The Night Itself

by Zoe Marriott

  “Play along,” Shinobu said softly, not looking up. “We need to keep their respect now that you have won it for us.”

  Oh, right. We were trying to wipe the image of me and my Hello Kitty underwear out of the Kitsune’s brains. I could do that. I attempted a regal expression, hoping that I didn’t just look constipated, and answered: “Very good. Thank you. You may, er, rise.”

  He came to an upright position in one smooth movement, like a perfect soldier. Now I could see the laughter glinting in his eyes. He was enjoying himself. I guessed after the entire Kitsune Kingdom had sneered at and tried to crush us, he was entitled to feel a little smug that my sword had knocked them all off their feet and nearly brought the roof down.

  “Well?” I said, voice pitched low. “What now? Where are Jack and Hikaru?”

  “Jack-san is choosing weaponry, with Hikaru-san’s expert help. I have found a place suitable for you to inspect your troops as they gather.” He added more quietly: “Try to look commanding.”

  I suppressed a panicked cry of “How?” and nodded, letting him lead me away from the trees, down to one of the empty terraces midway up the amphitheatre. Someone had spread out a beautifully coloured patchwork quilt on the mossy grass. In the centre of the quilt there was a low, round silver table, where a large glass bowl rested. It was filled with emerald-green apples, blushing peaches, ruby-red grapes and freckled, coppery pears. There was also a glass pitcher filled with some amber liquid that steamed faintly and two glasses shaped like those horn goblets you saw Vikings quaffing out of in films.

  “What is this?” I asked, confused.

  “They asked if there was anything you would like.” Now that we were out of everyone else’s hearing, his voice was eager, slightly anxious. “Is it all right?”

  He did this for me.

  My heart squeezed almost painfully. “It’s lovely. Thank you.” I stepped carefully onto the quilt and sat down, crossing my legs neatly and laying the katana across my thighs. “Does this look commanding enough?”

  “I think so,” he said, smiling a little. He sat down on the other edge of the quilt and poured some of the amber-coloured liquid into one of the goblets, then pushed it across the table towards me.

  “I don’t want to get drunk,” I protested. The only drink that colour I knew of was cider.

  “It is not an intoxicating drink,” he said. “I made sure. Try it.”

  I picked up the glass and drank cautiously. The taste of honey, and apples, and something sharp and delicious I’d never tasted before exploded on my tongue, closely followed by a fizzing sensation of warmth that flowed into me, soothing my slightly sore throat and my nervous stomach with one sip. “Wow.” I blinked down at the glass. “Not intoxicating?”

  “There may be a little of their magic in it,” he said. “But nothing that would harm you. That is the last thing any of them would want now.”

  I had another mouthful and decided that, intoxicating or not, I might start giggling if I had any more. That would be bad. I put the glass down and reached hesitantly for a grape. It burst in my mouth with the sweetest, most intense flavour I’d ever experienced. God, what did they put in this stuff? It was amazing. A bite of a peach almost made me cry.

  “Don’t you want anything?” I asked Shinobu, noticing that he hadn’t even poured himself a drink. He shook his head, apparently happy to watch me eat instead.

  Something whipped past in the corner of my eye. I turned my head to see Hikaru and Jack on one of the terraces below us. Jack had a long stick in her hands and Hikaru appeared to be giving her tips on how to use it. Probably trying to persuade her that she didn’t need a shotgun, which is what she would really want, if I knew her. I smiled, wondering if I should wave and call them up here to share the picnic.

  My gaze wandered to the bottom of the bowl. About fifty Kistune had sorted themselves into neat rows that looked like the ranks of soldiers you saw marching on Remembrance Day. They stood to attention as the king talked; he paced back and forth among them, his tails lashing and his head held high. After a minute he bowed his head to them all. As one, they saluted sharply. Just like real soldiers.

  My mouthful of sweet, golden peach was suddenly as bitter as lemons. I put the piece of fruit down slowly, wiping my fingers on the knee of my new outfit.

  Calm down. Just take a deep breath. Calm down…

  I sensed Shinobu turning his head to look at me, but I couldn’t look at him. I couldn’t look away from the soldiers who were getting ready to go into battle with us. This is really happening. We’re going to fight the Nekomata. Jack is going to fight. I am going to fight. And Rachel’s life is at stake.

