Page 6 of Night of the Dragon

“Oh, don’t worry, peacock.” Okame pressed a cloth to the back of his head, grimacing. “It’ll take more than that to get rid of me. So far, I’ve survived a gaki swarm, being eaten by a giant centipede, an oni collapsing a tower on my head and yet another assassination attempt. I’m starting to think Tamafuku himself is watching out for me.” He winced, glaring at the still forms of the shinobi in the flickering foxfire. “Thatwasa close one, though. Sneaky bastards. Did they come right through the walls?”

“You were lucky.” This from Tatsumi, his face grim as he observed the bodies of his former clansmen. “An attack like this is meant to take the targets by surprise and be over in seconds.”

“It would have been,” Reika said, “if not for Yumeko. Thank the kami that the Shadow Clan weren’t expecting a kitsune.”

I shivered, observing the bodies on the ground. “I suppose Lord Iesada is still trying to get rid of us,” I said, feeling a flare of anger toward the Kage lord. The Shadow Clan noble had sent assassins after us before, when we were on our way to the Steel Feather temple. Reika’s mentor, Master Jiro, had been killed in the ambush, and I had not forgiven the arrogant Kage lord for that. If we ever met again, he would come to know the wrath of an angry kitsune.

Tatsumi cocked his head, frowning. “Lord Iesada?” he asked.

“Yeah, the bastard tried this trick earlier,” Okame snorted. “You’d think he’d learn, after we slaughtered that unit to a man.”

But Tatsumi shook his head. “This wasn’t an attack by Lord Iesada,” he told us. “Lady Hanshou ordered this.”

“Hanshou-sama?” I blinked at him. “But...why? She asked us to find you. She said she wanted us to save you from Hakaimono.”

“And you did.” Tatsumi nodded. “Your mission was successful...mostly. In her eyes, your usefulness has ended. You know too much about the Shadow Clan now. You’ve become a liability to the Kage and to her own position.”

“So she’ll just kill us?”

“Rather than have that knowledge spread to anyone else, yes.” Tatsumi gave a grim nod. “Don’t let her promises fool you. Hanshou has always been ruthless, willing to do whatever it takes to keep her position secure. She knows you’re after the Dragon scroll. That is reason enough to kill you all.”

“You don’t speak very highly of your daimyo, Kage-san,” Daisuke said, sounding as if he wasn’t sure if he should be affronted or not. “Such talk would be considered treason among the Taiyo.”

One corner of Tatsumi’s mouth twisted. “Hanshou and I have a long history,” he said, though his eyes flickered like red candle flames, and I knew this was his demon side speaking. “I know things about her that she keeps from her own clan, secrets she hides from everyone. If the Shadow Clan knew all the atrocities she has committed, she would not have lived as long as she has.”

I swallowed, deliberately not looking at the bodies strewn about the cave, the blood creeping slowly through the dirt. “So what do we do now?”

“Keep moving.” Tatsumi sheathed Kamigoroshi, and the baleful purple light along the sword winked out. “Keep running. Try to stay one step ahead of them. And never let down your guard, especially at night. This won’t be the last attack. Hanshou knows where and when the Dragon will be summoned. She’ll know we’re on our way to Ushima Island right now.” His lips curled in a bleak smile, making my stomach churn. “With the night of the Wish so close, she’ll be desperate to get the scroll. I expect we’ll be dodging the Shadow Clan the entire way to the sacred island.”

4

Village of Curses

TATSUMI

Ismelled death on the wind before we ever reached the coast.

From the foothills of the Dragon Spine Mountains, it had taken us several days to reach Umi Sabishi Mura, a midsize fishing village at the edge of the Kaihaku Sea. There had been no more attacks from Shadow Clan shinobi, though because of my...appearance, we had to avoid the many villages and settlements we came across on our journey to the edge of the empire. Water Clan territory was lush and fertile, filled with lakes, streams, rivers and rolling hills, and the ruling Mizu family was known for their pacifism and peaceful nature. They were healers and caregivers, skilled in the art of diplomatic negotiation, and the emperor himself had been known to call on the Water Clan to soothe ruffled feathers or talk down an insulted Fire Clan general. But even the Mizu would not tolerate a demon walking freely through their territories, and though they were pacifists, they were also the second largest clan in the empire. If they discovered my presence, or if they thought Hakaimono had crossed their borders and was threatening their people, having the whole of the Mizu family after us would make our quest nearly impossible.

So we traveled on foot and slept out in the open, or in caves or abandoned buildings where we could, though more often than not our campsite was a firepit beneath the boughs of trees in the forest, or a flat area beside a brook or stream. It was slow progress, avoiding the main towns and roads, and no one slept much, as suspicions of shinobi lurking in the trees and shadows made it difficult to relax. Once, the ronin suggested that we could perhaps “borrow” a few horses from any of the surrounding villages—it was for the good of the empire, after all—but neither the noble nor the shrine maiden would hear of us stealing what we needed. Besides, animals now had a violent reaction to my presence, something we discovered when we tried to obtain a ride with a sake merchant on the road, and his oxen nearly trampled us fleeing when they caught my scent.

So, riding to Umi Sabishi, either by horse or cart, was out of the question.

Finally, after days of travel, the grassy plains ended at the edge of a rocky coastline, jagged cliffs plunging into an iron gray sea. Gulls and seabirds wheeled overhead, their distant cries echoing on the wind, waves crashed and foamed against the rocks, and the air smelled of salt and the ocean.

“Sugoi,” whispered Yumeko, her voice full of wonder. Standing at the edge of the cliff, the wind tossing her long hair and sleeves, she gazed with shining eyes at the endless expanse of water stretching away before her. “This is the ocean? I never imagined it would be so big.” Her fox ears, swiveled all the way forward, fluttered in the wind as she glanced back. “How far does it go?”

“Farther than you could ever envision, Yumeko-san,” the noble answered, smiling faintly. “There are stories about a land on the other side, but the journey takes many months, and most that set out don’t make it back.”

“Another land?” Yumeko’s eyes sparkled. “What’s it like?”

“No one really knows. Three hundred years ago, Emperor Taiyo no Yukimura forbade travel to that shore and closed off the empire to any outsiders. He feared that if foreign kingdoms discovered our lands, they would invade our shores, and the empire would be forced to defend itself. So we have remained hidden, isolated and unknown, from the rest of the world.”

“I don’t understand.” Yumeko cocked her head, a slight frown crossing her features. “Why does the emperor fear outsiders so much?”

“Because apparently, the far country is full of barbarians who growl at each other and wear the fur of beasts,” the ronin broke in, grinning at the shrine maiden, who wrinkled her nose. “Some of them even have hooves and tails because not only do they wear the fur of their beasts, they also—”

“You do not need to share that bit of information with certain people present,” the miko said in a loud, firm voice. “And we have gotten rather far afield of our original goal. Umi Sabishi should not be far from here, is that right, Taiyo-san?”

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