Scott McGough: Outlaw:Champions of Kamigawa

Sharp-Ear glanced at the brothers. "We don't smell like that. There is no way to be sure."

"I'm sure. You're a dead man, wizard.

'"The only way to avoid it is if we can't find you,"' Toshi intoned. His eyes grew cold and hard. "I've already found you."

"There will be no killing here," Lady Pearl-Ear said. The kitsune foxes formed up behind her, screening Choryu from Toshi.

Michiko nodded. "Choryu is my friend. If he has done what you say he has, I shall-"

"Sorry," Toshi said. "But you're the last person who should be in my way. Weren't you there when Mochi told us not to trust anyone who tries to bring you to the Academy? This little stain is from the academy. And he killed Kobo."

"I mourn the loss of your partner, sincerely. But under no circumstances will I…"

She went on, but Toshi had stopped listening. He casually reached inside the waistband of his trousers and drew out a kanji formed of woven hay. It was a different character than the one that created the razor birds, one with the hyozan triangle as its central motif. The kanji for "guilty" was contained within the triangle.

"Sorry," Toshi said again, and tossed the kanji over their heads. All eyes followed its arc as Toshi called, "Kobo is dead. Mark his killer and take him back to the beginning."

The small folded character shifted in flight, becoming less brittle and acquiring a dull red glow. It maintained its shape, though it squirmed like a living thing.

The kanji floated for a moment, then streaked down at Choryu. The white-haired wizard yelped and sent a stream of thick blue water surging at the kanji, but the character splashed through almost unhindered.

It flew straight into Choryu's face and fixed itself to his forehead. Choryu screamed as the symbol burned into his flesh, burrowing down through the layers of skin until it hit bone.

"Spirits of Minamo," he cried. "Help me!"

Water shot from his hands as the kanji magic took hold. It lifted him off the ground, rotating him slightly, and Choryu screamed. He clawed at his face, his feet flailing wildly, all the while continuing to ascend.

"Lady Pearl-Ear, Riko, anybody," he wailed. "Stop him! Save me!"

The kitsune bore Toshi to the ground again, but he did not resist. He stared at Choryu and Choryu alone.

"Michiko," the wizard wailed. "Forgive me."

The wizard held that final syllable as the kanji picked up speed, hauling him high into the sky. His voice became a distant echo on the wind as he vanished into the clouds.

Toshi exhaled deeply. "That's that, then."

The foxes tightened their grip. Riko and Lady Pearl-Ear were glaring at him with expressions that changed from shock to horror to murderous intent and back again. The beautiful princess had fixed him with her dazzling eyes, her lips trembling.

The disappointment on her face raised something like regret in Toshi's mind. Close to regret, but not quite.

"He murdered my partner," he reminded them all.

Michiko shook her head and then bowed it low. Riko joined her, and one by one, the others followed her example.

Praying for a cowardly, murdering worm, Toshi thought. I should be so lucky.

"Shall we bind him for the trip back to the tower," Sharp-Ear called. "Or should we just hang him here?"

Toshi barked out a rough laugh. "You know something, boys? Our business here is concluded. Michiko-hime," he called. "You can contact me in any of the Spire's elegant public houses. Send a message or a messenger with the hyozan mark."

The littlest kitsune's voice growled from right next to Toshi's ear. "And how will you get there, outlaw?"

Toshi glanced back, but he was unable to see.

"There's a fresh kanji bleeding on my right arm," Toshi said. "You can't see it, but it's there. Want to see how well it works with a great kami's blessing? All I have to do is pronounce it, like this: Fade."

"Hold him!" The fox's voice was furious, but it faded like a waking dream as Toshi disappeared.

He slipped through the kitsune's grip like a ghost: silent, intangible, invisible. He could not be seen nor heard, but he was there, watching as they stamped their feet and cursed his name in frustration.

Through it all, the tall, elegant form of Michiko stood impassive. When the foxes had worn themselves out and exhausted their vocabularies, the princess strode to the spot where Toshi had escaped them all.

"I may yet call upon you, reckoner," the princess said severely. "Or I may send soldiers for you in the night. Until then, wait. Wait and worry."

Without another word, Michiko turned and walked away. She gathered Riko under one arm and Lady Pearl-Ear under the other, and the women supported each other as they went. The three kitsune samurai fell in behind them. The tallest turned, glanced into Toshi's cave, and spat on the ground.

"See you soon," Toshi called, though his words made no sound that anyone else could hear.

He watched them go, waiting patiently for the opportunity to move. As an intangible phantom, he was not yet fluent in the basic mechanics of moving around. It was harder with no friction and no ground, and it took him almost an hour to complete a single step.

He sighed, relaxing for the first time in weeks. He could barely move, so he might as well lie back and rest.

As the tension drained from his body, Toshi slowly faded back into view. His feet settled back onto the bloody ground, and he quickly withdrew back into the shelter of the cave.

A breeze stirred the leaves on the trees, and a pair of birds exchanged mating calls. Somewhere in the distance, dog howled. Thunder rumbled overhead, and the powerful vibrations echoed across the ground.

Toshi looked up. He cleared his throat and said, "Shh."

The world around him went dead as if his ears had been stuffed with wax. Perfect.

The Kami War raged on, the soratami were out to get him, and he had made a whole lot of new enemies besides. On the bright side, he had sold his services to a princess and he had honored his debt to Kobo. Toshi pondered for a moment, then decided he would allow Hidetsugu a few days to settle down before returning to the ogre's hut to plan his next move. Until then, he thought, I need to rest.

The ochimusha headed for the deepest recesses of his cave where he hoped to find solitude to complement the silence.

The sun was setting over the hinterlands near the Sokenzan Mountains. The landscape was dull and beige and hard, as always, but a threatening bank of black clouds was gathering overhead. Soon it would rain and the badlands would become a temporary lake, making all travel impossible.

Hidetsugu the o-bakemono trudged along the path from his hut. He carried a small sack in his great jagged hand.

It had been days since Toshi's messenger had arrived with the news of Kobo's death. He didn't trust Toshi as such, but he knew that their oath was still in place. The ochimusha could not have caused Kobo's death by action or inaction while the pact was still valid.

Toshi had been clever not to send more information than he did. The slightest extra detail, the barest hint telling where Kobo fell would have been enough. Nothing would have stopped Hidetsugu from traveling to his apprentice's body and killing every living thing he found there. He might have killed every living thing on his way there and his way back, for good measure, and that's probably why Toshi had kept the message so brief.

Hidetsugu reached the garden of spikes where he displayed the heads to scare off visitors. He reached into the sack, drew out two akki and one bandit, and arranged them evenly among the empty spikes. The human's head was still fresh, and the smell of blood and brains brought a growl from his stomach.

The ogre shaman lumbered back to his hut, sticking to the precise center of the path. Just beyond the garden was a vast pile of dust and gravel. Days ago, it had been the great stone block he had set as a test for his apprentice. When Kobo could split the rock down the center with a single blow, he would be ready to leave Hidetsugu's service.