The Thousands

Kurayumi stood silently on the battlefield. Like a thousand bloody blossoms, the faces of fallen samurai lay twisted and mangled on the ground in front of her. Opposite Hiromasa, shogun of the attacking army, unsheathed his katana and set his one good eye on her with a cruel glower.

**Fighting off overwhelming fatigue and fear, Kurayumi looked beyond the arrogant warlord to the ochre flag depicting her family’s Kamon shivering slightly in the breeze.

As she drew her own Katana, she recognised Ageha-cho – the same gentle butterfly Kamon of her ancestors pressed into the edge of the glittering blade.

Meeting her enemy’s malevolent gaze, Kurayumi took a breath and spoke defiantly, "You may take this ground, but you will never take me".

A second later the thousand-year-old sword pierced her breast with the sound of a sigh. At once, everything was black.