The door exploded inward.
Wood cracked.
The tea shop filled with splinters.
Hana screamed.
Katsurane moved before the first piece of timber hit the floor.
His sword flashed.
CLANG!
Steel met steel.
The stranger who had been standing outside was thrown backward into the street.
Musha heard six more footsteps rush forward.
"Stay behind me!" Katsurane shouted.
Musha didn't move.
Not because she was afraid.
Because something was wrong.
She could hear them.
Every one of them.
Their feet.
Their breathing.
Their clothes brushing against the walls.
The weight of their weapons.
The tiny shifts in their balance.
But beneath all of it—
Something else.
A low vibration.
The mountain.
Thum.
Musha's palm burned.
"Katsurane."
"Stay back!"
"They're surrounding us."
"I know."
"No."
Musha turned her head.
"You don't know how many."
Katsurane went silent.
"Six in front," Musha said. "Two behind the shop. Three on the roof."
A pause.
"And one…"
Musha's face tightened.
"One isn't breathing."
Katsurane's eyes narrowed.
A blade came through the wall.
SHNK!
Katsurane shoved Hana aside.
The sword missed her throat by an inch.
The wooden wall burst open.
A masked warrior stepped through.
Musha heard him inhale.
His heartbeat was slow.
Too slow.
He moved.
Katsurane intercepted him.
Steel rang through the tea shop.
CLANG!
Musha backed away.
Hana grabbed her arm.
"Come with me."
"No."
"Musha!"
"I can hear them."
Hana froze.
Musha's voice was strangely calm.
"They're afraid."
"Who?"
"The men outside."
Another clash of steel.
Katsurane grunted.
The masked warrior drove him backward.
Musha heard his sandals scrape across the floor.
"Katsurane!"
"Don't!"
His voice cracked like thunder.
"Do not come closer!"
Musha clenched her teeth.
Then she heard it.
A heartbeat behind her.
Hana's heartbeat.
And another heartbeat beneath it.
Someone had entered through the back.
Musha spun.
A blade sliced through the air.
She ducked.
The weapon passed over her head.
Hana screamed.
Musha rolled across the floor.
The attacker stepped inside.
His mask was close enough that she could hear his breathing.
Slow.
Controlled.
He was smiling.
Musha couldn't see it.
But she could hear it.
"You really are blind."
Musha pushed herself upright.
The man raised his sword.
"But your mother made sure you wouldn't stay helpless."
Musha froze.
"What did you say?"
He swung.
Musha moved.
Too slow.
The blade cut across her sleeve.
Pain flashed along her arm.
She stumbled backward.
A warm line spread across her skin.
Blood.
Her blood.
The man stopped.
Musha touched her arm.
Her fingers came away wet.
Something inside her went completely still.
The forest.
The village.
The man's breathing.
Hana's frightened heartbeat.
Katsurane's sword.
Everything seemed to drift away.
The mountain remained.
Thum.
The white mark in her palm burned hotter.
The masked man took one step closer.
"Now you're angry."
Musha's fingers tightened around her staff.
"I am."
He raised his sword.
"Good."
He attacked.
Musha heard the movement.
But this time—
Something changed.
The world did not become brighter.
It became deeper.
She felt the floor beneath her feet.
The grain of the wood.
The vibrations traveling through the boards.
The man's weight shifting forward.
His right foot.
His shoulder.
His wrist.
The blade.
All of it connected.
For one impossible heartbeat, Musha knew exactly where everything was.
She moved.
The sword passed beside her cheek.
Her staff struck the man's wrist.
CRACK.
He dropped the weapon.
His heartbeat jumped.
"What—?"
Musha struck his knee.
He fell.
Before he could recover, she spun and slammed the end of her staff against his chest.
He flew backward.
He crashed through the broken doorway and rolled into the street.
Silence.
Even Katsurane stopped fighting for half a heartbeat.
Musha stood frozen.
Her chest rose and fell.
She hadn't seen him.
She had felt him.
The masked warrior groaned.
Then another voice came from outside.
"What happened?"
The fallen warrior pushed himself upright.
His breathing was no longer calm.
He sounded afraid.
"She…"
He looked toward Musha.
"…she sensed me."
The others went silent.
One of them whispered:
"Impossible."
Another answered:
"Not impossible."
A third voice came from farther away.
"It's beginning."
Musha heard the fear in them.
Real fear.
