The armor of my shame wrapped itself around me with a thought. It rippled out like the effects of stale choices which stalked the darkness. At once the heat of the fire diminished and my mind cleared from the smoke’s attempt at choking the life from me. Wei was not here, had she tried to wake me?

  Treachery. Had the spear master betrayed me and tried to end my life while I slept. I’d found myself not merely trusting her, but attracted to her. It would have served me right for her to try and claim my life, but I required evidence before I would believe it.

  I crashed through a paper wall, splintering the delicate wooden frames in the process. Bits of fire and sparks burst out from my movement and I discovered the hallway already consumed by fire. It came from the training grounds and the entrance to the dojo.

  As I turned away, the fire moved and took the shape of a mortal woman. She flew at me from the flames and I raised the Mountain Cutter and her scabbard instinctively to protect myself. The fiery figure came to a halt and Wei appeared on the floor, fire spreading from where her hands and feet touched approached the sides of the walls.

  “You’re finally awake!” The flames around her body condensed into her mortal shell and she looked down at herself. “I did not do this, but whoever did chose a frustrating weapon to wield against me!”

  “What’s going on?”

  “Someone is burning down my home!” Wei grabbed my sleeve and pulled me down toward the opposite end of the hall. “I cannot stop the fires or even divert it. But I can slow their progress. Come on and let’s find your idiot Kitsune!”

  Wei plunged ahead of me and I followed her. If she’d meant to kill me, she could have murdered me while I slept off my drunk. And I doubted she would set her whole home ablaze to do it.

  “What about your students?” I shouted over the roar of the fire, which seemed to follow us with an unnatural speed.

  “I already sent them outside. I wasn’t sure about leaving you asleep. Don’t linger, the fire likes me and will follow as fast as it can!” Wei sprinted and skidded to a halt in the midst of clouds of smoke which clogged her hallway and the room I’d shared with Hanari.

  My armor protected me from the heat and the smoke, but I feared what the smoke might do to the Kitsune. People did not usually die from the flames, but rather from choking on the smoke those flames produced.

  Wei kicked open the door and we found Hanari curled at the corner of her room with Odgen’s ochre robes wrapped around her face. She’d lost her elderly mien and changed back into her petite mortal body. And she did not look as though she were breathing.

  Picking Hanari up as if she weighed nothing. Wei handed her to me. The Kitsune’s body was warm, but she did not stir as I held her. Wei set her palm to the wall where Hanari had been leaning and bent her elbow. She didn’t push exactly. One moment the stout wooden wall held firm against her hand and the next moment a circle of fire spread from where she touched the wall and outward as if Wei had applied an oiled brand to the wood.

  The spear master screamed at the fire as it opened a hole in her all and the fire sped up, opening at the sound of her voice. As soon as it opened wide enough, Wei sent Hanari and me through the flames. I rolled over the stone-covered ground, shielding Hanari in my arms as best I could.

  A jolt shook through her body as we cleared the smoke I felt Hanari tremble in my arms. Wei followed close behind me as I set Hanari on the ground next to the Mountain Cutter. Her body shook, and therefore I could still save her.

  I pressed my mouth against her’s and forced air into her lungs. Here on the ground, the air cooled and the smoke drifted away from the stones. Behind me a blaze roared toward the moon, but below me where it mattered, I pumped life into Hanari’s soot streaked body.

  A second breath, a third, and a fourth left my lungs to fill Hanari’s. The longer this went on without her breathing on her own, the less likely Hanari was to recover. Sounds billowed over me as heat from the Wei’s burning school buffeted me. But I ignored it all for the pale woman on the ground before me.

  The firth breath I shared with Hanari was met with a shuddering through her form. A slender tongue rose up to meet mine and I stumbled back onto my ass as Hanari coughed and sat up facing me. “If you wanted a kiss, you just had to ask. No need to burn the place down.”

  My laughter transformed into a scream as wave of arrows flew up and toward the group of us. There were too many and I’d fallen away from my sword like a foolish amateur. My armor would almost surely protect me, but there was no way I could save Hanari.

