by Julie Kagawa
At last, with dawn about an hour away, we reached a vast chasm that cut through the forest like an old wound. A rotten wooden bridge spanned the gulf, and on the other side, a skeletal castle loomed, tiered pagoda roofs stabbing the night sky. Pallid mist clung to its walls like ragged curtains, pale tendrils writhing up from the chasm and slithering over the ground. The structure itself was falling apart, half covered in choking vines and roots, as it seemed the forest had not taken kindly to the intruder within its boundaries and was trying to pry it apart. But lights flickered within the windows, and a lit torch stood at the other end of the bridge, indicating the ruin was no longer abandoned.
“Here we are,” sighed the blue hag sister as we approached the bridge. Her left shoulder had already sprouted a withered blue arm with knobby digits that would soon become talons. “Let us go, quickly. I am eager to see Lord Genno, and he will certainly wish to speak with you right away, Hakaimono-sama.”
The bridge groaned under my weight, creaking and protesting every step, but the rotten planks held. An icy wind rushed up from the misty chasm below, smelling of grave dust and old bones. I gazed across the gorge to the castle, taking note of the gate and large, iron-banded doors barring it shut. “No guards,” I mused as we reached the center of the bridge. “Your Master of Demons seems certain that no one is going to attack his castle, if he isn’t even posting sentries. Though I’m not sure if that’s confidence or arrogance. What’s to stop an army from marching across the bridge and strolling through the ga—”
A vibrating groan drifted up from the chasm, and the mist below us started to writhe. The hags tensed and gripped the railings of the bridge, gazing nervously into the darkness, as the wind moaned around us and the planks started to tremble.
An enormous pale skull rose out of the sea of mist. Even bigger than the Man-eating Head, it loomed into the air with huge eye sockets the size of wagon wheels. The skull was followed by an equally giant skeletal body, old yellow bones gleaming in the moonlight as it towered over us, one bony hand big enough to snap the bridge like kindling and send us plunging into the void.
“Ah,” I said, as the gashadokuro peered down at us, red points of light glimmering in its hollow eye sockets. Supremely powerful, gashadokuro were relatively rare, formed at sites of massive death and destruction—such as battlefields or a plague-ridden city—or summoned by potent blood magic. As strong a blood mage as Genno was, it wasn’t surprising that he would summon the infamous gashadokuro to guard the gates of his castle. “I guess that answers that question.”
“Lord Genno is expecting us,” the red hag called, craning her neck to stare up at the monstrous skeleton, creaking like an ancient ship in the wind. “We have permission to be here, we are part of his inner circle. You will let us pass.”
The gashadokuro didn’t answer. I wasn’t sure it could even speak, but its huge jaws opened and it rattled menacingly. Its arm began to rise, as if to crush us and the bridge we stood on, and I dropped my hand to Kamigoroshi.
“Your sentry doesn’t seem to recognize you,” I remarked, tensing to leap out of the way once that giant claw came smashing down. “I’d hate to have to destroy such an expensive guard dog, but if it doesn’t back off, I’m going to make a lot of scavengers very happy.”
“The pass phrase!” the blue hag snapped, whirling on her sister. “Do you remember? You have to speak the pass phrase—it’s the only thing it will understand.”
The gashadokuro’s arm was nearly at its peak. I gripped Kamigoroshi and started drawing it from its sheath, as the green hag’s eyes widened, glaring up at the huge skeleton.
“Death to the empire!” she cried, her voice echoing over the chasm. “All hail the great and terrible Master of Demons. Let all men tremble before Lord Genno’s magnificent return!”
The gashadokuro’s limb trembled, then stopped. With a slow creak, it lowered its arm and became motionless. I snorted and shoved Kamigoroshi back in its sheath.
“You have to shout that every time you want to cross the bridge? I can practically hear Genno’s ego swelling.”
The hags pretended not to hear me. Passing the now unresponsive gashadokuro, we continued to the end of the bridge and stood before the gates of the castle.
