Soul of the Sword (Shadow of the Fox #2) - Julie Kagawa Page 0,31

the far wall, a flight of stone steps led down into blackness.

When I reached the top step, a voice whispered out of the darkness, creeping up the stairs. “Intruder. You walk on cursed ground. Leave this place, or suffer the wrath of Jigoku.”

I grinned. “The wrath of Jigoku?” I called back, my voice echoing down the steps. “I am Hakaimono, first general to O-Hakumon and leader of the oni lords. So trust me when I say I know more about the wrath of Jigoku than you ever will.”

“Hakaimono?” the voice whispered back. “Impossible. Hakaimono has been trapped within the Cursed Blade for the past four centuries. You cannot be the First Oni. I say again, leave this place, or I will send your soul to Jigoku to be torn apart by the true demons.”

With a sigh, I started down the stairs. The voice hissed at me, warning me again to turn back, that I had no business here. I ignored it, following the steps until they ended at a short hall, beyond which lay a massive cavern. Flickering orange light spilled through the opening as I stepped into the chamber, gazing around for the source.

At first, the room appeared empty. Four torches flickered around a small shrine in the center of the floor. Candles had been lit on the altar, guttering purple flames that seemed to suck in the darkness instead of drive it back. The stone pedestal in the center was empty, as if something had been placed there once, but had either been stolen or lost. As I approached the shrine, the torches sputtered and went out, plunging the room into darkness lit only by the dim violet candlelight.

“You were warned not to come here.”

I turned, just as three figures melted out of the shadows. They were women, or more accurately, they were female. Their skin was mottled red, blue and green, a different color for each hag. Their white hair was long and tangled, and sharp yellow nails, each over a foot long, curled from their bony fingers. Small horns poked out of matted hair, and their eyes glowed yellow in the darkness as they surrounded me, thin lips pulled back to reveal jagged fangs.

I smiled. “Well, well, look who it is. Good evening, ladies. I didn’t know you three were still lurking around the mortal realm.”

“H-Hakaimono?” The green hag’s face went white with shock. “It is you.” Backing away, she dropped to her face on the stones, as the other two did the same. “Forgive us, lord, we didn’t recognize your voice. The last we heard, you were trapped in Kamigoroshi.”

“I escaped only recently. Although, I will say, I was not expecting to run into the Yama sisters here.” Ignoring the prone forms of the hag trio, I gazed at the shrine, still lit by ghostly purple flames, and sighed. “Am I to assume, since the three of you are here, that this tomb no longer holds the Master of Demons?”

The hag sisters glanced at each other. “No, Hakaimono-sama,” said the red ogress, rising from the ground. “Like you, Lord Genno escaped his prison very recently, no more than six months past. We were among those who helped raise his soul from Jigoku and bind it to a mortal form so that it may walk this realm once more.” She blinked yellow eyes at me. “Is…is that why you came, Hakaimono-sama? Because you heard the Master of Demons has been freed, and you wish to join his army?”

“Actually, I was just hoping we could chat,” I said. “I was planning to summon his shade and talk to him in Jigoku, but if he’s already out and walking the mortal realm again, I guess that saves me the trouble of having to find a suitable sacrifice.” Frowning, I glanced at the red hag, whose name had escaped me again—Uragiri or Usamono—I could never remember which sister was which. “So, you say Genno escaped from Jigoku six months ago?”

“Yes, Hakaimono-sama.”

“So, why hasn’t he already gathered a new army and declared war on the humans? I seem to remember him swearing vengeance upon the entire realm before he died.”

The sisters exchanged glances again. “Well, you see, Hakaimono-sama…” the blue hag began. “Lord Genno’s return has been kept a secret these past six months. That’s why we are here…” She gestured to her sisters. “So that if anyone came looking for Lord Genno’s tomb to confirm he is gone, we could silence them before they revealed he has escaped Jigoku.