“I am going to stop you.”
The thing laughed again, and again the building shook. From somewhere deeper in the building I heard crockery shatter.
I would continue to address it as Lord Sentaro for want of a better name, but I knew matters were not quite so simple as that.
AT MOST YOU ARE GOING TO SPOIL MY FUN BY MAKING ME KILL YOU, TOO. IT’S A SACRIFICE I AM PREPARED TO MAKE. I WILL NOT WASTE MY TIME OR YOURS GLOATING, HOWEVER. THERE’S A TIME FOR ALL THINGS.
What I had seen in Master Dai-wu’s face that day at Enryaku Temple was now all around me. I was neither scholar nor mystic; I did not pretend to understand what separated pure evil from the baser human emotions. The limit of my understanding was that I was in the presence of malice, hatred, and greed, and in a particularly twisted fashion, ambition—not the expression of the things, but rather the things themselves. They flowed around and through me, unimpeded. I felt what Lord Sentaro felt. In some fashion I was what Lord Sentaro was. What he had become. I knew Kanemore was feeling the same, and for a moment I was afraid he had been overcome, as I almost was and would be, if the attack lasted much longer. I prayed to anyone listening: the Buddha, the gods of the city, the spirit of my father, anyone, to give me enough strength.
“Indeed. Prince Kanemore, if you please?”
It was taking everything I had just to get the words out, and I was deathly afraid that Kanemore had already been swept away on the tide of emotions contained in that darkness. In another moment I heard the first piercing notes of Kanemore’s flute, and a quick scrabbling sound outside.
MUSIC?
“You said it yourself, Lord Sentaro. A time for all things. Please consider yourself our prisoner.”
If I thought the thing had laughed before, I was quite mistaken. The darkness roared. In the time that its attention was off me, I could think a little clearer. I knew it would not last. There was a murmur from outside, cries of fear. I knew at least some of the priests were trying to flee.
Get them back together, Kenji, I can’t hold him much longer.
I FELT YOUR PUNY BARRIER, LORD YAMADA. IT CAN NEITHER KEEP ME OUT NOR HOLD ME HERE FOR LONG. I HAD ASSUMED IT WAS SOME BIT OF TAT AS PRECAUTION FOR THIS BRAT, BUT WHAT DO I FIND? YOU! MY FAULT, SINCE I DID TELL YOU WHAT I INTENDED. I SUPPOSE IT WAS INEVITABLE YOU WOULD TRY SOMETHING FUTILE AND FOOLISH. YOU SHOULD HAVE BEEN CONTENT WITH MY VICTORY. ARE YOU READY TO DIE NOW?
“I suppose I must be. Yet, for my own curiosity, will you answer a question of mine, first?”
YOU’RE TRYING TO DELAY ME. IT WON’T HELP.
“Of course I am. I’m going to die, remember? I am resigned. That does not mean I am eager.”
WELL, WHAT IS IT?
“When did it start? With my father? Kiyoshi? Yes, I think it must have been him. I doubt my father would have provoked a second thought. Kiyoshi? That hurt you, didn’t it? A little?”
Silence. Then, more softly, MY NEPHEW WAS A FOOL.
“Of course he was. Sacrificed to the greater vision. Necessary. You did all that was necessary, did you not? For the glory of the Fujiwara? After Kiyoshi, I imagine things were much easier. Your soul could be no blacker than it already was. A useful attribute.”
DO NOT JUDGE ME, LORD YAMADA.
I spread my hands. “That is not for me to do. Did you understand what was happening at first? The first time your angry soul left its body? Who died the first time? Was it Taira no Kei, or another? I think your rage was rather unfocused at first. So many to be angry at. Princess Teiko, certainly, but she was dead. The Emperor, of course, for banishing you. Me, for helping to cause it. I rather think you were like a cat among a flock of birds, striking and killing at random. But that did not last. Whose death served best?”
TAKAHITO’S, OF COURSE.
“But you couldn’t simply kill him then. It would look too suspicious if he was one of the very few to die. More and more had to die, so that when the crown prince’s inevitable end came, no one would think it was anything more than some unknown god of disease striking at random.”
YOU’RE NOT DOING THE BOY ANY FAVORS, YOU KNOW. I SENSE HIS FEAR. I WILL NOW PUT AN END TO IT. HE DIES FIRST, LORD YAMADA. YOU’RE GOING TO WATCH.
