Heretic, Betrayers of Kamigawa

CHAPTER 23

“Keiga has been swept aside!” Hisoka was as pale and as pained as if he’d been wounded himself. “That demon and his killers are on their way here.” He turned and threw himself on his knees before Mochi. “Please, O Crescent Moon, call out the soratami. Without them, we are defenseless.”

The little blue man’s eyes softened. “I am sorry, my friend,” he said, “but priorities have changed. I have already sent the soratami on another, more important campaign. Minamo’s salvation must come from Minamo if it comes at all.”

Hisoka slumped, propping himself up with his hands. “We are doomed,” he said. He looked up at Pearl-Ear and Michiko and said, “Forgive me, Princess, Lady, for all that I have done. You came here seeking help but all I can offer you now is death.”

Mochi clicked his tongue. “So melodramatic,” he said. “Is this how you face your end, Hisoka? Weeping and scraping as you beg for absolution?”

Michiko stepped forward. “Is this how you face your allies?” she snapped at the kami. “With scorn and withdrawn promises of support?”

Mochi’s expression was half amused, half impressed. “Ally?” he mocked. He pointed to Hisoka. “That? That is a servant at best, Princess, and a tool at least. He knew there were risks in reaching so high. Now he must endure or die.”

Tears trickled from Hisoka’s eyes, and he sat heavily on the floor. Dazed, he slumped against the scroll racks, buried his face in his hands, and sobbed.

“If he knew this,” Pearl-Ear said, “I daresay he didn’t fully understand it. Toshi was right about you, O Kami of the Crescent Moon. You hoard information as it suits you and share only when it serves your aims.”

Mochi bowed. “I am myself,” he said. “True to my own nature. No more, no less.”

“So what will you do now, then?” said Pearl-Ear angrily, “O-Kagachi has come. The entire world holds its breath. Are you going to stand by those who foolishly supported you, or are you going to merely watch as all crumbles around us?”

“Neither,” Mochi said. “My goals are far from achieved, and I still have work to do. Soon I will take my leave. After Konda’s tower falls and the O-Kagachi reclaims what was stolen, I shall return-then will I act. If you survive, Lady, you will see as I do. Perhaps you will even applaud my efforts.”

“I doubt that.”

“Don’t be so quick to judge,” Mochi said. “I am a subtle creature, but my influence is deep and abiding. After a time, you may find you prefer the world after I rebuild it.”

Sharp-Ear wrinkled his muzzle. “That will take more than a lifetime,” he said, “and we kitsune live extremely long lives.”

A furious pounding shook the door to Hisoka’s office. “Headmaster,” came an urgent voice. “The invaders are here! The ogre and his yamabushi are battling the kitsune and the men of Eiganjo. Our archers are assisting as they can, but it is a losing effort without …”

Mochi’s smile froze, his blue face growing pale and waxy. “What did he say?” he asked quietly.

“Yamabushi,” Sharp-Ear repeated, viciously gleeful. “The ogre has come for you after all, Mochi, and he brought kami-killers with him. Have you ever seen them fight? No, I suppose you haven’t. The fox never stops to appreciate the hound, does he?”

Mochi frowned at the fox-man.

Sharp-Ear pressed on. “Oh, I’m sorry. Are your priorities shifting again? Perhaps you can recall some of your soratami retainers to protect you. The ogre and his friends will probably make short work of them, but that will give you more time to gloat over your glorious future.”

Mochi did not move or change his expression, but a flicker of silver light crossed his eyes. Sharp-Ear grunted and was hurled back across the room, slamming into a scroll rack before disappearing under an avalanche of parchment and broken shelving.

“Sharp-Ear!” Michiko started toward the fallen fox, but Mochi stopped her with a tiny but unyielding hand.

“Stay close by, Princess. I fear we are not yet through with each other.”

Michiko struggled to free herself, but the little blue man’s grip on her arm was firm.

“Riko,” Pearl-Ear said, “please see to Sharp-Ear and make sure he is unharmed.” The student nodded and hurried to the wreckage.

“As for you-” she turned to Mochi-“You will unhand Michiko-hime now, or you will face a new enemy.” Pearl-Ear folded her arms. “Yamabushi are not the only ones who know how to harm kami.”

