The Fox Fire Chronicles

Chapter Five

Luna drifts off to sleep on the night before her eleventh birthday celebration. She's revealed the secret of her identity to her oldest friend, Wess. Her mother, released from the tome that held her, appeared to him and allayed some of his fears. Still, she was uncertain of the direction their friendship would turn.

"Luna! Wake up! The Order is coming! You have to leave!"

The voice of Wess outside Luna's window roused her from bed. When she realized his exclamation, she grabbed for the satchel that held her dagger and her ishi, only to find it missing. She tries to calm herself before calling to her adoptive parents. "Mother! Father! Wake up!"

No response. She calls out again. Nothing. A sense of dread sweeps over her. She is alone. Knowing what she must do, she jumps out the window to take flight. Wess would undoubtedly want to come with her, and she would need the help if she were to survive.

"Excellent work, boy. Here's your gold," says a voice. It was a gruff voice that sounded of determination, passion, and age.

"Thanks," replied Wess as he ran off with the bloated coin purse.

Luna takes in the sight before her. At least fifty soldiers against a single unarmed eleven year old who can't cast anything more than a mild light spell. She was paralyzed with fear. Their leader, a brown-haired, middle-aged man handed his halberd to a fellow soldier, who handed him a silver dagger etched with religious symbols.

"What's the matter? Didn't your mother teach you how to leave a host?" The man's voice was filled with vengeance, and more. Hate. Cold, calculated hatred of this girl and what she was. "No? Too bad. I was hoping for a chase. No matter. I'll make it quick. After all, I'm not a cruel man, just one who knows his place in the world, as will you, soon."

The man moves toward her. Luna fights her fear long enough to try and run, but her adversary grabs her arm before she can escape, and pulls her close. He leans close to her ear and whispers to her, "Wake up."

He raises the dagger and begins to bring it down on her neck. Before the blade digs in, she lets out one last scream...

---

And then she wakes up. She was drenched in sweat, and her adoptive parents came rushing through the trapdoor. "What happened?" Caesar asks.

"Are you all right?" inquires Amana worriedly.

"I'm fine," Luna replies, still breathing heavily. "I had a nightmare. That's all."

"Okay. You just scared us. What has you so upset? The last time you had a nightmare, it was when Tyrn told you that goblins had threatened to raid the village."

"There's no such thing as goblins, the fool," Caesar stated indignantly.

"And men can't be s--," Amana pauses, "Never mind. Is there anything you want to make you feel better?"

"Some time alone, please. I must talk with my mother. There is something I need to learn."

"Okay. We'll be downstairs if you need us."

As they exit, Luna picks up the tome her mother was sealed in. She begins to open it, but is stopped by a ethereal clawed hand on the cover. "It's just a book, now. It no longer holds my spirit. When the time comes, I will transcribe knowledge of some powerful spells unique to the kitsune, but until then, it's just a book."

"Mom, I want to learn how to come out of this body."

"It is time you learned more. I suppose we could start with that. Lie back down." Luna lies back down on her bedroll, and looks toward her mother for more instructions. "When your spirit is separated from your body, it will have nothing controlling it. You don't want any bruises from hitting the floor when your body goes limp. Have you learned how to concentrate energy to cast spells?"

"Yes. That's the first thing I learned. That's what you have to do to cast a light spell."

"Good. Your mother does have some sense of the fundamentals of magic. More than most humans, anyway. What you'll have to do is something similar to that, but with your spirit and life force instead. Concentrate on your emotions, rather that energy. That's how I learned. Focus them at one point. Your chest will be the easiest point for now."

"Then what?"

"Then you draw it out of you, just like the light ball. The rest will be instinctual. Trust me."

Luna begins to focus her spirit as her mother instructed, cupping her hands at her chest. When she gathers her life force, she draws it out. She holds the sphere that forms in her hands above her chest. It was a brilliant blue, and appeared to be aflame. "It's beautiful."

"It is called your hoshi no tama. Your star ball. It is your life force. Your soul."

