Page 10 of Son of Shadows

The tengu drew his sword. “Hurry! We must get you through.”

More arrows rained down around them in a blinding fury. Ryuichi tried to see who was assaulting them, but no one was in sight.

There was no break in the onslaught for Ryuichi to go on the offensive. Everyone in his crew ducked behind trees to avoid being struck. Just as Ryuichi was about to draw his sword, Masaru swooped him up into his arms and flew with him toward the gate. One second, he was being shielded and protected, and the next, he was being thrown headfirst into the gate and the oblivion beyond it.

Moments later, Ryuichi hit the ground hard and rolled to his feet like an acrobat. He turned to glare at the portal Masaru had just tossed him through.

Seriously? A little warning would have been nice, he thought.

But at least there wasn’t a slew of arrows to avoid anymore.

In fact, the spirit realm was rather pleasant, in a gloomy, muted kind of way. He was surrounded by cherry blossoms that were a light gray instead of pale pink.

The air was warm and humid. The sky was covered in thick, menacing clouds. It’d been like this the last time Ryuichi was here. The threat of a storm constantly overhead.

Surely sunshine existed somewhere.

The portal Ryuichi just came through hissed and flashed.

Masaru barreled through it, followed by the others. Just like Ryuichi, they all landed flat on their backs with a big thud.

Unlike him, Koichi and Haruki groaned and complained about being dumped so unceremoniously. Masaru rose to his feet and grimaced.

“What is wrong with you?” Ryuichi asked Masaru.

Masaru cracked that charming grin he was so famous for. “So, so many things. But tossing you? That I did for fun.”

Of course he did.

“I can handle myself. You don’t need to come to my rescue all the time,” Ryuichi said, sticking his chest out a little.

“They were shooting so many arrows it was impossible for you to dodge them,” Masaru replied.

Keiko growled at Masaru as she moved to inspect Ryuichi’s body. “And yet you tossed our baby into the portal like he was a sack of rice! You monster! What were you thinking?!”

Masaru stepped aside for Koichi and Ryuichi-kage to walk past him. “Could someone please say, ‘Thank you, Masaru. You’re amazing. We’re grateful to have you with us’?”

Koichi scoffed. “I could say thank you for doing your job, but I wouldn’t mean it.”

Masaru rolled his eyes as their tengu guide came through the portal with an arrow piercing his shoulder-wing.

The wound looked grisly.

With nothing more than a grimace, the tengu yanked the arrow out of his flesh and tossed it aside.

“Humans,” he muttered, shaking his head in disgust. Then he gestured forward. “Just a little farther to my lord’s hōjō. Hopefully, the horses my crew and I left behind will still be waiting.”

Masaru didn’t appear as relieved by that news as Ryuichi. Especially when they saw how many horses had been abandoned by the dead tengu.

The very sight of it made his stomach sink. They had risked their lives for Ryuichi.

That meant the yōkai were truly desperate for help.

Koichi put his arm out and stopped Ryuichi in his tracks. “How many companions did you take through the portal, again?”

The tengu swung himself up into his saddle and adjusted his sword. “We were determined to retrieve the Kage-taro”—he bowed toward Ryuichi—“at any cost. So long as one of us survives to return him to this realm, then our mission is successful, and our lord will be thrilled.” He motioned toward the other two-dozen horses. “Please, mount up and let’s be on our way.”

Masaru and Koichi looked suspicious, and Ryuichi could understand why. How bad did things have to be in the nether realm for these tengu messengers to brave certain death?