Chapter 3: One Day He Will Become A Demon

  I

  Satoshi clutched the treasure hunting book that his father left behind for him to his chest, before something raised the hairs up the nape of his neck. He didn’t think it could happen here—for so long this village had been sanctified with the Onmyoujutsu barriers of Kohryu Hiroyuki and the ancestors of the Hiroyuki in the village holding it into place. Satoshi even placed some seals himself on the outskirts of town where it led to the wildlands out there where Calamity could cause devastation and destruction as it willed. Satoshi hoped it wasn’t the case, but—this familiar feeling. The tension in the air, the electrical shock thrumming in the atmosphere, the choked smoke of miasma…he could sense it.

  Satoshi ran toward his manor, breathless, thinking of how to warn his Mother of the oncoming attack. When he appeared at the front steps of their mansion, Akiko’s eyes appeared solemn and grave, her countenance bearing a sorrowful shadow.

  “So it has come,” Akiko said. “After all these years.”

  “Mother,” Satoshi said, before his comment was cut short by a great quake that rippled the ground. He could hear screams outside the mansion as people began to panic, knowing that Calamity was finally making its way toward their doorstep.

  Mother and son ran out to check the barriers, to which a legion of Onmyouji in their village started chanting rites and incantations to stave off the great beast from collapsing into their village. It was not hubris to say that the Hiroyuki village had some of the best Sealing magic in the world—though if something like Calamity that defied all reason and nature were to break it…

  No, Satoshi thought, mouth ajar as the shimmering magical barrier faltered and wavered despite the singing incantations of the Onmyouji. It can’t be.

  “We must keep the barrier up,” the stern VIllage Elder said. “Everyone in this village should be protected. Even if its us Elders that are at fault for Calamity’s presence in the world, the innocents of the next generation don’t deserve to suffer this fate!”

  “Elder!” Satoshi called out as he and Akiko made their way toward the chanting Onmyouji that were holding up the barrier.

  The Elder smiled sadly at Satoshi.

  “The barrier is not going to hold, Satoshi-kun. That is why…that is why you and the others have to evacuate.”

  “You’re sacrificing yourselves to that beast?” Satoshi roared with wrenching fury not at the Elder, but at Calamity’s utter heartlessness to take away such a heroic and selfless man who will probably be forgotten about in the tomes of history. “That’s not right!”

  “We have to right this mistake,” the Elder said, before he straightened his back and began to look toward the gathering clouds in the sky that crackled with purple and blue lightning. “Now go. Go!”

  Satoshi stood, rooted in place, though his mother gently grabbed his hand and sadly shook her head.

  “Sometimes hard decisions have to be made,” Akiko said. “I don’t like it anymore than you do, Satoshi-kun. Though you are our VIllage’s hope and Champion. Even if the Elder doesn’t survive…even if -I- don’t survive, Satoshi-kun—you, above all else, MUST survive.”

  “Why?” Satoshi said numbly, allowing himself to be lead by his mother but looking back at the Elder who continued his incantations again to set up the barrier that staved off Calamity’s relentless tsunami attack. “Why me? Why is it that my life is elevated above all the others?”

  Akiko smiled a bit sadly at that, before she said. “You have a harder fate than us, even if we happen to die. You are meant to clash against Calamity and fight it to submission. You made the commitment, the ultimate sacrifice, to defeat him for the entire world. So we will make sure that you survive, above all else.”

  Satoshi bit his lip, lowering his eyes and feeling a sense of shame flush his cheeks red. Was it because of his wish to adventure beyond the walls of the village that he brought this catastrophe among the village that he loved and those that he held dear? Though his mother mentioned that he made the ultimate sacrfice, that he was doing a noble deed of offering himself to do what his father has done to seal Calamity for another ten years of peace. Though in all honesty—he was afraid. And he didn’t feel anything as noble or valorous or brave as his father.

  Satoshi followed his mother through the winding streets that snaked through manors and luxurious pagoda rooftopped houses that exuded the glory and splendor of the Hioryuki clan. The barrier above that the Elders erected with their incantations shimmered a watery blue in a translucent veil as Calamity hovered above like some demonic monstrosity of utter Cyclopean horror as tempest and storms frothed and raged from its coming and going. Yet despite Calamity going to head somewhere eastward, leaving nothing but sunken pits of splattered mud, earth, clay in its destructive path, there were the Calamity spawn to deal with as well.

