The central jaws recoiled once more, blocking the others and granting Michiko time to ride clear. She heard a hideous mewling and the snapping of bony jaws behind her, but she kept her eyes fixed on the terrain as she steered Kaze through the maze of trees.
Then, the glowing guide doubled back and rushed past her like a shooting star. A cry formed on Michiko's lips, but she kept her composure and pulled back on the reins. She fumbled with another arrow for a split second and then turned, ready to fire.
The glowing orb surged straight into kami's body, blasting through multiple jaws like a cannonball through thatch. When it reached the center of the mass, the foxfire's glow became too bright to look at. Michiko shielded her eyes and smelled a horrific burning stench just as the orb exploded, sending dirt and debris hurtling across the forest.
The blast snuffed out her campfire, and the orb's light was also gone. For a moment, Michiko could only sit in the sudden darkness and comfort Kaze. She began to wonder if she could sit perfectly still until daylight, or if another kami would come for her in the night.
A glimmer of yellow light shone from the shattered remains of her campsite. It grew into a brighter glimmer, then a glow. Considerably diminished, the foxfire orb rose once more and floated toward Michiko and Kaze.
It stopped in front of the princess's face and flashed wearily.
"I am sorry," Michiko said. "From now on, I will follow until you stop."
The orb flickered and then grew brighter, recreating the shine that made travel possible. She would have to go no faster than a canter, but Michiko knew she could navigate by the orb's reduced light if she were careful… and no more kami attacked.
Slowly, carefully, she followed the foxfire as it lead her northeast.
*****
Pearl-Ear sat meditating in the early morning mist. Merely being in her home village had a restorative effect on her, but she was no closer to the answers she sought.
Two days ago, she had met with Lady Silk-Eyes, the village elder and one of the most respected kitsune-bito in all Kamigawa. The wise old fox had told her to sit, remain awake, and clear her mind. He said she must empty her thoughts before attempting to organize them. Since then, Pearl-Ear had spent her time sitting, chanting, and fasting, consuming only fresh water from the village well and the occasional pot of tea.
The kitsune-bito had villages scattered all along the northwestern section of the Jukai. Taken together, the foxfolk population was barely a third that in the Daimyo's tower, but they had proven their worth to Towabara as both citizens and warriors. They were a careful, circumspect people who liked visitors, but rarely invited them. Pearl-Ear was enjoying the solitude and the cleansing effect of her vigil, but her problems were too many and too pressing to be completely dismissed.
She sat with eyes closed in the doorway of her hut, provided by the elder for the duration of her stay. In the distance, she heard the careful tread of a kitsune-bito, which served to announce the foxfolk's arrival. If it had been anything but a formal visit, she would not have heard a sound until the visitor opened the gate.
"Lady Pearl-Ear of Towabara?"
Pearl-Ear opened her eyes. "I am Lady Pearl-Ear of the kitsune-bito," she corrected. "It is only of late that I have been a member of the Daimyo's court."
The visitor was another female, roughly Pearl-Ear's size but visibly younger.
"Forgive me, noble Lady Pearl-Ear. "I am called Cloud-Fur."
"Cloud-Fur. Welcome."
"The elder sent me to fetch you. You have a visitor."
"Here?" Pearl-Ear straightened and retied her robes. "Is there trouble in the tower?"
"I cannot say. I was asked to bring you around so that you might greet a traveler from Eiganjo."
"Was it a messenger? A soldier?"
"I have not seen the visitor, only the elder."
"Thank you, Cloud-Fur. I will come with you now."
Together, the two kitsune-bito made their way across the sparsely populated village. At this early hour the clerics were in prayer, the farmers hard at work, and the warriors were patrolling the woods. The foxfolk homes were spaced wide and many were partially concealed by low-hanging cedar boughs or great sheets of climbing ivy. There were larger kitsune villages, grander ones with gleaming white towers, but they were all to the south, closer to akki territory and Godo's bandit horde.
At the entrance to Lady Silk-Eyes's dwelling, Cloud-Fur stopped. Her mission complete, she bowed to Lady Pearl-Ear and headed back into the village.
