Where are they?
I cannot tell you, Master Isao said. I do not know, myself. It is a legendary place of myth and rumor, and its location has been lost to the ages. I know only its namethe Steel Feather temple. And that it is somewhere very far from here.
But... he added before I could protest in despair. There is one who knows the location of the temple. You must travel to Kin Heigen Toshi, the capital city in the center of the Sun lands. Within the city is the Hayate shrinego there and ask for the head priest, Master Jiro. He can tell you the location of the Steel Feather temple.
Master... Tears were running down my cheeks; my stomach was curling around itself in both terror and anguish. I cant. I cant do it alone.
You can, Master Isao said firmly, and held up the scroll once more. You must. This is my last request. Take the scroll to the Steel Feather temple. Warn them of what transpired here, that someone wishes to bring the pieces of the Dragon scroll together once more. Do not let our deaths be in vain. Another crash sounded outside, and he closed his eyes. Promise me, Yumeko-chan. You must protect the scroll. The fate of this land depends on it.
With shaking hands, I reached out and took the scroll, wrapping trembling fingers around the case. It was surprisingly light in my palm. I promise, I whispered. I swear Ill find the Steel Feather temple, warn the other monks and protect the scroll. I wont fail you.
He smiled. Take this as well, he said, and pressed a tanto, a short, straight dagger, into my palm. It will come in handy, when defending yourself with words and cunning is not enough. And this. He draped a simple furoshikia wrapping cloth used for transporting clothes, gifts, or other possessionsaround my shoulders. To hide your burden from the rest of the world. Now, go. He nodded toward the statue. Dont worry about us, and dont cry. We will meet again, Yumeko-chan, in the Pure Lands or in another life.
With a mighty crash that shook the entire hall, the barrier shattered. Monks gasped or cried out, hands going to their heads, and the floor trembled as the huge oni stepped into the room, a flood of demons behind him.
Go, Yumeko-chan, Master Isao said, and his voice was icy. Stone-faced, he rose and stepped toward the hulking thing in the doorway. Feeling like a coward, I skittered half-behind the Jade Prophet, knowing I had to leave, but unable to tear my eyes away. Master Isao and the others waited calmly as the shadow of the demon grew larger, its eyes glowing like red coals against the dark.
The oni smiled as he entered the hall, ducking his massive head as he stepped into the room, looming to a terrifying height. He was so large that his horns nearly scraped the ceiling. Monks of the Silent Winds temple, he rumbled, his terrible voice making the air shiver, my name is Yaburama, fourth demon general of Jigoku, and I have come for the Dragon scroll. He raised his tetsubo and swung it into his palm with a meaty thump, as the small demons hissed and chortled gleefully behind him, waiting for the signal to attack. Give me what I have come for, and perhaps I will make your deaths painless.
Abomination! Dengas voice rang over the snarls and cackles of the demon horde. Fearlessly, he strode forward, until he was only a few yards away from the mountain of an oni. We will never relinquish the scroll to such evil. You are not welcome here. By the Jade Prophet, begone, and take your minions with you!
The oni cocked his head. Abruptly, he swung his club, shockingly fast, striking Denga in the side and smashing him into a pillar. The monk hit the beam with a sickening crack and crumpled to the floor, blood streaming from his nose and mouth, eyes staring sightlessly ahead. I bit my lip to stifle a shriek, and the oni curled a lip.
Your Jade Prophet means nothing to me, he commented, as the demons shrieked with laughter and swarmed into the room.
With cries of fury and outrage, the monks surged forward, meeting the demons in the center of the hall. They were unarmed, and their opponents wielded blades and spears as well as claws and teeth. But the monks were far from defenseless. Ki energy pulsed, turning fists into hammers and feet into weapons of destruction. A demons skull imploded after Nitoru kicked it in the head, spraying demon blood everywhere before it writhed into crimson-black smoke and disappeared. A trio of demons swarmed Satoshi, who caught a spear thrust at him, wrenched it out of the demons grasp and plunged it through its gaping mouth. But he didnt see the danger behind him until a second demon sank a kama sickle deep into his leg. Satoshi staggered and dropped to a knee, and the monsters piled on him, dragging him to the floor.
Yumeko! Master Isaos voice rang in my head, though the master of the Silent Winds temple strode right for the center of the room, ki energy crackling around him, where the terrible oni waited. Go, now!
