Samurai Son (19 page)

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Kasumi stared up at the leafy canopy, her mouth half open and her tongue’s tip touching the roof of her mouth as she breathed in the scents of the forest.
 
She had left the Takeshi estate with Jiro’s promise that he would seek Takeshi daimyo and tell him what had happened to his wife and son.
 
Kasumi knew Jiro wouldn’t do this without a solemn oath and the threat of her magic.
 
While Jiro was samurai, he tended to go by the code when it suited him, but Kasumi knew that deep down inside, he was terrified of her and her powers.

Jiro didn’t exactly know of her ability to shapeshift into a cat, be it a small Neko or a ferocious tiger, but he knew her mother had been from a clan that lived in the Fire Archipelago, far from the main islands.
 
It was said that people who lived there mated with tigers and dragons to become demon-like creatures, barely more than men.
 
Kasumi smiled wryly.
 
Some legends just happened to be true.

Kasumi had packed enough food from the kitchen to last her several days.
 
She had taken mochi, sashimi, sushi, and cooked rice as well as red bean curd wrapped in rice.
 
After a while, she would have to buy food or hunt if there were no villages nearby.
 
She carried her pack with food, extra clothing, and her swords.
 
She hoped she would need nothing more.

She drew in a quick breath through her mouth and nostrils, imitating a cat as they picked up the scent along the wind.
 
She could catch the faintest whiff of Tengu on the breeze.
 
She caught no sign of Akira’s or Ikumi’s scent, but she didn’t think that after all this time she would necessarily be able to pick out two human scents among the Tengu.

The winds told her that the Tengu had gone north, toward the dark forests of Tsuitori.
 
She took a hesitant step forward then, turning north, bowed low.
 
“Shi Tenno,” she whispered.
 
“Tamon, guardian of the north, I beg you to hear me.
 
I am one of your kami.
 
Grant me safe passage in your realm, for I seek the two Takeshi.”

She waited, not expecting an answer from the god.
 
Even so, she felt the wind shift from the east to the north.
 
She straightened and walked forward, hoping that the gods would show her a sign where she must go.

The night wind shifted around her, caressing her hair and face like a lover.
 
Normally cold, the north wind should have chilled her but instead brought her the scents she needed.
 
She could distinctly smell both Akira and Ikumi on the wind.

“Thank you,” she whispered to the Shi Tenno.
 
With a furtive backward glance at the estate, Naotaka Kasumi Neko padded into the dark forest, eschewing the paths made by men.

#

Akira lay in the mud, unconscious, for a long time.
 
How long, he could not be certain, but when he came to, the sun had already set, and the stars shone brightly overhead.

He was cold and miserable.
 
Every part of his body ached, but especially where Windcatcher had smacked him with the bo.
 
Akira could not remember any of Rokuro sensei’s lessons ever being this difficult.
 
The Tengu were faster than any human, faster than Akira could ever be.

As he lay there, thinking about his pain and the plight he was in, he remembered Ikumi.
 
The realization made him almost jolt upright, but his aching body screamed in protest.
 
He looked around, his gaze settling on the tree she had been tied to.
 
The ropes were still there, but she was not.
 
She was gone.

He tried to swallow, but his parched throat wouldn’t allow him even that.
 
Hot tears streaked his grimy face, and he fought to not show his pain, but to no avail.
 
Ikumi was gone, perhaps forever, condemned to be a hawk for all eternity.

He closed his eyes and wiped a tear away.
 
How could these creatures have done this to him?
 
He was the son of Takeshi daimyo.
 
He was not some kami forest creature like the Tengu.
 
He was simply a man.

No, he was not just a man.
 
He was samurai.
 
That meant something.
 
As a member of the warrior elite, he had rights and responsibilities.
 
He was not a forest spirit.

Akira was no longer bound to the tree, but he was too weak with hunger, pain, and exhaustion to do much beyond stagger a few feet.
 
He could have his freedom, if he could just will himself beyond the forest.
 
As he took a few tentative steps, his eyes fell upon something oddly shaped on the rock not far from him.
 
He staggered over to it and found a platter with mochi, rice, and sashimi.
 
Beside the platter was a cup of steaming tea.

Akira glanced around and, seeing no one present, scooped the platter into his lap and began to eat greedily.
 
