"Keep a lookout. I'm going to draw out the arrows."
Kenji stared at Isamu's bleeding wounds. The dragon’s body was trying to heal itself but was conflicting with the purifying power of the arrows. His muscles spasmed with pain.
The young dragon appeared to be in a daze. "It was a trap. They were waiting for us."
"Get your head together or he's going to die." Kaito grabbed the other man by the shoulders, just holding back from shaking him.
The other dragon blinked for a moment and then nodded his head before turning to watch the forest which lined the beach.
Kaito knelt down by the wounded dragon. His hands twitched in anticipation of the pain. Something purified by a priest or priestess burned as it purified yokai. If there was a priest or priestess he could trust, he would have had them draw out these arrows. As it was, he wasn't sure he was strong enough to do it himself. But he wasn't going to leave this dragon to die. There were already so few of them left.
There were six arrows in all. He could feel the power sparking off of them. The best defense he could use would be to encase his hand in ice. Bracing himself, he grabbed onto the shaft of the first arrow. His ice didn't stand a chance against the purifying powers of the arrow and it melted, running down his arm. White-hot fire rippled outward from his palm, demanding he let go. But he grit his teeth and pulled on the arrow. It came out with a wet pop.
Kaito tossed the offending object across the beach as Isamu roared and thrashed about, his long serpentine body kicking up sand along the beach. Kaito put his hands upon him, trying to steady him like a bucking beast.
"That was only the first one. You'll have to be strong for the rest."
The dragon’s large eyes pleaded with him to end his misery, but he nodded his head that he'd understood. There was a burn on the palm of Kaito's hand, and it would only get worse by the time he was done. Without hesitation, he proceeded to pull out the rest of the arrows. Each one was harder to remove than the last, as each arrow sapped away more of Kaito's energy.
By the sixth one he struggled to maintain a human visage. His body was covered in scales, his hands tipped with claws, and his face almost entirely muzzle.
"One more," he said to the young dragon. They were both gasping for breath.
The arrows had taken much more from Isamu, who closed his eyes in exhaustion, too tired to even thrash against the pain. Kaito grabbed onto the last arrow with both hands and pulled it free, almost tumbling backward in the process.
When the last arrow was removed, Kaito knelt over on the ground. His hand throbbed, and his muscles trembled. Kenji hovered over him, a concerned expression on his face.
"Go and bring the others. We need reinforcements." He couldn't bring the injured dragon back by his own strength. He'd be lucky if he could fly back himself.
Kenji turned toward the town and the forest beyond. Thinking, probably as Kaito was, if Hisato decided now to finish him off, he'd stand no match. As much as it bothered him to be perceived as weak, there were times when pride had to be set aside for the greater good.
"Bring reinforcements, now!" The dragon practically stumbled over himself to do as he was ordered.
Kaito stared at the scattered arrows which were lying on the ground and then the burns on his hands. Reluctantly his gaze drifted toward the shadowy forest. The sun had started to set as he worked and all the while he'd felt eyes upon him.
"Come out and face me," Kaito snarled, as he struggled to his feet.
As Kaito had come to expect of Hisato, he was grinning like a madman. He seemed to delight in his pain and that of Isamu. "How honorable, choosing to harm yourself for your men. Do you think that will buy their loyalty?"
Kaito stood up to his full height and faced him. "Why are you here?"
"I was worried about you when I learned Suzume abandoned you." His words were like knives, meant to prod and provoke him. But he was much too tired to fall for his bait.
"If you're looking for a fight, I'm happy to give you one." Kaito balled his hand into a fist. He hardly felt fit to stand, let alone fight.
Hisato only laughed in response. "I cannot harm you, dragon. I only came to bring you a message."
"I don't want to hear anything from you."
"Is this how you were before Kazue? A crude beast."
"Leave while I'm still asking nicely."
Hisato's smile spread across his face. "Then perhaps you don't want to hear about where Suzume has gone." He turned away from Kaito, but he wouldn't rise to the bait. As far as he was concerned, Suzume was dead to him.
