"What about…" Sharp-Ear's question trailed off as Choryu and Riko came bustling through the woods. "What about those two?"
"They are Michiko's friends. They will come with me."
The student wizards lumbered up. Pearl-Ear had a soft spot in her heart for each of them on Michiko's behalf, but compared to the light- and fleet-footed kitsune, Choryu and Riko were a handicap.
"Is she in there?" Choryu said. He was red-faced and out of breath, his white-blonde hair plastered to his skull.
Sharp-Ear nodded. "First we must get her away from Toshi."
"Then let us do so, now." His face looked panicked as well as flushed. "There are orochi-bito coming up quickly behind us. We cannot let her fall into their hands again."
"That will not happen," Pearl-Ear said. "We will move as soon as the others return." She raised a finger to keep Choryu quiet as Dawn-Tail and Blade-Tail crept in.
"Lady Pearl-Ear lures them out," Frost-Tail told them. "We get in between them and take the ochimusha. Lady Pearl-Ear and you wizards go for Michiko."
The scouts nodded. Sharp-Ear took hold of his sister's hand and squeezed. She returned the gesture, then jerked her head toward the cave. The three brothers and Sharp-Ear quickly positioned themselves around the cave entrance, far enough away to be concealed but close enough to rush in.
"Choryu," she spoke sharply to cut through the wizard's glassy stare. "Are you up to this?"
The young man's jaw tightened. "After all my mistakes," he said, "I'm ready to do this right."
"Riko?"
"I am ready, Lady Pearl-Ear, but I will hang back. Without my bow, I will just get in your way."
"Very well. Say nothing, do nothing, until I say." The wizards nodded. Pearl-Ear scanned the area outside the cave, spotting each hidden kitsune in turn. Then, Pearl-Ear rose and cupped a hand next to her mouth.
"Ochimusha! Send Michiko out now. We will not ask again."
She thought she heard Michiko's voice, but there was no way to be sure. Her people often played games with travelers, mimicking their own voices. She would not be drawn in by a ruse.
Toshi's voice rolled out of the cave, as smooth and as full of bluster as ever. "Is that you, Lady Pearl-Ear of the kitsune?"
"You know it is," she replied. "You have our thanks for taking Michiko away from the orochi-bito. For that we will not kill you on sight. But if you do not surrender her, now, we shall forget that kindness."
"A pleasant fantasy, but highly unlikely," Toshi said. His banter took on a slightly strained edge. Perhaps his wild journey had affected him as much as theirs affected her.
"But here's what I will do. I'm going to sit in here and fold hay for a while. Michiko has agreed to help me. If you're still alive when we're done, I'll bring her out. How does that sound?"
"It sounds like you're stalling. Let me hear Michiko unharmed and we'll see about waiting." She coughed lightly, drawing Sharp-Ear's and the samurai's attention. She held up four fingers, one for each of them, and stabbed them into her open palm. Each of her fellow kitsune nodded, ready to go on her signal.
"Lady Pearl-Ear," Riko whispered. "The orochi-bito."
"I hear them." The snakes were very close now, their rampant hissing audible on the wind.
"We have to get her out now," Choryu said.
"Settle down, wizard. You're going to put her in more danger, not less."
On a nearby ridge, the first orochi-bito appeared through the trees. Its tongue flashed in and out, and then it turned toward Toshi's cave.
"They're here," Choryu said.
"Quiet." Pearl-Ear's attention was on Sharp-Ear and the brothers. She stole a glance at the hilltop, where more orochi were slithering into view.
The wizard stood. "Go, go now!" Energy flared from his eyes. Thick streams of water formed and circulated around his arms. "For the princess!"
Pearl-Ear hit him in the side of the head with her closed fist. Choryu groaned, staggered, and collapsed.
Nearby, a reptile screamed. Pearl-Ear saw Frost-Tail with a dead orochi in his grip. In the brush, among the trees, and near the cave, fox grappled with snake and all dissolved into confusion.
"Riko," Pearl-Ear said. "You can stay here with Choryu, or you can come with me. But I am going to rescue Michiko." She stood and let out a high-pitched cry from the back of her throat.
