Chapter 13
From the torn earth, two thick tree roots clamped around the empty wooden palanquin and crushed it. More roots rose from the heaving ground and twisted into the rough shape of a colossal ape—thick, stubby legs and long, club-like arms.
It had no head, but a spot of light glowed from within the bands of wood that formed its chest.
“A shikigami?” Emi gasped.
With terrified screams, the procession fled the courtyard. Sohei ran toward the monster as it straightened to its full height, scattering the palanquin’s remains.
Clamping one arm around her middle, Shiro sprang off the branch. As they plummeted toward the ground, the earth shikigami reached for the woman in Amaterasu’s violet robes. A sohei threw himself at her, knocking her clear. The tree-root fingers caught her trailing hair, yanking the wig free. Her mask hit the flagstones and broke.
Shiro landed hard in the snow and shoved Emi back into the tree. “It’s come for you. Stay right here.”
“Shiro—”
“There’s a kami nearby controlling it. You can’t be seen.”
“But—”
“Just stay here!”
He sprinted for the courtyard, and Emi’s hands clenched. Shaking off her hesitation, she rushed after him.
In the courtyard, the shikigami lumbered forward, still holding the wig. Two sohei rushed the miko away and the others drew their swords, but the monster towered over them, twice their height. One of them slashed his katana at the shikigami’s leg but the blade barely chipped the wood.
Shiro burst out of the trees, the flash of flame in his hands drawing every eye. His double-bladed staff took form, and as he charged for the shikigami, he dug one point into the cracked flagstones. Using the staff, he vaulted over the wooden beast. The weapon twirled in his hands and as he dropped, he ripped the blade down the shikigami’s back in a spray of splinters.
The wooden creature shuddered as though in pain and turned toward Shiro. At the edge of the trees, Emi dropped into a crouch behind a thick shrub, hopefully out of sight.
Fire raced along Shiro’s staff. He snapped it out, severing the shikigami’s stubby leg like paper. The monster dropped onto the stump.
“Stop!” Katsuo’s voice rang out over the shouts of the sohei and the frightened cries of fleeing humans. “Don’t attack the kitsune!”
Emi gripped a handful of her kimono, fighting to stay put, to stay still.
Roots sprouted from the monster’s severed limb, reforming the leg. Shiro evaded a clumsy attempt to grab him and jumped onto its grasping hand. He ran up the arm and his staff flashed again. The creature jerked back and Shiro’s strike missed the shikigami’s glowing heart. He leaped clear of the monster, staff already spinning in another attack.
The earth rumbled and the hole in the ground churned. A second shikigami heaved itself out of the dirt and rose on thick legs. It stumped toward Shiro, joining its twin. Unmoving, they seemed to assess their opponent.
Thick roots erupted off the two shikigami like tentacles and the pointed tips hurtled toward Shiro in a deadly barrage. White-hot flames engulfed him, turning the attacking roots to blackened ash. The sohei still in the courtyard flinched back, throwing their arms up against the blast of heat. As Shiro retreated, luring the shikigami away from the sohei, Emi realized he couldn’t unleash his fire without harming the fragile humans.
As he dodged another barrage of stabbing roots, an image flashed in her mind—ruby eyes staring blindly at the sky, glassy and empty of life, a tree root protruding from his chest. An earth kami’s roots had killed him once before.
The pit of churned dirt in the center of the courtyard stirred again. A third shikigami crawled out of the earth and turned toward its fellows battling Shiro.
Flames burst from him as he warded off another attack, but with twisting roots flailing all around the creatures, he couldn’t get close enough to destroy their talismans—the only way to kill them. How would he fight off three of the monsters?
Katsuo seemed to reach the same conclusion. Calling orders, he led the group of sohei toward the third creature. Hoping she would live long enough for Shiro to yell at her for disobeying him, Emi lunged out of the trees and sprinted toward the shikigami.
The monster, focused on its quarry, advanced on the sohei. They split into three groups, spreading out as best they could in the limited space. The shikigami raised an arm over its head and brought it down with crushing force. The sohei leaped clear and the flagstones shattered under the impact of the twisted roots. As the men scrambled to regain their footing, the shikigami lifted its other arm. Dozens of roots uncoiled, forming pointed lances.
