Page 34 of Night of the Dragon

I spotted the Moon Clan daimyo near the palace wall, surrounded by a ring of female majutsushi, their hands glowing with light and their voices rising in a unified chant. Kiyomi-sama knelt in the center of the circle, palms raised and eyes closed, as power pulsed and flickered around her.

“Kiyomi-sama.” I halted outside the circle of mages, who eyed me warily but did not stop chanting. “The demons have broken through and are coming for the palace. You should escape, hide—”

“No.” The daimyo’s voice was calm. “This is my city and my people. It is my duty to protect them. I will call on the Kami for aid. Hopefully they will hear my plea and respond.” Her eyes opened, dark and determined, gazing up at me. “You must keep the demons away from the palace, Yumeko-san. Give me the time I need to call for help. Do not let them through.”

“We can do that,” Reika said, appearing beside me. Reaching into her haori, she withdrew a handful of ofuda and spun, striding to the top of the steps. Below, in the courtyard, the hoard of demons and yokai were beginning to push through, the samurai falling back as they gave ground.

“Reika!” I sprinted toward her as the shrine maiden slapped an ofuda onto one of the pillars at the top of the steps. She whirled, thrusting a pair of ofuda into my hands, and then Okame’s as he joined us.

“Put those on the pillars,” she snapped, pointing to the columns at each corner of the covered veranda where we stood. “Hurry!”

I did as she asked, jogging to the red pillar and pressing the ofuda strip onto the wood, where it adhered itself to the column like the back was covered with sticky rice.

As I started for the second pillar, a noise echoed overhead, raising the hair on the back of my neck and making my stomach drop in terror. A booming, screaming wail that seemed to come from the throats of a dozen monsters at once. I looked up as something huge and terrible dropped from the sky, landing with a crash in the center of the courtyard.

My bones melted into mochi as I stared up at the monstrous form of an enormous serpent dragon, towering over the army of samurai. It had eight terrible, snakelike heads that writhed and coiled about like they had minds of their own. Horns grew from each head, spines bristled down its back, and its tail was split into eight writhing limbs that whipped and thrashed around its scaly body. It raised all its heads and wailed again, making the air tremble and causing a few samurai to clutch at their skulls.

“The Orochi,” I heard Reika breathe, the horror in her voice palpable. Snapping out of her daze, she glared at me and Okame as Chu roared his defiance to the massive creature looming in the courtyard. “Okame-san, Yumeko-chan, we have to hold this position. We can’t let that monster get close to Kiyomi-sama!”

She raised two fingers to her face, closed her eyes and whispered a few words in the language of the kami. The ofuda on the columns glowed, then flared to life. A shimmering barrier expanded outward, surrounding us, the majutsushi and the Moon Clan daimyo in the center.

As I turned back to the dragon creature, two smaller figures leaped off its back and landed in front of its clawed legs. My blood chilled as I recognized the pair of slender bodies and their matching dark braids that nearly touched the ground. The duo stepped forward, identical grins stretching their almost childlike faces. It was the scorpion twins, the yokai sisters who had attacked the Steel Feather temple with Genno. The ones who had killed the daitengu for the temple’s piece of the scroll.

“Please excuse us!” one called as she and her sister loosened the deadly spiked chains at their waists and began to spin them in glittering circles. “Apologies for dropping in so suddenly.”

Her sister grinned. “We’re just here to slaughter you all and kill your daimyo. We hope you don’t mind.”

With a yowl that shook the ground, the Orochi whipped its tails at the samurai rushing to surround them, smashing men aside like sake bottles. Its heads snaked down to seize and crush warriors in its jaws, then hurl them away. The scorpion twins leaped forward, spiked chains swinging in lethal arcs, scything through men and armor like they were made of straw. Demons and yokai swarmed around them, flinging themselves at the rapidly diminishing human ranks, tearing into them with fang and claw and blade. As the samurai fell, the Orochi gave a booming roar and lunged, barreling through the ranks of warriors, coming right for us.

18

The Nightmare

TATSUMI

Iremembered Akumu.

Akumu the Nightmare. The third demon general of Jigoku. Of the four of us, he wasn’t the strongest, or the most savage, but he was the one oni I had to watch my back around. Akumu was cunning, more intelligent than he let on, and far too ambitious for my liking. In Jigoku, he had followed me because he respected strength, and I was smart enough not to let his schemes get out of hand. Yaburama had always been a savage, mindless brute, strong but easy to control, and my second general, Rasetsu, had been powerful enough to pose a threat, but he’d lacked the ambition to challenge me. Akumu had always been pushing, testing. He’d never challenged openly, but he had always resented the fact that I had been First Oni, and if there had ever come an opportunity to get rid of me, he would’ve taken it in a heartbeat.

And now there was no question. I would either kill him, here and now, or he would smash me into pulp for all the years he’d wanted to in Jigoku. Only one of us would walk away from these gates tonight.

I glanced at the noble, who walked up calmly beside me, his own blade unsheathed. “Are you certain you want to do this, Taiyo? Akumu is a lot tougher than Yaburama was. One mistake and we’re both dead.”

The Taiyo gave a half smile. “I have learned much since I last fought an oni lord,” he stated quietly. “And it is not yet my time to die. I have a vow to keep, a promise that I will not break. So, come, Kage-san.” He raised his sword so that the light gleamed down the razor edge. “Let us fell this foul demon and return to those who need us.”

Akumu chuckled and took one thunderous step forward, raising his twin tetsubo. “That easy, is it?” He smiled.

And lunged.

Daisuke and I split, dodging aside, as the oni’s clubs came smashing down in an explosion of dust, shattering rock and stone where they landed. Immediately, I circled around, targeting the thick calves and ankles. Even a monster like Akumu couldn’t fight if he couldn’t walk. But Akumu pivoted with surprising grace, taking his legs out of harm’s way, and brought both tetsubo down like he was playing a drum. I dodged and spun as the clubs beat the earth around me, coming within inches of leaving a bloody smear over the ground.

“Isn’t this fun, Hakaimono?” Akumu laughed, as we continued our ridiculous dance over the battlefield. Anger and frustration flared; I needed to get close if I was going to stab anything vital, but the oni wasn’t stupid, using his greater reach to his full advantage. Though the tight quarters and narrow streets were slowing him down a bit. The shops and houses lining either side of the road offered some cover from a rampaging oni, provided he didn’t decide to smash right through them.

“I must admit, Hakaimono,” Akumu went on, “I feel almost bad for you. It’s disgusting being so small and human, isn’t it? I don’t know how Rasetsu agreed to such a thing. Oh, and don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about your little human friend. He can die, too, right about now!”

Akumu half turned, smashing one club down at the figure darting behind him. Daisuke threw himself aside, and the tetsubo struck deep into the earth, missing the noble by inches. He rolled to his feet and quickly sprang back, and we retreated a few paces as Akumu watched us, grinning.

“All the oni lords knew about this,” I growled. “Rasetsu, as well. It’s part of whatever bargain Genno made with O-Hakumon. What is he planning, Akumu? Tell me!”

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