The Phoenix

By Shiba Ryu

The body of Isawa Tsukao-sensei lay in a pool of his own blood that blackened but refused to clot, staining and defiling the floor of the shrine. My lifelong friend, Isawa Sukano, stood by my side. The Inquisitors were on their way, but I knew that the tsukai responsible would be long gone by the time they arrived.

I am Isawa Shoten, Magistrate of the Emerald Champion. My skill with common criminals is unrivaled, but I had not dealt with a tsukai before, and was certain I was outmatched. The culprit left no traces that I could find. Sukano was only marginally successful as a shugenja, but his skills in hunting and tracking rivaled most Phoenix samurai. I prayed that he would be able to follow the tsukai.

"Sukano, we must find Sensei's killer. Hurry, find his tracks so that we can give chase."

Sukano looked ill. "I am scared, Shoten," he told me. "This tsukai killed Tsukao-sensei. What chance do we have against him?"

"Sukano," I said, turning him by his shoulders and looking into his eyes, "our chances are slim, and our lives are nearly forfeit by taking this journey. But we must find this monster and hold him until the Inquisitors can arrive. It is the only chance there is to bring Tsukao-sensei's killer to justice, and we must do this."

Sukano's face was grim, but he nodded and stepped out of the shrine. "The tracks lead this way," he said, and then he set off through Mori Isawa. I followed close behind him.

"Open your senses, Sukano," I told him as I did the same. "Reach out and feel the kami, as Tsukao-sensei taught us. If a spell is cast, maho or otherwise, the kami will feel it before we would perceive it." I felt Sukano open his senses to the kami. I could sense his reaching for the kami, and he could sense me doing the same. As soon as anyone began to cast any spell, we would both know well before that shugenja could finish, and we would have ample opportunity to react.

Which is why he was so surprised when my wakizashi bit deeply into his back.

He did not die immediately; I am a shugenja and not very trained with the sword, I am afraid. I did, however, sever the tendons in his right arm, leaving him incapable of drawing his sword or his scrolls. He fell to the ground, rolled over and stared at me with shock and fear. And he stared at me with a face that I had never before seen.

"How?" the tsukai gurgled as his blackened blood filled his lungs. "Did you find my scrolls? Discover me killing Tsukao? Sense the Taint in my soul? What gave me away?"

"Your eyes," I said as I prepared to behead him. "Sukano's eyes were green."