Page 43 of Night of the Dragon

“I know,” I whispered, and Tatsumi dropped off the edge of the cliff, plummeting straight down. A shriek lodged in my throat, and I fought the compulsion to squeeze my eyes shut as we dropped like a stone for the bottom. Tatsumi’s free hand lashed out, catching a shard of rock jutting from the cliff wall, and our downward plunge was halted as he clung to the side of the ledge. I peeked up and saw his eyes flickering crimson, curved talons digging into the rock wall as we dangled there.

“Still all right?” he murmured.

“Ask me again when we get to the bottom.”

He shoved off the cliff face, falling another dozen or so feet before landing on a narrow ledge, somehow balancing us both on the tiny strip of stone. I caught sight of the bottom of the cliff, white waves crashing against the rock, and gave in to the compulsion to shut my eyes, turning my face into Tatsumi’s haori. We continued this way for several short but panic-inducing moments, leaping from rock to rock, sliding down the jagged wall and dropping through the air, until after one heart-pounding, terrifying drop, we finally stopped moving.

“Yumeko,” Tatsumi said after a few moments had passed. He sounded amused and concerned at the same time. “We’re here. You can let me go now.”

“I could,” I agreed. “As soon as my heart starts back up.”

I let out a relieved sigh as Tatsumi gently set me down, grateful to have the earth under my own feet again. Glancing up, I saw Daisuke and Okame descending the cliff wall, much more slowly than our terrifying plunge to the bottom. Still, it wouldn’t take them long to reach us. Stepping back from Tatsumi, I gazed around, searching for what had brought us here.

The ghostly figure of a girl hovered several yards away, transparent and nearly invisible against the steel-gray sky. When our gazes met, she quickly dropped her eyes.

“Suki-san?” Carefully, I stepped forward, flinching as a wave crashed against the rocks several feet below us, sending a huge spray of water into the air. Beside us, the wall of the cliff soared overhead, but behind the ghostly figure, I could see a jagged, narrow crack in the rock wall, a hole stretching back into darkness.

I drew in a breath, and beside me, Tatsumi straightened.

“A cave. Is this what you were trying to show us, Suki-san?” I asked, as the yurei eyed Tatsumi with large pale eyes. She shivered, losing form for a moment, winking in and out of existence as she hovered there. The demon obviously frightened her, but she was trying hard to be brave, fighting her instincts to go invisible. With a final shudder, she turned back to me.

“Yes,” she whispered. “This...this will lead you under the Valley of Lightning, past the demons and the gates of Jigoku...and will take you close to the cliffs of Ryugake, where Genno is. If we hurry...you’ll be able to reach it in time to stop the Summoning. I... I will lead you there, if you will follow me.”

“Suki-san.” I let out a breath in a rush, as relief and hope bloomed in my chest, dispelling some of the darkness. “Thank you!” I whispered. I didn’t even care how the ghost knew of this passage, this miraculous hidden detour under the valley, and I didn’t want to question it. It couldn’t be coincidence, I knew that. I was aware that something about this situation was very wrong. But I was desperate to stop Genno and save Kiyomi-sama; I would take any help I could, even if it was a trap.

Tatsumi, however, was not as accepting of our sudden good fortune.

“How did you know of this?” he growled, glancing at the mouth of the cave, then back at the hitodama with narrowed eyes. “Not even the daimyo of the Moon Clan knows about this route, otherwise she would have sent us here. Who told you of this passage?”

Suki paled, becoming a bit more transparent in the face of the wary demonslayer. “I... I was bid to help you,” she said in a breathy, trembling voice. “Lord Sei—” She paused, catching herself, before continuing. “The person I follow... He showed me this passage...and told me to lead you here. He wants you to stop Genno. Stop the Summoning. That is...all I know.”

“Yumeko-san.” Daisuke’s voice echoed behind us, as the noble carefully made his way along the ledge. The ronin walked close behind him, but as far from the edge of the cliff as he could, nearly pressing his body into the rock wall. The yurei half turned, and a strange expression crossed her face as she saw the noble: one of happiness, contentment and relief, but tinged with sorrow. Daisuke smiled as he joined us, gazing at the dark mouth of the cave with a surprised, hopeful expression. Unlike Tatsumi, he didn’t appear suspicious at all.

“Suki-san,” he murmured, glancing at the hitodama, who instantly dropped her gaze, looking at the ground. Daisuke’s voice was faintly awed as he continued. “You appear once again to show us the way. Perhaps you are not a hitodama at all, but a guardian spirit sent by the Kami themselves?”

Suki closed her eyes. If she had been living, I was sure she would have blushed. “I... I am just a ghost, Daisuke-sama,” she whispered. “I am not worthy of anyone’s attention. I will guide you and your friends to the Summoning site...and Genno. If that is what you wish.

“But,” she added, quickly looking up, “I must warn you all. The path ahead...is dangerous. There is something in these caves, a presence that is...very powerful. Powerful enough to keep the kami themselves away.” She shivered, casting a fearful glance at the jagged tear in the rock face. “And it...is...angry. If whatever is in the caves finds us...you could all die.”

I bit my lip, trembling. I could still see Reika smiling at me as she faded away, proud that she had given her life to save the daimyo. I could see Master Isao, his determination and serene calm, as he strode out to meet the oni that would kill him. For them, death wasn’t something to be feared, but a duty that they had accepted. If my time came, I could only hope to do so well, facing it proudly on my feet. Ready to give my life to protect those I loved.

“If this is the only way to Genno, we have to keep going,” I said. “I’ll face whatever I must if we can get to the Summoning site and stop the Wish.”

“I was afraid you would say that.” The ronin sighed, raking a hand through his hair, and gazed defiantly at the mouth of the cave. “Well, the day isn’t getting any shorter. Let’s go meet that glorious death.”

“Lead on, Suki-san,” Daisuke said, sounding as close to elated as I had ever heard from him. “We have a demon master to confront, a Summoning to prevent, and as Okame-san pointed out, the day is not getting any younger.”

22

The Cave of Sorrows

TATSUMI

Ididn’t like this.

The ghost was right. There was something lurking in these caves. Something...powerful. I could feel it in the walls, in the air itself, a dark, pulsing energy that seemed to grow the deeper we went into the tunnels. It made my demon instincts bristle, prodding at them like an open wound, making me tense. Whatever was down here was not a lone kami or even a wandering yokai. It was darker than that, old and powerful. Though the question of whether or not we would run into it was unknown. The cave system was enormous; we had been walking for a couple hours, following the hitodama through caverns and narrow passages, ducking stalactites and low-hanging ceilings, the glow of the floating sphere our only light in the utter blackness.

“How do you know where you’re going, Suki-san?” Yumeko asked at one point, her voice echoing in the cavern overhead. “Have you been here before?”

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