  So many Calamity spawn emerged from the wake of Calamity’s sudden appearance. The shining, iridiscent scales of Calamity broke off from its massive, bioluminscent hide and the Calamity spawn turned into little fledglings of terror that started crawl over the barrier and ‘eat’ at the chakra energy.

  “The barrier won’t hold!” The Elder stated, his voice hoarse from all the incanting as he struggled in vein to continue the chants and rites to make the barrier hold up, though to no avail.

  Too many Calamity spawn broke through the barrier, one by one, causing confusion and chaos as a section of incanting Onmyouji broke off to fight the Spawn that leaked through. Satoshi wanted to be part of the fighting troops as well, though his mother said that it was important that he survive. Though what about the lives of those fighting on the front lines, what above the lives of the Elders that devoted themselves to the good and welfare of the village?

  There must be something that I can do, Satoshi thought in dismay when he heard the cries of fellow clansmen falling to the Calamity Spawn. I have to help!

  “Mother,” Satoshi said, tugging her sleeve as she stopped and paused, looking at him with wide green eyes. “I’ve got to go help!”

  “Satoshi-kun!” she cried out, though Satoshi already darted away from her and ran toward the center of the chaos, where several Onmyouji were fighting Calamity Spawn slipping through the barrier and trying to keep the actual main body of Calamity from collapsing and enveloping the whole village into miasmic darkness. Satoshi let out a cry as he unleashed Flame Onmyoujutsu on the Calamity Spawn that threatened his fellow kinsman, setting them ablaze and causing the hellspawn creatures to screech in utter pain.

  The Elder that had been incanting was now fighting, though as he turned, he saw Satoshi and said in a breahtless voice, “Why did you return? Go somewhere safe with your Mother! It’s no use if you die here along with us!”

  “I can’t leave my clansmen behind!” Satoshi said. “What kind of person would I be if I let the village fend for themselves in this time of catastrophe! It’s time that I prove myself as an Onmyouji and a man by helping fight against Calamity! I’m going to take him down here!”

  “Satoshi, that is mere hubris!” the Elder said, though Satoshi continued to trek on ahead as he watched Calamity turned into vapors and smoke, thunderclouds streaking purple and blue lightning and swirling hurricanes and tornadoes of raw energy.

  Mere hubris or not, Satoshi had a duty as an Onmyouji to uphold. Satoshi may not be the prodigy that his father was. Satoshi might not be as strong and capable as his father, who was said to have staved off Calamity for ten days on the ocean shores of Hakoya. More importantly, Satoshi knew, deep within his heart, that if he didn’t do this, he would regret not making a stand and trying to become the hero that everyone expected him to be.

  He heard the Elder and his Mother call his name, though they disappeared into the distance as Satoshi made his way out of the village and pursued the vaporous form of Calamity. Winds strong enough to strip the bark off of trees whipped and lashed against his cheeks, blowing his hair in a tousled mess as he incanted an Onmyoujutsu to confine Calamity himself so it would stop moving.

  The Jutsu seemed to work.

  Calamity remained unmoving, as though frozen and moving through syrup. Satoshi tried another technique for banishment, recalling the incantations with his enormous power and ability to manipulate all the Elements in alignment to combat against the force of nature that is Calamity itself.

  Satoshi saw something through his peripheral vision, and when he turned, he saw a lost child wandering among the lush greenery just in the village outskirts, frozen in fear. Satoshi cursed, before he stopped his incanting and took his time to scoop up the child in his arms and push him through the barrier.

  Yet this few seconds of distraction was enough for Calamity to turn and focus its monstrous attention on him.

  Satoshi felt his mouth dry, staring down a leviathan that destroyed so many families and homes in it destruction and wake. He couldn’t think of anything else except the noxious miasma that started to enroach closer and closer, threatening to enter through his mouth and nostrils. Calamity started to seep in through his nose and mouth, and all the centuries worth of malice and hatred burned red, red, red, in his very soul. This utter hatred, the epitome of corruption and malice, threatened to swallow him whole, and during this moment of corruption Satoshi found himself in another dimension of witnessing every atrocity that Calamity witnessed humankind make.

  War. Disease. Famine. Murder. All kinds of imagine terrors and horrors that could be inflicted upon the world, Satoshi saw it all as he cried out and tried to purify himself of the miasmic fumes by creating a releasing Seal with his fingers. He ran through the barrier again, though Satoshi knew, with trepidation in his heart, that it was too late for him. A Curse Seal spread across his face and his body, making him appear more bestial and demonic like the hellspawn that Calamity created.

