Night of the Dragon

by Julie Kagawa

  Where did she go? She wouldn’t lead us here and then abandon us, would she? That’s not like her at all.

  “There,” said Tatsumi, before I could truly start panicking. I followed his gaze...down. Straight down, past mossy walls and small bushes growing out of the rock, to where the glowing sphere of light hovered over a narrow ledge only a few feet from the crashing waves. Still waiting.

  “Ugh, you gotta be kidding,” Okame groaned, peering over my shoulder. “I guess we’re going to have to climb, then. Anyone got a rope? Yumeko-chan?” He looked at me. I stared back at him.

  “Um, I don’t have a rope, Okame-san.”

  “I know, but can’t you magic one into existence?”

  Daisuke gave a quiet chuckle. “Regardless of our kitsune’s talents, I am unsure if we can trust an illusionary rope to climb down the side of a cliff, Okame-san.”

  Tatsumi sighed. “Baka,” I heard him mutter. Reaching into the pouch at his waist, he withdrew a long, thin rope with a metal claw at the end and tossed it at the ronin. “Here. Tie that around yourself if you want. It should hold you both, just don’t jerk or yank on it too hard.”

  “Oho.” Okame grinned as he caught it, looking at the noble. “Don’t you feel honored, Daisuke-san? We get the secret shinobi rope used for scaling castle walls to assassinate daimyo in their sleep.” He waggled the coil of rope at Tatsumi, still smirking. “Are you sure you want us to use this, Kage-san? Doesn’t it break some sort of Shadow Clan code?

  Tatsumi snorted. “I’m not carrying you down there,” he said, and turned to me. I blinked as he stepped close, his expression suddenly uncertain.

  “Gomen,” he murmured. “I don’t mean to presume. But we don’t have a lot of time, and I figure this is the fastest way.”

  “The...fastest way?” I repeated, and he picked me up as easily as lifting a fish basket. My heart leaped, sending flutters of warmth through my insides, as Tatsumi turned and stepped to the edge of the cliff. A blast of damp, icy wind hit us, whipping at my hair and clothes, and I made the mistake of looking down.

  Oh, kami. My heart sped up for a completely different reason, and I clutched at the front of Tatsumi’s haori. He shifted me in his arms, freeing one limb but holding me tight with the other. I felt his own heartbeat thudding beneath his shirt as he bent his head close to mine.

  “Put your arms around my neck,” he told me. I did, pressing myself as close to him as I could, and felt his breath against my ear as he murmured, “Hold on, and don’t look down. I won’t let you fall.”

  “I know,” I whispered, and Tatsumi dropped off the edge of the cliff, plummeting straight down. A shriek lodged in my throat, and I fought the compulsion to squeeze my eyes shut as we dropped like a stone for the bottom. Tatsumi’s free hand lashed out, catching a shard of rock jutting from the cliff wall, and our downward plunge was halted as he clung to the side of the ledge. I peeked up and saw his eyes flickering crimson, curved talons digging into the rock wall as we dangled there.

  “Still all right?” he murmured.

  “Ask me again when we get to the bottom.”

  He shoved off the cliff face, falling another dozen or so feet before landing on a narrow ledge, somehow balancing us both on the tiny strip of stone. I caught sight of the bottom of the cliff, white waves crashing against the rock, and gave in to the compulsion to shut my eyes, turning my face into Tatsumi’s haori. We continued this way for several short but panic-inducing moments, leaping from rock to rock, sliding down the jagged wall and dropping through the air, until after one heart-pounding, terrifying drop, we finally stopped moving.

  “Yumeko,” Tatsumi said after a few moments had passed. He sounded amused and concerned at the same time. “We’re here. You can let me go now.”

  “I could,” I agreed. “As soon as my heart starts back up.”

  I let out a relieved sigh as Tatsumi gently set me down, grateful to have the earth under my own feet again. Glancing up, I saw Daisuke and Okame descending the cliff wall, much more slowly than our terrifying plunge to the bottom. Still, it wouldn’t take them long to reach us. Stepping back from Tatsumi, I gazed around, searching for what had brought us here.

