Interlude 2

Twenty-three years ago, at the Imperial Palace.

"Are you out of your mind, Azra?!" the captain exclaimed as he removed his helmet. He was a man in his late forties with short gray hair and a clean-shaven face. "We cannot stop the Council of Kings at this point. The kings—the Omono-Ryu—of each kingdom are already inside. They will start to enter the Imperial Meeting Hall any minute now!" Captain Garuma exclaimed. He was taken back by Azra's unusual directness. He knew Azra as a quiet and soft-spoken young man who has never had an outburst during the years that he served as one of the four personal guards of the Emperor. His behavior at that moment surprised Captain Garuma as well as the imperial guards assigned in front of the Imperial Palace who knew him. They watched the scene unfold before them with mixed reactions, but their faces reveal nothing of what they feel nor think.

"If we do not stop the meeting, the emperor will die!" Azra replied in an agitated voice. He was panting lightly from his hurried journey back to the Imperial Palace. His face looked serious, and his eyes reflected the fires that burned from the torches of the small army of imperial guards that were assembled in front of the palace gate. "Someone inside that meeting wants to assassinate the emperor tonight, during the Council of Kings, and he has assassins that are already positioned inside to help him accomplish this!" he continued in the same agitated voice.

"Are you sure about this? Where did you get this information?!" the captain asked. The imperial guards have started to become restless and murmured amongst themselves about what they heard Azra say. The first and most important rule among the imperial guards is to investigate any and all suspected and reported assassination plots against the Emperor. Even if a common farmer reported hearing about an attempt on the Emperor's life, the imperial guards would investigate this and make the investigation a priority. If one of the Emperor's four personal guards reported such a plot, it would immediately override every other standing order that they may have as long as it doesn't jeopardize the safety of the Emperor.

Azra did not reply, and Captain Garuma did not seem to notice. He immediately signaled four of the imperial guards who stood closest to him outside the gates of the Imperial Palace. They immediately broke away from the formation and stepped forward to approach him, and waited for further instructions from him. "You! Get the captain commander here, right away!" he barked at one of the four guards.

"Sir!" the guard replied and hurried off into the palace gates to fetch the captain commander. The captain commander leads the seven imperial guard captains and leads the finest imperial guards.

"You! Go to the barracks and get everyone that you can find! I want them battle-ready in five minutes! Regulars, reserves, those on leave, and even the ones on sickbay! If they can stand and carry a weapon, have them armed and ready in five minutes! Go!" he barked at another.

"Sir!" the guard replied back and dashed towards the barracks at her top speed.

"The two of you go to the Imperial Meeting Hall and stop the Council of Kings. Get the men of the Inner Circle to escort the Emperor back to his chambers and tell them not to leave his side until the captain commander gets there!

"Send half the men here with them, captain," Azra suggested. His voice was deep, and his face looked fierce as he spoke. The two guards and Captain Garuma turned to him in surprise.

"Why?" Captain Garuma asked immediately. Azra's suggestion sounded ridiculous to the two imperial guards who stood close, but Captain Garuma considered it a suggestion that was worth taking into account simply because of Azra's reputation and well-known loyalty to the Emperor.

"Some of the guards of the Inner Circle might be working for the assassins because the mastermind of this assassination already has people inside the palace," he explained in the same deep and crisp voice. He made sure to speak as fast as possible but at a rate that Captain Garuma and the two guards in front of him would understand. If he had to repeat or explain what he said, that would be wasted time that could be better off used for saving the life of the Emperor. "Right now, we should consider the Inner Circle as compromised, and we should send in a force that is enough to match their number at the meeting," he explained patiently. Captain Garuma nodded at his explanation.

"We should go in with them then," Captain Garuma suggested as he turned to the two imperial guards on his side.

"Yes. We should," Azra replied flatly.

"You two! You're both in charge out here until I get back. No captain will override my orders except for the captain commander. You are to hold this gate, and you will not allow anyone to enter or leave. Send two more companies after us when the rest of the imperial guards get here, understood?" Captain Garuma barked at the two guards. It was part of their protocol to suspend all movement to and from the palace in case there is a threat of assassination from within. The guards understood this well and would have done the same even without an express order from Captain Garuma. "All of you! Follow us!" he barked at half of the company of imperial guards that were stationed in front of the Imperial Gate. The entire group then rushed into the gate and into the large outer palace grounds. The remaining guards outside the gate adjusted their formation to cover the gate as half of their group followed Captain Garuma and Azra into the palace. The gate closed slowly as the last of the imperial guards entered and followed Captain Garuma's lead.

