Heretic: Betrayers of Kamigawa
| Heretic: Betrayers of Kamigawa | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||
| Publishing Information | |||||
| Author(s) | Scott McGough | ||||
| First printing | January 2005 | ||||
| ISBN-13 | 978-0786935758 | ||||
| Kamigawa Cycle | |||||
| |||||
| Publication chronology | |||||
| |||||
Heretic: Betrayers of Kamigawa is the second novel in the Kamigawa Cycle, which started in Outlaw: Champions of Kamigawa is continued and Guardian: Saviors of Kamigawa. It was written by Scott McGough and was published in January 2005.
Blurb
A rogue warrior struggles with loyalty.
Now in the employ of Princess Michiko and beholden to the Myojin of Night's Reach, Toshi Umezawa tries to honor his commitments while pursuing his ends.
But as the Kami War threatens to engulf Kamigawa, an unimaginably powerful spirit beast threatens the world. And at the heart of the battle moves the figure of the Daimyo, whose impassive features conceal a sinister crime that gnaws at the world's heart.
Overview
| Title | Author | Publishing date | Set | Setting (plane) | Featuring |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Heretic: Betrayers of Kamigawa | Scott McGough | January 2005 | Betrayers of Kamigawa | Kamigawa | Takeshi Konda, Pearl-Ear, Michiko Konda, Yosei, Toshiro Umezawa, Kiku, Uramon, Marrow-Gnawer, Uchida, Yuki-Onna, Hidetsugu, Choryu, Sharp-Ear, Silk-Eyes, Silver-Foot, Blade-Tail, Dawn-Tail, Frost-Tail, Nagao, Riko, Godo, Myojin of Infinite Rage (mentioned), Myojin of Night's Reach, Myojin of Life's Web (mentioned), Isamaru, Munetsugu Takeno, Kyodai, O-Kagachi, Fuan, Hon, Uyo, Chiyo, Mochi, Meloku (mentioned), Okazawa, Seitaro and Shujiro Yamazaki, Iki Hisoka, Myojin of Cleansing Fire (mentioned), All-Consuming Oni of Chaos, Keiga, Okabe |
Featured events and characters
Featured events
Featured characters
Story
A few months have passed since the events of the first book. Michiko Konda has returned to Eiganjo only to promptly be put under house arrest, and has been teaching herself kanji magic to get a message to Toshiro Umezawa to break her out. Lady Pearl-Ear is imprisoned for her part in failing to protect the princess. Takeshi Konda has learned that O-Kagachi ate three of his mounted divisions, and summons Yosei, the ]orning Star to protect the castle. Meanwhile, Toshi is relearning his magic following the power boost he got from the Myojin of Night's Reach. Crime lord Boss Uramon tries to recruit him to move against the soratami moving in on her territory. He refuses, and Uramon sends thugs after him, including Kiku and Marrow-Gnawer.
Toshi heads to the Heart of Frost, the realm of the ice spirit the Yuki-Onna. Since "cold" falls under the purview of the Myojin of Night's Reach and he is now Night's acolyte, he reckons he can claim its power. After getting most of her pursuers killed by the Onna, he forces Kiku and Marrow-Gnawer into the Hyozan Reckoners, then succeeds in gaining the Onna's power of frost and capturing her in a magic disk via a kanji ritual. He takes his new companions to Hidetsugu.
Hidetsugu's mission to the Yamabushi last book has been a partial success. The masters refused to work for him, so he killed them and abducted their apprentices, who he tortured into his willing subjects. He also has Choryu pinned to his wall, burned and dismembered but still kept alive by a magical crystal embedded in his chest. The ogre tells Toshi that he appreciates the "gift" of Choryu, but that the Hyozan oath isn't fulfilled until the vengeance for Kobo is complete. He plans on marching against the orochi and budoka, to raze the Minamo academy to the ground and to destroy the soratami city Otawara above it until everyone even tangentially responsible is dead. Toshi convinces Hidetsugu that he needs more time and tells him to attack Jukai first. After that, the two of them will meet up and attack Minamo together. They also trade magical items: Hidetsugu gets the disk the Yuki-Onna is trapped in, while Toshi gets a plate that can summon an oni dog.