  The ghostly figure of a girl hovered several yards away, transparent and nearly invisible against the steel-gray sky. When our gazes met, she quickly dropped her eyes.

  “Suki-san?” Carefully, I stepped forward, flinching as a wave crashed against the rocks several feet below us, sending a huge spray of water into the air. Beside us, the wall of the cliff soared overhead, but behind the ghostly figure, I could see a jagged, narrow crack in the rock wall, a hole stretching back into darkness.

  I drew in a breath, and beside me, Tatsumi straightened.

  “A cave. Is this what you were trying to show us, Suki-san?” I asked, as the yurei eyed Tatsumi with large pale eyes. She shivered, losing form for a moment, winking in and out of existence as she hovered there. The demon obviously frightened her, but she was trying hard to be brave, fighting her instincts to go invisible. With a final shudder, she turned back to me.

  “Yes,” she whispered. “This...this will lead you under the Valley of Lightning, past the demons and the gates of Jigoku...and will take you close to the cliffs of Ryugake, where Genno is. If we hurry...you’ll be able to reach it in time to stop the Summoning. I... I will lead you there, if you will follow me.”

  “Suki-san.” I let out a breath in a rush, as relief and hope bloomed in my chest, dispelling some of the darkness. “Thank you!” I whispered. I didn’t even care how the ghost knew of this passage, this miraculous hidden detour under the valley, and I didn’t want to question it. It couldn’t be coincidence, I knew that. I was aware that something about this situation was very wrong. But I was desperate to stop Genno and save Kiyomi-sama; I would take any help I could, even if it was a trap.

  Tatsumi, however, was not as accepting of our sudden good fortune.

  “How did you know of this?” he growled, glancing at the mouth of the cave, then back at the hitodama with narrowed eyes. “Not even the daimyo of the Moon Clan knows about this route, otherwise she would have sent us here. Who told you of this passage?”

  Suki paled, becoming a bit more transparent in the face of the wary demonslayer. “I... I was bid to help you,” she said in a breathy, trembling voice. “Lord Sei—” She paused, catching herself, before continuing. “The person I follow... He showed me this passage...and told me to lead you here. He wants you to stop Genno. Stop the Summoning. That is...all I know.”

  “Yumeko-san.” Daisuke’s voice echoed behind us, as the noble carefully made his way along the ledge. The ronin walked close behind him, but as far from the edge of the cliff as he could, nearly pressing his body into the rock wall. The yurei half turned, and a strange expression crossed her face as she saw the noble: one of happiness, contentment and relief, but tinged with sorrow. Daisuke smiled as he joined us, gazing at the dark mouth of the cave with a surprised, hopeful expression. Unlike Tatsumi, he didn’t appear suspicious at all.

  “Suki-san,” he murmured, glancing at the hitodama, who instantly dropped her gaze, looking at the ground. Daisuke’s voice was faintly awed as he continued. “You appear once again to show us the way. Perhaps you are not a hitodama at all, but a guardian spirit sent by the Kami themselves?”

  Suki closed her eyes. If she had been living, I was sure she would have blushed. “I... I am just a ghost, Daisuke-sama,” she whispered. “I am not worthy of anyone’s attention. I will guide you and your friends to the Summoning site...and Genno. If that is what you wish.

  “But,” she added, quickly looking up, “I must warn you all. The path ahead...is dangerous. There is something in these caves, a presence that is...very powerful. Powerful enough to keep the kami themselves away.” She shivered, casting a fearful glance at the jagged tear in the rock face. “And it...is...angry. If whatever is in the caves fi
nds us...you could all die.”

  I bit my lip, trembling. I could still see Reika smiling at me as she faded away, proud that she had given her life to save the daimyo. I could see Master Isao, his determination and serene calm, as he strode out to meet the oni that would kill him. For them, death wasn’t something to be feared, but a duty that they had accepted. If my time came, I could only hope to do so well, facing it proudly on my feet. Ready to give my life to protect those I loved.

  “If this is the only way to Genno, we have to keep going,” I said. “I’ll face whatever I must if we can get to the Summoning site and stop the Wish.”

  “I was afraid you would say that.” The ronin sighed, raking a hand through his hair, and gazed defiantly at the mouth of the cave. “Well, the day isn’t getting any shorter. Let’s go meet that glorious death.”

