Gogen

By Jean Marie

Gogen is the story of a lone samurai scout and what he finds at the castle he has been sent to. Set in the later part of the 1400s, this supernatural fantasy evokes universal fear on every page. The novel plays out as a horror epic on a grand scale. In the end, Gogen is a battle of good versus evil.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jan 19, 2019
• ISBN: 9781796010978

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Copyright © 2019 by Jean Marie Fernandes.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2019900617

ISBN:              Hardcover             978-1-7960-1099-2

                        Softcover               978-1-7960-1098-5

                        eBook                    978-1-7960-1097-8

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 01/18/2019

Xlibris

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I dedicate this book to my loving wife, Anne.

Prologue

Darkness covered the lands in the year of the snake. Black soot from the burning of villages and castles alike filled the morning skies as civil war raged across the Land of the Rising Sun. Many were the refugees that dotted the roads and countryside, and those that did not flee, those that opposed the conquerors, were crucified or impaled. Even the warrior priests, the sohei, were not exempt from the calamities, as Shinto fought among Buddhists and Buddhists fought among Shinto. Over trivial matters, I might add.

This division flowed everywhere as brother fought brother and son rebelled against father. Above all lay the ambitious daimyo wishing to further their own territories and kingdoms. Numerous were the palace intrigues that abounded in the courts. In this time and age, it was easy to enter the minds of man, if the seed of evil was present. Yes, numerous were the underhand dealings of both merchant and courtesan alike.

It was a time of foreign introductions to the lands of Nippon. It was the coming of round eyes, of their strange ships landing in the port of Tanegashima, an island to the south of Kyushu, and of their missionaries spreading their barbaric version of religion. A rumor was heard among the Kami that a strange god was there and that a new way was coming to the land. Well, if there was a new god, he must have had enemies among his own kingdom. These we would join in alliance to hinder his progress.

It was a glorious year. This was the year before the year of the horse and the coming of the devourer. Calmly, she waited, counting the days down to her release. Ah … yes, that would be a sight. Twelve years she had waited to feast. It was before the fire sticks were widely distributed and before Lord Oda Nobunaga came to be shogun and unified all of Japan.

It was a time when the winds whispered of our coming and the carrion birds partook of the flesh of the fallen warriors of opposing factions. Crows cawed to one another in triumph of their finds. It was a time of our own attempts to bring a unity of sorts to the lands—a unity of the dark over the light.

This is the story of the castle called Harutaka, the White Hawk. It is the story of the Gogen, the deified hero that thwarted our plans for opening the doors between the worlds. Oh, how we came so close to opening that door.

From the top of the mountain pass, the