Visions of Flame
by Rich Wulf

Bayushi Tai squinted at the bright rays of the noonday sun and pulled the broad straw hat down to shade his eyes. Shifting his pack across his shoulders, he made his way down the winding road, across the Plains of Thunder. The young spy was not used to walking about at this time of the day, and was uncomfortable out in the open as he was. He had not seen another soul in hours, he was beginning to wonder if the message he had received was correct at all when he saw a single figure hunched beside the road on the horizon.

As Tai drew closer, the man stood. Many of the finest Scorpion spies relied upon complex codes and countersignals to recognize one another. Those fortunate enough to train with a true master did not even need such things. Everything could be intimated through posture and stride. Faces could be disguised. Voices could be altered. Truly walking in another's footsteps was far more difficult. Though he was dressed in the garb of an old peddler, Tai immediately recognized the other man's confident gait and sharp eyes.

"Sensei Yudoka-sama," Tai said, bowing low. "I have come as you requested."

"You seem confused, Tai," Yudoka said, his voice amused.

"Do I?" Tai thought he concealed his emotions well. He should have known better. "It is only that it seems like a strange time and place for us to mee."

"Is it?" Yudoka asked. "Our enemies are fellow Scorpion. Masters of the darkness. There is no place to hide from such enemies but in the open. Any man who can hide on this open plain deserves to find us, I think. Any shugenja who attempts to use magic to view us can deal with Osano-Wo, for the Fortune of Fire and Thunder protects this plain."

"I see, sensei," Tai said with a small grin. "Did you wish for a report of my progress within the ranks of the Shadowed Tower? I fear that I do not have much to tell you. I did not expect another report for two weeks."

"No, it is I who need to report," Yudoka said. "The mission has become more dangerous, Tai. The Shadowed Tower had a spy among Yojiro's council. The Master himself know of our every action."

Tai's eyes widened. "Do they know that I am a double agent?"

"No," Yudoka said. "Not even Yojiro knows of our arrangement, though he knows that I have an informant. However, it disturbs me that that the Master could be so close. Not even I suspected him. I would tell you who he is, but I fear the knowledge may threaten your work."

"But you know the Master's identity?" Tai asked. "You have dealt with him?"

"We cannot, as of yet," Yudoka said. "To kill him now would be like ripping an arrow from the wound. We do not know enough of his organization to ensure that we could end their threat harmlessly rather than cause a full-scale revolt within the clan. The Tower's influence may be... wider than I imagined."

"So what will we do?" Tai asked. "What of my mission?"

"Your mission will continue as planned," Yudoka said. "but we cannot take the same risks. You will report every three months rather than every three weeks. If either party misses a meeting, it is cancelled. If two meetings are missed, then assume the other party is dead and do not appear again."

Tai was downcast. "Hai," he said simply. His work was dangerous enough as it was; making his lifeline to the clan longer did not appeal to him.

"That is all I can say," he said. "Go now. Return to Bayushi Ogura. I am certain since we discovered the Master that the Tower's agents are on increased alert."

Tai blinked. "The Master knows that Yojiro has discovered his identity?"

"He does," Yudoka added.

"And what has he done about it?" Tai asked.

"Nothing," Yudoka said. "He still believes he has the upper hand."

Tai was silent for a long moment. "And does he?"

"Why do you ask, Tai?" Yudoka asked sharply. "Are you beginning to doubt that you chose the right side in this war?"

"Not at all," Tai said quietly.

"Then there will be no more questions," Yudoka said. "Return. Serve Ogura with all the loyalty you can muster. Find out how far the Shadowed Tower's roots extend, so that we may burn them out all at once."

"Hai, sensei," Tai said. Bowing a final time, he departed.

* * * * *

"Welcome back, Tai-san," Bayushi Ogura said, smiling wanly over a steaming cup of tea. "I take it your... pilgrimage went well?"

"Very well," Tai said, showing no trace of surprise as he entered the small teahouse. Even if Ogura could not monitor his meeting with Yudoka, he would know of Tai's destination. The Tower had ways of discovering such things.

"I hear the Plains of Thunder are quite lovely this time of year," Ogura said. "It is said that this is the only time that Osano-Wo's anger calms, and just before the spring storms set in he paints the sky witht he colors of sorrow for the loss of his mortal life, and the colors of joy for his divinity."

"Is that so?" Tai asked. "I did not consider the Fortune of Fire and Thunder as much of an artist."

"Why not?" Ogura asked. "The Fortunes are like us mortals. Complex." The shugenja studied Tai carefully.

"Is there something you wish to ask me?" Tai returned, regarding his contact with the Shadowed Tower calmly. Inwardly, he wondered how much the shugenja truly knew of his pilgrimage. Sensei Yudoka believed that the Tower's agents could not spy upon them, but the Tower had a tendency to learn secrets none believed they could discover.

