Soul of the Sword

by Julie Kagawa

  “Why are you telling me this?”

  I felt a cold lump settle in my gut, the chill spreading to all parts of my body. Reika continued to watch me, her sympathetic expression still in place. “All I’m saying is that the human soul can be very fragile, Yumeko-chan,” she said softly. “I know you think your demonslayer is strong, but we don’t know what Hakaimono is doing to him, mentally and physically. I want you to be prepared. Even if we do save him, Kage Tatsumi might be…different than he was before.”

  “Oh, stop with the doom and gloom already.” Okame sat up, giving the shrine maiden a disgusted look. “We’ll deal with that problem when we come to it. First, we have to find the oni bastard, and then things will get really interesting. So where was he spotted again? The Forest of Evil Eyes or something like that?”

  “The Forest of a Thousand Eyes,” Daisuke corrected. “Also called the Wood of One Million Curses. The stories say that any human who enters the forest is never seen again.”

  “Sounds cheerful.” Okame shook his head. “So, I guess we’ll be leaving soon.”

  “Tomorrow,” I said. “Lady Hanshou wishes us to do this quickly. Naganori-san will take us through the Path of Shadows to the edge of Fire Clan territory.”

  No one seemed pleased by that statement. Master Jiro thinned his lips and Reika wrinkled her nose, but Okame went slightly pale, one fist clenching on his leg.

  “Right. So, I’m going to need to be really, really drunk,” he muttered. “That way, if Yasuo drags me off the Path into Meido, at least it’ll be tolerable.”

  “That will not happen, Okame-san,” Daisuke said. “As I said before, I will be right behind you. And should your brother wish to claim you again, I will convince him otherwise. I swear this on my life.”

  The noble’s voice was quietly intense. Okame glanced up, and for a moment, something passed between the two, some flutter of emotion or understanding I couldn’t place. But before I could wonder too long on it, Master Jiro cleared his throat.

  “We should try to rest,” the priest announced. “The night is nearly gone, and I fear we will not get much of a chance afterward. Certainly there will be no sleeping on the Path. But, may I suggest staying together? After tonight’s events, I feel that no one should be alone in Hakumei castle.”

  “Of course, Master Jiro.” Reika stood up, waving a hand at me. “Come, Yumeko-chan. We’ll stay in my room. Chu,” she added, looking at the dog, “you and Ko stay here. Protect Master Jiro, all right?”

  The small orange dog wagged his tail in a very solemn manner, then turned to pad over to the priest, joining Ko at his side.

  Okame glanced at Daisuke, his lip curled up in a faint smirk. “Guess that leaves us, Taiyo-san,” he said. “If it won’t stain your honor to share a room with a ronin, that is.”

  “There is no dishonor in that request, Okame-san,” Daisuke replied, rising smoothly to his feet. “I would welcome your company. If you don’t mind sharing a room with…what was the phrase? A swaggering court peacock.”

  “Eh, I’m sure I’ll manage somehow.”

  “Yumeko-san.” Daisuke nodded to me. “Master Jiro, Reika-san. Oyasuminasai. I will see you all in a few hours.”

  “Good night,” I echoed, and watched the two men leave the room, Okame giving me a grin as he passed. After following Reika into her room, I watched as she fished a second ofuda out of her sleeve and pressed it to the door, silencing our conversation to any outside ears, as well.

  “You’re not angry, are you, Reika-san?” I ventured as the miko finally sat down on the other futon in the corner. She shot me a dark glare, then sighed.

  “No,” she murmured, shaking her head. “I’m…terrified.”

  Shocked, I sat on the futon facing her, crossing my legs. “Of Hakaimono?”

  “Hakaimono, the Forest of a Thousand Eyes, the Dragon scroll, all of this!” She gestured wildly at nothing. “It might come as a surprise, Yumeko-chan, but this is my first time outside Taiyo lands. Before you and the others came to my shrine, my days were peaceful, spent talking to the kami, dancing at festivals, banishing the occasional ghost or yokai. Now I find myself sitting in Hakumei castle surrounded by those who wish to kill us, preparing to track down the most dangerous oni that has ever lived, in the hopes that a kitsune who knows nothing about the world can somehow manage to defeat him. Provided that Hakaimono doesn’t slaughter us all the moment he sees us.

