by Fuyumi Ono
Kinhaku stepped forward to greet them. “You can’t be the only survivors!”
Gasping for breath the lead rider said, “No. The rest are way to the rear.”
“There was this youma—”
Kinhaku nodded. “You went that way knowing as much. Where are the others? How long till they get here?”
“Kiwa’s company should be coming up behind. But there are people on foot.”
Kinhaku glared at him. “Meaning you abandoned them and took off?”
A shrug and a nod answered that question. Kinhaku clucked to himself. “What about the girl? Is she safe?”
“Don’t know. I think she was with Kiwa.”
“And where is Kiwa?”
“He’s been delayed.”
“No,” interjected one of the kijuu riders. “I saw her climb off Kiwa’s wagon and head back.”
“Head back? You mean, to join the servants on foot?”
“Probably.”
“And the youma? Is it dead?”
“Far from it.”
“Damn and blast!” Kinhaku ran back to his companions. “Five of you stay behind. Come sundown, get this caravan back on the road and keep going no matter what!”
“What’s the plan?”
“That youma. Those bastards ran away without taking care of it.”
“Which means—”
“It’ll keep on coming. It’s in a youma’s nature. They develop a taste for things. Preying on humans is easier than hunting other youma.” Kinhaku glanced back at Gankyuu. “So what does the shushi master think? Seems the girl felt sorry for the stragglers and went back to help.”
“So it seems,” Gankyuu murmured. He said with a wry smile, “I had intended to split off and go hunting. But I’m fine with staying behind and taking my turn looking after the others.”
“Works for me,” Kinhaku answered with an equally droll expression.
Rikou was standing next to Gankyuu. He stepped in and said, “Gankyuu and I will go with you.”
Gankyuu glanced at him. “Oh?”
Rikou smiled. “Let’s do this together.”
“Haven’t you lost interest in Shushou by now?”
“I don’t recall saying anything of the sort.”
Gankyuu sighed. “I’ve said it before but it bears repeating: the girl simply doesn’t need you anymore.”
“True. But perhaps I may prove myself necessary to her once again. I can’t walk away now without putting that supposition to the test.”
“We’re likely going to have a youma on our tails. I’d think you’d hold your life a little more dear. As for me, I’ve got no interest in riding to the rescue.”
“I’m not talking about asking you to ride to the rescue. I’m hiring you to.”
Gankyuu said with a jesting grin, “Oh? How much? I take half up front, you know. In cash.”
“How about this?” Rikou tossed him Seisai’s reins. He unfastened the haku’s halter rope from the nearby rock. “Take as your pay the difference in value between a suugu and a haku. I don’t imagine you’d object to that. C’mon.”
Chapter 30
[4-7] Observing the ragtag company moving along at a determined pace and half-listening to Shoutan chatting cheerfully beside her, Shushou nursed troubled thoughts. If they kept going down the road like this, they were bound to join up with Gankyuu and the rest of the caravan.
And the youma clearly intended to stick with them the whole way.
Except as long as they were on this road, there wasn’t anything else they could do but keep putting one foot ahead of the other. When and where and how they would hunt down the youma was very much up in the air.
Though most in their group weren’t armed, a fair number carried weapons. The typical youma had to stop to eat whatever it attacked. At that moment it could be overwhelmed by a massed assault. This youma, however, appeared in a flash, ravaged one or two, and disappeared just as fast. When it was in a mood to eat, it didn’t lounge around but dragged off its victim. It didn’t leave its enemies any openings.
“What’s on your mind?” Shoutan asked.
Shushou managed a smile. “Since we can’t very well run away, I’ve been thinking about how to hunt down that youma.”
“Hunt that thing?”
“We’ll have to figure out how to get it to stop moving. There doesn’t seem any way to even slow it down.”
“Yeah,” Shoutan mumbled. He said in a louder voice, “Shushou-sama, look.”
