Samurai Son by M. H. Bonham

might betray the oni’s hiding place but saw nothing except the shadows of the pines.   A low growl emanated from her throat, and her cat eyes widened to take in her surroundings.   She looked along the trees’ shadows for a dark shape to move around them but saw nothing.   She took one step then another.   She wondered if she would be able to kill the demon if it attacked.
    She continued walking in the direction of the town.   Certainly by now she would be able to find some sign of humans.   Without the wind, the air disclosed little to her powerful sense of smell.   Yet there was that cloying stench of oni she could not shake.   She looked around but saw nothing that would suggest a demon.
    The hackles on her neck rose, and she felt herself begin the metamorphosis from human to tiger.   “Not now,” she whispered, forcing herself back into human form.   She needed to keep her wits about her if there were indeed an oni present.
    Kasumi kept walking, looking around.   She heard a caw from a crow and glanced up.   Crows were normally daylight birds, which made her pause.   The crow was a few feet away from her in an older pine.
    “Karasu,” she said, wondering why the crow was still here.
    Go back, Neko, the crow spoke plainly in her mind.   You are hunted…
    I must get to the temple of Kuan Yin, Kasumi said.
    You are on the wrong path.   There is nothing but danger ahead.
    Kasumi frowned.   She wondered if the crow were a Tengu.   They were notoriously deceptive creatures but, like all kami, could be helpful.   She wondered if the crow spoke the truth about the temple.
    As she pondered the crow’s words, she saw movement above her.   There, among the branches, lurked a shadow.   It began to coalesce as she stared at it.   She backed up as the oni grew in form.
    A samurai would not run, but Kasumi was also a Neko.   She knew the folly of facing a demon alone in the darkened forest.   She had been at an advantage on the ship on the sea.   An oni was strongest when its victim was alone and could not receive help.   She turned and fled back down the path.
    She chose to stay in human form as she ran.   As a tiger, the burst of speed would be more than a human, but it would only be for a little while and she would exhaust her reserves and have to rest.   The oni could outrun her in her human form eventually but might not have the stamina.   Even so, she longed for the power of her tiger form.   She could possibly sprint away for a while.
    Dread washed over her as she ran; her pulse hammered in her ears as she pushed herself to run as fast as she could.   The stench of oni surrounded her, and she felt herself weakening as the demon-sickness roiled in her stomach.   If she could only find her way back to the port…
    Suddenly a bright light blinded her, and she shrieked, throwing her hands up and slashing wildly with her katana.   Something else screamed behind her, and Kasumi whirled around, slicing deep into something dark and formless.   Demon blood splattered against her, and she cried out.   Before the demon could attack, something threw the bright light at the oni, and it screamed in agony before turning and fleeing into the forest.
    Kasumi looked up to see her rescuer and was surprised to see a woman bathed in gentle glowing light.   “Kuan Yin?” Kasumi whispered.
    “No, my child,” the woman said.   “I am Takeshi Ikumi.”

Chapter Nineteen
     
    “Takeshi-sama?”   Kasumi gasped.   What could the daimyo’s wife be doing in the middle of the forest?   Ikumi was lovely, with pale skin and long dark hair.   Her flawless face was timeless.   She wore a tunic and hakama like many samurai, with her two swords fastened to her obi.   If Kasumi could choose a woman who would embody the form of Amaterasu, the sun goddess, she thought it would have to be Takeshi Ikumi.   Kasumi had seen only one other woman come close to such beauty, and that was Kanayo, the Guardian.   Yet