Traitor's Hope by Virginia McClain

Author:Virginia McClain [McClain, Virginia]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy
ISBN: 9781974135936
Google: DG1aDwAAQBAJ
Amazon: B0755J9JPS
Barnesnoble: B0755J9JPS
Goodreads: 36166883
Publisher: Virginia McClain
Published: 2017-09-11T23:00:00+00:00

Taka stood at the edge of the camp, watching the fireball that Kusuko and Inari had let loose on the sanzoku and hoping that it would be enough to help Mishi escape. She marveled at what the two Kisōshi were able to accomplish together. The fire that they sent roaring through the camp was larger and more vicious than any flame she’d seen Mishi control. Kusuko’s fire, fanned by Inari’s wind, ate through the tents as though they were kindling. It had helped, Taka supposed, that they had started with the tent that held all the food stores, as well as the sake. The rice wine seemed to be adding fuel to the inferno, and the men in the camp couldn’t haul water fast enough to make even the smallest dent in the blaze.

She was so focused on the fire, and all it consumed, that she barely noticed the figure running into the woods just south of her. When she finally registered the movement, her legs took off without her mind even registering the command. Mishi was over a hundred tatami lengths away, but Taka felt as though she covered the distance in no time at all. One moment, she was seeing Mishi run from the camp, and the next, she stood before her lifelong friend.

Mishi smiled when she saw her.

“Taka-chan,” she said, her mouth a grin that showed all of her teeth.

Then she collapsed.

Taka cried out and leapt forward to catch her friend, but just barely managed to keep Mishi’s head from hitting a root as her body slammed into the forest floor. Fear gripped Taka’s stomach like a vise, but moments after she sent her kisō pushing into her friend’s body to assess the damage, she started to breathe easier.

She jumped, almost dropping Mishi’s head from her lap, when a deep, breathless voice directly behind her asked, “Is she all right?”

Taka swallowed the shout she wanted to direct at Mitsu for startling her so, but the concern in his voice gentled her reply.

“She’s fine. She’s exhausted, and she’s lost a bit of blood, but it’s nothing a bit of rest and a bandage won’t cure.”

“Thank all the kami,” said Mitsu. And then he truly shocked Taka by wrapping her in a very firm hug. “Thank you for coming after us, and bringing those two hishi with you.”

Taka laughed then, though she wasn’t sure if it was from Mitsu’s statement or simply from the release of tension now that she knew Mishi was safe.

“It would have been more difficult to leave them behind,” she said.

Mitsu released her and looked around the forest.

“We can’t stay here. Once they get that fire under control, they’ll remember us. And they may have scouts out looking for us already.”

Taka agreed, so she helped Mitsu hoist Mishi onto his back. Taka was the better runner, but she was too short to carry Mishi’s tall form for very long without allowing her legs to drag. Mitsu was at least as tall as Mishi, so he

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