The Lone Samurai (The Lone Series Book 1)

The Fall of Jusurai (part one)

I sat there and looked down at the garden, all the workers were doing their work. Being part of the Jusurai clan had its advantages, we were in our own safe place in the mountains. The other clans where far off, and no one dared come up the mountain to meet us as we had the deadliest army. I sat on the ground and watched as everything was going on, it was a bright summer day. We were part of a nation called Rushi, there were 3 clans under this. We all worked together in harmony, it was us, the Cho sai, and the Hurai. If I had known what would happen that day I wouldn't have been at ease, no one would be. I was only 13 at the time and was in no way a samurai, you couldn't join the ranks until you were 17. My dad was in there and he was my idol, I looked up to him and wanted to be like him one day. I smiled as I looked at the banner waving on the top of the leaders house. It wasn't much just a cloth flag colored red and black with a symbol of a skull with a dagger through it on it. This was our sign, we marked places we held with it. Life was going easy, there was nothing that I could complain about. The nations flag was right above it, a blue and black flag with an eye on it. It wasn't much but it was enough to tell people we were watching, and that's all they needed. I laid back resting my head in the dirt. We were surrounded by giant walls in all sides, it kept us safe. I got up and started walking towards the stream, it always helped me clear my head. As always no one else was there, the other kids spent their time studying but I didn't need it. I smirked and knelt down, I could see my face in the reflection. I didn't like to think high of myself, there were much better looking people then me. I was a serious person and my faced matched, I had short black hair and brown eyes. My face always gave the expression that I was focused which most of the time I was, like I never relaxed. I had a scar running from the right side of my lip to my eye were my mom cut me, that filthy bitch. My face twisted into disgust as I thought of her, she was an honor-less scoundrel. I was glad she was dead after everything she had done, how could such a foul person have lived? I looked up at the sky and saw that the sun was going down, I should probably start heading home. I looked around, everything was so peaceful and at ease with nothing going wrong. "Hey Tenshin!" I looked up in surprise and there was none other then my friend Curi. I smiled when I saw him, he was always so energetic and brash, but he was my best friend nonetheless. Next to him was Nassi, she was always a threatening person as well as scary, you couldn't get anything past her. Together the three of us were best friends, we did everything together. We had the biggest adventures and it was great to know that they were always by my side, I had met them in the academy and we'd been friends ever sense. "Tenshin! Come join us!! We were just heading to get some food" I laughed but agreed to go, I wasn't doing anything and I figured it'd be fun. We all walked and talked about class together laughing all the way, it was the best night I had so far this week. I looked up at the stary sky amazed at how beautiful it was, but I was glad I was here enjoying my moments. I didn't wanna be taken away from what I had, it was the best life I could ask for and had no complaints. So we sat and ate and had a blast, we told jokes and talked about our experience in the academy. We talked about what we would do once we graduated, each of us had our own choice but I knew what I wanted. I wanted to become a samurai on the front lines, I didn't wanna guard the people and live a safe quiet life. I wanted to have action and be able to rescue others and protect our nation, but sadly I would have to wait. Curi wanted to become a supporter of sorts, he would sit behind the front lines and stop any from getting to close. These people even did flanking missions and intel gathering. It was a more dangerous job but I couldn't change his mind though. He knew what he wanted and would have to chase his own path, but Nassi was interesting. She wanted to become an archer and help on the front lines, she was the best shot in our class so no one could say no. But rarely did archers want to be on the front lines, so she was a special case. We were all at the top of our selected class, and were almost guaranteed the positions that we wanted. It was a lot of hard work but it would be worth it, we all saw it that way. I stopped and looked up, my eyes darted across the sky and I questioned if what I saw was real. There up in the Sky was smoke billowing not to far from out walls, what was going on out there?"Hey uhh guys, you see that right?" They stopped talking and looked at the sky, and their eyes widened a little. "Ah it's probably nothing" Curi said. I had a bad feeling about it though and I needed to know, "Hey I'll head home and see if my dad knows, see ya later." And with that I took of towards my house, it wasn't far from where I was but it was still a distance. As I was running I started seeing our guardian samurai running and ordering people out the walls. Why would they be doing this? It made no sense, what was going on? I stopped a guard running by "excuse me sir, but could you tell me what's going on?" And he just looked down at me with pity in his eyes "we might be under attack, we're trying to get civilians out of here. Now go with the rest, hurry!" He yelled at me and kept running towards the main gate. Under attack? I giggled, who would be stupid enough to attack us? But still I needed to find my dad and even faster now. I ran and ran until finally I could see my home, it wasn't much but it was enough for me and dad. I burst through the door as I saw him pulling his helmet on, and I knew it must be true. I ran up and hugged him and looked him in the eyes "who would be foolish enough to attack us?" And he just looked at me with that silent but knowing stare, and funnily he said "I don't know, but we will defeat them. Just remember that I love you and when this is over we can spend time together, I promise. Here take this for until this is over." And he took his amulet of and gave it to me, he was acting like this was the last time he'd see me. *BAM* there was a loud crack and the whole house shook, I knew what that was. They were actually trying to break into our forces, this was bad. "I need to go, take care and get to safety" And with that he rushed out the door towards the gate. I looked down at the amulet, it was beautiful. It was a gold amulet with jade encrusting the outside and a ruby in the center, and around the ruby was sapphire. He said he got this for serving the emperor  himself, I didn't know if that was true. I hung it around my neck *BAM*, I looked up and knew I needed to get to safety. I ran out the front door and started to head to the exit, but I forgot to tell my dad that I loved him and good luck. I had to hurry if I wanted to make it, and I turned and ran towards the front gate. I had to keep going I had to hurry, it wasn't that far. And just as I turned the corner *BAM* the final hit landed and I watched as the gate splintered. I saw my dad in the front line and was about to yell, but then the unthinkable happened. I watched as a volley of arrows went flying into our gate, hitting the samurai in the front and crippling ones in the back. I sat and watched in horror as arrow after arrow went into my dad, and I could hear him yelling in pain. I feel to my knees unable to speak, this couldn't be happening right? All of a sudden horses came running through that gate disrupting the men that were unharmed, and then came the samurai. Wearing a purple and blood red outfit they ran in, they were very well trained and sliced through us like we were nothing. And then when I thought it couldn't get worse my dad got up, picked up his sword, and started fighting. He was skillful and clean, he didn't miss a single mark, but then a sword burst right through his chest. My eyes widened and I could feel tears dripping down my face. A shoulder rushed to me "Hey you! Your not supposed to be here what are you doing!?" But all I could do was watch as my dad fell to his knees looking right at me, and the person behind him could be seen now. And it was the general, you could tell by the skull mask. He moved his sword up cutting my dads chest open, and swiftly ripped it from his chest. Blood started to drip from my dads mouth and I could see him raise his hand to me, and as he mouthed I love you the solider picked me up and started running. The last thing I saw before we turned the corner was the general raising his sword above my dad....