by JP Romney
I smiled when she stepped back.
“Let’s go inside,” she said. “Let’s stop Kōtenbō.” She took my hand and we walked up to the mouth of the cave. “That last part fixed the pep talk, right?” she said.
“Sure,” I said.
She smiled. “Little thief.”
Together we entered Sarutadō.
38
The deeper Moya and I walked into the caverns, the darker and colder it became. Moya rolled her hands and created a little green flame to lead the way.
“Do you know where we’re going?” I asked.
“To the very heart of Sarutadō Mountain,” she said in an ominous voice. “I can sense it with my fox powers. Nah, just kidding, I’m following the bird poop.”
I looked down. The floor was wet and slippery.
“With that many crows,” Moya continued, “we just have to follow this smelly highway straight back to Kōtenbō’s lair.”
“Gross.”
“Eh,” Moya said. “It’s fitting that Kōtenbō would be knee-deep in bird shit.”
We waded through icy pools of water, over molding wooden planks, up crumbling, slippery ladder rungs loosely bolted to the rock. We followed Moya’s flame and a wide trail of bird droppings deep into the roots of Sarutadō.
“This is probably it,” she said, standing over a dark drop-off. “I don’t think it goes any farther.”
I looked over the edge into blackness.
“Should we wait for him to come out?” I asked.
Moya sat down on the grime of the edge and scooted off into the darkness.
“Really? We’re not even going to talk about this?” I called after her.
I heard her hit the ground below.
“Are you dead, Moya?”
She didn’t say anything back. But she was standing. I could see the green flame.
“If I break my leg,” I said, kneeling next to the edge, “you are totally fixing it.”
I twisted and let go, hitting the ground, and slipping in dung.
“Oh gross, gross, gross,” I squealed, frantically wiping my hands on my pants. I pushed Yori’s goggles back onto the top of my head. “And it got on the spear, too. I’m going to throw up.”
Moya stood in the main cave chamber, staring off into a darkened corner.
“Moya?” I said.
I heard something rustle above me. I looked up. From the reflection of her light, I could see them. Feathers. Shiny. Black. Hundreds of thousands of them, covering the ceiling like living armor. Writhing. Shards of pale gray beaks and claws. Vacant eyes. A rippling shield of crows staring down at us from all sides.
“Moya,” I whispered again, “I think they know we’re here.”
“Gods above and below,” came a deep voice from the corner of the chamber, “I could hear you tramping through the cave from the moment you entered it. I hope your plan wasn’t to sneak up on me. That would have been a very bad plan, kitsune, considering your human can’t walk down the street without falling on his face.”
“That’s why I wear a helmet sometimes!” I shouted.
“Maybe let me handle this,” Moya said.
She reached out and lit a bunch of old torches that had been placed around the main chamber.
“Thank you,” Kōtenbō said. “Saved an old tengu the trouble of having to get up. Not that it makes much difference, though. The world is always dark when you have no eyes.”
“That hasn’t prevented you from murdering people, tengu,” Moya said.
“Thank you. I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Kōtenbō was kneeling seiza-style on the cave floor with a sword scabbard at his side. If I’d ever wondered why this enormous demon hadn’t just run around Kusaka killing people, I now understood. Kōtenbō was huge, but he looked like he’d run face-first into a harvester. His limbs were knotted and crooked and stiff. Thick cords of scar tissue snaked over his entire body. Even his long, red nose, the pride of any tengu, sat bent above his lip like that of a boxer who’d taken too many punches. He didn’t look like much of a threat to anyone anymore. Getting exploded out of a shrine really messes you up. Even if you are a mountain demon.
Kōtenbō pushed up on his good leg and set his mangled one on the cave floor. He leaned on the sword scabbard and stroked his patchy white beard with a gnarled hand.
“At first I was furious that your mind was locked down, man-child,” Kōtenbō said. “No poisoning or leaping off school roofs for Koda Okita. Koda the suri. Koda the pickpocket. Koda the mind-thief. But then I realized something.”
He hobbled forward a bit. Moya stepped in front of me.
