Kara rode out of the paddock a few seconds before Ayame and Itsuki – their men and women followed them, only a few moments behind. Within minutes, the whole group of thirteen shinobi were already galloping off on the road leading north.
Everyone was silent all the way while they were on the road. They stopped in the forest for the night – off the road, hidden from prying eyes, and slept without a fire.
The next day they continued their way, pushing their horses as hard as they could and stopping only when necessary. Though the shinobi were used to such long galloping, Kara wasn’t and felt a little frustrated. At first she wasn’t sure if Akuma would be able to keep up, because he was, after all cooped up in a paddock for a long time. But he showed himself as a very tough and strong horse. He even tried getting ahead all the time, and Kara had to keep him in line.
As they settled to spend the second night in the forest, Itsuki approached Kara and quietly sat down next to her.
«You’re doing well, Nakano.» He whispered. «I am glad.»
«Thank you.» She replied. Even though he couldn’t see her smile under her mask, she smiled nonetheless.
«I wanted to ask you to take the first watch tonight. Can you manage?»
«Of course!» she nodded, ready to do everything that was needed.
«Wake me up in three hours.» Itsuki leaned back against the tree Kara was sitting next to and closed his eyes.
Before Kara stood up to check on the horses, she felt him touch her hand slightly, and smiled again.
After checking the horses, she circled around the camp, seeing everyone falling asleep. Fortunately, she was used to walking on the forest floor and running silently – even before she came to this world. So climbing a nearby tree without a single sound was easy. She settled on a high branch – high enough to see if anyone were to approach the camp, but low enough to jump down in a moment’s notice if the need arises. Alert and tense, she stayed vigilant throughout her watch, noticing the smallest rustle and sound made by the forest creatures.
When the time came, she got down from her branch and circled around the camp once more, looking out for any trouble that might be hidden in the night. However, everything was quiet, and she returned to her comrades, ready to wake Itsuki up.
But, when she walked up to where he was sleeping when she left, he was nowhere to be seen.
For a split second Kara felt surprised, but then someone grabbed her from behind and put a blade to her neck.
«Distracted, Nakano?» Itsuki whispered right next to her ear.
«Not a bit.» Kara slightly touched his side with her own blade.
The man frowned and looked down – she caught him off guard, almost hitting him with her katana, when he didn’t even notice.
Isuki put his katana down and stepped back, acknowledging her swift move with a nod.
«Excellent.» He said, obviously smiling. «Any trouble?»
Kara put her katana back in the sheath just as silently as she unsheathed it and shook her head.
«All quiet, except for the mice and owls that hunt in the night.» She replied.
«Then go get some rest. We need to be at our best tomorrow morning.»
She nodded and stepped away, brushing against his arm with her palm. Walking off to the tree, where Itsuki slept before, she sat down and leaned on the trunk, relaxing just a little. She closed her eyes, but could feel the stillness of the night and the faint movement of the animals that roamed through the trees and forest floor.
She dozed off almost immediately, but didn’t sleep long. Something tore her out of her rest into the cold still twilight. The moon came out from behind the clouds and gave out enough light to see in the dark.
Something was wrong, and Kara felt it. She wouldn’t be able to name it or say what exactly woke her up, but a sense of something unexplainable clenched her whole body, making it impossible to sleep.
Kara stood up – silent and alert, and watched everyone in the camp. Her hands squeezed the hilts of her swords, ready to unleash them at any time, and the young woman stepped away from the camp, trying to find the reason for her awakening.
Following her intuition, she moved through the forest, seeking out the source of this strange feeling, until she approached a small meadow.
Almost immediately she noticed a lonesome figure of a very tall and thin man. She couldn’t see his face in the dark – only his profile against the moon. He seemed unreal, as if consisting of angles everywhere – from his sharp nose, to his long joints.
It was unusual to see anyone alone in the forest – even more so at such a dark hour in the night.
Kara could have thought he was doing some kind of ritual to honour his gods, but the man just stood there – twisted in his spine at a very strange angle and not moving.
She did, however, hear his breath – a deep, wheezing sound escaped his mouth with each breath, but he looked unbothered by it. A living person would have been suffering from such thing, but this man was definitely not normal.
Suddenly the man twitched with a disgusting cracking sound and Kara heard him sniff the air. He couldn’t have caught her smell in any way – she was standing where the slight breeze moved her scent away from the meadow, not towards the man.
But he obviously smelled something. Or someone.
Feeling a wave of uneasy goose bumps running down her spine, Kara took a careful step back. She didn’t want to engage – she didn’t know what to do, so all she could – is keep watching him from afar, hidden by the trees and thickets.
Minutes passed, and Kara suddenly noticed a few shadows moving next to her. She glanced and saw the shinobi spreading out in a wide circle, surrounding the twisted figure.
Itsuki appeared by the nearest tree and nodded to her silently. Kara showed him one finger, telling him that she saw only one man.
The shinobi exchanged glances between each other, then stepped out into the meadow as one. Kara followed their lead and they began approaching the man, closing in on him in absolute silence. Stepping very slowly and extremely carefully, the shinobi tried getting as close to the man as possible.
Kara noticed a change in the figure. She heard a quiet cracking sound that repeated itself a moment later, then again and again. The twisted man was laughing!
She froze, crouching lower and grasping her katana at the ready. Something was telling her that this man was not what he seemed. Itsuki gestured to the others and they froze – tense and alert. But the man kept laughing, as if nothing bothered him at all.
The air in the meadow became cold as ice, raising the hairs on the back of Kara’s neck.
Suddenly, the man twitched and turned with an unimaginable speed, giving out a wheezing roar at the shinobi. A gust of ice-cold wind hit them with such force that they crouched down not to fall. But Kara was ready – she didn’t even flinch, when the figure darted towards them.
The creature leapt from one side to another, confusing its enemies, before making a speedy turn towards Kara with his long arms stretched out and his sharp claws at the ready to slice her to shreds.
Kara ducked down, rolled to the side and slashed with her katana at the creature, feeling how one of her swords met with its flesh and bone. Something slumped down to the ground; the creature screeched, stopping for a moment and in a split second disappeared in the trees.
The shinobi ran after it, but it was obvious that they were no match for the creature’s speed.
Kara noted where the creature was heading and started looking at the grass beneath her feet,