But Hisato wasn't one to drop the subject lightly. "She's joined the emperor in his quest to rid the world of yokai. I wonder what your new friends would think of that if they found out?"
Kaito lunged for him, swiping with a clawed hand. But before he could land a single blow, Hisato disappeared, only to reappear behind him.
"You better watch your back, dragon. You never know who you can trust nowadays."
12
Kaito headed to the throne room. Even before the double doors were thrown open, the sound of laughter spilled outside. His brother was sitting on the edge of the dais. But his casual disregard for rank was the least of his crimes. He held a bottle of sake in his hand, drinking deeply of it. A group of Jirou's most loyal dragons surrounded him—the dragon who'd tried to seduce him, and the dragon who'd warned him of the priests in the village. There was no doubt his brother had orchestrated the entire thing to make him seem weak.
He did not believe he knew just how much danger he'd put them all in. Now Hisato knew where he was, and there was his cryptic message about Suzume. His anger knew no limits. Kaito marched toward them, and the others laughter died away as he approached. But his brother continued to laugh, pretending that he did not see the anger written upon Kaito's face. He turned after a few seconds, just in time for Kaito's fist to collide with his face. He was knocked backward, sprawling onto his back while Kaito stood over him seething.
"What was that for?" Jirou said as he massaged his jaw where Kaito had struck him.
"Isamu almost died because of that little stunt you pulled."
"I have no idea what you're talking about. We've been here all afternoon." He gestured toward his comrades who nodded, giving validity to his lies.
"Your man told me there were priests in the village and that you went to attack them. You wanted to lure me out there to force me to attack the human village," Kaito said.
He waved away Kaito's concern. "Why would I do that? You said we were to lay low." Jirou raised his brows in question, playing the innocent.
“Isamu almost died!” Kenji leaped forward, glaring at Jirou, his hands balled into fists at his side.
Isamu leaned against Hana. The burns from the holy arrows had not healed yet and his face was covered in purple bruises that could not be disguised even in his humanoid form. It would be days before he was back to normal.
Jirou shrugged. “It wasn’t me who lured you out there.” He smirked at Kaito.
Kaito grabbed his brother by the front of his hoari. "Do you think this is funny?"
"I think a real ruler should protect his people from a threat. You should be thanking me for this opportunity to show us your prowess."
The dragons around them all stared at him. Those most loyal to his brother smiled, while Kenji continued to tremble with anger.
"If you try anything like this again, I will end you." He let go of his brother and turned his back on him.
Kaito turned to stalk away, but before he could Jirou called out to him. "You cannot ignore this problem. While you slept they've hunted us to the brink of extinction. It is time that we rise again, take back what belongs to us. It was said none who stood against you could defeat you in battle. The reign of yokai has been squashed for too long. It is you who should destroy the human menace."
Kaito balled his hand into a fist, barely controlling his rage. His patience was wearing thin as it was. Between Hisato's taunts of S
uzume killing yokai and Jirou's goading him into fighting, he was nearly at his breaking point. He'd fought many battles in his long life. But now he doubted his own ability. His power had been less since he'd been freed from the stone and he did not relish the idea of a war. Because that was what it would be. A bloody war. One he might not win. The threat of Hisato lingered in his mind.
"You look in the wrong direction to glory, brother," Kaito said, hardly holding in his seething temper.
"We are yokai. This is who we are, or have you forgotten that?"
"I know that I bought this crown through the blood of my enemies."
"Your kingdom is infested."
"I do not waste my time on insects."
"The humans have grown too numerous and too powerful. You are a fool if you do not squash them now before it is too late."
"We will not start a war with the humans," Kaito growled, giving his final word on the matter. His voice echoed through the chamber with enough power to bring them all to their knees. They would not challenge him now, even his brother could not suspect just how little his power was. It was why he had not challenged him outright, but sought to damage his reputation. But if they found out the truth, it would be over.