  Calamity roared again in unchained again, solidifying into a leviathin like beast that struck against the barrier with a resounding crash. Cursing himself for taking on more than he could chew, Satoshi then realized with some dawning realization that heroes were the ones who were likely to die in this world. His father, a hero, couldn’t stop a cyclical being of torment and eternity and endless suffering such as Calamity.

  Satoshi lowered his head. For all his power and prodigal abilities to manipulate the abilities, he was but a man against the face of a torrential storm known as Calamity. If man defied the gods, it only left them destroyed through their own hubris. What sins have mankind committed that led to this kind of devastation and destruction? Was their faith and prayers not enough to stave off the destruction that inevitablyl comes every time that Calamity makes it’s mark scorching or drowning the landscape, walking or gliding or floating and following by storm clouds and purple lightning and tornadoes? He supposed that even then, even then, even if he was but a man, he s till had sdome work to do. He could hold the barrier. The barrier was their last hoipe.

  He incanted the spell needed for the barrier to hold, as Calamity struck against it, butting its leviathan like ahead and pushed its face into the barrier, still intact, before being repelled back. However, instead of being deterred, Calamity roared, causing more thunder strikes to sonorously sunder the landscape around itself, raising the ground of everything outside the barrier to be turned to absolute demolition. Satoshi started to sweat, trying to hold onto the barrier as best as he could, though no matter their power and the amount of combined chakra that they released, it was not enough to hold back Calamity.

  Calamity finally broke the barrier, and winds whipped and lacerated the bodies of everyone within the villages. It tore the wooden structures and the bark of trees and launched stones and dirt at gun fire projectiles. Satoshi summoned an Earth enclosure over himself to protect them in a dome from the outside attacks, including his mother, and Calamity continued it’s fierce battering and wailing and ceaseless onslaught to the village. Satoshi squeezed his eyes shut, trying to will Calamity to go away, though he cursed the cowardice in his heart and also the helplessness he had against a bestial being that couldn’t be brought down to it’s knees.

  Eventually, Calamity passed on. Satoshi, after taking a few seconds to realize he wasn’t breathing, lowered the Earth barrier that he used to save the little people that he could. What he witnessed before him caused his heart to stop, as the village that he saw was no more. The Elders within his Earthen dome blinked owlishly, while Satoshi immediately started to steady his mother, who was searching for survivors.

  One Elder grabbed Satoshi by the arm, noting something about him. Satoshi looked back at the Elder’s sharp glance, before he said, “You were corrupted by Calamity, weren’t you?”

  Satoshi opened his mouth, gaping like a fish, before he snapped it shut again and hung his head in shame. “I ventured outside the barrier to save a child that was nearby.”

  The Elder stared at him a few seconds longer, before letting out a sigh. “This is a dilemma. A village ruined. Our village hero corrupted by Calamity, a monster that turns even the most stalwart and goodhearted of heros into villains. It’s not long before you become the demon that we must eliminate.”

  Akiko turned her gaze toward Satoshi, blinking at the curse mark corruptions on his arms, before she looked toward the Elder and narrowed her gaze. “He is Kohryu and I’s son, Elder. He’s not so weak that he would succumb to Calamity’s curse.”

  “Even if he didn’t succumb to the curse, he still is a threat to this village,” The Elder said regrettably. “I hate to say this, Akiko, though you must think logically, rather than with your heart and attachment to a lover that saved the world by his own sacrifice. This too, must be a time you must sacrifice your son for the sake of your village.”

  “I think the sending off is more important,” Akiko said, noting the Sealing Magic that the Elder put on Satoshi and making sure that Satoshi was in good condition. “I will perform the sending off. We can’t just send off Satoshi on his own without preparation.”

  “Lady Akiko, I plead you that you think about the village’s needs,” the Elder said, though he did glance at Satoshi apologetically.

  —x--

  “I will send them off,” Akiako said as she bowed her head and mourned teh souls that released themselves from the bodies of the deceased and became sparkling auras that shimmered and floated in the air like translucent fairies. “It is only fair that I do, they need proper passage to the afterlife where a Shinigami will ferry their souls, perhaps, to their proper judgment.”