A black object squatted on the road ahead of them. Despite the smell of blood in the air, the moonlight was bright enough to tell it wasn’t a youma. A horse-drawn wagon in rather wretched condition had been abandoned there.
“The master’s wagon.”
“So he finally gave up and left it behind.”
The irony of the situation hardly escaped her. Kiwa had expressly come this way so as not to lose his precious wagon. When they drew closer, several people emerged from behind it, riders whose mounts had been killed and more servants cast aside by Kiwa.
“What about Shitsu-san?”
“He got on one of the horses and rode away.”
“Oh. What a dutiful lord of the manor. Well, it’s good to see you folks alive.”
“What should we do?” asked Shoutan.
“There might be useful supplies left in the wagon. Let’s take a look.”
They took a break while Shushou searched the bed of the wagon. She said, “The wagon cover and tents might come in handy as camouflage. During the day, the canvas shouldn’t look much different than big rocks.”
Shoutan nodded. “We could cut them into pieces and hand them out.”
“Let’s do that. Start with the weak and the injured.”
“Understood.” He summoned the others. “Hey—!”
Confirming that Shoutan had relayed these instructions to his companions, Shushou resumed rooting through the supplies.
“The water barrels are here. A few are still intact. Let’s divvy them up. What’s in these smaller kegs?”
“Probably sake and oil.”
“Can’t do better than oil. We can use the alcohol to treat injuries. We need smaller containers, though. Portion it out to people who have something to carry it in.” Shushou moved onto the next item and stopped in surprise. “Silk.”
Shoutan chuckled. “The master brought it to present to the people on Mt. Hou.”
“Amazing. He needed this big wagon to carry all this stuff. Well, that’s the mind of a merchant trader for you.”
They sorted through the dazzling array of exquisite fabrics, flagons and baubles. “Ah, there are some vases here. They look stupidly expensive, but if we cut up this fur coat to use as stoppers, they’ll come in handy.
“Yep,” Shoutan said with another sardonic smile. His master was indeed a fool, making this girl’s determined good intentions no less curious by comparison.
“I wonder what this is?”
A box made of solid oak. The lid was loose. Using one of the trinkets as a lever, she wrenched it open. Seeing what was inside, Shushou suppress a gasp.
“My word!” What in the world was Kiwa thinking? It was a jewelry box crammed with necklaces and ornate hairpins. “What possible good would—”
She was about to cast them aside and abruptly stopped and looked again. Finely wrought gold and silver. And jewels.
Shoutan said softly, “If Shushou-sama wished to take those, I certainly wouldn’t object.”
Shushou shook her head, reflexively grasping at the front of her kimono jacket. “Gather together as many of these as you can find. I don’t care about the gold and silver. Save anything with gems or jewels, no matter how small. Turn the place upside down.”
“Everything?”
“Yes. Check those oil and sake flasks too.”
Beneath the jacket she felt the outlines of the talisman and thought back to the shrine next to the Earth Gate. A Kenrou Shinkun talisman, for protection in the Yellow Sea. Kenrou Shin
kun, with his armor and his shawl strewn with jewels. She didn’t know whether they’d work on that red monkey but it wouldn’t hurt to try.
“After that, please round up everybody who’s carrying a weapon.”
Shushou stood in front of the assembled group. Moonlight made any passing face appear untrustworthy. With several dozen men gathered together that was not an impression easily brushed off.
“We have here oil and sake that Shitsu-san left behind. And necklaces and hairpins.”
A murmur rustled through the crowd.
“As long as we’re not doing the hunting, we’ll be the ones hunted. Our numbers will continue to fall. Maybe the next victim will be me. If you’re lucky, it won’t be you. But the fewer there are of us, the worse our odds are the next time. Anybody disagree?”
As long as that angel of death was tagging along, Shushou had no intention of rejoining the caravan led by the koushu.
“I’ve heard there’s something inside every youma that’s intoxicated by gems and jewels. I don’t know if it applies to this one. Perhaps not. But we have sake and oil. If jewels don’t work, maybe the alcohol will. The oil could be used in fire arrows.”
