The Song of the Wind

by Nicolette Andrews

  The boar shook his massive head, his tusks gleaming in the light. "The Kaedemori brat, the woman who sold her firstborn to woo the emperor."

  Then what my grandfather said is true. My mother made some sort of deal with this monster.

  "Then if she matters so little, you will not mind giving her to me," Hisato said.

  The boar narrowed his eyes at the pair of them, roving over Suzume in a way that made her skin crawl. "Don't think I will give her up so easily. The dragon has returned, and I'll be needing someone powerful to protect me."

  As if I would ever serve you! Suzume screamed inside her head, to no avail. She could only stay still, head bowed, listening.

  "Then I can be of some service. I have an even better prize for you, if you will give me her." Hisato gestured toward Suzume.

  The boar leaned forward. "Show me."

  Hisato waved his hand. "Bring him in."

  The doors at the end of the room were opened. One of the warrior priests who had been traveling in the forest was brought into the room. He walked in with his head held high, his gaze trained on them. When he saw Suzume his eyes widened only for a moment, before he was forced to kneel on the ground in front of the boar.

  "You have trespassed upon my land, human, and the price for such a transgression is death. How do you plead?"

  The man glared back at him without speaking.

  "I had to still his tongue, lest he try to chant and free himself," Hisato said.

  "It matters little. Do what you will with him."

  He strolled over toward the man and knelt before him. A small stone appeared in his hand and he held it out to the young man.

  "I can spare your life. All that you must do is consume this stone."

  The man eyed the stone dubiously, his gaze flickering toward Hisato before he reached out with shaking hands to take it. Don't do it, you fool! But no one could hear her pleas, except perhaps Hisato. Very slowly the priest brought the stone to his lips. Suzume watched powerlessly as the man swallowed the stone. There was a deadly hush throughout the room. Nothing happened, and even the man appeared visibly relieved.

  Then Hisato stood and turned toward Suzume. "Now sing."

  With every ounce of willpower she had, she tried to keep her lips sealed. The command Hisato gave her pulled at her lips, yanking them back over her teeth which she clamped closed. But in the end she could not disobey, and when Suzume's mouth opened an unfamiliar song poured out of her, weaving through the air. Power prickled all over her body and as she sang, the man fell over in convulsions. Try as she might she couldn't stop the song which was torturing the man. The power continued to pour out of her and slam into the young man's body in waves. His face changed colors first, and then hair started to sprout all over his body. Horns burst from his forehead. The man pitched forward, screaming in agony as his entire body contorted. His bones cracked and his entire body turned into a glob of jelly. The song died away, and the unformed mass stretched and contorted as new limbs were reformed from the wreckage.

  Suzume could not tear her eyes away even after the song finished and there was nothing left of the priest but a panting pile of fur and torn clothes. For a moment she thought she had killed him. And then slowly, he rose, monstrous in appearance. Not quite man, but not quite human either. His arms were covered in coarse fur. It was his eyes that were the most disturbing—they glowed red. The same as her spiritual aura.

  Hisato turned with a flourish to Akio. He was leaning forward, examining the creature with intense pleasure gleaming in his eyes.

  "What is it?" the boar asked.

  "This is a new breed of life. Both human and yokai, with the ability of both." Hisato pointed at the monster. The yokai around the room muttered to themselves, gazing in horror at the creature. At the front of the room, she spotted the wolf, the same who'd come to attack her grandfather and found her in the forest. Of everyone in the room, he was the only one watching her. As if she were the monster, because it had been her power which created it.

  "Will it be able to defeat the dragon though?" Akio asked.

  "Watch." Hisato gestured. "Kill him." He pointed to one of the oni, whose body was covered in mottled blue skin. It was perhaps twice the height of the creature Suzume had created, and he wielded a club stained suspiciously with what looked like blood.

  "That abomination will not be able to destroy me," the oni said as he pushed his way to the front of the crowd. He came thundering toward it. The creature kept its head lowered, as if it was ashamed of its own existence.

  The oni swung his club, but before he could land a blow the monster lifted his head, its bright red eyes trained upon its attacker. A song rippled out from him, and Suzume felt the power brush against her skin and was repulsed by it. It was like spiritual energy but different, almost as if it was rotted from the inside.

  A blast of red light slammed into the oni, burning a hole through his chest. He fell over with a wet thump, dead before he even landed. His club clattered on the ground beside him.

  There was a deadly hush throughout the room as everyone stared at the fallen oni, and then the monster who had killed him.

  "I have hundreds more at my disposal. Give me the girl and you will have what you wanted, destruction of the dragon."

  "And it is her who has the power to make these?" The boar's eyes gleamed. "Why would I give you her for a mere copy when I can use her and make my own army?"

  Hisato had another trick up his sleeve. Her eyes darted around the room. If only she could break free.

  "We made a deal," Hisato said, and as he spoke the yokai around the room started to close in around Suzume and him.

  "Oh, we did, but I've decided the deal is off." And then to the okami, who had transformed into a massive white wolf, he said, "Take her."

  Kill them all, Hisato said, giving a silent command inside her head that could not be disobeyed.

