Page 33 of Night of the Dragon

With a splintering crash that shook the ground, the gates flew inward. Samurai were flung away, shredded and torn apart with the explosion or knocked into trees or buildings with sickening cracks, as something massive appeared in the destroyed frame. Bigger than Yaburama, his skin was the blue of a drowned infant, and a tangled black mane fell down his back and shoulders. Four huge tusks curled from his jaws, glowing horns crowned his forehead, and his eyes burned with malevolent fire as they peered down at us. He held two giant tetsubo, one in each of his clawed hands, and he dragged the spiked clubs through the earth as he lumbered forward, raking deep gouges behind him. Our gazes met, and a slow smile spread across his brutish face. He recognized me. I knew him, as well.

Akumu, Nightmare of Jigoku, the third oni general of O-Hakumon himself.

Behind Akumu, the flood of demons, yokai and tainted kami let out deafening roars of bloodlust and surged into the city.

17

Protecting the Daimyo

Yumeko

Istared at the massive oni in fear and horror. It was huge, about twenty feet tall, with fiery obsidian horns, a tangled black mane and an enormous spiked club held in each of its claws. With the exception of Hakaimono in his true form, it was the biggest demon I’d ever seen. Worse, behind him came Genno’s army, swarming through the splintered gates and setting upon the warriors who had been defending it. They would wreak havoc throughout the city, and a lot of people were going to die, but that oni was the biggest problem now.

The oni stepped through the gates, ignoring the smaller demons and yokai that swarmed around its feet, and casually smashed its club into a group of archers firing at it from atop the wall. Its cruel red gaze fell on Tatsumi, standing in the center of the road, and its brutish mouth curved in a smile.

“Hakaimono.” The oni’s voice made the air tremble, and another swipe of its club sent a pair of charging samurai flying into a wall. “So, the rumors are true. The great general has been reduced to sharing a body with a weakling mortal.”

Tatsumi drew Kamigoroshi in a flash of purple light. “When did Genno summon you, Akumu?” The words sent chills up my back; it was Tatsumi’s voice, low and controlled, but it was also Hakaimono’s, an eager bloodlust pulsing just below the surface. “Yaburama I could understand—of the four of us, he was the weakest and stupidest. What did Genno promise to get you to help him and not laugh in his arrogant mortal face the second you arrived in Ningen-kai?”

The huge oni, Akumu, snorted. “I follow Lord O-Hakumon’s commands,” he stated. “The mortal is a tool to carry out the ruler of Jigoku’s will. Lord O-Hakumon agreed to allow Genno’s soul to return to Ningen-kai, if the blood mage would do him a service in return.”

“What?” Tatsumi actually took a step back, sounding stunned and furious. “The Lord of Jigoku knows better than to bargain with the souls of the damned,” he snarled. “He knows the consequences could unravel the stability of all the realms, from Jigoku to Ningen-kai to Meido. What kind of game is O-Hakumon playing?”

Akumu chuckled. “You would know, if you hadn’t been stuck in Kamigoroshi all these centuries, Hakaimono. The Lord of Jigoku is eternally patient, but even he could not wait for you any longer.” He bared his fangs in a sneer and raised his twin clubs. “Perhaps when you die with the rest of these mortals, your soul will be reborn in Jigoku this time and not sucked back into Kamigoroshi. Then you can ask O-Hakumon what you’ve been missing.”

He lifted a club skyward, raised his head and let out a roar that shook the ground and made the air shiver. “Demons!” he boomed. “Yokai! Take the city! Tear it apart! Reach the heart of this sanctuary and leave no one alive.”

“No!” I whispered, but my voice was lost in the howl of the army as they swarmed into the streets, scaling roofs and swooping overhead. The oni took two enormous strides forward, momentarily blocking out the sun, and brought one tetsubo sweeping down with a snarl.

Tatsumi leaped back, the tetsubo crushing a massive hole in the center of the road. With his other arm, Akumu lashed out and swept the second club into a trio of samurai, smearing them across the stones.

“Tatsumi!” I cried as the oni threw back his head with a triumphant bellow. “The army is heading for the palace!”

