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Through the endless tunnels of the underworld the black elf warriors approached the stone walled castle, situated in a large cavern many miles below the windswept desert above. Almost two hundred warriors clad in brown, led by ten nobles riding upon the backs of large black scorpions march in formation, weapons sheathed and banners held high.
The Matsumaru Daishi clan marches this night, moving closer by the moment towards the small stone complex of the Uboshima Tari. The Matsumaru have decided that they deserve to be the dynastic leaders of the Underworld, and the first step to dethroning the powerful Kimurathu Gami clan is to remove their small, yet influential partner clan. The link between the Kimurathu and Uboshima clans is unknown, yet it is obviously a powerful link from a time long forgotten.
The warrior formations of the Matsumaru Daishi clan came to a halt two hundred feet from the gates into the stone complex. Settling into ranks, the warriors tighten the latches on their armor, composed of dozens of small overlapping plates, and hold their weapons at ready.
Standing over twenty feet tall and completely surrounding the central complex, the walls are Uboshima's first line of defense, as the parapets show many pacing warriors armed with bows and swords. The gate opens and warriors in red and yellow scorpion armor come forward, forming into formations and standing at the ready.
Dosinuke Matsumaru, third noble child of his clan dismounted from the scorpion and steped forward, prostrating himself in mock respect for the Uboshima clan. Standing erect, he walked forward, hand to his sword hilt at his side, his eyes meeting those of the representative approaching him from the force out front of him. Stepping forth from the Uboshima Tari ranks, Ashinatama Uboshima walks forward, insultingly neglecting to bow. Meeting between the opposing armies the warrior nobles lock gazes.
“You have moved against my clan this day. This is an act of war.” States Ashinatama coldly, without a hint of fear upon his voice. “Turn back now and we shall ignore this action, stay and fight, and all soldiers behind you shall die in vane.”
Peering over his shoulder to the right, Dosinuke turns back to Ashinatama with a smirk. “Behind me stands tw-hundred warriors of the Matsumaru clan, and it appears that your side has a mere fifty.”
Dosinuke pauses momentarily, “we shall wipe the Uboshima stain from this land.”
Unsheathing his curved blade, Ashinatama takes the battle stance of his clan, legs spread apart, bent at the knees, sword held with both hands at chest level, his gleaming black perpendicular to the ground. “The move is yours.” He tightens his grip on his blade and stands ready.
Tension grew in the cavern, the nerves of the warrior ranks waned, for it felt as if the hundreds of stalactites and stalagmites in the cavern were suddenly glaring at them. Dosinuke felt it equally, and became aware of their his error. Yet it was too late, they could not turn back. His first military mistake in his thousands of years, he feared this would be his last.
Dosinuke drew his weapon.
“I see you have made your decision” Ashinatama struck viciously with a flurry of blows and Dosinuke was forced into defensive maneuvers. His parries were on mark, yet he found no opportunity to turn the tables and gain the offensive advantage.
At the first sight of conflict, the warriors of the Matsumaru Daishi clan, led by the scorpion-mounted nobles, began to rush forward to combat. Before the soldiers had taken a full step, the clicking sound of small crossbows filled the cavern.
Almost every bolt fired hit their target; over forty from the Matsumaru army fell before they were aware of what was happening. Even before panic had a chance to work its way into the ranks, another volley of crossbow quarrel launched into the ranks of soldiers, felling nearly as many soldiers, including half of the nobles.
The shadows then sprang to live. Dozens of Cerlyn Nai warriors, feared deadly warriors of the Kimurathu Gami clan, left from the walls of rough stone and ceiling, landing amongst the invading force. At the sight of the Cerlyn Nai, the Uboshima warriors ran to join the foray.
While warriors fell on both sides of the conflict, the greatest losses were felt by the invading force, unnerved by the appearance of the most feared of opponents in the underworld. The conflict ended almost as quickly as it started. Warriors bled the stone floor red; hundreds of corpses littered the area. As the final soldier of Matsumaru feel away from the bloodied weapon of a Cerlyn Nai, the Uboshima clan soldiers surrounded the still raging duel between Dosinuke Matsumaru and Ashinatama Uboshima.
Realizing his imminent death, Dosinuke made one last attempt, a desperate maneuver, meaning to take this Uboshima noble down with him. Yet, he quickly learned that his skill was no match for his anger filled opponent who defended his home. In his desperate lunge, Dosinuke's defense barely faltered, yet it was enough for Ashinatama.
The Ceryln Nai began to dissapear back into the shadows from which the came as the blade entered between two ribs into Dosinuke's heart. As the life was slipping out of his body, his rolay cloak was used by Ashinatama to clean his blade.
“It appears as if you have made the wrong decision.”
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