Yamada Monogatari: Demon Hunter

by Richard Parks

  “And who would this ‘right person’ be, monk?” Kanemore asked. There was an edge in his voice I had heard before, and I was grateful that I was not that young monk just then, no matter what fate awaited the rest of us.

  “Such knowledge does not matter to one about to pass from this world of pain,” the monk said, and raised one hand in blessing.

  It was the signal to attack.

  The first ten through the trees were dressed as sohei; their armor had been darkened for stealth and they carried swords, not staffs as their leader did. But there were only ten, by my count. Those who came after were more of a ragtag bunch, armed with crude weapons. No matter; there were more than enough of them, even assuming we could hold off the sohei.

  Standing our ground meant being surrounded and cut down. Kanemore nodded at me and I understood his intent. He charged right and I charged left, and as the sohei pressed on toward Kenji, we turned the two flanks to deal with us. I saw one of the monks fall immediately, but I was too busy staying alive to follow Kanemore’s progress. I managed to cut one of them in the leg and he was down, and then I was merely faced with two, more cautious than the monk now on the ground trying to keep from bleeding to death. I wasn’t getting any openings, and all my attention was on defending against both at once. I knew more attackers were coming and also knew I was about to die and soon Kanemore as well, and then, in due course, Prince Takahito.

  It seems I’ve failed you after all, Teiko-hime.

  Something hit one of the men attacking me. I didn’t see what it was. It looked like a white blur, but suddenly there was only one man in front of me, a man startled and distracted and off-guard, so I killed him. Then I was able to see what had knocked down the other man.

  It was Lady Kuzunoha.

  She was in full fox-demon form, at least four times larger than a normal fox, with two tails and pure white fur now spattered with red. She had torn the first man’s throat out. She tilted back her bloody muzzle and she screamed, and for a moment almost everyone froze in place. Prince Kanemore, two dead bodies at his feet, seized the opportunity to take down a third sohei. Kenji was bloodied but still standing. The men behind the monks looked behind them as a chorus of answering shrieks rose from the forest from where they had come.

  I was careful to raise my voice enough so that the surviving attackers could hear. “Perhaps it wasn’t wise to remove the seals.”

  A wave rolled out of the forest. Not just foxes, but water-goblins, several wild-haired ghosts, and youkai of all sorts. The fight turned in that instant, and now the attackers were in full disarray. All of the men except the sohei tried to run, but there was nowhere to go. The criminals and other rabble were pulled down first. The remaining sohei abandoned their attack for mutual defense, but now the odds were overwhelmingly not in their favor and one by one they died, until there was only one left, spared only because Lady Kuzunoha adopted her human form again and stood over him.

  “Not this one,” she said clearly, and the youkai drew back. At another word from her, the rest of the denizens of Shinoda Forest withdrew silently into the woods, while Lady Kuzunoha daintily wiped the blood from her lips with a small cloth.

  Prince Kanemore was winded but unharmed. Kenji’s wounds were dramatic but not serious, and for a few moments I was busy binding them up.

  “It seems we owe you our lives, Lady Kuzunoha,” Prince Kanemore said after he had caught his breath. He bowed to her.

  “We would have come sooner,” she said, nodding toward Kenji. “But it took us some time to find a way past your friend’s handiwork. Fortunately, your attackers cleared a path for us.” She then noticed the dead oni. “Oh, that one. He always was an idiot.” She looked down at the cowering young priest and nudged him with her foot. “Get up.”

  “How did you know?” I asked.

  “I was already suspicious, as I imagine you were. When I learned that there were men in our forest aside from yourselves, it was not hard to ascertain their intentions. And yet I cannot even count this service against my debt to you, Lord Yamada.”

  “How so?”

  “It was strictly self-interest. If Prince Kanemore had been slain in Shinoda Forest, it would have been necessary for the Imperial Court to take action. I fancy that those most responsible for the crime would have insisted the most stridently, and I did not want our home burned down around us.”

  Kanemore bowed again. “For what it may be worth, Shinoda Forest will not be touched so long as I have any say in the matter.”

