Samurai Son (26 page)

Chapter Fifty-Three

Kasumi awoke just before dawn feeling tired and uneasy.
 
Her sleep had been troubled by shadows and demons, and she was stiff and sore from sleeping on the kitsune’s mat.
 
She looked around for Tenko but didn’t see him.
 
She guessed he was hunting for his breakfast or perhaps scouting for a way to find Akira.

She stood up and stretched, rubbing her legs’ cold muscles to restore circulation.
 
She turned and looked to the east.
 
Already the sky was lightening and the stars were winking out one by one.
 
She was not enthusiastic about searching for Akira in the dark created by the long shadows.
 
Demons often hid in the shadows, looking for unsuspecting travelers, and she also expected that the demon following her would try to catch her off guard.

Still, there wasn’t much food here, and hunger gnawed at her.
 
She would have to cook her own rice.
 
She thought about turning into a cat and hunting, but she disliked mice; they upset her stomach too much.
 
Hunting deer or even livestock as a tiger had its advantages, but she didn’t want to stuff herself.
 
So she settled on becoming a small cat to try to beg a free meal from some of the townspeople.

She turned into a sleek cat with dark brown points on her ears, legs, tail, and nose.
 
The rest of her fur held a slightly bluish cast, and she glanced back at her long, lithe body in appreciation.
 
She loved being a little cat as much as being a large tiger.
 
But while tigers would cause a stir, a little housecat would go unnoticed.
 
She suspected she could at least find something in the village.

She thought about going to Yutsui, but she decided instead to go to the fishing village where she had seen the storm blow through.
 
It sat on the southeast corner of the island, and while it wasn’t very big, she knew they would have fish and maybe some rice.
 
Fish was always a preferable meal; her Neko body demanded meat when others tended to eat primarily rice and some vegetables.

Still, there would be bigger game if she turned into a tiger.
 
Tsuitori was large enough for deer, feral pigs, and maybe some wild cattle.
 
It might even have the wolves that preyed on them.
 
She twitched her tail at the thought of tasting wild boar but continued padding down the trail with her soft paws that made no sound along the forest floor.

Kasumi had walked for some time when the forest gave way to the beach and the harbor near the town.
 
The sun had just crested the horizon, and its rays turned the water red.
 
She paused as she saw the devastation.
 
People were picking their way through the wreckage, looking for survivors.
 
A few women were wailing as they pulled the lumber off bodies.

The sour stench of death reached her nostrils, and Kasumi wrinkled her nose.
 
She backed up and snuffed the air.
 
Beyond the stench of death was the unmistakable musty odor of Tengu.
 
She held her mouth slightly open to receive the scents so she could sort through them.

“Kuri, look!
 
A cat!”

A boy, barely ten by Kasumi’s reckoning, peered over the debris and pointed to her.
 
Kasumi swished her tail in displeasure at her discovery.
 
His clothing hung off his skinny frame in rags, and he bore several cuts and bruises from the night before.

“Here, Neko!
 
Come, I have fish!”
 
The boy knelt down and called to her.

Kasumi hesitated.
 
She took a step forward then another.
 
Her stomach rumbled.
 
Her hunger made her a bit reckless.
 
Maybe the child would give her food.
 
She stepped forward again.

“Got you!”

She screamed in surprise as she was grabbed by the scruff from behind.
 
Kasumi had been so focused on the boy in front of her that she didn’t notice another boy sneaking up behind her.
 
She hissed and spit as the boy tossed her unceremoniously into a sack.
 
“Good job, Kuri!”
 
He chortled.
 
“We have dinner now.”

Dinner?
 
Kasumi found herself in a roughly woven sack, stinking of rotting fish.
 
She hissed and scratched at the bag, snagging her claws on the rough material.
 
What barbarians would eat cat for dinner?
 
She found herself swinging upside down in a most undignified manner.

The stench of rotting fish made her gag as she tried to gain purchase in the sack.
 
Her claws snagged as she bounced along.
 
