The Wings of Dreams

youma sniffing out the spreading chaos and destruction in Kyou. Perhaps because they could not see into the depths of the canyons, few travelers fell victim to them here. Those lagging behind the main body had little to worry about.
    Hurrying though the wide gates that spanned the road, they entered a stone tunnel. Faint light spilled through the widely-spaced windows. Holes cut into the stone and mortar ceiling and topped with small roofs served as chimneys. Iron railings planted around the perimeter of the roofs warded off youma.
    Compared to the size of the tunnel, though, the lighting and ventilation was hardly enough. Above their heads, the earth rumbled to the sound of marching feet as the soldiers raced to their sentry posts.
    On this day, here they must hold their ground, not yield an inch, and not allow the youma to pour through the Reiken Gate and over the walls of Ken. Long years of preparation had reinforced Ken’s defensive lines.
    Even so, holding back the destruction in Ken, Kyou’s sole beachhead into the Yellow Sea, did not keep the youma from steadily invading Kyou. Nobody knew where the youma came from. They couldn’t fly over the Kongou Mountains and couldn’t pass through any of the Yellow Sea’s four gates except on one of those four days.
    Nevertheless, when destruction visited a kingdom, so did youma.
    Some said they knew secret tunnels through the Kongou Mountains that lead to each kingdom’s Ryou’un Mountain. Or the youma that spread wide and far retreated underground when a new emperor once again established peace and order. There they hibernated until they sniffed out ruin and decline and and flew forth like bats at sunset.
    Every theory was just as likely—and unlikely—as the next.
    “Ken is a city in a tough spot,” Shushou said, perched on the back of the haku as it wended its way through the tunnel.
    “The whole of Kyou is going to resemble Ken before long, except that few cities are as well protected.”
    “Why are there youma in the first place? If I was the Lord God Creator, I would exterminate all of them.”
    Gankyuu said with a wry smile, “So after the Imperial Throne, next comes the Throne of Heaven? You never know when to call it quits.”
    “Because nobody around here will step up and do what has to be done. It’s up to me to come up with these solutions.”
    “Well, then you’d better make sure the Yellow Sea doesn’t end up your graveyard.”
    “I am counting on you to watch out for me. That’s what I hired you for.”
    There’s no winning with this girl, Gankyuu sighed, staring up at the ceiling.
    A light appeared ahead of them. Not from flickering torches but the unwavering light of the sun. The tunnel exited inside the fort. The interior of the fort resembled a small village, halfway between a castle and a town. Around Gankyuu, travelers let out sighs of relief or took sharp breaths in surprise and wonder.
    “It’s amazing to find a whole city here.”
    “Not big enough to call it a city.”
    The streets were narrow, barely wide enough to allow a pair of harnessed horses to pass. Both sides were neatly lined by low, stone structures. Like the tunnel, skylights were cut into the stone awnings above the roads. It wasn’t dark, nor was it particularly bright.
    The humid air stagnated. The aging stones soaked up the heat particular to the Yellow Sea. The atmosphere was hardly comfortable, but truth be told, this was the end of “civilization.” Here a night’s lodgings got the traveler a roof over his head and a dirt floor under his feet. But lodgings, at the very least. And a square meal, however roughly made.
    The fort was originally built for the cavalry that protected Ken. Its benefits extended to ordinary travelers as well. Gankyuu and Shushou took advantage of those “benefits” too and spend a fitful night on a dirt floor.
    Perhaps because she’d been kept awake the night before by the cries of the gathering youma, Shushou’s face the next morning was a bit pallid. When Gankyuu suggested, last of all, that they visit a shrine, she went along out of curiosity. A crowd also making their final petitions for a safe journey line wound in a long line around the shrine in the small town.
    After a brief wait, Gankyuu and Shushou stood in front of the shrine. Not far from the shrine was a space just like the one in Ken, with people waiting there for the gates of the fort to open.
    Among them, two of the travelers spotted them and with