Page 38 of Shadow of the Fox

I drew my tanto and stared at the knife for a moment, hands shaking. I had never used it against a person, but I couldn’t employ fox magic or kitsune-bi now. Striding down the steps, I raised the knife and slashed at the bandit attacking Okame, cutting his arm. He jerked back with a yelp, glaring at me, giving Okame enough time to sit up, draw the sword at his belt and stab him through the chest.

“Arigatou, Yumeko-san,” Okame gasped, scrambling upright. There was a gash across his cheek, and a puncture wound seeping blood over his vest, but he was still grinning as he shook his head at me. “That was one hell of a crumb—aagh!”

He jerked upright, grimacing, as an arrow streaked from the top of the steps and hit him in the back. I caught him as he fell forward, and staggered under his weight. He clutched at my robes, loosening the furoshiki, and something dropped from the wrapping cloth. The shiny lacquered scroll case hit the top of the steps with a faint clink, then rolled steadily toward the edge of the staircase.

My heart turned to ice. Swiftly, I stepped on the case, halting it before it could drop off the edge. In my arms, the ronin was a heavy, gasping weight, as we both teetered edge of the stairs.

“Okame-san,” I gritted out, gazing desperately at the ronin while trying to keep us both upright and the scroll from rolling down the steps. “All you all right? Can you stand?”

He raised his head with a shudder.“Kuso,”he swore, staggering back a pace. “Dammit, I guess I should’ve known better...than to turn my back.”

Whirling, he raised his bow and fired at the top of the steps. The last archer, who had been taking aim at Tatsumi, jerked as an arrow hit him in the throat, and toppled backward into the brush. At the same time, I bent and grabbed the scroll from the edge of the staircase, then stuffed it in my robes as I bounced back up.Safe! I think. Let’s hope Tatsumi was too busy to see that.

A thunderous crash came from the center of the stairs as Noboru pitched forward, hit the ground and rolled the rest of the way to the bottom. His blank, beady eyes peered up at us as his head flopped to the side, a line of crimson splitting his face nearly in two. I shivered and looked away, as Okame let out a soft curse.

“Yep...” He sighed, staggering back a pace. “That was...incredibly stupid, Okame.”

He collapsed to the stones.

I looked around for Tatsumi. Near the top of the steps, the demonslayer calmly flicked blood from his sword and turned to me, crimson streaked across his face and forearms. His eyes glowed purple in the fading light. I tensed, wondering if he would say anything about the scroll or what had happened with the ronin, but he only sheathed his weapon and turned away. “We’re done here,” he said quietly. “Let’s go, before it gets too dark.”

I turned back toward Okame, crumpled at the bottom of the stairs, and my stomach twisted. “Tatsumi, wait,” I called. He paused, and I nodded at the ronin’s still, bloody form. “What about Okame?”

He blinked and tilted his head. “What about him?”

“We can’t leave him here. He’s injured.”

“He tried to kill us,” Tatsumi said, his voice flat. “He led us into an ambush. Those bandits would have shown us no mercy.”

“He helped us, in the end,” I argued. “He’s not like the others. I don’t think we should leave him here to die.” Tatsumi didn’t move, and I frowned at him. “Fine. You go on ahead. I’ll catch up when I can.”

I walked back to the fallen ronin, then knelt at his side to examine the arrow. It jutted out below his left shoulder blade, the shaft sitting in the center of a dark circle of blood, spreading slowly across his vest.

“If you’re going to yank that out, just do it quick,” came a tight voice. I blinked and looked down to see that the ronin’s eyes were open, gazing back at me. “Grab it as close to the head as you can, and give it a good hard tug.”

“Won’t it hurt?”

“Nah, I get shot like this all the time. Sometimes I shootmyselfwith arrows just so I can rip them out again.”

“Really?” I gaped at him. “How is that even possible? Is it some sort of exercise? Do you also try to dodge the arrows or catch them as they come in?”

“I’m being sarcastic, Yumeko-san.” Okame gave a pained smile. “Of course it’s going to hurt. But it’s got to come out sometime. I can’t walk to town with an arrow sticking out of me. Just yank it out and leave me here. I’ll be fine.”

Gazing at the length of wood jutting from the ronin’s back, I hesitated, gathering my courage for the deed. Taking a deep breath, I started to reach for the shaft, when a shadow fell over us. I glanced up just in time to see Tatsumi reach down, grab the arrow and yank it out in one swift motion.

“Aagh!”yelped the ronin, jerking against the stones.“Kuso! Ow!”Panting, he glared back at us. “Dammit, Kage, if you’re going to kill me, just cut off my head and be done with it. You don’t have to torture me with false hope.”

Tatsumi tossed the bloody arrow to the ground. “If I was going to kill you, you’d already be dead,” he stated flatly. “Where’s your hideout?”

“Our hideout? Why?” Okame struggled painfully to a sitting position, clenching his jaw. “This is all of the gang. There’s no one left for you to slaughter.”

“Because I don’t want to carry your bleeding carcass to town once you collapse from blood loss.” Tatsumi crossed his arms, gazing up the steps. “Because Yumeko refuses to leave you in the road to die. If your hideout is close, better to go there. I assume you have basic necessities like water and bandages.”

“Water, yes. Bandages...eh, I’m sure I can find something.”

I blinked up at the warrior, surprised. “You’re staying?”

Cold violet eyes regarded me without expression. “I promised I would, didn’t I? I said I would escort you to the capital, and I have yet to repay my debt. So...” He reached down and, in one smooth motion, grabbed the ronin, hauled him to his feet and slung his arm around his shoulders. The ronin yelped and swore, then made a comment about being better off dead. Tatsumi ignored him. “Come on. Let’s get this over with.”

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