Dark Tempest (The Red Winter Trilogy Book 2)

by Annette Marie

  His ears swiveled and he turned his golden eyes to Yumei. “Whatever the truth of the tales may be, it is well known that yokai who venture too far into these caves do not return, even from death.”

  “That sounds familiar,” Shiro muttered. “First that valley, now this.”

  “Have you observed anything unusual in this area in the last decade?” Yumei asked.

  “Not personally,” Byakko replied. “However, I am often away for months or even years.”

  “It fits, though,” Emi said, studying the dark interior of the nearest cave. “An underground location where Izanami is already powerful. It’s exactly what we’re looking for.”

  Byakko’s ears flicked back and forward again. “Yumei, I must sincerely warn against entering the caves. You may possess greater strength and magic than those who have preceded you, but what could possibly be worth the risk?”

  Emi glanced at them, surprised Yumei hadn’t told Byakko why they were here. Did he not trust Byakko or was he just being cautious?

  “It is necessary,” Yumei replied, appraising the caves. “The darkness poses no issue for me, but if it is as much a labyrinth as the legends suggest, I would prefer a secondary method of tracing my path.”

  “If you insist on going, I can assist you,” Byakko said with obvious reluctance. “An anchor is simple enough magic for me.”

  “Your aid is appreciated.” Yumei turned to Shiro. “Your fire may be useful.”

  “Don’t worry, I’m coming.” Shiro grinned. “I’m not letting you have all the fun.”

  “I’m coming too,” Emi said.

  All three yokai looked at her.

  “You will wait with Byakko,” Yumei said flatly.

  “No, I’m coming.” She folded her arms. “This is my task and I won’t be left behind.”

  “We have other concerns besides protecting you,” he snapped. “Izanami will not have left her prize unguarded. Do you wish to repeat the tsuchigumo bite?”

  She stopped herself from glancing guiltily at Shiro.

  “If I may interject,” Byakko said. “She would be a more effective receptacle for my anchor. Her ki is unlikely to fluctuate should you engage in battle.”

  After a brief, considering pause, Yumei agreed. Byakko stepped over the rope fence and knelt behind the tombstones. She, Yumei, and Shiro followed him. In the hard-packed dirt, he drew a small circle and traced a complex pattern within it. The lines glowed softly.

  “Your hand,” he said to Emi.

  She extended her hand and he took her wrist, turning her palm toward him. With his fingertip, he lightly drew a circle with a similar symbol over her palm, leaving glowing lines on her skin. His magic tingled through her hand and up her arm. He pushed his thumb into the center of her palm, and she glimpsed a cat-like claw extending before he punctured her skin.

  A drop of blood welled in her palm. He turned her hand over and the drop fell, landing in the center of the circle in the dirt. Light flashed and a shimmering line leaped from the circle to her hand, connecting them.

  Lips parting in amazement, she turned her hand over. The glowing line was attached to the circle on her palm. As she lifted her arm, the line extended, a thin ribbon of pure light.

  “I will maintain it until dawn,” he said. “If you do not return by then, I will assume you are lost.”

  Emi glanced at the sky. The sun hung low above the peaks and would soon begin its final descent of the day. She certainly hoped they wouldn’t be in the caves for the entire night.

  “We will return as swiftly as possible,” Yumei told Byakko.

  He strode toward the center cavern. Emi hurried after him, watching the ribbon of light stretch with each step. Sometimes she forgot how strange and beautiful yokai magic could be.

  Pulling her attention away from the anchor spell, she trailed after Yumei, Shiro following behind her. The cavern enclosed them, its ceiling a little too low for comfort, even for her. The weight of the mountain seemed to press down on her.

  Inside the cave, rows of stone grave markers formed curving lines along the rock walls. At the back of the main cavern, an arched entryway led into black nothingness. Yumei disappeared into it, showing no hesitation in the darkness. Emi followed, and as she walked through the arch, the symbol on her palm and the shimmering thread of magic cast a soft white glow on the walls of the next stone cavity.