  Still, I’d taken to my feet when an arc of flame burst out over head and incinerated the arrows mid-flight. Nothing more than pale ash rained down upon Hanari as I turned to look behind me. Wei stood with a flaming spear in hand while her hair danced in fire around her head. She pointed with her spear in the direction the arrows had come from. “Do you know them, Isha?”

  I’d not stopped until I had my hand on the Mountain Cutter and stood next to Hanari, ready to protect there with my blade. Though the fire roiled and twisted behind me, I could make out a line of motley warriors in the darkness.

  Many of them wore hideous grotesque masks fashioned from human skin and painted in things I preferred not to identify. Great plumes of hair rose up behind those masks like painters’ brushes misused and cast aside for new ones. The line of archers in the back look like twins of each other and moved with a strange unison which suggested they were some form of conjuring. At the center of the mass of hunched, red-skinned figures stood a taller one. His hair was spiked with thick goblets which shone in the fires. His mask covered only his eyes and left his fanged mouth and carrot-long nose exposed.

  “Keh keh keh!” He pointed at me with a katana. Blue flames danced and lapped at the blade as the demon shook it at me. “We found her boys. I told you the fire trick would work.”

  “Master, they got Hua!” The acne-faced youth ran up to stand with his master. He didn’t so much as flinch at the sight of the fires around her form.

  I followed where the boy pointed to see one of the hunched figures ripping pieces off of a white-jacketed corpse who lay on the ground at his feet. Gore stained the figure’s blue robes and he chortled at the young student’s exclamation, raising the arm he chewed on as if in greeting.

  Wei shouted from behind me and jets of fire flew into the ranks of the goblins. The figure in the center circled his sword like a windmill and laughed with his nasal voice as the bolts of fire twisted midair and joined with the blue flames licking across his sword.

  I’d given enough time to the goblins to see what they were doing. And it was time to stop them.

  Hanari flattened herself onto the ground as I jumped over her. Wei and her student — I couldn’t see the second young man and didn’t know his name anyway — sprinted around my flanks. A cry rose up from the goblins and they charged us. I had eyes for the leader with his blue flame sword. The Mountain Cutter sprang out of her sheath and at the goblin leader. Blade-in-scabbard techniques would not help me here.

  I met the blue katana with my own and blue flame spat and dripped from where we clashed. His laugh rose up over the din of battle as Wei and her final student joined in. The lead goblin possessed strength like a tree falling over a river. The blows from his blade were enough to push me back, to force me to recover my stance over and over again.

  Dressed in the simple gi Wei had given me, I found my movements sluggish and weak. Scales folded over me as I touched the amulet around my neck with my mind. It slowed my footsteps by a fraction, enough to allow an opening for the goblin who faced me.

  He slashed out with his blue-flame blade and a great spear of red fire intercepted it. Wei spat at the goblin as she winked at me. I nodded back as she spun to assault the left flank of the goblin forces in earnest.

  Figures in line toppled like corn-husk dolls beneath the winnowing spear of Wei. I devoted my attention to the lead goblin, but left Wei in the corner of my sight. Odgen might have been able to best her, he was the greatest warrior I had ever seen. But Wei was in her element here, a master out of legend. In the stories, the great warriors leapt and cavorted about spinning and letting their feet off of the ground. Doing so in a real battle meant death. Our feet connected us to the Earth, the feet formed the root of our power. And Wei moved like a mountain on fire, feet firmly stuck to the ground as she swept goblins before her.

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  The leader kept me pinned and unable to focus my attention on Wei, but I could sense something amiss on both flanks. Wei had lain too many of our enemies low for this many of them to remain. And yet… The right flank was a flurry of blades and the mad cries of goblins.

  Wei’s principle student fought as if imitating moves from a woodblock. His form was near perfect and his speed close to his teacher’s. And he was being overwhelmed.

  For my part, the lead goblin strained himself against my technique and the strength of my sword. Now that the Jade Avarice covered my body, I did not fear the magic of his blue flame. I could be bold and risk the hide I’d stolen from my hated sibling.

  My gi burned away under the strikes from the goblin leader. His laughter came sparingly now and his stamina flagged. Determination and energy surged through me with a sublime ferocity. I’d not yet even tapped into the true reserves of my stamina when I heard Wei’s student cry out to my right.

