Soul of the Sword (Shadow of the Fox #2) - Julie Kagawa Page 0,101

I merely smiled and bowed to the courtier, then followed Naganori to the torii gate in the center of the room.

“I have opened the path for you,” the majutsushi told us, as I shivered in the cold air wafting from the space between the posts. “You will not need me to guide you this time. You must simply walk it until you reach your destination. There will be another majutsushi waiting to open the path on the other side. If nothing happens and you do not go careening off the path into Meido, you will find yourself in the basement of one of the merchants in Jujiro. They will be expecting you, but do not linger, and do not attempt to converse with the owners of the house. Depart the property as quickly as possible and search for the north gate out of the town. Your travel papers will get you past the guards with little to no trouble, but it is still advisable to be cautious, to keep your heads down and avoid attracting attention.”

He glanced at Okame as he said this, making the ronin grin. “Oh, don’t worry, Naganori-san,” Okame said. “An onmyoji, a ronin, a priest and a shrine maiden, two dogs and an Imperial noble walking around together? We’re sure to fit right in.”

Naganori’s mouth thinned, but he turned back to me. “When you do find the north gate,” he continued, “all you have to do is follow the road. It eventually ends at the abandoned village of Takemura near the edge of the Forest of a Thousand Eyes. When you reach an empty, overgrown village likely haunted by yurei and demons, you’ll know you’re close. Do you have any questions before we send you off?”

I shook my head, and the majutsushi gave a brisk nod. “Then there is nothing else to be done here,” he said, and gestured to the torii gate. Between the posts, the air darkened, like a shadow creeping over the floor. I could feel the icy tendrils of the space between reaching out to me, clawing at my skin, and shivered. “Sayonara,” Naganori said, and stepped away, as if already dismissing us. “Good luck on the path.”

I looked at the inky blackness through the torii gate and took a deep breath. Hold on, Tatsumi. I’m coming.

Flanked by Daisuke and Okame, and with Reika, Master Jiro and the two dogs at my back, I stepped forward onto the Path of Shadows. As soon as we were through, the light behind us faded, the tear between realms sealed and we were alone in the land of the dead.

I could already feel their eyes on us and, for a moment, could only stand there shivering.

“Come.” Master Jiro stepped forward, Chu and Ko at his side. The two dogs seemed to glow softly in the inky shadows of the path, twin balls of luminance in the gloom. “Let us not repeat our mistakes the first time we came through,” the old priest said, his voice sounding weak and rough in the black. “Our faith in each other must be stronger than the calls of the dead. Reika-chan, if you would…”

“Hai, Master Jiro.” The shrine maiden reached into her sleeve and withdrew an ofuda, the kanji for path written down the strip of paper in black ink. “If you feel yourself slipping,” Master Jiro said, as Reika stepped to the front, “look to your companions. They will not let you fall to the darkness.”

Raising her hand, the miko released the ofuda, which spiraled into the air like an eel through water. It circled us once, then fluttered down the path, casting a faint glow against the shadows. Reika smiled.

“It’s found the path,” she said, watching the slip of light flicker and dance against the darkness. “If you ever start to lose your way, just look for the light.”

“Then let us go,” said the priest. “Before the voices of the dead call to us.”

Something whispered my name in the dark, low and anguished. Tatsumi’s voice. A shadow appeared, familiar and heartbreaking, in the corner of my vision. Pinning back my ears, I closed my eyes and turned away, refusing to look at it. It’s not him, I reminded myself, swallowing the lump that rose to my throat. Tatsumi wasn’t dead. He waited for me at the end of the road, at the Steel Feather temple, where the fate of the Dragon scroll would be decided. I would see the demonslayer again, and I would free him from