by Julie Kagawa
Suki looked down, catching sight of what the ring of bird monsters had surrounded, and would have gasped if she’d had the breath.
A terrible demon lay in the center of the circle, an oni with skin as black as ink and a wild white mane framing his face. His eyes were closed, though his lids twitched and his clawed fingers spasmed, as if he was caught in the throes of a nightmare. Glowing chains, seeming to have emerged from the stones themselves, wrapped around the oni’s limbs and chest, pinning him to the ground and throbbing as if they were alive.
Beside the demon, lying on her back with her hands folded across her stomach in the death pose, was the kitsune. The same kitsune that Suki had guided through Lady Satomi’s castle the night she had come to rescue the priest. The fox girl’s skin was as pale as parchment, her face slack and her body limp. A shrine maiden, her lips pressed into a tight line, knelt at her side, one slender hand on the kitsune’s forehead. Dead, Suki thought in terror and a sudden, surprising grief. The fox girl is dead. The demon must have killed her.
But as she drifted closer, the shrine maiden let out a breath that almost sounded like she was fighting back a sob. “Hang in there, Yumeko-chan,” Suki heard the miko whisper. “If anyone can bring back Kage-san, it will be you. You’re too damn stubborn to let Hakaimono win.”
Suki was almost to the edge of the circle now. She could see Daisuke’s face, grim and solemn as he stared at the two figures on the ground, as if expecting something to happen. Everyone, from the humans to the bird monsters to even the small orange dog sitting beside the miko, seemed focused on the two bodies in the center of the ring. But as she drew close, her light falling over the hunched shoulders of the figures surrounding the pair, Taiyo Daisuke raised his head and spotted her.
“S-Suki-san?”
Suki froze at hearing her name on his lips. Everyone glanced up at her, and she suddenly found herself pinned by a dozen wide, startled gazes.
Taiyo Daisuke blinked, gave his head a tiny shake as if to clear it, then stared at her again, eyes wide. “It…it is you, isn’t it?” he breathed. “Just like that night in Satomi’s castle. I thought…I heard your voice. It was you, after all.” His brow furrowed, as the beady eyes of the crow monsters seemed to bore into her from all sides. “Why have you come, Suki-san?” he asked in a faintly sad voice. “Do you desire vengeance? Are you here to haunt me for my failure?”
No! Suki shook her head violently. Never, Daisuke-sama, she wanted to say. I would never do anything to make you unhappy. But the words stuck in her throat, refusing to emerge past her lips, and she could only shake her head in mute denial.
“Hitodama.” The shrine maiden rose, her eyes hard, and stepped away from the motionless bodies of the demon and kitsune. “You have helped us before, so I can only assume you have come for the same reason. But our time is short, and we are in the middle of a very dangerous procedure. We cannot spare much time or attention, so be brief. Why are you here?”
“Demons.”
Suki’s voice was still a whisper, but it rose into the air, causing everyone to straighten immediately. “Genno’s army…is coming,” Suki continued into the horrified silence that followed. “They have…followed Hakaimono…to this place. They intend to kill everyone!” Her gaze met Daisuke’s, pleading. “You must flee…before they arrive!”
No sooner had the words left her mouth than a booming howl echoed from the direction of the gates, causing everyone to spin around. Suki could suddenly hear them, dozens of claws and boots and feet, scraping against stone, climbing the steps, and despair squeezed her throat. It was too late. She was too late. The army had arrived.
“They’re already here.” One of the bird monsters stepped forward. Unlike the others, his skin was bright red, a huge crimson nose stabbing the air before him. “They’ve come for the scroll fragment. I must protect it at all costs!” He spun on the other bird monsters, eyes narrowed and teeth bared as he pointed toward the temple. “Do not let them into the sacred hall. Whatever it takes, we cannot let the scroll pieces fall to the Master of Demons!”
A shriek rang across the stones. Suki looked up and felt terror swallow her in an immobilizing wave. Creatures were spilling into the courtyard, a horde of demons, yokai and other beings straight out of nightmares. Tiny creatures with tattered ears and a mouthful of pointed teeth swarmed over the rocks, cackling and waving crude weapons. A centipede the size of a horse scuttled over the wall, its segmented black carapace glinting in the moonlight. An enormous bloated creature with eight spindly limbs and the pale face of a woman crawled up to perch on a tower, smiling as she observed the chaos below.
