The Open Road Read online

  Spirit Hunters

  Book 2: The Open Road

  Spirit Hunters Book 2: The Open Road © 2016 Paul Kidd

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  Dedication

  For Toby Whitnall: martial arts god, scholar of budo, and one of the most evilly funny people I’ve ever met!

  “All that is form is unreal. Any perception of an external world beyond the blank self is merely an illusion. A true disciple discards all such notions: he is beyond the ephemeral world, and it can have no effect upon him.”

  The Diamond Sutra, as quoted by a Buddhist monk to the fox, Kitsune Sura.(Ten minutes later, the monk discovered that he had been stuck with the fox’s extensive bar tab.)

  “How to practice the Tao?

  When hungry – eat. When tired, sleep! Enjoy the cool evening on a hot day. In winter – enjoy the rain. When it is time to cry, cry. When it is time to laugh, laugh. Do this, and your spirit is free.

  When I see a man with filled with a sense of piety and importance – I know that there goes a man who is far from the Tao.

  When I see a cat yawning, or an old man enjoying the shade, I bow. I am in the presence of a sage!

  This is the way of the Fox.”

  Graffiti found carved into the backside of the great golden Buddha of Dodan-ji, attributed to Kitsune Sura

  The Sacred Isles…

  There is a vessel without sides, ever full, yet ever empty.

  There is a river without end. Ever still, yet ever flowing.

  Through it and within it, all the myriad things are formed.

  - Tao…

  Around us and within us, never seen, yet all encompassing.

  Motion never ending. Life without end.

  Eight worlds coalesced out of the primal energies – for it is the nature of the Tao to take on form.

  Eight worlds: Seven supernatural realms forming a ring about the eighth – about the mortal plane.

  There, at the hub of creation, the mortal realm prospered and diversified. From the oceans and the air, the myriad lands arose, and upon them the beasts and plants, the herbs and metals, with the elemental spirits in all of their profusion. The primal animal spirits grew in power, spreading their mortal kin across the world. At heaven’s edict, the first men began to appear. Spirit and man performed great deeds, and the stories became legends. Tribes joined to become peoples, and the first ancestors of the nations arose.

  At the far edge of the mortal realm, great, rugged islands arose from out of the waves.

  They were lands of majestic mountains and wind-swept, lonely shores – of tall forests, of bamboo groves and whispering mountain streams. There were hot springs steaming upon snowy mountainsides, and quiet places where the great kami spirits dwelled. When the first men arrived, they found a land already steeped in ancient magic.

  The Sacred Isles: Land of the Rising Sun.

  Few now remember the terrible ordeals of the ancient age – of the time before the emperors: only the archives of the kitsune reach back so far. Clan battled clan, until the counsel of the foxes finally prevailed. When the Oni of the demon realm invaded the mortal world, it was the peoples of the Sacred Isles who defeated their attack. It was Tennu, the man destined to become the first emperor, who slew the Lord of the Oni, and sealed shut the demon gate forever. The terrible magics faded, leaving nothing but tiny, unseen cracks in the barriers between the worlds.

  In the Sacred Isles, the imperial court brought a golden age of art and order: painters and poets, holy men and philosophers. To the old religions and philosophies were added the schools of Buddhist thought. The Sacred Isles blossomed with a culture rich beyond all words. Yet as the years became centuries, the imperial court became more and more focussed upon its own inward affairs. Warrior clans were settled in the wilderness, there to tame and farm the lands. The warriors embraced their own codes of honour and of loyalty, and became the samurai.

  Far away from the elaborate culture of the court, the great samurai clans slowly grew in power. Rebellions and clan feuds began, staining the lands with war. To maintain order, the court created its own clans of imperial samurai, led by imperial magistrates chosen for merit. Imperial law kept trade flowing, and helped to smooth the ruffled feathers of rival samurai lords.