Pearl-Ear watched her go and then turned to the elder's hut. Most likely the Daimyo had sent someone after her, calling her back to the tower. As she passed through the waist-high gate into the elder's yard, Pearl-Ear was mentally preparing her polite refusal. She had made progress here in the village, but she needed more time before she was ready to return to the tower.
She stopped at the doorway and called, "Sensei?"
"Come in, Lady Pearl-Ear. We have been expecting you."
The interior of the hut was dark, but Pearl-Ear's eyes quickly compensated. The elder kitsune sat at the far end of the room next to an overstuffed straw mattress. The occupant of the mattress was asleep.
"Wake, child," Lady Silk-Eyes murmured. "Lady Pearl-Ear is here."
The sleeping form stirred. The young woman sat straight up, and Pearl-Ear recognized her a heartbeat before she could speak her first breathless words.
"Lady Pearl-Ear," Michiko cried happily. "Praise the spirits, I made it!"
CHAPTER 12
A thousand thoughts churned through Pearl-Ear's mind but she remained speechless. As Lady Silk-Eyes lit a lamp and filled the room with a soft yellow glow, Michiko struggled free of the mattress.
Why had she come here? How had she managed the journey alone? What Shockwaves had the princess's disappearance sent through the Daimyo's tower?
As Lady Silk-Eyes quietly left the hut, Michiko's feet found the floor. She rushed into Pearl-Ear's waiting arms.
"The spirits led me to you," Michiko said. "I was lost in the forest and the spirits sent me a guide. Foxfire brought me straight here…it even helped me battle a kami!"
"Breathe," Pearl-Ear whispered, hugging the child close. "Start from the beginning. What were you doing in the forest?"
Michiko hesitated, then said, "I was on my way to the Minamo Academy. I was separated from my party by an unnatural storm."
Lady Pearl-Ear pushed Michiko back and held the princess by the shoulders. "Was it a kami attack?"
"No, that came later. I lost Riko and Choryu in the woods and-"
"Riko? Choryu? What were they doing there?"
Michiko's eyes never wavered. "We were going to the Academy to look for answers." "What? That is sheer madness."
"It is not, sensei. The kami attacks grow worse all the time. They even attacked my father's advisors in council. He would not let me seek help from the Academy, so I sought it on my own."
"You are a very foolish girl, then. There is far more at stake here than your pride or your need for the Daimyo's attention."
Michiko frowned. "I did not do this for me. Not for pride or the rare gift of my father's approval."
Lady Pearl-Ear felt her expression hardening. "But you disobeyed your father, and you disobeyed me. The Daimyo forbade you to leave the tower, and-"
"And I am the Daimyo's daughter," Michiko replied with a rebellious flip of her head. "I was acting for the good of my people and all Kamigawa."
"Sharp-Ear should have stopped you. I will tell him so when I see him."
"Sharp-Ear didn't know. And he couldn't have stopped me if he did."
"Sharp-Ear didn't know," Pearl-Ear echoed sarcastically. "And that makes everything all right?"
Michiko suddenly crossed her arms and scowled. "I thought you'd be happy to see me. I didn't expect a lecture."
"You quit your father's house in secret and exposed yourself to unimaginable danger. You dishonored my brother, and me for leaving him in charge. A lecture is the le
ast of your worries."
"But don't you see? My journey was decreed by fate and guided by the spirits. I dreamed of taking a larger role in the Kami War. I escaped the tower as easily as crossing a room. And despite freak storms and angry kami, I am here, where you yourself came to gain better perspective on the dangers that threaten Kamigawa. Think how much I can learn here, how much I can help you learn."
Pearl-Ear paused. After the initial shock of seeing Michiko and the reflex scolding that followed, she was noticing something new about the princess. Michiko had always been lighthearted and energetic, but now she was something more. She seemed to have a purpose, something that was driving her. And she was far more confident than Pearl-Ear had seen.
"Tell me more," Pearl-Ear said, "about this journey. You were caught in a storm?"
