The Wings of Dreams

blank amazement. “What’s going through his mind? And here I thought he was one of the good guys.”
    It was becoming obvious that Kiwa had no grasp of the big picture. They’d come down a road they never should have set foot on. That’s why the youma attacked. Their primary objective at his point should be to beat a fast retreat. Definitely not continue to plod forward.
    Not to mention that the youma had left ravaged corpses behind and vanished into thin air. Didn’t Kiwa see a deeper meaning in such strange behavior? Though the smell of blood was in the air, no other youma showed up. That’s why remains were left lying around—the smaller scavenger youma didn’t dare invade this territory.
    Meaning it belonged to one big and scary creature.
    “We can’t go any further.”
    Of course the goushi had taken a detour. This youma played on a completely different level than any they’d encountered so far.
    Shushou got to her feet. She’d turn back on her own and run to catch up with the shushi. Except she couldn’t make her feet take the first step. Kiwa and company weren’t dissuaded in the least. She had to wonder if she was right to abandon them without trying to persuade them otherwise.
    She would explain to Kiwa that this route was too dangerous and convince them to turn back. If they hurried, they could probably catch up with the goushi.
    “Ah, but no. Shitsu-san has his horse-drawn wagon.”
    Considering the amount of effort it’d take getting him to part with that, she had to conclude that setting off on her own was her best option. Head back, catch up with the others, explain the situation. At a time like this, the goushi should know best how to proceed.
    Pondering the possibilities, Shushou wrapped her arms around her head. “I can’t imagine the goushi rushing to the rescue in a situation like this.”
    They’d come down this road after ignoring the goushi’s warnings. She could hardly be sure of her ability to navigate what was barely a footpath and still catch up with the koushu. If she had a kijuu, maybe.
    “I’ve got no choice but to convince all of them to go back. Shitsu-san has to get rid of the wagon and divvy up the supplies.”
    The problem was, a company of this many people wheeling about and charging back down the road could entice the youma to follow. This youma hid itself at the sound of human voices, proof that it was more intelligent than the ones they’d encountered thus far. They would be drawing the others into the same danger.
    “I am a bloody fool.”
    However mad she was at Gankyuu and Rikou, she couldn’t stomach the way things were going. Shushou knew what she had to do.
    “But how to do it?”

    Kiwa proceeded up the road. For the time being, unable to come to a decision, Shushou rode in his wagon. Three times already, the procession came to a halt as people walking along the shoulder of the road simply vanished.
    The youma had darted in and snatched them away.
    It must be lurking in the woods, waiting for a gap to grow in the line or for somebody to lag behind. The victims were mostly torn to shreds. This youma, it seemed, killed for sport.
    Spurred on by a primeval fear, people instinctively picked up the pace. The outriders instead pressed their mounts into the middle of the road, jostling shoulder to shoulder. Come nighttime, they crowded together quiet as mice, awake and alert until the morning broke.
    And yet when the sun finally rose in the east, a few more had been picked off here and there.
    “If we don’t hunt it down—”
    Sooner or later they were going to join up again with the koushu. At this rate, they were simply leading the predator to more prey. They had to stop and kill the beast. However she pleaded with Kiwa, he showed not the slightest inclination to take such measures.
    They soon gave up tracking down the victims and burying them. The company grimly hurried along in a cloud of dust. Nobody slept long or well. After two days maintaining a pell-mell pace, they came to a break in the forest.
    The collective cry of relief rose into the air. The youma had no hiding places here. A broad savanna opened up before their eyes. The bleak landscape stretched to the far horizon, strewn with boulders and populated only by overgrown bushes and low-lying shrubs, like small undulations in a broad sea.
    “Ah, a welcome change. With no place to conceal itself, this youma is bound to give up the chase.” Kiwa smiled and urged the men and horses