  And so there settled a peace of sorts. The warrior clans grew ever larger, and the court once again sank itself deep into its own affairs. The Oni were long gone, and it seemed as though the world would last forever and unchanged.

  Though as any fox will tell you: all stasis is an illusion.

  As years complacently turned into centuries – Evil began to find its way…

  But the Tao is balance.

  Where there is darkness – there must also be light.

  Where there are evil spirits –

  There will be Spirit Hunters.

  Fourth Encounter:

  The Lodge of Doves

  Chapter 1

  High upon a hill, shaded by a grove of vast old trees, there stood a Shinto shrine.

  It was a brand new shrine, all gleaming fresh. New buildings housed the priests – large sheds stood ready to receive offerings of sakē, rice and wine. The morning sunlight dappled the grounds, and the scent of new-sawn wood filled the air with its perfume. It was a perfect summer’s day.

  From the high priest’s porch, the view looked down towards an ancient fence of wooden planks, and an old torii gateway bearded over with moss. At the far side of the gardens, shrine maidens were dressing, fussing with the flowers in their hair. They were preparing to celebrate a wedding, and guests were arriving to mill about beneath the trees. It was a busy scene, and a happy one, with the beaming father of the bride looking benevolently across the wedding arrangements.

  Nezumi Chiri sat upon the porch, enjoying the view across the gardens below. The beautiful rat girl was in her more human form – pink eyed, with snow white hair flowing long and free. She sat with a quiet, unconscious grace, bowing softly as she accepted tea from the hands of the shrine’s high priest.

  The high priest – a tall but rather anxious man of middle years – was assisted by his senior shrine maid. A calm woman with strong, competent hands, the maid fanned herself, looking quietly left and right, making certain that their conversation was private.

  The high priest beamed. A great burden seemed to have lifted from his soul.

  “We must thank you for your swift response to our letter, Chiri san! Magistrate Masura was most kind to send messengers to find you. The Spirit Hunters are sorely needed.”

  Chiri gracefully inclined her head.

  “Sura san was deeply intrigued by your problem, honoured priest. Please do forgive her impetuosity, but she is already making a survey of the site. She was keen to investigate immediately.”

  “That is a pity! For she is missing these blossoms, and this most excellent tea!”

  The high priest gave a sigh. He gazed with great satisfaction at a vast old plum tree in the temple yard – a tree billowing with white flowers. It was a wonderfully peaceful day.

  More tea was served. The shrine maiden took note of Chiri’s long, pure-white hair. The rat girl had pink eyes and delicate features. What at first glance had seemed to be a hair ornament in the shape of a crystal dragonfly was clearly a tiny air elemental: the little creature occasionally peered about and groomed its face. A small, grumpy rock had also drifted down to sit at Chiri’s side, settling itself into patch of comfy shade.

  The shrine maiden passed a delicate rice cake to her guest.

  “Your samurai friends are most impressive, Chiri san. What made you become a Spirit Hunter yourself?”

  “Pure good fortune, Chouko san. The gods smiled upon me. I hope most sincerely to contribute to our endeavour.” The rat girl set aside her
cup. “Please tell me. Your current troubles – how did they come about?”

  The man gave a sigh. He leaned forward and frowned.

  “It is most puzzling, Chiri san. Most puzzling indeed…” The high priest turned and gestured towards the wooden fence. “For some time now, visitors have claimed that they sense something strange down in the graveyard gardens. There is a feeling of foreboding… Some even say that they have glimpsed strange sights in the dark of the moon.” The priest could only shake his head. “It is a graveyard, and the trees there are very ancient. Sometime the shadows can seem quite grotesque. So such feelings are completely understandable! But the number of reports has increased. I feel that we must take this most seriously. You must understand, Chiri san, that such gardens are places of peace. Relatives must be allowed to visit and honour their dead in quiet serenity.”

  The shrine maiden seemed almost embarrassed.

  “A disturbance, no matter how small, unbalances the wa of the temple. We hope you do not think we are over reacting, Chiri san, but we thought it best to call for the services of your group.”

