Page 56 of Shadow of the Fox

“And now we’re talking about oni,” said Okame. “Oni, blood mages and demons. Should I start screaming now, or should I wait till you get to the part with the eighty-foot skeleton?” Looking at me, he shook his head. “And here I thought you were a simple and innocent peasant girl, Yumeko-chan. How did you get involved with demons and blood magic?”

“Well...”

“Explain later,” Tatsumi said brusquely. “We should keep moving.” Scanning the road and the surrounding trees, his eyes narrowed. I followed his gaze and saw another crow perched in the branches of a tree, glaring at us. “The blood mage knows we’re onto him. It’s not safe to be out in the open. Hurry.”

We continued down the road with a bit more urgency. I thought back to the dead crow, to the mysterious blood mage who could be following our movements, and my stomach turned in both fear and anger. Whoever had sent the amanjaku and the terrible Yaburama knew I had the Dragon scroll. They were also responsible for the deaths of Master Isao and everyone in the Silent Winds temple. I was putting Okame and Tatsumi in danger; there was no doubt that the blood mage would try to take the scroll again. But with every attempt, I might learn a little more about this new enemy. Who he was, what he wanted, and most important, where he might be. Vengeance was something Master Isao had always cautioned against, especially since yokai could lose themselves to revenge, obsessing over a grudge until it consumed them. But if I ever came face-to-face with the one who had destroyed my temple, he would come to fear the vengeance of an angry kitsune.

“So, Yumeko-chan.” Okame’s voice jerked me out of my dark musings. The ronin had dropped alongside me, hands clasped behind his head as we walked together down the path. “Normally, I don’t like poking into matters that aren’t my business,” he began, “but I just heard the wordsdemon,oniandblood magein the same sentence, and any one of those is enough to keep me awake at night. Also—and stop me if I’ve missed anything—I just watched a bird disintegrate after I shot it, because someone who can raise dead crows has taken an interest in us, because of a scroll. Did I get all that right?”

“More or less.” I frowned a bit. “Although, I think he would do more than just bring crows back to life. That would be a very strange skill to have, unless he really loves crows.”

“Right. So, I think I deserve some sort of explanation, and I know better than to ask He of the Scary Glowing Sword.” He nodded at Tatsumi several paces ahead. “I’d probably get my head lopped off before I could open my mouth. So, I’d appreciate it if you could tell me what’s going on, Yumeko-chan. I’ve faced gaki, yurei and now undead crows. Am I going to have to fight demons anytime in the future?”

“It’s...possible,” I said, and briefly explained what had happened the night the demons had attacked the temple, using the same story I’d told Tatsumi. That Master Isao had sensed a great evil coming, and had sent the scroll away before the demons arrived. I told him about the oni, and the amanjaku, and my promise to Master Isao to warn the other temple of the demons. And that I had to find Master Jiro at the Hayate shrine to discover the location of the Steel Feather temple. When I was finished, Okame gave me a shrewd look, as if something I said didn’t quite make sense.

“So, a horde of demons attacks your temple, at the same time Kage-san with the demonslaying sword shows up,” he mused. “That sounds very convenient. I assume he wasn’t there to admire the leaves.”

“I don’t think Tatsumi is one for leaf watching, Okame-san.”

“Right.” Okame sighed. “So, what’s so special about this scroll, that the Kage demonslayer and an entire hoard of Jigoku abominations would show up to claim it?”

“I... I don’t know,” I stammered. “Master Isao never told me why it was important.”

Guilt prickled. I felt bad for lying, but it was probably better that the ronin know as little about the scroll as possible. The last thing I needed was someone else who wanted to summon the Dragon. Too many knew about it already.

“Huh.” Okame crossed his arms, his expression unusually grim. “So, your Master Isao sent this scroll away, presumably to another temple, and Kage-san just decided to escort you there, hmm?”

“No, not really. I asked him to.”

“And he agreed. The antisocial, don’t-bother-me-or-I’ll-kill-you Shadow Clan samurai agreed to escort a peasant girl across several territories to a mysterious temple hidden somewhere on the other side of the country.”

“Um. Yes?”

The ronin shook his head and bent closer, lowering his voice. “You don’t see what’s going on, do you?” he muttered. “He’s not taking you to the temple out of the kindness of his heart. He wants the scroll, Yumeko-chan.”

“Of course he does. Everyone wants the scroll, Okame-san.” I could feel the lacquered case again, pressed into my skin under the furoshiki and had to force myself not to touch the spot where it was hidden. “But I promised Master Isao that I would warn the Steel Feather temple about the demon attack, and I don’t think I could make it there on my own, especially if there’s a blood mage after us. You’ve seen how Tatsumi fights. His sword was created to kill demons. He’s my best chance of reaching the temple alive.”

“And what happens when you get there, and he demands the scroll from the monks?”

“I’m...still working on that.”

He shook his head. “Well, good luck, Yumeko-chan. Personally, I don’t know what would be scarier—an oni or an angry Kage demonslayer. I hope you know what you’re doing.”

I hoped so, as well.

* * *

The sun began to set while we were still several miles from the next town. As the shadows grew long and the first stars began to appear, I quickened my pace to walk alongside Tatsumi.

“It’s getting late, Tatsumi-san. Shouldn’t we be looking for a place to spend the night?”

“Sagimura isn’t far,” he answered. “If we don’t stop, we’ll reach it before the hour of the Boar.” He paused a moment, before adding, “I’d rather sleep in a village tonight than out in the open.”

I shivered. So, he felt it, too. The sensation of danger, of eyes on us wherever we went. In fact, the closer we drew to Sagimura, the more uneasy I felt. Not only that something was watching us, but that something was coming. Chasing us. Stalking us.

And ifTatsumididn’t want to stay out in the open, then whatever was out there was something I did not want to meet.

The moon was a full silver disk overhead when the road took us over a bridge that spanned the Hotaru River. On the other side, over the distant rice paddies, I could just catch the glimmers of light that came from Sagimura. There was just one problem.

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