Mouse and I rearranged the rice bags until we made ourselves a couple of comfortable beds. I eased my robe off my left shoulder and winced when I saw the blood-soaked wrappings. Sinking back into the padding, I stared into the sky at the early-morning clouds scudding from left to right as the ox made its slow progress down the road.

After a long silence, I asked the question most on my mind, “Who are you?”

“My name is Kuzu-no-ha,” the kitsuné masquerading as an old peasant replied.

That’s a singularly unresponsive answer.

“Why did you help us?”

“Sureiko asked me to follow along and watch out for you.”

I looked over at Mouse to see his reaction, but he seemed to have already fallen fast asleep, breathing heavily while deeply ensconced in his own cocoon of rice bags. “She prefers not to be called Surei,” I said. “She was very firm with me on that point.”

Kuzu-no-ha didn’t answer for a time. Finally, she said, “There are many things she tries to deny. It will do her no good. In time, she will be forced to acknowledge even the hard truths about herself.”

I waited, hoping for some clarification. None came.

“What do you mean?” I asked after a time.

“Events are moving to a climax soon. Situations such as haven’t been seen in centuries are in store.”

That doesn’t sound promising. It reminds me of the Chinese curse, “May you live in interesting times.”

I twisted around to stare at her back. Things were already more interesting than I had ever wanted. If they got much more interesting, I’d be dead.

This wasn’t getting me anywhere. I tried another tack. “I have seen you in my dreams, isn’t that right?”

She nodded but didn’t elaborate.

“Why? What is your interest in me?”

“You saved my kits, and I am grateful.”

I shuddered. I still had nightmares about that episode. “Not one of my more pleasant memories, but that doesn’t explain what you were doing in my dreams.”

“When you and Sureiko separated, I made a habit of looking in on you from time to time. I also provided guidance when it seemed appropriate. You became somewhat of a … project of mine.”

“Project? What are you trying to do? What do you need me to kill this time?”

“Nothing,” she assured me. She glanced up the road. “Not yet anyway. There is another cart coming. Cover yourself with the empty rice bags. We can’t have anyone seeing you dressed in nice clothes. The presence of someone dressed like you in a rice cart would be remembered.”

Pulling the bags over me so I couldn’t be seen, I lay back against my makeshift bed. The sun shining on the burlap of the bags made it warm underneath, and it had been a very long night. There were other things I wanted to ask Kuzu-no-ha, so I struggled to stay awake. But my efforts were in vain—I fell asleep.

*****

It was a familiar dream. I watched as my father fell under the weight of his foes. They flowed over him like an ocean wave, but even after he disappeared under their numbers, they still kept coming, the tide of them rising in the canyon as I climbed the cliff, coming ever nearer. Desperately, I tried to stay ahead of the flood, but it kept getting closer. Hands reached out and grabbed my arms and legs. They pulled me down. I drew my kodachi…

“Yoshi!”

Mouse lay on his back, the tip of my weapon pointed at his throat. Looking around wildly, I tried to remember where I was. A stabbing pain in my ribs reminded me of the ambush. We were still in the rice cart, climbing into the foothills away from Isé.

“I touched you, and you tried to kill me. I barely got out of the way,” he said, pushing the tip of the kodachi away from his throat with one finger.

I lay back, panting heavily. My chest still hurt, and I couldn’t catch my breath. “Sorry, Mouse. Bad dreams. I get them sometimes.”

“That was some nightmare.”

“Where are we?” I asked.

“North of Isé,” Kuzo-no-ha replied. “This road continues north to Hokuriku. To get to Kyoto, you need to wade into that stream up ahead,” she pointed to a small watercourse, “and head west over the mountains. I will find you once I dispose of this cart.” She handed me a package. “Here are some simple clothes. They will serve you better than your current finery.”

It was past midday, so I must have slept most of the morning. The rest didn’t seem to have helped. Walking hurt, and my broken ribs made it difficult to breathe.

Mouse and I traveled upstream. It was nearly dusk when we finally reached the passes over the mountains. The climb was pure hell. My shoulder throbbed at every movement, and each breath felt like someone reached deep inside me and tore something loose. I kept telling myself, “These mountains aren’t that high; it’s really not that difficult,” but it didn’t help. Someone seeing me stagger along would have thought I was in the middle of a four-day binge.

Even though we were making poor time, Mouse called a halt for the night. I got very little sleep. My body was chilled to the bone, and the sound of my chattering teeth was like hail striking a tile roof. My shoulder had swelled to double its normal size and burned as if filled with fire demons. Even the slightest touch was painful. I stripped my robes off my left arm because even the rubbing of the cloth on the wound was almost unbearable.