  Satoshi clenched his hands into fists, white knuckled. He bowed his head and tried not to let tears spill down his cheeks. Yet as Akiko performed the sending off, taking the lightening staff that she showed him before and swirling it around in theatrics that looked as graceful as a dancer in the Emperor’s court. The bright lights of the souls that departed from the deceased swirled around her, a prismatic display of beauty splintered into fractal of beautiful crystallized rainbows in Satoshi’s eyes as he mourned their passing. These were his kinsmen, his brothers and sisters and children and mothers and fathers and aunts and uncles and grandmothers and grandfathers.

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  They did not deserve this hellish act of merciless from Calamity.

  He then wondered if his father were still out there. Perhaps not. Surely he was dead, if this was the destruction that Calamity caused. Once Akiko performed the sending off, she took Satoshi in private and led him to private area of the Hiroyuki Compound and ushered him out of the gate.

  “You must go. I am sorry, Satoshi, that is how it must be.”

  “I know,” Satoshi said gripping his mother in a hug. “I can’t stay. But maybe one day…I can return.”

  Akiko smiled sadly, and it broke Satoshi’s heart.

  II

  It was Satoshi’s sixteenth birthday. However, no celebration heralded his ascent to manhood, as this was the time that he would leave the Hiroyuki manor on a journey to get rid of his curse. None of the other Hiroyuki members of the household, save for Akiko Hiroyuki, said goodbye to Satoshi. Though Satoshi didn’t mind. He didn’t expect the elders or the rest of the family members to come bid him farewell. To them, they only saw him as the aragami that cast its curse upon him when he was only seven years old. However, leaving his mother was a hard thing to do. She wrapped her arms around him tightly, holding onto him as though he would meld through her chest and into her heart. Akiko then stepped back, looking at Satoshi with a serious expression on her face as she said, “You look more like your father every day, Satoshi-kun.”

  “I’ll miss you, Mother,” Satoshi said as he kissed his mother goodbye. “You were the only one who believed in me after all these years.”

  “Be strong, Satoshi,” Akiko said as she put her hands on Satoshi’s shoulders and rested them there gently. “Remember what I’ve taught you. Make sure that you eat plenty of vegetables when you’re out on your journey. Groom yourself and look presentable to other people. Be kind to others, and remember that you’re more than the malice that is inside you. Be kind to all living things. Be merciful to those who hardly deserve mercy, but spare them because you have love instead of hatred in your heart.”

  “I will,” Satoshi said as he smiled towards his mother. He then started to hesitatingly take a few steps off from the Hiroyuki grounds, turning back to face his mother. His mother held up her hand in farewell, and Satoshi returned the gesture before he turned forward and didn’t look back. The sun rose high in the sky, warming Satoshi’s face as he looked towards the heavens and let the wind sway his dark hair. It would be a long journey ahead of him, he knew, though Satoshi was determined to get rid of his curse, no matter what. He would come back to see his mother’s face again.

  Satoshi paused at a small shrine, regarding it with a contemplative cast on his features. Satoshi then clapped his hands together, inclining his head a bit in reverence, before he began to pray to the shrine deity that dwelled there. A gentle breeze blew, as though in response to Satoshi’s prayers. His long dark hair swayed with the wind and his Onmyouji regalia fluttered as Satoshi heard the whispering voices of something unseen in the world. It was faint, yet Satoshi could hear the spirits speaking to him, just like how his mother divined through the wind and heard their voices. Once he finished, Satoshi had a small smile on his lips.

  “Farewell, friend. I hope that more travelers passing by shall pay their respects.”

  He bowed, before he went off onto the dirt road leading away from the shrine. It was unusual to see shrines such as these in this day and age, especially since mankind rejected the kami and spirits. Instead of worshipping deities within their shrines, mankind started building vast and terrible structures over the landscape that used to breathe with the life of spirits.

  “The skies are so blue…” Satoshi remarked while looking up at the sky. “I wonder how long until mankind takes away the holy lands that are sacred to us Onmyouji?”

  The sakura were in full bloom, with their petals cast away to the winds like ashes for a funeral pyre. Satoshi shielded his eyes from the blinding sun peering from the horizon, trapped behind a dragon-like ridge of mountains. Satoshi continued walking further down the dirt path, the sakura petals drifting behind him.

