Silver Wolf examined Katsu's face and sighed. 'Speak your news; you are safe.'
'Yes, lord. There was a skirmish, fought against a young male and a young female agent of the Grey Light Order, identified by Jiro as Moonshadow and Snowhawk. It took place in a market, in a town north of Edo. One of our bounty hunters, my friend, the former sumo wrestler –' Katsu hung his head – 'was badly injured.'
'How?' The warlord folded his arms. 'A sword cut? Shuriken? Witchcraft?'
'A collision with a stone well, incited by the youth called Moonshadow.'
'Whose head,' Silver Wolf said with relish, 'will be on show here one day soon.'
'Both GLO agents escaped, heading north. Your task force is in pursuit. More may have already happened, but no further word has reached me as yet.'
'Ah, yes. Heading north, to that mountain. How fitting that once again, so unexpectedly, blood must be spilled there for my honour to be satisfied.' The warlord drew a folded paper from his jacket and held it out to Katsu, who eyed it uneasily. 'Here, take it. In the light of such an early loss, I now order you to transmit this to our Fuma friends in the usual way. But with all haste; take a horse, ride to their inn. I prepared this despatch in case just such news arrived. It's my personal request for them to send immediate reinforcements. It's brief. Go ahead, read it . . .'
Katsu unfolded and read the message. 'My lord . . . that many? Does not the evidence suggest that merely two hostile agents are on their way to the White Nun?'
'My good fellow,' Silver Wolf squeezed Katsu's shoulder with an iron grip. 'I've underestimated a Grey Light Order brat before. Not again. This time, we win.'
Behind the warlord, his archers launched a final precision volley. Katsu heard it hiss into the darkening sky. There was no need to check the results. He trusted their uncanny accuracy. Right now, little else in his world deserved trust.
Not his master, nor his master's new allies, the Fuma. Never trust a shinobi.
Did this obsessed, ambitious daimyo really understand what he was starting? Katsu had helped his master plot and scheme so much that he could now predict the three steps of Silver Wolf's grand vision, the last step of which the warlord had only hinted at.
Strip the Shogun of protection, eyes and ears, by crushing the Grey Light Order.
Replace the Shogun the traditional way: defeating, then absorbing his allies.
Finally, with an enormous army, invade the Korean Peninsula and begin expanding the empire . . . and go on expanding it, until it covered the very world.
What an arrogant, frightening dream to possess one mere man!
Silver Wolf dismissed him with a nod. Katsu bowed and turned from his employer. Before leaving the battlements, he glanced one last time to the hills.
All trace of the sumptuous sunset was gone, replaced by the dull haze of twilight.
Those escorts had been so right, Katsu mused. Nothing lasted forever. Especially not peace.
Iron lanterns burned at even intervals along the dark wooden walls of the old shrine. Shadows danced across exposed beams on its ceiling.
Its windows were boarded up, the badly worn matting floor smelled of time.
The building was hundreds of years old and though it kept out the weather, it was cold and draughty. How could anyone so old live here willingly? How did food supplies get up here? Surely no one from those towns would cross the haunted forest?
Moonshadow looked up from his bowl of ramen noodles and stared at the White Nun hunched opposite him. At his side, Snowhawk ate fast with an almost impolite amount of noise.
Beside the sage sat the Akita Matagi that had virtually captured them and marched them up here. Motionless, the dog stared at Moonshadow, its weird blue eyes boring into him.
Moon looked back to the White Nun. Her appearance was so distinctive: snow white hair peeping from the pointy quilted hood she wore, impossibly pale skin and red eyes. It was said that one of Japan's long-dead emperors had been born with such rare features and he had proved a good, wise ruler. Moon had never seen a human being like the White Nun. Nor one that could – it appeared – stay linked to an animal indefinitely. How did she do that? Why did such a prolonged joining not suck the very life from her?
At their sunset arrival, the pair had made another startling discovery. The White Nun could read minds, or so it seemed. It was disconcerting to say the least, the way she finished sentences each of them began. Moon eyed her uneasily. Could she pick up everything that flickered through his mind? He hoped not. Moonshadow forced himself to concentrate on the generous and satisfying meal she had prepared them.
'Yes, the noodles are filling, are they not?' The White Nun smiled. Her voice was soft, remote.
