Death's final moments

It was drizzling in a most insignificant manner, where one felt nothing more than the light cool of drops evaporating off the skin. The squad captain propped one foot against the bow of their boat, gripping the hilt of his sword. Once the boat landed, he would have to face someone very hard to kill… his own wife. The boat sloshed along unhindered by the gentle undulating waves, which were dimly illuminated in pale yellow lantern light. The calm was unsettling, and the men were restless. A strange mission on a small offshore island to kill some people whose appearances they did not even know.

“We are almost there! Gear up and get ready to move. We are after the four assassins who killed your last captain. Slay at my order! Rebellion against Lord Grummiax will not be tolerated! You will exterminate all who dare to side with those rebels.”
The captain then returned to the bow, and to his thoughts.


The woman slowly filled the four cups of her guests with hot tea. One of them leant forward and inhaled deeply, the white plume waving from his cup rushing into the nostrils of his pale white demon mask. Below the almond eyes and razor sharp nose lay a toothy evil grin, edged with two large curved fangs. It was a visage many had come to fear. The woman however, simply sat down across the table from the four demons and their coloured masks. She had nothing to fear from them as long as her contract had not been completed.

“What did you find on the mainland?”
“Your husband…… is dead.”
“Could you find his killer?”
The assassin folded his arms and brought an index finger up to his chin. He brought out a blood spattered helmet and placed it on the table.
“This belonged to the captain in charge of the docks. We thought he was the killer, but we were wrong…”
The four suddenly glanced at each other, noticing something.
“Excuse us.” All of them except the one she was speaking with melted into the shadows. Several minutes later, the woman heard hoof-beats.


“Hurry!”
The captain and his new command of troops sped off, leaving the horse renting merchant floating in the sea. Now that his men were mounted, they would make better speed.
“When we reach the village, split up and search! Kill everyone who owns a weapon, against the decrees of the Lord!”
“Your warlord is but one of the many in this area. When did he become lord of this village?”
The voice was surprisingly close to his ear. His eyes widened so much you could see the whites, and he spun around on the horse’s back to behold an angry red- faced demon with a bristly white moustache and a straw hat, head cocked to one side.
“You!”
He lost control of the horse, and they both tumbled into the dirt, man and animal, leading to a multi-horse pileup involving most of his fifteen men. The demon was nowhere to be found. He was beginning to think that setting out in the evening was a mistake. It was pitch dark in the bamboo forest.


“You see, strictly speaking, your husband is not dead. But if you were to meet him now, you would not recognise him.”

“What do you mean? What did they do to him? Was he tortured so badly?”

“You misunderstand. He was doing well on the mainland, but not by selling chopped wood. The recruiters of the various warlords comb any village they find, buying up all the strong and the young. There is no need for force, the pay is enticing enough.”

“Keep going.”

“Your husband is strong. He was recruited at two times his annual earnings for selling wood, and offered three pieces of gold a month. Within the six months that he was missing, he had become a lieutenant to the captain of the docks. The life of an officer under the strongest warlord in this area is bound to be an easy one. For bullying and extortion, one is rewarded with gold, expensive food, good lodging, girls, anything a man could want.”
The lady’s breathing was so hard now that he could hear it from across the table.

“You should have asked me to stop. Drink some tea. I will continue this tale later.”
The lady complied, staring blankly, chest heaving.

‘I knew this would be difficult,’ the assassin thought to himself.

“I am ready, finish your account. Even if he refuses to return to this life, I can understand. I will be at peace, as long as he is happy.”
Her face had darkened, and her voice reduced to a whisper.

“He sent us…… to tie up loose ends.”


The sixteen men on the wide road were an open target. The three assassins crouched among the thick bamboo, observing them.
“Where is our contract?”
“At their head, giving orders.”
“He is the only one that we cannot kill?”
“Obviously...”
“Let us use the darkness to our advantage, we are hugely outnumbered here.”
“Look there! Three horses can still run! He is ordering them to go ahead. Odachi* !”
* Large sword
“I will take them out.”
The red faced demon sped off with his huge sword in hand.
One of the assassins pushed aside his silver mask depicting a horned demon. Flinging aside his conical straw hat, he drew out an arrow and nocked it in his bow.
“Hmm, seems like we will act now.”
The last demon in his purple visage, frozen in a perpetual anguished scream, reached into his cloak and drew out his clawed gloves, twiddling the razor sharp blades. He then cupped his hands and blew hard, producing a sound so low pitched few could hear it.


“Alright! You three go directly to the village and carry out my orders!”
“Aye Sir!”
The captain watched his men disappear down the road. Suddenly, he saw a flash of reflected moonlight go through the three riders. All three riders fell, forming a ghastly cocktail of flesh, bone and blood on the dirt road while the mounts remained unscathed, whinnying and running off madly in all directions. The huge blade, clothed in a pale blue sheen by the heavenly bodies, began to move toward them. Just then, his hair stood on end for some reason. Some men said they heard a low moan, and were starting to glance about, searching for apparitions between the slowly swaying bamboo.

“Archers! Archers! Loose! Now!”
The captain waved his sword about, crazed. The three archers in his task force loosed some hurried shafts, but neither seemed to hit the sword’s master. Their shooting became less and less frequent until it stopped altogether.
“Why did you stop shooting? Imbeciles!”
He glared at them, but they could neither see nor feel his anger. The captain reached down and pulled an arrow out of one of their backs. As he had feared, it was tipped with a shark’s tooth. He turned back to face the advancing figure.
“Halt! Halt unless you wish to die!”
The figure stopped ten paces from him, casually swaying his huge sword as if it were a reed.

“Any last words, captain?”
“You cannot kill me. You are outnumbered ten to one! Use your fingers if you have to.”
“Ah, thanks for the reminder.” He then called out, “Nichirasu! One of us will have to make a sacrifice!”
“Aah?” A voice came from above, followed by the smooth metallic ring of blades sliding against each other. “You have already had three kills today. Don’t be selfish!”


The woman’s face was hard now, like a mask. A knock came. At her nod, the assassin opened the door. A soldier stumbled in and fell, followed by the three other assassins. He was gilded in the livery of the local warlord, although that was hardly visible through all the blood he was covered with. His eyes were still wide with fear after seeing all his best men slaughtered like game.
“A family reunion,” the white demon mused.

“Well, captain, I am sure you are surprised that the person we were paid to kill is alive. The truth is, you did not read rules and regulations. We are still under contract from her to find and kill your murderer.”

“Unfortunately, we can slay neither greed nor lust, and so we will be bound indefinitely by her contract. As a rule, we do not kill our employers until their contract is over, which, fortunately or unfortunately, includes you. It is a very sticky situation for us, and we have decided that it is best for you to…… thrash things out between you, as a couple.”
Two of the demons then blew a purple dust into their faces, and all went black.
“All right, they will be out for exactly five minutes. Let us move quickly.”
One of the assassins went to the room of the woman’s young son, and drugged the boy. Another went to get his grandfather, who would be on his way home from fishing. Entrusting the boy in his care, they gave him some gold and sent him on his way. The demon in the silver mask produced a double-edged throwing dagger, and placed it in the woman’s hand, binding it securely with a strip of white cloth.

The four managed to regroup a distance from the small hut several minutes later. Just then, an animal scream rang out, followed by some choked gurgling. They began their stroll back to their own boat house.
“How do you think it ended?”
“Who cares?”
“I think the woman... We gave her such an advantage... That should be a proper ending.”
“From the moment that I told her our mission, she was already dead.”
They each removed their masks, and trudged on.
“We should seriously consider retirement.”