by Julie Kagawa
Closing my eyes, I drew on my magic, feeling it rise from that ball of power somewhere deep within. With an outward push, I released it into the room, feeling it wash over the walls, floor and ceiling, engulfing the entire chamber in a cocoon of fox magic.
I opened my eyes and smiled at my handiwork. Tatsumi and I now stood in the center of a small moonlit grove, bamboo and sakura trees surrounding us. Fireflies danced through the air, pink sakura blossoms drifted around us like snow, and purple ayame-irises swayed gently in the wind. The grass beneath our feet was soft and thick, and overhead, the same enormous moon shone through the branches, spilling silver light over the grove.
I looked at Tatsumi. He stood in the center of the meadow, gazing around with an awed look on his face. “This is...” He gave his head a disbelieving shake and glanced at me, his eyes still bright with amazement. “Incredible. I’ve never seen fox magic this strong.”
“I’ve learned a lot.” Smiling, I stepped toward him, feeling long grass brush my ankles, hearing the hiss of the wind in the bamboo. “No one will disturb us here, Tatsumi. This is our last night, before we have to face Genno. Before the night of the Wish. I thought I could show you someplace beautiful.”
His eyes went a little glassy, and the look on his face caused a lump to rise to my throat. As I stepped forward, he held out a hand. I placed my palm in his and he drew me close, one arm sliding around my waist as he kissed me gently.
“Arigatou,” he whispered when we drew back. His forehead touched mine, our faces just a breath apart. “You are constantly surprising me.” He raised his head and gazed around in wonder, his voice barely a murmur in the darkness. “Ichiro-sensei always told me wishing is for fools, but... I wish we had more time.”
“Me, too.” I ran my fingers down his chest, feeling him shiver as they passed. “But tonight is for us, Tatsumi. No one will bother us here. No one will see a demon or a fox or a peasant or a shinobi. This is our place. One last night, before we face Genno in the morning.”
We kissed again, the moonlight blazing down on us, the wind ruffling our hair as it whispered through the bamboo. That strange feeling of warmth and light ignited in my stomach again, flickering under my skin like blue-white foxfire as it spread to every part of me. Tatsumi picked me up, carried me to a spot beneath the sakura trees and knelt, laying me gently in the grass. The breeze was cool, the ground soft and the cherry blossoms were like feathers drifting from the sky, as we leaned back and lost ourselves in fox magic.
15
The Hidden Path
Suki
Suki found Lord Seigetsu on a cliff overlooking the valley. The moon hung low in the sky and the stars were beginning to fade, but they still cast a pale glow around him, shining off his silver hair. Below, the valley was cloaked in shadow, but the city glowed with a soft orange light, like a chochin lantern pulsing cheerfully against the darkness. For a moment, she wondered if Seigetsu-sama would be angry at her for lingering in the Moon Clan Palace instead of returning straightaway, but he only gave her a knowing smile and turned back toward the edge of the cliff.
Suki looked around, feeling that something was wrong. Missing. After a moment, she realized what it was. “Where is Taka?” she whispered.
“Taka.” Seigetsu’s voice was flat, and he didn’t look at her. “He is with the carriage. His sulkiness was beginning to wear on me. But it is of no matter. The board is set. The pieces are nearly in place. There is only one maneuver left.”
He turned, holding out a hand to her. “We are near the end, Suki-chan,” he said softly. “Very close to changing fate. I need you to do one more thing. If not for me, then for your Taiyo prince, the fox girl and the entire empire. I promise, Suki-chan, this will be the last thing I ask of you. Will you help them, and me, one final time?”
“I...” Suki looked down at the city, at the palace glowing with light in the very center. Where she had left Daisuke-sama in the arms of his ronin. He was happy, but not safe. Not yet. “Yes, Seigetsu-sama,” she whispered. One more time, and maybe it would be enough. Maybe Daisuke-sama, the fox girl and all the people she had come to care for would survive, and then she could finally move on.
“Good,” Seigetsu murmured, and stepped forward, raising two fingers to her forehead. “This will not hurt,” he assured her, and as before, she felt the faintest brush against her skin as Seigetsu closed his eyes. “Just relax, and let the memories come to you.”