  “Lead on, Suki-san,” Daisuke said, sounding as close to elated as I had ever heard from him. “We have a demon master to confront, a Summoning to prevent, and as Okame-san pointed out, the day is not getting any younger.”

  22

  The Cave of Sorrows

  TATSUMI

  I didn’t like this.

  The ghost was right. There was something lurking in these caves. Something...powerful. I could feel it in the walls, in the air itself, a dark, pulsing energy that seemed to grow the deeper we went into the tunnels. It made my demon instincts bristle, prodding at them like an open wound, making me tense. Whatever was down here was not a lone kami or even a wandering yokai. It was darker than that, old and powerful. Though the question of whether or not we would run into it was unknown. The cave system was enormous; we had been walking for a couple hours, following the hitodama through caverns and narrow passages, ducking stalactites and low-hanging ceilings, the glow of the floating sphere our only light in the utter blackness.

  “How do you know where you’re going, Suki-san?” Yumeko asked at one point, her voice echoing in the cavern overhead. “Have you been here before?”

  The sphere shimmered into the figure of a girl, who then shook her head. “Not exactly,” she whispered. “I came through these caves once...in a vision. But the path is clear. The person who sent me to fetch you showed me the way. I...know where we’re going.”

  “Pretty convenient, this passage,” came the ronin’s gruff voice. “I find it hard to believe no one knows about it. Especially if it goes right to the place we’re trying to get to.”

  “It was...hidden,” replied the hitodama. “Only recently has the way been opened. No one, not even the daimyo...knew of this passage.” She shivered, losing form for a moment, before flickering into sight again, gazing around nervously. “This is...a dead place. The kami avoid this mountain. They fear...what lives in the tunnels.”

  “Oh, good. And here we are, marching right into the jaws of...whatever it is. Sure sounds like us.”

  “Did anyone hear that?” Yumeko suddenly whispered.

  We stopped, and silence descended, closing around us like the stillness of a tomb. Overhead, the ghost girl floated nervously back and forth, making the shadows on the walls sway. The quiet throbbed in my ears, broken only by the faint thump of my own heart.

  And then, I heard it, drifting through the tunnels: a low, shuddering noise, like something gasping for breath. It raised the hairs on the back of my neck and caused the hitodama to lose form, shivering once more into a ball of light.

  “What is that?” Yumeko whispered. She cocked her head, ears twitching, and a frown crossed her face. “It almost sounds like...someone crying.”

  “Right, because that’s not alarming at all,” the ronin muttered. “I can think of several things that live in dark, lonely, horribly depressing caves, and all of them are things I’d rather not meet, crying or not.”

  The sound faded away, and there was only silence again. Yumeko shivered and looked up at the hitodama. “Suki-san, do you know what could be down here?”

  The ball of light floated toward her, rippling into the image of the girl again before shaking her head. “No,” she whispered. “I just know...that it is dangerous, and we should try to avoid it if we can. But...this is the only way...through the valley. If we want to reach the Summoning site, we must keep going.”

  “Do not worry about us, Suki-san,” the noble said. “Whatever is down here, we will meet it with honor. And we will not let it stop us from completing our mission. So please...lead on.”

  We continued, following the glow of the hitodama as it drifted silently through dark, narrow passages. For a time, all was quiet, but then the sound of sobbing arose once more, chilling and faint, echoing all around us. It didn’t seem to be coming from any one direction, and the sound rose and fell in waves, growing in volume before fading to barely audible whispers. As if the entire cavern and cave system was suffused with some terrible grief that pulsed from the very walls.

  The deeper we went, the louder the sobbing became. Eventually, it was impossible not to hear the shuddering gasps of pain, the low, continuous moans of sorrow. Whatever was down here, we were getting steadily closer.

  Yumeko suddenly paused, twitching her ears forward as if something had caught her attention. She blinked, then stepped off the path and crouched down, her gaze on the ground in front of her. Curious and wary, I stepped forward as well, and saw something small and fragile-looking in the shadow of a stone. A moment later, I realized it was a flower. An iris, the petals so dark a purple they were almost black.