Or, where the gates should have been. The archway stood at the end of the bridge, its once ornate wooden frame now rotting and falling apart, but instead of a pair of wooden doors that opened onto the courtyard, there was a continuous wall of rock and stone.
I glanced at the ogresses, who all sighed as if they couldn’t believe they had to put up with this. Scowling, the red hag marched up to the stone wall, raised a clawed foot and gave it a resounding kick.
“Nurikabe! You stupid piece of rock, I know you see us! Let us in.”
“Who wishes to enter Lord Genno’s domain?”
The voice was deep and gravelly, and a single red eye suddenly blinked open in the center of the wall, rolling up to stare at the hag. I shook my head. A nurikabe was a type of living wall yokai that seemed to exist simply to baffle and infuriate travelers. They would plant themselves in front of an opening—be it a door, a cave entrance, even a mountain or forest path—camouflage themselves to blend seamlessly with their surroundings and obstinately refuse to move. They could not be knocked down, and attempting to go over or through the nurikabe would cause it to react and kill the unfortunate traveler. Thankfully, there weren’t many of them in the world anymore. Nurikabe were slow and stupid, but extremely difficult to kill. Sometimes they could be tricked into leaving or moving aside, but once they made up their minds, the only way past the nurikabe was to destroy it.
The red hag made an impatient noise. “You can see that it’s us,” she hissed. “Move aside. We have important business with Lord Genno.”
Another large crimson eye opened, this one near the bottom corner of the wall, and rolled around as it took us in. “I know you,” the yokai said to the hag in a slow, ponderous voice. “I know you, and I know them.” Both eyes stilled, flicking past the ogress to stare balefully at me. “But I don’t know him,” it rumbled. “And Lord Genno was insistent that I do not open this gate for anyone I do not recognize.”
“Don’t recognize him?” the green hag exclaimed. “You stupid blind fool, don’t you know who this is? This is Hakaimono the Destroyer, commander of the Four Great Demon Generals and the First Oni Lord of Jigoku.”
“Hakaimono?” The eyes blinked slowly, and the yokai seemed to settle even farther into the ground. “I do not know anyone of that name.”
I exhaled. This was amusing…and ridiculous. I figured I could circumvent the nurikabe entirely and go over the wall, but I was not going to sneak into Genno’s castle like a shinobi in the night. The Master of Demons knew I was coming; he should’ve known better than to put this absurd obstacle in my path.
“Not going to let me pass?” I asked, and the nurikabe glowered, its eyes a sullen red in its stony body. I drew Kamigoroshi, and the blade flared a bright purple in the face of the monster. The three hags skittered aside; they knew better than to get in the way. Three more eyes opened in the nurikabe’s featureless wall, and with a rumble of stone and dirt, a pair of thick stone arms emerged from the monster’s body, huge fists clenched in front of it. I grinned, flourished Kamigoroshi and sank into a low stance. “Then I guess I’ll have to carve a path right through you!”
“Enough!” boomed a voice. A figure shimmered to life overhead, pale and translucent in the moonlight, a broad-shouldered human in a pure white robe, wide sleeves billowing around him. His hair was long, the sides pulled into a topknot, and two tendril-like strands extended from his upper lip nearly to his belt, floating down his chest like dragon whiskers. His eyes were sharp, his brows sharper and his chin was the sharpest of all; a razor blade of a face pulled into a grim frown.
“Lord Genno,” said the blue hag, and all three of them bowed. I remained standing, watching as the specter floated closer. It ignored the three ogresses, circling me li
ke a pale shark, leaving trails of wispy light behind it. I didn’t move, even when the yurei passed behind me, cold dead eyes on my back, before floating around again.
“Hakaimono,” the figure stated, gazing down at me. “So, you really have come, after all.”
“Genno,” I acknowledged, with a smirk and a very slight nod. “You look exactly the same as you did four hundred years ago. Well, minus a body.”