“If you insist, but there is one more thing I think you should know—that’s not Takahito.”
Kanemore and I were both nearly knocked off our feet as the dark spirit that was and was not Lord Sentaro rushed forward. I heard the boy cry out, and then the booming curse as the spirit learned of our deception. “Prince Takahito” whimpered once before the darkness swatted him. He flew through the air and crashed through the back wall.
FOOLS! THIS DELAYS ME NO MORE. NOW I WILL KILL YOU AND PRINCE KANEMORE. THEN I WILL SHATTER THIS FLIMSY BARRIER AND FIND TAKAHITO. THE EMPEROR WILL HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO NAME NORIHIRA AS CROWN PRINCE!
“The warrior monks are your guarantee of this? I must say you have thought of everything,” I said. Then I turned to Kanemore. “Now, if you please.”
The flute sounded for the second time, then the eerie notes faded into a silence that lengthened through one heartbeat, then another. Then another.
We’ve lost. They’ve all fled . . .
“No!”
I heard Prince Kanemore put his flute away and draw his sword. I clearly heard the whisper of the steel as it left its sheath. Prince Kanemore was a man of his word, in matters both great and small. I knew if Lord Sentaro did not kill me in the next few seconds, Prince Kanemore was going to save him the trouble. I did not move. I had done all I knew to do, gambled and lost. Time to pay my debts.
The drone was so low-pitched that I did not hear it at first, and for another moment did not fully understand what I was hearing. Time seemed to hang in the balance as the sound rose like a tide in an inlet. Deep-pitched, rumbling like slow thunder, the chant rose around us and filled the room, which before then I had thought could contain only darkness.
“Ohmedaohm . . . ”
Prince Kanemore did not sheathe his blade, but neither did he strike. He stood beside me, immobile as a statue.
MORE CHANTING? YOUR PUNY RITE OF PROTECTION DID NOT WORK WITH TWO PRIESTS. IT WILL NOT WORK WITH A HUNDRED.
“If you were truly the Master of Enryaku-ji, you would know better,” I said. “That is not the rite of protection, Lord Sentaro. That is the rite of exorcism.”
Fear was always present in the darkness, but suddenly now I was not feeling it. Lord Sentaro was. I felt his withdrawal like someone had just removed a spike from my knee that I hadn’t realized was there. There was a flash of pain, then relief. I felt the walls shudder as the dark spirit that once was a human man threw itself against them. Did the barrier give, a little? How long would it hold?
YOU FORGET I AM LARGER THAN THIS ROOM, LORD YAMADA. THIS SILLY CHANTING WILL CEASE!
The chanting did not cease. It grew stronger, steadier as I heard Kenji’s voice, encouraging his brother priests and adding his spiritual power to the wall that Lord Sentaro was battering. The darkness pulled back.
“Your malicious spirit may cover this entire area,” I said, “but it is not you. You are here, in this room, because I called you here and you were foolish enough to answer. Can a snake’s tail strike without a head?”
I could see the power of the chant closing in. It would have taken the entire power of several temples of priests and monks to attack the full extent of the spiritual energy that Lord Sentaro commanded, but unfortunately for him the bulk of that energy was not present. It was outside the barrier.
We, as Lord Sentaro had correctly pointed out, were not.
There was a sudden shudder, but this time it was not in the walls of the house or the barrier. The shaking seemed to be coming from beneath our feet. A barrier was failing, but it was not ours. I felt Lord Sentaro’s spiritual energy concentrating as if for one last push, but whether against us or the weakening barrier, I did not know. I decided to tip the scale.
“I said I could not judge you, and that is true. You
are about to meet the one who can. I’ve heard him called Emma-o, and Lord Yama, but he’s better known as the King of Hell. Bring him my compliments.”
YOU . . .
“Yes. Me. All along. Not Prince Kanemore, not even Teiko. It’s my doing, Lord Sentaro. You’ve lost!”
He struck. I felt the darkness closing in on me, smothering me. I struggled against it, but the power was too strong. I understood then what poor Kei and the others felt as Lord Sentaro choked the life out of them with their own hands. I felt my own two hands close around my throat, and however hard I struggled—there was nothing I could do against it. Even the darkness seemed to fade to something else, something beyond light and dark. For a moment I could see nothing, and then beneath my feet I saw the Gates of Hell.
