Samurai Son (25 page)

Chapter Fifty-One

Akira leaped at Windcatcher, his katana flashing in the sunlight as he bore down on the Tengu.
 
Just as his sword cut down, the Tengu disappeared in a flash of light.
 
Akira spun around, looking for the Tengu, but Windcatcher had vanished.
 
He stayed in ready position, knowing well that Windcatcher might surprise him with a counterattack.

That was a good attack,
the wind said.

Akira did not respond.
 
He didn’t need the kami to distract him.
 
He waited, uncertain of how he could sense Windcatcher when he returned.
 
He knew how to use his basic Tengu senses to find someone; his sight, hearing, and other senses were simply enhanced when compared to his human senses.
 
But how could he see an invisible Tengu?
 
And how could he recognize when another Tengu was present?

There had to be a simple way; the Tengu made it look easy.
 
Yet none of them were willing to show him how.
 
Perhaps it was as easy as seeing the wind and water kami.
 
As a Tengu, seeing the wind was a matter of looking where the wind was pushing things around—a flag, leaves on the trees, or waves on the water.
 
With water kami, it was a matter of seeing the same currents.
 
But what about the Tengu?

Tengu based their forms on birds, so maybe they were most comfortable in the trees.
 
Akira turned and studied the trees.
 
He saw no birds and no Tengu.

“Maybe I’m going about it the wrong way,” Akira muttered.
 
He was looking for obvious signs of Tengu.
 
The other kami had an otherworldly feeling to them, as though something niggled at the back of his mind and told him that something else was there.
 
It was like seeing a picture and knowing something was wrong about it, but not really seeing it.
 
The kami were simply in a place where one didn’t look.

Akira closed his eyes and envisioned the place before him—trees, sand, rocks, sea, wind kami, and sky.
 
He looked up into the branches, and in the tree sat Windcatcher, watching him carefully with katana drawn but not moving.
 
Akira opened his eyes.

The forest was the same yet not the same.
 
He could see the faintest outline of Windcatcher in the tree, watching and waiting for him.
 
Akira did not let his gaze linger too long on the Tengu, lest he give away that he could see him.
 
He wanted to give Windcatcher as rough a time as he had under the Tengu’s tutelage.

Wind kami,
he whispered in the softest mindspeak to the wind.

Yes, my lord Stormhammer?

Akira winced.
 
He didn’t want to make the wind do anything.
 
I’m not your lord, wind kami.
 
I ask a favor.

A favor?
 
The wind spirit sounded hesitant.
 
You do not command me?

No.
 
I ask.

The wind danced around him slowly.
 
What favor would you have me do?

Rustle the trees over to the left.

But the Tengu…

I know,
Akira said sharply.
 
Trust me on this.

The wind kami flew around him with such speed that he thought for a moment he heard the kami laugh.
 
It flew toward the trees to the left as Akira turned toward them.
 
He closed his eyes again to get a bearing on Windcatcher.
 
The wind kami rustled the trees, and Windcatcher watched as the breeze shook the needles and leaves, swirling up the dead leaves like a small tornado.

Akira opened his eyes and stepped toward the trees, fixing his gaze on them, but his other senses were on Windcatcher.
 
The Tengu hopped down one branch then another to see what Akira would do.
 
Akira stepped backward and sidestepped once, still keeping his eyes fixed on the trees ahead.
 
He had to be certain that Windcatcher would not figure out his trap.

Windcatcher took a single step and stopped.
 
Akira halted and considered the distance between them.
 
If he could control his ability long enough…

Akira concentrated.
 
At that moment, the world disappeared and he reappeared before a very startled Windcatcher, who squawked as Akira brought his katana down on the Tengu.
 
The blade bit into the Tengu’s shoulder and carved a bloody path.
 
Windcatcher screamed in pain and rage and slammed his katana into Akira’s side.
 
The blade bit in, and Akira cried out as the sword cut through flesh and into bone.
 
They both winked out.

When Akira reappeared, he collapsed on the sand, coughing up blood.
 
The wound would’ve been mortal had he not been Tengu.
 
He could feel his body try to react to the blow; his side both hurt and itched.
 
It made him wonder how the Tengu could really kill him if he healed like this.

Some wounds can never be healed entirely,
Windcatcher said.
 
And then there are those kami who can destroy lesser kami.

Akira looked up at Windcatcher.
 
No signs of wounds appeared on the older Tengu.
 
It was as though Akira had never even fought him.

“How—how did you do that?” Akira rasped.

Windcatcher shrugged.
 
I am much older than you.
 
Stormdancer bore me several thousand years ago.

Akira stared at the Tengu.
 
He cocked his head slightly.
 
“What did you say?”

Windcatcher ruffled his feathers.
 
I said I am much older—

“No, I meant about Ikumi.”

