Page 79 of Shadow of the Fox

“That’s the crest of the Yotaka,” the noble said, gazing the rippling, half-burned cloth. “A vassal to the Sora family. Which means...we’re in Sky Clan territory?” He shook his head in amazement. “But that can’t be right. Sora lands are hundreds of miles from the Imperial City.”

That explained the sudden drop in temperature. Sky Clan territory lay on the northern edge of Iwagoto, and claimed the frigid Kori no Hari peaks as their domain. From the distant snowcapped mountains, looming beyond the village, we were probably on the very edge of the Sora family lands. “Satomi is a blood mage,” I reminded them grimly. “She probably has several of these gateways seeded throughout the palace, in case she needs a quick escape, or a location to work her blood magic in peace.”

“Oh, that’s just great,” the ronin snapped. “Quick, let’s all follow the blood witch through the mirror of death without knowing what’s on the other side. Oh look, an empty, ruined village in the middle of nowhere, I wonder what could be here? Certainly not demons, or gaki, or—”

“Yurei,” Yumeko whispered.

“Or ghosts,” the ronin agreed. “Right, I’m sure there are no angry ghosts around, either.”

“No,” the girl said, and pointed down the road. “Look.”

We turned. A glowing ball of blue-white luminance floated silently in the middle of the road where nothing had been before. It bobbed once, then glided soundlessly away, trailing a long tail of light behind it, then reappeared, hovering several feet off the ground.

“Hitodama,”the shrine maiden whispered. “A human soul lingering on in the world.”

“A ghost?” the noble mused.

“Yes and no.” The miko’s voice was full of pity. “Yurei are the spirits of the deceased. This is someone’s soul that, for some reason, is unable to pass on.”

“It looks like it wants us to follow it,” Yumeko observed, as the light bobbed away, then returned, pulsing softly against the dark.

The ronin blew out a breath. “Well, there’s nothing around here,” he said. “Let’s see where the glowing dead person wants to take us.”

Cautiously, we followed the bobbing orb of light, ducking under beams and charred pillars, weaving through the skeletons of watchtowers that had fallen into the road. The village, except for our own footsteps and breathing, remained deathly silent and still. Ahead, the glowing sphere moved at a steady pace, always close enough to see but keeping a good distance between us. Eventually, the village gave way to the edge of a forest, where the sphere drifted through the trees until it paused at the foot of a rise. A flight of stone steps, cracked and covered in roots, ascended through the trees and disappeared over the hill. It waited long enough for us to reach the first step, before it floated up the staircase and vanished.

“Hurry,” the shrine maiden said, as she and the dog took the lead. “I can sense Master Jiro is close. We mustn’t lose it.”

“Come on, Tatsumi-san,” Yumeko urged as I hesitated. “We have to keep up.”

This was, I mused as we began climbing the stairs, a very strange party I found myself in. I was used to tracking down demons, blood mages and murderous yokai, but it had always been alone. Not in the company of a ronin, a shrine maiden, an aristocrat and a dog. And a peasant girl who haunted my thoughts, whose presence I was constantly aware of.

For a moment, walking through a dark, unknown forest, I wondered if any of the others found this situation as odd as I did before I purged those thoughts from my mind. It didn’t matter what they thought, or if they died while pursuing a dangerous blood mage. They were not my responsibility. My objective was to find the priest who could give us the location of the Steel Feather temple and the scroll. Nothing else mattered.

Especially since I had already been ordered to kill one of them when this was over.

The stairs ended at the gates of an ancient castle, peaked roofs soaring toward the full moon. The double doors of the gates were open, creaking in the breeze, and through the opening I could see the courtyard, as vacant and dark as the village below.

“Empty,” Yumeko mused as we warily approached the front gates. “I wonder what happened to the castle?”

“And all the people in the village?” the ronin added.

I didn’t reply, though I suspected I knew the answer. To summon an oni and a horde of demons from Jigoku required a massive amount of blood and sacrifice, more than the blood mage had in their body.

An entire village’s worth.

The hitodama reappeared, floating in the gateway of the castle. “It’s waiting for us,” the shrine maiden said, stepping forward. “Hurry. Master Jiro is there.”

“A frontal assault is inadvisable,” I said quietly, making the shrine maiden pause. She scowled at me, and I nodded to the gate. “If this is the blood witch’s lair, I doubt she’ll be alone. And she’s expecting us. If you go in now, you could be attacked by demons or worse.”

“What are you suggesting, demonslayer?”

“I’ll go. This is what I’m trained for. I’ll find the priest and return before the castle defenses suspect me. The rest of you don’t need to come.”And I won’t need to worry about keeping Yumeko safe.

“So, we’re supposed to wait here and trust Master Jiro’s life to you?” the shrine maiden demanded. “No offense, Kage-san. I know you are an expert killer, but the bearer of Kamigoroshi does not inspire much faith in anything else. I will not entrust Master Jiro’s safety to one who is here only for the information he possesses. I’m afraid I must insist on coming with you.”

“Sadly, I think I’ll have to agree,” the ronin added, grinning. “And I never really learned how to ‘stay’ on command. You know what they say—can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”

“The blood witch will try to stop you,” the noble broke in, gazing solemnly at me. “She could summon demons and abominations and all sorts of horrors. And you still owe me a duel, Kage-san. Forgive me, but I cannot allow you to die just yet.”

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