Most of them wouldn't meet his gaze. He had to stop this uprising and now. The best he could do was move forward with his plans. Once he had the strength of other powerful yokai behind him, his brother and those who remained loyal to him would mean nothing. They were bloodthirsty but they were cowards as well. Power won out, even if it was a false power like his own. The scale was not tipped in his favor. But he'd fought greater odds before and won. He could do it again.
Kaito went back to his chamber. But once more found his room occupied. Ai sat on the edge of his futon, poised like a perfect, porcelain doll. It had been a long day cleaning up the mess his brother had made and he'd hoped to find a couple minutes of reprieve, but it seemed that was not to be.
"Why do I even have a chamber door, if everyone comes in whenever they feel like?" he snarled at her, storming past her to go stand at the open doors which led onto a veranda overlooking the ocean. In the old days this place had brought him peace and clarity. But it only really worked if he was alone.
"Ai needs to talk to you," Ai said, ignoring his surly mood.
"I'm in no mood. Leave now while I am asking you nicely." He kept his back to her. Ai had been scarce these past few days. What she was up to he could only guess at. She was as strong-willed as ever it seemed. Some things never changed, he supposed.
But he wasn't in the mood for any of her plots. Things were falling apart around him and the tension with the dragons was only growing. How much longer could he hold onto his kingdom?
"It cannot wait," Ai said. It was meant to be authoritative but her childlike voice ruined the effect.
Kaito rounded on her, baring his canines. "Leave," he roared, the force of his anger shaking the walls. Outside the sky darkened to gray and the sea churned with his mood.
Ai did not so much as flinch beneath the force of his rage. Kazue's spell had trapped Ai in a child's body but long ago she had been the favored daughter of the Lord of the Sea. As one of the first children, she was extremely powerful in her own right. And she'd never been told no. Even if she appeared weak now, Kaito knew what power dwelt beneath that small exterior. Ai knew it too. Her chin was jutted out in that proud way of hers. For a moment he saw the woman she had been, his mistress, and controller of his fate. But he wasn't her puppet anymore.
"You do not have the command of me, Kai," she said imperiously, losing her childlike way of speaking, if only for a moment.
Whatever he might think, she still saw him as beneath her. And maybe he was. She alone knew just how weak he had become. Just how little he had right now. But his anger only made his pride fiercer.
He stalked closer toward her, looming above her, but she only tilted her head back to maintain eye contact.
"You forget whose court you are in." He turned, flexing his clawed hand as he leaned in, using her diminished size to his advantage.
"Ai has not forgotten. It is you who has forgotten how it got this way."
"Not even for a moment have I forgotten what brought me here," he said through gritted teeth.
"It does not seem so to Ai." She looked him up and down. "You're letting your affection for the human blind you to what must be done."
He threw a punch, swinging past her and slamming it into the bed beside her. For the briefest moment her eyes grew wide, then she snapped her gaze back to him.
"I do not love humans," he snarled.
"Perhaps not all. But you are letting the past affect you."
He stood up to pace away from her before he gave into his impulse to knock her upside her head. The anger was burning in his gut like a thousand twisting snakes. I cannot close my eyes without thinking I will not wake again, that I will never open them again. That I will be trapped in that nightmare for all eternity.
He turned to face her. "I will never forget what was done to me. And yet you think I love the humans?" He threw his head back in mocking laughter. "I would be glad if I never saw another one again."
"Then why not get rid of them?"
"I have more important things to attend to." He gestured broadly around the room.
"You're lying."
They stared at one another for a few minutes. No one would dare call him a liar to his face but her. He considered retaliating but it would get them nowhere.
"Get out. I tire of this conversation." Kaito turned back to the window, ending the conversation. Outside the sea was tossing and slamming against the island, reflective of his dark mood.
"Your brother is a danger to your rule."
"He is jealous, he always has been. I can handle him," Kaito replied, trying to sound glib.
