Page 22 of Night of the Dragon

Tatsumi, following my gaze, gave a rueful smile. “I guess we’re not welcome here anymore,” he murmured.

“Hai.” I nodded, reluctantly disentangling myself from the demonslayer. I wanted to stay in this peaceful, kami-filled forest awhile longer, to forget the outside world and the impossible odds stacked against us. But the dawn was waning, and time was running ever shorter. “I guess it’s time to go.”

We trailed the kitsune guide through the forest, following a path that only it knew, as the kodama watched us depart from the branches overhead. The kitsune moved swiftly, never pausing or looking back, its white-tipped tails bobbing through the darkness. Curiosity ate at me, a fire in my belly; I wanted to talk to the yokai, the first of my full-blooded kin I had seen, in the real world, anyway. And a kitsune withtwotails, at that. I had so many questions, so many things about their world I wanted to know. But the kitsune didn’t stop, always keeping the same distance between us, seeming uninterested and unconcerned with the half blood following it.

The skies overhead were brightening, and a faint pink tint had crept over the horizon, when Tatsumi and I followed the fox out of the trees to stand at the edge of a small valley. A few yards away, the land sloped down into a grassy bowl surrounded by forest and trees on one side and a soaring range of mountains on the other, the jagged tips brushing the clouds.

The kitsune looked back with glowing yellow eyes, twitched its tails once and disappeared. Disappointment blossomed in my chest, but only for a moment, as I saw what lay beyond the edge of the rise.

My eyes widened. A great city sprawled within the confines of the valley, glittering like a carpet of fireflies in the shadow of the mountains. A wall surrounded it, but it seemed as if the forest had crawled into the valley and now shared the space with the rest of the city. Large ancient trees towered over the narrow streets, and many of the houses had been built around the trunks rather than disturb the giants. Colorful pagoda roofs swept toward the sky, bright bridges spanned the web of rivers and streams that cut through the valley, and a magnificent castle with white walls and a red roof sat surrounded by moats in the very center. At each corner of the valley, four huge statues towered over the city like immortal guardians: Kirin, Phoenix, Tiger and the Great Dragon himself.

Tatsumi’s gaze swept over the valley, taking everything in. “This must be Shinsei Yaju,” he murmured. “The capital city of the Moon Clan. We’ll have to be careful.”

“Because outsiders aren’t allowed to travel the island freely?” I guessed, and he nodded.

“They’ll be even more suspicious around the capital.” He nodded to the large red-and-white palace that sat in the center like a glistening jewel. “That’s the home of Tsuki Kiyomi, the daimyo of the Moon Clan.”

“Oh,” I gasped. “Tsuki Kiyomi! That’s who the Kirin told me to go see. It said Kiyomi-san could help us stop Genno.”

“The Kirin,” Tatsumi repeated. “It told you to speak to the Moon Clan daimyo?”

I nodded, and Tatsumi said nothing for a bit, observing the city and its people walking down the roads like ants. “I could sneak us in,” he finally responded. “Though that might not inspire a lot of confidence in the daimyo, if two strangers suddenly appear inside her palace without warning. And if we’re caught, they’ll probably try to kill us. Especially since...”

He trailed off, but I knew what worried him. Since he looked like a half-demon, or at least, not entirely human. “I think,” I began, “I’m going to have to go down there and ask to see the daimyo. The Kirin said we needed her aid. It wouldn’t send us here without cause, right?”

Tatsumi didn’t answer. I could feel his gaze on me, and reached for his hand. He hesitated, and then his fingers curled around mine. “I have to go,” I went on, “but you don’t need to come with me, Tatsumi. I’m sure you can use your shinobi magic and sneak into the city without being seen. We can meet up later when it’s safe.”

“No.” Tatsumi shook his head. “If the Kirin sent you here, there’s a reason for it. You need to speak to the daimyo, and I’m not leaving you alone.”

“But what if they try to kill you?”

Unexpectedly, one corner of his mouth turned up. “They might...if they see a demon,” he said, sounding strangely amused. “If only there was a way to disguise myself so that I looked like something else.”

“Oh.” Feeling foolish, I plucked a leaf from a nearby branch, then turned and scowled at the smirking demonslayer. “When did you learn sarcasm?” I asked. “Have you been listening to Okame-san? The Tatsumi I remember barely cracked a smile.”

“I’m not sure.” Abruptly serious, Tatsumi frowned, his eyes darkening. “I know I’m different now,” he admitted in a soft voice. “I remember the person I was when we first met and...that Tatsumi seems like a stranger.” He shook his head. “I don’t know if it’s Hakaimono’s influence, or even his memories of the dozens of demonslayers that came before me, but... I know I’m not the same. I don’t even know how much of the real Tatsumi is left.”

My heart twisted. Stepping close, I placed a palm against his cheek, feeling warmth spread through my fingers as he closed his eyes. “I like this Tatsumi,” I whispered.

A shiver went through him, and one hand rose, covering my own and sending tingles all the way down my arm. “I’m glad,” he murmured. “Because I have no idea what is happening to me.”

My heart raced. I wanted to kiss him, to run my fingers through his hair and feel his hands on my skin. I wanted to press myself close, burrow into him so that nothing separated us, and I was terrified that I felt this way.

Quickly, I pulled back and held the leaf up in two fingers. “Ready to go see the daimyo?”

“As long as you don’t turn me into a goat.” Tatsumi’s voice was wry. “Or the ronin.”

I bit my cheek at the thought of the demonslayer as a goat, then pressed the leaf to his forehead. Tatsumi didn’t move, closing his eyes as I drew on my magic. There was a soundless explosion of smoke, and when it cleared, the demonslayer stared back at me, now draped in black robes with a metal staff clutched in one hand. A wide-brimmed straw hat sat on his head, and his horns were nowhere to be seen.

Tatsumi gazed down at himself, then back up at me, raising a brow. “A priest?”

“Nobody questions priests,” I explained with a shrug. “Or shrine maidens. Have you ever noticed how Reika can go almost anywhere she wants, and no one gives her a second glance? Because she’s obviously doing the work of the kami, and its bad luck to interfere in the way of the gods. That, and she gives them a terrible scolding if they question her.”

“I see.”

I cocked my head at him. “Do you not want to be a priest, Tatsumi-san? I could turn you into a shrine maiden instead.”

He winced. “This is fine.”

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