  A half dozen blades rose up to pierce him and I made a choice in the moment. Snap-kicking the lead goblin in the chest, I turned and rolled toward the mass of creatures atop Wei’s students. Like ants the goblins swarmed him and like a kind of fire myself, I swept them away. By the time I found him, blood-streaked and eyes closed, it was too late.

  I roared with but a fraction of the fury I’d possessed as a dragon and laid into the goblins who’d killed the young man before his potential could be realized. Odgen had warned me against letting my rage consume me at first. But as my training progressed, he’d taught me to channel it, to wield it to my advantage.

  Now I tossed goblins aside, bisected and bloody as I ripped through them with the fury of the winds. Over and over I slaughtered them and over and over more rose to take the places of those I’d slain. There was definitely magic afoot here.

  Wei sprinted to me, flames dancing over her body and stood at my side. A grim expression fell across her face at the sight of her fallen student. But she did not let unleash the rage of her own fires. Instead, she kept perfect time with my steady destruction. Together we plunged into the heart of the goblin lines. I knew I sought a key figure among the shadow constructs fighting us, but I would have to wait until I could identify my target before this would end.

  The lead goblin harried us, matching our steps as well as Wei matched mine. He wasn’t the spell caster. I didn’t know the exact magic the goblin witch employed, but I knew it would require a significant portion of his concentration. And the endless waves of enemies would only end when we found him and cut him down.

  More and more goblins surrounded us as we drove into their lines. At the same time, more and more human corpses littered the ground. How long had I been asleep and how thoroughly had the goblins wrought destruction upon Tamanoe? I let the idle thought slip through my mind and shook my head. There was nothing I could do for the dead other than avenge them. And I would fail if I allowed their corpses to rob me of my focus.

  Unlike me, Wei’s stamina flagged before we found the source of the goblin hordes. Soon I found myself protecting her flank as much as pressing the attack. Before we found the spell caster, Wei would fall.

  It came in an eye blink. A shrouded goblin crouched between the lines of the shadow goblins, doing his best to remain unnoticed. My eyes met his and he growled. Time slowed around me as the shadows surged toward me. Great sweeps of the Mountain Cutter shredded the goblins and laid their remains on the earth. But still more came. A pair of glowing red bolts flew out of the goblin and struck me in the center of my chest.

  I laughed at him as the Jade Avarice nullified the magic and left me unharmed. My laughter faded as a trio of ice shards spun out form the goblin witch, coursing through the goblin lines and flying into Wei. All three struck her, though she swept two of them away with her spear of fire. As they hit, the flames flickering from her body sputtered out and died.

  She looked at me as I roared a second time.

  Dragons in their natural state entered furious berserk rages. It happened when someone close to them died in the midst of battle. Once upon a time, humans who shared a portion of the blood of dragons could enter the same rages. Their’s was nothing compared to a dragon’s true fury.

  My skin blazed and lava pumped from my heart. Darkness swallowed the edges of my vision and all I could see were the figures immediately ahead of me. Hands and blade reacted automatically, my training taking over as I tore through the horde to the spell caster who’d killed my friend. Magic and shadow blade fell upon my armor and shattered before the protection of the Avarice. All laughter had died around me and all I could hear was my heart spread the fury within my chest to my limbs and skull. The goblin spell caster tried to flee.

  Though it might have been foolish, I leapt after him. I severed the root of my stance and sailed over the heads of the goblin horde, heedless of the damage I might suffer in my pride and fury. I landed atop the goblin and stabbed him with the Mountain Cutter, pinning him to the ground. He yelped and the field around me wavered at the same time. I came out of my roll and ignored the now sedentary shadow goblins around me.

  Without the slightest pause, I yanked my blade from the ground and severed the goblin spell caster’s head with one motion. The moment his eyes went dark, the horde around me shivered in the darkness. Black smoke issued from their bodies and ribbons of black drifted up into the sky. Only one real goblin remained: the leader.

  The illusion covering his form shattered, he looked like nothing more than a gnarled, twisted child wearing his father’s mask. Gone was the hulking stature, gone were the blue flames of his katana, and gone was his wicked laughter. All of the goblin corpses on the field vanished with the horde, but the humans remained.