Emi dove in front of the group and flung her hands up.
Wind gusted from her palms and the air condensed into a shimmering shield. The roots smashed into her barrier in an earth-shaking barrage. Her arms trembled.
“Emi!” Katsuo gasped.
“Get them up!” She shoved the wind outward. It hit the shikigami like a battering ram and hurled it onto its back. Whirling, she yanked the nearest sohei up.
“Ofuda!” she cried as the shikigami lumbered to its feet. “Someone give me ofuda!”
The three nearest sohei, all gaping at her, thrust handfuls of paper talismans in her direction. She snatched a fistful of binding ofuda as the shikigami’s arm rose for another strike.
She launched toward it and a gust pushed her faster. Ducking beneath its swing, she slapped an ofuda against the twisted roots.
“Sotei no shinketsu!”
Bluish light engulfed its leg. As she’d feared with Tsukiyomi’s water serpent, ofuda weren’t effective on shikigami. Instead of binding its entire body, the spell only immobilized its leg.
And its arm was already swinging toward her.
Katsuo sprang in front of her, his sword held crosswise in front of him, one hand on the flat of the blade.
“Sekisho no seishin!” he yelled.
A glowing barrier flashed out from the blade. The wooden arm slammed into the shield, crushing it and flinging Katsuo back into her. They tumbled to the ground. The sohei on the monster’s other side struck with weapons and ofuda.
Gasping, Katsuo rolled off her and she scrambled up, clutching her ofuda.
“Emi, you have to get away from—”
“You need my help.” Before he could object, she leaped forward and hit the shikigami’s other leg with an ofuda. “Sotei no shinketsu!”
Its other leg froze in place and she dashed away before it could retaliate. Katsuo followed on her heels. She raced around the monster, watching the movements of its arms. As it swung one down, forcing the sohei to scatter, the wind swept beneath her, propelling her into the air. She slapped the ofuda right over the shikigami’s talisman.
“Sotei no shinketsu!”
Blue light rushed across it and the monster went still. She dropped neatly to the ground, the breeze swirling around her legs. As the edges of the ofuda blackened, she looked across the courtyard to Shiro, just as he immersed a shikigami in fire.
The wind whispered in her ear, tugging at her. She spun around.
In the shadows at the edge of the courtyard, in the very spot where Emi had run out of the trees, a figure stood—silent, unmoving, watching her. He casually raised a hand as though pointing at her.
“Emi!” Katsuo yelled.
White flames engulfed all three of her ofuda and they crumbled to ash. Freed from the binding, dozens of roots lifted off the shikigami and whipped down—aiming not for her, but for the sohei around her.
“No!” she cried, throwing her hands up.
A powerful gust caught all the sohei and swept them backward. The attacking roots tore into the flagstones where they’d just been.
But now Emi stood alone in front of the monster.
She desperately called the wind to her aid. Pain flashed through her ankle as a root closed around her leg. It jerked her off the ground and the courtyard whirled crazily as dozens of roots aime
d their points at her.
Fire burst across her vision. Shiro launched into the tangle, his staff already severing the root that held her. He caught her with one arm, holding her over his shoulder, and landed in front of the shikigami.
Still carrying Emi and with his staff in his other hand, he vaulted upward. His blade caught the shikigami between the legs and the fiery steel ripped up the wooden body, cutting straight through the torso and the talisman in its center. He dropped to the ground as the two pieces of the shikigami fell.
At the other end of the courtyard, one of the twin monsters was a twisted mass of charred wood, but the other one rushed at them, roots whipping around wildly.
He loosened his arm and she slid off his back, landing on her feet. Spinning his staff, he cast a sideways glance at her. “You just can’t do as I say, can you?”
“You’re even less obedient than I am.”
He grinned as flames flashed over his staff. Then he charged at the shikigami as orbs of fire popped into existence all around him. She sped after him and flung a hand out. Wind slammed into the shikigami, deflecting the roots that had been rushing toward Shiro.