“I had actually been wrong this entire time,” Kōtenbō said. “You aren’t powerful at all. You are just a weak, narcoleptic child who is too stupid and too fragile to be controlled.
“That is why I had such a hard time breaking you, Koda. I was trying too hard! You are a walking imbecile. A danger to yourself and everyone you have ever known. I should have just ignored you. You would have killed yourself eventually. Fallen off a bamboo mast. Walked in front of a van. Stabbed yourself with your teacher’s kitchen knife.”
“You did all of that!” I shouted.
“Maybe I did. Maybe I didn’t. The important thing is that the famous Koda Okita did not die.”
“Wait, I’m famous?”
“He mustered up the courage in his puny, little heart and hunted down the monster in his lair. And your prize will be a warrior’s death, courtesy of a real samurai blade.” Kōtenbō placed his hand on the sword handle. “What more could a Japanese boy desire?”
“I could think of, like, a hundred things I’d rather have.”
“Get back, Koda!” Moya shouted.
Now? Wait, I know what to do! I fumbled the kaki spear up to my shoulder and threw it with all my might. It flew like an arrow from a master bowman, slicing through the air, sparkling in the light of the torches that surrounded us.
Kōtenbō tried to shield his face with his hands, but not before the spear struck him squarely in the chest.
“I did it!” I screamed.
The spear bounced off Kōtenbō and clattered noisily on the floor.
“That was a little premature,” Moya said.
“You told me to throw it!”
“I said to get back.”
“Well, now I’ve lost my spear.”
“Um, it’s okay, Koda. I’ll think of something.”
The tengu faced us, mouth still open. “What was that?” He laughed. “Was that your plan? To throw a stick at me?” He grabbed his belly and roared with laughter.
Moya raised her arms high above her head. The air swirled around the cave and grew warm. Her fingernails glowed. Her eyes shifted from hazel to deep orange to searing green. She reached out to Kōtenbō, flames licking the tops of her fingertips. I stepped back against the wall because we really hadn’t discussed this part of the plan.
“Are you watching, tengu? I want you to see me taking your eyes for the second time.” She looked up and the birds above squirmed to get clear. Smoke poured from her hands and legs and shoulders.
“Moya, wait,” I said, reaching out to her. “Don’t burn them.”
The smoke stopped.
“They’re his eyes, Koda.” She looked over at Kōtenbō, who gave her a broken grin. “Let’s see how well he wields his sword when he’s truly blind.” The smoke lifted up again and the feathered ceiling clawed to get away.
“They’re hurting,” I said. “They’re screaming inside. Don’t burn them, Moya. It’s not their fault.”
“Gods,” the tengu snickered. “Such a squishy heart for a suri. You read her diary, didn’t you? Of all the things to focus on, Aiko latched on to the crows. Well, you can’t predict what the Road will do once it’s inside you.”
Kōtenbō steadied himself on the rock wall. “She was right, just so you know,” he said. “The ‘black birds’ didn’t want to hurt her. Which made everything easier. Why would she think si
pping on poison could release my crows? It really was absurd. And hilarious to watch. Especially when she was kicking out her last on the gymnasium floor.”
“Don’t burn the crows, Moya,” I seethed. “But do burn their master to ash.”
“Wait!” Kōtenbō cried. “At least let an old tengu die with his sword in his hand.”
“As you wish, demon,” Moya said. “Let’s see if you can get past me a second time.”
Kōtenbō gripped the handle at his side. Moya’s hands burst into hot light.
The tengu yanked his sword from the scabbard. Except there was no blade attached. Kōtenbō guffawed and threw the wooden handle onto the cave floor at Moya’s feet.
“What is this?” she said.
“Silly me,” the tengu said. “I’m blind and I must have misplaced my weapon. Oh, wait, now I remember where it is. Nobu, save your father.”
Moya turned as a huge shadow emerged from a side chamber.
“Ikeda-sensei?” I said.
My ex-sumō gym teacher drove a jade-handled samurai sword into Moya’s breast. The hilt slammed against her chest, nailing her to the rock wall.