  “So, yes,” she finished, glaring at me again. “I’m terrified. I’m afraid I know how this is going to end, and it isn’t good for any of us. And if we fail, what will happen to the Dragon scroll? The best I can hope for is that the piece you carry will be lost, and the Harbinger will not be summoned in this era.”

  “Why do you care so much about the Dragon scroll, Reika-san?” I asked, genuinely curious. “It was never your duty to protect it, but you seem to hate the fact that it exists at all.”

  Reika gave a bitter smile. “I’ve studied the history of the scroll,” she answered. “I know what the Wish can bring about. But, even more than that, I know the evil that lurks in the souls of men. You don’t have to be a shrine maiden to guess what mortals will do when granted the power of the gods. The Dragon is not called the Harbinger of Change for nothing. I would rather not live in a world created by the whim of a single man.”

  Her stare turned challenging. “That is my interest in the Dragon scroll, Yumeko-chan,” she said. “My reason to never see the Harbinger called upon. What is yours? Do you even have one? Or are you so blinded by love that you’ve forgotten your first duty is to protect the scroll and prevent the coming of the Dragon?”

  “I…” I stared at her, feeling like I’d been hit in the stomach. “I don’t…What are you saying, Reika-san?”

  She sighed. “You don’t even see it, do you? It’s plain as day to the rest of us.”

  “I don’t love Tatsumi,” I said, still reeling from the implication. “I can’t. I just…”

  I faltered again, as words failed me. Love was an alien concept, something I’d never even thought about. I’d read about men and women falling in love; the library at the Silent Winds temple had a book tucked away among the scrolls that told the story of a samurai who loved a geisha. But he had a wife and a family, and so he visited her at night, where they fantasized of him someday paying off her debt and running away together. There was a lot of internal agonizing on the samurai’s part, for though he loved the geisha, his duty was to his family and his daimyo, and he could not abandon them. The tale ended tragically, with the samurai being called to war and dying in battle, and the geisha throwing herself into the river in grief. The samurai’s actions were highly praised, however, both by his comrades and the book itself, for choosing duty over love, though they never mentioned the woman who had died.

  It did not paint love in a good light, and in fact seemed a cautionary tale about the dangers of strong emotions, that duty to one’s clan, family and daimyo should always come first. I’d found it rather depressing, and had felt sorry for the poor girl who drowned herself, but I didn’t understand how she could become so attached to a man that she would rather die than live without him.

  That certainly wasn’t what I felt toward Tatsumi. I worried for the demonslayer, of course. When I imagined what Hakaimono might be doing to him, I felt physically ill. When we’d first met, Tatsumi had been cold and frightening; a weapon that killed without hesitation or regret. But on our journey, I had come to know Kage Tatsumi, and I had seen glimmers of the soul he kept locked away, small flashes of humor and even kindness. When danger threatened, I’d seen him fight to protect others even though he didn’t have to. And I had realized, too late, why he never let down his guard.

  You distract him, Hakaimono had whispered to me that night. Make him feel things. Make him question who he is and what he wants. And that’s all the invitation I needed. His last thought tonight, before finally losing himself, was of you.

  So, it was my fault that Hakaimono had been
released. My fault that Tatsumi had lost himself to the oni, that he was suffering. That he thought I had betrayed him. I would free Kage Tatsumi from Hakaimono and drive the demon back into Kamigoroshi. I would save the demonslayer, even if it cost me my life. But that wasn’t love.

  At least, I didn’t think it was.

  Reika shook her head. “Well, it doesn’t matter,” she sighed. “Tomorrow we start the hunt for the First Oni, as crazy and suicidal as that sounds.” She gestured at the futon. “Get some rest while you can. I don’t think I’ll be doing much sleeping tonight.”

  I didn’t think I would sleep, either. My mind was filled with swirling thoughts, about Tatsumi, Hakaimono and the Dragon scroll. About Lady Hanshou, Lord Iesada and the attack we’d just survived. I lay there in the darkness, wondering where Hakaimono was now, how we were going to defeat him and how I was going to possess the demonslayer when we did. And I wondered if Tatsumi was thinking of me the way I was thinking of him.