There was a flare of light across her vision, and suddenly, she was at the bottom of a cliff, the waves crashing against the rocks below and sending up sprays of white foam. Before her, she could see the imposing wall of the cliff, a sheer rise of jagged rock that soared into the air. As she watched, a section of the wall seemed to dissolve into mist, revealing a narrow gap in the rock face.
Of its own accord, her body moved forward, flying across the rocks, and the black hole filled her vision. Then she was through the gap and into a series of winding, narrow tunnels and caverns. She couldn’t stop or even slow, flying through the caves with no control over where she was going. Boulders and stalactites zipped past, barely missing her, and once she soared right through an enormous column and continued down the tunnel without slowing down.
The passageway twisted around, and she entered an immense cavern, the ceiling so high that she could barely see it. As she soared through, the stone floor flashing beneath her, she caught a glow from the corner of her eye, a hazy, box-shaped structure that flickered with an ominous nonlight. It was gone before she could see it clearly, but Suki was suddenly filled with dread. She knew, without a doubt, that she was not alone in these caves. That something terrible lurked in the narrow passageways, something ancient and terrifying. Stomach twisting, she willed her body to go faster, wanting only to find the way out.
At last, a tiny oval of light appeared ahead of her, growing larger and brighter with every passing moment. Relieved, Suki focused on that light, not daring to look behind her, until she flew through the gap and into open sky.
Once more, her body moved of its own accord. Squinting, she looked up to see a jagged mountain peak rising into the air, the point seeming to scrape the sky. Overhead, clouds swirled and lightning flashed, and for just a moment, she thought she glimpsed the silhouette of something massive within the storm.
Suki blinked, and abruptly, she was floating before Lord Seigetsu once more, feeling dazed as he lowered his arm. “What—what was that, Seigetsu-sama?” she whispered, not certain of what she had seen. She did remember the cave system, the ominous presence lurking within and the massive, terrifying form in the clouds.
The silver-haired man offered a faint smile and turned away, walking back to the edge of the cliff. “A path,” he said, to her further confusion. “And you will be the guide to light their way. Do not worry on it overmuch, Suki-chan,” he continued as she floated beside him, feeling lost. “When the time comes, you will know what to do. But now, we must watch and wait. The final play has begun.”
Movement stirred the valley below. From the trees surrounding the city, tiny pinpricks of light emerged, blinking yellow and red in the shadows. With a start, Suki realized they were eyes. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of glowing eyes flowing out of the woods toward the city in the center of the valley.
“Genno is making his move,” Seigetsu said quietly. “The end has finally started. The demons will overtake Shinsei Yaju by dawn.”
16
Demons at the Gate
TATSUMI
You knew this couldn’t last forever, Tatsumi.
I opened my eyes and found myself sitting in a dark, ordinary room. Sometime during the night, Yumeko had either lost her hold on the illusion or had simply released it. The moonlit grove was gone, the bamboo and sakura trees replaced with four simple walls, a raftered ceiling shutting out the night sky. I found that I missed it, and the feeling of peace it had brought. For the first time, I had b
een able to forget everything that had brought me here, my past, my training, the missions of death and pain and destruction. Under her touch, all of that had faded away. For the first time in both my lives, I had been content.
A soft sigh rippled across my senses. Yumeko lay beside me, curled into her kimono, eyes closed and face peaceful. Her fox ears twitched in her sleep, and her bushy tail was draped across her legs, the white tip standing out in the shadows. A faint smile crossed my face as I watched her. Kitsune. Peasant. Daughter of a daimyo. She was all these things and more, but to me, she was just Yumeko.
Reaching down, I gently brushed a dark strand of hair from her cheek and felt a stirring of amused dismay from somewhere deep within. Kuso. I’m in love with her.
