iron-banded doors barring it shut. “No guards,” I mused as we reached the center of the bridge. “Your Master of Demons seems certain that no one is going to attack his castle, if he isn’t even posting sentries. Though I’m not sure if that’s confidence or arrogance. What’s to stop an army from marching across the bridge and strolling through the ga—”
A vibrating groan drifted up from the chasm, and the mist below us started to writhe. The hags tensed and gripped the railings of the bridge, gazing nervously into the darkness, as the wind moaned around us and the planks started to tremble.
An enormous pale skull rose out of the sea of mist. Even bigger than the Man-eating Head, it loomed into the air with huge eye sockets the size of wagon wheels. The skull was followed by an equally giant skeletal body, old yellow bones gleaming in the moonlight as it towered over us, one bony hand big enough to snap the bridge like kindling and send us plunging into the void.
“Ah,” I said, as the gashadokuro peered down at us, red points of light glimmering in its hollow eye sockets. Supremely powerful, gashadokuro were relatively rare, formed at sites of massive death and destruction—such as battlefields or a plague-ridden city—or summoned by potent blood magic. As strong a blood mage as Genno was, it wasn’t surprising that he would summon the infamous gashadokuro to guard the gates of his castle. “I guess that answers that question.”
“Lord Genno is expecting us,” the red hag called, craning her neck to stare up at the monstrous skeleton, creaking like an ancient ship in the wind. “We have permission to be here, we are part of his inner circle. You will let us pass.”
The gashadokuro didn’t answer. I wasn’t sure it could even speak, but its huge jaws opened and it rattled menacingly. Its arm began to rise, as if to crush us and the bridge we stood on, and I dropped my hand to Kamigoroshi.
“Your sentry doesn’t seem to recognize you,” I remarked, tensing to leap out of the way once that giant claw came smashing down. “I’d hate to have to destroy such an expensive guard dog, but if it doesn’t back off, I’m going to make a lot of scavengers very happy.”
“The pass phrase!” the blue hag snapped, whirling on her sister. “Do you remember? You have to speak the pass phrase—it’s the only thing it will understand.”
The gashadokuro’s arm was nearly at its peak. I gripped Kamigoroshi and started drawing it from its sheath, as the green hag’s eyes widened, glaring up at the huge skeleton.
“Death to the empire!” she cried, her voice echoing over the chasm. “All hail the great and terrible Master of Demons. Let all men tremble before Lord Genno’s magnificent return!”
The gashadokuro’s limb trembled, then stopped. With a slow creak, it lowered its arm and became motionless. I snorted and shoved Kamigoroshi back in its sheath.
“You have to shout that every time you want to cross the bridge? I can practically hear Genno’s ego swelling.”
The hags pretended not to hear me. Passing the now unresponsive gashadokuro, we continued to the end of the bridge and stood before the gates of the castle.
Or, where the gates should have been. The archway stood at the end of the bridge, its once ornate wooden frame now rotting and falling apart, but instead of a pair of wooden doors that opened onto the courtyard, there was a continuous wall of rock and stone.
I glanced at the ogresses, who all sighed as if they couldn’t believe they had to put up with this. Scowling, the red hag marched up to the stone wall, raised a clawed foot and gave it a resounding kick.
“Nurikabe! You stupid piece of rock, I know you see us! Let us in.”
“Who wishes to enter Lord Genno’s domain?”
The voice was deep and gravelly, and a single red eye suddenly blinked open in the center of the wall, rolling up to stare at the hag. I shook my head. A nurikabe was a type of living wall yokai that seemed to exist simply to baffle and infuriate travelers. They would plant themselves in front of an opening—be it a door, a cave entrance, even a mountain or forest path—camouflage themselves to blend seamlessly with their surroundings and obstinately refuse to move. They could not be knocked down, and attempting to go over or through the nurikabe would cause it to react and kill the unfortunate