  “How is this growing here?” Yumeko wondered softly. Her hand hovered over it, glowing softly with foxfire, casting the tiny plant in a hazy, flickering light. “It looks...almost sad.”

  “I don’t know, but maybe you shouldn’t touch the weird flower in the creepy moaning cave,” Okame suggested. “It probably drinks blood and spits out poison spores or centipedes. Something nasty like that. I say we leave it alone.”

  “Whatever it is,” I muttered as Yumeko rose, and the foxfire in her hand winked out, “it means we’re close to whatever is living down here. If it’s living at all.”

  “You just had to add that last part, didn’t you, Kage-san?” The ronin groaned and unshouldered his bow. “Not sure how much help I’m going to be if we meet a sobbing ghost with a penchant for man-eating flowers, but I’ll do my best. Anyone bring any exorcism slips?”

  He caught himself at the last moment, wincing, but it was already too late. Yumeko sniffed, her eyes going glassy for a moment. “I wish Reika was here.”

  “Yeah.” Okame sighed and put a hand on her shoulder, making a small part of me bristle. “Me, too, Yumeko-chan. But we can’t dishonor her memory by forgetting what she did. As Taiyo-san would say, she died in the noblest way possible, protecting the ones she loved. We have to follow her example and do the same. So...” He squeezed her shoulder and lifted a hand, pointing down the tunnel. “Onward! To victory, or our most glorious death.”

  The shout echoed through the cave, cheerfully insolent and defiant. As if he was challenging whatever entity lurked in the darkness to do its worst. The rest of us winced or, in Yumeko’s case, flattened her ears, and continued.

  As soon as the ronin stepped away, I caught up to Yumeko, touching her arm as we moved into the tunnels. “Yumeko?”

  “It’s all right, Tatsumi.” She took a deep breath, swiping at her eyes. “Okame is right. Reika-san knew what she was doing. She’d accepted that she could die protecting Kiyomi-sama, and she never faltered.” She blinked, and a tear traced its way down her cheek. “I can’t falter, either. No matter what happens and no matter what it takes, I can’t let Genno summon the Dragon. I won’t let her sacrifice be for nothing.”

  As the hitodama led us deeper, the darkness ahead was broken by the orange flicker of torch or candle flame. As we continued, the sobbing, which had been growing steadily louder, both in noise and intensity, now came from a clear direction: straight ahead toward the light.
>
  The passage opened into a vast cavern surrounded by flickering torches, the ceiling soaring so high that the torchlight couldn’t penetrate the darkness overhead. The floor of the cavern was carpeted in flowers, the same black irises Yumeko had found earlier. A terrible, sickly smell wafted from them: blood and rot and dying flowers, even though the plants looked healthy. The air was cold, damp and tasted wrong. Almost like...tears.

  Looking up, a chill went through me. I drew my sword, and the purple light of Kamigoroshi joined the hazy luminescence of the hitodama.

  Something massive crouched in the shadows of the far wall, an enormous hulking shape that was a good twelve feet tall, even bent over as it was. Its back was to us, huge shoulders shaking with sobs, the low, anguished cries emanating from its hulking form. It wore what might once have been an elegant, many-layered kimono, but that was now torn and filthy, with a wide obi sash tied into a bow at its waist. Long, jet-black hair fell down its back and shoulders, pooling over the floor; unlike the wild, tangled manes of the oni, it was straight and fine and looked almost human, which seemed even more disturbing on the huge creature it was attached to.

  “Gone.”

  Its voice echoed through the cavern, deep and throaty, and shockingly female. It raised the hairs on the back of my neck, confirming what I already knew. What we had stumbled onto.

  A kijo. A female counterpoint to the oni. But, unlike oni, who mainly originated in Jigoku and tormented the souls of the damned, kijo were solely human women whose rage, jealousy, hate or grief was so great it had turned them into demons. Also unlike oni, they could not be summoned by blood magic, did not work with other demons and were beholden to no one. They lived alone, in caves or deep wildernesses, retreating from the world to nurse their suffering or plans of revenge in isolation. Sometimes you could call upon their services, as most kijo could work powerful hexes or curses, but usually they were so consumed by their own torment it was difficult to reason with them.