The Lost Samurai

Chapter 22- New raids

Next day a griffin knight arrived at Red Sand City, he politely entered the dojo and asked a reunion with Hori and Kenshin, they assembled a table and took care to choose an isolated  room and use some special techniques to seal it, everything a griffin knight said was too important and also ultra secret.

Only emperor’s direct orders would arrive in a griffon, and they knew exactly why this knight was here today, the dragons’ crisis, the Dragon Empire broke their peace agreement and started advancing in Blue Phoenix Empire’s territory, war would probably start soon and they needed a plan, without one losing was just a matter of time.

After the door was closed and the room properly sealed the knight looked at Kenshin and Hori with a serious face, the subject they would be discussing now wasn’t easy to discuss, it wasn’t something they were happy needing to discuss, war always ended with many innocent lives and many comrades dying, no war could end easily, it was a bloodshed. 

“Master Hori, Prince Kenshin, I came here today to pass down the orders of his majesty, Emperor Kai. As you two both know the dragons broke our peace agreement, thankfully Prince Kenshin was here to help defend the city, else, without the proper defenses Red Sand City wouldn’t exist anymore and everyone would be dead. That’s why we need to take action to defend our people, our majesty ordered every Master to defend their cities and the small villages around, raising all the needed arrays and preparing war supplies. Master Hori, you and your disciples must activate all the defensive arrays around the city and start a war state. Also send some people to setup arrays in the small villages under your jurisdiction and some more to operate them and guard the townsfolk, you need to do everything in seven days or less." The knight gave Hori a huge to do list, apparently the Emperor already knew everyone they would need to do.

"Ok mister, i will do everything, no need to say seven, i will see if i can do it in three days, we can't go on without protection." Hori nodded at the Knight's orders and already mentally organized what she would do and in what order, she also needed to choose the best suited disciples for each task.

After finishing his talk with Master Hori the knight looked at Kenshin, it was Kenshin's turn, the knight probably had lots of things to say to him too, a message from his older brother Emperor Kai.

"Prince Kenshin, as the second prince of our Blue Phoenix Kingdom, younger brother of our Emperor and the one to bear the high tittle of Guardian of our kingdom, you're summoned by his majesty to the palace, he wants to discuss war matters with you and some other persons of high importance in this war, if you want we can go right now riding my griffin, i can ensure you no other transportation means are faster." Kenshin nodded at the knight, it was common sense to call the royal family and the strongest generals to a meeting before a war, and Kenshin was both.

"I will go with you, but I will take my daughter with us. I need her to be safe and the royal capital is the safest place now. Also my family will be happy to see her and her grandpa can train her while I lead the war, with training she will soon be strong enough to be a key warrior in future wars, and maybe even in the current one." Kenshin needed to exert his duty as the guardian, but to do this he needed Kyoko to be safe, else it would be impossible to focus on the battlefield.

"Of course lady Kyoko is welcome in my griffin, I would be honored to transport her, and I'm also curious about how strong the daughter of our strongest man is, her level is probably abnormal compared to anyone her age." The knight was excited, transporting the great Kenshin and also his daughter, today his passengers wouldn't be normal. Lots of persons in the higher level thought of Kenshin's status as bigger than his older brother, because he was the sword to maintain the peace and the Emperor's throne in a war.

It was just normal that army and everyone in the higher castes of Society thought of Kenshin as someone with a higher status than the Emperor, the kingdom's founder and first emperor was the biggest warrior of all times, the former emperor was the biggest warrior of his time, and during Blue Phoenix Kingdom's history most emperors were amazing warriors, the kingdom crowned the oldest son of the current emperor as the throne's heir, but several times when the older son wasn't strong enough a younger brother would steal the throne with the approval of everyone, they truly had a tradition of the strongest ruling.

It was just natural, the stronger one ruling over the weaker ones, almost a nature law, be it in other intelligent races or in normal animals, that law always took effect, and in their kingdom it wasn't different.

Sadly for the groups that wanted the strongest emperor, Kenshin didn't want the throne, he loved and respected his older brother, thinking highly about him and regarding him as a good ruler, he wouldn't ever want to dethrone him, even if many groups tried to approach him swearing their loyalty and offering help to take over the kingdom.

Leaving the sealed room the group went outside the dojo where the griffin was waiting, Kenshin called Kyoko so they could leave.

"Hey my dear, do you want to go visit our family? You would be happy to see grandpa, uncle and aunt right?" Kenshin didn't want to paint this trip as a serious trip that would decide the fate of their kingdom, rather he wanted Kyoko to think about it as just a normal visit to their family members.

"Of course I want it! You will take me to them right? Let 's go! I love seeing aunt Mia and grandpa, and even if uncle Kai is a bit grumpy I still love him and miss seeing him." Kyoko knew fairly well that they were going to the royal capital so that her father could help in the upcoming war, but even so she was really excited going to her home and seeing her whole family.

The griffin knight politely controlled his griffin and helped the father-daughter duo get on its back, they would mount it and fly to Blue Phoenix city.

Even if it was Kenshin he could barely be faster than a griffin, and even so he would still lose speed and lose to the griffin after a few minutes, those animals were the fastest, easily flying hundreds of kilometers in a minute and maintaining their rhythm for days, that's why the kingdom had a small team of skilled griffin knights to transport people and deliver messages in urgent situations.

Mounting it they soared in the sky way above Red Sand city in a matter of milliseconds, griffins flew so fast that they needed to be high enough so the results of their flight would dissipate in the atmosphere, flying at a low altitude would destroy the cities below them with the constant sonic booms.

"Waah, it's so beautiful, I see the stars so close and asteroids in the sky, also the ground looks so distant and everything in it is so small, it's just amazing! I want to fly many times using a Griffin!" Kyoko couldn't restrain herself, she never saw anything as beautiful and impressive as this in her life.

"Haha lady Kyoko, you could easily become captain of our griffin knights unit in a few years, if you did so you would be able to fly like this anytime, and i would be happy to serve you." The knight couldn't help but daydream a bit, it would be amazing to have Kenshin's daughter as their captain and their status would instantly raise.

"The captain of your unity? Maybe for a few years I guess, but Kyoko is the oldest one of the next generation of the royal family, the emperor can't have children, he's totally sterile, so without my brother's kids and without a male descendant of similar age, she's the next empress." Kenshin thought about the future, Kyoko would need not only to be the strongest but also to learn how to properly rule over a kingdom, that's why he needed even more to destroy the dragon threat, so she could have way less weight on her shoulder when she became empress in the future.

"I didn't know about that, Prince Kenshin, so lady Kyoko indeed has a great future ahead." Knowing he was also transporting the future empress the knight was truly honored, today was his lucky day, he couldn't stop thinking about how jealous his unit mates would be after this mission.

Kyoko instantly gasped and didn't know what to say, if she was the heir that meant she needed to train more and put even more effort, she was still too young to even imagine what ruling over a kingdom was like.