Soul of the Sword (Shadow of the Fox #2) - Julie Kagawa Page 0,166

exit. The third managed to scuttle through the frame, but an arrow zipped through the air, just missing the demonslayer, and struck the nezumi in the back. It pitched forward with a squeak, tumbled down the steps and disappeared. A few yards away, Okame lowered his bow with a grim smile, the side of his face covered in red, before he swayed on his feet and collapsed.

Daisuke caught him and lowered the ronin gently to the floor to kneel beside him. Both men were breathing hard, their clothes torn and bloody, and Daisuke’s fine robes would never be the same. But they ignored their wounds, and the mounds of dead piled around them, their eyes only for each other.

“Sorry, peacock,” I heard the ronin murmur, as Daisuke took his hand, holding it to his chest. “I didn’t…manage to die a glorious death for you.” His other hand rose, catching a strand of silvery white hair between bloody fingers. “Looks like you won’t get to compose that poem, after all.”

“Okame-san.” Daisuke’s voice was thick, and he shook his head in an almost rueful manner. “That day will come soon enough,” he whispered, holding the ronin’s gaze. “There will come a time where we will die a glorious death, and I hope to be at your side when it happens. But right now, we have fought this battle, and we live still. That will have to be reason enough to celebrate.”

My stomach tightened. Turning away, I observed the horrific aftermath of the fight with Genno’s army, and clenched my jaw to keep from losing my meager breakfast. The inside of the temple was now a blood-soaked battlefield, choked with ash and smoke and strewn with gore. Tengu and yokai lay scattered across the wooden planks, with coils of red-black demon mist drifting around them. Everywhere I looked, I saw nothing but death, blood and failure. We had failed. I had failed. The scroll was gone, and Genno would soon summon the Dragon. I had lost this battle.

But you haven’t lost everything.

“Yumeko-chan.”

Reika picked her way over the carnage with Chu behind her, his huge paws creaking against the wood. The shrine maiden was white, either with horror or anger, or both, her eyes snapping furiously as they met mine. “How could you?” she whispered, as Daisuke pulled Okame to his feet and began limping toward us. “You gave Genno the scroll. Now all of Iwagoto will be lost when he summons the Dragon.”

“We’ll stop him,” I said, meeting her rage head-on. I gazed at my friends, bloody, exhausted, but still alive. Okame leaned against Daisuke, one arm draped over his neck, the noble’s arm wrapped around his waist. A few yards away, the last of the tengu were shuffling through the hall, taking stock of their wounded and dead, and would not look at me.

“We’ll stop Genno,” I said again. “We’ll track down his army and use everything in our power to take back the scroll. We still have a little time. The Dragon hasn’t been summoned yet.”

“And what about me?” asked a soft voice at my back.

My heart leaped. I turned to face Tatsumi, or perhaps Hakaimono, standing a few feet away. His sword was sheathed, and the burning crimson in his eyes had faded, as had the claws, fangs and the tattoos crawling up his arms and shoulders. He looked like Kage Tatsumi again, except for the small but conspicuous horns curling from his brow. Reminding us that, even now, he wasn’t human.

“That depends.” Surprisingly, it was Daisuke who an swered, the noble’s hand resting easily on the hilt of his blade. “Who are you? You destroyed Genno’s army, but I am not certain of your motivation. Is this Hakaimono we’re speaking with, or Kage-san?”

Tatsumi paused, then shook his head. “I don’t know, exactly,” he replied, and his voice was resigned. “Both. And…neither. Pieces of each of us, perhaps. I’m not entirely certain myself.”

“That’s not exactly comforting,” Okame muttered. “No offense if this really is you, Kage-san, but how do we know we’re not dealing with a demon who will tear out our throats the moment we let our guards down?”

“You don’t.” Tatsumi’s bleak gaze met mine. “You shouldn’t. A demon’s words can’t be trusted. But, maybe this will be enough.”

And before them all, he lowered himself to his knees in front of me, bowing his head. “Yumeko,” he murmured. “If you truly believe a demon still threatens you, kill me now. Or order me to do it myself. I will obey, as long as I have control of this body. My blade belongs to you, as does my life, until the Kage decide to take it from me. Or until my mind is not my own.” I saw the faintest of tremors go through him, as if he had to struggle to get that last part out. “Until then, do with it what you will.”

“Tatsumi…” I swallowed the lump in my throat and shook my head. “Get up,” I told him, and he obeyed instantly, rising to his feet, his gaze on the ground between us. I wished I could touch him, even for a moment, but he was different now. I didn’t know how much of Tatsumi, the real Tatsumi, was left. And, much as the thought of Hakaimono still lurking in Tatsumi’s soul frightened me, we needed his strength if we were to stand a chance of stopping the Master of Demons.

“You can’t die yet,” I told him firmly. “We need your help to find Genno and get the scroll back. No matter what it takes, we can’t let him summon the Dragon.”

He nodded gravely, and I caught the red spark of fury in his eyes as he raised his head. “I have a score to settle with Genno,” he said in a lethally quiet voice, and there was no question as to who was speaking now. “I’m not concerned about the scroll, or the Dragon, but the Master of Demons will die screaming for mercy, I can promise you that.”

“If we can find him,” Reika said, eyes hard as she watched the demonslayer, as if afraid he would suddenly leap at her, fangs bared. “He’ll likely be heading to the place to summon the Dragon, wherever that may be. There is only one spot where you can call on the Harbinger, and the history scrolls aren’t entirely clear where that is, or they’ve been deliberately lost. But we must find it as quickly as we can. I fear there’s not much time left.”

“I know where it is,” Tatsumi, or perhaps Hakaimono, said. “Of the three times the Dragon has been called on using the scroll, two of them have been by the Shadow Clan. It’s one of the secrets the Kage keep close.” He turned away and gazed out the door of the hall, his voice grim but triumphant. “I know where Genno is heading. The place where the Harbinger first appeared—by the cliffs of Ryugake, on the island of Ushima.”

“Moon Clan territory,” Daisuke said.

Okame grimaced. “Looks like we’re going to need a boat.”