  Several more arched openings branched off the new cave. Yumei chose the centermost one, heading in a more or less straight line deeper into the mountain. Emi wrinkled her nose as the air grew damp and musty, the smell of rot and mold clogging her airways. As they passed into another cavern, more gravestones marked the resting places of ancient Izanami worshippers.

  The caves grew damper and the air chillier. She was grateful for Shiro’s soft but steady footfalls behind her as she trailed after Yumei. The darkness had become impenetrable but for the glow of the anchor spell. She glanced back, comforted to see the radiant line winding back through the caverns, floating like a weightless ribbon.

  “Byakko seems like a decent yokai,” she said, shattering the oppressive silence despite her attempt to speak softly. “It was nice of him to help us.”

  “‘Nice’ probably doesn’t have much to do with it,” Shiro murmured, lengthening his stride to walk beside her. “I bet he likes the idea of the Tengu owing him a favor.”

  “Why didn’t Yumei tell him we’re looking for Susano?”

  “It’s just easier. What if Byakko doesn’t like Susano or has some other reason to refuse to help a Kunitsukami?”

  “I suppose.”

  “Don’t trust a yokai if you don’t have to,” he added, casting her a sly smile. His eyes caught the soft glow of the spell and gleamed. “I’ve warned you before.”

  “I haven’t forgotten,” she said, smiling briefly before the ache in her chest returned. The memory of kissing him forced its way into her thoughts but she pushed it down. “Uzume said Susano isn’t very talkative. I wonder what he’s like?”

  Emi’s knowledge of Susano started and ended with his element: he was the Kunitsukami of the Storm. What that meant, exactly, she wasn’t sure.

  “Kind of a hermit, I’ve heard,” Shiro replied. “He supposedly doesn’t get along with the other Kunitsukami.”

  “Izanami chose her targets wisely,” Yumei said from ahead of them as they entered another cave. The rocky ground had grown rougher, sloping downward. Grave markers no longer interrupted the natural stone caverns.

  “She eliminated Inari first,” he continued. “He connected the other three Kunitsukami and maintained a loose acquaintanceship with the Amatsukami. Without him, the lines of communication were broken. Had any of the others disappeared first, he would have noticed.

  “She captured Susano next. As a known recluse, he was unlikely to be missed for some time, reducing the chances that Sarutahiko or Uzume would grow suspicious.”

  “And then she went after Sarutahiko and Uzume,” Emi murmured. “She had to deal with them at the same time because neither of them would fail to notice if something happened to the other.”

  She rubbed her hands together to warm them. The air had turned even more stale and foul, stinking of mold and mildew and things that only grew in the dark and wet. The rough rock walls gleamed with moisture in the dim light of the anchor spell.

  “How long do you think Izanami has been planning this?” she asked. “At least a hundred years if that’s when Inari disappeared.”

  “Probably centuries,” Shiro said. “Maybe longer. Whatever she has planned is no small endeavor.”

  “It would help if we knew what she intended to do,” Emi muttered. “Uzume didn’t know, and I doubt Susano will have answers. I wish Amaterasu had told me.”

  Silence fell over them again as the caverns grew smaller and narrower, twisting and turning until Yumei had to pause at intersections, considering them carefully before choosing a direction. She found herself checking more and more frequently that the ribbon
of light connected to her hand, their only hope of finding their way out, still wound back out of sight.

  They entered another cavern with jagged rock walls and a steeply sloping floor. The stale air reeked and the musty, slimy stench coated her nose. She automatically lifted her hand to cover her mouth, causing the ribbon to flutter. Its light rippled over the cavern walls, illuminating long, narrow, snaking shapes.

  She stumbled to a stop. “What are those?”

  “Roots? Vines?” Shiro shrugged. “A weird underground plant?”

  “Keep moving,” Yumei said over his shoulder. He was already halfway across the cavern, little more than a shadow in the darkness.

  She forced her feet into motion again, scanning the mass of tangled roots. Or were they vines? She couldn’t tell. Roots seemed unlikely; how could a tree send roots this far through solid rock? But she didn’t know of any vine that could grow without sunlight.