"I'm holding my life in my hands?"

"Literally. Now, separate your consciousness from your body. Let it flow into your star ball."

Luna does as instructed, concentrating on separating her mind from her body. As her consciousness leaves her body, her arms go limp. The blue flame she held hovers in place.

As her consciousness manifests in the star ball, Luna is disoriented by the feeling of weightlessness. She looks toward her mother, but realizes that she can see the whole room at once. She focuses on moving to the floor at the foot of her bed, and begins to drift to the location. What Now? Luna thinks, realizing she doesn't have any more instruction.

Form an image in your mind of your kitsune form. Recall my aspect when I appeared to Wess. Luna hears her mother's voice, even though she hadn't spoken.

She focuses, thinking not back to how she looked then, but to what her mother looked like when she first appeared to her. Her spirit body forms, humanoid, but with a fox head and tail. Focusing further, she begins to manifest a physical form. Her body shifts from ethereal to flesh, with skin and fur and bones.

"My, child. You are talented," her mother remarks. "It took me years to learn that. But you need clothes it you're going to go around like that."

Luna looks down at her white fur. Realizing she was nude, she tries her best to cover herself up.

"Don't worry. I'm the only one who's here. I am your mother, you know." She walks to the wardrobe and pulls out a nightgown. "Here."

"Thanks. I didn't even realize."

"I know. The fur keeps you warm. You were essentially clothed, just in nature's own way. Humans and their silly decency rules."

"Hey, I was raised as human. This is the first time I've done something that proves I'm not. By the way, could I manifest as human? Could I just abandon my body altogether?"

"No, you are too young. Four years, and you'll be able to."

"When I turn 15?"

"When you turn one hundred."

"But I'm not that old!"

"A hundred is not old for us kitsune. It's barely adolescence. If a hundred was old, I would be a fossil. I'm over nine hundred years old, remember?"

"Right. Why can't I remember anything from before?"

"Because the mind of the child you possessed was too young. In kitsunetsuki, our minds are melded with our host. Your host had no memories, so you had no memories. Besides, you were still a kit. You were only a bit more mature than the child. You were a toddler as opposed to a newborn. Does that make it easier to understand?

"A little."

"Come, child. Let us take a walk."

"But what if someone sees us?"

"I will cast an illusion over us. We will appear human."

"But what about curfew?"

Her mother hesitates. She had not thought of this before. "You are right. It's too risky. We will wait until Sunday evening. The soldiers have their prayer meeting after they make last rounds. That's when we'll leave."

"I thought there were always guards on duty."

"There are supposed to be, but apparently human religion takes precedence over duty. You have such strange customs. I'll never be able to understand them all."

"Well, I do."

"That's fine. I'm not criticizing for that. Of course, you don't seem to be all that into the religion, either."

"Yeah. I just don't... get it. It doesn't make much sense to me."

"I am the same way. I've seen power in religion, but it comes from the same magic that any mage harnesses. It's just another form."

"Really? What kind of power?"

"For instance, weapons inscribed with 'holy' runes, said to banish evil from the world. They are particularly effective on those of us who aren't human, and against things with no physical form. Nekos and Vargrs are similarly vulnerable to them."

"What are those?"

"Vargrs are people who can send their spirits into dogs and wolves. They are also called Wargs. Normally, if you kill the animal they inhabit, their spirit returns to their body, and they resume life as before. If you kill their body while they possess an animal, their spirit is trapped in the animal, and they cannot leave it. If the animal they possess is killed with a blessed blade, their spirit is lost as well, and both possessor and possessed die. Nekos are cat people. Not all that special, but they aren't 'normal' in the sense of being human, so they can be killed by even a scratch from such blades.

"Oh. So we aren't the only things that are different?"

"No, dear. You aren't as alone as you may think. But I digress. It is almost sunrise. You need to get what rest you can. Go back to sleep. We will rouse you when you need to get ready."

"Okay. By the way, did you get me a present?"

"You'll just have to see."