Suki trembled, watching the demons approach, waiting for the moment the small group around her would scatter. But instead of fleeing, the winged bird monsters raised their spears and surged forward with defiant battle cries. They met the army in the center of the courtyard, and pandemonium erupted.
A familiar laugh jerked Suki out of her daze. Stunned, she looked up to see Daisuke draw his weapon, a fierce, defiant smile on his face as he took a step toward the approaching horde.
“Come, Okame-san!” he said, raising his sword in front of him. “Our glorious death approaches. Let us meet it with honor.”
The other man cursed and sent an arrow streaking into the chaos. “What about Yumeko?” he panted, putting a second dart through the throat of a giant, bipedal rat racing toward them. “We can’t leave her unprotected, she’ll get torn to pieces. Reika-san?”
With a howl, the tiny dog at the miko’s feet reared up, becoming a huge red creature with a golden mane and massive paws. The shrine maiden pulled an ofuda from her sleeves and brandished it before her. “We still don’t know what’s happening to her inside Kage-san,” she snapped, hurling the slip of paper at the raging battle, where it exploded in a burst of fire. “She won’t wake unless her spirit returns to her body—she must still be looking for the demonslayer’s soul, or fighting Hakaimono. They probably don’t know what’s happening.”
The archer yelped, ducking as a spear hurtled toward him, then put an arrow into the demon that had thrown it. “Well, if we don’t retreat, she won’t have a body to return to!” he snarled. “We’re too exposed out here—we need to fall back.”
More monsters swarmed the courtyard. The miko’s guardian roared as it reared up and crushed a giant centipede beneath its paws. The shrine maiden grimaced and fell back a step, looking desperate, then her gaze snapped to Suki.
“You…” she breathed, but at that moment a booming howl shook the air, and an enormous flying head, teeth bared and trailing orange flames, fell toward them like a boulder.
27
FINDING THE LOST
Yumeko
The shadows were stalking me.
How long I had been here, in the darkest recesses of Tatsumi’s soul, I wasn’t certain. Dark, featureless things haunted my steps, trailing me down the narrow corridors and through empty rooms. I didn’t know what they were; their inky black forms resembled men, samurai or shinobi following me through the halls of the castle, living shadows come to life. Perhaps they were part of Hakaimono’s influence, perhaps they were Tatsumi’s fears and regrets, pieces of himself he had lost. I just knew I didn’t want to run into them.
The shadows weren’t the only things chasing me. Somewhere in the vine-choked castle, Hakaimono’s dark presence stalked the corridors, getting ever closer. I could feel his cold amusement through the very walls, patiently searching for me, knowing our paths would eventually cross. I couldn’t hide from him forever. Once or twice, I knew he was close, perhaps just another corridor away, a few thin paper walls separating us. I could feel his footsteps through the floor, making the air shiver. Grimly, I pressed on, hopelessly lost, following a faint heartbeat that called to me like a beacon.
Deeper.
Finally, after a few minutes or a lifetime of searching, the hallways came to an end, and I knew I couldn’t turn back. Before me, at the end of the corridor, a wooden stairwell
led down into utter blackness. Standing at the edge, I closed my eyes and listened, feeling a weak pulse of life somewhere far below.
Calling a tiny ball of foxfire to my hand, I descended into the dark.
I seemed to venture into the depths of the earth itself. Or perhaps the darkest parts of the soul. When the steps finally ended, I stepped into a large chamber, the floors and walls made of worked stone, with heavy wooden beams holding up the ceiling. Torches with sickly purple flames flickered in brackets along the walls and pillars, casting eerie shadows over the rows of cells lining the room. Thick iron bars, rusty and ancient-looking, were set deep into the stone, with no doors or keyhole visible.
A quiet moan drifted out from one of the cells, and my heart clenched.
Tatsumi? Are you here?
Still holding the globe of kitsune-bi, I padded up to the first set of bars and peeked inside.