Springing off a kitsunebi, he flipped over the shikigami. His blade came down, severing the creature’s arm. It staggered and twisted awkwardly as the arm reformed.
Emi dove and slapped an ofuda against its leg. “Sotei no shinketsu!”
Blue light shimmered and its leg froze in place. Shiro appeared beside her, catching her with one arm and leaping back to evade another sweep of spear-like roots. Pivoting, he jumped onto the shikigami’s back and thrust the flaming staff blade through its paper heart.
The roots stiffened and the creature crashed to the ground, lifeless. Silence fell over the courtyard.
“Shiro,” she gasped, pointing at the trees. “The kami—”
He whipped toward the shadowy figure waiting beyond the edge of the courtyard. Before Shiro could act, the kami jerked forward. A shining blade erupted from the center of his chest.
The blade withdrew and the kami collapsed, revealing Yumei behind him, his long black spear in hand. He raised an eyebrow at Shiro from across the courtyard.
“About time,” Shiro muttered.
“Emi …”
Shiro turned toward Katsuo’s hesitant voice, Emi still clamped to his side. Katsuo looked between them. Battered sohei waited behind him, holding their weapons tightly. Focused on Shiro, they hadn’t noticed Yumei dispatch the kami from the shadows.
“Hey there, Katsuo.” Shiro smirked, as perfectly casual as if he’d strolled over from the festival. “We’re back! Did you miss us?”
“Not you,” Katsuo muttered. “Emi, are you hurt?”
“I’m fine,” she said, squirming against Shiro’s hold.
He loosened his arm and she reached for Katsuo, allowing her relieved smile to bloom. Before she could embrace him, the thunder of approaching footsteps made her whirl around.
Three dozen sohei, weapons drawn and blades lowered, charged to the edge of the courtyard and spread out in battle formation. Three elder kannushi that Emi vaguely recognized as leaders of other prominent Amaterasu shrines led them.
“There’s the yokai!” one said commandingly. “Prepare to attack!”
The newly arrived sohei shifted closer. Several of them held lengths of shimenawa rope in their hands—no doubt infused with binding or purification spells that could immobilize yokai. Others held bows and crossbows, the arrows equally equipped with spells to take down dangerous opponents.
Shiro could defeat them—if he was willing to kill her human allies.
“Stop!” she shouted, stepping in front of Shiro. “This yokai is Amaterasu’s ally!”
“Sohei Katsuo!” the leader barked. “Move your team back and get into position.”
Katsuo looked from the kannushi to Shiro, then deliberately sheathed his katana. “This yokai saved us. He is an ally.”
The sohei behind Katsuo inched back, uncertain whom to follow.
“Don’t be a fool!” the kannushi snapped. “It’s a trick!”
“It’s not a trick,” Emi called out, still shielding Shiro from the sohei force. “Lay down your weapons!”
Ignoring her, the kannushi bellowed commands at the sohei. They moved outward in a half circle, attempting to surround Shiro and block any escape. A large group of sohei was more than capable of defeating the average yokai, but they didn’t know they were preparing to battle a Kunitsukami. With only one loop of the onenju left, Shiro was capable of killing every sohei in the courtyard—and leveling the great hall behind him—in minutes.
“Stop this!” Katsuo yelled. “Will you attack a yokai with the kamigakari standing right here?”
“Kamigakari?” Confusion rippled through the sohei force and the three kannushi peered at her.
Emi spluttered. Didn’t they recognize her? Every Amaterasu shrine servant knew what she looked like!
Shiro snickered. “You can’t blame them, little miko. You’re more rumpled than usual.”
She pushed her shoulders back and stepped forward. “I, Kamigakari Kimura, say this before you and with Amaterasu as my witness: this yokai is Amaterasu’s ally. Tonight he risked injury and death to save human lives.”
She swept a glare across the sohei and the breeze stirred around her feet, swirling the dirt and snow. “I swear upon my life and honor that he will harm no one at this shrine. And I swear that if any of you attempt to harm him, you will answer to me—and to Amaterasu.”
