Shadow of The Fox (Shadow of the Fox #1) - Julie Kagawa Page 0,160
sauntered to her writing desk, sat down on the stool and lit the candle. She then pulled open the bottom drawer and removed an object wrapped in silk cloth, placed it on the desktop and removed the covering.
The naked skull stared at her, empty eye sockets dark and unseeing. As Satomi waited, they flickered to life, lit with a baleful purple glow that threw eerie shadows over the rice paper walls. Satomi lowered her head in a bow.
“Everything is going to plan, master,” she said in a low murmur. “Yaburama should have killed the boy by now and taken the scroll. The priest will tell the survivors where the Steel Feather temple is located, and we will simply follow them until they reach it. Then the second piece will be yours, as well.”
The flames in the skull’s eye sockets pulsed, and a raspy whisper emerged between its grinning yellow teeth. “I fear you may have underestimated the Kage demonslayer, Lady Satomi,” it breathed. “Yaburama is one of Jigoku’s strongest oni, which is why I summoned him for you. But Hakaimono is a true monster. If he makes an appearance, if Yaburama cannot kill the boy quickly enough, then you might have another problem on your hands.”
“You needn’t worry, master.” Satomi smiled. “Everything is under control. Soon, you will have the last two pieces of the Dragon’s prayer, we will summon the beast and you will rule this country as you were meant to.”
“And you will not turn on me, as you did everyone before you?”
“Of course not, master!” Satomi put her hand to her chest, sounding horrified. “I am your loyal servant. Everything I do, I do for your glorious return.”
The light in the skull’s eyes faded, becoming faint pinpricks against the black. “Be sure that you remember who your master is, Lady Satomi,” the voice rasped, growing fainter with the light. “You are a talented blood witch, but as replaceable as any mortal, and I have an army of yokai and demons who will answer my call. Do not disappoint me. I will await word of your success.”
Satomi gave a smile and a small bow, and when she raised her head, the light in the skull’s eyes had gone out, and she was alone.
As the glow faded and darkness returned, Satomi’s smile faded, replaced with trembling anger.
“You think you are so clever, master,” she whispered to the skull. “But only a mortal soul can summon the Dragon, and your army of demons cannot call the Harbinger for you. When the time comes to speak the wish, it will not be for your glorious return, I can promise you that.”
Smiling again, she rose from the desk, turned around, and came face-to-face with her maid.
“You?” An annoyed frown instantly darkened her face. She tried to remember the name of this newest girl, and failed. “I didn’t call for you. What are you doing here, you worthless thing?”
The girl’s eyes lifted to meet her own, flashing gold in the darkness, right before she shoved the blade of a sword through Lady Satomi’s chest.
Satomi’s mouth gaped. Stunned, she gazed down at the shining length of steel in her breast, at the blood beginning to well around the edges. A thread of crimson ran from her lips, trickling down her neck, and she raised her eyes to her maid’s face.
The corner of the girl’s mouth pulled into a smirk. There was a soundless explosion of white smoke, and when it cleared, a man stood before her, his blade still sunk into her middle. He was beautiful; his long hair the brightest silver, like polished metal, his eyes a lazy gold.
“Good night, Lady Satomi,” the beautiful stranger said, his voice low and cool. “I believe you’ve done enough for one era.”
He pulled out the sword and beheaded her in one smooth, blinding motion. Blood spattered the wall and the cluster of folded cranes on the desk, and Satomi’s head struck the floor with a muffled thump. Her last expression, as the skull rolled slowly across the boards, was one of shock.
Standing in the slain woman’s bedroom, feeling the cold eyes of the skull on his back, the stranger smiled.
“I’m afraid I can’t allow the boy to die just yet,” he murmured, as the blood from Satomi’s corpse spread across the floor, seeping into the cracks. “And the little half fox is...interesting. I wonder if she’ll be strong enough to bring the demonslayer back?” He chuckled to himself in amusement. “Hakaimono might yet meet his match in this game. I suppose we’ll have to wait, and see what she does.”
“Master?”
Seigetsu glanced down as a small yokai, a child-sized figure with a single, enormous eye in the center of his face, crept into the room. Gazing down at the headless corpse, it wrinkled its nose, then looked up at him.
“The guards are coming closer, master. We should flee while we can.”
“Go, then,” Seigetsu told it. “Do not wait for me. I will join you when I am done.”
The small yokai bowed low and scuttled off, vanishing out the door, and Seigetsu was alone.
His gaze moved to one corner of the room, to the full-length mirror and the ghostly figure of a girl, hovering before it. One silver brow arched, and his lips curled in a slow smile.
“Satomi is dead,” he told the ghost, who watched him with large pale eyes. “If you are lingering here for vengeance, you can move on. My task is done.” He flicked blood from his blade, sheathed it and turned away. “Whoever you were,” he said, walking to the door, “I hope you find peace. Sayonara.” His lean form swept through the doorframe, onto the outside veranda, and disappeared from view.
The ghost of Suki shimmered, becoming a ball of softly glowing light. For a moment, it hesitated, floating over the floor and the shocked, bloody head of Lady Satomi, casting her features in a pale glow. Then it rose into the air and flew quickly out the door, following the beautiful man down the veranda, and both vanished into the night.