Page 24 of Shadow of the Fox

“As you wish.” And I proceeded to tell him what had happened that night, everything from fighting the amanjaku to meeting Yumeko and agreeing to accompany her to Kin Heigen Toshi. I told him of the plan to find Master Jiro at the Hayate shrine, in the hopes that he could show us the way to the Steel Feather temple and the scroll that had eluded me.

“I see,” Jomei said when I was done. He steepled two fingers together and tapped them against his lips. “The Steel Feather temple has been lost to legend,” he murmured. “There are tales that it is protected by supernatural guardians, but no one knows where it is for certain, if it even exists.” His gaze flicked to me again, hard and appraising. “Are you certain that accompanying the girl is the only way you can reach this Master Jiro?”

“I know the name of the shrine,” I replied. “I could find it on my own. But the priest would have no cause to reveal what he knows to me. The girl was part of the Silent Winds temple, part of the order that protected the scroll. He will talk to her. And if she can show me the way to my objective, I would do better to follow.”

Jomei sighed. “Very well.” He nodded. “Continue to travel with her for now. If this Master Jiro knows the location of the Steel Feather temple and the scroll, you must find it at all costs. But be careful. The girl must not discover anything she has not already heard about the Shadow Clan. As soon as you are in possession of the scroll, return to Lady Hanshou.”

I bowed. “I understand.”

“I must inform Hanshou-sama of this,” Jomei murmured. “Demons would have no use for the scroll. Someone is sending them.” He rose gracefully, robes falling around him, and gave me a faint smile. “We’ll be watching you, Tatsumi-san. Don’t disappoint us.”

I bowed once more, and when I rose, Jomei was gone.

The lanterns flickered, then sputtered to life one by one, illuminating the empty alley. I retraced my steps to the main road and made my way back to the inn where I had sent Yumeko.

I ducked beneath the curtain over the door then straightened and gazed around the entrance. A raised wooden floor sat a few steps away, with a couple benches placed along the walls to accommodate travelers. Across the room, a staircase ascended to the top floor where I assumed the guest accommodations were located. A woman, probably the hostess, hurried toward me, smiling and then dropping into a bow at the edge of the raised floor.

“Welcome, sir,” she announced. “Please, come in. Will you be needing a room for the night?”

“Yes,” I said. “But there was a girl here earlier. In a red kimono with a white sash. She should have gotten us a room.”

“Oh?” The hostess frowned slightly, glancing at the door. “She was your companion, was she? Well, she’s not here anymore.”

I narrowed my eyes. “What happened? Where is she?”

“Therewasa girl like that here,” the hostess continued, sounding nervous now. “Just a few minutes ago, in fact. A cute little thing in a red kimono. But then, a wind blew in out of nowhere. It was so strong it nearly knocked me down. And when I looked up, the girl was gone.”

11

Weasels on the Wind

It began with a strange wind.

I’d meant to get a room, I really had. And food. And maybe a bath. But especially food. I was starving, and the idea of sitting in a clean room eating a hot meal, instead of in the wilderness chewing on wild plants, sounded wonderful. Even though I was extremely curious about where Tatsumi was running off to, following him, especially when I had the Dragon’s scroll hidden in my furoshiki, seemed like a bad idea.

Besides, he’d promised me he would return. I had to trust he would keep his word and come back.

But then, as I stepped over the threshold, a vicious blast of wind tossed my hair and caused me to stumble forward. The wind swirled through the doorway, ripping at the curtains and extinguishing the lanterns inside and out, plunging the room into shadow.

As I straightened, a lock of my hair suddenly fell to the floor, sliced clean through, as if by a very sharp blade.

My eyes widened, and a flutter of alarm went through me. I looked up to see a pair of beady red eyes watching me from atop one of the lanterns on the ceiling. They were attached to a furry brown creature with a pointed muzzle, small rounded ears, and a long, sinewy body.

A weasel?I frowned. An ordinary-looking weasel, except...

My mouth fell open. Except for the long, sickle-shaped blades growing right out of its forelegs. Curved and deadly looking, they extended behind the creature’s elbows and glimmered in the darkness of the room.Not a normal weasel at all, I realized. A creature that possessed magic or other supernatural powers. A yokai.

Like me.

The weasel thing hissed, baring sharp yellow fangs, leaped off the statue and disappeared.

Another wind sliced through the ryokan, flapping the curtains, making me wince and stumble back. As I regained my balance, I felt a stinging sensation against my cheek and put a hand to my face.

My fingers came away smeared with blood.

Heart pounding, I looked through the doorway. The weasel thing was perched on the roof of a wooden vendor stall across the street, still watching me with eyes like embers in the shadows. I dropped my hand from the shallow cut across my cheek.

It wants me to follow it.

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