Dance of 21 Blade (Paperback)

Synopsis
Fantasy/ Adventure
Word Count
Shogun Kuro was once a powerful military leader. Decades ago, alongside the Emperor, Kuro led a charge that freed Daggers Pass from the influence of the “Eclipse Clan.” With the wolves forced into hiding, the Emperor paid his commanders with a gift of land and men to help him work that land.
Legends have it that an eternal entity sometimes called Skoll, sometimes called Mara, came down from Brama (Heaven) to punish Kuro for his sins. Kuro did battle with the Eternal. How the battle ended was unclear, but the aftermath was tragic—Mara took a tribute… the first-born girl of each family.
Aki Awai, the Battle Queen of Rabbits and wife of Kuro, challenged the will of heaven. As if lifted up by the breath of Buddha, Awai takes up her family’s sword and cuts a single hair off the head of the goddess. But her efforts were in vain. Some say Buddha saw the courage of the rabbit and rewarded her. Even though her first born child was killed by wolves, the waters of the river delivered her a new child as a replacement.
As she cleans her wounds after her most recent battle, Awai pulls a basket from the river where she bathes. Inside is a mouse baby, only days old. Written on the mouse’s face are the words “Dark Heaven.” The same characters in the rabbit language are used to write out the word “Moon”—Awai’s lost child.
Awai raises the mouse alongside her son, as if she was her own daughter. She calls them “Sun” and “Moon.”
Years pass. The kids are now teens. Moon struggles to find her place in the town. Sun studies at the church, wishing to become a monk. As the two are out playing, boats can be seen out into the water. Ships have not docked at this port in years. The kids run home to talk to their father.
Nero has been sent by the Emperor to re-establish contact with Kuro and his family. Their first meeting ends in disaster. A weapons malfunction results in the death of a tea girl named Lafe. Nero is thrown from the castle. Kuro readies himself for war.
Sun and Moon, encouraged by a girl named Wind, go out exploring the countyside. There they bump into a witch called Jessica the Weaver—the first mouse Moon can remember ever seeing.
Jessica can see into the future. She follows Sun and Moon home and tries to talk Kuro out of going to war with the Emperor. Kuro will not heed her warnings. He goes out in search of Skoll and asks her for her blessing in the upcoming war. He is gifted a magic axe.
Awai builds a warship with the help of the town.
A one-armed monk calling himself Lu offers to teach Sun the art of Kung-Fu.
Jessica tries again to steer Kuro away from the path of war. Discouraged she then turns her efforts to Awai. Awai travels with her children to a trading outpost and discovers that Nero is organizing an invasion force intending to steal the land out from under Kuro.
A wandering mouse poet named Seto, traveling alongside a group of other beasts, swears his fealty to the shogun’s family. At the same time, Nero sends Homer and a group of spies to capture Kuro and set fire to his castle.
Awai assumes command of the army and places Sun in charge of the town’s affairs as she goes to the front line of the scrimmage. Using her newly built ship, Awai launches a raid on Nero’s camp; searching for her husband.
Awai sinks several ships and sets fire to many of Nero’s outposts. She learns where Kuro was taken, but then is stabbed. Moon takes her mother’s sword and assumes the responsibility of leading the detachment. Moon’s first order is to regroup and retreat. The injured must be bandaged before they can continue the fight....