"We were attacked by a storm. It changed direction with the wind and swept right over us."
"Describe the storm."
"It was a large, fast-moving windstorm, a spinning cloud of dust. The wind was very forceful. It tore down an ancient tree standing alone on the plains, but the forest protected us."
Pearl-Ear nodded. Some things were starting to make a little more sense. "And the spirit guide?"
"A glowing ball, about two fists wide. Like the light from a small lantern without the lantern. I thought it might be kitsune foxfire. It guided me through the Jukai and defended me from a horrible grasping kami made of roots."
"Foxfire. I see. And you went on this ill-advised trip because of a dream?"
"I have been dreaming about the horrors of war, and of me standing by, doing nothing. I took it as a message, and acted on it." She fell to her knees and grabbed the hem of Lady Pearl-Ear's robe. "Sensei, please. I was sent on this trip and guided through it by friendly spirits. Don't you see? This means that not all the kami are against my father. It is their love that sparked this journey, and their concern that got me here safely."
"It was not friendly spirits," Pearl-Ear said. "It was my foolish brother."
Michiko accepted Lady Pearl-Ear's hand and got to her feet. "Sharp-Ear? We left him back at the tower."
"Not so. The storm you describe? That image is from an old teaching story we kitsune show our kits. It demonstrates that the world is alive, interactive, and always changing-a tree grows on the flatlands, a great wind levels the tree, but the forest halts the wind.
"And the foxfire? That is an old kitsune trick many adolescents use on travelers to lead them astray. In harsher times, our samurai would use it to lead enemy forces into traps or away from populated villages. These days, it's just another prank played by tricksters."
Michiko's mouth hung open in shocked silence. "But it led me here…"
"Which is where I imagine Sharp-Ear wanted you to go. This business about fighting kami supports my theory. An adolescent wouldn't be able to use foxfire as a weapon. But he can."
The princess seemed on the verge of tears. "But why would he frighten us and drive away my friends?"
"He must have figured you'd be safest with me. I'm sure he meant no harm to Riko and Choryu, it's just that he doesn't usually stop to think about all the consequences of his actions."
Michiko sagged as if all the vitality had been drained from her body. "So we have no friends among the kami. Their war against us is total."
In that moment the princess was the image of her mother, complete with Yoshino's ability to infect everyone nearby with her mood. Pearl-Ear suddenly felt so sorry for the devastated princess that her anger melted and she swept Michiko up in her arms again.
"Not so," she whispered. "Your father has powerful allies in the spirit world as well as this one, else his tower would have fallen decades ago. This is a foolish thing you have done, Michiko, but we can derive some good from it. When we return to Eiganjo Castle, I will petition your father again for a trip to the Academy. I will insist upon it. Only this time, I will go with you and we will travel with a phalanx of armed guards."
Michiko laughed, her eyes still moist. "Thank you."
"Now," Lady Pearl-Ear said. "We must find your friends. Where did you lose them?"
Michiko's eyes brightened. "We were halfway to the academy. I searched for them after the storm, but they were gone. I expect they returned to the tower, or went on to the school to wait for me." "Very well. I will assemble a search party-"
"That is not necessary, Lady Pearl-Ear." Lady Silk-Eyes spoke from the doorway leading outside. "Our patrols picked up two Minamo students in the woods only this morning. They claimed to be lost on their way back to the school. They are being seen to on the far end of the village."
Pearl-Ear brightened. "There, you see? Your friends are safe." She turned to the elder. "And my brother?"
Lady Silk-Eyes shrugged. "That I do not know."
"Thank you, elder." To Michiko, she said, "We can travel back to the tower together, you and I and the wizards. On the way, we can work out what to tell your father."
"Then you should make haste, Lady Pearl-Ear." Lady Silk-Eyes came back into the hut. "There are powerful forces gathering all around us, and they are about to converge on this village."
"Of course, elder. We will go at once."
Lady Silk-Eyes reached out, took Pearl-Ear's hand, and squeezed. "Be careful, Lady Pearl-Ear." She nodded toward Michiko. "Some humans from Towabara think we can see the future, but in reality we are merely observant. We see the world around us clearly, which makes it easier to tell what can happen. From there, it's all down to experience and guesswork.
