Spirit's Chosen Read Online Free

while he and his men met with our nobles, I was told to entertain the Ookami chieftain’s son. As we walked, I quickly learned that his handsome face hid a callous and arrogant heart. He saw other people as his playthings, his tools, his slaves, their lives worth only what they could do to serve his desires. I was able to save myself from him with the spirits’ help, but the memory of his ruthless words still lingered.
    And now this ruthless man had led the conquerors of my clan. I shivered.
    “When the Ookami had done their work, they left, taking whatever they liked from us,” Master Michio went on. “Who was left to stop them? We’ll have a hungry winter, but it won’t be the last one. When we harvest the rice we plant next spring, they’ll send warriors back to claim as great a share as they please.” He sighed. “We serve the Ookami now.”
    I clenched my hands so tightly that the nails bit into my palms. “It isn’t true,” I said. “It can’t be. They defeated us, but we will not let them rule us. We will recover from this and cast them out of our lives. My kin are no one’s servants. Father, Aki, and Shoichi will rally our fighters and—”
    “No, Himiko.” Master Michio’s voice broke with sorrow. “No more. No … no more.”
    I could scarcely breathe. When I spoke, it was a hoarse whisper. “They are … gone?”
    My teacher said nothing, made no sign. He let silence confirm the horrible truth. Bitter cold seeped through me from my skin to the marrow of my bones. I felt Kaya’s arm encircle my shoulders, though I hadn’t seen her move. I saw nothing. I was alone in a dark place, a land of awful shadows and taunting laughter.

 
    Some time later, I realized that Kaya and I were by ourselves in Master Michio’s house. My friend still held me as a mother holds her drowsing child. I lifted my head from her shoulder slowly and looked around, confused.
    “Where is Master Michio?” I asked. My voice sounded distant and fuzzy.
    “He went out a little while ago,” Kaya answered.
    “Did he? And without a word to us? How strange …”
    “He tried speaking to you, but you didn’t hear him.” My friend’s eyes were sad. “I don’t think you could, after the shock he gave you.” She hugged me. “My poor Himiko. I wish I could have saved you from that.”
    “I’m surprised it hit me so hard,” I said. “Our clan was attacked. Father is—was our chieftain, Aki and Shoichi were grown men. They’d be the ones leading our warriors against the enemy. What was I expecting to hear? That by a miracle they would all survive the battle unharmed?I knew that was impossible, and yet”—a sigh shuddered through me—“and yet I still hoped for it. If that was wrong, the gods have taught me a hard lesson. Not one of them lives, not one.”
    I got to my feet and looked down at Kaya. “Will you come with me?”
    “Where are you going?”
    “I have to go home. I need to see what’s left. And then I must perform the rites for the spirits of my kin.”
    “But it’s getting dark outside, and Master Michio told us to wait here,” Kaya protested.
    “I’ve waited long enough. Come with me or stay behind, but I’m going.” I headed for the doorway.
    I had just ducked my head and stepped outside when I stumbled into our clan shaman returning from his errand. He was not alone.
    “Himiko?” My brother Masa looked like a ghost in the wintry twilight. It was too dim to see his expression, but his voice held a mixture of disbelief and joy. “Himiko, it
is
you! When Master Michio told me, I couldn’t believe—Oh, thank the spirits, you’re safe!”
    I fell into his arms and clung to him, shaking. I felt that if I let go, a whirlwind would sweep in and carry him away from me too.
    “What’s going on out there?” A gray-haired woman peered out of her nearby house and stared at us. A second house, this one with part of its roof gone, produced a young mother with a wide-eyed toddler on her