  When Satoshi made his way into the village, merchants were spreading out their wares, such as brightly colored dyes and silk for fabrics, exotic spices from another part of the continent of Jipangu, and freshly caught fish from another river. Children were at play on the dirt roads, treading underfoot of the adults who were busy with their affairs. Making his way into a straw-roofed structure, pushing aside a woolen fabric hanging in the doorframe, Satoshi then said, “I have traveled far from the west of Jipangu. I come here seeking guidance, Village Elder.”

  “You are Hiroyuki Satoshi, yes?” The Elder said, before ushering him further into the brightly colored tent. “I have been informed of your arrival by your mother, Akiko. You wish to know how to get rid of the curse, yes?”

  Satoshi nodded, before he parted his robes a little bit to reveal the markings of the seal that bound the curse. “This seal was branded upon me when I was small. Eventually, the seal will break and the curse will take over. Even now, I still feel its hateful purpose…”

  “Ah yes, the curse that is planted on you is very powerful,” The Village Elder said. “Be grateful that the seal hasn’t spread to your face. Once it spreads to your face, it would’ve been over for you.”

  Satoshi bowed his head in reverence. The village elder then threw some bones onto the rug in front of her, sprawling them out into secret patterns that only she could decipher. The Elder was known as the Bone Lady around this village, and she would take the bones of creatures that have passed away and use them to divine her secrets and fortunes. She peered at the patterns the bones displayed, before she said, “You have a long journey ahead of you, young Satoshi. I’m afraid you cannot stay here for very long--we cannot risk the spread of the corruption among the children of this village.”

  “Of course, Lady Elder.”

  “The landscape is changing. The gods and spirits are no longer revered as they once were. Mankind is building their weapons of destruction and their cities of steel against the deities that have sheltered us for so long. The world is experiencing a spiritual imbalance, and mankind is becoming ignorant of the old ways that we’ve practiced for so long and faithfully. Tell me, what has your mother taught you during your years of growing up in the Hiroyuki Manor? She did teach you about the elements and the principles of Yin and Yang, correct?”

  “That she did. She taught me many things.”

  “Yet she couldn’t have taught you everything that all she knew in that time span. The rest you have to learn on your journey through the world. Seek out the dwelling places of the deities that embody each element: Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, and the Cosmos, if you truly wish to become an Onmyouji like Kohryu. Even if the curse may be within your body, you can suppress it as long as you learn how to spiritually master yourself in all the elements.”

  Satoshi nodded, and eagerly awaited to hear more of the Elder’s words.

  “There is also a wolf deity in the mountains,” The Elder explained to Satoshi. “She has overlooked this village for many years. However, the people of the village have become less dependent on her and found new ways of tending the rice fields and fending off the deer and boar from them. Perhaps she could help aid you in your journey.”

  “A wolf deity?” Satoshi asked. “What is her name?”

  “Her name is Kohaku. She was named such after the color of her amber eyes,” the Village Elder said, before she turned to look towards the burning fire that smelled of sweet incense and herbs. “She will judge you by your character when you make your way to her home at the mountain peak. A wolf can always tell the difference between a man and an animal. Which one are you, son of Kohryu and Akiko?”

  “I suppose that’s for the deity to decide,” Satoshi said. “I thank you for your counsel. I shall journey through the mountains and find the wolf deity that you speak of.”

  “Before we do that,” the village Elder began to say. “We must perform a cleansing ritual to present you before her. It should also help quell the curse inside of you, though I have to say that it is merely a temporary measure. There is a sacred waterfall that is nearby that you can cleanse yourself with. However, once you step foot into the domain of the wolf deity, your fate is within her hands.”

  “I understand that,” Satoshi said. “If she deems me unworthy, then…”

  “She will turn on you if she senses that your character is unredeemable. A Youkai has a better sense of smell than a human, and can determine whether or not the curse is spreading or getting worse. Her supernatural senses are also comparable to an Onmyouji’s, and she has the amazing powers that her kind are known to have. Immune to death, disease, and physical attacks. A Youkai can regenerate from practically any physical wound. Should you win Kohaku over, you will be rewarded with a formidable companion that would help make your journey far easier. Now come, let’s go to the waterfall.”

  Satoshi followed obediently behind the village Elder, as her two twin braids swayed in front of her. They made their way towards a waterfall that was some distance away into the forest that was next to the village, and a little outcropping of rock protruded from the mouth of the waterfall. The Village Elder bid that Satoshi strip naked of his clothes and put on a loincloth and headband for the waterfall, which he did so. Then, he stood underneath the waterfall, letting the cool water splash all over his near-naked body. The curse markings from the aragami stood out on his skin in stark relief to his pale skin.

