It brought the tetsubo smashing down on the ki barrier, and the shock wave that pulsed out tossed the branches of the surrounding trees and sent the demon horde stumbling back. For a moment, the invisible dome shivered into view, rippling like a mirage before fading from sight again. I winced, wondering if the barrier would shatter, knowing that each blow was also an assault on the monks’ concentration as they struggled to maintain their focus. The barrier held, but the oni raised the club to hit it again, and the horde cackled as they waited for it to fall.
I had to get inside, now.
Kami protect me! With a deep breath, I stepped from the bushes and walked as calmly as I could across the yard, praying my disguise would hold. Several demons glanced up, frowning, but most of their attention was diverted to the huge oni, who smashed its club into the barrier again. In the hellish light, the dome rippled, and I could see silver cracks creeping up the surface, making my blood run cold. It wouldn’t hold much longer.
Wanting to avoid the massive oni, I slipped around the side of the building, breathing a sigh of relief as I ducked around the corner...and immediately collided with a demon sprinting around the wall. Its blue bulbous head smacked into my stomach, driving the air from my lungs with the force of a ki punch. I reeled back and fell, gasping, and felt my hold on the illusion shatter in a puff of white smoke.
The demon, who had also been knocked back, rubbed its forehead with a claw, wincing, then glared at me. Its red eyes widened in shock as it saw, not a fellow demon, but a girl with furry ears and a tail, sitting there in the dirt. It leaped up with a howl and lunged, and I scrambled back, just managing to dodge the sword as it thunked into the spot where I had been.
Two more demons appeared from shadows: one holding a spear, the other brandishing a pair of kama sickles. They cackled as they spotted me and charged, while the blue demon continued to swipe at me with his blade. As the others closed in, I gave a snarl of frustration and hurled a ball of kitsune-bi into the blue demon’s face.
It flinched back with a hiss, claws going to its eyes, as if expecting to be burned. The blue-white flames flared bright for a moment, then faded harmlessly into nothing. But it gave me enough time to lunge past the demon, changing into a fox as I did, and dart beneath the veranda. There was a sharp tingle as I passed through the ki barrier, like a static shock along your whole body, and then the comforting darkness of the space beneath the hall closed around me. Safe.
My legs shook as I crawled beneath the floorboards, sliding over cold earth and pushing through webs, looking for the loose board that would lead behind the statue of the Prophet. Overhead, the booms of the oni’s club shook the building, showering me with dust and causing spiders to flee in terror.
A sliver of orange light glimmered in the darkness ahead, illuminating a thin rectangle of dirt, and I hurried toward it. Squeezing between the planks, I clawed myself onto the floor of the great hall, the statue of the Jade Prophet looming overhead. I staggered away from the statue and looked around for Master Isao.
My stomach twisted. He sat before the statue of the Prophet, hands cupped in his lap, eyes closed and face serene. The rest of the monks sat around him, also in meditation, though I could see sweat pouring from their faces, their brows furrowed in concentration. Each time the oni’s club hit the barrier outside, one of them would flinch, clenching his jaw or pressing his lips together. I saw Denga sitting behind Master Isao, a stream of red running from his nose as he fought to maintain the barrier. His eyebrows twitched with every blow, and his jaw was set, even as blood dripped from his chin to spatter his hands.
As I forced myself back to human form, Master Isao’s eyes opened to gaze right at me. Smiling, as if this meeting was over the dinner table and I had come in late, he raised a hand and beckoned me forward.
“Ah, there you are, Yumeko-chan. I’ve been waiting for you.”
“Master Isao!” I flung myself beside him. “What are we to do? The oni is almost through the barrier. How will we escape?”
“There is no escape,” Master Isao said calmly, making my heart plummet. “Not for us. We have done our duty. But you, Yumeko-chan. You must continue it.”
Horrified, I stared at him. “I don’t... I don’t understand, Master Isao,” I whispered. “What do you mean, I must continue it? How?”
I trailed off, as the wizened monk reached into the sleeve of his robe and drew something into the light. A simple case, made of dark lacquered wood, a red silk ribbon wrapped around the cylinder. I gasped as he held it up.
“Is that...?”
“Take it, Yumeko-chan,” Master Isao ordered, and held it out to me. “It must not fall into the hands of demons. You must keep it safe at all costs.” Another boom rattled the beams overhead, and one of the monks behind us drew in a sharp breath. Master Isao’s gaze never wavered from mine. “Take the scroll,” he said again, “and leave this place. Run, and don’t look back.”
Frantically, I shook my head. “I can’t,” I whispered, as my eyes grew hot, tears welling in the corners. “I can’t leave you. Where will I go? I don’t know anything about the outside world. How can I keep the scroll safe?”
“Fox girl.” Master Isao’s voice was firm, and I blinked at him in shock. Though the other monks often used that phrase, he never called me anything related to my true nature. “Listen to me. There is something I have not told you, a piece of your past I must reveal. When you first came to us, in the fish basket with the note pinned to your blanket...” He paused, a shadow of regret passing through his eyes, so quick I might have imagined it. “I have told you most of what the letter said,” Master Isao continued, “but not all. The part that you have not heard is this...”
His words echoed strangely in my head, like they were coming from a great distance away.
Humble monks, I beg you to be patient and to not judge, for I have seen a vision of the future. In this vision, I have seen blood and flames and death, demons shrieking and rivers of bones, and the world grows dark with fear. But a single fox stands above it all, untouched, a great dragon cast in her shadow. Her name is Yumeko, child of dreams, for she is our hope against the coming darkness.
My insides turned to ice. Master Isao smiled gently and raised the scroll once more. “So you see, Yumeko-chan,” he said, “our fate was already foretold. Whoever left you at the gates of the temple knew this was coming, and that you would play a part in the tale, the fourth coming of the Dragon.”
Numb, I stared at him, not really comprehending what he just told me. A thud echoed through the hall, and with a gasp, one of the monks behind us collapsed, holding his head. For the first time, a bead of sweat appeared on Master Isao’s forehead and ran down his face. I shook myself out of my trance and clutched at his sleeve. “Why?” I whispered. “I’m not ready. Why does it have to be me?”
His withered hand closed over mine. “Because you are the only one who can do this. Listen carefully, Yumeko-chan.” Master Isao squeezed my hand, and the strength in his fingers calmed me somewhat. “We are not alone in our mission, nor are we the only guardians. There is another temple, another order that guards a piece of the scroll. You must go to them. Warn them of what happened here. They will protect you, and the Dragon’s prayer. It is their sacred duty to do so.”
“Where are they?”
“I cannot tell you,” Master Isao said. “I do not know, myself. It is a legendary place of myth and rumor, and its location has been lost to the ages. I know only its name—the Steel Feather temple. And that it is somewhere very far from here.
“But...” he added before I could protest in despair. “There is one who knows the location of the temple. You must travel to Kin Heigen Toshi, the capital city in the center of the Sun lands. Within the city is the Hayate shrine—go there and ask