Tomoe turns to religion to escape her past, but destiny is not through with her yet The young girl crashes through the underbrush, desperate to escape the cackling soldiers at her back. After catching her in a tryst with a local farm boy, they intend to execute her for her sin. She runs for as long as she can, finally collapsing outside a shrine where a traveling nun sits with her flute. When the soldiers arrive, the nun sets her flute aside, drawing a legendary sword. She kills the men easily and sets the young girl free. Though she tried to avoid it, Tomoe Gozen has shed blood once again. After countless battles and endless wandering, this legendary samurai has renounced Bushido and taken the oaths of a wandering nun. But though she disguises herself as a mendicant, trouble will find her still. Tomoe must engage in one last fight—this time for the sake of her soul.

For the sake of an enchanted sword, Tomoe revolts against her father In all of Naipon, there is no samurai more famous than Tomoe Gozen. Her skill with the blade is legendary, her honor unquestioned, and evil men everywhere fear her name. No challenge is too great for Tomoe, but she is not ready for marriage. When her father announces that he has arranged a match for her—one that will mean laying aside her sword—Tomoe responds as she always does when her life is threatened: she draws her twin blades. After fighting her way out of her father’s house, Tomoe meets Azo Hono-o, a female samurai who plans to make a name for herself by killing Tomoe Gozen. Tomoe convinces Azo to join forces with her, and together they set out across Naipon in search of a golden sword, which they will use to carve a place for themselves in a man’s world.

Our story begins with a boy named Roric. Raised sheltered in the countryside he is ill prepared for the event of watching his family die violently, only to then see his entire world crumble as everything he thought he knew is turned to fantasy and he is forced to find himself chained into the life of a slave. A slave struggling to survive in the gladiatorial arena where every match means death for someone, but he survived and one day he escaped. A Warrior's Redemption is the tale of one man's journey from being a slave to becoming a warrior, who changes the fate of an entire world. It is a story of intrigue, honor, passion and the hope of redemption that is available to all and not just in fantasy. In the story we follow Roric, as he becomes a man and then a leader and eventually a legend. This book is but the beginning of an epic fantasy saga that spans five books in length. The underlying message of, A Warrior's Redemption, is the story of life that many of us face, but few choose to accept. A hero of the people grapples with the long held secrets of his family and unlike his father before him, decides to fight so that his people can remain free. He rises above his humble past to become a leader that inspires a nation in its fight for survival and becomes a legend beyond the realms of fantasy.

From the 10th to the mid-17th century, religious organisations played an important part in the social, political and military life in Japan. Known as sohei ('monk warriors') or yamabushi ('mountain warriors'), the warrior monks were anything but peaceful and meditative, and were a formidable enemy, armed with their distinctive, long-bladed naginata. The fortified cathedrals of the Ikko-ikki rivalled Samurai castles, and withstood long sieges. This title follows the daily life, training, motivation and combat experiences of the warrior monks from their first mention in AD 949 through to their suppression by the Shogunate in the years following the Sengoku-jidai period.

Helen Hardacre offers for the first time in any language a sweeping, comprehensive history of Shinto, the tradition that is practiced by some 80% of the Japanese people and underlies the institution of the Emperor.