  He meditated underneath the waterfall, feeling the cold water splash against his skin and listening to the rumbling roar of the water streaming beside him. He closed his eyes and focused on his breathing, which was steady and even. Once the purification ritual was done, Satoshi headed out of the waterfall, drying himself on a towel that the Village Elder provided to him, before putting on his clothes again. The Village Elder looked him over again, as though she were not yet satisfied with Satoshi’s purification ritual.

  “The ritual is performed and done,” The Village Elder said. “You are ready to meet the wolf deity in the mountain. However, tread carefully towards her home; there are steep cliffs and it will be a treacherous journey upwards. You can ride one of the village mules up the mountain, if you wish.”

  “Thank you, Village Elder,” Satoshi said with a bow, before making his way towards the pen where the goats were kept. His guide would be a young girl with dark hair and tanned skin. She peered at Satoshi shyly underneath long lashes, which hid eyes that were a vivid shade of blue. The Village Elder gestured to the young girl and said, “This young girl is named Saya. She will be your guide up towards the mountain.”

  “Pleased to meet you, Satoshi-san,” Saya said as she bowed, her twin braids swaying with the nod of her head. “I’ll only escort you to the mountain top where the wolf deity lives. From then on, you’re on your own.”

  Satoshi nodded. “That’s fair.”

  “Let’s get going then,” Saya said with a smile, as she then waved the Village Elder goodbye.

  Satoshi settled himself on a mule, straddling it firmly between his legs, before saying, “I’ve never ridden a mule before.”

  “They’re surefooted climbers,” Saya explained. “Able to traverse the steep mountain sides and cliffs. Don’t squeeze them too tightly. They don’t like that.”

  “All right,” Satoshi said, as he began to pet the mule gently on the head. The animal seemed to be enamored with him, and began to step towards the mountainside where they would be traveling upwards. Saya herself got on a goat and began leading the way up the steep mountainside. Saya had been right about the mule’s sure-footedness upon the moutainside, with a slow and steady pace that Satoshi was content to go along with. He watched as they climbed higher and higher, watching the village down below become nothing more than a dot. The trees on the mountainside stood sentinel over them, forming a great green canopy above that blocked out the sun and clouds and left them in blessedly cool air. While they made their way up the mountain at a rather plodding yet sure pace, treacherous angles twisted and turned among the pathways, though the mules never lost their step once.

  “I heard from the Village Elder about your curse,” Saya said. “It must be a powerful one, from the looks of it. Not even our Lady Elder can get rid of the curse that is put upon you.”

  “Indeed,” Satoshi said. “I’m sure that the Village Elder is a miraculous healer, though I’m not sure how to mend this curse that I’ve got on me.”

  “You’re a Hiroyuki, right? Aren’t you like, royalty?”

  “I suppose,” Satoshi said. “Though as far as I’m concerned, we’re both equals. Speak forthrightly if you must, Saya-san.”

  Saya seemed to be pleased at this, before saying, “I’ve never heard of an Onmyouji that has part of an aragami’s soul within him. Isn’t that ironic? Being the very thing that you Onmyouji are sworn to protect the world from. Ah, I’m sorry, you’re not exactly all demon.”

  “It’s all right,” Satoshi said, before looking on ahead at the winding trail that ascended. “I acknowledge that the aragami is a part of me. Because there is light, there is also darkness. I must always remain aware of that and never give into the curse. If I don’t acknowledge it as a part of me, then I will be lying to myself.”

  Saya nodded, and once they made their way to the mountaintop, they dismounted their mules. Saya looked towards Satoshi, before saying, “You go on to the cave mouth over there, where Kohaku lives. I pray that you live and be able to tell the tale of seeing our wolf deity.”

  “Thank you, Saya-san. I’ll be sure to treat Kohaku with the utmost respect.”

  Saya then turned to leave with the mules. When Satoshi made his way towards the mountaintop, his breath caught in his throat. Pretty soon, he would be facing the wolf deity that would cast judgment upon him. Satoshi never met a Youkai before, he only heard about them through stories from his mother. The Youkai could co-exist and live peacefully among humans, however, he also heard that the Youkai could be a capricious lot and could turn on one easily. They were usually revered as powerful deities, and could take on the form of a human with some animal features, or they could turn into a full bestial form like that of a cat, a dog, a wolf, and whatnot.