Riko glanced at Choryu's unconscious body, then rose to stand beside Pearl-Ear. Together, the two women charged for the cave.
*****
Toshi heard the sounds of snakes battling foxes. He looked back at the Myojin of Night's Reach. Mochi was probably right-she was a source of great power among Numai and he'd probably been tapping into her reserves his whole life.
Unlike the moon kami, however, she was classy enough not to mention it or demand restitution.
Outside, a kitsune snarled in pain. Mochi clasped his hands behind his back and began to rock back and forth on his feet.
"They're dying out there," Mochi said. "One thug and a pile of razor birds won't be enough and you know it."
Michiko tried once more to step past Mochi, but the little blue kami blocked her exit. "You're not going out there. Not until your protector there admits he needs our help."
Michiko turned her pleading eyes to Toshi. "Don't just stand there," she said. "We need to act, to get out there, even if it's only to run again."
"Ask us for help," Mochi said. "And we'll help. Don't do it for the foxes, or the princess, or even the word. Do it for yourself. Ask the kami for her blessing. Accept her, and me, as your patrons. You will be protected."
"I'm not taking anything from you," Toshi said. "You smile too much."
"From her alone, then. Power can take many forms, Toshi. Pray for a blessing that will aid you now, and for the rest of your life. What does a man in your position need? What makes your life worth living? She can give it to you. She can give you anything. All you have to do is ask."
"Toshi, please."
The ochimusha rubbed his temple, fighting back a headache. Between the noise outside and the chatter in here, he could barely gather his thoughts. He lowered his hand, catching sight of the hyozan tattoo.
Perfect, he thought. Another burden to bear. He couldn't keep fighting such overwhelming odds, he couldn't escape through the mob of enemies outside, and he couldn't even walk away-there was hyozan business to settle.
Toshi glanced back at Michiko, who no longer had the guile to conceal her emotions. She looked tired, frightened, and almost ready to surrender. He wished
Kobo were here. Not just to simplify his options, but because the big ox was useful. Strong, obedient, good in a fight, and most of all, he kept his mouth shut.
"Well?" Mochi said. "Another few moments and this discussion will be moot. I will defend the princess myself if I have to. Michiko must survive this night. You have no such imperative."
"So you'll just leave me here to rot."
"Basically."
"Unless I tell you what I want from you kami."
"Exactly. Ask, and it shall be granted. Join us, Toshi. You can't do everything alone."
Thoughts of Kobo bubbled through Toshi's mind. He turned to the Myojin of Night's Reach.
"Hey," he called. "Let me hear it from you. You will give me what I want, when I want it, and all I have to do is ask."
The dire figure did not reply, but instead simply stared with her cold, vacant mask. Slowly, the alabaster chin dipped and then rose again.
Michiko finally broke, tears streaming from her eyes. "Do it, Toshi. Please. You don't have to save me, but please… help my friends."
Toshi watched her tears fall. A cold smile turned up the corners of his lips.
"I know what I want from the kami," Toshi said. "And I will call for it, humbly, when and if I need it."
Mochi cocked his head. "If?"
"If," Toshi confirmed. "I may not require a kami blessing after all, Mochi. Not when I have all the power I need right here."
With a s
mooth, sudden motion, Toshi drew his sword and lunged, sending the point toward Michiko's throat.
*****
Pearl-Ear tore a long strip of flesh from an orochi's arm as she grappled with it. There must have been over twenty of the snakes outside the cave, but they were finding the kitsune more formidable than before. The lack of weapons made the foxes more alert, quicker and more savage. The kitsune quickly formed a line with their back to the cave and repulsed wave after wave of the snakefolk's attack.
Pearl-Ear and Riko were likewise unable to gain access to the cave, but they were poised to do so as soon as the steady flow of orochi broke. They seemed endless, but the snakes had not endured the days-long sprint that brought them here anywhere near as well as the kitsune had. Outnumbered five-to-one, Pearl-Ear and her kin were easily holding their own.
Something sharp whistled past her ear, and the orochi charging toward her screamed. The snake fell, holding a bleeding gash on its neck. Pearl-Ear silenced his struggles with a heel to the back of his skull. Three more solid whispers shot out of the cave, glancing off orochi and leaving long, gaping wounds.
