The Open Road

by Paul Kidd

  The man’s companion seemed quite distressed. “You are wet and disheveled! Ai – we feel such shame.”

  Kuno gave the men a polite, sincere bow.

  “Greetings. We are wondering where a village or a town might be found.”

  The two black-clad men looked at one another, then turned happily back to the Spirit Hunters.

  “Samurai, our village has relocated into the forest. We have a fine inn – fine food. We shall certainly make you welcome.”

  Sura felt a great surge of relief.

  “Hey, are there any wet nurses or gullible childless couples?”

  The second man shrugged, as if all things were possible. “Noble visitors, the new moon is due to arrive in only two days. It has always been our tradition to celebrate the moon festival with feasting, and with a tasting of the finest wines. But with the burning of our village, we had feared that we would have no guests to share our festival.”

  The first man looked grave.

  “Tradition demands that we share our bounty with others, lest bad luck fall upon the village!”

  “Indeed.” The other man looked earnestly at the Spirit Hunters. “We humbly ask you to be the guests of our community. Free wine, free food, and good rest. You bring us luck!”

  Both men bowed together.

  “Please accept!”

  The baby suddenly remembered that it was hungry. It began crying once again, the noise rising and rising until it was deafening Sura’s ear. She turned to her friends and pointed to the baby, demanding that they recognise the problem.

  Chiri winced, distressed by the baby’s discomfort. She looked anxiously over to Kuno.

  “The baby must be fed.”

  Kuno and Tonbo turned and looked at the dark path that led into the forest. Tonbo gave a scowl.

  “Down here?”

  The taller of the black-clad villagers bowed and pointed to the path. “Yes, samurai! We now live in the warm, calm shelter of the forest – our whole village! It is only a little way.”

  The Spirit Hunters bowed and moved on. The road clearly had no other paths or turns: it led straight into the forest. The two villagers waved after them, full of good cheer.

  “Thank you, travelers! Thank you!”

  The locals seemed… odd. But clearly friendly. With the baby wailing, Sura could hardly think. She gave up and headed off along the road, hoping that rich retired old couples with wall-to-wall wet nurses were just around the corner.

  They penetrated the forest, the road deep with fallen leaves wet and squelching underfoot. Tree branches spread out above the road, creating a great, dark tunnel. Their trunks stood like pillars to either side, gleaming with cobwebs. They were still damp and dripping from the long night’s storm.

  Sura had to stop and hand her spear to Kuno. She fished a spare robe from her pack, and tied it into a sling that hung across her front. She put the baby in the sling, saving her aching arms. Taking her spear back in hand, she led the way forward, down through rain puddles and on into the woods.

  The baby briefly paused in its crying and looked up at her. He reached up towards her, and Sura gave a scowl.

  “Don’t touch my tits!” The fox gave an impatient grumble. “Those are for recreational purposes only.”

  Large spider webs hung between the tree trunks beside the road, glittering faintly in the gloom. There seemed to be more and more of them, stretched between the branches above. Here and there, huge fat spiders quietly spun new webs, working in silence overhead.

  Chiri moved off the road and inspected a large green spider with white legs and golden stripes. She was quite taken by the creature’s beauty.

  “An orb weaver. Very beautiful – but why are there so many spiders here?”

  Kuno nodded wisely, looking up at a tall tree.

  “A spider in the house is lucky.”

  “Forgive me, Kuno san, but there must be a considerable insect population to support so many spiders.” Chiri looked up, seeing webs in their dozens, far off in the gloom. “Perhaps this village will be an uncomfortable place to stay.”

  Tonbo called from further down the road.

  “Come and see this!”

  Kuno and Chiri hastened off after the others. Tonbo stood on a rise thirty paces down the road, staring at something in the nearby underbrush. Sura trudged up beside him, then immediately recoiled.

  A large spider web stretched between the bushes. A skeletal bird dangled in the web. Clutching to the corpse and feeding upon it was a spider almost the size of Sura’s hand. Sura backed three steps away, hair standing on end, absolutely beside herself with revulsion.

