by Kara Dalkey
"You will have to hold on to me. And grasp the horse between your legs."
This seemed very unladylike, and I said so.
"Hmph. You are beginning to sound like Amaiko. Do you want to go to your shrine or not?"
Once I would have found the comparison to our eldest sister complimentary. Now it stung. "I am not nearly so stuffy."
"Good. Come on, then." She led the horse over to a large garden stone. Sotoko stepped up onto the stone and from there easily swung one leg over the horse's back to sit on it. I tried to do the same, but my many layered kimonos, so elegant when one is just sitting, were distinctly in the way. Finally, one of the guardsmen had to come up and grab me by the waist and set me on the horse, behind Sotoko.
"Now you see why I dress like I do," said Sotoko.
"Yes," I sighed. It was most embarrassing.
Riko and two other men came riding up to us then, dressed in lacquered-wood breastplate and epaulets. They wore no helmets, but each had a bow and a quiver of arrows slung on his back.
"Are you expecting a battle?" I asked Riko.
He shrugged. "Not really, but you never know what you'll run into in the forest. There may yet be bears foraging before they sleep for the winter, or starving villagers hoping to rob unwary travelers. Or perhaps we will be lucky and come across a deer. Better to be prepared, neh?"
I shuddered, hoping the kami of the forest would be kind and hide any deer from us.
The guardsmen opened the garden gate for us, and we rode out. I had to grasp Sotoko's waist hard to keep from rolling off the pony's back. As we crossed the Western Road and plunged into the dark shade of the pine forest, I shivered with remembered dreams.
"It is a little cold, isn't it?" said Sotoko. "But when the sun gets higher, it will be warmer. It is always so in the mountains."
I did not answer but watched for signs that we were on the right path. The night that Amaiko and I had fled into this forest was so long ago, and it had been so dark, and I had been so afraid, that I doubted I would recognize anything. I could only hope that Riko was right and knew the way to it himself.
Unsettling, wayward breezes blew through the pine tops. Sometimes I thought I heard laughter, or perhaps it was just the clattering of branches, one against another. As we rode deeper into the forest, dark shapes that were not clouds obscured what little sunlight filtered through the trees. Then there came deep croaking, like the caws of enormous crows, above us.
"What is that?" said Riko.
I smiled. "They are tengu."
"Tengu!" cried one of the warriors behind Riko. He took his bow off his back and fitted an arrow to the string.
"No!" I cried, but before I could explain, the warrior let the arrow fly with a mighty twang.
The tengu above us shrieked and laughed. "Awwwk! You missed! You missed, fool!" It dove down toward us. Sotoko's horse screamed and leaped, and I tumbled off its back into the bushes.
"Ai!" Sotoko cried as the horse bolted with her still on its back. The warriors' horses fled, too, with the men vainly trying to stop them. Only Riko managed to hold his horse somewhat in check. He looked down at me and up after Sotoko, clearly torn.
"I am all right," I told him. "Go find her."
"I will return for you as soon as I can," said Riko, and he sped in the direction Sotoko's horse had gone.
The cawing laughter and the shouts of the men dwindled into the distance. I began to feel uncomfortable sprawled in the bushes, and so I stood. Or tried to, as my kimonos were caught in the tangle. I'm sure I ruined at least two of them getting myself unstuck.
By the time I was free of the brambles, the forest was silent, save for the wind in the pines. I felt silly just standing there, so I stepped out of the bushes and peered around. I found myself on an overgrown path, and I followed it a little ways. Just past a pair of very large pines, I stopped and gasped.
There was the kami shrine! I ran up to it, certain it had to be the same one: It looked just like a miniature house, about as high as I am tall. But it was in even worse shape than when Amaiko and I had taken refuge there. The thatched roof had fallen in on one side, and the walls leaned, and one of the sliding doors had broken off. Bits of broken pottery from old offerings crunched beneath my feet. It was a sad sight. And Dento had been right, there was nothing impressive about the trees or view to indicate what the shrine might be dedicated to. Only a small, overgrown hummock behind it.
