Toshi pursed his lips. “Is that you, mom? I wondered where you ended up.”
“Silence. Look upon the victims of your crimes and laugh, if you can.”
The wind swirled and became visible, white streams of force curling and breaking like a wave. A blinding glare filled Toshi’s view of the barren world, and when it faded, a long line of people stood before him.
Boss Uramon was the first, with her sallow eyes and motionless face. “You swore to serve me,” she said. “Instead, you betrayed me. You broke your oath to my reckoners. You abandoned your comrades in arms and cowardly refused to fight. You stole the power of the Shadow Gate from me. And when you were done, you killed me and scores of my loyal servants.”
“I didn’t kill you,” Toshi said. “Kiku did.”
A sneer flickered across Uramon’s lip as the boss walked past Toshi and vanished in the wind.
Godo was next. Though Toshi had never met the sanzoku bandit king, it was no challenge to recognize him. Godo was huge and brawny, almost seven feet tall and powerfully built. He carried a massive spiked log on a chain.
“You cursed me with the yuki-onna,” Godo said. Sweat steamed from his bald head. Though he spoke angrily, his face was solemn. “You offered her as a weapon against Konda, but you knew she would turn and consume my people as well. Hundreds have died in the cold, thanks to you.”
“I underestimated her influence,” Toshi admitted. “But it’s my problem, too. I’m the one who took her power upon himself. Besides, I only gave the kanji to Hidetsugu. The o-bakemono convinced you to break it and let her out in your territory.”
Godo spat on the cold dry rocks and stormed past Toshi.
A young man in Minamo robes came forward. He had spiked, snow-white hair, and his eyes burned with hatred as he glared at Toshi.
“You killed me,” Choryu said. “You sent me to the ogre so that he would torture me. After weeks of indescribable agony, you returned and murdered me as an afterthought.”
Toshi looked unflinchingly into Choryu’s eyes. “And?”
The white-haired wizard continued to glare until Toshi waved him off with an impatient flutter of fingers. Choryu shuffled forward and disappeared.
The next figure was small, dark, and covered in coarse hair. For the first time Toshi felt his throat close and an uncomfortable feeling rise from his stomach.
Marrow-Gnawer extended his left arm, which ended in a ragged, bleeding stump. The nezumi shook his head sadly. “You used me,” he said. “You led me into danger so that you wouldn’t have to face it. You admitted me into your gang only to sacrifice me when it came time to fight the ogre. And when you had done that,” he waved his bleeding stump again, “it still wasn’t enough. You maimed me and murdered me so you wouldn’t have to watch me suffer.”
“This is a dream,” Toshi said. The cold, numbing sensation in his stomach faded as he realized the truth. “None of you actually talked like this. I’m having a nightmare brought on by stress and too much healing magic. Either that, or someone’s playing a game with me.”
The glare rose again, eclipsing the field of stone and the line of accusers. The cold, disembodied voice said, “You will be back soon, ochimusha. When that time comes, you will be made to answer for your crimes.”
“Do me a favor,” Toshi shot back. “Stand on one foot while you’re waiting.”
Then he fell into a blinding storm of white light where the only sound was the rising wind in his ears.
Toshi awoke with a start. Cringing from the pain in his chest, he forced himself to relax and settle back against the tree. His ribs felt better, but they were still far from healed.
Three orochi snakefolk were kneeling around him in a semicircle. Beyond them, more snakes explored his hidden campsite, their long tongues flicking in and out. It was hard to get an exact count from where he sat, but Toshi calculated there were at least eight.
Toshi held very still. His previous experience with the orochi had taught him that they were much faster than he was … physically, anyway. If he went for his jitte there were a dozen ways they could stop him before it ever cleared the sheath.
Up close, he could see his reflection in the orochi’s gleaming red eyes. Unlike Hidetsugu’s, which glowed like hot coals, the snakes’ eyes were a dusty crimson, like drops of blood that hadn’t fully congealed. They shined like glossy, polished stones.
“Who are you?” The snake closest to him leaned forward, tasting the air in front of Toshi’s face. His voice was soft and sinister. “Why are you here?” He pointed back at the stone disk with his long, spearlike arm. “And what is that?”
“That,” Toshi said, “is the curse of Eiganjo. A great and terrible spirit beast seeks it and will destroy anything that gets in its way. I was sent by the highest authority to take it to the edge of the world and throw it off.” He sat forward, and the orochi tensed. “Who’s in charge here?”
The orochi who had spoken said, “I am.”
“No, not here,” Toshi gestured around the glen. “I mean in this region of Jukai.”
“This is Kashi-tribe orochi country,” the leader said. “Sosuke is our chief.”
“I have a message for him. All I want is to fly over his land with my terrible burden. I’m heading east into the unknown lands. All I require is safe passage. I make no demands,” he added carefully, “but I must give you this warning: to delay me would mean disaster for us all.”
The leader looked at the other two orochi flanking Toshi. The one to his left hissed, “What do you think?”
The leader glanced at Toshi. “I think he’s not a soratami,” he said. “But he could be one of their agents.”
Toshi’s temper flared, and for once he spoke with the passion and surety of truth. “I am not a soratami agent. They and their patron kami are my sworn enemies.”
“If you say so. But you’re coming with us to Sosuke. I would just kill you here and chop that thing up for food.” He gestured over his shoulder at the battle moth. “But you’re probably more valuable than you seem. I’ll let the chief decide.”
“Very wise,” Toshi said. He fought the urge to fade away. He was recovered enough to do it, but he saw no advantage. “I only ask that you leave my steed and my burden alone. Once Sosuke hears me out, I’m sure he’ll want it out of his forest as quickly as I can carry it.”
“We owe you nothing, human.”
“No, you don’t. But if that goes missing in your territory,” he pointed to the Taken One, “it becomes your problem. I’d make sure Sosuke understands the risks before you let that happen.”
The orochi narrowed his shiny red eyes at Toshi. He craned his long neck back over his own shoulder and said, “You three. Stay here. Keep the big moth tied to that tree and don’t let anyone near the disk.” He turned back to Toshi. “If you’re lying,” he said, “we’ll break that stone over your moth’s back and roast you both over a hot fire.”
“Fair enough,” Toshi said. “Quickly now, to Sosuke. The longer we delay, the more danger your little patch of woods faces.”
The orochi lifted Toshi to his feet with their long, powerful limbs and marched him into the denser woods.
CHAPTER 14
Toshi had been in parts of the eastern woods and he had seen vast stretches of Jukai from the saddle of a battle-moth. As the orochi led him through the thick growth and massive trees of their territory, he realized he hadn’t the slightest inkling of how big, vast, and crowded the forest was. From above, the canopy concealed worlds.
It took them the better part of an hour to reach the Kashi-tribe orochi stronghold, though they only traveled a few hundred yards. Toshi tried to pay attention as they walked so that he could find his way back if he had to run, but the trees were too similar and the hills too numerous to keep them all straight. Also, the orochi led him through underground tunnels and through titanic deadfalls that so turned and twisted his sense of direction he was no longer sure which way they were going.