He grasped the cup, nearly burning his fingers on it, and drank the tea, feeling the hot liquid warm him inside.

He set the cup down and wolfed down the rice and sashimi without looking up.
 
He had started on the mochi when he heard a small noise beside him.
 
Looking up, he saw a beautiful woman dressed in a kimono that looked spun from moonlight.
 
Her long, dark hair fell in a single braid that ran from her head to her waist.
 
Her features were pale, as if chiseled from the whitest stone.
 
He gasped, nearly dropping the food.

She laughed.
 
“So you are
Stormdancer’s
son?”

#

Keiko, my child, you are in grave danger.

Keiko Neko awoke on her futon in a cold sweat.
 
It was midnight and storm clouds had gathered over Imperial Island.
 
She closed her eyes again, trying to recall the dream she had, but even now, it faded quickly.
 
Maneki Neko had come to speak to her, to warn her…

Lightning flashed across the sky, and the thunder rumbled shortly after.
 
An ill wind,
she thought.
 
It came from the northeast, from the
Kimon,
the demon gate.

She took a slow breath in then let it out.
 
Maneki Neko had come to warn her that her life was in danger.
 
The hair along the back of her neck bristled.
 
She stood slowly and wrapped herself in a robe.
 
Glancing at the wall, she saw the slim outline of the naginata as it rested there.
 
The wicked, curved end of the pole arm flickered with each lightning flash.
 
Although it held a sharp edge, the naginata was mostly for show as Keiko preferred the versatility of the katana and wakizashi.

Then she smelled it: oni.
 
A low growl rumbled in her throat, and she turned, naginata in hand.
 
With an inhuman cry, it was upon her.
 
Darkness leaped at her, whirling claws and teeth.
 
Keiko screamed with the roar of a tiger.
 
She slammed the naginata’s blade downward, cutting through the darkness.
 
The demon shrieked again, this time in rage and pain as the pole arm buried deep in its arms severed flesh from bone.
 
Black blood spurted across the room, and a claw fell to the floor.

With a snarl, Keiko changed.
 
Her body became long and tawny with stripes, and she roared as she leaped upon the demon, tearing its body with her fangs and claws.
 
It tried to rake her, but it was no match for her ferocity.
 
She continued tearing it to pieces long after it stopped resisting her.

Then there was silence.
 
Keiko paused and lifted her head, snuffing the air and listening intently.
 
Despite the overwhelming stench of oni, despite the racket, no one came to her aid.
 
She stepped off the bloody mass that had been the demon and, with a swipe of her claws, moved aside the door and stepped out of the room.

The hall was quiet except for her labored breathing.
 
Where are the servants?
she wondered.
 
Surely someone must have heard this racket.
 
She padded slowly down the hall and found her answer.

The doors to her servants’ rooms were ripped asunder, and as she peered into them, she could see the bodies lying on their futons in a bloody mess.
 
The demon had gotten to them to be sure no one would try to save her when it attacked her.
 
She shuddered as she stared at the bodies.

Keiko took a slow and steady breath.
 
The demons knew.
 
Somehow they knew, which meant they knew about Kasumi.
 
She shivered and closed her eyes.
 
Oh, Maneki Neko, watch over my daughter!

The cat god had come to her in time to warn her.
 
Naotaka was in danger, but she couldn’t help him now.
 
Kasumi was in danger, but she couldn’t dare risk following her to Tsuitori-jima.
 
Keiko couldn’t help anyone now where she was, here on Kyotori-jima.

She padded slowly out of the apartments.
 
The demon had killed all within.
 
As she stood looking over the silent street in Kyo, she wondered how many people the oni had slain.
 
She could see the lights coming from the Imperial Palace.
 
The emperor would be safe,
she thought.
 
He had many wards and the power of his dragon ancestors to keep him safe.
 
Emperor
Muramatsu
had magic beyond that of normal men, being the descendant of the Ryu dragons.
 
She closed her eyes and willed herself into the form of a Neko.
 
She could do nothing here.
 
It was time to return to Neko-shima.
 
She would find a way to return to the island.

She turned and padded down the street, keeping to the shadows.
 
She would find the passage she needed from the Neko at Maneki Neko’s temple.
 
The god would show her the way.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Kasumi walked along the game paths that crisscrossed the human roads.
 