Still, I thought, it should be no hard work for Riko and his men to repair the roof and those walls.
"Fujiwara no Mitsuko," said a voice cold as death behind me.
"Y-yes?" I shuddered, pulling my kimonos tighter around me, but I dared not move.
"So. You have returned."
Timidly, I glanced over my shoulder. A man dressed all in gray stood there, his hair long and unbound. I should say he floated there, for when I glanced down, I saw he had no feet. A ghost. "Are… are you the kami of this shrine?"
The apparition nodded once, his expression hard and unfriendly. "I am. And you are late."
"Forgive me," I said, turning at last and bowing deeply to him. "I had not remembered my promise until recently. But… but I am here now, and it will be easy for my sister's husband to repair your shrine and make all well again."
"You did not understand me," the ghost said. "You are too late." He raised his arm and, with a sweeping gesture, brought a great gust of wind that blew my hair over my eyes and nearly blew the kimonos off my back. When the wind subsided, the little shrine was in pieces-the thatch of the roof scattered over the forest floor, the walls flat on the ground.
"What did you do that for?" I exclaimed before I could stop myself. Then I bowed again and said, "Begging your pardon, Most Ancient One, but now it will be much more difficult to repair."
"I do not want it repaired," he growled. "Look there." He pointed at the small hummock that rose behind where the shrine had stood. More of it was revealed now that the shrine had collapsed. On the side of the hummock, in the center of a slab of stone, was a square block of wood with an iron ring in the middle. "Open it," he commanded.
"But… but I-"
"Open it! And see what an error you have made by disrespectfully forgetting your promise to me."
I looked around, hoping that Riko and the others would return, but I saw no one. Not even the tengu. I walked up to the stone, grasped the iron ring, and tugged on it. It took several tugs, using all of my body's weight to pull the wood free. This revealed a dark opening in the stone. By the dim sunlight, I could discern, beyond the opening, stone steps descending into the hillside. Faintly foul air drifted out.
"It is a tomb," I whispered. "That is what the shrine was dedicated to."
"Yes," said the ghost. He pointed at the opening. "Enter, and learn who I am."
"But I cannot! I must not! I-"
"ENTER!"
I should have stood my ground and chanted the Lotus Sutra to drive him off. But I felt guilty for having forgotten my promise. So I gathered the skirts of my kimonos and stepped into the opening.
I had to feel my way down in the dark, and the stone wall of the stairway was cold and damp. I had descended seventeen steps when the ghost, who was right behind me, commanded, "Stop."
I was relieved to do so. And then a pale, greenish light filled the space in front of me. It revealed a rectangular chamber. But it was empty, save for bits of broken pottery that littered the floor.
"Once this room was filled with gold and silver," said the ghost. "The finest of tachi swords lay here, and bronze mirrors, moon-shaped jewels, copper shields, and hardwood lances. All gone now. Stolen."
"I am so very sorry," I said softly.
"Heh." The ghost extended his arm toward the far wall. "They did not get it all, however. They did not find me!" With a deep rumbling, a rectangular section of stone in the wall opened inward.
I trembled and turned to the ghost. "If you please, Most Noble Ancient Lord-"
"Yes. I know of your t
ransgression against Lord Emma-O, Judge of the Dead. He has spoken to me. And I will see that you are taken to receive his judgment, unless you do as I bid."
So he knew. Two years before, after my brother-in-law was slain on the Western Road by the warrior monks of Heian Kyo, I had embarked on a strange journey to find my sister's grieving soul. This journey had taken me to the very court of Lord Emma-O, Judge of the Dead. I had been disguised, with ashes rubbed on my face, as a departed soul, and I had been warned not to speak. But when Emma-O said he had not seen whom I searched for, I had whispered that that was impossible. Hearing my voice, Lord Emma-O knew I was a living person trespassing in his land, and I would have been arrested by him had not Goranu helped me escape. Ever since, I had avoided cemeteries and those realms where Lord Emma-O's demons might catch me. I had hoped staying in temples would shield me from his anger. How was I to know the kami to whom I had made a sacred promise was a powerful ghost? Naturally he would have met Lord Emma-O.