  The high priest looked benevolently out over the main temple yards. In the fore-court, wedding guests greeted one another while the bride’s aunts all conferred with a junior priest. On the steps just below the porch, a young acolyte swept the stones clear of fallen blossoms. The priest nodded, satisfied that all was well.

  “Yes…we have no wish to unduly alarm the temple patrons. Thankfully, Chiri san, your group clearly understands the need for subtlety. For discretion.”

  Nezumi Chiri bowed.

  “Sura san is a most skilled and experienced exorcist, your reverence. I am sure she already has your task well in hand.”

  The old wooden fence beside the porch suddenly flew apart. Rotten wood crashed and scattered as Kitsune Sura came flying wildly through the wreckage.

  Kitsune Sura was often a shock to behold: even in her most human of forms, she could never be mistaken for anything but a fox. Her orange tail flashed as she tumbled head over backside, crashing into the ground beneath the porch. Her long orange-bladed spear struck thrumming into the grass close at her side.

  Four creatures came bounding through the ruined fence. Withered, half-rotted corpses, each wore an ancient porcelain mask. The creatures moved with stiff two-legged hops that launched them clear over the wreckage. The monsters landed, gave gurgling hisses, then launched themselves straight for Sura’s throat.

  The fox flung a strip of painted paper covered in spells straight at one airborne zombie, striking it in the chest. The creature instantly disintegrated into a clatter of armour, mask and bones.

  The other corpses crashed to the ground, slashing at Sura with rusted ancient swords. Sura rolled madly away, tucking in her tail as weapons slammed into the ground a whisker’s breadth behind her.

  “Crap crap crap crap crap crap!”

  Two spell papers came spilling from the fox-woman’s robes. One leaping zombie accidentally landed on one, blasting itself into bones and dust. Sura managed to scuttle to her feet, seize hold of her spear and race up onto the porch.

  “Ooh! Cake!” Sura dodged a sword blow, then ran to the edge of the rails, calling off towards the graveyard. “Tonbo! I’ll get these ones! You hold the others back!”

  Chiri seized hold of her weapons and made a hurried bow to the high priest.

  “On the other hand, there is always room in life for unforeseen eventualities…” The rat raced to the rescue. “Please excuse me!”

  Sura – resplendent with long orange hair and fox tail – leapt down between the two remaining zombies, shattering the mask of one cadaver with the haft of her spear. The zombie froze and slowly fell, but the remaining monster hurtled a mass of broken fence timbers that bowled the fox clean off her feet. The creature leaped, plunging an old iron spear down and missing Sura as she whipped a long kodachi dagger from her belt and parried the spear aside. An instant later, Chiri’s rock elemental cracked against the monster’s head, chipping the porcelain mask and knocking the creature back

  Chiri drew twin natagama – steel hafted bill hooks forged by a master smith – and sailed down to the rescue. As the zombie stabbed at her, she whirled aside and scythed off its arm, making a lightning swift cut with her second weapon down into the monster’s skull. Helmet, skull, mask and bones all shattered. The zombie collapsed in a vile heap of mummified flesh and bones, that cascaded down over Sura’s head.

  The fox emerged from the mess, spitting bits of zombie from her mouth.

  “Phooey!” She worked her tongue. “Eew! That does not taste like chicken!”

  A second horde of zombies came leaping up and through the shattered fence, hissing wildly. Sura cursed and dug into her long flowing sleeves, fighting to free a fan smothered in painted symbols. She clapped her hands together clasping the fan, spread it open, then whirled it high above her head.

  “Evil spirits – all be gone! Tao blast!”

  The fox woman made a great, sweeping pass with her fan. A dozen zombies were bowled back off their feet by the blast’s force. The creatures writhed on the ground momentarily but all began to scrabble back to their feet. Sura looked at her fan in puzzlement.