  As she walked, the passage narrowed to a few yards across, bringing the snake-like shapes closer to her light. She squinted at them. Smooth and tough, they did look like roots. Small, conical bumps that resembled barnacles formed clusters on the thicker plants. She slowed again, holding her hand closer to throw more light on the strange things.

  The nearest bulb appeared to twitch. A hole like a tiny mouth opened at the peak and a puff of discolored air spurted from it. The foul, moldy stench hit her nose and she gagged.

  “Ugh,” she choked. “Was that some sort of fungus spore?”

  “Whatever it was, it’s disgusting,” Shiro said, pushing her forward. “The smell is making my head hurt.”

  She hurried to catch up with Yumei, who was standing at another crossroad, studying the three passages. She stopped beside him and squinted down each one.

  “They all look the same. How do we know which way to go?” When he didn’t answer, she turned to him with a worried frown. “Yumei?”

  He looked straight ahead, his face in shadows. A slow, almost soundless exhale slipped from him—and he slumped sideways, falling into Emi.

  She gasped, catching his shoulders. Shiro grabbed his arms and pulled him off her as she crumpled under his weight.

  “Yumei!” Shiro lowered the Tengu to the rocky floor. “What’s wrong?”

  Yumei slumped limply, eyes closed. Shiro shook him roughly, then pulled back one of his eyelids. His pupil was rolled halfway back in his head, sightless and empty.

  “He’s out cold,” Shiro growled. “What happened?”

  Panic skimmed Emi’s thoughts. The Tengu was the strongest among them—stronger than the majority of yokai. He was supposed to be near infallible. Even after Jorogumo had punched holes through him, he had walked—run, actually—away from the battlefield without faltering. What could possibly have rendered him unconscious without warning?

  “We can’t leave him here.” Shiro pressed a hand to his head, snarling under his breath. “I can’t think. This stench is driving me crazy.”

  She stiffened with a sudden suspicion. A few feet away, another cluster of bulbs spat foul clouds into the air. The twisting vine shapes covered the cavern walls.

  She grabbed Shiro’s arm. “Pick him up. We need to get out of here.”

  He squinted hazily. “What?”

  “Do as I say! Can you carry Yumei? Pick him up!”

  Catching on to her urgency, he turned and drew Yumei’s arms over his shoulders, pulling the Tengu onto his back. He stood quickly—and swayed. Staggering, he caught himself, alarm flashing across his face.

  “Hold your breath, Shiro!” She moved out of his way. “You first. Go!”

  He launched into a fast jog back through the cavern. She ran after him, praying it wasn’t too late. The bulbs spat more clouds of spores as they rushed out of the cavern and into the previous one, following the glowing ribbon of light. Shiro stumbled more than he should have but caught himself each time without slowing his determined pace.

  When they reached a wider cave, the walls mercifully free of any twisting vines or bulbs, she slowed. Shiro stumbled from a jog to a heavy walk, breathing hard. He adjusted his grip on Yumei and cast dull eyes toward her.

  “Are you okay?” she asked him quickly.

  “Not particularly,” he said. “Another minute in that cavern and I would have been out cold too.”

  “I should have realized sooner.” She rubbed a hand over her face. “Poisonous spores. Izanami doesn’t need a guard for Susano if the air in the caverns is too toxic to enter.”

  “At least you figured it out. Without you, I would still be standing in there wondering why Yumei passed out.”

  She smiled weakly. “Let’s get him out of here and see if he wakes up.”

  They trudged back through the endless maze of caverns, following the glowing line of the anchor spell. When she saw the first glimpse of light ahead, her heart leaped and she hurried her steps.

  Byakko met them in the outermost cavern and his face tightened when he saw Shiro carrying Yumei on his back. The tiger yokai helped carry Yumei out of the cave, where the last light of the setting sun blazed behind the western summits. Shiro and Byakko leaned Yumei against the rocky wall a dozen feet away from the first cave.

  “What happened?” Byakko demanded as Shiro pulled up one of Yumei’s eyelids again, checking for any sign of returning awareness.

  Emi told him about the strange plants and the spore-spitting bulbs.