  “I hate spiders! Oh ick! Gods – you can see its eyes!” Sura’s skin crawled. She tried frantically to tug Tonbo back and away from the web. “Get away from there! It might jump!”

  Tonbo shot a glance at Sura and raised one brow in comment – but drew away from the web.

  The spider was horrible, with a rough grey, flinty outer surface, and wicked black eyes. Sura towed Tonbo off and along the road, keeping an eye out in case the spider decided to follow them.

  The fox shivered. “Spiders and babies… I think I’m going to be sick.”

  Tonbo frowned as he brushed cobwebs out of Sura’s way.

  “Shush! You’ll wake the baby.”

  They moved onwards, walking down into a long, shallow dell. Rain water had collected in the hollow, creating a long, oily pool filled with decomposing leaves.

  The four friends skirted the mud as best they could, then made their way past a tree that had fallen in the storm.

  For almost half a ri, the road wound onwards into the gloom. The undergrowth became thick, web-covered and tangled. The trees closed in – darker, and covered with mold. Bifuuko remained in Chiri’s hair, while Daitanishi clung close against her shoulder. The forest seemed silent, except for the drip of water and the slow creaking of the trees.

  Webs now covered every bush, every branch and every tree – everything but the path itself. Sura flinched nervously every time she saw a spider. She kept looking back along the path, making certain they were not being followed. She kept her spear unsheathed and nervously flicked her head about, watching every shadow.

  A twig dropped from a tree, falling to bounce in one of the spider webs. Sura whirled about, spear at the ready and baby bound tight against her chest.

  “What was that!”

  “A twig falling.” Kuno waved a hand. “It is a forest.”

  “Are you sure?” The fox looked aloft, making sure no spiders were overhead. “Was it a spider?”

  “No, Sura san. It was not a spider.”

  There was another noise from the bushes up ahead – just the sound of an animal moving. Sura instantly levelled her spear.

  “I heard that! Something moved! Did you hear it?”

  Kuno gave a patient sigh.

  “Animals live in forests, Sura san.”

  “Maybe it was spiders! Giant spiders!” Sura was sweating. She also looked just a tad deranged. “There could be whole packs of them!”

  Kuno felt tired.

  “There are no giant spiders, Sura san.”

  “There might be!” Sura looked about herself, moving down the road a few steps with spear at the ready. “Great big things with hair all over their legs! Big as puppies! Big as wolves!”

  Kuno rolled his eyes and looked over to Tonbo.

  “Are we there yet?”

  Sura forged ahead of the others, trying to set a faster pace. She was greatly hampered by the baby, and cursed loudly to let all and sundry know. She swept her spear to try and clear the cobwebs that now had begun to hang above the road.

  A tree had fallen across the road, taking branches, cobwebs and bushes along with it and completely blocking the way ahead. Sura made her way around it, slicing at webs, heading towards the great tangled ball of tree roots. The cobwebs were becoming too thick for comfort.

  “Come on! Let’s get out of all these damned webs!”

&nbs
p; Two paths led about the tree – one smaller and one wider. Sura picked the wider path, disgustedly sweeping away yet more cobwebs. Kuno struggled up out of the mud behind her, shaking off his sandals.

  “Stay close.” Kuno winced as Sura slung a mass of leaves and old spider webs back towards him. “Sura! We do not even know if that is the right path!”

  “Sure it is! It’s wider!”

  “Are you certain?”

  Sura turned back towards them. “Trust me! I’m a fox!”

  Chiri and Kuno had reached the path. The both stopped, staring wide-eyed past Sura’s back. The fox froze, feeling decidedly unhappy.

  “Oh… I’m really not going to like this….”

  Sura turned. On the path in front of her was a spider the size of a wolf. Its crusty grey skin was like rough-cut rock, with white markings upon its back shaped like a skull.