A growl bubbled up from her throat, and she tried to turn herself upright but to no avail.
 
It was the most humiliating and infuriating thing she had ever experienced.
 
Suddenly the jostling stopped as quickly as it began.
 
Good,
she thought.
 
When they open the bag up, I’ll hop out.

“You have a stick?
 
Let’s kill it.”

Kasumi’s growl became a snarl.
 
That snarl soon became a roar.
 
Without thinking, she grew in size, tearing the burlap sack as the boys dropped it.
 
She found herself standing in full tiger form not far from a small fire with a spit hung over it and a couple of crude knives beside it.
 
They were behind one of the wrecked huts, just inside the tangled forest.
 
Many of the trees had fallen in the storm, and leaves and branches were scattered everywhere.

She shook the tiny sack off her nose and stared at the two boys, who stood motionless, their hands gripping the sticks they were going to use to kill her.

No one will kill
me! she roared at the boys, who took a step backward, too terrified to do much more.

“I’m sorry, sorry, great tora,” the older of the boys stammered.
 
“We were hungry.
 
The winds destroyed our homes.
 
My parents are gone…”

Silence!
Kasumi roared again.
 
One of the boys stepped backward and lost his footing.
 
The other turned and ran.

Kasumi stalked over to the boy on the ground.
 
It would be fitting that she kill him after he tried to murder her.
 
He shivered violently and she could smell the urine, sweat, and fear emanating from the boy.
 
She raised her paw to take a swipe at him.

She heard a shriek, which stopped her from tearing into the boy.
 
The loud, high-pitched scream was inhuman yet terribly human.
 
The shriek stopped as suddenly as it started.
 
The boy next to her opened his mouth, and his eyes went wide with terror.
 
Something had killed the other boy.

Few things scared Kasumi when in tiger form, yet fear gripped her as she listened for the sound of a predator, but she heard nothing.
 
She used her kami senses in an attempt to discover what it might be.

Then she sensed it.
 
Deep within the forest, she could feel the coldness of the shadow demon.
 
She felt her hackles rise as she looked beyond the boy toward the encroaching darkness.
 
It crept along the ground where the other boy had gone.
 
The stench of demon filled her nostrils, and she shivered despite herself.
 
The demon’s power lay in shadows and darkness; for her to fight it now would be folly.
 
She had to get back to the light.

A small whimper brought her back to the boy who had tried to kill her.
 
I won’t kill you today,
she said.
 
Run if you value your life.

The boy didn’t move.

Run! Kasumi shouted.
 
She backed away, fighting the urge to run as she sensed the demon drawing closer.
 
The boy did nothing.

Kasumi watched in horror as the darkness flowed across the ground like fog rolling in from the sea.
 
She scooted along the hut’s wreckage and turned to flee.

She leaped into the air as the boy screamed in terror then in agony.
 
Kasumi didn’t look behind as she ran, terrified that the demon would chase her down and take her.
 
She ran in the light of the early morning, hoping it would be enough to keep the demon at bay.

She continued to run and almost tripped on the Tengu that lay in a mass of feathers on the beach.

Chapter Fifty-Four

Akira awoke, much to his shock, staring into the face of a tiger.
 
He had been asleep when he heard something running toward him.
 
He had slept here on the beach all night, feeling miserable about the village.
 
Now he was face-to-face with a tiger.

The tiger had been running but had stopped short on seeing him.
 
That in itself was odd because no one save kami could see him in his present form.
 
The tiger, then, had to be kami or some sort of supernatural creature.
 
But there were no tigers on Tsuitori.
 
Tigers lived on the outer islands such as Neko-shima and Oni-seki; humans on the more populated islands had long ago killed the most dangerous predators.

“What the…?”
 
Akira got to his feet, hand on his katana’s tsuba.
 
He was about to say something when he was overcome by an odd sensation and turned to look in the direction the tiger had come from.
 
The tiger growled low and stared in that direction.
 
Akira got the sense that something was pursuing the tiger.

Akira stood up.
 