He grinned back. She had done it again. Moon scooped up a last thick noodle between his chopsticks, fed it between his lips, then lowered the bowl to the stained matting at his side.
He sighed. Since she knew his thoughts, there seemed no point in holding back.
As he met her peculiar red stare, she smiled again. 'You want to ask about Motto.' She gestured at the beast beside her. 'I call him that because motto of course means more and he's more all right: bigger, stronger, faster, smarter than any dog or wolf I've seen. He's . . . simply motto.'
Covering her mouth with a heavily wrinkled hand, she giggled at her own joke.
Moonshadow chuckled and leaned forward, offering the back of his hand to the dog. 'Good evening, Motto-San,' he said warmly. 'You sure scared us back there.'
The wolf-dog stared at him without expression, then its lips peeled open. The flash of teeth made Moon snatch his hand back. Motto relaxed his mouth again.
'That's unusual,' Snowhawk said thoughtfully. 'Animals generally take to Moon, not just the ones he links with, either. Maybe we don't smell so –'
'Oh no, dear.' The White Nun glanced at her only permanent companion. 'It's not about you. He's like this because I'm here. He can be much friendlier. But while we're linked and I'm present, I'm afraid Motto-San is single-minded to the point of rudeness.'
Staring at the wolf-like beast, Moonshadow slowly shook his head in wonder.
'Come now, dear,' the sage said gently. 'Don't be so amazed that I could control Motto-San over such a distance, call him off you and have him bring you here unharmed.'
Moon blinked, embarrassed. That was exactly what he had been thinking.
The White Nun went on enthusiastically. 'As young Snowhawk here says, you've always had a strong rapport with animals. I felt it the day I encouraged your selection for training in the Order's orphanage. And there's still more to your special skill than you know. One day, you too will extend your Eye of the Beast powers, just as I have. You'll hold a permanent link with a creature over a great distance, maintaining the bond even when you sleep – confident that the beast will carry out your intentions on its own.'
'Great sage,' he bowed, 'thank you for this encouraging word. But how do you –'
'All in good time.' The White Nun held up a finger. 'And yes, as you theorised, it can be al most fatally draining, but once your skills have fully matured . . .' she sighed. 'In any event, it is how I have stayed safe all these years . . . despite my reluctant involvement, at times, in shinobi politics.'
Snowhawk spoke earnestly. 'Your skills are beyond remarkable, great lady. Not even Moon's august teacher, Brother Eagle, appears to share your level of development.'
The White Nun laughed. 'You are so sweet, child. And I know just what you recalled while saying that: Moonshadow here . . . trying to link with my Motto-San.' She looked to Moon. 'The attempt seems to have made him suspicious of you, but don't take offence. His wariness will pass. Motto-San is a particularly loyal beast, and I'd say he simply disliked another trying to usurp my control.'
Moon nodded at her intently. Meeting Motto had been harrowing, all right.
'Of course your attempt to meld with him failed.' She leaned forward. 'Only one set of very unusual circumstances can break or override my link with him. They a
re so unlikely, they're not worth discussing.'
Motto-San and Moonshadow looked up at the ceiling at the same time. A moment later, a wave of late spring rain began to fall noisily.
'I knew you possessed the Old Country science of Insight,' Moon said, 'but I didn't know you also had this . . . this ultimate mastery of the Eye of the Beast.'
The White Nun smiled sadly. 'Child, if all the powers over which I am custodian were known, the Shogun himself would probably want me dead, though I am neither spy nor warrior. I have only ever used my skills personally in self-defence. Even then, with great loathing and only to the extent required to save my life.'
She thrust a finger at Snowhawk, startling her. 'No, it's not therefore pointless power, child! I was put here to teach, never to do. Let others bear the karma of how they use my training. For good or evil, for glory or destruction. No, I know my destiny. And knowing it, I must honour it. Such is everyone's ideal path. To know and thus to honour.'
'Forgive my ignorant thoughts.' Snowhawk dipped her chin. She paused, then thumbed at the ever-watchful Motto. 'Heron said you were guarded by a bear.'
'I was, and guarded well, for many years. I'd go south each winter and visit a warrior-monk I trained on the southernmost island, while the bear slept in this very shrine. But in the end that magnificent beast died of old age. She's buried close by.'
