Page 15 of Night of the Dragon

The Umibozu

Yumeko

Tatsumi grabbed me around the waist and leaped out of the crow’s nest, making me yelp in surprise as we sprang into the air. Grabbing one of the dangling ropes, he swung toward the deck, as behind us, the snap of timber echoed at my back. Tatsumi dropped to the deck amid screaming, panicking sailors and immediately spun, drawing Kamigoroshi in a flare of purple light. Pieces of the mast crashed to the deck, rigging and wooden planks clattering around us, adding to the pandemonium.

“Find the others!” he snarled, as the monstrous bulk of the umibozu turned. “I’ll keep it distracted for as long as I can.”

“Tatsumi—”

“Don’t worry about me—I’ll meet you in Ushima. Go!”

With a howl, Tatsumi sprang for the shadowy monster, dodging humans as he raced across the deck. The umibozu raised an enormous arm and brought it crashing down, palm open like it was trying to squash a spider. At the last moment, Tatsumi threw himself to the side of the giant’s hand, which struck the ship deck with the snapping of wood and splintering of planks. The ship rocked violently, nearly knocking me off my feet, and the screams of the humans grew louder.

Snarling, Tatsumi sprang for the shadowy arm as it was rising into the air again, and slashed Kamigoroshi across its wrist. A dark, watery substance sprayed from the umibozu’s arm, and the monster jerked, still making no sound, though its eyes, fixed on the demonslayer, now held a shadow of anger.

“Yumeko!”

I heard the arrival of our companions and spared them all a quick glance as they joined me on the shattered deck. Daisuke had his sword drawn, Okame his bow and Reika was clutching an ofuda, their faces pale as they stared up at the looming umibozu.

“Kuso,” the ronin breathed, sounding awed and horrified as he craned his neck back. “What the hell is that?”

“Umibozu.” The shrine maiden’s voice was resigned. “Great Kami, of all the creatures to meet on the way to the island...” She trembled, then shook herself and turned to the rest of us. “There’s no beating that thing. The ship is doomed, and everyone knows it. We have to find the lifeboats and get out of here, now.”

“What about Tatsumi?”

A shadow fell over the deck, as the umibozu raised one giant arm and brought it smashing down again. The boat bucked like a wild horse, and I collapsed to the deck. Its second arm swept down, hitting the mast, and the thick pole snapped like a twig and crashed to the deck, crushing two sailors beneath it.

“Abandon ship!” someone screeched in the swirling chaos. Wincing, I looked up to see the umibozu casually backhand a trio of sailors off the deck. They flew through the air, screaming, and plummeted into the dark waters below. I could no longer see Tatsumi through the scrambling mass of sailors around us, and worry for him twisted my stomach.

“Come on, Yumeko-chan!” A firm hand gripped my elbow, pulling me upright. Okame’s face was grim as he set me on my feet and held me steady as the ship bounced and shuddered. “This boat is going down—we need to get the hell out of here before it’s too late.”

I bit my lip, glanced once more at the enormous umibozu, and made a split-second decision.

“Keep going, I’ll catch up!”

“Yumeko!” Reika cried as I broke away from Okame and ran toward the bow of the ship. Toward the huge umibozu looming at the front.

As I drew closer, dodging sailors and humans going the other way, I could see the glow of Kamigoroshi beneath the shadow of the umibozu. I saw Tatsumi, his face set and determined, plant his feet as the giant’s hand descended toward him, palm open like it was going to squash him like a bug. As the limb came down, he braced himself and stabbed Kamigoroshi over his head, and the point of his blade impaled the umibozu’s palm and tore through the back. The force of the blow still smashed the demonslayer to the deck, the wood breaking and splintering beneath him. A jet of what looked like ink sprayed from the umibozu’s hand, but it didn’t jerk back or pull away. As I watched, heart pounding, the long fingers curled around the demonslayer and raised him into the air.

Terror shot through me, and somewhere deep inside, an icy flame roared to life, igniting in the pit of my stomach. My hand opened, a sphere of kitsune-bi flaring to my fingers. It burned white-hot against my skin, warping the air around it, brighter than anything I had conjured before. With a cry, I threw it at the monstrous form of the umibozu.

The globe of foxfire struck the monster’s elbow and exploded, and for the first time, a noise emerged from the previously silent umibozu. A wail like the howl of a typhoon or the screams of a hundred drowning men echoed into the night. It turned on me, dropping Tatsumi to the deck, the demonslayer forgotten. Bloodied and torn, Tatsumi struggled to his feet, his eyes widening as they met my gaze.

Overhead, the umibozu raised both fists and brought them down with the force of a lightning strike. The ship lurched violently, and I was thrown off my feet, splinters and wood flying around me, stinging like hornets where they hit my skin. Twisting through the air, I saw deck rushing up at me and braced myself, covering my face with my arms.

I hit the shattered planks and rolled, the ground spinning wildly, before I came to a breathless, dizzy halt on the deck. Wincing, hoping the nausea would fade soon, I tried pushing myself to my elbows, but a searing pain ripped through my side, like someone had jabbed the point of a knife between my ribs. I gasped, my hand going to the spot where the pain originated, feeling the rough edges of a long piece of wood jutting from my skin. When I pulled my hand away, my fingers were smeared with something shiny and dark.

Not good, Yumeko.My mind whirled, confused, knowing I was hurt but refusing to accept that I could be dying.Get up. Find...find Reika. She’ll know what to do...

“Yumeko!”

Tatsumi’s voice rang across the deck, angry and almost desperate. I looked up...just in time to see the umibozu drive its fist through the top of the ship. The vessel bounced wildly as it was ripped apart, and the planks beneath me disappeared. I plummeted into the darkness, terror rising in my chest, before I struck the ocean and the icy waters closed over my head.

The currents dragged me under, and I couldn’t find the strength to claw my way back to the air. I was sinking, cold and paralyzed, watching the surface get farther and farther away. Blackness crawled on the edges of my vision, a swarm of insects closing in, but looking up once more, I thought I could see a purple glow, coming steadily closer.

Then the darkness flooded in, and I knew nothing else.

PART II

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