Samurai Son (43 page)

Akira’s great sword was out of its sheath, and he stood between her and the apparition in ready position.
 
Samurai and specter stared at each other a long time, neither moving.
 
Then the amber eyes winked out, and the mist lightened.
 
“I know you don’t want to stay here,” said Akira, scanning the forest for the ghost wolf, “but with the okami here, I don’t think we should move any further.”

Kasumi reluctantly nodded.
 
She drew her sword and started into the temple grounds, her Neko senses screaming at her to leave this place.
 
Yet she sensed nothing that would cause such consternation, and her leg hurt so badly, she knew she needed rest.
 
The temple was nothing more than old ruins, overgrown with grasses, trees, and clinging vines.
 
She stepped carefully on the uneven walkway, the meticulously set stones now heaved and cracked.
 
Grasses and weeds grew up between the stones, thrusting them apart over time.
 
The ceremonial gate’s top portion had fallen and lay cracked and worn on the ground.
 
The stone temple itself still stood, but Kasumi doubted that any friendly spirits had entered it in some time.

Still, Akira led her up the stairs and into the dark, yawning maw that served as the temple’s entrance.
 
As she followed Akira, she felt a blast of cold air from the temple’s interior.
 
“Akira,” she whispered, hoping the young samurai would hear her.

He turned his head.
 
“What?”

“I don’t like this.
 
It feels as though we are walking into a trap.”

She could tell by the look on Akira’s face that he didn’t disagree, but she could see he was tired and needed rest as well.
 
“Listen,” he said, “I’m not sensing anything, and my sword would tell me if it sensed trouble.
 
But I agree there’s something odd about this place.
 
Still, I’m not sure the okami is friendly.
 
I don’t want to
chance
it.”

“Your sword?”

Akira frowned.
 
“It’s, uh, magic.
 
Trust me.”

Kasumi bit her lip.
 
She couldn’t explain her reservations to him when she herself didn’t know what they were.
 
She didn’t want to appear like a jumpy, frightened girl in front of him.
 
“I just don’t trust this place.”

“Nor do I.
 
I think we should keep watch in shifts while the other one sleeps.
 
That way we both get some sleep, but hopefully with one of us on guard, it should give us some advanced notice should something attack.”
 
He paused and studied her carefully.
 
“You look very tired.
 
Get some sleep while I take the first watch.”

Kasumi was about to object, but Akira raised his hands.
 
“I’ll wake you in three hours; I promise,” he said.

“All right,” she said reluctantly.
 
She looked around.
 
“I wish we could have a fire.”

Kasumi pulled out the silk blanket she carried in her pack.
 
Normally she would prefer a thick woven wool blanket, but this was lightweight and kept her reasonably warm except during the coldest months.
 
She laid a rough ground cloth of linen and, using her pack like a pillow, she lay down.
 
Akira sat quietly beside her, leaning his back against the wall and pulling out a small bit of rice cake.
 
Kasumi’s mouth watered but she said nothing.
 
As hungry as she was, she could save her last rice cake for her watch.

The linen ground cloth provided no cushion against the stone for her injured leg.
 
She almost wanted to change into one of her other forms to have the extra cushion of hair but refrained from it.
 
If Akira needed her help, he might need her in human rather than cat form, so she closed her eyes and fell into an uneasy and troubled sleep.

Chapter Eighty-Two

“Little Neko, are you there?”

Kasumi’s eyes opened.
 
She was still in the darkness of the abandoned temple.
 
Yet as she looked away to the farthest wall, she blinked in surprise.
 
A large wolf strolled into the temple, appearing from what had to be a gate.

“Okami?” she whispered.
 
She sat up and glanced at Akira, who seemed oblivious of the wolf or the fact that she stood up.
 
“Is this a dream?”

The wolf shrugged, its massive shoulders rippling with great muscles.
 
“You, of all the Neko, should know the earmarks of a dream.”

“Why do I feel uneasy here?”

