Page 85 of Shadow of the Fox

I couldn’t answer, staring at the center of the courtyard, at the figure outlined in moonlight. At the jet-black skin and wild mane of white hair, at the horns, fangs and claws. At the demon that still had Tatsumi’s face. Tatsumi, or the thing he had become, turned atop the smoking corpse of the headless Yaburama, Kamigoroshi blazing in his hand, the blade shining red with blood. The oni’s head lay several feet from the body, also letting off coils of smoke as it disappeared, vanishing back to Jigoku. I should have been happy to see Yaburama dead; the oni that had destroyed the Silent Winds temple and killed everyone there was lying headless in the center of the courtyard. I should have felt vindication, or at least some form of relief.

But right then, gazing at the figure standing atop the corpse, all I felt was terror. Because the oni that had replaced Yaburama, who smiled at me from Tatsumi’s body, was a hundred times more frightening.

“Ah, there you are, Yumeko-chan.” I jumped at the voice, at the sound of my name coming from the demon’s mouth. “I was wondering when you’d show up.”

He leaped into the air, so high it almost looked like he was flying, before descending toward us. Chu snarled and erupted into his real form, muscles tensing to lunge at the oni, but Master Jiro’s voice cracked into the air.

“Chu, no! He’s far too powerful. Everyone, stay close.”

As Tatsumi landed at the edge of the steps with a crash, the priest pulled out a tattered ofuda, the kanji forprotection from evilwritten down the slip. Holding it in two fingers, he brought it to his face and closed his eyes as the demon grinned and began sauntering up the steps, leaving a trail of blood spatters behind him.

A domed barrier flickered to life, glimmering a faint, almost invisible blue-white in the darkness, encompassing me, Reika, Master Jiro and the two dogs. Chu had quickly shrunk back to his smaller form, but it was still a tight fit. I could see Master Jiro trembling as he concentrated, beads of sweat forming on his brow, as the terrifying form of Tatsumi climbed the steps and stood a few feet away, smiling at us through the barrier.

“Oh, now you didn’t need to do that,” he said, in a voice that was a deeper, chilling version of Tatsumi’s. “I just wanted to have a few words with Yumeko-chan, here.” His cold red eyes met mine through the wall of magic, and he chuckled. “So, you’re nothing but a shifty fox masquerading as a human,” he mused. “A weak little half-breed—no wonder I couldn’t sense what you really were. How deceitful. What other lies have you told Tatsumi, I wonder?”

I trembled, but forced myself to meet the monster’s terrible gaze. “Where is he?”

“Tatsumi? Oh, he’s still in here, somewhere.” The demon tapped his head with a curved black claw. “I imagine he can see and hear everything that’s going on, just like I could. He’s not strong enough to force me out once I’ve taken over, though. No human has been.” His smirk widened as he regarded me, “I did want to thank you personally, little fox,” he said. “After all, it’s because of you that I’m here.”

A cold chill went through my stomach. “What do you mean?” I whispered.

“Well, normally, I can’t get through Tatsumi’s wall—he keeps himself and his emotions tightly guarded, and doesn’t give me any footholds into his mind. But with you around, he’s been slipping more and more each day. You distract him, make him feel things. Make him question who he is and what he wants. And that’s all the invitation I needed. His last thought tonight, before finally losing himself, was of you.”

I sank to my knees on the stones, horror and anguish weighing me down as surely as the heavy robes.No, I thought in despair.Tatsumi. You can’t be gone...because of me.

The demon crouched down, balanced on the balls of his feet, so that we were face-to-face. “If it makes you feel better,” he said in a mock whisper, “he can hear every word we say, but he can’t do anything about it. And, I must tell you, after being trapped in his mind for so long, his pain and despair is a beautiful sensation. Oh, and do you want to know something else?” He bent close, lowering his voice even further. “He was actually starting to trust you, little fox,” he whispered. “Tatsumi never trusted anyone in his life—his clan punished any attachments or weaknesses.” His hand rose, pointed a curved black claw at my forehead. “But he was starting to trustyou, a kitsune who lied to him, who has been deceiving him from the very beginning. And now, he sees exactly what you are and how you betrayed him.”

I shut my eyes as my throat threatened to close up. “Let him go,” I whispered, feeling the oni’s cruel, amused gaze through the barrier.

“Sorry?” The oni’s voice was mocking. “What was that?”

Opening my eyes, I looked up, meeting the demon’s crimson stare. “Release him,” I said, and my voice didn’t tremble this time. “Return to the sword, or you’ll see exactly what a kitsune can do.”

The demon laughed. He rose, towering over me, his fangs shining a terrible crescent moon grin as he stepped back. “You’re entertaining, little fox,” he told me. “Which is why I’m going to let you live awhile longer. Don’t worry though—I’ll kill you and everyone you care about soon enough. When you’re not expecting it, someone close to you is going to die. The ronin, the noble, the priest, the shrine maiden and the two puppies. I’m going to kill you all, and Tatsumi will be forced to watch as I rip the limbs from your body one by one. This is his punishment, too, for keeping me trapped in his stubborn head all this time.” His eyes glittered, and for a moment I saw unbridled rage and loathing deep in their depths, making my blood chill. “So fear not. When we meet again, I promise I’ll make your death slow and painful.”

Leaning forward, he deliberately stretched out a hand and placed it on the barrier, which snapped and sputtered, flickering erratically at his touch. Smoke rose from his clawed fingers, coiling into the air, but it didn’t seem to bother him. Smiling, Demon Tatsumi bent close, dropping his voice to a rough whisper. “If you think you can stop me, Yumeko-chan, I encourage you to try your best. The game has just begun.”

Stepping back, he crouched and then leaped into the air, soaring onto the roof of the castle. Another leap took him even higher, a black shadow drawing farther and farther away. For a moment, he paused on the highest tower, a horned figure silhouetted against the moon, his wild mane billowing behind him, before he dropped to the other side of the castle and was gone.

* * *

After a few minutes of searching, we found our missing companions. The ronin lay buried under the collapsed watchtower, pinned by beams but struggling weakly to free himself. Miraculously, despite a large purple bruise on his forehead and several gashes across his arms and legs, he didn’t seem seriously hurt.

“You have the luck of the kami themselves,” Reika muttered, sounding reluctantly impressed as she wrapped strips of cloth around his many cuts. “That, or your head is harder than a cannonball.”

“Ha, my hard head is infamous,” Okame said proudly, tapping his knuckles against his skull. “Nothing gets through this, all right.”

“I’m not sure you should be boasting about that.”

Taiyo Daisuke was another matter. After scouring the battlefield, Chu finally led us to an isolated corner of the courtyard. The noble knelt on the stones in a pool of blood, his head down and his chin resting on his chest. He was surrounded by broken weapons and pieces of armor, and still clutched his sword tightly in one hand.

A ghostly figure stood beside him, a girl in simple robes, her hair tied behind her. Raising her hand, she touched the side of his face, a wistful smile crossing her lips, before she shivered into nothingness. A glowing white sphere, the light that had led us to Master Jiro, rose from where she had been, and drifted away over the wall.

“Daisuke-san.” I sniffed as Chu approached the fallen noble, ears pricked in hopeful anticipation. “Can you hear me? Are you still alive?”

The body of the samurai didn’t move. I swallowed the tightness in my throat, and was about to turn back to find the others, when Chu whined and shoved his nose under the noble’s empty hand.

Shakily, it rose, as if attached to a string, to pat the dog between the ears. I gasped, and the samurai lifted his head, squinting against the dark.

---