Kaori -
“You must be observant. Do you understand what I mean?” Said the ash-haired woman standing over the girl.
“They can look like any of us, but they are not us. You must be quick to recognize irregularities, your life depends on it.” Yuki towered over the girl even though she weighed little more than eight stones and stood only half a bar tall.
The girl was attentive and over-serious for her age. It had only been a month since her mother died. Now her survival depended on her mother’s mother.
“Where will we live now?” Kaori asked.
“It is not safe to live where strangers gather. We will live in the woods.” Yuki’s brow furrowed as she explained the new situation.
Kaori had grown up in the comfort of courtyards and castle walls. The outside world was not unknown, but would be a challenge and represented a great hardship for the two of them.
Kaori learned early not to complain, it was a waste of energy. For several weeks they avoided contact with any travelers they saw. Over time they slowly expanded their circle to include those they trusted. Trust was a commodity traded like silver and gold.
...
From the second floor of the gatehouse Kaori looked down on the gathering of Oni. Since she was a small child these creatures had shaped her life and stolen her youth. Now they stood unaware of the strangers in their house. Perhaps today she could begin to earn back what was stolen.
Kaito of Shiro Sogen had lead the way as their band made its way through the captured village. He found the infirm and the over-worked resting unguarded in insect infested longhouses. So defeated were their spirits that they could not recognize their liberators when presented a chance for freedom. Unable to shake them of their fearful minds he moved on to a supervisor’s building where he found a bedraggled man preparing a meal for the soon returning miners. Kaito had nearly paid with his life for his lack of vigilance. He had given his trust too easily. Caught alone with a shape-shifter, his luck spilled out as from a broken vase.
Having managed to defeat the duo of Oni that has assaulted them, they liberated a handful of engineers. Kaori didn’t recognize any of the engineers, but she had seen familiar faces in the laborers in the camp. Another person might be overcome with emotion at such a reunion, but she had beaten those parts of her compassion to iron years ago.
...
A noise from the smelting house shook the red demons beneath her from their complacency. The plan was in motion. Whiskers, Takeshi, Mahaadi, Thane, and Kaito were waiting in ambush for the Oni in the smelting house. Two Oni had gone to the smelting house to see why the furnace was not sending smoke skyward. They triggered a trap the engineers had built for them.
The plan required patience on her part. The trio of Oni below her must commit to moving to the smelting house as well before she could attack. Her fingers ached to draw back the string of her bow. Discipline held her desires in check.
The plan unfolded as foreseen. The Oni on the ground reacted to the disturbance in the smelting house, but did not immediately rush to the building. Kaori watched as their muscles rippled with magical power and the shadows beneath them lengthened as they took flight.
Kaori had been so focused on the Oni she had not noticed that the barn doors to the smelting house had closed. Whatever was happening in the smelting house, her job was clear. Once the Oni committed to crossing the yard Kaori and Yuki could begin their attack. That time was now. Arrow after arrow the two women began to rain arrows down on their life-long nemesis.
The Oni bullied one of the captive men into opening the barn-style door to the big house then entered the dark bowels of the building. In the afternoon sun the opening looked to Kaori like the mouth of a great beast. It would swallow the demons and spit out their bones. At least that was the kernel of hope growing in her heart. The lessons of her childhood would now start to pay dividends.