Ogura shrugged. "You do not seem surprised that I knew of your visit to the Temple of Osano-Wo," Ogura said, setting his cup down gently. "You did not announce your departure to us."

"Should I have done so?" Tai asked. "You know much that is unknown. I am only a simple servant. That my secrets are so obvious to you seems only natural. I did not tell you of my pilgrimage, but I took no steps to conceal it. The journey did not interfere with my duties to the Tower. Have I erred in some way by not informing you of my departure? With all respect, I did no think that my responsibilities were so encompassng that I needed to keep you informed of my personal life."

"Did I offend you, Tai-san?" Ogura asked placidly. "Such was not my intent. In fact, I did not inquire about you journey in any connection to my role as an agent of the Tower, but rather in my role as a priest of the kami. Clearly yours is a soul that is in doubt, requireing guidance. You are not certain what we do here is right. What you have seen in the Halls of the Shadowed Tower... I know it can be difficult to accept. Allow me to assuage any fears you might have."

"I have no fears," Tai said, shuddering inwardly at the thought of confiding in the heartless tsukai, "and I have no doubts. I merely required some time to myself."

"Such bravado," Ogura said with a chuckle. "I do not begrudge you your doubts. You would no be human if you did not have them. In the Shadowed Tower, we recognize that true loyalty is not mindless loyalty. If you have doubts, express them, and let me put them to rest."

Tai looked at Ogura quizzically. "You claim not to endorse mindless loyalty, yet your magic turns others into your pawns," he said. "How can that be?"

Ogura frowned. "We do not use maho on our fellow Scorpion," he said, gliding a long finger around the rim of his teacup. "We use our arts only on peasants, and upon those who would do us harm. It is only right that peasants should give their lives, their minds, their sould to serve us -- that is part of the Celestial Order. As for our enemies, is deluding them into passivity truly so dishonorable? Unlike the Lion and the Phoenix, we at least leave our enemies alive - - if not truly in control of their own faculties. Turn a weakness into a strength. It was Bayushi who said that, and this is what we do. We transform those who oppose us into allies."

"Worthy enough I suppose," Tai said, though with all his training as a spy he found difficulty emulating any sincerity for the words.

A servant entered then, and the conversation fell silent. Tai watched as the girl poured him a cup of tea, then left as swiftly as she had come.

Ogura watched Tai silently for a moment. "But it is not our goals that disturb you. It is our methods."

"One of the Scorpion Clan's greatest duties is to guard against dark magic," Tai said. "Now we practice it?"

Ogura smiled tightly. "A frequent objection, and not one we fail to consider. To use maho and to fight maho are not mutually exclusive objectives. We are not fools, Tai. We only entered into the use of maho after extensive experimentation. Maho is a dangerous art. Many have tried and failed to draw upon it without harm. That is why each Shadowed Tower tsukai has a Witness, a bushi trained to watch for symptoms of the Taint's madness. Should any of us waver, should we begin to take excessive seal upon the dark powers we draw upon, our lives will be forfeit. Even I am not exempt to this rule. Katai is my servant, my yojimbo. One day, she may be my executioner."

"But is that enough?" Tai asked "If any of us should become another Yogo Junzo..."

"The rules are quite specific," Ogura said. "Any signs of irrational megalomania, paranoia, or dementia, any physical display of boils, decay, or festering wounds, any disruption in a tsukai's ability to call upon the kami as a normal shugenja, result in that individual's immediate quarantine. Resistance is met with violence. Thus far, we've had no incidents. The system works, Tai."

"I'm glad to hear it, then," Tai said. "I had my doubts."

"And you have them still," Ogura said.

Tai nodded at the shugenja. He wondered if he was signing his own death sentence by doing so, but he found himself unable to lie.

"Excellent," Ogura said. "We will begin your training immediately."

"Training?" Tai asked, a note of surprise in his voice.

"There is a young shugenja who is prepared to begin working the dark arts on our behalf," Ogura said. "She will require a Witness. I think that you will perform most adequately."

"A Witness?" Tai asked. "Me?"

"Of course," Ogura said. "You have the honesty and the bravery to express your doubts about maho, even after you have seen our power. This is a great responsibility, Tai-san. You have earned the Shadowed Tower's trust. You have three days, Tai, to consider your choice. I know that you will make the right one." Rising from his place, Ogura bowed to Tai and departed the small room, leaving the spy to his thoughts.

Tai wondered at what he had just heard. The Tower seemed to stand against everything he had been taught to oppose. At the same time, they seemed to have prepared for every eventuality; every possible flaw in their system had contingencies in case of failure. He wondered if Yudoka was right, if he truly was beginning to doubt where his loyalties stood.

Then again, if he were wavering, his sensei would not fail to sense it, would he?

Yudoka-sama had failed to recognize the Master.

For the first time in his life, Bayushi Tai began to doubt Shosuro Yudoka.

And in doubting Yudoka, he began to doubt himself.


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