Another murmur erupted in her audience.
“The tent poles are made out of bamboo. These could be fashioned into one of those big crossbows used to defend castles.”
“You mean a siege crossbow?”
“Yes, that. Those who don’t have weapons can arm themselves with bamboo spears. We need to consider anything that might be effective against it.”
“But—”
“This gallant band should be more than enough to do the job.” Shushou forced a smile to her lips. “If we can only arrest its movements, we should be able to kill it.”
The men exchanged nervous glances as Shushou surveyed her troops. “And we’ve got the perfect decoy. Me. Now, you wouldn’t want to see a frail little girl come to a bad end, would you?”
Chapter 31
[4-8] The humans called the youma a shuen. His upper body resembled a red-haired ape. The face alone was white, while his legs were a striking shade of vermillion. He had sharp fangs, and feet and claws that resembled those of a bird of prey.
And the keen intelligence to use those weapons well.
The shuen had taken over this particular region of the Yellow Sea. He usually hunted other youma and scoffed at their attempts to intimidate him, no matter how ferocious they otherwise might be. Consistently able to outwit any straightforward attack, he actually enjoyed tearing his victims apart.
Once he’d exhausted all the available game, he’d switch hunting grounds, periodically shifting his territory around the Yellow Sea.
Now and then some two-legged critters wandered into his domain. They were weak and small and rarely made for a satisfying meal, but he enjoyed ripping the fragile things to shreds.
Then one day, for whatever reason, a whole herd marched right past his nest. Slaughtering them all at once hardly presented a challenge. Besides, the corpses soon decayed. Picking them off one by one was more fun.
So he shadowed them, attacking the herd from the rear one day, circling around to the front the next.
He snagged one of the two-legged critters, dragged it behind a rock, tore off a few pieces, and took a satisfied nap. He woke up only to stuff the rest down his gullet. Not terribly filling but the taste wasn’t bad.
When the hunger pangs again aroused him from sleep, he emerged from behind the rock and scanned the savanna. His eyes were drawn to the red dot of a fire. Where there was fire, the two-legged critters were never far away.
With a cackle of glee—an almost human laugh—he slipped away from the rock.
Shuen could cover the distance to the speck of light in three bounding strides. Except the moon was out. So he crept forward low and slow. The two-legged critters had smartened up of late. They didn’t make it easy for Shuen to get close, scattering as soon as they spotted him. By the time he’d brought down one or two, the rest were out of reach.
Shuen crawled along the ground until he was almost on top of them. Though the firelight washed out his vision, he detected two or three of the two-legged critters sitting next to the fire. Turning his gaze back to the savanna, he couldn’t make out any other prey close by.
To make sure, Shuen slightly raised his head and sniffed the air. No, these few were hardly alone. The rest were hiding. A great variety of odors wafted around him. Among them were unfamiliar smells, extraordinarily delicious smells.
His spirits roiled up inside him. Seeking to stifle them for the time being, he again slunk close to the ground. A little patience always made the reward that much more sweet. And something very sweet was surely waiting for him ahead.
Leveraging his front and hind legs, the red monster crawled through the bushes, as silent and slippery as a snake in the grass.
When he couldn’t get any closer without being noticed, he pounced. With a single leap, he crossed the remaining distance, raking the two-legged critters with his talons a split second after his feet touched the ground right beside his prey.
A strange sensation and the sharp stinging in his claws make him pause to examine his targets. Planks bound together with hides. He’d been outfoxed. Shuen scowled and looked around. A pair of two-legged critters were beating a fast retreat, a big one and a small one.
He was about the attack when his attention wavered. That delicious aroma struck his senses. He could not rest until he’d ferreted out the source. The smaller of the two-legged critters flung something to the side. The contents spilled out of the container as it fell to the ground, casting off a glitter of light.