Although she would only be mistaken as a traveler, Kasumi did not dare travel where men had gone.
 
It would be too easy for the Tengu to find her then.
 
Stealth was of the utmost importance here.

The darkness of the deep forest didn’t bother Kasumi, who could see as well as a cat.
 
Her dual nature gave her all the senses of her feline counterpart.
 
As she snuffed the breeze, she caught a whiff of Tengu, Akira, and Ikumi.
 
She was following the right path; she was sure of that.
 
So she was surprised when her footsteps took her to the rice paddies and Tenko’s hut.

She stopped and stared at Tenko’s hut.
 
Did the old wizard have something to do with the Tengu?
 
She looked around but saw nothing.
 
The hut was dark.
 
She slipped forward quietly, her feet making no sound in the grass.
 
She went up to the well, raised the bucket, and drank deeply.

“You’re back, I see,” said a familiar voice.
 
Kasumi was not surprised and turned around to see Tenko.

“You will not get rid of me this easily, old man,” she said.
 
“Where have they taken Akira?”

“
They,
Neko-sama?” Tenko asked.

“You know who they are, old man,” Kasumi said with a low growl.
 
“I am looking for the Tengu who have taken Takeshi Akira and Ikumi.”

“Why do you care?”

“The Tengu used their magic on me,” she said.
 
“No creature has ever used their magic on one of my people like this before.”

“Ah, so it’s a matter of honor, is it?”
 
Tenko squinted at her in the darkness.
 
“You had best go back home, little Neko.
 
The Tengu do not suffer foolishness.
 
Go back to your island and live in peace.”

Kasumi growled.
 
She knew she had not the patience for this man.
 
At once, she leaped at him, her clothes falling from her as she grasped the man in her maw and shook him.
 
She was not the little Neko, but a full-sized tiger.
 
Tenko screamed with a voice unlike that of a man.
 
He had grown small, very small.
 
Kasumi found she was holding a red fox in her mouth.

Let me go!
Tenko shouted in mindspeak.

Not until you tell me where the Takeshi are,
she said.
 
She closed her mouth slowly, feeling the fox wriggle between her jaws.

I don’t know!
 
I don’t know!
the fox shouted.
 
Tenko was unable to keep the fear from his mental voice.
 
The Tengu have taken him to their forests.
 
I don’t know anything else.

Kasumi nodded.
 
The fox squeaked in terror, thinking she was shaking him.
 
Very well, little fox,
she said.
 
You will take me to them.

I will take you?

Yes, if you value your life.
 
Kasumi snuffed the air.
 
Dawn will come soon.
 
Make up your mind, little fox.

All right,
Tenko said dejectedly.
 
We are doomed anyway; they will kill us.

Kasumi gently dropped the fox to the ground and placed her big paw on its back.
 
Do not try to deceive me, Tenko,
she said.
 
For I will take you out with one swipe of my paw.

I promise, Naotaka Kasumi Neko, there will be no deception.

Kasumi knew there was little she could do other than trust Tenko.
 
She stepped back and transmuted into a woman’s form again, swiftly slipping into her tunic and pants.
 
Tenko changed back from his kitsune form and eyed her warily.

“It is hard to believe that such a beautiful woman as you could be so devious,” Tenko said.

Kasumi laughed without mirth.
 
“I do what I have to, old man.
 
Do you really think I would want to trust a kitsune?”

Tenko’s gaze narrowed.
 
“Kitsune are far more trustworthy than many shapeshifters.
 
My people are honorable, whereas yours have not always been.”

Kasumi drew her katana in one swift movement and pointed the sharp blade at Tenko’s neck.
 
“Never insult my people again,” she whispered.

Tenko raised his hands as though to ward off the steel.
 
“If you kill me, Neko, you will not find the Takeshi.”

“Take it back.”

“No,” he said.
 
“You know I speak the truth.
 
If you wish my help, you will have to listen to the truth from time to time.”

Kasumi’s blade wavered.
 
The old man smiled and bowed his head as far as he could while she held the blade close.
 
At last she sighed.

“All right, old man, you win.
 
But you’d better take me to the Takeshi, or you will feel the bite of my blade.”
 
She sheathed her sword.

He bowed to her.
 
“You won’t regret it, my tiger samurai.”

Kasumi had a feeling that somehow she would.