The Ronin and Green Maiden: The Ronin Trilogy, #2.5

By Travis Heermann

Ken'ishi, a young ronin, travels through the wild countryside to the fortress of his new master, and encounters two strangers--one who demands his head, and the other, his heart.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bear Paw Publishing
• Release date: Aug 25, 2015
• ISBN: 9781516396535

Travis Heermann

Travis Heermann grew up in the countryside of Nebraska and graduated from the University of Nebraska at Lincoln with a BS in electrical engineering. In 2003, he shifted careers and moved to Fukuoka, Japan, to teach English to young students in public schools. Amazon.com called his first novel, The Ivory Star, “a must have for every sci-fi reader.” Soon afterward, Heermann immersed himself in Japanese culture and history and combined his passion for folklore and fantasy literature. The result is Heart of the Ronin, a tale of a teenage warrior in thirteenth-century Japan, and the first volume in the Ronin Trilogy. On Ronin Writer (travisheermann.com/blog), Heermann’s blog about the writing life, he posts an ongoing series of in-depth interviews with authors in a variety of genres.

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The Ronin and the Green Maiden

By

Travis Heermann

Copyright © 2013 by Travis Heermann

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, or mechanical without explicit permission in writing from the Author or Publisher.

Bear Paw Publishing

Lakewood, Colorado

www.bearpawpublishing.com

Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This is a work of fiction. No similarity to persons or entities living or deceased is express or implied.

Ken’ishi pulled his coat tighter around him against the chill of winter. Clouds the color of sodden ash hung heavy in the sky, and the cold, wet wind seeped into his limbs in spite of the warmth of Thunder under him. Still a novice horseman, he wondered how long before his backside would become accustomed to the lacquered wooden saddle.

A woodcutter at the last crossroads had warned him the recent massive typhoon had caused a landslide that had obliterated the most direct road to his destination. His path now took him up a less-traveled road, into the more rugged reaches of the mountains, and added at least a day of travel time.

The weight of Silver Crane’s scabbard against his thigh and the rattle of arrows in the quiver on his saddle formed a great comfort. The path before him seemed to grow wilder with every passing ri. Brooms of pine needles edged ever closer to the road. Undergrowth encroached upon the dirt path that wound through the mountain pass and down into the river-ribboned valley below. Cold mist hugged the mountain sides like wisps of shredded silk. Monkeys screamed in the canopy, taunting travelers with raucous gibbering. Half of the mountain lay behind and above him, and the other half lay below him as he made his way toward the river in the valley’s crease.

He rounded a corner and reined up at what he saw.

A warrior stood in the middle of the road, standing as tall as the stallion, fully head and shoulders taller than Ken’ishi.

The man’s palms clasped the hilt of a nodachi that stood to his chin, point down in the earth before him. One set of great callused knuckles flexed around the others. A dark, hooded gaze rose from the ground, fierce and glittering as it met Ken’ishi’s. The rest of his face was concealed behind an emerald-green iron menpo with the countenance of a fox. Long hair hung unkempt over the man’s meaty shoulders like a great mane. A threadbare robe of forest green was