  “Maybe this is the wrong fan?”

  “Sura!”

  Chiri called a warning as a dozen more zombies leapt across their fallen kin. Sura drove them back with another great wave of her fan, as even more zombies clawed up and over the fence. The high priest and shrine maiden frantically climbed a tree as zombies burst up through the porch decking beneath them. Sura bowled over half a dozen more zombies as Chiri raced up to guard her back.

  “Sura san! I see that you found something.”

  “Yeah, I’m guessing this is it!” Sura squared her little breastplate and eboshi cap. She suddenly spied the priest clinging to the top of a nearby tree. “Hey! Excuse me! But would your temple happen to have been built on some sort of old massacre site or battlefield?”

  The shrine maiden tried to clamber up and over the chief priest. “Yes!”

  “OK – important safety point!” Sura stabbed a zombie through the head. “For future reference, that is never a good choice!”

  Zombies stumbled to their feet. Sura waved her fan, but its power stuttered, and the monsters merely staggered in place. She waved the fan again, then shook it in annoyance.

  “Damn! I knew I should have recharged this thing!” The fox seized Chiri by one arm and led her running along the length of rotten fence. “This way! The boys need us!”

  A stack of huge cylindrical rice bales were piled inside a shed beside the priest’s house. As Sura and Chiri sped past, the rat girl sliced through the bindings. A dozen hefty bales went rolling and bounding downhill, hurtling into zombies as the monsters clawed back onto their feet.

  Sura crashed through a warped wooden gate and into the graveyard. Chiri plunged fearlessly after her, then stopped and stood blinking at the battle raging amongst the graves.

  Bones scattered and smashed against a tree as Tsunetomo Tonbo pounded his vast spiked iron club down through a cadaver. The iron tetsubo obliterated zombies with strike after strike, driven by the huge force of the immense armoured samurai. Beside him, glittering in elegantly tasteful armour, Asodo Kuno fought sword to sword with a swarming mass of monsters. He struck with superb precision – but more and more zombies were clawing up out of the ground and hopping horribly towards him.

  All through the graveyard, skeletal arms punched up out of the earth as yet more porcelain-masked monsters fought their way up out of the depths. At the centre of the swarming horde stood a tall, sparse cadaver dressed in rotted robes. The creature gestured to an empty patch of graveyard, where yet more monsters began to burst up out of the soil. The new zombies leapt straight toward Kuno and Tonbo’s backs. Chiri flung her hands down towards the ground, pulling slowly upwards as power flashed and swirled beneath her grasp.

  “Little spirits of the Earth! Your boon companion needs your aid!” Ro
cks and shards scattered across the ground nearby began to rise. “Earth storm!”

  Rocks lashed forwards, crashing into the zombies, slamming them aside as Chiri and Sura charged through the corridor cleared by the rocks. Sura slashed with her spear, taking the heads off two zombies as she charged. Chiri’s rock and air elementals sped beside her, cracking into monsters that tried to leap into their path. Chiri leapt over one fallen zombie, narrowly evading its snatching claws, then ducked past others as the rock storm shattered masks and sent more monsters reeling. She raced to Kuno’s side just as the samurai carved into three zombies and sent then crashing in fragments back to the ground. Sura came flying in beside them, one hand clapped to her hat. She blinked as more and more zombies came hopping erratically out from behind the graves.

  “There’s more?”

  Tonbo flicked a glance down at her as he shook skull fragments from his tetsubo. “There’s more.”

  “Well, how the hell did that happen?”

  Back behind the oncoming mass of hopping corpses, the robed cadaver laughed. The creature wore court finery from hundreds of years ago, and his fingernails were long and blue. He clapped his claws together into intricate patterns. Power flashed –then suddenly the fallen masks from shattered zombies glowed.

  From beneath each mask, a new zombie arose, shoving slowly up out of the soil. Two dozen new monsters came hoping forwards, hissing as they shook their weapons free of dust and soil.