  I could see that Prince Kanemore’s opinion of Lady Kuzunoha had elevated considerably since their first meeting, but I wasn’t surprised. She had that effect.

  “I have unfinished business with this one,” she said, kicking the priest again, who would likely have cowered lower, if that were possible.

  “I think we do as well,” I said. “May we go first?”

  Lady Kuzunoha demurely withdrew a few paces while I reached down and hauled the monk to his feet. He wasn’t entirely steady. He still held his staff, and he used it to lean on. I should have taken it away from him, but part of me hoped he would do something foolish.

  “Who set you against Prince Kanemore?” I asked.

  “No one,” he muttered. “I thought there were those who would reward me within the Court if Prince Kanemore was removed.”

  It almost sounded plausible, if one assumed the fellow was a complete simpleton. I did not so assume. “So you took it upon yourself to involve the sohei of Enryaku Temple in a plot to murder a Royal Prince on the off chance that someone would approve? Sir Monk, you will have to do better than that.”

  “Much better,” Kenji growled.

  “The abbot ordered it,” the monk said then, pushing my patience just a little closer to its limit.

  “If the abbot had been involved, he would not have trusted this mission to so few. More, I know the abbot. As does Prince Kanemore. We do not believe you. Now, then . . . I will not ask this again.”

  “Nor will I.”

  Prince Kanemore took one step forward, and his blade flashed in the weak light. The monk fell, and for a moment I thought Prince Kanemore had lost patience and killed the man. Then I realized he had only sliced through the monk’s staff, sending him tumbling back to the ground.

  “Search him,” Kanemore growled, and I held the man down while Kenji did the honors.

  The man was carrying almost nothing, save a wrinkled slip of paper with some writing. Kenji handed it to me. “It’s a love poem, and I do not think it was written by our young man here.”

  Kanemore scowled. “Let me see.”

  I handed the paper over, but he did little more than glance at it. “The reference to the wisteria is no surprise. It’s the Fujiwara emblem. What interests me is that the poem also makes reference to the willow tree. Would you care to explain, monk?”

  He just glared at us, and Prince Kanemore sighed. He looked at the rest of us. “I know who our enemy is, and I will deal with it . . . with the assistance of the good monk here. To that end, Lady Kuzunoha, I must ask that you refrain from ripping him to shreds, at least until I am done with him.”

  “I will never betray her!” the monk shouted, and at last I understood. It was not politics nor profit—at least on the young fool monk’s part—but love. And yes, monks and priests were supposed to be above and removed from such things. In theory. In practice, well, there were as many of casual piety like my friend Kenji as not. I almost sympathized with the man.

  “You already have,” Kanemore said. “And you will continue to do so for a while yet. Otherwise . . . ”

  “You can kill me if you wish.”

  Prince Kanemore smiled. “That’s true. Your life does belong to me. And I am fully within my rights to bestow that life upon Lady Kuzunoha if I so choose.”

  Lady Kuzunoha, who had been following the conversation with amused interest, knew a hint when she heard one. Immediately she was in full fox-demon form. Her teeth were very long and sharp.
r />   “Give him to me,” she said. “I want to play.”

  For a moment the monk apparently forgot to breathe. He turned back to Prince Kanemore like a drowning man grasping a twig. “What . . . what do you want me to do?”

  Prince Kanemore was circumspect as always, but later I heard that Lady Akiko, known at the Court as Willow, sister to the Emperor’s Third Wife and aunt of one of the rival claimants to the Throne, had suddenly decided to leave the Court to take Holy Orders. I also heard that Prince Kanemore and his private guard personally escorted her to a very distant western temple to assure her safety. As for the young monk, I never did discover what happened to him. Nor did I ask. I had other things on my mind.

  It was six months before I entered Shinoda Forest once more. It was perhaps foolish to enter the forest again, especially alone, but unfinished business was unfinished business, and I had no idea how else to settle this particular bit.