To Moon's surprise, she raised one hand and wiped her iridescent red eyes.
'Ironic, is it not, the replacement the kami chose for her? A lost or escaped puppy wandering in a forest . . . that turned out to be a bear hunting hound. The Satake Clan are clever breeders. Motto-San too has proved a fine protector, as you found out. I can order him to patrol, then turn my mind to other, more pressing matters. Of course, at such times my awareness is somewhat impaired. Hence I could sense your distant approach but not recognise you, as I normally would.'
Snowhawk inclined her head and frowned.
'No,' the White Nun quickly shook her head. 'Don't wonder what those matters are. Too hard to explain to you at this time.'
'Forgive me prying then, but was one such task summoning us?' Snowhawk gestured at herself and Moon. 'That's why we've come. To evacuate you.'
'To help you escape the coming attack,' Moonshadow put in keenly.
The White Nun sighed. 'Though I was expecting to see you some day soon, I did not summon you.' She eyed their shocked faces. 'But I see that someone did, apparently using me – and this imagined threat – as bait.' She closed her eyes for a few seconds. 'Yes. There is an attack coming. But I am not its target. And had you not come to me, it would have befallen you somewhere else.' She raised one eyebrow. 'Anyone genuinely out to capture or slay me would risk enraging the many shinobi, some of them now clan masters, who I have known, taught, and even healed during . . . well, at least the last fifty years. Warmongers like to be in control of who they upset as much as they can. They delight in acting as puppet masters, using the people of the shadows against their samurai foes or even each other, but they avoid lighting fires no one can control or quench. No, no, in this matter, I was ever but the lure, and you two the tasty fish, to be hooked and fried, each for a different reason.'
Moon and Snowhawk stared at one another. They'd been set up? It was all a ploy?
'So it is now I who must rescue you two.' The White Nun laughed almost bitterly. Beside her, the great dog huffed, threw back its head and let out a single wolfish howl. Though Moon saw it coming, the powerful bay still made him flinch. The sage glanced at her animal guardian. He quickly lay down, stretching out and resting his head on his enormous paws. Despite the more relaxed position, Motto's eyes stayed fixed on Moon.
'Me saving you could be difficult,' the White Nun sighed. 'Given that I will not kill, your safety may be something I cannot guarantee. Do you not sense why you were each trapped? He wanted you, boy, out of Edo that he might take his revenge. They wanted you, girl, far from the Grey Light Order's walls that you may be recaptured.'
'He . . .' Moon's face darkened. 'You mean Silver Wolf? He's behind all this?'
'I'd rather die than go back!' Snowhawk snapped. Motto half-rose, glaring at her.
'I won't let that happen!' Moonshadow growled. The dog's head turned at him.
With a knowing smile, the White Nun waved a finger. Motto sank to the floor.
'Let's discover a thing or two.' She bowed her head and her hands trembled. 'Your enemies indeed approach. Such numbers, for ninja. We should leave at dawn, evade them in the forest, get off this mountain as they ascend it. I cannot let a battle take place in or around this shrine. It is holy ground.'
'Will we escape them? Is it too late?' There was fear in Snowhawk's eyes.
'Only destiny cannot be escaped,' the White Nun said gently. 'And fortunately for mortals, destiny is fluid, pliant, it changes with every decision one makes.' She arched forward to eye Moon closely. 'Mark me then, boy. Some battles, one must win alone. Others, the winning comes by learning to accept help, the right help. Even I have learned to depend, at times, on the strength of others. A network of holy men, old pilgrims, pass this mountain regularly. It is they who bring Motto-San and I much of our food, in exchange for healing and counsel.' The White Nun tapped her chest. 'Oh, I know, it rankles the pride and can confuse the mind, but it's a lesson even the great must learn. Choosing to depend on others can demand as much courage as fighting alone and outnumbered!'
He frowned. What did that mean?
She waved away his imminent question. 'Though you were led here in deception, yet were you meant to come.' The sage gestured for Moon to approach. He shuffled forward on his knees, wary of Motto's jaws as he drew right up to the White Nun.
The Akita Matagi's blue eyes tracked him, but the animal stayed prone.
