Soul of the Sword (Shadow of the Fox #2) - Julie Kagawa Page 0,130

there, motionless, for hundreds of years. I reached out and prodded a stony knuckle, and a bit of dust flaked off to drift to the ground.

Very carefully, still holding the scroll out like a torch, I stepped forward, ready to leap away if any of them twitched. Nothing happened as I eased between granite arms and stony elbows, slipping through the mass until I stood above the statues on the other side. “I think it’s safe now,” I said, glancing back at my companions. “They know we’re not intruders. That we have a piece of the Dragon scroll.”

Reika let out her breath in a rush. “One of these days, your luck is going to run out, fox,” she warned as the rest of them started up the staircase. “And then what are you going to do?”

“I don’t know, Reika-san, but I’m sure I’ll think of something.”

Two gigantic statues guarded the gates at the top of the stairs, twin figures that dwarfed even the large statue with the spear. They looked more like ancient kami or yokai than mortal men. Their bodies and faces were human, but great feathered wings sprouted from their backs, and their eyes were slitted like a bird’s. I wondered if these were the final guardians, the last defense against intruders if all the other statues had failed. Looking into their stern, fierce features, I was glad we’d never have to find out.

The great iron doors through the gateway weren’t barred, but it took all of us pushing together to get them to budge. They finally gave way with a reluctant groan, and a cloud of centuries-old dust billowed from the opening. Another stone staircase lay beyond the threshold, this time leading up to a rectangle of navy sky and stars.

Warily, we climbed the final staircase. The air drifting into the passage was shockingly cold and crisp, instead of the dusty, stale air we had left behind in the cavern. Overhead, the stars and a brilliant orange moon blazed down on us, seemingly closer than they had ever been before.

We reached the top step and came out of the passage. A blast of icy wind hit my face, tossing my hair and making my cheeks tingle, and the air tasted of frost.

“Sugoi,” I whispered, staring up at what lay before us.

A massive mountain peak rose straight into the air, jagged and unbowed. The very top, scraping the sky and raking the clouds, was tipped with snow. Built into the very side of the cliffs, looking like it was carved from the mountain itself, an enormous temple loomed against the stars. Ancient pagoda roofs swept the sky, curled up at the corners like wings, so weathered and wind-scoured they looked more stone than tile. The walls of the temple might have been any color once, but were now the same uniform gray as the cliff face. From what I could see, there were no roads, stairs, even a treacherous mountain goat path winding up the peaks. Either there was a secret way into the temple that I wasn’t seeing, or we were going to have to learn to fly.

“You’ve finally come, scroll bearer.”

We turned. A pair of figures stood behind us, perched gracefully atop two piles of stones that flanked the passage we’d just exited. They were tall and stern-looking, dressed in black robes, their wooden geta making them even taller. The one on the right was younger, with midnight-black hair flowing loose around his shoulders and framing his face. For some reason, it reminded me of a mane of feathers. The second man was older, his eyes sharp and black and his nose very long.

Behind each of them, flaring to either side and gleaming black in the moonlight, a pair of giant wings rippled and fluttered in the wind.

“Welcome, scroll bearer.” The older winged man smiled at me and raised a hand, the nails on his fingertips sharp and curved like a bird’s. “Welcome to the Steel Feather temple, and the home of the tengu.”

21

THE STEEL FEATHER TEMPLE

Yumeko

I had been right. There was no easy way into the temple.

The two tengu directed us to the base of the cliff, where a large basket had been lowered on creaky ropes, and we’d ascended the mountain two at a time. Reika and me, with the shrine maiden holding Chu in her arms, then Okame and Daisuke, with the ronin looking slightly green as he staggered out of the basket onto solid ground. From there, we followed our tengu guides