SAMURAI

Chapter 2; Choosing Destiny

    From the very beginning of meeting this girl, then fascinated by the manifestation of the Goddess Aphrodite and the Goddess Athena who was fused in her, for years the space in my frozen heart turned to melt. There was a rush that I could not translate. Slowly creeping as the seconds progressed, surging as God Ares released the love arrows.

    A split second, who knew which side of my heart left with a sense of humanity, I decided on my future. Or, the stubbornness of my heart which had been like stagnant water and had not flowed has changed dramatically. 

    As fast as lightning, I pulled the sword from its scabbard. My two hands held tightly to the handle of the sword, leaping quickly closer to the girl's body, holding four swords leading to the body of the goddess with full force. 

    “Clang!”

    “Clang!”

    The direction of the four swords simultaneously strayed. My hands were burning. Detaining at once the four superior combatants in each group was not an easy thing. Exerting all the strength that I had trained for many years also never fails to drain all the available energy. 

    The eyes of the four attackers and one prey widened. They did not believe in seeing what I had done. The girl's mouth dropped open in disbelief. Four squad captains incarnated in anger. 

    “Motherfucker!”

    “Bastards!”

    “Traitor!”

    Swift turned swept at. I did not move. Both of my feet treaded firmly. My right hand held the sword shaft tightly. My gaze directed towards the figure of General Kuddun. He stood with his face reddish in the moonlight, rage, and anger visible in his eyes. Before the next decree came out of his mouth, I preceded with a loud shout. 

    "Is this the attitude of the Captain of the troops? Attacking unarmed women?" 

    I didn’t want to lose the moment, continued with the next scream. "What does the world say with the majesty of the Ilkhanat army? What did the Great Khan say to see four commanders in a race to kill the defenseless enemy?"

    My defense was muttered. Two hundred gathered troops filled the deck, throwing arguments at one another. They were divided. One side considered me a traitor, the other side that glorified chivalry was on my side. However, in military rule, there was no deliberation and debate like in the Roman senate. The General's orders were carried out. 

    "What do you mean?!" replied General Kuddun, angry.

    Negotiations were not like debates that merely resulted in losing and winning. Negotiations were the best solution for both parties. I launched a win-win solution negotiation. 

    "I beg you the mighty General Kuddun, let me kill this b***h. Unworthy to dirty the honorable commander's sword with the blood of looser.”

    Buzz in four foreign languages rang loudly. My negotiation went perfectly. One side who had been reproach turned to defend. All the voices of warriors filled the quorum, justifying the reasons I had made. 

    General Kuddun's iron fist could not withstand two hundred unanimous votes. On this ship, he was indeed a ruler, but on land - in front of Kublai Khan - General Kuddun was only one of the names among dozens of other Generals. He could not silence the two hundred soldiers' voices except for the earth scorching them and the ship and its contents. He growled. 

    "OK. I allow you as the executioner!"

    Cries of praise praised the accuracy of the decision taken. Three captains except Bernardigio Paganinus retreated regularly to give distance. To be more exact, He wanted to see how I executed a helpless woman.

    Bernardigio Paganinus was still standing before me. We were only two meters apart. His eyes were as sharp as an eagle. His hearing still could not believe I had been appointed to carry out the execution. The conquests and the wars we went through together gave him enough information about how hard I was against the enemies. 

    Before the order changed, I immediately turned to face the Afro-Thena Goddess who now turned into a helpless mermaid. The more he rebelled, the rope tied her tighter.

    Our eyes met. She glared at me. I gave a meaningful look, but she did not understand. As fast as lightning and as hard as possible, my sword pointed at the straps of her body. Three pieces of broken rope were hit by a s***h. The tip of the sword slightly injured his hand and tore her front shirt. My eyes were dazzled by the white glint of her skin. Realizing where my eyes were looking, the girl's face turned red. 

    “Ike! Hayaku Ike[1]!” my command in the language she understood.

    Beautiful eyes widened in disbelief. As fast as my sword, she understood at once what I meant. 

    She nodded. “Arigatou[2].” A small amount of gratitude floated from her full lips.

    Before I replied her words, from behind, the swish of deadly ambush, leads right into the solar plexus. Reflexively following the instincts of a soldier who was full of war, I turned around. 

    I turned my sword as fast and as hard as I fended off the sword prick. The direction of Bernardigio Paganinus's sword strayed into the empty air. Curse and swear warriors shouted. 

    "Kill the traitor! Kill the woman!" shouted General Kuddun full of anger. His pride was a mess deceived by his rival General's son.

    Without waiting for General Kudun's ordered, Bernardigio Paganinus sent another sword stab followed by three other Captain's swords. Against Bernardigio Paganinus I would not necessarily win, plus facing three select captain captains made me nervous. A sword streak of Captain Yuan could be avoided by bowing my head. 