'I must pass something to you now,' the White Nun said solemnly. 'An anointing. It will rest within you, a planted seed, but in time, it will grow, helping you take the Eye of the Beast to that ultimate level: long distance sight-control. Be very patient. It will take years. It's the most useful of all powers I think, though also the hardest to refine. It is the means by which, for a long time, I've watched over you, both in the field and at home.'
Moonshadow's mouth fell open. 'The cat! The temple cat!'
'My spy.' The White Nun flashed a crafty smile. 'I chose her to be my eyes upon you and my disciple Heron. She is a true cat, not a spirit-creature or a mystic's disguise, but, from time to time, I watch things through her. When I sense your mind reaching for hers, I step back and release her into your control. I felt you reach for Motto too, back down on the mountain. But if I'd stepped back then and let you control him, who would have have herded you up here to me?' She patted her chest. 'Yes, there's her and Motto-San. Linking thus to two creatures can leave me most depleted, in need of . . . sleep for weeks, though I have grown more skilled over time in managing the energies and delaying such rests.'
'But . . .' Snowhawk gaped. 'When you must rest, for weeks, who protects you?'
The White Nun tittered. 'The snows that seal off this mountain. Yes, children, in winter, I sleep like that bear. Long links can cause an exchange of traits. You will see.'
Moonshadow marvelled. So those animal residues were only the beginning. 'Why, great sage,' he asked, 'do you care so much about me?'
She quickly shook her head. 'Not yet, boy. Be patient. It is not yet the time.'
'I don't understand,' Snowhawk blurted, 'the time for what?'
'The time to speak of my debt to his mother.' The White Nun pointed at Moon.
Her words tore through him like a fire arrow. Moonshadow felt himself reel where he sat. A matter of some ten words, and his world was turning inside-out.
Snowhawk gasped. 'His mother?'
The White Nun raised a hand sternly. 'No, stay your tongues, do not probe further. We must not speak of this subject again until I next visit the monastery in Edo, lest a certain destiny be thwarted.' She gazed into Moon's eyes. 'Now. Will you, on trust and in faith, ev
en with so many unanswered questions, accept my anointing?'
Feeling that his brain had just frozen, Moonshadow managed only a scant nod.
'Good boy.' The sage stared, breathing in and out deeply, just once. 'There. It is done. I have just planted in you all that I can. The remainder you must find . . . elsewhere.'
'Forgive my brashness,' Snowhawk said impulsively, 'but there is a certain blessing I would beg for.' Her chin trembled. 'To rid me of a problem, no, a poison –'
'No, no, no, child.' The White Nun sighed heavily. 'You would ask me to sweep away the hate and bitterness that fills your poor heart with anger? Only you can do that.'
'How?' Tears rolled down Snowhawk's face.
Fixing her with a tender look, the sage spoke gently. 'Your enemy told you how.'
Snowhawk wiped her cheek and slowly blinked. 'Be like the river?'
'Be like the river,' the White Nun repeated softly. 'Wisdom, child, is where you find it. The one who counselled you thus, spoke from a natural gift they truly have; one they might have lived to serve, had their life not begun much as yours did, being orphaned by the hand of bandits, then being raised shinobi, made special, made alone . . . made hard as folded steel! Your enemy advised you out of the one place left in her that is not hunter, capturer, killer. So ignore her deeds, be mindful of her sorrow, and heed her words anyway.'
'It's so confusing.' Snowhawk shrugged. 'I know she spoke the truth, but why –'
'Even the she-wolf shows a trace of tenderness at the sight of an orphan cub.' The White Nun ignored the questioning frown on Moon's face and winked at Snowhawk.
Struggling to her feet, the sage turned and made for a thick bedroll under a lantern on the far wall. Motto stood briskly and walked backwards at her side, his eyes moving constantly between the two unexpected guests.
The White Nun stopped at the foot of her bed, looking back at them.
'I am empty now. I must grow truly still, withdraw inside my mind's deepest shield to recover my strength. At such times, my life is in Motto's paws, for while resting thus, I can neither sense nor repel any form of attack. But do not fear: if your enemies arrive, Motto will hear them and raise the alarm. So now, both of you, sleep. I will wake you just before sunrise.'
The Wrath of Silver Wolf Page 12
