Soul of the Sword (Shadow of the Fox #2) - Julie Kagawa Page 0,109

weapon sticking up from the center of his back.

“What…happened?” I whispered, turning in a slow circle, feeling a bit ill as I took in the carnage. This couldn’t be right; I hadn’t struck a single one of them. “My magic…none of it was real. My illusions couldn’t have killed anyone.”

Reika sighed.

“No,” she agreed. “It wasn’t real, but they believed it was real. They were terrified, and when their own started attacking them, they responded in kind. Your illusions didn’t kill them, Yumeko-chan—they killed each other.”

Biting my lip, I looked to the others. Now that the rush of fox magic had faded, I felt almost frightened by what I had done. What my power could really do. This hadn’t been a simple prank. I hadn’t merely annoyed anyone by making a teapot dance, or changed my appearance to look like someone else. People had died. Of course, they were trying to kill us first, so I wasn’t going to shed any tears for them. But that still didn’t change what I was responsible for: pure, mindless chaos. Madness, confusion and death.

“Yumeko-san.” Daisuke’s voice was grim, his expression caught between horror and awe as he watched me. “The dragons, those monsters. That was…you?”

“Gomen,” I whispered, not knowing who I was apologizing to, or why. “I didn’t…”

A low groan drifted up from behind the cart, making us straighten. We hurried around the crumpled body of the dead horse to where Master Jiro lay in the long grass, a whining Ko beside him. A few yards away, Roshi, our driver, also sprawled motionless in the road, his eyes blank as they stared up at the sky, a trio of arrows jutting from his chest.

“Master Jiro.” Reika knelt at the priest’s side, her face tight with grief and rage. Arrow shafts pierced his stomach and shoulder, and a trickle of red crawled down his chin. There was nothing we could do for him, and everyone knew it. “Damn Lord Iesada,” Reika hissed, baring her teeth. “These were his shinobi, I’m certain of it. Another cowardly attack to keep us from reaching the demonslayer. Curse the courts and their endless politics to the bowels of Jigoku.” She trembled with fury, then took a deep, shuddering breath to compose herself. “I’m sorry, Master Jiro,” she whispered. “This wasn’t your fight. I wish we never dragged you into this mess.”

The priest coughed. “Do not regret, Reika-chan,” he breathed. “Regret solves nothing. We both knew the risks…when we agreed to this mission. But now, you must make certain Yumeko and the scroll…reach the temple. You cannot allow…Hakaimono to retrieve the prayer for the Master of Demons. Genno cannot summon the Dragon. It would mean ruin for the entire world.” His withered hand gripped her sleeve with fading strength, and he glanced at me now, as well. “Stop Hakaimono,” he wheezed. “Whatever the cost. Promise me you will not let the Master of Demons win.”

“Master Jiro.” Reika’s voice was numb with despair, and she gazed down at the dying priest in desperation. “Please. We need you. I can’t…I’m not strong enough to bind Hakaimono on my own.”

“I am sorry, Reika-chan,” murmured the priest, his voice barely audible. “I am afraid…that we must part ways for now. You must make sure the scroll reaches the temple, and that Hakaimono is stopped. Nothing else matters. But I hear Meido calling, and I must go.” His lips curved in the faintest of smiles, as the light in his eyes flickered and started to fade. “You have always been…so talented,” he breathed, as his whole shriveled body relaxed in the grass. “I am…proud.”

He didn’t move again.

Reika sniffled, clearly trying not to cry, as she fisted her hands on the priest’s lifeless chest. “I’ll avenge you,” she whispered, a steely glint in her dark eyes. “If Lord Iesada is responsible for this, I’ll find him again and make him pay. And I won’t let Hakaimono anywhere near the scroll. You have my word.”

Behind us, Ko threw back her head and howled, making us all jump. The white dog’s tiny body started to glow, growing brighter and brighter until, with a blinding flash, it exploded into motes of light and disappeared. Sitting alone on the ground, Chu raised his muzzle to the sky and howled as well, long and mournful, as the sun hovered over the empty plains and the Dragon Spine Mountains loomed on the horizon.

18

YUKI ONNA

HAKAIMONO

Tatsumi was being silent again.

In the two days since we’d left Genno’s castle, I hadn’t felt him at all.