  The next thing I knew, I was dreaming.

  The white fox was waiting for me, sitting on a log beneath the shade of a pine, his magnificent tail curled around his feet. Fireflies drifted around him, blips of green light winking in and out of the darkness. Lazy golden eyes watched me as I padded up, my paws sinking into moss and dirt, making no noise on the forest floor.

  “Hello, little dreamer.”

  “Hello again.”

  “Have you given any thought to my proposal?”

  I nodded. “Yes. I need to know how to drive out Hakaimono. Please…” I hesitated a moment more, then blurted, “Show me how to save Tatsumi-san.”

  The white fox smiled.

  His bushy tail uncurled, rising into the air behind him, swaying to and fro as if it had a mind of its own. “You are no match for Hakaimono in the physical world,” he crooned. “Your priest and your shrine maiden will not be strong enough to force him out. If they try, you will all die. The answer lies with you.”

  His tail, swaying like a serpent behind him, abruptly burst into blue flames at the tip. They flickered and danced over his head, casting him in a ghostly light. “A warning, little dreamer,” he went on, as I stared at the kitsune-bi on the end of his tail. “Simply possessing the demonslayer will not be enough. If you want to free your human, you must be prepared to fight Hakaimono inside Kage Tatsumi.”

  I trembled, tearing my gaze from the mesmerizing sway of his tail. “Yes, but how will I do that?” I asked desperately. “I don’t have a sword. I’m not a warrior like Tatsumi-san. I don’t have anything that can stand up to a demon.”

  “On the mortal plane, no.” The white fox twitched his long ears. “The physical world has rules that must be followed. On the plane of the soul, however, it is a different story. Much like in Yume-no-Sekai, reality can be shaped, twisted into something that suits your needs, if you know how. For example, in the mortal realm, your foxfire is a distraction at best, a vague annoyance at worst. But here, in the realm of dreams…”

  He flicked his tail, and a ball of kitsune-bi flew through the air, striking a tree a few yards away. It instantly burst into flame, flaring a blinding blue-white a moment before it was consumed. Leaves burned to nothing, limbs blackened and withered away, and the trunk turned to ashes that scattered to the wind.

  My jaw dropped, and I felt the white fox smile. “It can be as deadly as you wish,” he said smugly. “Deadly enough to burn even an oni lord. Now, you try it.” He turned, pointing an elegant muzzle at a gnarled oak several yards away in the fog. “Destroy the tree.”

  I followed his gaze, facing the tree, and took a deep breath. With a wave of my tail, kitsune-bi flared to life, casting me in a circle of ghostly light. Pinning back my ears, I hurled it at the oak.

  The sphere of foxfire struck the gnarled trunk and exploded in a burst of light, tongues of blue-white flames flaring up only to dissolve in the air, writhing away to nothing. Disappointed, I looked back at the white fox, who shook his head.

  “You still don’t believe foxfire can be dangerous,” he said in an unruffled voice. “You must know, beyond any doubt, that within the realm of dreams and on the plane of the soul, your kitsune-bi can burn. Sear. Kill. Banish any uncertainty from your mind.” His ears twitched, and he waved his plumed tail at the oak. “Try again.”

  With a growl, I faced the tree once more, curling a lip at the gnarled giant. This is for Tatsumi, I told myself, as foxfire burst to life once more, dancing on my tail tip. If you want to save him from Hakaimono, you must do this. Burn!

  I gave a defiant snarl, and threw the ball of foxfire at the tree again. This time, when the flames struck the oak, there was a roar, and a blue inferno sprang up to engulf the tree. It blazed like a tiny sun, blinding and intense, and the huge oak vanished in the glare, turning to ashes in a heartbeat.

  The hairs on my back stood up, and I heard the white fox chuckle behind me. “Good,” he said, padding gracefully to my side. “Within a mortal soul, pure emotion is a powerful thing. The stronger the conviction, the brighter the magic becomes. Just be certain it does not burn so bright it consumes everything around you.” He gave me a solemn, golden-eyed stare. “But learn quickly, little fox. And heed this warning. Hakaimono will be a challenging opponent. Even if you master your power, he will be the hardest enemy you will ever encounter. Driving him back into Kamigoroshi will not be as simple as throwing foxfire in his face.”

