Zeiken-Shi's own attempt to topple the empire."

"I understand. I have trained my daughter the same way. She will take over my position unless anyone can defeat her in single combat. She's already skilled enough to match me at her current age." Mayuri paused and took a deep breath. They started their descent when they heard the sound of people trying to break down the door to the Imperial Bedchamber. "We should hurry. We need to seal the passage leading to this chamber and the chamber itself."

When they reached the bottom of the vertical tunnel, several metal plates slide off the cylindrical wall of the tunnel to seal the entrance. Azra was surprised that there was barely a sound when the cylindrical ceiling descended and sealed the chamber. He concluded that the escape routes were maintained regularly. It was something that he expected yet was taken by surprise, nonetheless.

"This is where we should part ways, for now, Azra," Mayuri said when they reached the bottom of the vertical tunnel. There was a hexagonal chamber at the bottom of the vertical tunnel. The three tunnels were there just as Mayuri said. However, descending down the spiral stairs made Azra feel disoriented. He wasn't sure which tunnel led northwest. "That tunnel will lead you to the river that flows northward," Mayuri said before Azra could say anything.

"Thank you."

"It will be up to the infant heir to restore order in the empire once he is old enough. I will make sure that he survives until that time."

"And it will be up to my baby brother to restore my house's honor when he is old enough. It will be up to my grandfather to ensure his safety until that time comes."

"May the celestial dragons give these two cousins the strength needed for what awaits them in the future," Mayuri said with a grim tone of voice.