I gasped. A child sat against the back corner of the cell, his knees drawn to his chest and his arms wrapped around them. I extended my hands through the bars, and the foxfire washed over the face of a young boy with glimmering purple eyes, his dark hair falling into his face.
“Tatsumi?” I called, and the boy raised his head. His tearful, wide-eyed gaze met mine, though he seemed to stare right through me.
“I can’t do it, sensei,” the young Tatsumi whispered. “I’m scared. That voice…it’s always in my head now, always whispering. I can’t shut it out. Master Ichiro, please let me go home.”
Master Ichiro? Tatsumi’s sensei? I thought back to the man with the cold, impassive eyes, imagined him standing motionless over this boy, stone-faced as Tatsumi pleaded and cried, and clenched my jaw. Ichiro-san did care about you, Tatsumi. He could just never show it.
“Stop it,” the young Tatsumi whispered, curling in on himself. “Please, make it go away. I’m scared. I can’t do this anymore.”
And, before my shocked gaze, he flickered and faded away, and I was staring into an empty cell.
Not Tatsumi, I thought in a daze, backing away from the bars. Not the real him, anyway. Perhaps that was a memory he had locked away, an emotion he had suppressed. I remembered something Hakaimono told me, so long ago it seemed, when he had first taken over the demonslayer.
You distract him, make him feel things. Made him question who he is and what he wants, and that’s all the invitation I needed.
And then the final, terrible blow. His last thought tonight, before finally losing himself, was of you.
I shivered. I realized now why Tatsumi had been so cold, why he never spoke much and kept himself apart, aloof from everyone. Why he suppressed all pain, fear, anger and grief. Not because he was a soulless killer, but to keep the oni in his mind at bay. If Hakaimono spoke the truth, and I was the one responsible for the demon’s release from the sword, then I would have to be the one who shoved him back and slammed the door in his face so that he couldn’t ever return to torture us.
But first, before I had to face Hakaimono, I would find Tatsumi and tell him how sorry I was, that I never meant for this to happen. If I failed, and the First Oni was too much for me, after all, then at least Tatsumi would know I had kept my promise. He would know that someone cared enough to try to save him, and not because he was a weapon or a pawn in an endless game. Because I had seen a glimpse of the boy beneath the demonslayer’s icy mask, and that was whom I was trying to rescue.
And then, I had a sudden, sobering realization. If I succeeded here, if I managed to drive Hakaimono back into Kamigoroshi, I would never see that boy again. Not with a thwarted, enraged oni lord poised to seize control of the demonslayer’s heart and soul at the slightest moment of weakness. No doubt Tatsumi would have to be doubly vigilant against the demon’s influence in his mind, which meant he could never let down his guard, with Hakaimono…or with me.
I shook my head, angry with my selfish thoughts. My personal feelings for the Kage demonslayer, whatever they might be, were not important. As long as Tatsumi was free of Hakaimono in the end, I would risk everything to see the demon sealed back in the sword once more.
A tremor went through the ground beneath my feet, a ripple of sheer black anger that seemed to emanate from the very walls. The shadows around me grew long, like grasping talons reaching out, searching for me. Hakaimono was close. I had to keep moving.
I saw flickers of movement within the cells as I continued through the dungeon, flashes from the corner of my eye as I passed. Sometimes voices drifted to me, snatches of words or hints of a conversation I couldn’t quite make out. I kept moving, feeling guilty as I hurried past Tatsumi’s hidden fears and darkest memories. The emotions he kept locked away even from himself.
After a while, though, the cells grew silent, empty, and it began to grow cold. My breath writhed into the air, as ice started to form on the walls, coating the bars and hanging in glistening spikes from the ceiling. Shivering, I pressed on, a globe of kitsune-bi the only light in the pitch-blackness, blue-white flames dancing and sparkling off the ice as I continued.
And then, quite abruptly, I hit a dead end: a solid wall of ice at the end of the corridor. I turned and gazed back down the hall, wondering if there was a side passage. Had I missed a door that led to another part of this frozen labyrinth? No. I knew that I hadn’t overlooked anything, just as I knew that Tatsumi’s soul was here, somewhere.