  “But it’s a start,” I whispered. “It will give me a fighting chance.”

  “It will,” the white fox agreed. “Unfortunately,” he continued in a warning voice, “there is still one small problem, and that is the demonslayer himself. The human spirit is a fragile thing, and will not take an invasion into its essence well at all. If you use kitsune-tsuki to possess Kage Tatsumi, you will very likely damage his soul.”

  I blinked, remembering what Reika had said earlier that night. “How?”

  “It is already under a lot of duress with Hakaimono,” the kitsune went on. “Another forced intrusion could very well cause the host’s mind to snap—it is not uncommon with mortals who have been possessed. Worse, if you start flinging kitsune-bi around, and the demonslayer gets caught in the battle between you and Hakaimono, who knows what it will do to his soul? He might come back different, or mad…or not at all.”

  I swallowed the frustration rising to my throat. “Then, how am I supposed to help him?” I demanded. “If possessing Tatsumi will just cause him to go mad, I’m no better than Hakaimono.”

  “I did not say it would be easy,” the white fox said, still insufferably calm. “I said I would give you the means to drive out the demon. However, there is a way to ease the shock of yet another presence forcing its way into his soul. You must let the demonslayer know you are coming. If he recognizes you as a friend and not another enemy, he might be more accepting of your presence.” The white fox waved his plumed tail. “Of course, you will still have to be careful that you do not damage his soul while battling Hakaimono, but that is a problem for when and if your kitsune-tsuki is successful.”

  “Let Tatsumi know I’m coming?” I stared at the white fox. “How? I can’t send him a message. Anything he knows Hakaimono knows, too.”

  “That would be true, were we in the physical world,” the kitsune said. “However, this is Yume-no-Sekai, the realm of dreams. And even Hakaimono must sleep sometimes.

  “Come.” He rose before I could ask what he meant, his bushy tail rippling languidly behind him. “Follow me. Stay close. And remember, nothing you see here is real except the native baku—the dream eaters—and the souls of those who slumber.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “I am taking you into another dream. But we must hurry—our target is a very light sleeper. Once he wakes, his presence will vanish from Yume-no-Sekai, and you will not have a second chance to speak with him. Quickly now.”

  I bounded after the white fox, and suddenly, the cool, misty forest surrounding us changed. One moment, we were trotting down a shado
wed game trail through the tangled undergrowth, the next, we were at the edge of an arched wooden bridge over a river, a full silver moon shining down directly overhead.

  “Nani…?”

  “Don’t be alarmed.” The white fox looked back at me, eyes glowing like candles in the moonlight. “Remember, nothing here is real. We’ve simply left your dream and have entered another’s.”

  “Whose?”

  “Draw your weapon.”

  The calm, quiet voice drifted over the bridge, causing the hairs on the back of my neck to rise. I recognized that low, elegant manner of speech. Looking up, I saw a lone figure in the middle of the bridge, bare-chested and white hair unbound, the moonlight glimmering off the pale oni mask covering his face.

  I blinked. “Daisuke-san?”

  Oni no Mikoto, the demon of the bridge, ignored me, his gaze focused on something behind us. At my back, a quiet chuckle drifted over the breeze.

  “I think you’ve made a mistake, Oni-san,” said another familiar voice. I turned to see Okame standing at the edge of the bridge, facing the demon prince. His bow was missing, though a short blade hung from his obi, and he made no move to draw it as he stepped forward. The white fox and I skittered aside, and neither of the two men seemed to notice us. “I thought you only challenged honorable warriors to duels. Not filthy ronin dogs.”

  “Whose dream is this?” I whispered to the white fox, entranced by what was happening before me. “Is this Okame’s dream, or Daisuke’s?”

  He gave me a slightly irritated look. “Does it matter? It has nothing to do with us, or our objective. Let us continue.”

  “There has been no mistake,” replied the other, and when I glanced back, it was no longer Oni no Mikoto with the demon mask and cold eyes, only Daisuke. His long hair still rippled and flowed around him, the moonlight shining down the length of the sword in his hand. “And I see no disgraced warrior before me. Only a man who has lost much, and is struggling to find his way.”