Soul of the Sword (Shadow of the Fox #2) - Julie Kagawa Page 0,103
with a tiny but fierce yap, and the yurei recoiled, drawing back into the mist.
Ahead of us, the ofuda strip glowed like a miniature dragon as it fluttered and darted about, always moving forward but always visible, even if it was just a thread of light against the darkness. But, just as I was wondering when this morbid journey would end, the strip of paper winked out and vanished into the black.
I jerked up. “Um, Reika-chan?” I called, seeing the miko glance at me over her shoulder. “Your ofuda,” I pointed. “It disappeared. Do you think a yurei got it?”
“No.” The shrine maiden shook her head, her shoulders sagging with visible relief. “It must have found the end of the path. Which means we’re nearly there.”
As she spoke, the blackness dropped away, like we had stepped through the mouth of a cave, and I blinked in the sudden glow of orange lantern light. Squinting through the haze, I found myself standing in a small room, with rough wooden floors, windowless walls and a high ceiling. When I glanced over my shoulder, I saw a small red torii gate standing against what looked to be a solid wall. A few wisps of fog curling around our feet soon dissolved in the shadows, but there was no sign of the path or the entrance into the realm of the dead.
We were in some kind of storeroom. The rest of the chamber had shelves running the length of the walls that were stocked with all manner of crates, boxes and full sacks of what I guessed was rice. Barrels were stacked in three corners of the room, and rolls of cloth stood upright against the fourth.
I turned to Reika. “Where did Naganori say we would end up?”
“In the basement of one of the merchant houses in Jujiro,” the shrine maiden replied, also gazing around. “From the looks of things, I’d say we made it.”
“You have arrived.”
We turned at the quiet voice. A young woman wearing long robes of black and purple stood at the base of the steps leading up. White makeup and black lips marked her as a majutsushi of the Shadow Clan. “Please follow me,” she said simply, and turned away. “I will escort you out.”
Not long after, we stood on the corner of a cobbled road, shivering in the predawn stillness, as the town of Jujiro slowly woke up. Across the street, past a row of warehouses guarded by rough-looking men, I could see a structured web of wooden docks and dozens of brightly colored sails, drifting or bobbing lazily on the water. A constant breeze blew in from the harbor, smelling of fish and river water, or maybe that was from the rows of fish being gutted and sliced open at the market across the street.
“I’ve never heard of Jujiro,” I said, marveling at all the sights and sounds of the harbor. “How close are we to the Dragon Spine Mountains?”
“I’m not really sure,” Reika said. “I’ve never been to Jujiro myself.”
“If you’ll allow me,” Daisuke said, and took the lead as we started down the road. “I have traveled through this area a few times in the past. Let me share what I can remember. The town of Jujiro is also known as the Crossroads,” Daisuke continued, oblivious or uncaring of Okame rolling his eyes at his back, “and it is the only town in the empire that isn’t controlled by any one family or clan. Because it is surrounded on three sides by rivers, including the River of Gold that flows on to the Imperial city, it has become an important hub for trade and economic growth. In the past, wars were fought to see who would control Jujiro, but in the end, the emperor decided that it would belong to no clan and every clan.” He nodded to a warehouse on one of the many docks, flying the banner of a familiar moon engulfed by an eclipse. “That’s why the Kage have a presence here—all the clans do. I believe this is the River of Gold, which, if you followed it east, would eventually lead you to Kin Heigen Toshi.” His voice grew somber as he pointed in another direction. “If you travel north, in two days’ time you will see the edge of Kurai Tsuki Mori, known today as the Forest of a Thousand Eyes. Which is likely the reason Lady Hanshou sent us here. Jujiro is the closest major town to that cursed forest.