I turned toward the hole in the floor and prepared to shift into fox form. But a bulbous blue head poked up between the boards, and a demon clawed itself out of the hole, followed by two friends. When they saw me, they hissed and raised their spears, and I hastily backed up.
Jinkei help me, I was trapped. I couldnt go forward with the trio blocking the hole, and I couldnt go back into the room, where the battle between monks and demons raged. The din was deafening, screams and howls mingling with flashes of ki, flying bodies and blood. As the trio of demons grinned evilly and tensed, I raised my arm, and a ball of blue-white foxfire flared to life in my palm. The blue demon glanced at the ghostly flames and sneered, making my heart sink; apparently a ball of kitsune-bi to the face wasnt going to work a second time.
With a roar, the massive bulk of the oni flew backward and crashed into the statue of the Jade Prophet, knocking her off her base. The statue teetered for a moment, giving me just enough time to scramble away, before toppling through the wall with a deafening crash of wood and stone. The three amanjaku were buried under the rubble, and a warm, smoke-scented breeze rushed into the hall from the hole it left behind.
I cringed, ducking behind one of the pillars lining the room, as the oni shook its head and looked up at Master Isao, who stood in the center of the room. The monk was breathing hard, blood running down his face from beneath his hat, both palms raised.
A deep growl came from the oni, sitting against the ruined statue. You hit hard, for a mortal, the monster rumbled, getting to its feet. Well done, but it will not save you. The amanjaku are tearing your brothers apart as we speak. No one is left. He craned his neck from side to side, rolled his shoulders forward and raised his club. It is time to end these games. Let us see if you have the ki to do that again!
The oni lunged with a roar. As he barreled forward, raising his club high overhead, Master Isaos calm gaze flicked to me. In the moment our gazes met, he smiled.
Go, Yumeko-chan, whispered his voice in my head, gentle and serene. Run.
This time I didnt wait to see what happened, if the terrible crash from the onis club struck home or not. I whirled and sprinted through the hole left from the fallen Prophet, scrambling over splintered beams and broken jade, whispering an apology as I stepped over a shattered green arm. Then I was outside, and the air was hot and choking. Blinded by tears, I tripped over a plank and skinned my hands when I fell, and the lacquered scroll case rolled away from me, gleaming in the firelight.
My blood chilled. Snatching it up, I half ran, half stumbled into the gardens, past the pond full of dead, floating carp, to the old maple tree leaning against the wall. After quickly tucking the scroll into the furoshiki and the tanto into my obi, I pulled myself up by the gnarled branches, wondering how the once familiar act could feel so strange and surreal. I wouldnt be doing this ever again.
At the top of the wall, I spared one final look back at my home, the temple Id lived in all my life, and felt a lump rise to my throat. The pagoda was now a skeletal ruin engulfed by flames, and the fire had spread to the other buildings, including the main hall. I could make out only the roof over the tops of the trees, but a stray ember on one corner had turned into a flame, which would quickly spread and consume the wooden building until there was nothing left. I didnt dare imagine what was happening inside, the lives that were lost, the monks who stood bravely against a horde of demons. Everyone Id ever knownJin, Satoshi, Nitoru, Denga, Master Isao and all the restthey were gone. Theyd gone willingly to their deaths, all to protect the scroll.
A tiny globe of light, pale against the smoke and darkness, rose from the roof of the burning hall. It was joined by another, and then another, until there were more than a dozen glowing orbs rising slowly into the air and leaving trails of light behind them. My throat closed up, and fresh tears streamed down my cheeks. Not one of the spheres of light hesitated or stayed near the temple; all rose steadily toward the stars. They had no regrets, no lingering sorrows or thoughts of vengeance, nothing that tied them to this world. They were free.
Deep inside my chest, a tiny, blue-white flame of anger flickered, burning away the despair, and I breathed deep to banish the tears.
I wont fail, I promised, as the lights drifted slowly away, toward Meido or the Pure Lands, or wherever they were headed. If...if this is truly my destiny, then Ill give it my all. Dont worry, Master Isao, everyone. Ill find the Steel Feather temple and protect the scroll, I promise.
My words had no effect on the rapidly fading lights. They continued rising into the sky until they were no larger than the stars themselves, and disappeared.
I blinked rapidly. Safe journey, everyone. May we meet again, in this life or the next.
A hiss in the gardens drew my attention. Looking down, I met the crimson eyes of a demon, who jerked up as he saw me, as well. As it gave a shrill cry of alarm and raised its weapon, I dropped to the ground outside the wall and sprinted into the forest.