  I followed the path to the shelf of stone where I had seen Lady Kuzunoha in the image of Princess Teiko. I kneeled before the stone and closed my eyes, bringing the memory of Princess Teiko back to me.

  “I have failed,” I said. “I thought I could hang onto my anger and use it to push me to forget you. But as long as the anger was there, so were you.”

  “You were right to be angry,” she said.

  I opened my eyes. Princess Teiko kneeled on the rock, not in an elaborate Court dress but as I had seen her last, dressed in traveling clothes at the camp near Lake Biwa. She was sipping tea. I closed my eyes, blinked, but she was still there. I thought I knew why.

  “I tried to drink free of you and of myself. That did not work either.”

  “Obviously,” she said, but that was all.

  “I knew what I had to do. I chose drink instead. It was easier . . . no, not easier. At the time it was possible. I was weak, perhaps, but I did what I could do, and now that’s done. I will be ready to help your brother Kanemore when and if he needs me. I will see your son on the throne. There is just one more thing I must do first.”

  “Then do it,” she said. “For both our sakes.”

  “For using me . . . for taking advantage of my affections for your own ends. For everything. I understand why you did. I always understood, but only now I can forgive you for all of it. And I do.”

  She smiled then, and the image of Princess Teiko bowed low. “Thank you.”

  I returned the bow. When I looked up again, she was gone.

  “Lord Yamada? This is an unexpected pleasure.”

  Lady Kuzunoha stood beside the stone, looking at me. I think she was amused, but I wasn’t certain. As with Princess Teiko, it was—had been, rather—hard to tell sometimes.

  “I think our debts are properly settled, Lady Kuzunoha,” I said.

  She smiled at me then. “Lord Yamada, I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  Lady Kuzunoha looked a little puzzled. Or perhaps it was my imagination. I didn’t know for sure, but that was all right. There were times when it simply wasn’t wise to be certain.

  GLOSSARY OF TERMS

  Anata – Personal pronoun, 2nd person. Usually omitted in normal conversation unless the subjects are on intimate terms.

  Baka – A general insult. Usually translated as “idiot,” but with connotations of being uncouth and wild, like an animal.

  Boshi – A hat.

  Bushi – A warrior. Later this would refer to samurai specifically.

  Che – An expletive.

  Daimyo – Literally “great man.” A provincial or regional ruler.

  Emishi – An indigenous people usually identified with the modern Ainu.

  Genji Monogatari – “The Tale of Genji.” Written by a court lady in the 10th century. Widely considered to be the first novel.

  Hakama – Loose-fitting trousers.

  -Hime – Honorific for a high-ranking female, usually a princess.

  Hitatare – A two-piece outfit consisting of a large-sleeved tunic and divided trousers.

  Hojo – The abbot or chief priest of a Buddhist temple.

  Ikiryo – A “living ghost,” essentially an aspect of an individual that detaches itself from that person to attack a romantic rival or enemy. Mentioned in “The Tale of Genji” by Murasaki Shikibu.

  Kami – A divine spirit, roughly equivalent to a god.

  Kanji – Pictorial writing, originated in China.

  Kimono – Literally “wear thing.” Clothes.

  Kin – Unit of measure, about 600 grams, or 1.3 lbs.

  Kitsune – A fox. In Japanese tradition, foxes are shape-shifters.

  Koi – A type of carp prized for their beautiful coloring.

  Mon – A family crest or symbol.

  Nurigome – An inner sanctum. Usually at the center of the house where valuables might be kept.

  Onegai – Formal word for “please.”

  Oni – A specific type of dangerous monster, equivalent to the Western ogre.

  Onibi – Ghost lights. Small “will-o-wisp”-type flames that signify the presence of ghosts.

  Rei – Ghost/spirit.

  -Sama – Honorific, usually reserved for someone of high social status.

  Samurai – The warrior class of Japan. It became dominant after the Heian period.

  Samuru – A servant. Thought to be the word from which the later samurai is derived.

  -San – Honorific, showing respect to the person addressed.

  Shikigami – Artificial creatures created by magic to do the magician’s will.