  “I don’t think I can do this.” The words were out before I could stop them.

  There was a long, singing moment of quiet, while I waited for Shinobu to say something. He didn’t.

  “This … this thing…” My hands tightened on the katana’s saya and hilt in an agonized mixture of unwilling love and smouldering anger. “It’s like my ojiichan gave me a nuclear bomb. A supernatural doomsday device. I had no idea what it could do before – and maybe I still don’t. But I know it’s dangerous. Midori was right in one way: this is not something any mortal is equipped to handle. I don’t know how to handle it.”

  “Yet handle it you have,” Shinobu said. His voice was quiet. “Well enough to gain the King of the Kitsune’s respect. Well enough to gain his people’s confidence. He is giving you these troops as a gesture of trust and friendship.”

  I forced myself to sit still, resisting the urge to fling the katana away at the same time as I resisted the equally strong urge to lift it up and clutch it to me. “That’s the worst part, Shinobu, don’t you see that? It’s all fake! They’re doing this because I’ve persuaded them that I know what I’m doing, but I don’t. What happens if – if we fail?”

  Shadows and blood will devour this world. That was what the Harbinger had said.

  Shadows and blood…

  It hadn’t meant anything to me then. It was too big, too dramatic. What could the end of the world possibly have to do with me, Mio Yamato? But it had everything to do with me – because everyone I cared about lived in this world. Mum and Dad, Aunt Fumi and my cousins Chris and Sarah, the kids I went to school with, my teachers … Jack and Shinobu. And Rachel. Poor, lost Rachel. The shadows already had Rachel.

  She was counting on me. Me. When this was all my fault to start with.

  “The Kitsune almost destroyed the Nekomata once before,” Shinobu reminded me. “In this conflict we will have numbers and strength far out-matching those of a single cat-demon. It is foolish to be overconfident in any battle, but it is equally foolish to despair when the odds are so overwhelmingly in our favour.”

  “But this isn’t just any fight. It’s not about winning. It’s about getting Jack’s sister out alive. That’s my job. Jack expects me to fix everything and get Rachel back. She seems to think – everyone seems to think – I’m some sort of badass action hero. And I’m not. I don’t know how to fight. I don’t know how to save anyone, not even myself.” I hesitated, then whispered bleakly: “I don’t know what to do.”

  “You will do what is necessary,” said Shinobu, not a trace of doubt in his voice. “You will do what must be done. And you will do what is right. You will always do what is right, Mio.”

  A tense breath shivered out of me, and I slumped weakly over the katana. My voice was a wobbly mumble. “Why do you think that?”

  Shinobu’s big, tanned hand, marked with tiny white scars, appeared in the corner of my vision. He peeled my shaking fingers from the saya of the katana and clasped them in his, not squeezing but holding firmly. “I know you.”

  And that was true, wasn’t it? Because he had been with me for so long. Longer than Jack, even. He had been there when no one else was. If there was a single person in this world – in any world – who knew who I was … it was Shinobu.

  We sat in silence for a few moments. Gradually the paralyzi
ng panic faded away, evaporating like a dark, wet stain off a hot paving slab in the summer. I was still tense and worried and afraid, but I could think again.

  I sighed. “You – you’re good.”

  “I am?”

  “Good for me.” I finally managed to look at him.

  “Mio.” He was gazing back at me intensely, eyes filled with that strange expression I had seen there a couple of times before. Like he was waiting for something. Shinobu lifted my hand up and pressed it to his forehead for a second, closing his eyes. “After all this is over—”

  “Mio?” Jack’s head popped over the edge of the terrace. Hope and determination made her eyes almost glow. “There you are! Look what Hikaru lent me!”

  Shinobu kissed my knuckles gently and released me. I got up as Jack clambered onto the terrace – and jumped back just in time to avoid losing my nose as she swung a wooden staff, which turned out to be topped with a six-inch, hooked blade.

  Shinobu was on his feet in an instant. “Look out!”

