THE DEATHWIND TRILOGY
Gonji: Red Blade from the East
Gonji: The Soul Within the Steel
Gonji: Deathwind of Vedun
COPYRIGHT INFORMATION
Copyright © 1983, 2013 by T. C. Rypel
Previously published as Samurai Combat.
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Published by Wildside Press LLC
www.wildsidebooks.com
DEDICATION
This book is for
MARTY SWIATKOWSKI...scholar, wit, and confidant
JOE RUTT...critic, guide, and kindred spirit
GARY DUMM...purveyor of rei and wa
And, oh yes...
DAVE BUEHNER...who skated in late
Such friends have I.
EPIGRAM
I sought them far and found them,
The sure, the straight, the brave,
The hearts I lost my own to,
The souls I could not save.
They braced their belts about them,
They crossed in ships the sea,
They sought and found six feet of ground,
And there they died for me.
—A. E. Housman,
Epitaph on an Army of Mercenaries
MAP OF VEDUN
WHAT HAS GONE BEFORE...
In the sixteenth-century Carpathian Mountains, a lone samurai named Gonji Sabatake journeys in endless quest after the legendary Deathwind, the Beast with the Soul of a Man. Staving off assaults by primal horrors in the haunted territory, he joins, for a time, a company of mercenaries in the employ of a mysterious nomadic king who dubs himself Klann the Invincible.
Bolting the 3rd Royalist Free Company after a clash over their dishonorable duty, Gonji returns to a scene of carnage he helped perpetrate and is charged by a dying priest to convey a message to a mystery man named Simon Sardonis, whom he will find in the city of Vedun. Attacked by a wyvern, a ghastly winged dragon, Gonji is put to flight and commits himself to the beast’s eventual destruction.
Bringing the body of a boy beaten to death by mercenaries in Klann’s hire, the samurai enters the ancient walled city of Vedun, a citadel perched on a Transylvanian plateau-aerie. He finds the city occupied by Klann’s army, the castle of the provincial lord, Baron Rorka, having been successfully breached in a single night’s siege.
Gonji finds that the dead boy was the brother of an important council member, Michael Benedetto, and thus becomes embroiled in political intrigue from the outset. He comes to side with the citizens, who are ethically and morally divided over a course of action. The pacifist faction is led by the Council Elder, Flavio; the militants, by the volatile guildsman Phlegor and the fiery prophetess Tralayn.
As enmity between Gonji and King Klann’s forces, human and inhuman, increases, so dawns his affection for the city and some of its inhabitants; notably, the blacksmith Garth Gundersen and one of his sons, Wilfred, who is consumed by the desire to rescue his beloved Genya from the invaded castle. A lovely deaf-mute girl named Helena becomes enamored of Gonji; and Gonji, in turn, of Michael’s wife, Lydia.
Through a series of wild adventures and curious circumstances, the half-breed oriental (his mother having been a shipwrecked Norsewoman) rises to a position of influence—a tenuous one, weakened by distrust and bigotry. In a fit of pique, obeying the dictates of his moody disposition and the cry of an empty purse, he hires on as a spy for Klann with Captain Julian Kel’Tekeli, whom he has come to hate, their personalities clashing severely.
But ever the seeker after noble duty, he also contrives to become Flavio’s personal bodyguard. His love of control, attention, and military game-playing thus satisfied, and characteristically mistaking serendipity for fate, he sees himself committed (in his compromising, half-Western fashion) by the bushido code to following the situation through to a conflict he feels inevitable. And the key to his Deathwind quest—and the now linked mystery of Simon Sardonis—seems to be withheld from him by certain fearful city leaders.
As RED BLADE FROM THE EAST closes, Gonji manipulates himself into the city delegation to the castle banquet being held by the legendary King Klann the Invincible, who has suddenly decided to break with his reclusive tradition.
At the castle banquet the city delegation discovers Klann to be quite a different man from the threatening myth-figure that precedes him: he appears cheerful and hospitable, exuding an air of concern for his subjects. He promises to redress the grievances brought to his attention by the city. His court sorcerer, Mord, though, proves quite as foul as his legend and evinces a profound hatred for the city and its Christian mode of worship. And in almost comic counterpoint to the young smith’s agonized concern, Wilfred’s beloved Genya displays a plucky self-confidence that has her in a position of influence in the castle.
Gonji is lured by Julian into an exhibition of swordsmanship designed to compare their distinctive fencing styles, culminating in a duel weighted in favor of the European blade. Gonji is narrowly defeated, shamed in his own mind despite a brilliant showing. Their enmity is further fueled.
While the castle revelry plays itself out, an undisclosed traitor from Vedun meets in secret with Mord to plan the city’s destruction. And a most disquieting revelation comes to light: Garth Gundersen, the gentle smith, is a former trusted general of Klann, a matter he has withheld from even his family and closest friends.
Back in the city the militants demand action against the brutalizing occupation force. Tralayn and the revolutionary artist-poet Alain Paille attempt to inspire in Gonji a sense of destiny that will see him lead a city militia against the invaders. Garth reveals the details of his former association with Klann and reads from an ancient parchment the incredible story of Klann’s enchanted origin: The wandering king was born septets, all endangered at birth, and combined by his royal parents’ court wizard into one healthy child carrying seven distinct personages, each of whom would emerge, in turn, upon the death of the last. Klann’s obsession is to return to the island kingdom of his birth and repossess the throne wrested from his father in a sorcerous coup.
Meanwhile, Mord takes a magical hand toward inspiring the internecine conflict he desires: His black magick blights much of Vedun’s harvest, causing violent repercussions that intensify the city’s burden under the aggressive invading army. Misunderstandings and the sorcerer’s foul meddling polarize Klann and the city, as tensions increase.
Gonji rises to leadership over the militia that trains in the vast, ancient catacomb system beneath the city. But as his star rises, so do his troubles multiply. Skills and tactics must be taught to a largely nonmilitary populace; weapons and armor are difficult to obtain; while he makes many new friendships, he also has his detractors; the continued presence of Klann’s bullying troops and Mord’s intimidating monsters casts a pall over the combat readiness; Gonji’s frustrated attraction to Lydia and ill-timed deflowering of Helena further complicate relationships; the occupying army builds in strength; Julian’s suspicions of Gonji deepen.
And through it all the traitor watches and records.
Anticipating her own foretold death, Tralayn reveals to Gonji that the Deathwind he seeks may be the same Simon Sardonis for whom he bears a message—and the enigmatic Simon is a werewolf, who lives a vengeful, self-pitying and egocentric life on the fringe of the territory, protected by those he now refuses to help.
This possible cosmic mockery of his long quest