    "Go! hurry! I can no longer hold them," I shouted in Japanese among the clink of the clashing sword. 

    "There was a small boat down below. Good luck," she said softly. 

    Afro-Thena Goddess jumped quickly through the deck of the ship. The ship's height was approximately six meters above sea level. At a glance, I did not catch the sound of the pounding when the girl's body hit the surface of the water. 

    Beautiful jumping technique, I praised her while I was busy receiving attacks.

    Not wanting to lose his quarry, twenty warriors holding arcs ran to catch the edge of the ship, showering the sea with arrows. Dozens of arrows went at high speed, splitting the waves. I wished that girl could survive the arrows and the ferocious sea.

    It did not take long for the Ilkhanat soldiers to make my resistance end. In a few moved, the machete of Jinggu had cut my right thigh, leaving a deep cut in blood. Not yet had time to avoid Captain Yuan's sword stab, the next s***h tore the skin on my left thigh. My feet were no longer sturdy. My body staggered back when Paganinus's hard kick hit the stomach. 

    He growled and vented with the next kick when the s***h that was pointing at my neck could be avoided. Blood mixed with sweat-soaked my entire body. Pain bit all over the body. My right hand trembled holding the sword. My knuckles were stiff. Stabbing on the shoulder of Captain Goryeo's sword ended my resistance. My hands could no longer hold the sword.

    The four commanders still wanted to torture me before one of them stuck a sword right in my heart. Incisions, punches, and kicks landed repeatedly. There was no longer any need to continue resistance. Just waiting for the time when energy eroded and my body's strength could no longer survive. 

    I looked for the right place to escape. Three warriors approached, understood my thoughts. They made a few laps before throwing the laser cord. 

    Now or never.

    My mouth was locked. My molars growled solidly. Just as the three lasso strings were entering the body, I mustered the remaining strength. I turned the sword to break the circle of the lasso, then with the remaining energy, I threw my sword towards the nearest attacker. 

    Bernardigio Paganinus, who was swift with a final prick toward my chest, stopped his intention as a long, sharp metal bolt shot through his chest. He fended off the sword that I threw. My sword changed direction, darted on the pole on the right side. The four attackers were stunned by the remaining energy I still had. Two seconds of calm was enough for me.

     I threw myself across the deck, sliding from a height of six meters without a beautiful jumping technique. A body full of wounds weighing eighty-three kilograms struck the surface of the water, making a crash and splashing sound. There was no time to moan in pain. 

    "Don't let the traitor escape! Archer!" I could hear General Kuddun's voice full of anger.

    Before the whirlpool sucked my body, consciousness to survive still attached. The air I had pulled had filled the entire lung bag. The water around me turned red when my body sank into the sea. Blood mixed with plankton obstructs the view from above. Sprint arrows scattered. Fortunately, no one could land right on their target.

    In the water, I let go of the air I held so I could sink. I didn’t care about the pain anymore. My hands and feet dived into the endless sea. Dozens of arrows sliced through the water like rain soaking the dry ground. I kept reaching, kicking until the underwater pressure dispelled the arrow. I move away in the depths. 

    In the dim and a little light, my eyes wandered upwards. I fought with saltwater that pricked my eyeballs. A board looked like a black dot in the middle of blue paper tens of meters away. Before plunging in. Afro-Thena Goddess said there was a small boat. To me, that dot is not big enough to be called a boat. There was only one way to find out; I swam towards the dots.

    The rest of my energy started to run out. My lungs would explode soon. My hands and feet moved slowly, do not want to follow the brain's commands. The ten-meters journey from the sea to the surface seemed like the longest trip of my life. The pressure from the seabed made my ears ring, pressed against my heart, blasted all the veins to the lowest point to the unconscious. 

    As soon as the head appeared above the surface of the water, the only movement I did was release air pressure and immediately refilled the lungs. I coughed. My hair was lumpy, attached to my scalp. Ragged tattered shirt. My right shoulder and both thighs kept bleeding.

    My wish came true. The breeze from the direction of the ship did not carry orders to explore the sea. The swimming style that I practiced for years brought my body away from the Ilkhanat. I hope they thought I'm dead, so they won’t let down the lifeboat to find and finished my life.

    The boat meant by this girl was bobbing in the middle of the waves. My right hand reached the wooden wall of the small boat. I raised my body with difficulty. After going through the struggle of life and death just to get on the boat, I let my body floundered upon the wooden deck. The small boat was like a giant wooden bowl. It's big enough to hold porridge, but there's no place to stretch your legs. 

    After giving enough time for my muscles and energy to rest a bit, I opened my torn clothes in several places. I tore it into three long pieces. Two parts to tie two thighs, one part to smother the shoulders. Blood should flow quickly.