"If you do not secure your place, then he will. By killing you."
"He knows his place." He would not tell Ai that his brother's open hostility concerned him. They were not close enough for that sort of honesty.
"He'll use her against you."
Suddenly the pieces fell into place and he turned toward Ai with eyes glowing blue in his fury. In a deadly voice he said, "And how does he know her name at all?"
Ai stared at him without response, her round childlike face was blank of all emotion. But he knew without her admission it had been her. There was no other way.
"You have to let the human go," she said.
Anger vibrated through his body, while Ai remained composed. "Do not speak of her to me," he growled. Just thinking of the way they'd parted, and the fact that he continued to worry for her welfare only made him seem weak. When she sent him away he'd sworn he was done with humans.
"You need an ally," she replied, ignoring his outburst.
But he already knew this was coming. It was why Ai had told his brother about Suzume in the first place, to drive him to this point.
"Like you?"
She sat perfectly poised, a childlike mirror of the powerful woman she had been before Kazue had destroyed her.
"There are those who remain loyal to my father, to me. If you would consider a marital alliance-"
"I've already given you my answer. I will not be your puppet again." He turned his back on her, facing the window once more.
She stood up and her footsteps hardly made a sound on the tatami as she approached him. She placed a hand on his forearm.
"It would not be like before. Things are different. You are different."
"You are desperate," he snapped.
She did not even react to the slight. "I am. I need you, Kai. Akatsuki needs a strong leader. Together we can rebuild without bloodshed."
Kaito gave a ragged sigh and stared out at the stormy sea. For centuries he'd resisted his court's pressure to marry, never wanting to tether himself down to one woman. For a time, he thought Kazue could be that woman, but that had been a mistake. A foolish dream. But he could not deny it, the world had changed and he wa
s desperate, as much as it pained him to admit that even to himself. Suzume was behind him, Kazue was dead. There was nothing holding him back from making an alliance that could secure him his rule again. And yet he couldn't bring himself to agree. Not yet.
He could not face Ai as he said, "Bring your allies to me, and then I will consider it."
A smile spread across her face. "You will not be disappointed, Kai."
13
Suzume woke in the morning and wiped the drool from her face. I can't remember the last time I slept so good. She stretched and yawned. I had the strangest dream I was back at the palace and I ate with the emperor. Suzume rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked around her room. A painted screen depicting a mountain haloed in fog divided her futon from a larger room. I don't remember that being in the inn room.
Suzume blinked away the sleep from her eyes and her hand fell onto something silky. These blankets were much too nice for an inn. Oh no. Was I kidnapped again? She threw back the covers, leaped to her feet, and darted around the screen. An unfamiliar woman in a familiar uniform was kneeling beside multiple plates of food. The scent of it made her empty stomach growl.
"Good morning, my lady," the servant said as she bowed her head to Suzume.
"It wasn't a dream?" Suzume asked her.
The servant only blinked at her in confusion. Just to be sure, Suzume pinched herself hard. "Ouch!"
"My lady?" The servant leaped up and rushed over to Suzume in concern. Or maybe she thought Suzume was insane.
I'm really back at the White Palace!
Suzume disregarded the maid's concern and plopped down on the ground in front of her breakfast, shoveling the succulent meal into her mouth. She could not remember the last time anything she'd eaten had tasted quite so good. After breakfast, feeling full and content, she flopped backward onto the tatami floor and stared at the ceiling. It wasn't a dream.
"My lady, it's time to get dressed," the servant said.
With a loud groan, Suzume got up and the maid started the complicated ritual of dressing Suzume in layers of kimono. Should I go and visit Mariko or Ayame? I wonder if Estuko ever married that lord with the crooked teeth she was so in love with? I think she did. I wonder if Ayame ever discovered who was writing those tragic poems? Suzume laughed, thinking of the horrid love poems. It felt for a moment as if she had woken from a long horrible nightmare. As if her exile and everything after it had never happened.
The Song of the Wind Page 9
