A god had chosen to speak through her. The power was intoxicating.

Saika had been telling fortunes for many years now, but never once had a god chosen to speak directly through her. Even Saika didn’t understand the power she channeled when telling someone’s future, it just happened. Energy buzzed throughout her body and she spoke the words, but they weren’t her own. She saw the images, but not with her own eyes. She experienced the feelings, but they belonged to another.

Never in all her time practicing this particular craft had she been chosen by a god. It was another level entirely. How could she even begin to describe it? It was as though, for that brief moment, she was a god. The power of creation and devastation at her fingertips. Time was inconsequential. The mechanisms of mortals a mere trifle.

She wanted to experience it again.

It reminded Saika of the first time she was able to transform into a human. After hundreds of years as a fox of the void, slowly accumulating the power required to take the next step, the first and possibly biggest hurdle any kitsune would face. Not just any kitsune could transform. It was earned. Earned through countless years of hard work, sacrifice, cunning and know-how. Only the worthy could gain the ability, all others doomed to eternal life as a creature hunted by those they wished to become. Kitsune tails were said to grant the bearer strength. The more tails a kitsune had, the more strength to be gained. The closer they got to their goal, the more perilous it became.

But this was another level altogether.

Saika wondered whether she’d ever be able to take the final step on her journey. Climb over the last hurdle and transcend into a golden kitsune. It was the most difficult of all for a kitsune of the void, but she’d come this far and didn’t plan to give up yet. She just needed to get her orb back from that infernal little creature. Even the thought of him made her blood boil. As long as he had it, she was under his control, a fate only slightly better than death.

His time would come. She’d waited this long. She could wait a little longer. Kitsune were nothing if not patient.

The priests cleaned the shrine around her. Not a single one said anything about the spectacle that occurred days earlier. The sounds of brooms on dirt and the nearby bamboo fountain were the only noises in the otherwise silent shrine.

Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.

Saika excused herself to attend her other duties.

A good master of disguise was always prepared. In addition to her miko garb, one of her most useful outfits, she also had servant’s wear. She walked through the castle gates unnoticed. Nobody cared about servants.

A young samurai was training nearby. Three claw marks across his cheek scarred his otherwise unremarkable features, but that wasn’t what made her notice him. Something stirred deep within her.

He withdrew the sword hanging from his right hip and disarmed a man with a single swoop. He stood with both hands holding the sword up, waiting for someone, anyone, to attack him. A left handed samurai. Those were few and far between, and the most difficult to deal with for men who spent years training to defend attacks coming from the opposite side. No-one moved.

“Come on!” he screamed. One man took a tentative step forward, his sword raised. With a deft flick of his wrist the samurai turned his sword and hit the man on the forehead with the blunt edge. He fell to the ground, blood pouring forth. The samurai returned his sword to its sheath and held out a hand to help him up. They exchanged a few quiet words and he returned to the ranks, blood running down his face.

“Again.” The samurai once more placed his hand on his sword, and the same man stepped forth, this time with more confidence. The samurai drew, just missing the man as he stepped back. He pressed his advantage, swinging his sword in a flurry as the man stumbled backwards. Yet this time he managed to withdraw his own sword and defended himself, getting in a single cut in before he found himself at the pointy end of his master’s sword. He smiled at him, patting him on the shoulder as they returned to the rest of the men. They laughed and chatted amiably like friends.

“Alright, who’s next?”

Saika moved on. There were several samurai residences to her left and right, lining the path to the lord’s residence ahead. The main keep stood tall in the distance to her right, towering high above everything else on the flat plain the castle town was named for. A single man watched the horizon. They would be alerted to enemy forces long before they could reach the castle.

A young samurai stepped out of one of the residences to her left, talking to another man. He was in full armour, an ume flower on his kabuto. Saika had seen him before. They noticed each other at the same time.

Hirozaka Castle.

Saika put her head down and hurried along. The chances of him recognising her were slim, but not outside the realm of possibility.

She heard footsteps.

She picked up the pace.

The sound of shoes crunching on the dirt followed her. The residence was just a little further.

Mitsuhide had tasked her with finding out what type of man Yashiro Sou was. Was he a threat to the Kuroda, or could they use him to their own advantage? Was he going to retaliate for the taking of Hirozaka Castle, or was he going to wait and see what happened next? All of that would become mute if she was recognised before she even got in the door.

She slid open the door and stepped inside, right into something large and solid.

She looked up.

It was Sou.