Yumeko slept on, oblivious to the world and my realization. Pulling my hand back, I waited for the flicker of demonic rage to follow, the anger toward both Yumeko and myself for succumbing to such a weakness. Oni did not love. Oni were incapable of weak human emotions. But even my demon half could not muster any hostile feelings toward the sleeping kitsune, just a somewhat wry resignation. I had slaughtered armies and laid waste to cities, but the thought of harming one slip of a fox girl was unimaginable. She was my reason to fight now. I didn’t expect to survive this final battle, and even if I did, there was no world where a half-oni demonslayer could exist. The Kage would come for me; they would want Kamigoroshi returned, but more than that, they would want Hakaimono destroyed. Running wasn’t an option; they would always follow. Hanshou would never let me go. I had betrayed my clan and, by continuing to exist, I was the enemy of the empire, but I would see this battle through. Whatever happened, I would make sure Yumeko’s newfound home and family were safe.
Beside me, Yumeko shivered, curling tighter into herself as if cold. I reached down and pulled the kimono up farther, covering her shoulders, but she trembled again, her brow furrowing in distress.
“N-no.” The soft whisper cut through the quiet. Yumeko stirred under the coverings, her hands clenching into fists. “No,” she whispered again, jerking as if to ward something away. “Stop it. Please...”
“Yumeko.” I reached down and put a hand on her shoulder. She flinched at my touch, pinning her ears back, and I shook her gently. “You’re dreaming, Yumeko. Wake up.”
“No,” she said again, and then jerked upright with a gasp. Golden eyes flared in the shadows of the room, glazed and terrified as they stared at me, before they blinked and recognition emerged once more.
“I’m here,” I told her quietly. “It was just a dream. Are you all right?”
“Tatsumi.” Rather than calming, Yumeko reached out and grabbed my sleeve, her face pale. “Something is wrong,” she whispered. “The kami...the kami are terrified. I can feel them, crying out in fear.” Her frightened gaze swept the room before settling on me again. “Something is happening, something terrible. We have to find Kiyomi-sama and—”
“Yumeko-chan!”
The voice rang outside the door, a moment before it was flung open with a snap, revealing the shrine maiden in the frame, Chu at her heels.
“Yumeko-chan, get up! We have to—Oh, Kage-san. You’re here, too.” Reika blinked at me, and her cheeks flared red as she realized what was happening. But, even then, the shrine maiden refused to let a small thing like embarrassment distract her. “Jinkei’s mercy,” she groaned, “I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. If you two are quite ready, we do have a madman to stop and an empire to save. And the risks just got a lot higher.”
“What’s happening?” I growled, rising swiftly and stepping in front of Yumeko, shielding her from the miko’s gaze. Yumeko’s cheeks were tinged pink, and she had drawn her robe tightly around herself, but she seemed more concerned about Reika’s warning than the unexpected interruption. The shrine maiden gave me a grim look.
“Kiyomi-sama has called for us. An army of demons and yokai have been spotted coming toward the city. They’ll be at the eastern gates before dawn.” Yumeko gasped, and the miko’s eyes hardened. “It seems the Master of Demons has been one step ahead of us.”
“We’ll be right there!” Yumeko leaped to her feet, and Reika quickly averted her gaze. I silently stepped into the hall, closing the door behind me, while the kitsune prepared herself for what was likely our last battle. After only a few seconds, she shoved the doors open and stepped out, golden eyes hard and determined.
“All right,” she said, and took a deep breath. “I’m ready.”
This is it, then. I nodded and shoved Kamigoroshi through my sash, resolve settling in my gut like a stone. “Let’s go.”
We hurried into the corridors, where confusion and panic were already spreading throughout the palace. Servants and nobles alike rushed through the halls or hovered in doorways, looking lost. Samurai in suits of black-and-gray lacquered armor hurried past us, ornate helms perched atop their heads. They looked like noble warriors, but their presence only added to the tension and fear sweeping through the halls. Samurai dressed in full battle gear only when they were going to war.
“Yumeko! Kage-san!”
The call echoed behind us. We turned as the ronin stepped through a door into the hall, hurriedly tying his obi around his waist. The Taiyo noble followed on his heels, as poised and unruffled as always, though his hair seemed a bit more unkempt than normal.
“We heard the commotion,” the ronin announced as they joined us. “Is it true that an army of demons is marching on the city right now?”
