The Wings of Dreams

arms pinned in a bear hug.
    What—?
    She didn’t have to think about it long. The answer came in the form of loud and ragged voices. Luckily or not, pressed up against the suugu, moving her eyes back and forth, the only thing she could see was Rikou’s face. He was holding her.
    In the dark, she barely made out the tense expression on his face. And the drawn sword in his right hand. He stared intensely over her shoulder. She couldn’t grasp what was going on, except for the shouts and screams of panicked and angry men.
    She struggled fitfully to see more. Rikou said softly in her ear, “Calm down. Do you remember what Gankyuu told you to do?”
    Shushou looked up and nodded.
    Stay with the caravan, he’d told her. “No matter how welcoming it might appear, do not venture into the forest. If a shadow falls across your path, do not look at the sky. Duck beneath the nearest tree. When youma appear, hide under a tree or in the undergrowth, stay still and don’t make a sound. Youma don’t have great eyesight. Stick close to the trunk and the youma can’t tell the difference between you and the tree. If it’s an aromatic tree and you don’t make any sudden moves, a youma is unlikely to ferret you out unless it gets close.”
    Shushou remembered well, except remembering didn’t qualm the bone-shaking fear.
    Screams and horses neighing, shouts about hunting something down. Whatever it was, she didn’t know what was going on, and it was all the more frightening not being able to find out. She’d be better off asleep. If she was asleep, she could wake up and everything would be fine.
    Pressing her cheek against the suugu, she fended off the impatience and anxiety. Seisai was so calm he might as well be sleeping, except for the rapid rise and fall of his chest. Seisai as well knew what to do in a situation like this.
    Shushou shut her eyes and shrank in on herself. Finally cries of joy replaced the shouts and screams. Rikou’s arms around her relaxed.
    It’s over. But what is over?
    She tremulously opened her eyes and tried to look into the clearing over Rikou’s shoulder. Gankyuu called out to them first.
    “We’re leaving! Hurry! Get going!”
    Gankyuu shouted as he came running from the clearing. For some reason, he had a sharp, raw scent about him. The red glow of the bonfire lit up the clearing. It wasn’t bright enough to make anything out, only people milling about in confusion.
    “Gankyuu, what’s going on?”
    “I said to hurry!” Gankyuu barked.
    He threw the saddle onto the haku and strapped on the travel bags—always packed and ready to go—and slung the leather satchels across his shoulders.
    Before Rikou could follow suit, Gankyuu had torn off his poncho, bundled it up in his arms, and was astride the haku. A second later, Rikou and Shushou jumped onto Seisai’s back.
    “Let’s go,” Gankyuu said in a low voice, and the haku took off. Seisai needed no urging from Rikou to follow of his own accord.
    “Out of the way!” Gankyuu shouted.
    The people milling about in the clearing scattered in surprise. Fear showed on some faces, consternation on others. The rest were in a daze. Just beyond them was the silhouette of a bird the size of a small mountain. It had fallen to the earth and wasn’t moving.
    “Rikou, did something happen?” Shushou asked, clinging to his back.
    Rikou glance back at her. In the moonlight she could make out his slightly rattled smile and that made her feel a little better. It was reassuring having a big-hearted man around.
    “Yeah. Something.”
    “A youma?”
    “Probably,” he replied shortly, and turned to Gankyuu galloping along next to him. “We okay to be moving like this?”
    Gankyuu nodded. At the same time, beyond a nearby grove of trees came a human shout. More mounted riders, their packs similarly secured, burst into the clearing. Confronted by the sight of this sudden stampede—two kijuu in front and the rest hot on their tails—the rest of the caravan gaped and ran about.
    One called out to them, “Hey! Where are you going?”
    The answer didn’t come from Gankyuu, but from one of the riders bringing up the rear. “We’re leaving. Once the smell of blood gets into the wind, more will be on the way.”
    The man’s mouth dropped open. With a squeak of alarm, he tripped over himself scrambling toward his own travel bags.
    Leaving the rest of the caravan in their wakes, the company of a dozen or so formed up and continued at a brisk pace