Pearl-Ear concentrated, and she was able to see the fast-moving blades. They were small and black, shaped like two-dimensional birds. They had no eyes, and their entire bodies were the color of dull coal, with no differentiation among beaks, feet, and wings. The mock-birds sliced whatever they touched, swarming around the snakes like hornets, slashing them open and driving them back from the cave.
"Hey, you kitsune," Toshi yelled. "Duck."
Pearl-Ear heard a flurry of razor wings as she tackled Riko to the ground. Sharp-Ear and the brothers also took cover as a cloud of the sharp bird-things surged out of the cave and began flaying the snakes alive.
It was a terrible sight, one that would have shocked Lady Pearl-Ear a short time ago. She had been inured to blood and violence over the past few days, however, and the awful cloud of screaming snakes and spattering blood barely horrified her at all. Riko, blessed child, turned her face away.
The storm of razor birds was brief but spectacular. When it died away, not a snake was left standing outside the cave. Pearl-Ear's keen ears heard more orochi approaching in the distance, but for now she had a moment's respite.
The flock of false birds retreated back to the cave entrance and hovered there, blocking the entrance. Pearl-Ear heard the sharp snap of human fingers, and then the curtain of sharp wings split down the middle, separating as Toshi emerged with sword in hand.
The curtain closed behind him. He looked around, spotting Pearl-Ear and Riko and the rest of the kitsune. He looked confident and strong, but the mischievous grin was belied by the stern glare in his eyes.
He nodded to Lady Pearl-Ear. "Where's the wizard boy?"
She didn't answer him immediately. All she could see was the man who had taken Michiko. "Nearby," she growled at last. "Where is Michiko?"
Toshi pointed over his shoulder. "In there. We'll have our reunion once the orochi are dealt with."
Indeed, Sharp-Ear and the others were already engaging the second wave of snakes. This one was larger than the first, and Pearl-Ear guessed that the word was spreading among the snakefolk: our quarry is here. She briefly wondered how many of them had come after Michiko, and how many they'd have to subdue before they could take the princess home.
Toshi strode forward. As he passed Lady Pearl-Ear, she sprang to her feet and dug her claws into his arm. "Take me to Michiko."
Toshi shrugged, and a powerful jolt of force tossed Pearl-Ear back onto her rear.
"If it's all the same to you foxes," he said, "I'll handle this."
He drew his sword, and Pearl-Ear shielded her eyes. The weapon's edge was glowing white, not hot but brighter than the midday sun. The glow spread down the length of the blade and spilled over onto Toshi himself. It ran up his arms, over his shoulders, and across the rest of his body until he was surrounded by a nimbus of brilliant purplish light. When he moved, there seemed to be several of him at once as he flickered around the battle site.
And move he did. Pearl-Ear's sharp eyes were barely able to follow as Toshi darted around the area. She took in a series of strobe images: Toshi with his sword through an orochi's chest; Toshi standing next to a beheaded snake; Toshi cutting three throats with a single stroke. In each attack, he was gone before the blood could flow, flashing to a new target as soon as he'd struck the current one.
As the ochimusha flashed around the forest like a mad hummingbird, the kitsune all stared in amazement. They didn't need to defend themselves, as every snake in the area was focused on stopping Toshi. Scaled body parts continued to fly and orochi continued to drop as Toshi became a blur even to their keen eyes.
Lady Pearl-Ear recognized magical enhancement when she saw it, but she didn't understand how Toshi had become so dangerous. She watched him pursue a small group of orochi to the far side of the glen and then rolled to her feet and charged the cave entrance.
The razor birds across the entrance were so thick they appeared as a solid mass. Pearl-Ear felt a hundred pinpricks and slashes on her skin as she covered her face and plunged into the blockage. The pain was manageable so long as she didn't slow down. The birds didn't seem to be attacking her as they had the orochi, but they were numerous enough to cause her real harm if she wasn't careful.
A powerful hand caught her by the scruff of the neck and hauled her free from the wall of birds, back out to the forest glen.