  34

  The yokai crowded around her. Fire was already rising to the surface, surrounding her in flames. As soon as the yokai saw the holy fire which haloed her, they took a step back. Only the white wolf seemed unafraid of her flames and he lunged toward her. Suzume swung swiping at his body, but he rolled out of the way. The flames brushed against him, hardly singeing his fur.

  A boar wielding a long spear jabbed it toward Suzume. She dodged the blow by spinning out of the way. And came up behind the creature and sliced him across the back. It fell to the ground. As she did this another yokai came up behind her, attempting to catch her unaware, swinging with his sword. She turned one hand, sending a fiery blast toward him, that burned hot and fast. It would reduce him to ashes in a matter of moments.

  The monstrosity she had helped Hisato create was also beating back the yokai, using the power of his spiritual energy to blow through the crowd. All the while Hisato's manic laughter floated on the air. Suzume watched it all, trapped within her own mind as the drama unfolded.

  The wolf continued to hound her, attempting to scratch and claw at her. They were equally matched it seemed because neither of them could successfully land a debilitating blow.

  That's enough for now. I think he's learned his lesson, Hisato said.

  The creature made an opening for them to escape and Hisato took a hold of Suzume, pulling her along as if tethered to him by an invisible string. They made their way down the twisting corridors of the boar's palace with Hisato leading the way, the monster covering the rear, and the boar's guards chasing after them. The creature stopped to hold them off as they turned the corner. The shouts and clash of weapons competed with the song the monster tried to use against them. But the sheer numbers of yokai overwhelmed the monster and his pained screams drowned out all other sound as he was killed.

  She could not even turn her head to see what had happened.

  "Don't worry, we can make more."

  It wasn’t a comforting thought. They found an empty room and Hisato pulled her inside. They listened as the boar's men ran past. Once he was confident t
hey were safe, he turned to her.

  "I appreciate your role in this charade, Suzume. It won't be long before everyone learns of your power to corrupt humans—to make them more powerful than yokai."

  I will destroy you, she thought. He stepped closer to her, so her entire vision was taken up by him.

  "I gave you the choice to come to me, Suzume. But now you've forced my hand. I will not take you with me, not yet. I have one more job left for you. You must kill the dragon."

  As if I would do that.

  "You can try to fight it, but just as you control the dragon, so I control you. We are connected because I am a part of you and you will do as I say."

  Pain rippled through her as if she were being stabbed by thousands of white-hot needles. Her legs buckled and she fell to the ground. Though she wanted to curl in a ball, she was not even afforded that luxury.

  "You are forbidden from telling anyone what you must do. If you try to interfere in any way, I will know and I will punish you for it."

  He grabbed her by the chin, forcing her to meet his gaze. Staring up at him, she knew there was no hope of fighting. It was her selfishness that had gotten her here, and now she would pay the price.

  "Now go, return to your friends."

  She stood up and started walking, her steps automatic. Hisato had opened a portal in the nearby wall. Try as she might to fight against his command, she marched through the portal anyway. Walking through it felt like stepping through an icy waterfall. She felt all the hairs on her arms and neck stand on end. There was a strange disorienting sensation, as if she couldn't figure out what way was up and what was down. After a few seconds it was over and she was standing in the middle of the forest, not far from where she had disappeared.

  A quick test revealed she had control of her limbs once more. It wasn't until then that she realized the arm she had thought broken had healed. How is that possible?

  There wasn't much time to consider it because Tsuki and Noaki came bursting from the nearby brush. When they saw Suzume standing in the middle of the forest staring at her hand, they both came up short.

  "Well this might be the easiest rescue we've ever done," Tsuki said, sheathing his weapon.

  Noaki handed Suzume her staff which she’d dropped when she fell and broken her arm.

  "His-" she started to say, but the words dried up in her throat. So, it was true, she couldn't tell them anything. "Do-" she tried again. No matter how she tried to form the sentence it was impossible.

  "As much as I'd love to chat, we need to get you out of here," Tsuki said. "Ryuu has called a retreat. The guardian isn't going to let us get anywhere near his palace today."

  They don't know where I've been. Perhaps a few hours had elapsed, long enough for them to believe she had merely been lost in the woods. And it wasn't as if she could tell them different. Noaki was watching her, his expression impossible to read. Suzume hesitated, thinking about how Hisato had used his form to deceive her. Would she ever be able to trust anyone again? She couldn't even trust herself anymore.

  They rejoined Ryuu and the other priests where they were congregated in the forest. As she approached with Tsuki and Noaki, Ryuu met her gaze. Her guilt made her turn away from him. There was something about the way he looked at her, it felt as if he could see right through her.

  "Are we missing anyone else?" Ryuu asked the group.

  "Just Touma."

  Suzume cringed. That had to be the name of the priest Hisato had forced her into transforming. And how was it possible she could do such a thing? If only she could speak up and say something, but as it was, her tongue was glued to the roof of her mouth. None of them would ever know the fate of this man. His death would forever be her secret shame.

  "Let's get the princess out of here. The rest of you keep searching for Touma." Ryuu, seeing Suzume's pained expression, misread it and said, "We'll find another way to get the information about your mother," Ryuu said, placing his hand on her shoulder.