"Wait! Captain!" Azra said as he stopped Captain Garuma movement. He was following Captain Garuma closely from behind when he called out. He then pointed at a dead body near the line of trees that border the south side of the palace grounds. It was the imperial guard that Captain Garuma sent to fetch Captain Commander Mayuri.

"The outer palace grounds have been breached! Be on alert!" Captain Garuma ordered.

A brief hissing sound mixed with the sound of the wind blowing on the leaves filled the area a moment after Captain Garuma's order. A fraction of a blink of an eye later, hundreds of needles—nearly invisible in the darkness of night—flew towards the group in the middle of the outer palace grounds. The armor of the guards was enough to stop most of the needles, but there were a few who were hit in the head and neck. Three of the imperial guards fell on the ground right away. Azra quickly drew his katana and deflected all the needles that were directed towards him. He was not wearing any armor, so he had to deflect all the needles flying towards him, or he would fall victim to its effects as well. Captain Garuma drew his wakizashi for defense. Several needles flew towards his face and neck, but he skillfully deflected them all.

Before the group could fully recover from the initial attack, a group of men with covered faces sprang from the bushes and attacked them. The attackers wore black, tight-fitting clothing that covered every inch of their bodies except for their eyes; the sleeves of their clothing had metal plates or rods that rang each time their arms were hit by the guards. The attackers used the metal lining inside their sleeves skillfully and managed to deflect attacks with it.

Captain Garuma immediately determined that the two groups were too evenly matched. He knew right away that they will waste precious time before the battle will be decided. If they stayed to fight the invaders, the Emperor could already be dead once they get to him. However, if he and Azra left the battle, this could tip the battle towards the attacker's favor, and his men could eventually become overwhelmed. Additionally, if the guards of the Inner Circle were truly compromised, as Azra suggested, then the two of them would have very little chance to defeat them all. Unfortunately, if they waited until the arrival of reinforcements, the Emperor's life might already be lost by the time they get inside the palace. Captain Garuma's face darkened with the difficulty of the decision that he has to make before him as he faced his assailant.

"We have no time for this, Captain Garuma! We need to get into the palace fast!" Azra exclaimed as a katana sliced at him from his side. He immediately sidestepped to the left and avoided getting hit by the attack. His attacker had a katana on his right hand while his left hand held a whip-like weapon with a small dagger on its tip. Whenever Azra moved in for an attack, the katana held him at bay, and he became open to the whip-like weapon. When he stepped back to look for an opening, the whip-like weapon continuously harassed him with its deadly tip. Azra stepped back from his attacker and defended himself from the whip, and then made his movement obvious and predictable to his opponent. His opponent attacked him with the dagger-tip of the whip that he dodged by twisting his body to either the left or right while he stayed in position and moved forward steadily. When he was close enough, he used his wakizashi to defend against the attack of the whip and locked the whip with his wakizashi. He then immediately raised his right hand that held his katana and pulled his wakizashi close to his body with his opponent's whip still tangled with his wakizashi, thus, pulling the whip. His maneuver caught his opponent by surprise and partially imbalanced him. Azra took this opportunity to sharply pull the whip by pirouetting at his heel and rolling his body towards his opponent. His circular movement wrapped the whip around his body that pulled his opponent closer to him even further. Before his opponent could get his balance back and mount a counterattack, Azra sliced his opponent's neck and cut himself free of the whip in a single fluid stroke.

"Look sharp, Azra! We're going inside! The men must handle this battle themselves!" Captain Garuma barked at Azra as he started running across the outer grounds. He was racing towards the inner grounds before the lifeless body of his opponent even hit the ground. Azra ran closely behind him without replying back.

Four opponents emerged from the trees as the two entered the inner grounds of the palace. There's a line of trimmed topiary trees that separated the outer palace grounds. Several dead bodies of guards and the black-clad attackers were scattered at the base of the trees at the side of the inner grounds. Even though they were outnumbered, Azra and Captain Garuma were more than a match for their attackers. Their opponents fell after a few feints and quick slashing attacks to the vital areas of their bodies. The two soon sped past their opponents, who fell bleeding to death on the ground next to their own comrades and the imperial guards who fell defending the inner grounds of the palace.