     The rest I laid on my back facing the sky. The sea breeze whispered lightly. Clear skies full of thousands of stars who race to show their light. Early spring sea breeze made my body shiver. All of my five senses didn't seem to work anymore. I felt no pain. I did not feel anything else. Quiet, without a speck of sound. Awareness slowly left my body.

                                                                                    ***

    My name is John Eracles Junior. My Mongol name is Chagatai. This year, I'm twenty-one. My father was Master Robert Eracles, former King of England military adviser, and former Knight of Templar. My mother is from a beautiful Mongol aristocratic family.

    Tired of the battles he had never won, my father left the Templar order and then traveled across national borders. From the continent of Europe, towards the middle east, crossing the glory of the Arab dynasties, and stranded on the adventure as a Mongol warrior. 

    Europeans called my father a traitor to the State, a traitor to the order. But according to him, he was a man who was able to struggle with changing times. Like a spinning wheel, so did glory rotate. Roman Empire, Persian Empire, Glory of the Arab dynasty. And, there were times when middle Asians would get their turn. 

    The leadership and conquest of the founders of the Mongolians attracted him. At the age of twenty-eight, he left the Templar order which had given him the ability to kill. Joining successor Mongke Khan, Robert Eracles discovered what he had been searching for. In every conquest, he became a hero. He was the first foreigner to be loved by the Mongol rulers, even the first foreigner to be the commander of the troops in charge of soldiers of various nations. 

    My father continued to serve consecutively as the successor to Khan until, at the height of the glory of Kublai Khan, Robert Eracles was appointed General. The only general of the European continent.

    Robert Eracles only married one woman, my mother - Chaga Khatun - a noblewoman who was still a relative of the founder of the Mongols. People said Chaga Khatun is the most beautiful woman among Mongolian women. From their marriage, my sister and I were born.

    Unlike my sister who filled her life with science and literature, my life was only about violence and the sword. Five years old, my father gave me a sword that was longer than my height. He acted as a teacher who was very disciplined and hard in teaching bodybuilding. 

    When I was fourteen years old, with the power granted by Ilkhanat, Robert Eracles pressed the Templars to accept his son as part of a knight. An order that had a motto ‘Non nobis, domine, non nobis, sed nomini Tuo da gloriam[3]’ accepted my arrival with open arms. I was still a teenager when I followed the first battle expedition that had caused humanitarian injury to this day.

    The result of the marriage of two different races was inherent in my body. The combination of the good looked of Europeans and the beauty of Asian women. In the blood of Robert Eracles flew a true European race. 

    From my father, I got the shape of his nose, the shape of his big eyes, and the color of his skin which was slightly reddish. Mother's blood flowing in my body donated eyeballs and dark black hair. My body was tall enough for the size of the Asian race, but not as tall as the European race. 

    So, I was like a dog between a wolf and a tiger. Not enough to be a wolf, and not big enough to be a tiger. If only my father's big name was not feared, I would have been a month in the two races.

    My father was a polyglot, and that talent was passed down to me. Seven Languages; English, French, Italian, Mongolian, Mandarin, Goryeo, including Japanese mastered well. If you wanted to conquer a nation, first, mastered the language and culture, so my father's advice.

    When Khan the Great wanted the conquest of his neighboring country, my body shape, and fluent language understanding plus the influence of my father who wanted his son to gain valuable experience, made me chosen as part of the information gatherer. 

    Four years ago, I entered the remote Japanese islands disguised as traders. My task was to get detailed information about this country, as well as to get allies of samurai families who were not satisfied with a government that could be bought with the promise of power if the Shogunate conquered.

    The Japanese Isles were rich in gold, forest products, salt, and rice. Khan did not want to destroy this country. He only wanted Japan to surrender, to recognize the sovereignty of the Mongol Empire, and to deposit some of its agricultural produce and gold. Unlike the conquest of another country with only one repulsion, their country will be destroyed, Khan was still in the patient despite getting rejected four times in a row.

     Shikken[4] was currently controlled by the Hojo family, who recently raised Hojo Tokimune, the onion boy with no experience as a military leader. The young man was too proud of not heeding Khan's request.

    If I had cursed Shikken Hojo Tokimune before as a stupid young man, this time I got his karma. My stupidity and ignorance were crushed by romance dispelling all hopes for the glory that I should have achieved. It took years to build a dream, but it only took a few minutes to destroy it. That was the destiny I had chosen. Throwing a career, position, past, the pride of parents, only for women whose names I did not know. But, the show must go on.

[1] Go away, hurry, and go

[2] Thank you

[3] Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to Your name give glory. 

[4] A military leader who controls the shogunate