The specter’s bloodless mouth thinned. “And you are the same irreverent demon that got in the way of my army four centuries back,” it said irritably, and pointed at me with a long, elegant finger. “Let me remind you, Hakaimono—you might be the greatest of the oni lords, but you are still trapped within the body of a mere mortal. This is my domain, and you are a lot easier to kill.”
“No need for threats.” I smiled, showing fangs. “I didn’t come here for a fight, human. I heard you had a bit of trouble with your new body, so I thought I’d offer my assistance.”
The specter of the Master of Demons raised a pale eyebrow. “Intriguing,” he mused. “The First Oni comes to me with an offer of help. Not for free, of course.”
“Of course not.” I snorted. “Enlisting the service of an oni lord is never cheap, you should know that better than anyone, Master of Demons.” I spread my arms, smiling up at him. “If you want my help, I’m willing to join your little quest to take down the empire, and I’ll probably have a great time doing it. But I’ve got a price, and I think it’s one you’ll be willing to pay.”
“And what makes you think I need your assistance?”
“Because you’re not a fool. Because you know I’m far too powerful an ally, and far too dangerous an enemy, to refuse this offer. Besides…” My smile grew wider. “I think you will be very interested to hear this offer, especially considering the times.”
Genno’s brows rose. Very slightly, but it was noticeable. The specter drifted back, his shimmery form becoming even paler. “Come to my tower,” he said, folding his hands into his billowy sleeves. “I am uncomfortable speaking in the open. Nurikabe,” he said without looking at the wall monster. “Allow them to pass. I will see you shortly, Lord Hakaimono,” he continued, as his form faded slowly into nothingness. “The Yama sisters will show you the way.”
The Master of Demons vanished on the wind, leaving us alone in front of the castle gates. The nurikabe glared at me with its multiple red eyes, but with a grinding of stone against stone, the heavy slab of wall dragged itself away from the gate entrance, just enough for a body to fit through without having to squeeze.
I turned to the hag sisters. “Shall we?”
Without waiting for an answer, I stepped forward, slipping through the space between the gate and the nurikabe, and into the Master of Demon’s domain.
10
NEKO AND LUCKY FROGS
Yumeko
I blinked at Reika. “What do you mean, you can’t find them?”
The shrine maiden glared at me and lowered her voice even further, indicating I should do the same. “I mean, they’re gone,” she said again. “After we were shown our quarters, I kept having this eerie feeling that I was being watched, especially when Chu kept growling at the walls and ceiling. So I decided that I should find the others and discuss this little predicament we’ve found ourselves in. When the tea was delivered, I asked the servant where the others were staying, and when she left I stepped out to find them.”
“No one stopped you, Reika-san?” I asked in a whisper.
“Not a one. Though make no mistake, I’m certain I was being watched. Anyway, when I got to their rooms, both were empty. Taiyo-san and the baka ronin had both disappeared, and I have no idea where they are.” The shrine maiden made a frustrated, exasperated gesture. “It’s the middle of the night—who knows what trouble the ronin is getting into. We should not be separated now, not when we have something so important to accomplish. And of course, none of the servants were of any help. No one had seen them leave, or knew where they had gone.” Reika grimaced. “And they expected me to believe that, in this castle where the walls have eyes and the floors seem to be listening to your every word.” She gave me a weary look. “So I figured I’d better come find you, make sure you hadn’t up and vanished, either. Especially after talking to the daimyo. Speaking of which, what of the meeting with Lady Hanshou? Can we be certain she knows nothing about it?”
It? Oh, the scroll. “Yes, Reika-san,” I said, and the shrine maiden relaxed a little. “She doesn’t know about…erm…the thing. But I did meet Tatsumi’s sensei, who warned me that Lord Iesada might try to have us killed.”
“Nani?” Reika’s brows shot up. “Why?”
“Because…I…um, promised Lady Hanshou that we would find Tatsumi and save him from Hakaimono.”