“Moya!” I screamed.
Kōtenbō steadied himself on his good leg. He hobbled forward a few paces, laughing. I ran toward Moya, but Ikeda-sensei hit me with an open palm and sent me flying to the floor.
“You didn’t think I’d repeat my mistake from last time?” Kōtenbō shouted with glee.
Moya struggled against the wall.
“Look at this place,” the tengu said, knocking on the cave. “There’s nowhere to be blown out of. If you pulled the same shenanigans you did at the shrine, you’d bring the whole mountain down on top of us. So, really, I just saved us all.”
The tengu steadied himself and stroked his beard. “You’d think a fox would be cunning enough to anticipate something like this. I mean, the human is clearly a moron, but a kitsune? I expected more from you, vixen.”
Moya coughed orange, sizzling blood onto the ground. Kōtenbō shook his head.
“I’m sorry, Father,” Ikeda-sensei whined. “I didn’t see the monsters come into our house. Now they’re making a mess on the floor.”
“Yes, they are. But it’s all right, son.” Kōtenbō looked down at me. “Your gym teacher may be the dumbest of you all. Daddy issues are some of the easiest to piggyback. Nobu!”
“Yes, Father?”
“Bring me my sword. I need to stab your heart with it.”
“Yes, Father,” Ikeda-sensei said. “Did I make you proud?”
“Yes, son. I will let you go to your mother now.”
“Thank you, Father, thank you.”
“Stop! Please!” I shouted, but the blind tengu just grinned with broken teeth.
Ikeda-sensei grabbed the jade handle as Moya kicked her feet against the floor.
“Rest, dog-girl,” Kōtenbō said. “Your journey of pain is coming to an end.”
Moya dropped her head and clutched the jade hilt. Ikeda-sensei tugged, but Moya locked her fingers onto my teacher’s arm. From the wound in her chest, Moya bled. Bright, boiling orange lava blood.
“What is she doing? Stop her, Nobu!” Kōtenbō yelled.
Ikeda-sensei grabbed Moya’s hair and yanked on the sword again and again. The blood popped and crackled on the metal of the blade.
“No!” Kōtenbō cried, hobbling forward. “Bring me my sword!”
Moya looked up at the tengu, and as blood flowed stronger from the corner of her mouth, she coughed and smiled. The sword bent under her weight, stretching from the heat. With a flat click, the blade snapped and Moya slid off the metal. She crumbled to the ground, leaking molten blood over her stomach and legs.
“No!” Kōtenbō cried.
“Run, little thief,” Moya whispered to me.
“I’m sorry, Father,” Ikeda-sensei mumbled. “I tried to pull the sword, but the monster broke it.”
“I was going to kill you quickly,” Kōtenbō said, turning on me. “But you’ve cost me a sword. A very old and very dear sword.”
“Moya,” I whispered back to her.
Run, she mouthed.
“Death will not come easy to you, man-child. Or to you, Nobu, you great, giant fool. Bring me the suri and then beat your own head in with a rock.”
“Yes, Father.” Ikeda-sensei ran over and grabbed me by the throat. He lifted me into the air and squeezed until I couldn’t feel my legs anymore.
“Bring him to me,” the tengu barked from far away. “Be careful, he is truly the weakest thing alive.”
But Ikeda-sensei froze in place.
“Nobu?”
The giant sumō wouldn’t move. Or rather, couldn’t move.
Open your eyes, Koda, my brain said.
“I can’t,” I gasped.
Yes, you can.
I forced my eyes open. My gym teacher held me above the ground but stood as still as stone.
Moya is dying. Like Aiko and Ichiro and Taiki and Yori before her. But the fox’s fate is not sealed. You can stop the tengu. You can save Moya. You just have to let me in.
“How can I let you in? You’re my brain.”
Open your mind, Koda. Embrace me.
“Who are you?”
Not a who.
“What are you?”
Something that has been inside you for a very long time.
“The Tengu Road.”
The voice inside your head whispering that you can be so much more than you are.
“You want to destroy me.”
Not destroy, Koda. Return. I want to return everything to its proper place. To its peaceful, cold silence.