"I see that your trials have only begun," the kitsune elder said, squeezing Pearl-Ear's hand. She reached out with her free hand and took hold of Michiko's. "And your journey, my child, is far from over."
Lady Silk-Eyes dropped their hands and folded her arms into the sleeves of her robe. "Off you go, my dears. If you are still in the village come midday, come see me again. We will share a meal and conversation." She looked meaningfully at Lady Pearl-Ear.
"I would be honored," Michiko said.
"Excellent. Perhaps we shall see each other again." Lady Silk-Eyes moved over to the fireplace and began assembling a pile of sticks. Whistling, she poured water into a teapot and broke out a bundle of tried tea leaves.
"They're waiting," she said, without turning.
Pearl-Ear guided Michiko from the hut, gently pushing her ahead. She hesitated for one moment after Michiko was out the door, glancing back at the elder.
The touch of Lady Silk-Eyes's hand on hers lingered. The village elder's somber prediction weighed likewise on her mind.
But the old fox did not look up from her fire building, and Pearl-Ear quickly joined her own student outside.
*****
Lady Silk-Eyes had said Riko and Choryu were being attended to, but Pearl-Ear suspected they were being guarded instead of pampered. As she and Michiko approached the kitsune samurai compound, she found the sights, sounds, and scents of warriors preparing for battle.
A gleaming white kitsune male stopped them at the heavy wooden gate to the compound. He made no introduction as he held up his hand, halting Lady
Pearl-Ear and Michiko.
"The elder sent us," Pearl-Ear said. "The humans you found were separated from Princess Michiko." She waved towards the princess, who bowed formally.
The kitsune samurai kept his hand on his long sword. He thumped the closed gate with his free hand, narrowed his eyes over his long snout, and then jerked his head toward the compound.
The gate creaked open. Another pair of armed kitsune rangers stood inside, each dressed for the deep woods in gray-brown robes.
"They're here for the wizards," the gate sentry said.
The new kitsune both gave Michiko a long, appraising look. Lady Pearl-Ear could tell they were drawing in the princess's aura. Apparently satisfied, they waved Lady Pearl-Ear and Michiko through the gate.
"Follow," one said.
Pearl-Ear's unease grew as they crossed the compound. The camp was not large, but there were mor
e than thirty kitsune samurai and rangers visible… which meant there were far more hidden or patrolling nearby. Each of them was armed and dressed in drab colors that would serve as camouflage among the trees. Immersed in her own meditations on the far side of the village, she'd had no idea so many warriors were gathered here.
The samurai led them to a small hut near the back of the compound. Pearl-Ear counted ten more warriors as they went. This was more than a defensive force for the village-it was a small foxfolk army.
Inside, they found Riko and Choryu eating from rough wooden bowls at a long table against the wall. Riko let out a happy yelp and almost upset her meal as she sprang up.
"Michiko!" she cried. The princess went to meet her friend, and the two embraced. "We thought we'd lost you. Were did you go?"
"Where did you? I spent hours looking for you."
"Praise the spirits you're all right," Choryu said. "I would never have forgiven myself if-"
"Forgiveness is something you should seek, not grant," Pearl-Ear said. "All three of you."
Choryu defiantly held Lady Pearl-Ear's glare. "Something had to be done. We were only attempting-"
"I don't care, Choryu. I just want to get us all safely back to the tower."
Choryu scowled, but said no more. As Michiko recounted her adventure in the woods, Pearl-Ear checked the interior of the hut. Four kitsune samurai and one officer stood along the walls, silent but alert. Riko and Choryu seemed slightly haggard and distressed by their experiences, but they were largely unhurt. Each bore a series of minor cuts and bruises. The white-haired student remained at the table, sullenly stirring his soup with a wooden spoon.
"We searched," Riko was saying. "And never stopped. But we never saw your horse's tracks once we left the road. The more we searched, the deeper we went into the forest. I've never been so lost."
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