Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
Ryuichi grew tired as he and the others followed the tengu through the thick woods. They had been walking for miles on empty stomachs, so his weariness made sense.
“We’re nearly there,” the tengu said.
Ryuichi really wanted to know his guide’s name, but he knew better than to ask. The tengu believed that giving their name to others gave them power over them.
Ryuichi understood. Names were powerful things and should only be given to those one trusted.
For all intents and purposes, Tengu was his name.
After walking a few more yards, into what seemed like the middle of nowhere, Ryuichi saw the bright vermilion torii that led to the spirit realm his father ruled over.
It looked like a typical gate. Except this one had the sacred emblem of his mother carved into the base.
When Haruka died and the gate became more vulnerable, yōkai and other demons were able to sneak into the human world.
That’s why Ryuichi had begun his training. To assume his role as gatekeeper.
It was a lot of responsibility, and he’d already made a mess of his reputation.
He didn’t really understand his powers yet or how to use them.
Much to Koichi’s dismay, progress was slow, and if Ryuichi were being honest with himself, it was terrifying to know he was the only one who could regulate the torii and protect humankind.
But was it more terrifying to venture straight into the nether world’s deadliest pit of vipers to find his demon-god father?
That remained to be seen.
Ryuichi knew from experience that yōkai were naturally tricky creatures. They seldom told the truth and were always trying to deceive others into giving them what they wanted.
With a civil war underway, they would be even more vindictive as they vied to take control of the spirit realm.
But Ryuichi wasn’t in this quest alone. Whatever the yōkai had in store, he had friends who would stand by him. Even if his powers failed him.
That’s what the optimistic side of him was thinking, at least.
As they continued their long march through the forest, Haruki came up beside Koichi and patted him on the back. “Don’t look so fretful, Drunk. Everything will be fine.”
Ryuichi was surprised by her rare show of tenderness and compassion, especially toward his sensei. Out of all of them, he was the one she hated the most.
A twisted smile lingered at the edge of her lips. “Besides, no matter how hard you try, what you do won’t matter. You’re more of a pet than a person. We only keep you around because you make us laugh.”
Ah . . . there it was.
Her brutal tongue.
He could always count on his aunt to tear someone to pieces with her daggerlike words.
Thankfully, Koichi knew better than to take Haruki’s insults seriously.
“She’s just jealous,” Ryuichi said, trying to make his sensei feel better.
Koichi scowled. “How so?”
“You have a real purpose. Hers is only to annoy us.”
Laughing, Koichi ruffled his hair. “Don’t get cheeky with me, boy. I might find a hungry yōkai to feed you to yet.” He glanced at Masaru.
“Don’t look at me, old man. I don’t need the indigestion,” Masaru replied.
Ryuichi picked up his pace to catch up to their tengu guide, who was leading them past the site of their greatest defeat.
In the not-so-distant past, this was where Ryuichi had opened the sacred torii, merging the spirit and human realms together.
As he looked around, he could still feel Ryukage’s ominous presence here. Memories flooded Ryuichi’s thoughts. In his mind, he could see his friends from school, fighting demons and yōkai who were out to kill them.
He could hear the sound of war drums beating in his ears.
He could taste blood in his mouth. Rivers of it had been spilled everywhere.
It had been an awful, awful day.
And the source of his greatest shame.
Ryuichi still felt as if he’d failed the entire world. Failed his mother.
Failed himself.
He’d wanted to make his mother proud. To live up to his destiny with honor and dignity.
Become the man his father should have been.
But this was his second chance. To show everyone he’d hurt that he’d never let them down again.
This time will be different.
Ryuichi chanted that in his mind with every step he took. It almost became an incantation, conjuring the confidence he was going to need for this mission.
But then came a distraction.
To his left, he heard the softest rustle of cloth, like someone was hiding in between the trees. A sudden chill rippled across his skin. Ryuichi could sense that off in the distance were his former classmates, lurking and watching him.
His former teacher Hattori Hanzō had trained only the best soldiers at his academy, and that included the ability to hide unseen and strike with lethal precision.
Ryuichi assumed that ever since their battle, Master Hattori had stationed them here to guard the gate and make sure none of the yōkai or oni escaped to wreak havoc in the mortal realm.
As if reading Ryuichi’s thoughts, their tengu guide pulled up short and stopped them.
“We must move quickly,” he whispered. “Before the guardians attack us again.”
“Again?” Ryuichi asked.