The nondescript container wasn’t worth his while. The indescribable smell came from the small pile of objects spilled onto the ground next to it. He’d get right back to them after finishing off the two-legged critters. That would be the most fun. Except Shuen couldn’t resist the enticing smell.
There’d be plenty of chances to hunt more two-legged critters. But he might never see one of these again. He’d never seen one before in his life.
Eyeing the small, fleeing figure, he inched forward. Some had an enchanting odor. Delicious aromas came from others. Mixed in with them were ones that did nothing for him at all. He pushed his snout forward and pawed at them with his forelegs.
The scent only grew stronger, so rich he couldn’t stand it. Ah, here was the source of the smell. Several of them.
They surely must taste as good as they smelled. The fragrance filled his mouth. He bit down. The fragrance intensified, penetrated the core of his brain and sent his thoughts reeling. The small, retreating figure vanished from his mind.
Shuen’s hind legs lost their hold. He didn’t care. He lolled onto his side as he combed through the mound with his forepaws. The next morsel he found was covered with a smelly, slimy substance, but he didn’t care about that either. He popped it into his mouth and drifted off in a daze.
Bright red suddenly blossomed in front of him. Incandescent white assaulted his field of view. He couldn’t see a thing. He didn’t feel any pain. The good feelings persisted. His benumbed brain managed to conclude that this wasn’t normal.
Before he could imagine what, he registered a hard shock in his side. The kind of thing that should bring him to his feet in response. His hind legs scooted out from under him. Barely managing to get to his feet, he still couldn’t see a thing. His head spun.
His body took another blow. Waving his arms in a futile attempt to parry, he was hit—no, stabbed—again.
Something was stabbing him, thrusting and slashing. The dull, throbbing pain kindled inside him, not just where he’d been struck, but across his whole body. Once it did, it quickly grew to a scorching hot torture penetrating his legs, neck, back, eyes.
Shuen didn’t understand what was happening, only that danger was upon him. He jumped at random, swinging his front and hind legs at his invisible attackers. If he connected with any of them, he couldn’t tell.
&n
bsp; He could hear nothing, see nothing but the blinding white light. His talons caught and dragged against a heavy weight. Trying to shake it free, he leapt and rolled and leapt again.
Black splotches peppered the veil of white before his eyes. The splotches grew larger. The pain intensified then receded. By the time it gave way to blessed relief, his eyes finally revealed to him the black world of the night.
The youma bounded away at a terrifying speed. Shoutan sprinted after it. Stumbling over the rocks and bushes, he caught his foot, tripped, and sprawled forward. He looked up to see the ball of fire bouncing into the distance, until it seemed to fall into the earth and disappear from view.
“Get it!”
Armed men ran up to him. Shoutan scrambled to his feet. The ground was uncertain underfoot. His knees shook. But the trembling was nothing compared to when the red beast—a shuen, it had to be—first appeared.
With the shuen entranced by the jewels, the oil came in especially handy. The rampaging shuen made for an easy target when it couldn’t keep upright. Except—
“Shushou-sama!”
Of all things, in one of its wild swipes the shuen’s talons had hooked Shushou’s cloak. Shoutan and the men hiding nearby took off after it, practically falling over each other as they raced through the early dawn in the direction they’d last seen the shuen.
The ground dipped down and slanted away. They came to a halt in a hurry. Thirty feet below them, something glimmered on a descending trajectory, like a ball rolling down a hill. The shuen was still on fire.
“She must be around here somewhere.”
Or had been shaken off along the way. Shoutan crawled around looking for her. The sun finally rose, flooding the savanna with light. They resumed the search in earnest and were equally unsuccessful.
“What in the world happened to her?”
Shoutan sat down. One of his fellow searchers, an old woman, was hunched over a ways off. She straightened and called out. Shoutan jumped to his feet and ran over. She pointed to a cloud of dust headed their way. A group of at least ten kijuu came into view.
Shoutan stood there like a statue. A day earlier, how much more reassuring a development this would be. But they were a few hours too late, a few hours that might as well be a lifetime.