The true Demon Gate broke asunder and cracked wide, and I saw . . . I saw what no living man or woman should ever have to see. My brain could not contain it, and for an instant I went mad. I saw all the hells, branching one off the other, and knew beyond any doubt or question that one of them was waiting for me.
I heard a howl of fear. I thought it was mine, or perhaps it was Lord Sentaro. I did not know. I did not think I would ever know. My hands were now free, but I felt Lord Sentaro’s true grip hard on me. I did not know if I was breathing or past needing to ever again. I only knew what I saw beneath me was rising to meet us.
LET US GREET HIM TOGETHER!
Lord Sentaro was being pulled down through the true Demon Gate, and I was going with him, and there wasn’t anything I could do about it.
Teiko . . .
I felt a blow to my side as if I’d been gored by a bull, and any breath I had left was gone. I felt myself falling, spinning into the darkness as—far below me and falling fast—a shadow in the shape of a man vanished into the pit. Then I landed hard and waited for the true pain to begin.
Nothing happened.
After what seemed an eternity, I opened my eyes and took a gasping breath.
Kanemore scowled. “Still among the living, I see. He got away!”
I closed my eyes again. “What did you see?”
“A very strange thing. I saw you, choking yourself, and I could not break your grip. I slammed you to the floor in an attempt to knock the wind out of you long enough to stop it. When I got up, Lord Sentaro was gone!”
“He is gone,” I said, “definitely. But he did not escape. It’s over, Prince Kanemore. We did it.”
The fog of hate and confusion that Lord Sentaro had brought with him was lifting by the moment. Prince Kanemore helped me to stand, then dashed out to order one of the guards to check on the real Prince Takahito who currently resided unwillingly in Princess Ai’s quarters. Kanemore came back inside and went to check on our decoy.
I finally managed to stand up and then staggered after him, and we found Nidai lying in a heap in the next room, groaning among the tangle of robes that had been too large for him in the first place.
“That hurt . . . ”
Kanemore checked the boy over thoroughly, but found nothing broken. “You’ll be bruised all over,” he said, finally satisfied, “but you’ll live.”
Master Chang Yu and Kenji rushed through the door. “What happened?” asked the Daoist. “The barrier has collapsed!”
“It held long enough, Master Yang, and thank you. Kenji-san, you did it, you and your disreputable priests. The evil is gone.”
Kenji looked at me. “Lord Yamada, are you all right?”
I thought about it and answered truthfully. “No. Perhaps one day I will be, but no. I am not all right.”
The guard returned soon with the crown prince, and everyone bowed low while Kanemore whispered to him. I was still looking at the floor when I realized that Princess Teiko’s son was now standing in front of me.
“Lord Yamada, my uncle informs me I have you to thank for the passing of this threat.”
I bowed lower. “There were many valiant gentlemen here who did as much as I, or more.”
Takahito put his hands on my shoulders, and I looked up. It had been some time since I had seen him last. He had grown into a handsome youth, almost a man. He smiled at me.
“Be sure that all will be rewarded with more than our thanks.”
Spoken like a true prince. He said other things, too, and I tried to listen, but the room was not as steady as I would have liked and I was having trouble concentrating. I withdrew with the others as soon as it was politely possible to do so.
Prince Kanemore joined us on the veranda.
“Please,” I said, “see that Kenji and his brother priests are safely housed for the night. There is much still unsettled in the capital.”
“Of course,” Kanemore said, then looked at me intently. “Lord Yamada, what can I do for you? Is there anything you need?”
Saké. By the barrel.
Yet I knew nothing would ever be enough. Especially not drink, though that would not stop me from trying.
I smiled. “Nothing, thank you.”
I took deep breaths of the cleansing night air. Overhead, the stars had returned to shine as if nothing at all had happened and already my visions of hell were starting to fade like a bad dream. They would never go away, I knew, but I hoped that in time they would be no more than one scar among many.
Now as my senses and understanding began to slowly return, I found myself thinking mostly of Prince Takahito, the young man who would one day be emperor; especially his eyes. How gentle and kind they were and yet how sharp, taking in all, missing nothing.
