Shadow of The Fox (Shadow of the Fox #1) - Julie Kagawa Page 0,59

me, dissolving the chill in my gut. “No,” I muttered, struggling to my feet. “But the wind witch is close. We need to...”

I trailed off, suddenly realizing what lay on the other side of the gorge.

“Tatsumi?” Yumeko climbed to her feet behind me. “Do you see her? Where—”

I reached back and gripped her arm while pressing a finger to my lips. She fell silent, staring at me and then following my gaze until she saw what I was looking at.

On the other side of the riverbed, about forty yards away, the gaping mouth of a cave opened up into darkness. Bones were scattered about the entrance, white and gleaming, and a strange dark miasma coiled and writhed from the entrance.

Yumeko gasped, then clapped a hand over her mouth, as if remembering. Tread softly. Beware of Kiba-sama.

A ringing laugh and a blast of wind announced the arrival of the wind witch. She hovered overhead, hair and clothes whipping around her, “Oh, no no no, Kage-san,” she called in a shrill voice. “Where do you think you’re going? I didn’t come all this way to watch you sneak off like a frightened rodent.” She gazed at the cave, smiled and took a deep breath. “Oh, Kiiiiiiiiiiiiba-sama!” she bellowed, making me wince. Her voice echoed through the gully, bouncing off the walls, and the miasma in front of the cave started to churn. “You’ve been asleep far too long! Wake up, wake up! I’ve brought some friends for you to play with!”

A deep, rumbling growl echoed from the cave, making Yumeko wince. “That’s right, Kiba-sama!” called the witch. “Come on out! You must be famished after such a long sleep! Look who I’ve brought to visit!”

There was a coughing roar, and heavy footsteps made the ground tremble. I turned in resignation, even as Hakaimono gave a snarl of excited glee, and a gigantic furry shape filled the mouth of the cave and let out a bellow that shook the ravine walls.

“Kiba-sama,” Yumeko breathed, as the monstrous creature turned to eye us with ravenous hunger. The demon bear of Suimin Mori was twice as large as its ordinary brethren, with massive shoulders and clawed forepaws that crushed stone beneath them. Arrows and spear hafts jutted from its hide, snapped and broken, and its eyes blazed with red fire as it reared onto its hind legs, towering over us.

“Yumeko,” I said, not taking my eyes from my huge opponent. “Stay back. Find a place to hide and don’t move until its safe.”

“You’re not going to fight that giant thing, are you?”

“I’ll be fine.” I dropped my hand to the hilt of my sword, feeling excitement and bloodlust pulse through me. “This is what I do.”

I drew Kamigoroshi and felt the demon’s power surge up, howling as the sword was bared to the light. As Yumeko scrambled back, Kiba-sama charged with a roar, covering the space between us in two giant strides. It lunged, and I dove out of the way, feeling the massive forepaw smash into the stones and crush the earth beneath it. Kiba-sama whirled, surprisingly quick for its bulk, and swatted at me again. I dodged the lethal claws and lashed out with my sword. The blade cut deep into the monster’s shaggy hide, but barely left a scratch as I leaped away. Hakaimono snarled in frustration.

Dammit, its fur is too thick. I’ll have to get closer to land a killing blow.

With a bellow, Kiba-sama reared onto his hind legs, towering over me. I dove aside as the monster came crashing down, trying to crush me under a few tons of muscle, bone and flesh. Rolling to my feet, I palmed the single kunai I was able to keep on my person and hurled it at the demon bear. The throwing knife flew straight at Kiba-sama’s forehead but bounced off its thick skull, doing little but annoying it.

The bear charged again with a roar, and I tensed to spring away. But as it drew close, a blast of wind howled through the ravine, and something hit me from behind, slashing a line of fire across my back. I staggered and barely dodged aside as Kiba-sama plowed into the gully wall, crushing stone and vegetation and leaving a massive hole.

The wind witch’s laughter rang out overhead. “That was almost it for you, Kage-san,” she mocked, as I spared her a split-second glance. Several yards away, Kiba-sama backed slowly out of the wall, shaking his head and shedding rocks and dust. The wind witch laughed