  Shinden – A building style favored for mansions in the Heian era. No period examples are known to survive.

  Shoji – A screen made of wooden lattice covered with rice paper.

  Shou – A volume measure, equivalent to 1.8 liters.

  Sohei – A warrior attached to a Buddhist temple. Possibly a monk, but more likely a lay-brother, or even a mercenary.

  Sutra – A Buddhist holy text.

  Tachi – A long, thin sword originally designed for use on horseback.

  Tanka – Classic Japanese poetic form of thirty-one syllables. A longer version of what eventually became the haiku.

  Tanto – A dagger (literally, “small sword.”)

  Tegami – A letter, as in written correspondence.

  Torii – A “spirit gate,” usually marking the entrance to a shrine or holy place.

  Tsuba – The metal guard on a Japanese sword.

  Yamabushi – “One who sleeps in the mountains.” A word for a mountain-dwelling ascetic.

  Yin-Yang – A philosophy rooted in both the balance between and interconnectedness of all things: light/dark, male/female, life/death, etc.

  Youkai – Generic term for a monster, or pretty much any supernatural creature.

  Yukata – A lightweight summer kimono.

  Yuki-onna – Literally, “snow woman.” A beautiful female demon who embodies ice and snow. Known to freeze unwary travelers.

  Yurrei – Another word for ghost.

  SUGGESTED READING

  As I Crossed a Bridge of Dreams: Recollections of a Woman in 11th Century Japan, translated by Sarashina and Ivan Morris, Penguin Classics, 1989.

  The Confessions of Lady Nijo, translated by Karen Brazell, Stanford University Press, 1973.

  The Diary of Lady Murasaki, translated by Richard Bowring, Penguin Classics, 1996.

  The Gossamer Years: The Diary of a Noblewoman in Heian Japan, translated by Edward Seidensticker, Tuttle Classics, 1989.

  The Pillow Book of Sei Shonagon, translated by Ivan Morris, Columbia University Press, 1991.

  The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu, translated by Edward Seidensticker, Knopf, 1978.

  The Tale of the Heike, translated by Helen McCullough, Stanford University Press, 1990.

  An Introduction to Japanese Court Poetry by Earl Miner, Stanford University Press, 1968.

  A History of Japan to 1334 by George Sansom, Stanford University Press, 1958.

  The World of the Shining Prince: Court
Life in Ancient Japan by Ivan Morris, Kodansha USA, 1994.

  Hyakunin Isshu, edited by Fujiwara no Teika, translation by Larry Hammer, Cholla Bear Press, 2011.

  PUBLICATION HISTORY

  “Fox Tails” Realms of Fantasy, June © 2005.

  “Moon Viewing at Shijo Bridge” Realms of Fantasy, April © 2006.

  “A Touch of Hell” Realms of Fantasy, April © 2007.

  “Hot Water” Realms of Fantasy, December © 2007.

  “The River of Three Crossings” Realms of Fantasy, February © 2009.

  “The Bride Doll” © 2013 by Richard Parks. Original to this collection.

  “The Mansion of Bones” Beneath Ceaseless Skies #19, © 2009.

  “Sanji’s Demon” Beneath Ceaseless Skies #38-39, © 2010.

  “Lady of the Ghost Willow” Beneath Ceaseless Skies #53, © 2010.

  “The Ghost of Shinoda Forest” Beneath Ceaseless Skies #63, © 2011.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Richard Parks lives in Mississippi with his wife and a varying number of cats. His fiction has appeared in Asimov’s, Realms of Fantasy, Lady Churchill’s Rosebud Wristlet, Fantasy Magazine, Weird Tales, multiple times in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, and in numerous anthologies including Year’s Best Fantasy and Fantasy: The Best of the Year. PS Publishing will be bringing out a novel featuring his Heian detective Lord Yamada, To Break the Demon Gate, in early 2013.

  BOOKS BY RICHARD PARKS

  The Ogre’s Wife

  Hereafter, and After

  Worshipping Small Gods

  The Long Look

  On the Banks of the River of Heaven

  The Heavenly Fox