"That's a terrible idea," Toshi said. "I made it very tough to get in there, and you wouldn't like what you saw anyway." He was still shining brightly, but not as brightly as before. Whatever he had used to enchant himself seemed to be wearing off.
Pearl-Ear slapped his glowing hand off her. "I will see Michiko now."
"Not a chance." Toshi pointed back to the hill that kept spawning orochi. "The grunts have been dealt with. But the generals are still to come."
Pearl-Ear followed his hand and saw a half-dozen kannushi priests on the hillside. They had clasped hands and were chanting. They alternated between hisses, shouts, and groans, but the rhythm was clearly that of a summoning ritual. Lady Pearl-Ear understood enough of the words to make her heart sink.
Riko had been standing next to the entrance of the cave, gingerly testing the wall of birds, but now she called anxiously to Pearl-Ear. "They're summoning their kami," she said.
"I hear." Pearl-Ear stepped in front of Toshi. "Can your birds deflect a major spirit?"
"Maybe. I've never tried. Probably not."
"Then let us take her from here. It's not safe."
Toshi's glow was almost completely gone. "It will be," he said. He sheathed his sword and drew a finely crafted silver jitte.
"Stand back," he said. "And watch how we deal with rogue spirits in Numai."
CHAPTER 26
Toshi strode toward the priests on the hill with his jitte out and ready. He trusted the razor birds to keep the foxes clear of his cave until he was ready to let them in… which might never happen. He would worry about that after he survived the next few moments.
A thin green shoot rose out of the ground a short distance from the chanting priests. As the first grew and thickened, a second rose from the soil. A third formed, and a fourth. More of the leafy tendrils climbed toward the sky and braided themselves together.
When the vertical shoots were tall and thick enough to be counted as small trees, the lateral growth began. Branches jetted out from the central mass, perpendicular to the ground. In turn, more growth flowed from these horizontal limbs, and the entire mass of living wood grew heavier, stronger, and harder as the ground compressed beneath its burgeoning weight.
A woman's face formed near the top of the construct, one not unlike the Myojin of Night's Reach. It was a similar mask of a woman's face, but this one seemed to be made of smooth, polished wood. Where the black kami was surrounded by a dark shroud and pale hands, the orochi's kami was draped in leaves and moss. Her "hair" was in fact another stand of miniature
trees, and her arms curved around her body as they grew and thickened. The more the kannushi priests chanted, the more wood growth occurred.
You have done much damage here, the wood spirit droned. Toomuch. Surrender the child. The balance must be restored.
Toshi stopped a mere ten yards from the kami. "Why did you tie Kobo to those trees?"
The spirit's growth continued. Her face tilted down as if noticing Toshi for the first time.
"I asked you a question. None of this would be happening if you'd left my partner alone."
You're referring to the apostate. The one who turned his back on his own tribe.
"I'm referring to my oath-bound brother, yes. Kobo."
My children hung him out for the monks to see. He was dressed as they were. We left him to his own kind. Later, he died in the rain.
Toshi stroked his chin with the tip of his jitte. "Not good enough. Not by a long shot." He pointed the jitte at the wooden mask. "I'm going to have to punish you now."
Thick, ripe vines erupted out of the ground and coiled around Toshi's wrists. He strained against them, but they held fast. Two more leafy ropes crawled from the soil and wrapped around his ankles.
Punish me? Little man, you have a very high opinion of yourself.
"I do, at that. But you'll find me worthy of it."
The kannushi on the hill continued to chant. Behind him, Toshi could hear the kitsune attempting to storm through the cave entrance, but the birds repulsed them time and again.
What will you do, then, little conjurer? Poison me? Burn me? I am the life force of the forest itself. Fell every tree, and I emerge from the roots unscathed. Plow up the roots, and I shall return when the First seed blooms. Raze all the Jukai down to the bare rock, and I shall survive in the grass, in the moss, in farmer's fields and the city's gardens. I am the essence of life itself, of unbridled growth and unrestricted vigor. What weapon can you bring to bear that would harm me?
The vines tightened on Toshi's wrists and ankles. He felt the rough texture biting into his flesh. He looked up into the wood kami's expressionless face.
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