“Yes,” the shrine maiden confirmed as we rushed down the hallway. “Thankfully, Kiyomi-sama was already gathering her forces, so the city won’t be caught unprepared. But the army is very close. We’ll need to help with the defenses as quickly as we can.”
The corridor opened into the main hall, where a familiar woman in silver and black stood in the center of the room, a cluster of robed figures around her. The figures’ robes were black, their faces white but for a single, moon-shaped crescent painted onto their foreheads. The majutsushi of the Moon Clan, I realized.
“Kiyomi-sama,” Yumeko cried, rushing forward. The Moon Clan daimyo glanced up, and for just a moment, the similarities between the two women were unmistakable.
“Yumeko-san.” The daimyo stepped toward us, her expression grave. “I am sorry,” she told all of us. “But I will not be able to send my forces to Tani Kaminari to engage the Master of Demons. It seems he has sent his army to my doorstep, and I must defend my people.”
“Of course, Kiyomi-sama,” Yumeko said immediately. “What can we do to help?”
“Hang on, Yumeko-chan,” interrupted the ronin. “You don’t see what’s happening, do you? This is exactly what Genno wants. To keep us distracted with his army while he makes his way to the Summoning site. If we ignore him, he’ll get there without opposition.”
“I’m afraid your friend is right, Yumeko-san,” the Moon Clan daimyo said. “Unfortunately, I see little that you could do to stop that. The cliffs of Ryugake lie beyond the Valley of Lightning, which is where the army is coming from. There is no way to sneak around the demons.”
I narrowed my eyes and gripped the hilt of Kamigoroshi. “Then we’ll carve a path straight through.”
“Kiyomi-sama!”
An armored samurai raced across the floor and fell to his knees before the daimyo. “My lady, the demons are massing at the eastern wall,” he said in a rush. “We are holding them back, but we fear the gates will soon be breached.”
“Hold them,” the Moon daimyo said in a hard voice. “Send every warrior we can spare to the eastern wall. The gates cannot fall. Those monsters cannot be allowed into the city. The people will be slaughtered.”
I caught Yumeko’s gaze as she looked at me, pleading and terrified. Not for herself, but for the rest of the city. For Kiyomi-sama and the lands she now called home.
“We’ll stop them,” I told the Moon Clan daimyo, who glanced a
t me warily. “Send us there. We’ll hold them back.”
Kiyomi-sama’s jaw tightened, and she gave a short nod. “Go,” she said, and I immediately turned and began jogging toward the doors, hearing the others do the same.
“Yumeko-san!” the daimyo called before we had crossed the room. Yumeko stopped and turned to gaze back at the Moon Clan daimyo, who watched her with a dark, conflicted expression.
“Come back to me,” the daimyo ordered softly. She said nothing else, but her voice seemed to resonate through the chamber, shivering off the walls.
Yumeko nodded once. “I will,” the girl promised, then continued on to join me near the doors. The look on her face sent a chill up my spine. Her eyes glowed an angry yellow, a mask of grim determination set firmly in place. Yumeko the peasant girl had disappeared; this was a kitsune prepared to fight tooth and nail for what she considered hers.
We sprinted out of the palace and into a panicked, terrified city. Civilians rushed down the streets, heading toward the palace and away from the gates, while samurai hurried past, going in the opposite direction. A tinge of smoke hung in the air, mingling with fear and desperation, and in the distance, I could see a few trees and roof corners flickering with orange flames. Grimly, I realized it hadn’t been long from the time the first alarm was sounded at the palace; if the city was already in flames, the situation was dire indeed.
As we neared the eastern wall, a scream rang out ahead of us. As I drew my sword, we rounded a building and came upon a scene of horror. Bodies were scattered in the road, mostly citizens, but a few samurai, as well. Most were burned, charred to blackened husks, and several were missing a limb or two. Yumeko gasped, her hands going to her mouth, and the ronin let out an emphatic curse.
“What the hell? What happened? Have the gates been breached?” He gazed toward the wall, squinting to peer through the smoke from the flames and charred bodies. “How did these bastards get into the city?”