Mochi did not release the princess. “True,” he said, “but they are the most adept at it. You, for example, are woefully overmatched.”

“Let her go, or I will force you to test that theory.”

“I refuse. I need Michiko-hime for just a little while longer.”

Pearl-Ear tensed, preparing to leap. Mochi simply smiled, the confident smirk of an adult contesting with children.

Something hard and sharp arced down through Mochi’s wrist. The little blue man hissed in shock and pain as his hand detached from his arm, still clutching Michiko’s arm through her robes. He staggered back, his gaze darting from the clean, bloodless stump to the chubby blue fist gripping Michiko.

Toshi faded into view, his long sword glowing. Bright crimson streaks crisscrossed on the flat of the blade. His face was pale and haggard, and blood dripped from a slash on his forehead, but his eyes were fierce and his voice steady.

“Hands off,” he said. He didn’t smile. “Get it?”

The detached limb vanished in a flash of light and a waft of smoke. Mochi shook his head sadly as the appendage grew back, sprouting from the seemingly inert flesh of his stump.

“You’re a fool, ochimusha, and I no longer need you. I’ve been wondering lately if I ever did.”

“That’s where we differ,” Toshi said. He kept his sword pointed at Mochi as he stepped between the moon spirit and Michiko. “I’ve never needed you. I’ve known all along that you’re a smarmy little trickster who thinks he’s the cleverest fellow in the room.”

Mochi waggled the fingers on his new hand. “Oh, but I am. Can’t you see that?”

“Not really, no, but I’ve been here long enough to see your fear.”

“Me, afraid of you?” Mochi placed his fists on his hips and laughed.

Toshi kept his sword level. “I didn’t say you were afraid of me.” He jerked his head toward the outer wall. “I think you’re afraid of the yamabushi. I know you’re afraid of O-Kagachi.”

Mochi shrugged. “Fear is too strong a word. I prefer to think of myself as respectful of his power. As you should be respectful of mine.” Mochi spread his hands, light scintillating across his body. “I’m the only spirit left in Kamigawa that matters. I have only to will it and you will all be struck blind while I vanish and reappear, hundreds of miles away, completely safe and intact.”

Toshi lowered his sword. “The only one?” he said. “Sorry, you bladder full of hot air, but that’s simply not true.”

Mochi lowered his hands and the glow around him faded. “The Myojin of Night’s Reach? Surely you don’t think your half-hearted attempts at worship have swayed her to your side? I introduced you two, after all.”

“I meant to ask,” Toshi said. “Why did you do that, anyway? She really doesn’t think all that highly of you.”

“We have much in common,” Mochi said. “Night and the moon go hand in hand, after all. To your question: I expected she would chasten you or that you would find some way of usurping her power. Either way, you occupied each other and left me to my designs, which is all I wanted.” He opened his stance and glanced around the room. “That’s all I really wanted from any of you.”

“Still lying,” Toshi said. “Why don’t you tell us the whole truth for once?”

Mochi shrugged. “If I did,” he said, “you wouldn’t even understand it.” The little blue man shook his head sadly. “Enough of this now. You are trying to delay me until the yamabushi get close enough to strike. It won’t help. Even if they appeared here and now, I could escape them. All the same, I no longer wish to continue this conversation.”

He extended his new arm to Michiko. “Come with me, Princess. You can either take my hand or be tossed over my shoulder like a sack of rice.” He smiled, glancing at his own tiny body. “Metaphorically, of course, but the fact remains, we are leaving now.”

“No, Mochi.” Toshi raised his sword again. “I can’t let you do that.”

Exasperated, Mochi said, “Oh, come now. How do you intend to stop me? Will you strike me mute? Make yourself disappear?”

Toshi tilted his sword so that light reflected off it into Mochi’s eyes. Irritated, the little blue man tilted his head out of the way.

“No,” Toshi said. “I have something else in mind.”

Posed as he was, the blood dripping from his forehead splashed down onto the flat of the blade. He had to act quickly now. Perhaps the little spirit had noticed the kanji Toshi had drawn on his sword, how the sharp lines and curves formed the exact same symbol as the one that now gleamed on his forehead, glowing with a soft purple-black glow. The temperature in the room plummeted.

