Soul of the Sword (Shadow of the Fox #2) - Julie Kagawa Page 0,68

blood mage, I would return and remind any who had forgotten who the First Oni was and why he was feared.

I could feel Tatsumi inside as well, watching the demons and yokai warily. Certainly, strolling so casually into a castle full of creatures who wanted to kill him would make even the demonslayer nervous. Not to mention the Master of Demons, who still awaited us at the top of the keep.

The hags led me across the courtyard and then up a flight of stone steps to the entrance of the castle. A human stood before the double doors, waiting for us, her arrogant posture making me bristle. The human’s robes were elegant: black with crimson threads gracing the sleeves like spidersilk, but the woman herself barely filled them. She was tall and thin, almost emaciated, with elongated limbs and a gaunt, narrow face. Pale skin clung tightly to her bones, giving her a skeletal appearance, and her eyes had turned a subtle yellow. A blood mage, both Tatsumi and I saw; one who had been practicing her art for a while, whose soul and energy had been siphoned away by Jigoku, until she was something not quite human. I gave her another year, two at most, before the taint suffusing her body consumed her, and she became just another demon.

“The Master is waiting for the oni,” the blood mage rasped, staring at me with hooded yellow eyes. “I am to take him before Lord Genno, once the binding is performed.”

I arched a brow. A binding was a human’s attempt to control the creature they had summoned, usually a demon, so that it would obey their commands. It also prevented the demon from turning on and harming the caster, which was a valid concern when working with the denizens of Jigoku. However, Genno was smart enough to realize the oni lords were too powerful to be bound, that even suggesting it was an insult.

So, either he was testing me, or this pathetic excuse for a human had no idea what she was dealing with.

The hags, at least, looked equal parts enraged and terrified. “A…a binding?” the green one exclaimed. “Don’t be ridiculous, mortal! Do you know who this is?”

“I do not,” the blood mage replied. “I see an oni. A very small oni, one that has somehow shrunk down to man-size. Either that, or a human half-breed. Still, the rules are clear. Demons who come into the castle must be bound, regardless of who or what they are. If you do not approve, take it up with Lord Genno. But this creature will submit to the binding before he is allowed into the Master’s presence. You needn’t bother assisting me,” she told the hags. “My blood coven will oversee the ritual.”

“Is that so?” I smiled, showing all my fangs. “And who might you be, human?”

“I am Mistress Sunako, the head witch of Lord Genno’s blood coven, and the one who will be binding you to his will, demon. It is by the Master’s orders that I am here, and by his will that you are allowed to see him.” The witch raised her hand, a tanto clutched in bony fingers, and pointed the knife at me. “You will submit to the binding, or you will not set one foot beyond this hall. Resist, and my coven will make you wish you had stayed in Jigoku. Is that clear?”

The hags swelled with fury, bristling and opening their mouths to argue, but I held up a claw. “Perfectly clear,” I said, still smiling. “Perform the ritual then, human. You three,” I told the sisters, “make sure we are not interrupted. Stand guard at the steps, and do not interfere.”

The hags glared at the blood witch, as if contemplating sinking their talons into her pale flesh and ripping it from her bones. But they bowed their heads to me and moved away, hovering at the top of the stairs.

I turned back to the witch and raised my arms. “Well, I am at your mercy, I suppose. Let’s get this over with.”

She nodded briskly and motioned me inside. I stepped through the doors into a vast, shadowy hall, pillars of black stone marching down the center and lining the walls. Unlike most human castles, the interior of Onikage was stark, unadorned and, after several decades of abandonment, quite filthy. The wooden floor was warped and rotting, vegetation grew through the walls and cobwebs hung from every corner. Despite the filth and the horde of monsters