He doubted anything could really harm him while he was in this Tengu form.
 
What’s following you, tora?

The tiger’s voice rumbled.
 
There is an oni chasing me.
 
You must run too.
 
The tiger leaped away in the opposite direction from which it had come.

Oni—demon.
 
Akira frowned.
 
Despite the initial stab of fear, he paused and considered his options.
 
As a Tengu, he was nearly invincible.
 
He had killed a dragon while in Tengu form, and even the most serious wounds Windcatcher had inflicted on him healed fast.
 
Was an oni worse than a dragon?
 
He didn’t think so.

Instinctively he knew he could destroy it.
 
Demons were enemies of all, even Tengu, and while the Tengu delighted on tricking and even causing misfortune to humans, they were not oni.
 
Oni were otherworldly creatures bent on destroying all life.
 
And while the Tengu were troublemakers at worst, they were benefactors at their best and not truly evil.

“Help!
 
Help!”
 
A ten-year-old girl, her kimono torn and muddy, ran toward Akira.
 
Behind the child came a wave of darkness that Akira had never seen before.
 
Akira stared at the darkness, horrified.
 
A sour stench, like that of rotting corpses, assailed his nostrils.
 
The child ran past him, oblivious to him.

Without thinking, Akira summoned the wind kami.
 
They roared with delight as he sent them hurtling toward the darkness.
 
The wind shuddered as it buffered the oni but did not change directions.
 
Instead, it blew harder yet.
 
The oni tried to solidify with the wind’s buffeting.
 
It grew into a monstrous creature with glowing red eyes and claws.
 
The demon lashed out at the wind kami, but it could not catch the wind within its dark claws.
 
Instead, the wind roared and tore at the shadow creature, whirling around it in a terrible cyclone.

Akira concentrated on the wind, bringing his power to bear against the demon.
 
The wind screamed its fury at the demon, and the oni howled as the wind tore it apart.
 
It flung the pieces of demon high in the air and ripped the pieces until there was nothing left.
 
Only then did Akira stop.
 
He closed his eyes and sank to the sandy beach in exhaustion.

Well done, Stormhammer.

Akira didn’t bother looking up at Windcatcher.
 
“Go away,” he muttered.

You are weak because you are hungry.

A tray laden with rice cakes, sashimi, miso, and hot tea appeared before him.
 
Akira was tempted to ignore the food, but his stomach growled at the smell, and he felt so weak, he knew he wouldn’t be able to stand.
 
He took the miso and downed it then drank the tea.
 
The hot, salty broth tasted wonderful, and the tea warmed him.

Feeling slightly better, he started on the rice cakes and the fish.
 
The mochi was sweet and filled with adzuki bean paste.
 
He devoured the slightly salty fish.
 
When he was done eating, he looked up, expecting to see Windcatcher gone.
 
He wasn’t.

Good,
said the Tengu.
 
You’ll need your strength for training.
 
That was very impressive control of the winds, my brother.
 
Many lesser Tengu couldn’t accomplish that.

“Don’t call me that,” Akira said.

What—brother?

“Yes.”
 
Akira frowned.
 
He didn’t like the idea that one of these creatures was related to him.

Why not when it is the truth?

“You’re not my brother,” Akira replied.
 
“I don’t have a brother—not one whom I could trust.
 
You might have been hatched—or whatever you were—from my mother, but you’re no brother of mine.”

If Windcatcher was affronted, he didn’t show it.
 
You don’t wish to be one of us, and yet you use your Tengu powers just as we do.

“You hurt people,” Akira said.
 
“You don’t care about anyone.”

Not true.
 
We would’ve destroyed the oni as you had done.

Akira shook his head.
 
“I want to go home.”

Windcatcher’s yellow eyes became pinpricks.
 
You can’t go back, Stormhammer.
 
The Tengu council has determined that you must stay with us.
 
Like it or not, Stormhammer, you are Tengu.

“I am samurai.”

Samurai.
 
Akira heard scorn in Windcatcher’s voice.
 