Mochi’s arm, still extended toward Michiko, went rigid. He glanced at his wrist, so recently struck by Toshi’s sword, and saw the thin crust of ice crawling over his flesh. The moon kami’s expression became one of pale horror.

“You cannot-” he started, but the cold murdered the thought before it could cross his lips. Mochi stood on the desktop, a tiny blue statue under a dusty white coating of frost.

Supported by Riko, Sharp-Ear stepped up alongside Toshi. The fox-man glanced up and down the immobile spirit then back at the ochimusha. “What just happened?”

“It happened when I first came in.” Toshi sheathed his sword. “I don’t know how long that will hold,” he said. “I have to move quickly.” He crossed the room, eyeing the shadows by the door. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”

“But the ogre,” Riko said. “The yamabushi. They have come to kill us all.”

“Unless I’m much mistaken,” Toshi said, “you’ll have much worse than that to deal with before the night is through.” He turned and faced them all, Pearl-Ear, Sharp-Ear, Riko, Michiko, even Hisoka sitting near-catatonic on the floor.

“You have to trust me,” he said.

“I don’t think I can,” Sharp-Ear said. “I’m only speaking for myself, but-”

“No,” Toshi said. “You have to trust me. I’m not giving you a choice. I’m going to leave now, alone. You can’t come with me, and you can’t stop me. I’ll either return with the means to reward him properly-” he gestured at Mochi-“or I’ll come back and get you all out of here.”

Pearl-Ear locked eyes with Toshi. “Why can’t you help us escape now?”

“Because I don’t know if I can. I’m hoping it doesn’t come to that.”

Riko stepped forward. “Take Michiko, then.” The student ignored protests from the kitsune, imploring Toshi with her eyes. “If you leave her here and Mochi revives, he’ll take her. If you leave her here and the ogre finds us, she’ll die. I’d rather have her alive and free, even if that means she’s at your mercy.”

Michiko looked hurt. “I would never abandon you, Riko. I would never abandon any of you.”

Toshi smiled ruefully. “Now this is trust,” he said, “but even I didn’t think you’d take it this far. Remember a few months ago when you all tried to kill me for taking her away?”

“Toshi,” Pearl-Ear said. “Riko may have a point. Better to get Michiko away from here now while we have the chance.”

“I do not wish to leave my friends,” Michiko said.

Toshi spoke to Pearl-Ear. “I have every intention of returning for her,” he said, “as I said.”

“What if you don’t come back at all, despite your good intentions?”

Toshi shrugged. “In that case your situation hasn’t really changed. You’re still stuck here with a very hostile enemy outside. Best of luck.”

“Wait,” Michiko said. She stepped forward and bowed. “Thank you for helping me.”

“You get what you pay for,” Toshi said, somewhat uncomfortably. He stared at the princess, searching for her angle, waiting for the rest of her sentence to end in a question, a plea, or a threat.

When none came, he said, “Well, don’t thank me yet.” He paused. “On second thought, do. I officially accept your thanks, because if I pull this off, you may never forgive me.”

“Where are you going?” Michiko said. “What are you trying to do?”

Toshi shook his head and said, “Just stay here. This room is about as far from Hidetsugu as you can get. Once he sweeps aside the sentries and the archers, he’s going to get serious.”

He looked up at Pearl-Ear. “If he makes it this far, throw Mochi here as far as you can and run as in the opposite direction. There’s a chance Hidetsugu will be so preoccupied he won’t even notice you. It’s not a good chance, but it’s a chance.”

Pearl-Ear nodded. “Will you answer Michiko-hime’s question?”

“Which one? Make it quick-I’m in a rush.”

“What are you trying to do?”

Toshi tossed the hair from his face. “Same as usual. Survive. Profit. Learn something new.” He straightened to his full height. “Maybe grow as a person. I’ve become much more spiritual lately.”

Pearl-Ear nodded. “I can see that,” she said dryly.

“Really?” Sharp-Ear called. “Point it out to me.”

Toshi raised an eyebrow. “When I come back to rescue you all,” he called to Sharp-Ear, “you’re last.”

He turned and walked into the shadows, which seemed to swallow him whole.