As there was nothing else I could do, I bowed my head and entered the doorway the ghost had opened.
The room beyond was bigger and dominated by a huge block of polished black stone in the center. Surrounding the black stone block were hundreds of haniwa, red-painted pottery figures depicting all manner of men, women, and animals. I had to step very carefully to make sure I knocked none of them over. The black stone block rose as high as my shoulders, so I was able to see on its top a suit of armor made solely of jade pieces bound with silver wire. But now the armor protected only bones. A magnificent mask of jade carved in the likeness of a fierce, scowling demon covered the skull.
"I was Lord Chomigoto: warrior, priest, king. As I lay dying, I asked to be buried here, where I loved to hunt, rather than on the Kinki Plain where my ancestors lay. Here I have rested for six centuries.
"Perhaps it was an error to be placed here, so far from my people. A great shrine was planned to be built outside my tomb, but it was never begun. Politics and war caused me to be forgotten. Only a village of the descendants of my most devoted followers remained here to remember, and they built the little shrine that you took refuge in."
"How very sad," I murmured. "Surely you deserved better."
"There is worse," intoned the ghost. "A great crime was committed here. Eighty years ago, a clan of brigands moved into this territory. It was they who found my tomb and plundered it. The villagers tried to stop the thieves, but the robbers killed them, even women and children. Only a few escaped to scatter across the land."
"What a horrible crime," I whispered. "And you could do nothing?"
"I dwelt in the Land of the Ancestors at that time. But the wails and pleas of the dying villagers reached me in dreams, and I pleaded with Lord Emma-O to let my spirit return. He warned me it would be useless, but he granted my wish. When I arrived, however, it was too late, and I found that, as a spirit, I was powerless to avenge my people. I remembered enough of worldly wizardry to command the winds and bring nightmares, but that is all. Alone I have waited these eighty years."
"How terribly unjust," I said. "I hope my small efforts may bring you some peace."
"Peace!" boomed the ghost of Lord Chomigoto. "Do you think it is peace that I want? Oh no, I have had much time to ponder what will satisfy these years of impotent exile. And when you came to me and gave me sakaki leaves and blessings and an offer to repay a small act of kindness and protection-you, a daughter of the Nakatomi, who served the Yamato clan, who usurped the throne of my people a century after my death-I could see the karma in this and was pleased to assist you in your hour of need. That is why I have willingly suffered your forgetfulness."
"Begging your pardon, Most Ancient Noble Lord, but my clan is Fujiwara now."
"A change in name does not make a change in blood. You are of the clan who serve the Yamato. Those of your blood owe me much. Therefore, my vengeance will be combined. In accordance with your promise, you will see to it that my shrine is rebuilt-as the greatest shrine this world has seen. You will see that my tomb is restored and that which has been stolen returned or replaced. You will gather the remnants of my people and see that I am properly honored once more."
I could hardly speak for my shock. I wished I could turn to clay and become one of the haniwa statues around me. "But… but Chomigoto-sama… how… how can I-"
"You will take this to show you have spoken to me." A small, square pottery tile rose into the air and fell into my hand. One side of it had a raised symbol of a square inside two circles. "Now go. Do as I have commanded. If I see that you are not doing all you can to bring this about, then I will have Lord Emma-O send his oni-demons to drag you down to the Dungeons of Hell."
"Yes, Chomigoto-sama." Terrified, I gathered my kimonos around me, bowed deeply to him, and hurried out of the chamber, through the bare room, and up the steps. Behind me, I heard a rumbling like thunder, or the drums of Susano-wo, Lord of Earthquakes.
I staggered out through the opening in the rock slab and stopped to catch my breath among the debris of the small shrine. I stood for a long time, just staring at the clay tile in my hand. I am surprised, looking back, that I did not weep or cry. But my karmic burden was beginning to feel so great that it no longer seemed real-more like a tall tale told by a drunken nobleman. Not a real life at all.
"Mitsuko! There you are!" Riko came running up to me.
In my stupefied state, I asked, "Where is your horse?"