On her final word, the wind surged. It touched neither her nor Shiro but howled through the courtyard. The sohei staggered for balance in the sudden gust. It died just as quickly, and as debris drifted back to the flagstones, no one moved.
“Kamigakari,” the kannushi said reluctantly. “Are you certain?”
Before she could answer, a dark shadow erupted a few feet away. Black and red magic burst outward as Yumei materialized beside her. She started in fright—and every weapon that had lowered whipped up again, the sohei rigid with fear and aggression.
All her effort to calm everyone—completely ruined. She whirled on the Tengu, hands balled into fists.
“Yumei!” Furious exasperation turned her voice into a near growl. “What are you doing?”
He met her glower with a flat stare. “This banter is pointless. You found the boy. Take him and we can leave.”
“The boy?” she repeated blankly, struggling to switch trains of thought.
He tilted his head toward Katsuo. “Is this not the one you wanted?”
Katsuo’s mouth fell open and he backed up a step.
She grimaced. “Well, yes, but—”
With a crack of lightning, Susano appeared behind Katsuo. He leaped like a startled rabbit and almost collided with her.
“If you found him, let us leave,” Susano said impatiently, looking Katsuo over, clearly unimpressed with what he saw. “If one kami has infiltrated the shrine, more might come.”
All around them, sohei were babbling and the kannushi were shouting orders. Chaos was spreading like an infection. And she’d almost had everything settled a minute ago!
She pressed two fingers to her temple. “Would it have killed you two to just be patient for five more minutes so we could leave peacefully?”
Shiro snickered again.
“Why does it matter?” Yumei snapped. “We have wasted too much time here already.”
She regarded the three yokai. They stood surrounded by bristling warriors trained in the art of slaying yokai, utterly unfazed. Not even slightly bothered. They could be standing in a meadow of butterflies for all the concern they showed.
“I really wanted a bath and a change of clothes before we left,” she muttered.
“You said only that you wanted food.”
“Do I not look like I could use a change of clothes?” She held her arms out, displaying her stained, torn kimono. “I don’t have a coat. I don’t even have shoes.”
In unison, Yumei,
Shiro, Susano, and Katsuo looked down at her feet.
Yumei blinked once at her wet, muddy tabi socks, then scowled. “Fine.”
“Thank you for your permission,” she shot back.
His eyes narrowed. She returned his glare.
When Shiro laughed, she jerked her attention to him. He swallowed his mirth with a choked cough.
“Come with me,” she growled. She pointed at Katsuo and he flinched. “You too.”
Turning on her heel, she stalked toward the wall of sohei. The yokai and Katsuo fell into step behind her. As she approached, the three kannushi in front seemed at a loss for what to do. Emi stopped in front of them.
“Move aside,” she said coldly.
“But my lady, those are—”
“Would I bring these yokai with me if they were a threat? Would they be standing here peaceably if they intended us harm?” She raised a hand and the wind whipped around her again. “Step aside.”
The kannushi grudgingly obeyed. The sohei behind them retreated immediately, opening a path for her. She walked into the gap without looking at anyone.
Activity at the rear of the human force drew her attention. With his staff in one hand, Guji Ishida strode toward the courtyard, accompanied by another dozen sohei. As their gazes met, the stark planes of his face tightened in surprise. She stopped and offered him a shallow bow—the bow of equals.
“Guji Ishida,” she said. “I require accommodations at the shrine for these allies of Amaterasu.”
He looked across Shiro and Yumei to Susano, the only one he didn’t recognize. Tension spread through every human present as they awaited his response.
He dipped his head in a nod. “Of course. The servants of Amaterasu welcome her valued allies.”
Emi let out a relieved breath. Ishida gave her a long look that promised an interrogation later, then turned and instructed a sohei on where to take her and her companions. She glanced over her shoulder at the three yokai standing passively behind her and shook her head. This wasn’t at all how she’d imagined her return to Shion would go, but she supposed it could have been worse.
Chapter 14
Immortal Fire (The Red Winter Trilogy Book 3) Page 12
