The Wings of Dreams

while we’re sleeping. They’re not smart enough to hold the high ground during the day and travel at night.”
    Kinhaku nodded and returned his attention to the road. They’d been attacked by the youma, or else—
    The road detoured around small, rocky hill. Scanning the surroundings at the top of the rise, he couldn’t see even a cloud of dust in the distance. Swallowing his disappointment, he turned to Gankyuu. The shushi had already gone to look for a campsite.
    Kinhaku shook his head. “A shushi is as a shushi does, eh?”
    Shushi weren’t goushi. Goushi knew the ghastly turns a Shouzan could take when a phoenix was lost. Kinhaku hadn’t experienced it himself, but based on what he’d heard from the old-timers, he could well imagine.
    When his fellow goushi asked him the same question he’d asked Gankyuu, he told them to make camp.
    “And if they don’t show up by the time we wake up?”
    His answer differed little from Gankyuu’s. “What can we do? If they encountered that youma, maybe two or three will scrape through and eventually show up. All we can do is cross our fingers and wait.”
    “Wouldn’t it be better to send a rescue party? At the very least have a runner—”
    Kinhaku interrupted him with a sharp look. “Don’t go speculating about what might happen next! Talk like that’s gonna jinx the good fortune Shinkun has given us so far.”

    They remained there until sundown. Nobody appeared on the road. The goushi calmed down the others who wanted to charge on ahead and convinced them to stay the night. The next day as the afternoon wore on, a cloud of dust rose in the distance.
    The dust arose from the far reaches of the road as it skirted a low cliff. They could see stones tumbling into the dry river bottom at the bottom of the valley.
    “Somebody’s coming!”
    A cheer arose as the dozen or so men riding horses and several sad excuses for kijuu came down the road. They spotted the crowd waiting for them and sprinted the rest of the way, the relief painted on their faces.
    Kinhaku stepped forward to greet them. “You can’t be the only survivors!”
    Gasping for breath the lead rider said, “No. The rest are way to the rear.”
    “There was this youma—”
    Kinhaku nodded. “You went that way knowing as much. Where are the others? How long till they get here?”
    “Kiwa’s company should be coming up behind. But there are people on foot.”
    Kinhaku glared at him. “Meaning you abandoned them and took off?”
    A shrug and a nod answered that question. Kinhaku clucked to himself. “What about the girl? Is she safe?”
    “Don’t know. I think she was with Kiwa.”
    “And where is Kiwa?”
    “He’s been delayed.”
    “No,” interjected one of the kijuu riders. “I saw her climb off Kiwa’s wagon and head back.”
    “Head back? You mean, to join the servants on foot?”
    “Probably.”
    “And the youma? Is it dead?”
    “Far from it.”
    “Damn and blast!” Kinhaku ran back to his companions. “Five of you stay behind. Come sundown, get this caravan back on the road and keep going no matter what!”
    “What’s the plan?”
    “That youma. Those bastards ran away without taking care of it.”
    “Which means—”
    “It’ll keep on coming. It’s in a youma’s nature. They develop a taste for things. Preying on humans is easier than hunting other youma.” Kinhaku glanced back at Gankyuu. “So what does the shushi master think? Seems the girl felt sorry for the stragglers and went back to help.”
    “So it seems,” Gankyuu murmured. He said with a wry smile, “I had intended to split off and go hunting. But I’m fine with staying behind and taking my turn looking after the others.”
    “Works for me,” Kinhaku answered with an equally droll expression.
    Rikou was standing next to Gankyuu. He stepped in and said, “Gankyuu and I will go with you.”
    Gankyuu glanced at him. “Oh?”
    Rikou smiled. “Let’s do this together.”
    “Haven’t you lost interest in Shushou by now?”
    “I don’t recall saying anything of the sort.”
    Gankyuu sighed. “I’ve said it before but it bears repeating: the girl simply doesn’t need you anymore.”
    “True. But perhaps I may prove myself necessary to her once again. I can’t walk away now without putting that supposition to the test.”
    “We’re likely going to have a youma on our tails. I’d think you’d hold your life a little more dear. As for me, I’ve got no interest in riding to the