The inner grounds looked empty. Azra and Captain Garuma stared at each other nervously when they reached the center of the inner grounds and found none of the imperial guards that were supposed to be stationed there. During normal days, ten imperial guards would be patrolling the central inner grounds, where several sculptured trees are located. However, during evenings where the leaders of the Five Kingdoms gather for the Council of Kings, there should be no fewer than thirty imperial guards patrolling the central inner grounds.

"Do you think they're compromised too?" Azra asked with a look of concern. His youthful eyes were full of wisdom—far too much for his age of twenty winters, Captain Garuma thought to himself. Guarding the life of a young emperor who has become a close friend has made Azra mature faster than most other people. His job was both a blessing and a curse, Captain Garuma thought.

"We have to hurry inside! If they have been compromised, then all we can do is buy time for the rest of the guards to reach the Imperial Meeting Hall!" Captain Garuma said in an urgent voice as he rushed towards the front doors of the Imperial Palace. Azra ran after him, in full alert in case anyone attacked them from the trees as they passed by.

When they reached the front doors of the Imperial Palace, the dead bodies of several imperial guards greeted them. They had no external wounds nor any visible injuries except for a mild darkening of the arteries on their necks. "Poison gas!" Captain Garuma said as he pulled a white silken scarf from his chest armor and then moistened it with water from his leather water bag. He then wrapped it on his face to cover his mouth and nose. Azra followed his lead by tearing a piece of cloth from the sleeve of his clothing. Captain Garuma handed Azra his leather water bag and then carefully inspected the doors of the palace for traps. When Azra was finally ready, they opened the door slowly by pushing it with the butt of their swords.

The inside of the palace was dark. Most of the lanterns that light the halls and pillars were extinguished. A few broken lanterns remained lit but not enough to give a comfortable illumination over the large floor area of the front hall of the palace.

"Let's head straight to the Imperial Meeting Hall! We have to secure the Emperor!" Captain Garuma exclaimed, and Azra nodded immediately at his suggestion. It's pointless to worry about palace illumination now. They both knew that charging into the Imperial Meeting Hall was dangerous because they could leave their backs exposed to enemies that are hiding and were just waiting until they have passed by before they attack.

The two exited through an eastern passage and then headed to a side exit from the music room of the palace. As soon as they left the music room, several bodies of imperial guards and assassins littered the floor that leads towards the Imperial Meeting Hall. The number of dead bodies immediately told the two that the assassins and the imperial guards were evenly matched. This doesn't bode well for them since they might end up facing the Inner Circle guards on their own. And there were at least twenty Inner Circle guards assigned to secure the Imperial Meeting Hall. Their only hope was that not all of the Inner Circle guards were part of the assassination attempt and would help them secure the Emperor's safety.

Additionally, there is the question of facing whoever was the leader of this invasion. These skillful fighters will not simply follow him and fight to the death for mere money. Mercenaries know that money is useless if they die during the mission. The number of dead invaders only showed that they have loyalty to whoever was behind this assassination plot and that they likely shared common beliefs and principles with the leader of the group.

The two rushed towards the Imperial Meeting Hall, avoiding the dead bodies that were strewn throughout the floor. The sound of fighting greeted their highly alert ears as they approached the doors of the meeting hall. They rushed towards the door as fast as their feet could possibly take them while avoiding being tripped by the dead bodies on the floor.

When they finally reached the meeting hall, they were grief-stricken by the number of dead bodies that were scattered throughout the Imperial Meeting Hall. Bodies of royal escorts, guests, the black-clad invaders, Inner Circle guards, and dead Omono-Ryu filled the floor and seats that the flowing blood made the floor red and sticky. The stink of dead bodies and blood made it very hard to breathe within the enclosed hall.

Several guards of the Inner Circle were fighting against each other while one of the Emperor's personal guards fought against a couple of Inner Circle guards. Azra and Captain Garuma was at a loss regarding who to assist and who to attack.

Without warning, Azra suddenly hit the back of Captain Garuma's head with the butt of his sword. Captain Garuma fell unconscious to the ground with a loud groan. Everyone fighting inside the Imperial Meeting Hall stopped and turned to the sound of an armored fighter who fell loudly to the marbled floor of the hall that was slick with semi-dried blood.

"He's not with us, but I had to use him to get here faster!" Azra declared with an evil grin.