“I don’t believe you.”
Look at the universe, young one. The light you see is a disease. It is turmoil and burning, violent energy disturbing the tranquility of the darkness. Rest, Koda. Open your heart and embrace the peace of the void that surrounds you. A dark road holds no fear when you know you’re the only one on it.
“I won’t let you in.”
You’re saying that because you know you will. It is the only way to save her.
And the voice inside my brain was right. I had stood by and done nothing while Kōtenbō murdered so many people I cared about, but for the first time I felt like I could actually do something to stop him. Me. Alone. I could stop him. It would be so simple. I just had to step back and let the universe in.
Everything I had ever known paled in comparison to the power waiting for me. The Tengu Road was long and empty, but it was also quiet and glorious. Kōtenbō was nothing. I could see him now as the Road saw him.
A blind and broken sparrow.
I could break him for what he did to Moya. I could embrace the Road and shatter his pathetic body with a single thought.
My sleeping was no longer weakness and my body was no longer frail. My cold dreams had been just the surface of an ocean a million fathoms deep. The Road was the true power. Its world of smoke swirled around me, cold and silent as the middle of space. This was a power I could control. I would own the Tengu Road. I would be its master. The Road would serve me for all eternity in beautiful, empty darkness.
I easily spotted Kōtenbō’s control over my gym teacher. Three threads of smoke ran from Ikeda-sensei’s eyes and mouth to the tengu’s skull across the cave. I reached out and grasped Ikeda-sensei’s face. I tore the threads away and shattered his glasses. My gym teacher dropped me to the floor.
“Nobu, bring the man-child to me!” Kōtenbō ordered.
The air froze my skin, but I knew I wasn’t sleeping. The vacuum of the universe filled every corner of my mind.
You will rise …
“… above all of them.”
I could feel Ikeda-sensei’s consciousness pulling toward me. I adjusted Yori’s goggles slightly on my forehead.
“Run,” I said to Ikeda-sensei.
“What is this?” Kōtenbō cried.
My gym teacher broke into a sprint. I smiled at the broken tengu across the cave, bu
t having just been released from the demon’s hold, and being legally blind, Ikeda-sensei had no idea where he was or where he should be running. With a dull thud he dashed straight into a cave wall and knocked himself out. Kōtenbō’s amazement turned to laughter.
“It isn’t so easy placing thoughts, is it? You can’t just yell something out, you dimwit. You have to create the memory. Make them believe that what you want is their only choice. There’s an art to controlling people, you brain-dead clod. Something you will never have a chance to master.”
Kōtenbō reached his gnarled hand above his head. “Bring him to me.”
The cave ceiling erupted in feathers and talons and sharp cries. The crows descended on me like a swarm of bees, swirling and snapping and pushing me forward. But just like Ikeda-sensei, I could feel their pull. Each crow was a star in the vast cosmos and I was a black hole, yawning, drawing them in.
FREE the BLACK BIRDS. Aiko had seen something that no one else had, but when I opened my eyes in the hurricane of feathers around me, I saw it, too. Tiny sulfuric threads from every eye. Twisting. Floating. Leading back to the source—an ancient monster, now crippled and weak. I punched through the storm and snapped the threads. The crows dropped like stringless marionettes. Dazed and confused, they stumbled up from the floor and fled Sarutadō Cave in a single, furious cloud.
“Oh, I am definitely going to eat your brain now,” Kōtenbō said. “Those were my favorite eyes!”
“Your time is done, Kōtenbō,” I said. “I am the Tengu Road now.”
Kōtenbō laughed again. “You don’t even realize what a simpleton you are. No one controls the Road. The Road controls you. You have eyes. Open them! You are just a miserable pickpocket, not a god. And I don’t need magic to break the body of a fifteen-year-old thief!”
Kōtenbō threw his sword scabbard on the ground, balancing on his one good leg. “I am still a tengu, and I will tear out your heart and eat it in front of you.”
“I thought you were going to eat my brain,” I said with a smile.
“I’ll eat them both!” Kōtenbō cried.