The Dark Raider

~ Short Japanese Fantasy Adventure story – part of a continuing saga of stand-alone tales by award-winning author, Charles T. Whipple ~

Shuri of the sea and Nanashi the woman with no name were called by the spokeswoman for Amaterasu to search for the Umi Akari Blade, one of the talismans that legitimize the reigning monarch before the Almighty. The Seer foresaw that a black ship brought by power unseen to the caldera harbor of Sunosaki would be the one with which to find the missing blade.

Kei captains a raider, a black ship that sneaks into harbors under the cover of night to raid fish-drying racks and take the spoil to the markets of Ohsaka to turn them into money. The raider is taken over by a Toh vessel that locks its crew in the hold and uses Lord Yami’s power to push the ship into Sunosaki.

Shuri, Nanashi, and the horse soldiers accompanying them oust the vile sanmu priests holding the black Mayo Maru, rescuing the crew in the process. The captain, Kei, is called by the Almighty to be the Navigator. She accepts, and the Mayo Maru sets out for Shodo Island, which holds the secret of the Umi Akari Blade.

The first enemy Lord Yami sends after the Mayo Maru is a deep-sea monster that people call mizuchi or water dragon. Can Kei captain her raider ship through the onslaught of creatures and oni monsters thrown into her course? Only Amaterasu knows.

With the account of the Navigator, I will now lay aside my brush so those who read of Captain Kei and her companions, stalwart subjects of Amaterasu, might search the accounts and come to believe in the might and sacred power of Amaterasu Omikoto, creator of all and ruler of Heaven and Earth. Thus I have written and thus shall it be done. Sayo nara and sayo nara.