He shot me a split-second glance, concern flashing in his eyes for just a moment. “Go!” he told me, sweeping his hand out. “All of you! Get to the palace, protect the daimyo and the people. I’ll deal with the oni.”

“Tatsumi...” I wavered a moment, my heart twisting around my ribs before I made my decision. “I trust you,” I whispered, backing away, though the ache in my heart made it difficult to breathe. “Be careful.”

He couldn’t have heard me, but his gaze flicked to mine all the same, solemn and grim, and he nodded.He’ll be all right, I told myself.No demon will ever beat him. I have to trust he’ll come back.

“Reika!” I cried, whirling to find the shrine maiden. “Let’s go! We have to get to the palace before the demons do!”

“Chu!” called the miko, and the komainu bounded to her side in a blur of red and gold. Reika threw herself onto his back and turned to me, holding out a hand. Heart pounding, I grabbed her arm, and she hauled me up behind her. The komainu’s coat was smooth, his mane silky and light, and he radiated heat, as if a fire pulsed just below muscles and fur.

“Hang on!” Okame jogged forward and threw himself onto the shrine guardian’s back behind me. “I can’t do much against that big bastard,” he muttered as we stared back at him. “But I can pick off a whole lot of ankle-biters before they can reach the palace. Taiyo-san!” he called, and pointed a finger at the noble a few yards away. “It is not time for that glorious death, peacock,” he warned as, with a jolt, I realized Daisuke was staying to fight the oni lord with Tatsumi. “I can’t stop you,” the ronin went on, his voice shaking a little, “but you’re not allowed to die without me. Cut this thing down and then find me again. I expect one final drink before we meet on the other side.”

Daisuke met Okame’s gaze and gave a solemn bow. Then with a sharp word from the miko, Chu sprang into the air, powerful muscles carrying him onto the roof of a building. With another leap, he soared over a burning fallen tree, landed on the roof beyond and bounded in the direction of the palace.

Demons and yokai swarmed below us, a shrieking, chaotic mass. They skittered down the roads, setting things on fire, attacking any living creature they came across. I saw kami fleeing in terror from the approaching demons, kodama scurrying through the tree branches and leaping onto roofs, frantically trying to escape. My heart twisted as I saw a trio of amanjaku chasing a girl with fox ears and a tail through the streets, the light gleaming off their curved blades and spears as they drew closer.

“Reika!” I cried as the ronin raised his bow and put an arrow through the skull of the nearest demon, sending it crashing to the road with a shriek. The remaining two glanced up with angry snarls and drew their spears back to hurl them at us.

“Banish!” the miko cried, and flung an ofuda at the remaining amanjaku. The holy talisman streaked toward the demons and exploded in a flash of brilliant light, causing the amanjaku to scream and flinch away, before writhing into clouds of reddish-black smoke and fading on the wind.

I looked up, but the kitsune girl was gone, vanished into the chaos and confusion. I hoped she was all right, that she possessed her own bit of fox trickery to keep her safe, but there was no time to look for her. Something swooped by us—the head of an old woman wreathed in flame, heading for the palace—and Chu lunged at it with a snarl. One clawed forepaw swatted the yokai from the air, causing it to crash headfirst into a stone wall and crumple lifelessly to the ground. With a triumphant snort, the komainu spun and bounded for the palace again.

The fighting was thick as we approached the center of the city. Soldiers and samurai clashed with demons, bakemono and monstrous yokai, desperately trying to hold them back. Smaller fires had started, orange flames flickering across rooftops and catching trees alight. Winged demons and yokai swooped overhead, breathing fire or snatching warriors from the ground, and arrows and spears flew through the air, trying to bring them down. Chu bowled his way through a group of yokai in the road, crushing several or knocking them aside. Okame shot another pair charging at us, and Reika hurled an ofuda into the road with a cry of “Light!” In the brilliant flash that followed, we raced through the gap in the mob of demons, leaped over the line of samurai holding the courtyard and galloped up the steps to the palace.

“Kiyomi-sama!” I cried, as Chu skidded to a halt at the top of the steps. A covered veranda stretched away to either side, surrounding the front of the palace, with thick red pillars holding up the roof. Archers and samurai clustered at the railings, protecting the palace entrance, and glared at us as we bounded past. “Kiyomi-sama, where are you?”

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