“There is a curse on the temple,” the wolf said.
 
“Akuma came and destroyed the monks here hundreds of years ago.
 
That is what you feel.”

“Akuma…”
 
Kasumi shivered in fear.
 
The Akuma was the most dangerous of demons, capable of killing Neko with a broad swipe of its massive flaming claws.
 
“Are the demons truly gone?”

The wolf lay down in front of her.
 
Kasumi knelt before the great wolf as he licked his paws.
 
“No, not entirely.
 
When the demons attacked, the monks summoned all their powers.
 
They enclosed them here within the walls so they cannot escape.
 
I have come to warn you…”

#

Kasumi awoke with a gasp, her body shaking and drenched with sweat.
 
Akira was right beside her.

“Kasumi!
 
Kasumi-san!” Akira said.
 
“What’s wrong?”

“Akira-chan,” she whispered, burying her head in his chest, despite herself.
 
Gone was her disdain and anger, replaced by cold fear.
 
She trembled uncontrollably.
 
“We’re in great danger.”

A roar like a typhoon shook the temple.
 
Akira was on his feet, no-dachi in his hand.
 
Kasumi leaped to her feet as well, but she had changed into her tiger form.
 
The stench of demon filled her nostrils, and she nearly gagged from smelling the foul beasts.
 
She could not talk to Akira with normal speech, but used mindspeak to warn him.

It’s an Akuma!
she shouted in his mind.
 
A rumble filled her throat, and she
bared
her teeth in a snarl.
 
She glanced at Akira, who stood steady.
 
She had to give him credit; he showed no fear despite the legends of one of the most blood-thirsty oni.

The temple shuddered and the stone walls groaned as though something huge were pushing on them.
 
Kasumi looked up in terror.
 
She doubted there was any way for them to escape before the demon sent the temple crashing down on them.

“Come on,” Akira said.
 
“We’ve got to get out of here, demon or no.”

Kasumi agreed.
 
With a bound, she made it to the door just before the demon smashed through the walls.
 
Akira dodged the stone as most of the temple’s ceiling and its walls crumbled around them.
 
By some miracle or stroke of luck, they had made it to the main threshold, only to find the rest of the way blocked.
 
A creature made of flame stood before them, wielding a terrible glowing blade.

Kasumi’s snarl turned into a roar.
 
The Akuma was an evil fire demon, the bane of many Neko.
 
Nevertheless, there were legends of Neko who had taken on these dangerous demons and lived.
 
Akira,
she whispered in mindspeak.

Akira made no response.
 
Before she could glance his direction, the fire demon leaped on her, wielding its blade.
 
She lashed out at the demon with her claws and pulled back as a shock of pain ran up her legs from her sensitive paw pads.
 
She smelled burned skin and looked down at her scorched paw, blackened from the flame.

At that moment, she heard laughter, harsh and grating.
 
She glanced at Akira and saw another fire demon attack.
 
Akira blocked the attack, holding his own with his magical no-dachi, but she could see scorch marks along the fine steel.
 
As the fire demon lunged at her, she doubted she could do damage to it with her katana in her human form.

The demon lashed out at her, but she was too quick, even with her wound, and danced away from the flames.
 
It tried again to slice into her with its flaming sword, but again, she dodged it.
 
The sulfurous smoke overwhelmed her, and she wondered how she could possibly defeat such a terrible creature.
 
The heat blistered her skin painfully, and she wanted to flee, but there was nowhere to go.

The great demon hunter would be killed in her first oni fight.
 
Kasumi had never felt so helpless in her tiger form before.
 
The demon laughed again and pushed her back toward the wall, bringing its flaming sword down on her.
 
She barely blocked the sword with her claws, and the fire sliced right through her nails.

She withdrew her paw in pain.
 
She wouldn’t be able to withstand another cut of that flaming sword.

Fire.
 
The demons were elements of fire.
 
The elements of wind, water, and earth could overcome it if they were powerful enough.
 