Facing the wall of ice, I reached out and put a tentative hand on the frozen barrier, feeling a burning cold sear my palms and fingertips like a flame.
And I felt it. A pulse. A glimmer of emotion, somewhere on the other side.
My heart leaped. He was here. Beyond this last barrier, just out of reach. But how was I going to get to him? If I had the means, I would chip away the ice wall bit by bit until I had broken through, but our time was running out. Hakaimono would soon be here. I had to reach Tatsumi now.
Here, in the realm of dreams, your foxfire is as deadly as you need it to be.
Taking a few steps back, I raised both arms, fingers spread wide toward the obstacle blocking my path. I called my foxfire and felt it surge through my body, up my arms, and spring to life in my hands, blue-white flames that illuminated the darkness like a torch. With a mental howl, I gathered up my magic and in one strong push, sent a column of kitsune-bi toward the wall of ice. Where the ghostly flames struck, the wall let out an earsplitting hiss, as if in pain, and steam billowed away like the breath of a dragon, coiling around me and snapping at my hair and clothes. But it wasn’t melting fast enough.
Brighter, I thought at it, pouring more magic into the flames. Brighter, hotter. Cut through this barrier like a sword through a shoji screen. I am so close to reaching Tatsumi, and this will not stop me!
Suddenly, impossibly, the ice itself caught fire, igniting like a sheet of parchment held to a flame. Kitsune-bi roared as it engulfed the entire wall, and steam billowed out until it was impossible to see through the swirling clouds of white. Squinting, I turned away, raising an arm to shield my face until the steam dispersed and the foxfire flickered out, plunging the hallway into darkness again.
For a heartbeat, it was like something had swallowed me. Swiftly, I opened my palm, and a tiny globe of foxfire sputtered to life once more, illuminating a gaping hole where the ice wall had been…and something dangling from the ceiling in the chamber beyond.
Tatsumi. Without thinking, I ducked through the gap into a room as dark and empty as the bottom of a fathomless pit. The ground under my feet glittered like an ocean of needles, and my sandals crinkled against the frozen ground as I hurried forward, sending brittle echoes rippling through the dark.
“Tatsumi-san?”
My voice sounded tiny in the soaring blackness, the words muffled by shadow and void. An ominous glow burned against the dark, coming from a tangle of glowing red chains that hung from the black of the ceiling and stabbed up from the floor, an evil web that converged in the center of the room. A figure dangled from the chains, held spread-eagle with head down and eyes clo
sed. There were no shackles or cuffs locked around its limbs; the glowing links stabbed into its body and disappeared beneath its flesh.
“Tatsumi-san!”
Sprinting beneath the web, I gazed up at the motionless figure, my heart twisting painfully in my throat. Tatsumi didn’t move or open his eyes; he hung limply in the chains, his body flickering with a subtle light.
I swallowed hard and reached for him, feeling evil energy pulsing from the links, as if trying to suck away all life. “Tatsumi,” I called once more, though my voice came out breathy and choked. “I’m here. I came, like I promised. Can you hear me?”
For a few heartbeats, there was no answer. Then, a tiny furrow creased Tatsumi’s brow. His eyelids fluttered, cracked open, and I saw the faintest glimmer of violet as he peered down at me.
“Yumeko.” His voice was a breath, a whisper of disbelief and hope. “You’re…here? But, I thought…” Slowly, as if in pain, he shook his head. “I saw Hakaimono kill you.”
“Illusions,” I told him softly, my voice rather shaky with relief. “Shadows, tricks and fox magic, Tatsumi. Nothing Hakaimono saw was real.”
“Are you real?” Tatsumi whispered. “Or is this…another dream? I can’t tell anymore.” A ripple of anguish crossed his face, and he closed his eyes. “No,” he muttered. “I don’t dare hope…She’ll just be gone when I look up again.”
My vision blurred, and I blinked rapidly to clear it. “I’m not a dream,” I told him, taking another step. “I’m not going to disappear this time, Tatsumi. Look at me.” Those piercing eyes fixed on me again, and I tried not to shiver under that intense gaze. “I promised I would come,” I whispered. “I’m not going to let Hakaimono win. If he wants you, he’s going to have to kill me, first.”