  “No doubt it was a virulent poison to affect the Tengu so,” Byakko said solemnly, studying Yumei. “Yokai are not susceptible to the natural environment as humans are, and he even less so than most.”

  Shiro rubbed his hand over his hair, flattening one ear. His face was pale and his eyes still hazy. “I don’t understand why it took him down before me. He’s stronger.”

  “Unless that is the very nature of the poison,” Byakko murmured thoughtfully. “A mundane poison would affect humans more strongly, followed by weak yokai, then finally powerful yokai. Yet I see the opposite.” He looked across the three of them. “The strongest fell first, the weaker struggles to resist, yet the weakest of you is unharmed.”

  Emi nodded in understanding. “So it must not be a mundane poison. Maybe Izanami created this fungus to attack powerful yokai. She wouldn’t care as much about a weak yokai making it deep into the caverns, but she definitely wants to keep out the powerful ones who have a chance of rescuing—” She clamped her mouth shut, swallowing the rest of her sentence.

  Byakko’s head snapped toward her. “Rescuing whom?”

  She briefly considered how to answer, then threw caution to the wind. “Susano.”

  “Izanami’s prize,” he whispered, repeating Yumei’s earlier word. “If this poison reacts more strongly in relation to the strength of a yokai’s ki, it would be perilously toxic to a Kunitsukami.”

  Shiro slumped against the rock wall beside Yumei, heaving a long sigh. “Well, unless you’ve got a bright idea, he’s staying where he is. I doubt Izanami would stop with a single obstacle between Susano and a rescuer. Any yokai weak enough to make it through the spores without passing out—assuming that’s even possible—won’t be strong enough to free Susano from whatever else Izanami has lying in wait down there.”

  Emi looked from Yumei, still unconscious and showing no signs of waking, to Shiro, who’d closed his eyes wearily. Rising to her feet, she walked back toward the caves and stopped beside Byakko’s circle, still glowing on the ground. Her stomach churned with growing terror as she peered into the darkness.

  After a few minutes, Byakko came to stand beside her. The final rays of the sun disappeared behind the mountains, drenching the land in shadows.

  “The poison didn’t affect me,” she whispered into the silence.

  “Perhaps it would have, given more time,” Byakko replied, equally quiet.

  “I could last much longer than Shiro and Yumei.” She stared into the darkness. “Maybe long enough.”

  “A brave sentiment, but alone, what can a human do?”


  “I’m more than a human.”

  He turned to her. “I thought I smelled kami on you.”

  “I’m Amaterasu’s kamigakari. She gave me this task—to save the Kunitsukami and stop Izanami.”

  “I see.” He considered her. “Do you think you can reach Susano alone?”

  “I don’t know. I can try, though. Even if I can get far enough to see what else guards him, we can make a proper plan and try again.”

  “The spores may still poison you. You will need to move quickly.”

  She clenched her hands to hide their shaking. Byakko lifted one of the long ties of the blue obi around his waist and tore it with one swift pull. He handed the strip of silk to her.

  “Tie this around your face to slow the spores.” He glanced at the darkening sky. “Of the four Amatsukami, I have always found Amaterasu to be the least unpalatable. We share an affinity for the same element.”

  He slipped a hand beneath his haori and withdrew a katana with a braided blue hilt and a white sheath. “Take this with you. Her name is Kogarashi, and if you too share our affinity for the wind, she will be of good use to you.”

  She stepped back, raising her hands in protest. “I couldn’t possibly—what if I lose it or—”

  “I can call her back to me should you fail to return her yourself. Take her.”

  She took the weapon, gripping the smooth sheath. Kogarashi—a name meaning cold winter wind—was surprisingly light in her hands. “Thank you.”

  “Use her well. I will hold the anchor as long as I can.”

  She straightened her spine, hoping he couldn’t tell her knees were already weak. “Can you distract Shiro? If he sees me going in, he’ll try to stop me.”

  Byakko inclined his head and turned. Once he had engaged Shiro in conversation, positioning his body to hide her from view, she inhaled deeply, savoring the sweet, cold breeze in her lungs.

  Then, with trembling hands and lifted chin, she strode alone into the dark bowels of the mountain.