The sky was cloudless blue, and the sun shone down without pity, white glare from the concrete banks of the river making the clouds of mosquitos almost invisible. Akiko wiped sweat from her forehead once more, and fanned herself with her hand in a desperate search for some relief.

It didn’t help, and the whine of the mosquitos got louder in her ears, overlaying the sound of the river, a constant growl of pain. She looked around for the steps up from the small park where she was sitting, but they had all collapsed, a few sorry fragments still clinging to the wall beyond shattered benches.

She turned back to the river, its surface churning, glistening in all colours, sweeping along plastics, sewage, and now and then the corpse of a dead animal. The stench was overwhelming, suddenly, and Akiko gagged, almost vomiting on her miko’s robes. The waves in the river became higher, its surface starting to buck, water and less pleasant things spraying out on to the bank as Akiko scrambled back, trying to get out of the way, but failing as something malodorous spattered on the white of her kimono.

The river was rising out of its channel now, a great blind snake, jaws gaping wide as its head waved through the sky as if seeking something. The river’s water formed its translucent body, with scales of ripples and oil sheen, and the hiss of the water was the creature’s voice, a cry of agony that filled Akiko with a mixture of pity and fear.

The giant head swung over her, and then paused, flickering back and forth as if it had almost found something. It shifted, and although it had no eyes Akiko was sure it knew she was there. It drew back, preparing for a lunge, and Akiko threw her hands up in front of her, one holding the kagurasuzu, as the snake lanced towards her.

And stopped, just short of the kagurasuzu. Akiko could see the water flowing within it, heavy with the corpses of fish, a sheen of oil spread over the top of its head, covering the places its eyes should have been. The roar of the water got louder yet, filling Akiko’s ears, deafening her, evoking more pity now, so much pity that Akiko felt tears well from her eyes and start to run down her cheeks.

She sat up in bed, the pouring rain roaring on the balcony outside, and willed her breathing to calm down. A dream, then. She got out of bed and pulled a yukata on, walking to the main room to look at the kamidana. Tamao’s goshintai was inside the small shrine now, the mask she had rescued from the old shrine was propped up behind it, and Akiko found herself looking at its impassive face as she thought over the dream.

The obvious interpretation was that she should go to the river and purify it, which seemed plausible enough. Given the amount of kegare she had seen in the area, it would be surprising if the river had escaped. But what was the kagurasuzu doing there, and why had she felt sorry for the kegare spirit? She waited a few moments, but no further enlightenment was forthcoming.

“Come on Tamao, you can talk to me now. Why not just tell me what to do?â€ she muttered, and then, worried that he might have heard, quickly bowed, clapped, and bowed.

It wouldn’t do to irritate him.