1 The Cry Of Life

The first wife of the Samurai Lord, Tau Naufumi, screamed in agony. She desperately tried to best to push out the baby while it caused he great pain. She gripped the blanket under herself, almost tearing through the fragile cloth.

Kaiaede, the maid who always helped the women in the village with birth, did her best or in this case, all she knew to comfort the woman. It didn't seem to help though. The woman was more worried about the pain she was feeling.

The Samurai Lord's first wife screamed out in pain more, holding her eyes tightly closed. It seemed the woman was almost unable to get through this and she wasn't going to any time soon. The maid held onto the woman's left hand.

"Please, M'Lady. You need to get the baby out soon." The maid said, anxiously.

The woman screamed, throwing her head back as she pushed. She panted with sweat almost dripping from her forehead.

The Samurai Lord sat outside the room, waiting for the birthing to be done and over with. He was beginning to become impatient. It almost drive him crazy. He gritting his teeth and clinched his fists, waiting to hear the cry of the baby. He his mind was racing and he almost started sweating just from how overwhelming everything was for him. He wasn't used to this. It was his first time being a father.

There were others sitting separately outside the room. Two were maids and the other was a man. The man worse the clothing of a Samurai. A hoari, like any noble Samurai would, but he wore no amour. It was unneeded at this time, but he knew she should have been wearing it in case there were an attack to happen on the village.

The man was very anxious, but not like the Samurai Lord. He seemed to have something else on his mind. He was also desperate to get the chance to hold the baby in his arms after the wife pushed it out. He let out a heavy, shaky breath, twiddling with his thumbs in his lap.

Everyone was anxious and maybe even a little scared. Who knows how the baby will turn out, if it's male or female. Or if it's going to come out okay, unresponsive at first, or being unable to live and grow.

After a few more moments of screaming in pain from the Samurai Lord's wife, there soon came a different scream. Instead of it being a scream, it was the cry of a new born baby. The Cry Of Life.

The Samurai Lord immediately heard the baby's cry and quickly got up from where he was sitting. The man sitting with the two maids did too, but it was the Samurai Lord who bolted into the room before anyone else.

"My Lord!" The man yelled, but the Samurai Lord was too worried about the baby than the man. The man hurried in after the Samurai Lord, but he stopped because he heard the Samurai Lord scoff with disgust.

The two maids stayed by the door, peering in while waiting to be called upon if they were needed.

The baby hadn't came out the way the Samurai Lord wanted it. This angered him and took one look at the first wife and he quickly brought his right leg in the air.

The wife's eyes widened, as she held the crying baby close to her chest. "No, my Lord! Please!" She desperately pleaded, "Please hear me out! Please!"

"Please don't, my Lord!" The man behind the Samurai Lord cried. He didn't think the baby would come out the way it did, but that wasn't anybody's fault. "please re-think this! This is not the way! Please be reasonable!"

"Silence!" The Samurai Lord order, raising his voice as if to prove his voice was mightier than the baby's cries. "Abomination!" He truck the woman before watching her fall back to the floor. He was expecting the woman to loose grip on the so called abomination before him, but that didn't happen.

The man hurried around the Samurai Lord to ten to the first wife. As he helped the woman up, he looked up at the Samurai Lord, almost glaring at him.

The Samurai Lord scoffed once again before turning. "Another will bare my child!" He declared before storming out. "This time, it will be a boy! …Fully."

Everyone was left in the room, having not the will, nor the power to change their Samurai Lord's mind. The first wife began crying in silence. She thought that if the Samurai Lord heard her crying, he would come back in to "give her something to cry about". She was afraid of the man, just as the other wives were. All they could do was obey whatever their Samurai Lord ordered them to do or they would be killed without any mercy.

The Samurai Lord had his six wives bare children, but none of them were what he wanted. He became even more angrier and resorted to what he thought were an easy way to claim what he wanted. He thought having a son would make him more superior through out the land. He wanted to over power everyone and take control of Kyoto. This was his land and he was going to stop at nothing to be higher.

Of course, nobody knew what the Samurai Lord did. He went alone to the temple that no other Samurai Lord or Samurai would ever enter. The extremely eerie temple was called "Hall of Hell". Nobody knew why it was called that. Not even the Samurai Lord, himself, but he was soon going to find out.

The Samurai Lord rode on horse back to the "Hall of Hell". He climbed up the long, tall, crumbling, stone stairs and entered without even the slightest hesitation. The only thing that gave light to the dark, eerie, and deadly atmosphere was a lit wix in a wide light grey colored bowl. 12 reddish-brownish colored demon statues all stood high in a circle that seemed to shape the entire shrine.

The Samurai Lord faced the 12 statues before scanning them with his eyes. Memorizing their appearances. He didn't seem afraid of the evil stone beings.

"I am Tau Naufumi. Samurai Lord of Kyoto. I want-- no... I demand power!" He declared in a demanding tone of voice. "And a son to call my first born! Take anything you want!" He looked around at the statues, expecting and waiting for an answer from them. If he ever was going to get one. He came to the shrine, unaware of what would happen if he tried to male a deal with the statues. Was he doing nothing but talking to a bunch of statues that were made by mere humans to scare people? No... he couldn't be.

After stating his desires, or in this case, "demands", there was a long moment of silence. He seemed to not receive an answer at first, but the moment the room become darker, the wix that gave the light to the inside of the cold, dark, shrine went out, he knew he got his answer.

They sky outside above the shrine was covered with clouds and it turned dark as if every light everywhere had went out. The darkness consumed everything around the shrine, including the inside where the Samurai Lord stood. The sky cracked with a loud rage of thunder and after that moment, the shrine was struck by a bolt of lightening. Almost immediately, the wix that once was, exploded into a fire that was neither comforting not good.

An inhuman sound came from the open mouths of the statues. Then there was another inhuman sound. It was a whisper that filled the Samurai Lord's ears. "A sacrifice for desire. Blood for power."

The Samurai Lord knew what the demons wanted in order to receive what he wanted.

The Samurai Lord's 8th wife gave birth to a baby boy and that night, the 7 wives, including the female babies were executed... but one of the babies went missing.

"This abomination will be the ruin of my legacy." The Samurai Lord shouted, pacing around. He was very frustrated and wished he had executed the baby before he had made the deal with the 12 demons. All prices must be paid when you go about the wrong way with things. Especially when you choose to go down a bad path and forget precious things.

The man who sat with the two maids at the first birthing was standing by the door. He leaned against the wall. His arms crossed against his chest. This time he was wearing this Samurai armor. He did not agree with the execution of the wives and their children. Though, in this village, there was no freedom of speech. It costed one's tongue.

The Samurai Lord was so infuriated when he found out who had taken the baby. He cursed at Kaiaede for it an casted her out of the village. He and his men were rough on the middle aged woman, but he did not execute her like he would with anybody. Later on, we would regretted his actions, wishing he would have done so.

The Samurai man had already had enough of the Samurai Lord's wrong doings, so he chose to leave, regardless of the consequences. He took only what he needed, even his own horse, Kage. As he rode off into the night, he ripped his Samurai armor from his person as if it was what had bounded him his whole life. He casted it to the dirt, knowing he would be killed if he was found.

If that day ever came, he would face it and fight to his last breath.

As he traveled alone with Kage, he tightly held onto the gold colored crane pendant that once belonged to the first wife.

The Samurai Lord Tau Naufumi would be searching for the missing baby at all costs. If any of the nobles or even the people of his land knew about the abandoned child, it would be the end of him. He wasn't going to let that happen. He would take the secret to his grave.