L5r - scroll 04 - The Phoenix by Stephen D. Sullivan Read Free Book Online

sulfur and incense, steel and leather. The noise of hammers echoed thro ugh the underground chambers. The rhythmic whoosh of huge bellows sounded like a slumbering dragon.
    Isawa Tsuke leaned over an ancient scroll, peering closely at the kanji to unlock the silk's secrets. Occasionally, he would raise his head and make some notes on a nearby wooden tablet. The tablet burned where Tsuke touched his finger to it, the characters sparking to mystical life as he wrote on its surface.
    The Master of Fire stood and stretched. The pointed shoulders of his orange robes ruffled. Crystal jewelry rattled with each movement of his iron muscles. He licked thin lips and ran one powerful hand over his shaved head. He yawned.
    Tsuke took the candle from the table and walked to the other end of the great room. The chamber lay deep beneath Shiro Asako, the Castle of the White Phoenix, and Tsuke could almost feel the weight of the rocks above pressing down on him. He didn't mind.
    Discipline required sacrifice, and Tsuke would go to any lengths for his art. He set his candle down near the room's exit and went into the adjoining chamber—the forge.
    The room glowed with orange light from great fires. Hiromi, a Shiba steel master, stopped hammering and looked up as Tsuke entered the room. She was a short, well-muscled woman with a serious face. Her brown hair had been cropped close to her scalp for her work; long hair had a tendency to catch fire.
    "Are you ready for me yet?" Tsuke asked her.
    The steel master put down her hammer and tongs and wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her leather glove. "Not yet, Tsuke-sama. The steel is uncooperative today."
    Tsuke grunted his disapproval. He walked to a corner of the room and picked up a half-finished sword. The metal was still hot, but the temperature didn't bother the Master of Fire.
    "I'm a busy man," he said, not looking at Hiromi as he spoke.
    She bowed. "I know, my lord."
    "See that you take no more of my time than is necessary."
    She bowed again. "I will not, Tsuke-sama."
    He set the sword down and returned to his chamber. He retrieved the candle from the entryway and walked to the other side of the room. There, he placed the candle amid a collection of weapons—swords, scythes, war hammers, iron staves, sai. He picked up a tetsubo, an iron-studded staff, and swung it through the air.
    The air sang, and the staff's metal hummed with the energy of the magical fire that forged it. Tsuke executed a few kata, practice swings with the tetsubo, before pausing to study it once more. He ran his finger over the point of one stud and was surprised when it scratched him.
    Putting the finger to his mouth, he sucked away the blood. Then he smiled. Fine weapons were being made here. True, many of his clan mates did not see the value of weapons. They were steeped in the ways of pacifism. But what good was strength if it was never used? Why should Phoenix stand idly by while the empire fell into further decay? Yes, the clan had sent the Crane help to defend against invasion. It was hardly enough, though. Shiba Tsukune, for all her martial skills, was merely one woman. And the force they'd sent with her was pathetically small, even if it did boast some find shugenja.
    The Master of Fire wondered if his peers would send a larger force once the Crane had fallen to their Shadowlands enemies. He growled discontentedly to himself and set the tetsubo down. As he did so, he knocked over his candle. It fell to the floor and sputtered out.
    Tsuke cursed.
    He concentrated, and the tip of his right index finger caught fire. He quickly found the candle and set his finger to it, relighting the wick. Turning, he walked back to his worktable.
    Sitting on the table was a small golden bird. Its feathers flashed orange and red in the candlelight. The bird chirped a greeting. Tsuke's eyes narrowed as he spotted the tiny scroll attached to its leg.
    The Master of Fire set the candle down, took the bird in hand,