Stormdancer?
 
Windcatcher considered Akira.
 
That she bore me.

“Ikumi is your mother?”
 
Akira’s mouth became dry, and he felt his chest tighten.

The one you call Ikumi?
 
Yes.

“You’re my brother?”
 
Akira could not hide the shock in his voice.

The Tengu cocked his head.
 
Yes, I believe that is what you might call me.

Chapter Fifty-Two

Kasumi frowned as she watched the leopard leave.
 
She was no worse off in her duty to find Ikumi and Akira, but now she felt an urgency about it she didn’t before.
 
If Nanashi sent samurai against the Neko, it was only a matter of time before they were forced from Neko-shima.
 
The Neko were great warriors, but their numbers were too few.
 
They often depended on the Shinobi for help, but if what the leopard said was true, Nanashi had bought out the Shinobi.

She knelt down and rubbed her face with her hands.
 
You must do this alone, my sister.
 
We can’t spare anyone in this fight.
 
Kanayo must be desperate.

I should return home,
she thought ruefully.
 
Kasumi knew that she could fight if she returned, but what good would it do except as a last stand?
 
If the Neko thought that their only hope lay in the Tsuitori samurai, then she had to believe there must be a way for her to save Akira and Ikumi.
 
But how?

She sat for a while on the ground, looking up at the stars for some kind of enlightenment.
 
Eventually her thoughts drifted, and she closed her eyes to the bright heavens.
 
Surely the goddess would find a way to save her children...

Kasumi had not closed her eyes long when she felt a presence close by.
 
She forced herself to relax and take even breaths as she sensed the presence slip behind her.

“You would do better to simply breathe,” said Tenko lightly.

Kasumi opened her eyes, turned to the kitsune, and glared.
 
“I could’ve killed you.”

“Unlikely,” Tenko said.
 
“Though no doubt you would’ve been difficult to take on.”

Kasumi laughed but saw the old man was serious.
 
“You promised me help, fox.
 
I have seen nothing.”

“That is because you are impatient.
 
Help will arrive soon.”

“When?”

“Soon.”
 
With that, Tenko turned into a fox and disappeared.

#

Akira sat cross-legged on the sand and stared hard into the setting sun.
 
Windcatcher had flown off many hours ago, leaving Akira alone to brood on his dark thoughts.
 
He had never imagined that his mother might have had another consort before she married Takeshi or that she would’ve borne another son, certainly not a Tengu.

At first Akira tried to explain to Windcatcher what it meant to be his brother, but it became quickly apparent that the Tengu understood nothing of familial ties.
 
Windcatcher simply shrugged and asked if Akira wanted food.
 
Akira decided to ignore him and sit and watch the sunset.

Akira didn’t care if Windcatcher understood.
 
What he did care about was how his life as he understood it had been a lie.
 
He remembered how when he was five, he had begged his mother for a brother or sister.
 
He remembered Ikumi laughing the request off, telling him that maybe in time he might have another sibling.
 
But either through fate or something else, Akira had grown up without brothers or sisters.
 
He had been forced to grow up isolated with just his mother and his teachers around him.

Now he was angry at Ikumi.
 
She had not only kept his heritage secret but also deprived him of knowing he had family among the Tengu.
 
He had longed for brothers and sisters, not knowing that he had at least one brother there.
 
Perhaps he had grandparents and aunts and uncles there too.
 
He might even have an entire family he never knew about.

Not that they acted like family,
he thought.
 
Windcatcher held no more affection to him than he would a bokken or a sword.
 
Akira began to wonder if his mother, Ikumi, could have any sort of affection for him.
 
After all, she was a Tengu...

A Tengu who chose to be human.

Akira frowned.
 
This was very confusing to him.
 
How could his mother show affection to a human?
 
Had it been simply curiosity that drew her to Takeshi?
 
Did she grow to love Takeshi and their son?
 
Akira didn’t know.
 
He so much wanted to know and understand what was happening in his life.

At that moment his sensitive Tengu ears heard the flutter of wings.
 
He turned to see a red hawk looking at him from its perch on one of the tree branches.
 
Another Tengu?
he wondered.
 
He picked up a small pebble on the beach and tossed it halfheartedly at the bird.
 
The hawk hopped to the next branch and considered him with its bright eyes.
 
It looked vaguely familiar, but Akira didn’t care.

“You know, she could’ve told me,” Akira said to the hawk.
 
“She could’ve told me about the Tengu.
 
Now I’m stuck in this form and I don’t have anyone here who can help me.”

The hawk listened, gazing at him with its bright yellow eyes.

“You see, all my life I wanted to be something different,” Akira said.
 
“Now that I am something different, I miss home.”

He curled up on the sandy beach as the last of the sun’s rays disappeared below the horizon and fell into an uneasy sleep.