  “Sorry. But isn’t it cool? It’s called a glaive. They won’t let me have a gun for some reason. But they’re totally gearing up for battle, Mimi! They’re really going to help us get Rachel back!”

  Her voice cracked a bit there at the end. I felt a sharp pang. No wonder she was excited. I thrust the katana into my sash, dodged her weapon again, and put my arm around her shoulder. It felt weird. My armpit was on the same level as the ball of her shoulder now, which meant I ended up sort of snuggling her into my body. And our faces were even. I tried not to let it put me off.

  “In other words, you’re ready to kick some demon-cat butt, right?” I said lightly.

  “Damn straight,” she said, with a sharp nod as her arm went briefly around my waist to hug me back.

  We let go of each other and looked away. I blinked rapidly, carefully ignoring Jack’s surreptitious sniff.

  Hikaru appeared in the same place Jack had, vaulting up to join us. “Yamato Mio-dono!”

  I groaned. When Shinobu called me that, it was cute. Not so much with Hikaru. “Do I look like a lady to you?”

  “More like a ninja princess,” Jack soothed.

  I gave her my look. “Not helping.”

  “Tough luck,” Hikaru said. “Now you’ve earned the court’s recognition you have to act a certain way. That means all titles all the time from here on. Get used to it.”

  “Fantastic. What’s going on, anyway?”

  “Turns out that as soon as His Majesty got Shinobu’s call for help and realized there was a Nekomata on the loose, he sent spies out to track its movements in case it tried to break through into our realm. They just came back. The beast’s gone to ground. They think it found a lair.”

  I rubbed my forehead. “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

  “Good, because if it’s picked a permanent hiding place, that’s where Jack’s sister will be. Bad, because they only stop hunting when… Well, when they’re full.”

  Jack and I both cringed.

  “Ick,” Jack said.

  “More than ‘ick’. If it’s managed to feed that much, its powers will be at their peak. The lair might be a bit tricky to get into. Lucky for you, we’re coming along.” He smiled, a bright flash of teeth that reminded me of his devil-may-care attitude when he’d first turned up in my parents’ back garden. That felt like years ago.

  “Are we ready to go then?” Jack asked eagerly.

  “I think so. But before we go anywhere, the king begs a word with the sword-bearer.”

  “Lead on, She-Ra,” Jack said. “We’ll follow slowly, so you and His Foxy Majesty can chat.”

  Shinobu somehow managed to get a step ahead of me as we headed down off the terrace, and directed a fierce glare at anyone who happened to be in my path, clearing them out of my way.

  “Hey, Hikaru,” Jack said behind me, her tone deeply casual. “Mind telling me what that whole, er, kissing thing back there was about?”

  “If you don’t know, I don’t think I can tell you,” he replied, a little quiver of nervous laughter in his voice.

  “Oh. Well. So probably there’s something about me that I ought to, um, tell you then—”

  I nearly slipped and plummeted down the side of the bowl on my face. Right now? You’re going to break his heart right this second?

  “Don’t,” he broke in hastily. “Not before we go to fight. Whatever you want to say to me, and whatever I want to say to you, should wait until your sister is safe and we’re not both holding deadly weapons.”

  There was a little pause.

  “OK.”

  Phew.

  We reached the bottom of the terraces and Shinobu and I sped up, leaving the other two behind as we approached the low hill. The king, still in fox form, was back in his place on its brow. Midori and Tetsuo, on the other hand, were gone. Araki and Hiro were back in their human shapes and stood to attention at the base of the hill. They bowed deeply when they saw me coming.

  The king dipped his head for half a second. I bowed back to him, but interpreted Shinobu’s quick warning glance to mean that I shouldn’t return bows from underlings. I’d gone up in the world. In more ways than one. Who knew that all I had to do to get respect was blow a place up with my crazy-ass sword and grow four inches in thirty seconds?

  The katana’s hilt quivered under my palm, as if it was laughing.

  “Yamato Mio-dono,” the king began gravely. He was firmly back in formal mode, though the power of his voice had been dialled way down. Or maybe it just affected me less now. “In answer to your request for aid, I am sending fifty of my strongest and bravest with you tonight. Your fight is a vital one. Find the Nekomata and rid London of its foulness, and you will have erased any debt incurred for the loan of my people in this battle.”