7
An Unexpected Proposal
The path had disappeared.
I hesitated in the shadows of the forest, listening, my hand curled around my sword hilt. Sometime during my dash up the mountain, the trail Id been following had either vanished or Id lost it somehow, for uninterrupted woods surrounded me, dark and thick. It wasnt terribly problematic; I could still hear the roar of a conflagration, and the breeze through the branches carried the scent of smoke and blood. I was going in the right direction.
I feared what I would find when I got there.
There was a rustle in the bushes ahead, and Kamigoroshi gave a warning pulse, just as something exploded from the darkness and lunged at me. My blade cleared its sheath in an instant, whipping up toward my attackers face. Itshe?yelped and skidded to a halt, as my brain caught up to my reflexes. Hakaimono roared, goading me to continue the motion, to bathe the steel in blood. I wrenched myself from the howling bloodlust and forced my hands to stop.
The blade froze an inch from her neck. Panting, I looked across the glowing edge of the sword, into the face and wide black eyes of a girl.
She was my age, perhaps a bit younger. Small, petite, wearing a short crimson robe pattered with white swirls. Her black hair hung loose around her shoulders and down her back, and her large dark eyes, peering up at me, were round with shock.
For a moment, we stared at each other, bathed in the faint purple light of Kamigoroshi. Her face was dirty, smudged with ash and grime, and she was breathing hard, as if she had been fleeing the fire with the rest of the wildlife.
Then there was a snap in the trees behind her, and I realized why shed been running.
Get back, I said, and shoved her behind me, as an amanjaku leaped through the bushes with a howl, a sickle raised over its head. I smacked the curved blade aside and slashed Kamigoroshi across its face, making it shriek and reel away. More demons swarmed from the bushes, stabbing and hacking wildly as they rushed forward. They died on my sword as I carved limbs from bodies and heads from torsos, black demon blood arcing into the air. Hakaimono reveled in their deaths, but I kept myself detached from the demons rage. I was the hand that wielded Kamigoroshi, nothing more. I felt nothing as I sent the creatures back to Jigoku.
When the last demon fell, I flicked steaming blood from my sword, sheathed Kamigoroshi despite the protests in my mind and looked around for the girl.
She peered from behind a tree trunk, watching me with big dark eyes. Surprised, I turned to face her fully. I had half expected her to be gone, fleeing the forest while the demons were busy attacking me. I caught the glint of metal in her hand and saw the hilt of a tanto clutched in her fist. Whether it was meant for me or the demons, I wasnt certain.
Merciful Jinkei, she whispered, sounding breathless. Her eyes shone as she gazed around, at the fading tendrils of darkness on the wind. You...that was... Blinking, she looked up at me, her expression caught between awe and fear. Who are you?
Nothing. Nobody. A shadow on the wall, empty and unimportant. I turned away, toward the sound of distant flames. Run, I told the girl, not looking back. Get out of here. Go to the village at the bottom of the mountain. You should be safe there.
Wait! she cried as I started forward. I paused, but did not turn back. You cant go that way, she said, and I heard her emerge from behind the tree. Its too dangerous. There are more demons, a whole horde of them. And theres an oni!
An oni. My eyes narrowed, even as Hakaimono gave the strongest flare of excitement I had ever felt from it. I had been killing dangerous yokai for the Shadow Clan since I was thirteen, the newest in a long line of Kage demonslayers to wield Kamigoroshi, but I had never faced a real oni. From what my sensei had told me, the greatest demons of Jigoku were nothing like the monsters Id fought before. Tough, savage and virtually unstoppable, able to regenerate wounds, broken bones, even severed limbs at an astonishing rate. They were difficult to defeat, even with Kamigoroshi. In the past, more than one demonslayer who had gone to fight an oni had not survived the battle.
Fortunately, oni encounters were rare, as summoning one from Jigoku and binding the savage demon to your will required incredible power. Unfortunately, it meant that whomever had sent an oni here, to this forest, was likely after the same thing I was. Lady Hanshou hadnt told me why she wanted this particular scroll, nor was it my place to ask. My mission was to retrieve the scroll, no matter what obstacles stood in my way.
This oni, I asked the girl, whose gaze I could still feel on my back. Where is it?
The temple, she replied, and her voice came out slightly choked. At the top of the mountain. It killed everyone there and set the whole place on fire. Nothing is left.