"Spooked by those tengu. I wish your father were here to drive them off. Have you seen Sotoko?"
"No."
Riko swore coarsely under his breath. "I hope the others have found her. Sotoko!" When there came no answer, he went on, "What are you doing over here? Why did you wander from where I had left you? Oh. Was this your shrine?"
"Yes."
"Not much left, I see. Looks like it was a simple one, though. Should be easy enough to replace. Sotoko!" There was still no answer, and I suspect he continued talking to me to hide his growing fear. "Yes. Wood, paper, some thatch. We can gather all of these. Have it done in a day or two. Sotoko!"
I shook my head. "Forgive me, Riko, but it is no longer so simple. It will have to be a bigger shrine."
"What?" He frowned at me and then noticed the opening in the hill behind me. His face turned pale. "Is… is that a tomb?"
"Yes. I have met the kami of the shrine. It is the ghost of an ancient Kofun priest-king. He is buried there."
His eyes widened. "Sotoko didn't go in there, did she?"
"No. I did. The tomb has been plundered, and the villagers who served the shrine were murdered long ago. The kami wants me to restore his tomb, and build a great shrine to him, and gather what is left of his people so that he may be honored once more."
"Did you ask the kami where Sotoko was?"
Truly, it seems people never listen to me. "I did not have the chance. He gave me this to prove that I had spoken with him." I handed Riko the clay tile.
He stared down at it, and, if anything, his face turned even more pale.
As he did not speak, I babbled on. "We must talk to your father, Lord Tsubushima, and ask his help. I do not know what more I can do. Surely your father knows this land and can give advice."
"I recognize this symbol," said Riko, still gazing at the tile. "I saw it on many things at my great-uncle's house. I remember stories I heard at his knee, about how our clan's ancestors came upon an abandoned tomb, and took its treasure, and wiped out the tribe of barbarians who guarded it. That, I was told, was how our clan acquired wealth and rose to greatness."
I stared at him. "So it was your ancestors who killed the villagers?"
Riko stared at the tomb opening, his face full of dread. "It would seem so. If this kami is truly the spirit of the lord-king of the tomb, you can expect no help from my father. He has ambitions that our family will join the ranks of the great nobility of Heian Kyo someday. He will do nothing that might reveal such a shameful event in our family's past."
The sky seemed to have
grown darker, and contrary breezes tugged at my hair and clothes. "Then I am lost," I whispered. Riko apparently did not hear me, or chose not to.
"If I had known this tomb was here, I would never have brought you into this forest. You do not think," Riko said, his voice wavering, "that those tengu were sent by the kami-that he is taking vengeance by harming Sotoko, do you?"
"Tengu do not kill," I said wearily. "They just like to play tricks. The kami did not mention my sister at all."
"Riko!" It sounded like Sotoko, calling from some distance away.
He looked up sharply from the tile. "Sotoko! Stay where you are! I'll be right there!" He dropped the clay tile and took off at a run toward the voice.
I bent down and picked up the clay tile and slipped it into my sleeve. My heart numb, I thought, Surely, there can be no one else in the world as wretched as I am now.
Is this how an ant
feels when the stone he lifts in
his jaws crushes him?
AWARENESS
Chirping in the fog. Is it a bird or a frog? Crunch. Oh. A cricket.
I do not know how long I stood, unmoving, in the clearing. I understood now how one could wish one's soul to flee the body when a burden becomes too great to bear.
The rattling clatter of beaks and the fluttering of wings intruded on my thoughts. Five tengu, wearing the shapes of enormous ravens, landed in the clearing in front of me.
"Riko! Riko!" one of them said in perfect imitation of Sotoko's voice. The other tengu laughed.
A flash of anger cut through my sorrows as a lightning bolt will, for a moment, rend dark clouds. "Stop that!" I said to the tengu.
"Ooooh, look what we have here!"
"It's Prince Goranu's little noble girl."
"The one who drove him mad."
"The one who made him want to be a Buddhist so he could be reborn a mortal."
"Stop it!" I said again. "Did Lord Chomigoto send you here to make me even more miserable?"
"Nobody sends us anywhere!"