Soul of the Sword (Shadow of the Fox #2) - Julie Kagawa Page 0,63

of the canals that cut through the city. Large trees were interspersed among the buildings, branches draped over roofs and hanging in the streets, as if the city reluctantly shared the space with a forest, and neither were willing to back down.

With an eager smile, I hurried down the road, crossed the bridge and entered the city. Despite the late hour, it was far from empty. People wandered the roads, shop doors stood open against the night, and merchants lurked in doorways or manned wooden stalls, waiting for customers. At first, it reminded me of another, smaller town, Chochin Machi, which also came to life and thrived when the sun went down. But as I continued through the streets, I began to see the differences. Chochin Machi had a bright, almost festive feel to it, encouraging visitors to dance and smile and leave their troubles behind. Though it was lit up and busy, Ogi Owari Toshi was definitely not festive. No one in the streets smiled or laughed; often an individual or small group would stagger down the road, as if they had no control of their limbs. Sometimes, people sang or argued with each other, their voices slurred and unsteady like their legs. A large man, clutching a sake gourd like Okame’s, called out to me in a garbled voice and then rumbled a laugh, making my tail bristle. It wasn’t a very nice laugh. Much like the city, it held the edge of something ominous beneath the veneer of frivolity, a smiling illusion over a patiently waiting predator.

Pausing at a crossroads marked by a large, twisted maple tree, I glanced up at the moon through the branches, noting its position and that the night was rapidly slipping away from me. All right, I’m here. Now, I have to find this gambling hall; the Dancing Frog or Lucky Frog or something like that. So, where am I? A sign, tacked to the trunk beneath the large rope that marked the tree as sacred, read Beware of Bad Fortune, which told me nothing at all.

“What are you doing near my tree, fox?”

With a start, I looked up and saw a pair of green eyes staring at me from a limb. For a second, they appeared to float in the air, but then I saw they were attached to the lean, furry body of a neko—a common cat—lying on a tree branch, its glossy black fur blending perfectly with the shadows. An extremely long, slinky tail lashed its hindquarters as its gaze met mine. As I watched, a second tail rose from behind the neko to twine with the first, making my eyes widen. I didn’t know much about cats, but in kitsune lore, the more tails a fox had, the older and more powerful it was. The strongest kitsune in existence were called ninetails, for in the stories, when a fox grew its ninth tail, its fur would turn silver or gold, and it would possess magic to rival the gods themselves.

Of course, a ninetailed fox was a creature of legend, as rare as a dragon or the sacred kirin. To meet a kitsune with even two tails was a great honor, though I wasn’t sure the same custom extended to the feline world. Still, it was probably wise to be polite. Cats had never spoken to me; the old black-and-white feline at the Silent Winds temple had merely tolerated my presence, and after all the times I’d used him for a prank, if he could have spoken, he would have told me off numerous times. But neko were strange, fickle creatures, and you never knew what they were thinking. If one day that old cat had started speaking to me, I wouldn’t have been shocked at all.

The cat in the tree curled its whiskers and wrinkled its nose. “Ugh, I can smell your stink from here,” she remarked. “Leave this place, kitsune. You belong in the fields with the rabbits and bears and the rest of the common forest dwellers. Go back to plaguing farmers and fishermen outside the city walls, and leave the civilized places to us.” When I didn’t move or reply, she flattened her ears. “Are you simple as well as repulsive?” she asked. “I shall speak slowly so your barbaric forest brain can comprehend. You have no place here, fox. This is my territory, and you are making it unbearable. Go away.”

“There’s no need to be rude.” I frowned at her. “I’m just visiting Kage