Soul of the Sword (Shadow of the Fox #2) - Julie Kagawa Page 0,14

even the harsh whisper sounded horrified. “Death, chaos, destruction. Mountains of bodies. Valleys of fire. Claws and teeth, ripping flesh. Walking bones, blood, pain, fear!”

“Predictable.” Seigetsu sighed, though Taka’s voice was growing ever more frantic, continuing the litany of horrifying descriptions as if the events were happening in front of him. A thin stream of blood ran from his nose down his chin and spattered onto his hands. “Enough,” Seigetsu ordered, pulling his arm back. His deep voice rippled through the air and caused the ground to shiver. “Taka, stop.”

The little yokai slumped, his head falling to his chest, as the torrent of words came to a halt. Suki was still trembling, but Seigetsu simply tucked his ball into his robes and brushed out his sleeves, before turning his attention to the yokai again. On the pillow, Taka groaned, stirred and slowly opened his eye, blinking up at the man overhead.

Seigetsu smiled. “Back with us, Taka-chan?” he asked.

The yokai’s forehead wrinkled. “Did I…have another vision, master?”

“You did.” Seigetsu nodded and tossed him a silk handkerchief. “Quite a terrible one, it seemed. I had to pull you back before you caused real damage to yourself.”

Taka caught the handkerchief, frowning, before pressing the cloth to his nose with a plaintive sigh. “I wish I could remember.”

“No, Taka-chan,” Seigetsu reassured him. “You wouldn’t understand the visions even if you could. Put it from your mind. I have already discerned what I needed to know.”

“Hai, Seigetsu-sama.” The little yokai perked a bit, giving his master a toothy smile. “As long as I can be useful to you, that is all I wish for.”

Watching them, Suki was suddenly filled with apprehension. Could Taka-chan see the future, or at least a part of it? And if he could, was Lord Seigetsu using the little yokai for his own ends? The thought made her uncomfortable. Seigetsu-sama was obviously very powerful and could control some kind of magic, just like Lady Satomi. What did he want with the kitsune girl and the demon?

Taking a step back, Seigetsu waved a hand, as if he were ripping something from the air. With a soundless billow, the tranquil pond and gardens surrounding them frayed apart, scattering to the wind like tendrils of colored smoke, revealing a dark, murky forest. The torches disappeared, taking their light with them, and even the tiny glimmers of fireflies vanished like they had never been. In the sudden gloom, Seigetsu’s eyes glowed like candlelight as he gazed into the shadows. “Everything is going according to plan,” he mused, as Taka scrambled to his feet, the pillow beneath him dissolving into colored mist. “The game is starting to come together, but we mustn’t let either of them go too far down the wrong path. It seems the fox girl will be occupied for a time, so perhaps we should keep an eye on Hakaimono, make certain his part in the story is not lost. Come, Taka.” He turned away, a brilliant figure in white, silver hair and robes glowing in the shadows. “It is a long journey to Mizu lands, even if we ride the winds. We should get started.”

“Can Suki-san come with us, master?”

Seigetsu looked back. His gaze rose to Suki, still hovering at the edge of the trees, and a corner of his mouth curled up.

“I had assumed as much.” His voice was like a cool mountain spring, deep and powerful, and Suki felt a shiver all the way from her toes to the top of her head. “She is, of course, important to the story, as well.”

5

THE MOST DANGEROUS QUARRY

HAKAIMONO

The Kage had found me already.

“Hakaimono.” One of the men stepped forward, glaring at me from where I stood at the top of the temple steps. A majutsushi of the Shadow Clan, clad in black with his face painted white, though I could see the sweat on his forehead, smell the fear radiating from him. His men, a dozen Kage samurai in all, clustered behind him, hands on their sword hilts. I felt a smirk twist one side of my mouth. After all this time, after all our battles, the Shadow Clan had learned nothing. One majutsushi? A dozen samurai? The last time I faced the Kage, I had carved my way through a hundred of their best warriors before they ever put a scratch on me.

I grinned at the dozen humans standing among the stones and overgrown weeds of the courtyard. This was a small temple, shoved away in the foothills below the Tokan