  Disgusted, with my berserk fury still swelling my flesh, I stalked after the lead goblin. He yelped and spun away from me, dragging his sword behind him as he ran. Such a foe hardly made for a worthy target, so I tossed the Mountain Cutter overhand barely paid attention as my blade lifted him off of his feet to land a few yards away. After the bandits, I was not so foolish as to let my enemy live now. So I ran after my sword and found I’d severed the goblin’s spine with one attack. It didn’t stop me from cutting off his head. With many demons and monsters, only cutting off the head ensured their deaths.

  I returned to where Wei had fallen to find her struggling to pull herself toward her student’s body. From the holes in her chest and the gouts of blood spilled upon the ground, I knew Wei’s death was certain.

  She looked up at me with a trail of too-dark blood running down her cheek. “I won’t get to fulfill my promise now.”

  I crouched down next to her, uncertain what to do. “I relieve you of your promise.”

  Wei snorted and let her head flop down to survey the field of death. “I’d intended to ask you to join my dojo.” She coughed and the single arm supporting her collapsed. I caught her before she could hit the dirt. “I would have liked a kiss.”

  I looked down at her in surprise. “A kiss?”

  “Please? Before I die?” Her arms had lost their strength. “Be my first?”

  Pain struck me in the chest, taking my breath away at her words. “Of course.” I bent down and kissed her gently, tasting the unique spicy heat of her blood as I did. Her body shook and her neck fell limp at my lips touched her own.

  When I drew my head away, her soul had fled.

  I nodded at her and brushed the matted hair away from her eyes. In death she retained a fraction of her beauty, but something critical was missing now. The animating spark within Wei had been the bright center of her ruby gem. And it was gone now. Stolen away by foes I’d brought to her village myself.

  This time the rage turned inward and shook my body as I shut Wei’s eyes and laid her gently on the ground.

  I found my scabbard not far from where she fell, having abandoned it when the berserk fury took my reason. Had I done everything I could to keep her alive?

  I knew the answer at once. I should have left in the morning, put this town behind me at once and never returned. My life brought only peril and sorrow to those who came to close to me. Over and over again the strings of destiny sounded the same chords and the moment I chose to ignore them, the tune broke into tragedy.

  At the thought, my shoulders sagged. Not far from my scabbard and Wei’s corpse lay her student’s. I wished I could remember his name. He lay there in a pool of his own blood, with only phantom tracks to mark his death. And yet he’d fought not only bravely, but with a skill which marked him as a future master. Cut down before he could enter his prime, I felt almost as much sorrow for his end as I did for Wei. At least the fire-touched spearwoman had lived. This… boy had barely felt the touch of a beard on his cheeks.

  I shook my head and turned away. Humans bodies littered the field, growing thin as I walked back to the inferno which was Wei’s dojo. A final lone body lay on the ground unmoving and I wilted.

  Hanari.

  My head shook as I approached her. How many lives had the Kitsune lived before she met me and I helped guide her to her end? The pain of so many deaths threatened to bring tears to my eyes. Not only had I failed to live up to the oath I’d sworn under Odgen, but I’d let my new companion die when I left her side.

  When I reached her I stroked the bleach-white hair on her head. I shouted in surprise when she rolled over and brandished a knife at me. “Don’t touch…” She blinked and wiped streaks of dirt from her face as she looked up at me. “Oh, it’s you. Isha. Did we win?”

  No answer sprang to my lips. Had we won? The foes had all died, but this did not feel like a triumph to me. This felt like defeat snatched from the jaws of victory. Hanari blinked at my hesitation and rose up on her left arm. “Oh sweet Inari Okami. What happened?”

  A strange reflex took me and I set the Mountain Cutter down next to me and I embraced the Kitsune woman. I’d thought her lost, dead at the hands of enemies who’d come for me. Finding her alive and bewildered at the events felt like the strings of fate still had bars of pain left for me.

  “Gurk,” Hanari wheezed as I hugged her, “are you okay, samurai?”

  “Yes, please be quiet and let me hold you.”

  Hanari didn’t speak as we sat in the field of the dead unit the sun peaked over the trees in the distance.