She glanced askance at the boy with the no-dachi whom she had discounted.
 
Akira was part Tengu—a kami who controlled the winds.
 
Could Akira summon the wind kami?
 
He might be able to instruct them to defeat the flames.
 
A stiff breeze would feed the demons, but a typhoon would snuff them out.

Call the wind, Akira!
she shouted to him mentally.
 
Between the whirl of darkness and flames, she could see Akira blocking each attack from the demon.
 
She could hear him shout in a language she did not know but knew instinctively was the language of the winds.

The demon leaped at her, and she screamed in pain and rage as the hot fire lanced through her fur.
 
An ugly weal ran along her side, and she lashed out at the demon, only to have the fire burn her once again.
 
The demon laughed; its voice a roar like that of a firestorm.
 
It bore down on her.
 
Somewhere she heard Akira screaming…

A huge gust of wind tore through the temple’s ruins, followed by a tremendous torrent of rain.
 
The demons screamed as the rain poured down, smothering their fire.
 
She looked up, bedraggled and wet, to see the wolf standing on the threshold where they had entered.

Travelers,
she heard mindspeak come from the wolf.
 
This place is cursed.
 
Come with me.

Kasumi stood up and looked over at Akira.
 
He was lying on his side; his no-dachi lay not far from him.
 
She ran over to him, and if she were in her human form, she would have gasped in horror.
 
The demon had managed to get its fiery blade into Akira’s defenses.
 
The young samurai had a horrendous burned gash running from his shoulder to his hip.
 
It was bloody beneath the blackened skin.

Okami-san,
she thought.
 
Come help me!

The wolf came forward, and Kasumi knew it was no ordinary wolf.
 
She snuffed at it.
 
It did not have the rank stench of a demon.
 
In fact, it had no scent and shimmered as it moved.
 
As it approached, it grew bigger until it was as large as she was in tiger form.
 
She moved aside and let the wolf examine Akira.
 
The okami gently nuzzled the samurai.

Why?
 
Why did you help us?
she asked.

The wolf looked sidelong at her.
 
You showed great respect and kindness, Neko-san.
 
It is payment for the small morsel you gave me.
 
The goddess has charged the okami with watching over travelers, especially those who follow the goddess’s laws.
 
It honors me to aid travelers who follow the way of the warrior with honor.

Kasumi paused.
 
Is that why you followed us?

Yes.
 
I would follow you until the end of my territory to make certain no harm had befallen you.
 
Unfortunately I was not able to pass the threshold of this shrine until you called me in.

Called you in?
 
Kasumi glanced back at the threshold through the sheets of rain.
 
She could just make out strange glyphs written on the walls.
 
They kept you out?
 
But you visited in a dream.

Yes, that is the only power I had.
 
That and bringing the wind and rain kami to your aid when the one called Stormhammer called them.
 
Fire demons cannot live long under a torrent of the other elements.

But the glyphs—both Akira and I were able to pass through into the temple.

Yes, they would’ve kept you out had you not been part human.
 
The wolf nuzzled Akira, who grunted in pain.
 
The one called Stormhammer has been seriously hurt.
 
I will do what I can, but we must move him.
 
There are others who can heal him.
 
Can you gather your things?

She nodded, returning to human form.
 
She almost cried out from the pain from her burned fingers and the nasty weal along her body.
 
She bit her lip and staggered forward, naked and vulnerable, but that didn’t matter anymore.
 
Akira had saved them; she would stay conscious as long as she could to make certain that he was safe.
 
She shivered as she pulled on her soaked clothing and tied her obi and swords around her waist.
 
Twice she almost collapsed as the pain became intense.
 
When she had gathered their packs, she staggered back to the okami.

Place your hand and his on my fur.

She nodded.
 
She grasped Akira’s hand and pushed it against the wolf’s fur.

Kasumi felt a shiver go through her as the silver magic of the wolf permeated her very being.
 
Her last thoughts before she fell unconscious were of how warm and comfortable she was.