Not fear of a child.
Fear of something else.
She stepped toward the doorway.
"What are you talking about?"
No answer.
Musha raised her voice.
"What did my mother do?"
One of the warriors rushed forward.
Katsurane intercepted him.
CLANG!
Another attacked from the side.
Katsurane turned.
His sword struck twice.
The first blade fell.
The second attacker staggered backward.
"Run!"
The warriors began retreating.
Katsurane stared after them.
"They're leaving?"
Musha listened.
"No."
She tilted her head.
"They're moving around us."
Katsurane's expression hardened.
"Everyone down."
The roof collapsed.
Wood and dust crashed into the room.
Hana screamed.
Musha grabbed her hand.
"Move!"
They ran.
A shadow landed where Musha had been standing.
Another warrior.
He was different.
His movements were slower.
He didn't attack immediately.
Musha could hear his breathing.
Calm.
Steady.
Almost respectful.
He lowered his weapon.
"You don't remember."
Musha stopped.
"Remember what?"
"Your birth."
Katsurane stepped between them.
"Enough."
The warrior looked at him.
"You still protect her."
Katsurane's voice became cold.
"Always."
The warrior laughed quietly.
"You should have killed her."
Musha's face changed.
Katsurane's sword moved.
The warrior barely avoided the strike.
Steel flashed through the room.
The fight was faster than anything Musha had ever heard.
Two swords.
Two bodies.
One rhythm.
Katsurane's breathing remained controlled.
The stranger's did not.
Then—
Katsurane struck.
The warrior dropped to one knee.
His sword clattered away.
Katsurane placed his blade against the man's throat.
"Who sent you?"
Silence.
"Answer me."
The warrior smiled.
"You already know."
Katsurane's jaw tightened.
"Who?"
The warrior's eyes shifted toward Musha.
"The Crimson Shadows."
Musha's head tilted.
She had never heard the name.
Katsurane's expression changed.
Only slightly.
But Musha noticed.
"You know them."
Katsurane didn't answer.
The warrior laughed.
"Tell her."
Katsurane pressed the sword closer.
"Tell her what?"
"That her mother was afraid of them."
Musha stepped forward.
"My mother?"
The warrior looked at her.
"Yes."
"What did she fear?"
The warrior's smile faded.
"Not us."
He looked toward the mountain.
"She feared what would happen if they found you."
Musha's heart pounded.
"What am I?"
The warrior didn't answer.
Instead, his eyes dropped to her hand.
The white mark was glowing.
His face drained of color.
"No…"
Musha looked down.
The mark pulsed.
Once.
Twice.
Then—
Thum.
The entire village trembled.
Everyone froze.
The warrior whispered:
"She awakened."
Katsurane's sword lowered slightly.
"What did you say?"
The warrior stared at Musha.
Not with hatred.
With terror.
"The White Shadow."
Musha's breath caught.
"What is that?"
The warrior backed away.
Katsurane grabbed his collar.
"Answer her."
The man shook his head.
"You don't understand."
"What?"
"You're not protecting her."
He looked at Katsurane.
"You're protecting everyone else from her."
Musha went silent.
Katsurane's expression hardened.
"Enough."
The warrior smiled.
Then—
He bit down.
Katsurane reacted instantly.
He struck the man's jaw.
Too late.
The warrior's body went limp.
Hana gasped.
Musha stood motionless.
"What happened?"
Katsurane checked the man's pulse.
Nothing.
"He's dead."
Musha swallowed.
"Why would he kill himself?"
Katsurane slowly stood.
"Because he was more afraid of what would happen if he talked."
Musha's hand trembled.
The white mark slowly faded.
She looked toward the mountain.
There it was again.
That impossible heartbeat.
Thum.
Then another.
Thum.
Closer.
Musha whispered:
"Katsurane."
"Yes?"
"What is the White Shadow?"
He didn't answer.
Musha turned toward him.
For the first time, anger entered her voice.
"I asked you a question."
Katsurane stared at her.
Then at the blood running down her arm.
Finally, he said:
"Something your mother died trying to protect."
Musha's breath stopped.
Katsurane sheathed his sword.
"And if you want to know what it is…"
He looked toward the Sacred Mountain.
"…you'd better hope it stays asleep."
From deep beneath the earth—
THUM.
Musha's palm burned again.
And this time, the voice didn't whisper her name.
It whispered:
"Wake."