  He hesitated, then gave a foxy shrug. “I also send with you my most beloved grandchild, against my will, I might add. I’ve tried to talk him out of going but, short of confining him to his den, I don’t think I can. He’s as brave and pig-headed as his mother ever was. He’ll put himself in danger just to prove he’s strong enough to handle it. And so I ask you to take care of him for me. Make sure he comes to no harm and we shall all be indebted to you. Will you promise to do this?”

  I saw Araki and Hiro’s surprised looks. Clearly this was not an idle request.

  No pressure then.

  But we weren’t going into some desperate, last-stand type of situation here. The Nekomata was a horrific, terrifying monster, and I shuddered just remembering it, but I had fifty Kitsune on my side now. Shinobu was right – anyone would lay odds on kitty getting made into fox kibble before the night was out. We ought to be able to keep Hikaru from doing anything stupid while we were at it.

  I bowed again. “I will do my absolute best, Your Majesty.”

  The king showed his fangs in a small, sharp smile. “Having seen a sample of your power, I am content with that.”

  “We move out on your command, Mio-dono,” Araki said.

  I quickly checked to make sure Jack and Hikaru were ready and then nodded to Araki in what I hoped was a businesslike manner. “Then move out!” I said.

  Araki let out a high, ululating cry. The Kitsune stamped in unison and turned to face the king, forming two, long ranks.

  At the king’s feet, a string of electricity sizzled up out of the grass. Then came another, and another. They waved in the air, unfurling and stretching like living things. They reminded me of speeded-up footage of growing plants I’d seen on nature programmes. The tendrils of lightning touched and wound together, forming a sort of wreath on the side of the hill. A wreath of elephantine proportions.

  The grass framed by the circle of electricity shimmered and faded away, leaving a gaping black hole, wide enough for several people to walk through side by side. Araki lifted her arm and shouted again. The soldier Kitsune repeated her shout and marched forward.

  “You might want to close your mouth,” Hikaru whispered directly behind me.
>
  “You might want to stop sneaking up on me before I put a bell on you,” I retorted, pressing a hand to my heart.

  “Careful. He’ll get all excited,” Jack said dryly.

  I appreciated the effort she was making and awarded her a laugh, albeit an unconvincing one.

  Shinobu sighed in mock exasperation. “Children, please. Must I separate you?”

  Hikaru grinned a sharp grin. “No way. In it together, Mio said. Where you go, we go.”

  “All must obey the ninja princess.” Jack spun the glaive in her hands, watching the last pair of Kitsune disappear into the shadowy gateway. We moved forward as one. Jack and Shinobu fell in behind me, with Hikaru bringing up the rear.

  “Farewell.” The king’s voice drifted after me as I stepped through the opening. “And may the gods show you kindness. Whatever kindness they have…”

  CHAPTER 21

  UNSEEN ARMY

  It was a tight fit Between, and the light from the amphitheatre disappeared behind us as soon as we were through the gateway. There was a moment of utter blackness. I could hear Jack grinding her teeth and the breathing of dozens of people packed in all around me. Then a circle of light bloomed ahead. In a tight, organized formation, with no pushing or scrambling, the Kitsune moved through the gateway.

  I emerged onto a wide road, with the blocky white shapes of warehouses and tall, barbed metal fences shielding industrial yards on either side. Yellow sodium streetlamps illuminated the gleaming metal spires of cranes poking up above the street. Beyond them, the moon was nearly full and painted a rusty off-white by light pollution. The shadowy ranks of Kitsune were neatly arranged by one of the fences.

  Hiro detached himself from the back, bowed to me, then focused on something above my left shoulder. I turned just in time to see a dark circle snap shut, revealing a mound of construction debris.

  “Where are we?” I asked.

  “As close to the Nekomata’s lair as we could get,” Hiro said, looking around with his usual bright, interested expression. “The rupture beneath the king’s throne is the most versatile one we have, but it still needs a certain amount of green matter to anchor to.” He gestured to tufts of sickly looking grass and weedy flowers that poked out from among the wreckage of bricks and broken chunks of concrete and sand.