  She had almost forgotten that was the reason she'd gone into this forest. Once again her impulsive nature had put everyone around her in danger. Don't worry about finding her. I need to figure out how to stop Hisato from using me to kill Kaito.

  But she couldn't say that. All she could manage was a nod.

  They returned to her grandfather's palace and she and Ryuu were shown to his personal chambers once more. Tea was served. Suzume would have rather been anywhere but there. She needed to figure out how to break from Hisato's control over her, not wasting time on politics. Even if her mother knew how she had gotten this way, it wouldn't change anything. She could see that now. She'd been so obsessed with the past that she couldn't see what was right in front of her.

  "You've done it. I'm impressed," her grandfather said.

  Suzume's head shot up. What is he talking about? All I did was turn a man into a monster before getting him killed.

  "But, my lord, we never made it to the guardian's palace," Ryuu said, clearly just as confused as Suzume.

  Lord Kaedemori shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever you did it made an impression. I received a visitor." He said the word with hardly veiled disgust. "Who informed me Izume's debt has been paid."

  Suzume stared at her grandfather. Was this Hisato's trick? Had he taken her grandfather's form to deceive her? But why would he do that? Her head hurt just going through the possibilities.

  "As for my end of the bargain." He slid a map across a table toward them. "I've marked the location where she is hidden."

  Ryuu took the paper and bowed his head.

  Suzume thought of all she had seen—the man who had died, Hisato's spell over her. None of it was fair. Not to her and not to the innocent who had died. And then a thought occurred to her, what if this had been her grandfather's plot all along? According to Souta she had been born with the power. Her grandfather controlled every aspect of the family. It would not surprise her if he knew exactly how she'd gotten this way.

  "You knew," Suzume said to her grandfather.

  "I knew your mother made a deal with that creature to become empress. But the fool didn't realize there are still many who oppose us. And she still ended up as second wife."

  Suzume gripped the table hard. "Don't pretend it wasn't your idea from the start. That's why that monster was after you. But when she didn't become empress you had to make a different plan."

  All the pieces were starting to fall into place. He had to be the one. There was no other explanation.

  "I do not know what you're talking about."

  "You did this to me." Suzume slammed her hands onto the table in front of her, singeing the wood. Her grandfather stared at the burn marks then to her.

  "Pity you weren't born a boy, then you might have been useful to us."

  In a flash she lost her temper and a ball of fire came to her hand. She flung it toward his head, missing just by a few inches. The flames caught on the wall behind him. Her grandfather leaped up, shouting to put out the fire as Suzume turned and stormed out of the room. Servants rushed in to put out the fire she had started.

  She stormed away and started heading to her room. But she couldn’t look into their eyes knowing that she was going to kill Kaito and didn’t know how to stop it. Besides, her grandfather was going to have her kicked out soon anyway. She headed for the door outside instead, storming through the courtyard past the confused guards. She'd almost made it to the gate when someone grabbed a hold of her arm.

  She spun around to face Ryuu, whose eyes were glowing blue. It reminded her too much of Kaito.

  "Go away." She gnashed her teeth, like the monster she was.

  "We need to talk," Ryuu said.

  "I have nothing to say to you." She flung a fiery ball at him, but he knocked it aside as if it was nothing. The fire dispersed into sparks that faded into the night.

  "Well, that's good, because I just need you to listen."

  "You're right to be mad at your grandfather. He's a grasping, power-hungry man. And you are cor
rect, he did make a deal with the forest guardian to make Izume empress."

  Suzume scoffed.

  "But she didn't become empress because I convinced the emperor not to choose her."

  Suzume's eyes widened.

  "Why?"

  "Because I loved your mother."

  Suzume threw her head back and laughed. "Well thank you for being honest about how you've ruined my life." She turned to walk away but he stepped in front of her, blocking her path.

  "I'm not telling you this to make you angry. I'm telling you because it wasn't your grandfather who put Kazue's soul inside you. It was me."

  35

  There were a hundred different questions she could have asked. A thousand different feelings burning up inside her. But none of them were good enough. There weren't words that could express what she felt.

  "Why?" she croaked.

  He took a step toward her as if he would reach out to her, try and comfort her. She stepped away from him.

  "Don't touch me." Her emotions were unchecked and flames erupted along her body.

  He didn't seem to be bothered by this fact and continued to stare at her, pleading with her eyes for her to understand.

  "I thought my seal would hold. I never knew the powers would manifest," he said.

  Suzume let go a bitter laugh. "Is that your excuse? You really expect me to believe it? You sent me to that shrine and I awakened the dragon. Was that your plan all along? Were you and my grandfather plotting to bring the dragon to your side? To help you take over the throne?"

  "Just let me explain."

  She shook her head. It all made sense now. He had brought her to Souta. He was second-in-command of the temple where Hikaru had served, and he had been her mother's lover. She laughed again. It was a mad disjointed sound, and for a moment she felt as if she were floating outside her body. As if Hisato had taken her over once more. But it wasn't that. She was just numb to it all now. Ryuu watched her as she slowly unraveled, not saying a word.