What is samurai but human?
 
Weak, gullible, mortal humans who grovel in the dirt to eke a meager existence.

“The samurai are warriors,” Akira said.
 
“We were ordained to be noble and rule the other classes justly.”

Windcatcher clacked his beak together and wagged his head as though something were stuck in his mouth.
 
Akira stared as he realized the Tengu was laughing at him.
 
He felt his face turn hot.

Silly fledgling!
Windcatcher said.
 
You really believe that?

Akira’s throat went dry, and he glared at the Tengu.
 
“We’re better than you.”

Really?
 
Ask that of the peasant who fails to bow to a samurai.
 
Or maybe the farmer who must give up most of his rice to serve the daimyo or the samurai army.
 
Ask that of the warriors whom the samurai demand commit suicide should they fail them.
 
Or the families of those samurai who were not victorious.

Akira frowned and looked down at the ground, his eyes unfocused on the white grains of sand.
 
His family had always been good to the peasants on Tsuitori, but he knew they were in the minority.
 
He hadn’t really thought about the other samurai since they were so distant on different islands.
 
In fact, with the exception of his father’s vassals, the only other samurai he had met had been Jiro and Kasumi.
 
Kasumi was pleasant enough, but Jiro had been nasty and aggressive.
 
He looked up again and saw, much to his chagrin, Windcatcher nodding.
 
“There are bad samurai, just as there are good samurai.”

There is no such thing as good slavery, Stormhammer.

“You’ve made me into a slave.”

No, we’ve brought you back to your people.

Akira shook his head.
 
Could their reasoning be this simple?
 
Did they really consider him one of their own?
 
If so, why didn’t they insist on Ikumi returning to them?
 
“You knew I existed long before I fought that dragon.
 
You could’ve taken me anytime.
 
And what about Ikumi?
 
She didn’t want to be with you.”

A long pause ensued, and Akira caught a brief emotion flickering in those inscrutable yellow eyes.
 
What was it?
 
Sadness?
 
Regret?
 
Akira wondered if perhaps there was something the Tengu felt that he didn’t recognize.
 
Maybe they didn’t recognize it in themselves.

We know,
Windcatcher said softly.
 
We couldn’t be certain if you would follow your human or kami nature.
 
The blending of human and kami is rare and imperfect.
 
As far as I know, you are the only half-Tengu creature.
 
Stormdancer forsook us because of a mortal.
 
It caused us great pain, but we abided by her decision.
 
It was you who changed our minds.
 
We knew that a blending of Tengu and human could make a dangerous creature.

“Dangerous to whom?”
 
Akira stared at Windcatcher.
 
“Listen, I don’t want to hurt anyone innocent, and yet the Tengu let me destroy that village.”

A village is nothing compared to what you are capable of.

Akira shook his head.
 
“I want to go home.
 
I want to live my life as samurai and nothing else.
 
If this is what Tengu power is like, I don’t want it.”

You have no choice, Stormhammer.

“My name is Akira.
 
Takeshi Akira.
 
I am the son of Takeshi Isao.”

You are Stormhammer, son of Stormdancer and a mortal.

“I don’t want to be a Tengu.
 
I’ve killed people.”

Samurai kill people.
 
But you have a chance at saving people if you wish to use your powers in that fashion.

Akira paused.
 
“I can?”

Yes.
 
You were able to save that child; that demon would’ve killed it.
 
And then there is the matter of how the demon got here,
Windcatcher said.

Akira cocked his head, Tengu-like.
 
“I don’t understand.”

Demons cannot come to this world without some sort of help.
 
There is only one demon gate, and it is guarded.
 
The only other way is through human or kami intervention.
 
And no kami would bring a demon into this world.

“So you’re saying that a human might have done this?”

Yes.
 
Windcatcher looked into Akira’s eyes.
 
And now you know why we are training you.
 
You see, we believe that a human is bringing demons into this world.

Akira stared at his half brother.
 
“Why didn’t you tell me this?”