“I wasn’t the only one who was sent to fetch you, lordling. Nearly two dozen of us came through the gate together. Your old friends attacked my search party, and I’m the only one who survived.”
That explained why he’d collapsed near their camp.
Masaru let out a low whistle. “Then you must be desperate to sacrifice that many swordsmen for one boy.”
“We are indeed.”
Suddenly, an arrow whizzed past Ryuichi, barely missing his face.
The tengu drew his sword. “Hurry! We must get you through.”
More arrows rained down around them in a blinding fury. Ryuichi tried to see who was assaulting them, but no one was in sight.
There was no break in the onslaught for Ryuichi to go on the offensive.
Everyone in his crew ducked behind trees to avoid being struck.
Just as Ryuichi was about to draw his sword, Masaru swooped him up into his arms and flew with him toward the gate.
One second, he was being shielded and protected, and the next, he was being thrown headfirst into the gate and the oblivion beyond it.
Moments later, Ryuichi hit the ground hard and rolled to his feet like an acrobat. He turned to glare at the portal Masaru had just tossed him through.
Seriously? A little warning would have been nice, he thought.
But at least there wasn’t a slew of arrows to avoid anymore.
In fact, the spirit realm was rather pleasant, in a gloomy, muted kind of way. He was surrounded by cherry blossoms that were a light gray instead of pale pink.
The air was warm and humid. The sky was covered in thick, menacing clouds. It’d been like this the last time Ryuichi was here. The threat of a storm constantly overhead.
Surely sunshine existed somewhere.
The portal Ryuichi just came through hissed and flashed.
Masaru barreled through it, followed by the others. Just like Ryuichi, they all landed flat on their backs with a big thud.
Unlike him, Koichi and Haruki groaned and complained about being dumped so unceremoniously. Masaru rose to his feet and grimaced.
“What is wrong with you?” Ryuichi asked Masaru.
Masaru cracked that charming grin he was so famous for. “So, so many things. But tossing you? That I did for fun.”
Of course he did.
“I can handle myself. You don’t need to come to my rescue all the time,” Ryuichi said, sticking his chest out a little.
“They were shooting so many arrows it was impossible for you to dodge them,” Masaru replied.
Keiko growled at Masaru as she moved to inspect Ryuichi’s body. “And yet you tossed our baby into the portal like he was a sack of rice! You monster! What were you thinking?!”
Masaru stepped aside for Koichi and Ryuichi-kage to walk past him. “Could someone please say, ‘Thank you, Masaru. You’re amazing. We’re grateful to have you with us’?”
Koichi scoffed. “I could say thank you for doing your job, but I wouldn’t mean it.”
Masaru rolled his eyes as their tengu guide came through the portal with an arrow piercing his shoulder-wing.
The wound looked grisly.
With nothing more than a grimace, the tengu yanked the arrow out of his flesh and tossed it aside.
“Humans,” he muttered, shaking his head in disgust. Then he gestured forward. “Just a little farther to my lord’s hōjō. Hopefully, the horses my crew and I left behind will still be waiting.”
Masaru didn’t appear as relieved by that news as Ryuichi. Especially when they saw how many horses had been abandoned by the dead tengu.
The very sight of it made his stomach sink. They had risked their lives for Ryuichi.
That meant the yōkai were truly desperate for help.
Koichi put his arm out and stopped Ryuichi in his tracks. “How many companions did you take through the portal, again?”
The tengu swung himself up into his saddle and adjusted his sword.
“We were determined to retrieve the Kage-taro”—he bowed toward Ryuichi—“at any cost. So long as one of us survives to return him to this realm, then our mission is successful, and our lord will be thrilled.” He motioned toward the other two-dozen horses.
“Please, mount up and let’s be on our way. ”
Masaru and Koichi looked suspicious, and Ryuichi could understand why. How bad did things have to be in the nether realm for these tengu messengers to brave certain death?
But there was another layer of conflict within Ryuichi. While he still respected his former Lord Hanzō and knew he’d only attacked the tengu to protect innocent humans from harm, his old teacher assumed the worst and slaughtered the yōkai without knowing they came in peace.
Ryuichi knew what it was like to make a decision that cost others their lives. But that didn’t mean he would ever justify it, like some men do.
Masaru paused next to the tengu and looked up at him. “This better not be a trap. A dark inari doesn’t react well to such things.”
“Neither does a light one,” Keiko added. “Especially one who is loyal to her lordling and takes any attack on him personally.”
Their threats didn’t faze the tengu.