Meanwhile, Lady Pearl-Ear is exiled from Eiganjo after letters from her village to release her. She goes back to her home village of Sugi Hayashi, only to find it burned and raided by the akki army. Her brother Sharp-Ear shows up and tells her the kitsune are now living in the forest. He also reveals Captain Nagao survived and he and his soldiers are still around. The kitsune have severed their ties with Konda as he clearly can't protect them anymore. The elders want Pearl-Ear, who has lived with humans for over two decades now, to lead a diplomatic delegation to Minamo, after Michiko's friend Riko told them she learned something there, but the leaders aren't allowing her to research further.
Hidetsugu gives the Yuki-Onna plate to the bandit lord Godo as a way to get the armies of Eiganjo off his back. Godo takes it to the border with Towabara and cracks it. The Yuki-Onna starts luring soldiers to their deaths. This time, she looks like Michiko, causing confusion among the Towabarans.
Toshi, Marrow-Gnawer, and Kiku go to Uramon. Toshi sneaks in and follows her to the Shadow Gate, a shrine to Night's Reach. He goes through it and ends up in the spirit realm's end of the Honden of Night's Reach. He barters with his new mistress, who gives him the power of the gate to teleport across the world, making him indebted to her. After killing Uramon, Kiku and Marrow go lie low. Toshi uses his new powers to teleport Michiko out of Eiganjo, dropping her off with Pearl-Ear. He tells the kitsune to keep Michiko away from Minamo, but they do not listen. Toshi also teleports to Hidetsugu's lair and mercy kills Choryu despite knowing it would enrage Hidetsugu.
Konda is planning to send troops to look for his missing daughter and to deal with the attacks of the Yuki-Onna on the border, but then O-Kagachi attacks Eiganjo. All the refugees are told to evacuate, but while fleeing in the opposite direction of O-Kagachi they run straight into the akki army. Takeno also releases Isamaru.
The kitsune delegation, including Michiko, talks to Iki Hisoka at Minamo. When the princess reveals herself, Mochi launches a soratami armada on Jukai, then heads down to talk to Michiko himself, showing her more of her father's actions in the past, and revealing that what he took was in a way a daughter of O-Kagachi, a spirit-world equivalent of Michiko herself. Meanwhile, Toshi uses his new powers to follow Chiyo, one of the soratami who attacked him at the start of the last book, back to the Cloud City and the palace of Oboro. There they fight, until Toshi unleashes the oni Hidetsugu gave him, who mauls Chiyo's face. He then teleports next to Mochi, who admits the soratami plan to conquer Kamigawa after O-Kagachi has toppled Eiganjo. Then suddenly the academy is rocked as Hidetsugu attacks. The ogre has skipped attacking the Jukai altogether, wanting to focus on those who gave the direct order to kill Kobo.
As Hidetsugu, his yamabushi minions, and his summoned oni kill Minamo's guardian, Keiga, the Tide Star, Toshi teleports to Eiganjo. There O-Kagachi bites Yosei clean in half and attacks the tower. Munetsugu Takeno dies protecting Konda from flying debris. Toshi grabs That Which Was Taken and teleports out, making O-Kagachi disappear. While in Night's Reach's realm, the Myojin tells Toshi to never bring the Taken One there ever again, but she lets him go for now. Back at Minamo he freezes Mochi with his ice powers and drops the Taken One at his feet, hoping Konda, O-Kagachi and Hidetsugu's All-Consuming Oni of Chaos will tear each other apart over it. He then teleports Michiko and her allies back to Jukai.
Outside the tower, the soldiers that went with the refugees were hit hard by the akki. They are led by Captain Okazawa who is injured and full of despair, but the appearance of Isamaru and the hurt-but-still-fighting Yosei rallies them. Inside the tower, an army of twisted ghosts, led by a misshapen Takeno, rises to aid Konda.
In the epilogue, Night's Reach cashes in on the favor Toshi owes her. It is time he fully devotes himself to her, and thus she has him leave the hyozan reckoners by peeling off his tattoo. Secretly though, his intentions are not necessarily aligned with the Myojin's.[1]
References
- ↑ Squirle (October 3, 2020). "Heretic: Betrayers of Kamigawa". Multiverse in Review. Tumblr.