  The monstrous creature gaped its long fangs, front legs rearing. It leapt straight for Sura’s face. She dodged aside, spear slicing, ripping a wound through the monster’s splintering hide. The spider whirled and flung itself at her once more, hissing and screeching. Sura lunged forward, her full weight behind her spear. She rammed the blade home right between the spider’s central eyes. The creature screamed, thrashing its legs and still trying to rage forward and bite the fox even as it died.

  Shocked and revolted, Sura twisted her spear and tore it out of the dead monster’s head. She looked at the others, still feeling blank with fright.

  “Why do I have to be right every single time?”

  The fox suddenly saw movement back along the road behind the others. More and more giant spiders were coming out onto the road and lumbering forwards. Others crept towards them through the gloom. Her tail sagged.

  “Mother pus bucket…” Sura turned and sped wailing down the path.

  “Run!”

  Chiri, Kuno and Tonbo took one look at the onrushing horde of spiders and fled. They pelted down the path behind Sura, leaping puddles, ducking branches and tearing cobwebs from their eyes.

  Grey spiders as big as human heads leapt from the trees. Kuno cut one down in mid-flight, and then another. Tonbo caught one in the air with his tetsubo and slung it against a tree. He stepped on another as he ran, smashing it horribly underfoot. But more and more were coming from behind, hissing and screeching in bloodlust. Chiri kept her head down and ran for her life, trying to summon up magic as she fled.

  “Spirits of the woodland trees!

  Gentle friends who dance with me!

  Your playmate now has dire need!

  Rise up! Come and succour me!”

  Slivers split off from the trees – little ragged, deadly squirrel shapes made from bark and wood. The wood elementals tried to move, but the webs in the trees seemed to somehow sap them of power. They struggled, then faded back into the trees and disappeared. Chiri stared in dismay, then ducked as another spider leapt down from above.

  Tonbo atomised the creature in mid-air. But the giants were coming – and gaining fast. The Spirit Hunters ran, ever more frantic as they leapt fallen logs and crashed down into mud. Daitanishi sped forward to fly at Sura’s shoulder, trying to help her punch a hole along the road.

  A giant spider broke through into the road ahead. Sura speared the thing, ripping the enchanted blade upward. The spider’s hide cracked and splintered like glass. The creature fell, legs curling, and the Spirit Hunters raced past with hundreds of enemies only a few paces behind.

  There was a clearing ahead: the way seemed brighter. Sura clasped the baby against her chest and looked back.

  “Come on!”

  The open ground would have better footing. Sura led the way, leaping debris and mud. A dense curtain of webs blocked the way, some with silk strands as thick as sandal cords. Sura made a powerful swing of her spear, the blade of ‘Leaf Cutter’ almost bounced off the heavy strands, but she slashed through the barrier, shielded the baby and blundered through great sheets of cobwebs. She stumbled, blinded as she ran out into bright light and solid ground.

  She fell skidding to her knees at someone’s feet: there were two sandals, and feet in socks patterned with printed arrows.

  Sura blinked. From up above her, she heard a voice rich with amusement.

  “Kitsune Sura – this carries proper deference too far...”

  Sura made sure the baby was intact, then blinked in the light as she looked up at the figure that stood over her. She recognised the woman in blank surprise.

  “Sano Moko?”

  The fox climbed awkwardly to her feet, sheltering the baby. Sano Moko stood in an ordinary village street, holding a cup of sakē in her hand.

  The female samurai idly raised her cup in salute.

  “Welcome, Sura san. Welcome to Spider Village.”

  Chapter 3

  Chiri, Kuno and Tonbo all burst out of the cobwebs and into the bright light. They stared in amazement at the peaceful scene beyond.

  A neat, orderly village filled an open glade in the forest. There were several stark, clean houses nearby, with yet more set out along the streets. Villagers moved back and forth on their affairs. There were a number of tall, handsome men and women all dressed in black – all with white streaks in their hair. But sitting and working here and there about the village were also a great many peasants – most dressed in worn and shabby clothes. They dug ditches and raked the streets clean – women moved listlessly about carrying water or firewood. The peasants seemed despondent, while the black-dressed villagers seemed full of energy and discipline.