  Making his way into the entrance of the cave, Satoshi then spoke to the darkness. “I am Satoshi Hiroyuki, son of Kohryu and Akiko Hiroyuki. I’ve come far from the west of Jipangu to seek guidance on how to get rid of a curse that has afflicted me.”

  Satoshi then saw a pair of amber eyes staring back at him through the darkness, and a feminine voice beckoned him on inside. “Come in, young Onmyouji. Let me have a closer look at you.”

  Once the Youkai gave Satoshi permission to enter inside her cave dwelling, Satoshi then made his way into the cave and tried to adjust his eyesight to the darkness. Satoshi paused for a moment, before saying, “I mean no disrespect, though could I summon my shikigami in this cave? I can’t see a thing in this darkness.”

  “Do as you wish,” the wolf deity responded in turn, and Satoshi took out a tag that spelled out his shikigami’s name upon it. He then materialized the shikigami into existence in a whirl of fire, and Feng Huang settled upon his upraised arm, providing light with the flames constantly emanating from the fire bird’s body. When Satoshi peered into the cave once more, he saw a gigantic wolf staring back at him with glowing liquid gold eyes. Tawny brown fur covered the wolf’s entire body, and her maw could easily snap a man in half if she felt compelled to. The wolf seemed to be grinning at him, and then her massive face leaned closer to sniff at Satoshi. Satoshi let Kohaku smell him all over his body, not daring to move or stir his breath out of turn. He knew that he was within the wolf deity’s power, and it would be her decision to let him go and accompany him on his journey or to tear him apart with her great jaws.

  Feng Huang also remained as still as his master, sharing Satoshi’s trepidation about the ordeal. If Satoshi died here and now, their bond together would be broken and then Feng Huang would be sent back into the Otherworld where the other shikigami spirits reside, waiting to be summoned forth once more.

  Kohaku stopped her inquisitive sniffing, before she then said, “The curse is strong within you, Onmyouji. Tell me why I shouldn’t tear you apart here and now.”

  “If that is your judgment, then so be it,” Satoshi said. “However, I have one final thing to say before you devour me. I wish to travel the world to become a great Onmyouji, though I also have a responsibility to the world, as well. The world is changing, as the Village Elder has told me. Mankind is becoming less reliant on the gods and spirits and are forgetting the old ways. I wish to bring back the spiritual ways into the world, and perform good deeds.”

  “If I were to let you go, then, you would change the world? One single man thinking that he can change the world is arrogance. Or perhaps you’re speaking out of naivete. You are young, Onmyouji, and my lifespan extends far beyond your kind. You humans live and die in a blink of an eye to me. Do you truly think that you can bring about the change to the world that you speak of?”

  “I can only hope to try,” Satoshi said. “Though I know that I can’t do it on my own. I need allies. I would like for you to be my ally, no, a friend. I humbly beseech you that you spare my life and accompany me on my journey to get rid of the curse. If I’m a man not worthy, then you may tear me apart here and now.”

  “You are interesting, Onmyouji,” Kohaku said with a great grin on her maw as she examined Satoshi closely. “The reason why I haven’t torn you apart is because of your shikigami. Only a rare breed of souls can summon a phoenix as their shikigami.”

  “I tried to summon a shikigami on my own, once,” Satoshi said. “And it has led to me being cursed. However, my mother allowed me to summon a shikigami of my own, despite having the curse, and I ended up with Feng Huang.”

  “You are an honest soul,” Kohaku said after a long while. “Despite the corruption that is within you, I also sense an unusual gentleness and kindness of character that is rare among people these days. You also respect and revere the gods, as you rightfully should.”

  “I do revere the spirits and gods,” Satoshi said solemnly. “They are the ones that have made this world, after all. It’s a shame that mankind has forgotten that and continue to build over sacred lands and create their weapons. It’s about time that something is to be done about it. I will make sure that on my journey, the spirit world and the world at large are in balance with one another.”

  Kohaku then stretched her great limbs, before she reverted back to her human form, with wolf ears atop her head and a tail protruding from behind. Her tawny brown hair stampeded down her back like galloping horses, and her amber colored eyes remained as intense as ever, even when she was a human. There was a certain feral quality within them that marked her as a Youkai.

  “I’ll see to it that you perform your duty, Onmyouji. Prove to me that you’re worthy of bearing the phoenix shikigami.”