When Mouse checked it the next morning, he frowned. “Evil spirits must have got in through the wound. You’re not going to last much longer. If we can just make it down the mountain into Iga, I know some people that might help us.”

I brushed off his help. “I’m fine. I’ve been hurt worse. I’ll rest in a few days when we get back to Kyoto.”

Mouse still looked worried.

We started off at a good pace. I couldn’t keep it up for long, though. Before noon, I staggered along more drunkenly than the previous night, my awareness fading in and out. The kitsuné rejoined us at some point. Mouse spoke with her, but I couldn’t focus enough to understand what they were saying. Then she disappeared again and it was just Mouse and me.

*****

We were riding in another cart. I had no memory of its arrival or getting into it. My body burned, and my skin felt like I was on fire. I tried to ask for a drink but all that came out was a croak. Mouse must have understood me because he pressed a bottle of water to my lips.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

I experienced wild fever dreams interspersed with brief snatches of lucidity. At some point, I became dimly aware someone had taken my weapons. When I objected, Mouse assured me they were in the cart. I tried to get up and look for them but passed out again.

It was dark, but I recognized the sounds around me. We were back in the capital. The cart came to a sudden halt, and someone yelled, “We’re closed.”

Kuzu-no-ha, now wearing her usual noblewoman guise, in her most elegant and refined voice, said, “Get your mistress immediately.” No response. Her tone took on a definite edge. “If you do not send for her, you will deeply regret it.”

Mouse jumped down from the cart and yelled, “Do what she says. Move!”

All of this was somehow related to me, but I had no energy to try and puzzle it out. I just lay in the cart with my eyes closed, wishing to go back to sleep. I heard gates unlock and doors slide open.

With a supreme effort, I managed to open my eyes. Several people came out of the Spring Palace and approached us. I recognized Surei and Professor.

As she reached the side of the cart, she snapped, “What is it that’s so important you have to rouse me at this ridiculous—”

She looked down and caught sight of me. Surei whirled to Professor and barked out orders. “Get some men here with a litter. Find Benkon. Tell him he is needed right now!”

Professor hesitated. Surei gestured angrily at him. “Don’t just stand there. Do it!” she yelled.

He ran back through the gate.

She turned to a second man and told him, “Tell the Ume twins to prepare the guest room. Clean it out and have them put a sleeping pallet and dressings in there.”

Surei turned back to me and ran her hand across my face. “He’s so hot,” she murmured. She bent down, bringing her face close to mine. “Don’t worry Yoshi, it will be all right.” She laid her hand against my cheek and said softly, “You can’t die now. Please don’t die.”

I tried to tell her that my condition wasn’t really that grave, that I had been hurt more seriously before, but all that came out was a soft “Su…” Surei didn’t hear me.

She swung around to Kuzu-no-ha and Mouse and snarled, “You were supposed to watch out for him. What happened?”

Before either of them could answer, four men arrived with a litter. Surei immediately took charge.

“You two,” she pointed to the men at the front, “take him by the shoulders, and you two,” jabbing her finger at the other two, “grab him by the ankles.”

Strong hands gripped me. A stab of agony raced through my shoulder and chest when they lifted me. I screamed and a hammer-blow of pain drove me back into deep unconsciousness.

As the dark swallowed me, I thought I heard Surei yelling, “Gently! Get him on the litter.”

*****

I stood in an unfamiliar room. Next to me, a man rested on a sleeping pallet. I felt fine, which struck me as odd, for some reason. I had the notion I shouldn’t be feeling this good, but I couldn’t remember why. I walked over to examine the man.

His right arm was thrown up above the coverlets, obscuring his face. I clucked my tongue in surprise. From what I could see of him, he wasn’t in good shape. His left shoulder was badly swollen, with pus and blood oozing out from beneath the dressing. The skin over the muscle was distended and bright red. The poor fellow didn’t have much of a chance. I’d seen men like that before. None of them survived more than two days. He moaned and shifted in his sleep, his arm falling back to his side.

“Oh,” I said.

It was my own face that stared back at me. Except it didn’t. Stare, that is. His—my—eyes were closed.

Am I dead? It wasn’t supposed to turn out like this.

Absorbed in my examination of my wounds, I didn’t notice anything until the door opened and Surei came in, followed by Kuzu-no-ha. Neither of them took any notice of me standing there.

Surei said angrily, “… told me you would protect him. Is this your idea of protection?”

Kuzu-no-ha tried to calm her, “Little one, you’re upsetting yourself needlessly. If a kit strays into the tiger’s den, it will get hurt. Maybe it will learn wisdom and proceed more cautiously in the future.”

