The Night Parade by Kathryn Tanquary

scratched the bug bites she’d gotten that morning as the color rose to her cheeks. If they’d been watching her the whole time, they’d have heard all the ridiculous things she’d said. “I had an errand to run.”
    â€œHere.” The little spirit held out a hand. “Come this way. I want to introduce you to my cousins. Most of them are older than I am, but we all love to have visitors.”
    Another little tree spirit, taller than the first, stepped out from behind its tree. “Most people only stop at the shrine, if they even come at all,” the second voice chimed in.
    From all the corners of the wood, tree spirits poked out their heads to watch the human girl. Some of them laughed, some blushed, but all seemed excited to wake up to a new face. One of the tallest spirits, nearly Saki’s height, held out a closed hand as if cradling a precious treasure.
    â€œI have something for you. I’ve been saving this all summer. I kept it up at the top of my branches where nothing could reach it. I wanted to give it to someone special, and you’re the first human we’ve seen in such a long, long time… Here, please take it.”
    Saki cupped her palms together and received a short branch covered in tiny white blossoms. The sweet scent of the flowers wafted up and filled the air with soft memories of spring.
    â€œFor me? Wow…thank you.” Saki’s smile was slow to bloom, but when she looked up to put the branch behind her ear, she saw it mirrored on the faces of every spirit in the grove. They were only flowers, but the sincerity of the smiles made them feel like so much more. The tall spirit clapped its hands together in delight, and for the first time since Saki began her journey, the trouble seemed worth it.
    The spirits led her farther into their grove, but Saki made sure to keep track of where the road had been in case she heard the fox return. The spirits took her past a bank of older trees. Once more, a decaying stink polluted the air.
    â€œWhat’s that smell?” Saki cupped a hand over her nose.
    The spirits exchanged glances and frowned. The first spirit she’d met pointed to the border of the grove. Through the shadows, the outline of a fallen tree jutted out against the vibrant landscape. All the soft colors of the evening stopped at the perimeter, and as with all of the trees, the fallen tree was much larger than it had seemed in the daytime. Though the form was obscured by darkness, Saki could see well enough to glimpse the writhing, twisting shapes that wove in and out of the decaying wood. The smell turned bitter, and Saki retreated a few paces back into the living grove. An uneasy guilt twisted in her stomach.
    â€œI should go back to the path and wait. I need to meet someone…”
    A burst of foxfire flared through the trees near the path. The soft light of the moon darkened, and the sky near the walls filled with great pillars of smoke. Saki narrowed her eyes for a better look. The plumes morphed and reshaped, spreading and sinking closer to the ground. The shape drew closer, and she realized the sky wasn’t filled with smoke but with hundreds of beating wings. Vibrations shook the trees and the earth beneath her. One by one, the tree spirits disappeared into the safety of their roots.
    Saki’s eyes were fixed on the swarming sky when fox fur brushed against her leg. The she-fox’s tails all stood at attention. Her ears were pushed back flat against her head. She bared her sharp teeth, and her inky black lips curled. Clenched tight in her jaws was an old metal key with a long tassel. She lifted her slitted eyes to the cloud of wings buzzing above them and growled.
    â€œWhat are those things?” Panic crept into Saki’s voice. She shielded her head with her hands and bent low to keep out of sight. “They won’t follow us into the shrine, right? Let’s hurry! Show me the way.”
    The fox