Soul of the Sword (Shadow of the Fox #2) - Julie Kagawa Page 0,111
mind tightly. But I knew I had touched a nerve; his concern for this fox girl was blatantly obvious, though the demonslayer himself didn’t understand what he was feeling. Humans were pathetically weak when it came to emotions; that a kitsune, a yokai who had deceived him from the beginning, who had lied to him, played him for a fool and put him in danger countless times, had somehow wriggled her way into his affections, was proof of that. He should have killed her when they first met on the road to the Silent Winds temple. He should have struck her down without mercy, and saved himself the torment that would come later.
But it was too late. I knew his secret. And when the time came and the fox girl was at my mercy, I would savor Tatsumi’s rage, grief and helpless despair for many years to come.
I started into the foothills, following a narrow game trail as it snaked its way through trees and rocks. The air grew colder the farther I traveled, until I saw tiny flurries dancing on the wind.
I blinked. The hell? What is this? It was too late in the year for snow; even this close to the Dragon Spine Mountains, I shouldn’t have been seeing white until I got past the tree line.
The snow, however, worsened, flakes turning large and heavy as I pushed my way into the foothills. Soon everything—ground, trees, rocks, branches—was covered in a thick layer of white.
And still, the storm intensified.
Sleet began to fall, pelting the trees and branches, covering the fresh blanket of snow with a layer of ice. It stung like tiny needles as it hit my skin, soaking my clothes and coating my horns with ice. Visibility disappeared, along with all sense of direction. It was impossible to see where I was going through the snow, ice and driving wind.
All right, this is ridiculous. Reaching up, I scraped a half inch of ice from my horns and shook my head to dislodge the snow. Icicles hung from my tusks, and my hakama trousers were frozen stiff. Whoever is behind this, you’re about as subtle as a demon in a teahouse, and I’m starting to get annoyed.
Shielding my face, I stumbled around a bend and the snow…ceased. I lowered my arm and found myself at the edge of an abandoned village completely encased in ice. Thatched huts were scattered throughout the tiny clearing, each one perfectly preserved in a layer of crystal. As I walked cautiously forward, all senses alert and ready for a fight, I quickly discovered it wasn’t abandoned at all.
An old woman, frozen in ice, stood motionless near the bamboo fence that surrounded the village. She held a bucket, and her face was upturned, eyes wide and frozen in terror. A frozen dog lay on its side a few yards away, legs outstretched as if it had been running back to the village. Behind the old woman, a child crouched in the snow, one arm flung toward the dog, icicles dangling from brittle fingers. Curling a lip, I drew Kamigoroshi and walked through the gate into the frozen village.
More dead, ice-covered humans and animals greeted my gaze as I ventured farther in: a mother carrying her infant, an old man pushing a cart, a goat curled up with its nose tucked into its side, sleeping for all time. An unnatural stillness hung in the air, broken only by my breath and the crinkling sound of icicles in the breeze. The snow began falling again, drifting from the sky to settle over the roof tops and the frozen corpses. Except for the light crunch of my feet, the village was dead silent.
Near the well in the center of the village, I stopped. Lowering Kamigoroshi, I gazed around the silent, ice-shrouded clearing, took a deep breath and raised my voice.
“I know you’re here,” I called into the stillness. “And I’m pretty sure you’ve been waiting for me. Stop playing games, and let’s get on with it.”
A giggle echoed around me, impossible to tell from which direction. I gripped Kamigoroshi and waited, scanning the spaces between huts, the confusing play of light over the surface of ice and snow.
The giggle came again, behind me this time. I spun, but there was nothing there, just a cloud of flurries being swirled away by the wind.
I know who you are, whispered a voice, a woman’s, on the breeze. Why don’t you stay awhile, Hakaimono, and keep me company?