“You don’t know this kit very well.”

In a soothing tone, Kuzu-no-ha continued, “It will be all right. Your mate will recover and you will have many kits together.”

“He is not my mate,” Surei retorted sharply.

Kuzu-no-ha raised her eyebrows. “Kit—”

“Don’t call me that!”

“You prefer mago or granddaughter? You were quick enough to complain earlier when I addressed you that way.”

Surei made a cutting gesture with her hand, ending the discussion. She walked over to the sleeping pad and laid her hand on the figure’s (I found it impossible to think of the person on the pallet as me) forehead, then touched his wrist. “He’s fading!” She ran to the door and shouted outside, “Benkon! Where are you? Hurry!”

My perspective gradually changed. The room and the people in it receded. As they grew more distant, paradoxically, I noticed more small details. I clearly saw Kuzu-no-ha’s five tails peeking out from under her robes. Surei had a ghostly tail occasionally visible as well.

A connection, like a thich thread, ran between Kuzu-no-ha and Surei. It was a bond of affinity, one denoting kinship.

Another bond, a different one, lay between Surei and the figure on the bed. If the first bond was like a thick thread, the second one resembled the giant rope hawsers that held up the massive bridges crossing the Kamo River.

As I drifted away from the room, Surei suddenly cried out, “No! You can’t go!” She tensed and I sensed an enormous pulse of power pass through the connection from Surei to the man on the sleeping pad. She sagged in exhaustion.

I felt I had been struck by lightning. Without warning, I hurtled back into the room. I approached the figure on the bed without slowing and plunged into him. Darkness enveloped me, and pain blossomed in every part of my body.

My head ached, my chest stabbed me with pain in time with my breathing, and my shoulder burned as if pierced by a red-hot steel blade.

With great effort, I opened my eyes a crack. Surei knelt above me, a look of concern on her face. “What happened?” I tried to say, but it came out as “Wargls hlapefling.” Surei opened her mouth, but I never heard what she said. I passed out again.

*****

Wet cloths covered my body. I opened my eyes a crack and viewed the room dimly through my eyelashes. Everything had a surreal, dreamlike quality to it.

Surei and the monk Benkon stood over me. She asked, “Well, what do you think?”

Benkon frowned. “I’ve done everything I can. Without the evil spirits afflicting the wound, he’d probably recover, but I can’t drive them out, and they will likely kill him.” He shrugged and gave a deep sigh. “I’m sorry, Surei. There is nothing anyone can do for him.”

“You may not be able to do anything for him, but I think there is something I can.” She left the room, then returned carrying a scroll, a paper doll, and a ball of twine. She handed the doll and twine to her brother, then unrolled the scroll and studied it carefully. Retrieving the ball from Benkon, she cut several lengths of twine and handed them back. “Tie these to his ankles, wrists, and neck.”

Benkon stared at her. “What are you doing?”

I wanted to know the same thing. My attempts to enter the conversation resulted only in a weak moan, which she ignored.

“Akiko gave me an instrument that belonged to our great-grandfather, Abé no Seimei. When I examined it, I found a hidden compartment with some scrolls inside. They contain many useful spells. This procedure should cure his fever.”

Benkon raised his eyebrows in alarm. “Should? Then you’ve never done this before?”

Surei answered in an irritated voice, “I’ve only had the scroll for a fortnight. When would I have had the chance to do anything with it? I worked with similar spells while I was at the university studying onmyoudou—I’m sure I can do this. Would you stop arguing and help me?”

I panicked and tried to tell Surei I didn’t want her to test the spell on me. It came out as a wheeze.

Benkon reluctantly tied the twine to my extremities. Surei gathered them into her hand and knotted them together about halfway along their length.

She rechecked the scroll. Picking up the paper doll, she punched holes at the wrists, ankles, and neck, then passed the twine through the corresponding hole in the doll and secured them with a knot. When she was finished, each length of twine went from my limbs, through the central knot, to the corresponding extremity on the doll.

Holding the doll, she chanted “On ka rei nu! On ka rei nu!” As she chanted, fire raced through my limbs and darkness flowed from me along the twine to the paper doll. My shoulder burned, but my mind started to clear.

Surei finished her incantation, wrapped the twine around the doll, and cut the strings attaching me to the doll just before the central knot. She cast the bundle onto the coals of a brazier in the corner of the room.

Benkon examined me carefully. “If the fever doesn’t kill him, he should be fine.”

Surei nodded. “Let’s get the twine off him, in case any fever lingers.”

After they finished, I fell asleep.