His mother’s eyes.
Shimo-no-ku
Two days later, the Emperor sent a swift messenger to the Master of Enryaku-ji with a “request” that the warrior monks be withdrawn.
That wish was obeyed immediately. The patrols ceased and by the fourth day all the warrior monks had left the city, and were on the road to Mount Hiea and Enryaku-ji. Some people were sorry to see them go.
Master Chang Yu was not one of those. He politely refused our offer to accompany us on our coming journey to the temple.
“Such places are not for such as me,” he said. “It is enough that those infernal monks are gone. If there are greater matters to settle, for my reward I ask only that you please leave me out of them.”
It occurred to me Master Yang was far wiser than he sometimes appeared. “So be it,” I said. “And thank you.”
“Feh. It was strictly for the sake of my business, you understand. I’m too old to find a new trade.”
“Of course.”
Most who had served to thwart Lord Sentaro that night were of the same mind. Kenji’s brother monks were more than content with the absence of the Enryaku-ji monks, and the gifts of rice and fine new robes that Prince Kanemore bestowed on them on Prince Takahito’s behalf. Kenji was the only one who chose to go with us.
“Honestly, Lord Yamada. I would not miss this for all the snow in Hokkaido.”
“I do not believe it will be quite as satisfying as you might think,” I said. “But there are matters that still must be settled, so you have the right.”
At the appointed time, our procession filed out through the Demon Gate: Kenji, myself, Prince Kanemore, and Lady Snow, heavily veiled. Prince Kanemore had gathered as many bushi as he reasonably could, including several detachments borrowed from visiting lords, plus two groups of mounted bowmen from the Minamoto Clan. Lady Snow was surrounded by a very large guard of scowling warriors and was accompanied also by an equally scowling Nidai, who gripped his staff as if he would bash the first man to raise a hand against her to within an inch of the wretch’s life and beyond.
“Really, Highness,” I said, “she’s more a danger to herself now than anyone else.”
“That she feels her guilt is only just,” Kanemore said, “but does not mean I will take any chances. You know my intent with regard to Lady Snow.”
I sighed. I did indeed. I think Nidai did, too, and that was one reason he gripped his staff so tightly. What was to follow wasn’t going to be pleas
ant for anyone, myself included. Yet an accounting had to be made.
Prince Kanemore walked beside me. He kept looking straight ahead as he spoke. “Now what’s this nonsense about solving the riddle of these attacks by reading The Tale of Genji?”
“Actually, I hadn’t read the tale. That was the problem. No ordinary ghost could do what Lord Sentaro was doing. A true ghost is usually a faded thing, inspiring terror or pity, but not actually dangerous except in special cases. An ikiryo is different.”
“How so?”
“An ikiryo is a living spirit unshackled from its flesh and thus far more powerful. Unlike myself, Lord Sentaro knew about the Lady of Rokuji in the romance, and thus understood what was happening to him when this . . . tendency first appeared. He learned to control it, or so he thought. Yet his spirit-form was powerful enough that he could absorb the spiritual energy of any ghost he encountered and temporarily add it to his own. That is also why most of the attacks were in the areas closest to the Demon Gate.”
“Ah. So when he learned we planned to move Takahito . . . ”
“Precisely. As you heard him say, Takahito was always his true target, and in the southwest Takahito would be safe indefinitely; even as an ikiryo, Lord Sentaro could not muster enough power so far from the Demon Gate with so many fewer ghosts to feed it. Yet when I learned Lady Snow had been directed to keep me away from the capital for four days, and nothing had happened for three, I knew the attack had to come when it did. He had already waited as long as he dared.”
“Again, we see what Lady Snow must answer for.”
Clearly he wasn’t going to be swayed easily. I sighed. “You once asked me if there was anything you could do for me.”
Prince Kanemore smiled a grim smile. “And I meant it. Ask me for anything . . . except Lady Snow’s life.”
“I merely ask I be given a chance to speak before you take her head.”
“If you wish, but you know I won’t change my mind.”
“I also know you are not a fool, and only fools never change their minds. Besides, once you do take Lady Snow’s head, there is no giving it back. You may find that is more of an inconvenience than you now believe.”
Yamada Monogatari: To Break the Demon Gate Page 25