“You did what?” The miko’s eyes bulged, momentarily forgetting to be quiet. “Merciful Jinkei, why in the name of all the sacred Kami would you promise something like that?” I took a breath to explain, but she held up her hand. “No, I don’t want to hear about it now,” she said in a whisper. “This is something we all need to be present for, Master Jiro especially. And then you can explain to us all why you made the decision to go chasing after the demonslayer instead of taking it to the temple.” She glared at me in exasperation, then let out a sigh. “This is bad. If you say Lord Iesada is working against Hanshou-sama’s wishes…I need to find Okame and Taiyo-san, before they disappear down a dark hallway and are never seen again.”
“Where should we start, Reika-san?” I asked.
She gave me a stern look. “You aren’t going anywhere. You are going to stay in this room where I don’t have to worry about where you are or what trouble you’re getting into. It will be safer than having you wander around this maze of a castle. And don’t pin your ears at me.” She returned my frown. “If we get lost or separated, I don’t want to spend even more time trying to find you as well as Taiyo-san and the baka ronin. You’ll be safer here. A guest being attacked by shinobi in their own quarters would bring eternal shame and dishonor to the clan hosting them. If you’re safely in your room, you won’t raise any suspicions.”
“What about Lord Iesada?” I asked. “He could have shinobi of his own. There could be assassins hiding under the floors or in the wall paintings, waiting to ambush you.”
“All the more reason I should go alone. I’m just a humble shrine maiden. I’m not carrying anything important. No one will care if I disappear.”
“I would care, Reika-san.”
She gave me a pointed look, as if that were the end of it. “You’re not coming with me, Yumeko-chan. End of story.”
She wasn’t going to change her mind, so I nodded and sighed. “All right, Reika-san,” I told her, “but how will you find the others? This castle is like a maze. Oh, do you need string? I could probably make you a ball of string.”
“No. I’ll get Chu to follow their trail. He should be able to track them by scent, as odorous as the ronin is.” The shrine maiden wrinkled her nose. “He’ll be able to find his way back, as well. What I don’t want to do is go gallivanting through Hakumei castle without knowing where you are.” She pointed a finger at the floor. “So you are going to stay right here, in this room, and not leave, understand? If anything strange happens, remember that Master Jiro and Ko are across the hall, and neither of them are defenseless.” Her lips thinned. “Still, I need to hurry. I don’t like the idea of leaving him alone in this place. Baka men.” She walked to the door, shaking her head, as Chu followed. “What could have come over those two, that they would just up and leave without a word to anyone?”
“Okame-san hasn’t been himself since the Path of Shadows,” I said as Reika pushed open the shoji and peered into the hallway. A dark, polished floor, flickering lanterns and fusuma panel walls greeted her as she leaned out of the room. “I hope he’s all right.”
Reika sniffed. “He probably wandered off to get drunk, and dragged Taiyo-san along with him,” she muttered, gazing up and down th
e corridor. “It looks clear,” she said, and glanced back into the room. “I’m going. Remember what I said, Yumeko. Stay here. Don’t get into trouble. Promise me.”
I nodded. “Be careful, Reika-san.”
“Chu,” the miko said, gazing down at the dog. “Let’s go. Find the ronin and Taiyo-san.”
The small orange dog immediately put his nose to the floor and trotted into the hallway, his claws clicking over the wood. With one last stern glare at me, the shrine maiden shut the door between us, and I listened to their footsteps pad away down the corridor.
As soon as the sound faded into silence, I rose and walked to the door. I trusted Reika-san, and I knew she was just trying to protect the scroll, but if Daisuke and Okame were in trouble, I certainly wasn’t going to sit by myself and do nothing. The miko would be cross, but I’d never actually agreed to stay in my room. As I’d once pointed out to Jin when he had made me promise not to eat the rice cakes he’d left on the counter, I had never spoken the actual words out loud, thus I couldn’t be held to it.
