Below us, the whole hill was strewn with the corpses of the mercenaries, and the white smoke that came from the dead tigers floated in thick clouds over the ground. By the look of it, none had managed to get even close to the house. There was no sign of Toshiro, and I hoped he had taken himself inside to safety.
“Let’s go,” I said to Yasei. He walked with a heavy, dignified tread toward where Cara stood.
The remaining mercenaries cowered around her, less than thirty in total—the sole remainder of the ‘unbeatable’ Byakko company.
“Well, General Koshu,” I called up to the Samurai as we approached. “Have you anything more to say?”
“You... you will regret this!” he stammered. He was about to pull his horse’s head around and flee back up the valley, when the priest beside him spoke.
“Fool,” he said, in a surprisingly threatening voice for such a small, insignificant-looking man. “Fool! I will show you how to deal with these insolent swine. I... will... show... you...”
As his voice trailed off, I felt the familiar icy sensation in my belly. His voice had begun as a shrill, petulant squeal, but it deepened and expanded, adding layers and layers as if a huge hall full of people were shouting his words.
“We will have this land!” the voice roared, and in it there was every pitch imaginable, from the lowest guttural bellow to the highest lunatic screech.
“The Festering!” yelled Cara. “He is infested with the Festering!”
The priest was changing, growing, black mist swirling about him and coalescing on him as he transformed. His horse screamed, bucked, and then bolted in terror. The priest hung there in mid air, a wordless chant of a million voices building and pulsing through the valley.
“The Kanosuru!” yelled General Koshu in terror. He wheeled his horse and began to flee.
“Koshu! Stand your ground,” I yelled, then I turned my head and addressed the host of tigers behind me. “Stay where you are,” I told them, then rode Yasei over to where Cara stood. Koshu had checked his horse when he heard my voice, and now he and the remaining mercenaries all listened to my words as the priest’s hideous transformation continued.
“All of you!” I shouted. “Now you see the truth! The Kanosuru has infested your land, and you have been fooled by this man into fighting on the side of evil! Join with us now and make amends for fighting against us! Pick up your weapons and fight for the cleansing of your land!”
All but a few of the men leaped up and cheered, grabbing their helmets and weapons and sprinting away from the black cloud which contained the priest. Koshu himself wheeled his horse and rode toward me, but I could tell that the terror which always accompanied the Festering was taking its toll on all of them.
“Cara,” I shouted over the boom of the Festering’s chanting incantation, “your potion for resisting the fear! Do you have enough of it to treat these men?”
“I do,” she called back, “but I’m not sure I have the time!”
She sprang into action, giving some to General Koshu first, then doling out a drop onto the tongue of each man near here. I would have to hold off the priest if he attacked, but to my surprise, he didn’t do so immediately.
Darkness had filled the pleasant valley, and from all around there came a creaking, snapping, booming sound, like tree branches swaying and breaking in the wind. I looked around for the source of the noise, and all at once I saw hundreds of dark shadows coming up from the valley, but also pouring over the hill and down to join the others.
“It’s the trees!” I yelled over the racket. “The Festering has bound the trees!”
Chapter Thirteen
As we watched, the priest himself had transformed into a great ugly, deformed tree. Its wood was black and covered in suppurating wounds that leaked viscous green slime. From its branches, waves of Festering rolled out into the valley, and everything was being transformed into a gray, rotten, Festering version of itself. Only Toshiro’s house seemed immune, and as I glanced back, I saw the servants running back and forth inside. Defiant, they were hanging lanterns from the windows until the whole rambling building was ablaze with warm yellow light. I figured this was either a superstitious gesture, or the lanterns actually had some power to keep the Festering at bay.
“I’m done,” Cara said, running up to me. “I’ve treated everyone. They should be able to stand up to the enemy now.” She had removed her hood, and her blonde hair gleamed like a beacon in the filthy Festering darkness. All around, the trees were crowding toward us, and already they had formed a wall around the great horror that the priest of the Kitsune had transformed into.
“We’ll need to use everything we’ve got here,” I said to Cara.
“You think it’ll be enough?”
I flashed her a grin. “I’ve no intention of ending our adventures here, Cara. We’re just starting to have fun!”
She laughed, a clear, clean sound in that thick, dark air. The chanting of the Festering’s incantation stopped abruptly.
“Hop up,” I suggested, and Cara jumped up onto Yasei’s back behind me. Koshu had taken command of the remaining mercenaries, dismounting from his terrified horse and standing with them to lead them on foot. Both he and the mercenaries all glowed a faint yellow with the residual effect of the fear-dampening potion which Cara had given them.
“Fire’s going to be crucial in this fight,” I said. “Do you have enough fire potion?”
“That’s just it,” Cara said.
