between us. Eventually, the village gave way to the edge of a forest, where the sphere drifted through the trees until it paused at the foot of a rise. A flight of stone steps, cracked and covered in roots, ascended through the trees and disappeared over the hill. It waited long enough for us to reach the first step, before it floated up the staircase and vanished.
“Hurry,” the shrine maiden said, as she and the dog took the lead. “I can sense Master Jiro is close. We mustn’t lose it.”
“Come on, Tatsumi-san,” Yumeko urged as I hesitated. “We have to keep up.”
This was, I mused as we began climbing the stairs, a very strange party I found myself in. I was used to tracking down demons, blood mages and murderous yokai, but it had always been alone. Not in the company of a ronin, a shrine maiden, an aristocrat and a dog. And a peasant girl who haunted my thoughts, whose presence I was constantly aware of.
For a moment, walking through a dark, unknown forest, I wondered if any of the others found this situation as odd as I did before I purged those thoughts from my mind. It didn’t matter what they thought, or if they died while pursuing a dangerous blood mage. They were not my responsibility. My objective was to find the priest who could give us the location of the Steel Feather temple and the scroll. Nothing else mattered.
Especially since I had already been ordered to kill one of them when this was over.
The stairs ended at the gates of an ancient castle, peaked roofs soaring toward the full moon. The double doors of the gates were open, creaking in the breeze, and through the opening I could see the courtyard, as vacant and dark as the village below.
“Empty,” Yumeko mused as we warily approached the front gates. “I wonder what happened to the castle?”
“And all the people in the village?” the ronin added.
I didn’t reply, though I suspected I knew the answer. To summon an oni and a horde of demons from Jigoku required a massive amount of blood and sacrifice, more than the blood mage had in their body.
An entire village’s worth.
The hitodama reappeared, floating in the gateway of the castle. “It’s waiting for us,” the shrine maiden said, stepping forward. “Hurry. Master Jiro is there.”
“A frontal assault is inadvisable,” I said quietly, making the shrine maiden pause. She scowled at me, and I nodded to the gate. “If this is the blood witch’s lair, I doubt she’ll be alone. And she’s expecting us. If you go in now, you could be attacked by demons or worse.”
“What are you suggesting, demonslayer?”
“I’ll go. This is what I’m trained for. I’ll find the priest and return before the castle defenses suspect me. The rest of you don’t need to come.” And I won’t need to worry about keeping Yumeko safe.
“So, we’re supposed to wait here and trust Master Jiro’s life to you?” the shrine maiden demanded. “No offense, Kage-san. I know you are an expert killer, but the bearer of Kamigoroshi does not inspire much faith in anything else. I will not entrust Master Jiro’s safety to one who is here only for the information he possesses. I’m afraid I must insist on coming with you.”
“Sadly, I think I’ll have to agree,” the ronin added, grinning. “And I never really learned how to ‘stay’ on command. You know what they say—can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”
“The blood witch will try to stop you,” the noble broke in, gazing solemnly at me. “She could summon demons and abominations and all sorts of horrors. And you still owe me a duel, Kage-san. Forgive me, but I cannot allow you to die just yet.”
I looked at Yumeko, whose lip curled up at the corner. “I’m coming, too,” she said calmly. “We’ve traveled all this way. You don’t have to face her alone.”
Alone is better, I thought. Alone means I don’t put people in danger.
A chill went through me. Why was I having these thoughts? The safety of others was not something I’d ever considered before. Perhaps Master Iemon had been right; I was slipping, my concern for others a dangerous indication that I was losing control of my emotions. When this was over, I would submit myself to the majutsushi’s “reevaluation,” and hope that could destroy any lingering attachments. It was unpleasant, and I might not survive, but it was necessary.
Yumeko was still watching me, dark eyes shining