  Behind the Spirit Hunters, hordes of huge grey giant spiders came to a halt just within the forest. There were huge wolf-sized spiders, and others the size of human heads. Some were fist sized, and still pale, as if recently hatched. There were hundreds of them. The creatures all stopped short of the village boundary and hissed, glowering into the world beyond. Slowly, reluctantly, they drew back into the dark. Their countless black eyes glittered in the gloom.

  Tonbo thoughtfully inspected the spiders. He saw them wince as sunlight sparked from his lacquered armour.

  “They fear the light.”

  Sano Moko looked at the spiders in revulsion.

  “Yes. That is why they are confined to the forest. Disgusting creatures.”

  There were other people out here in the road. An old merchant with a long white beard sat playing a game of go with a travel-stained monk. A pair of travelling peddlers lounged on a porch nearby, drinking sakē and gossiping idly back and forth. Sano Moko indicated the other travellers and made a little bow.

  “Spirit Hunters – welcome to our prison.”

  Kuno kept a careful watch upon the shadows where the giant spiders lurked. It seemed clear that they would come no further. The samurai spun his sword about its axis, thumped it behind the guard with his closed fist, then reversed the weapon and sheathed it. He turned to Sano Moko, and gave a formal bow.

  “Sano Moko san. It is good to see you once again.”

  The female samurai bowed in return.

  “Asodo Kuno, I am pleased to have your company.” She bowed to Chiri and Tonbo in their turn. “Nezumi Chiri. Tsunetomo Tonbo san. Good morning.”

  Sura hefted the baby into a better position. It seemed to have actually enjoyed the excitement. Sano Moko cleared her throat, inspected the baby from a distance, then gave a disapproving shake of her head.

  “Kitsune Sura! I knew your failings would lead you into iniquity, but I was not aware that single motherhood would occur quite so soon.”

  Sura glared at the woman in dislike.

  “It’s Tonbo’s!”

  “I thought the man had better taste.”

  Sura fixed Sano Moko with a dire, impatient eye.

  “No – the baby is entirely Tonbo’s. He got it from a ghost!”

  Sano Moko seemed infinitely relieved. She put a hand against her armoured breast.

  “Ah. No one has seen fit to take advantage of your charms. The world is still sane after all.”
/>   Sura gave the woman an elaborately formal bow.

  “Sano Moko, I can only try to follow your example. Your reputation as a passion-killer has empire-wide renown.”

  The loud, public exchange over, both women turned and looked back towards the village. Sura conferred with Sano Moko is a near silent murmur.

  “Trouble?”

  Sano Moko nodded subtly. Both she and Sura separated, understanding each other perfectly. Sura hiked up the baby and looked out over the village, taking in the view with a considering eye.

  An active woman in black formal robes and wearing a tall eboshi cap came striding along the street towards them. Black clad villagers motioned to the other peasants, who moved swiftly out of the woman’s way. Those who had been gazing at the newcomers were all briskly ordered back to their work. Kuno kept his eyes fixed upon the approaching official. He spoke quietly to Sano Moko beside him.

  “Sano san. What is happening here?”

  Moko nodded softly. “It would be polite to leave explanations to the village priestess. This is her area of enthusiasm.”

  The woman in the tall cap arrived, accompanied by two burly guards in plain, almost monastic black armour. All three had a streak of white running through their hair. The priestess bowed to the new arrivals, full of welcome and joy.

  “Honoured guests! I am Toriē Shiku. We welcome you to Spider Village!” The woman bowed. She motioned casually towards the forest. “Our apologies for the attentions of the local wildlife. We were not aware that guests would come so late!”

  Kuno returned the priestess’ bow, acting with immaculate courtesy.

  “Priestess. I am Asodo Kuno. This is Tsunetomo Tonbo, Kitsune Sura and Nezumi Chiri. We are…”

  Sura stepped forward, smooth and full of smiles.