Page 39 of Night of the Dragon

“The Orochi?” I asked in disbelief. My worry for Yumeko spiked, and I glanced toward the palace, hoping to see the flash of ears and a bushy tail. The eight-headed serpent of legend had popped up a few times in the history of the empire, and though heroes had fought and slain the monster each time, powerful blood mages were quite fond of summoning the dreaded Orochi simply because it was so nasty.

“Yeah.” The ronin bobbed his head once. “Orochi. That’s what they called the bastard. Kiyomi-sama managed to call on the Kirin for aid, but Reika-san held the barrier against the demons and the Orochi and gave her time to complete the ritual. We would’ve all been eaten had she not been there.”

“She died with honor,” Daisuke said solemnly. “That is all any of us can hope for in the end. Protecting the land and those we care about from the greater evil. I can only hope to follow her example.” He exhaled, closing his eyes as he bowed his head. “Though the world is a little less bright today. She will be missed.”

The ronin glanced at me. “Yumeko is taking it pretty hard, Kage-san,” he said, making my pulse jump at her name. “She was there, when Reika...”

I nodded. “Where is she?”

He gestured across the courtyard. I glanced at Kiyomi-sama and Lady Hanshou, still deep in conversation, and made my way toward the palace.

I found Yumeko sitting on the railing of the veranda, her legs and fox tail dangling over the side as she gazed out over the courtyard. Though her face was dry, her eyes were red, her expression haunted and far away. Wordlessly, I joined her, vaulting up to sit beside her on the railing. One of her ears twitched in my direction, and she raised her head.

“Tatsumi.” Her voice was soft with relief, and a glimmer of emotion pierced the darkness that had gathered in her eyes. “You’re here. I guess you killed the oni, then.”

“Yes.” It was strange, seeing her like this; stranger still that I wanted to say something, to ease the sadness in her voice, but I didn’t know how.

“I heard about Reika,” I said quietly.

She sniffed, the sheen in her eyes growing bright again. “She wasright there,Tatsumi,” Yumeko whispered. “Right there, holding up the barrier against everything. And then I look back...and she’s gone.” Her bottom lip trembled, and she took a shaky breath to compose herself. “It doesn’t seem real,” she went on. “I keep expecting her to walk up and scold me for wasting time while Genno is still out there.”

Mention of Genno caused a shiver of warning to race up my spine. I glanced toward the sky, to the distant statues that could be seen even over the roof of the palace, and could just make out the figure atop the head of the Great Tiger, a faint glow of magic around it.

Yumeko followed my gaze, and her expression darkened even more. “Something is going to happen, isn’t it?” she asked in a small voice. “I can feel it. There’s a terrible dark energy swirling around the city. Genno is about to do something even more unforgivable.”

Her voice shook. I reached out and placed a hand on her arm, picturing all my strength flowing into her, everything I felt: my anger, determination...and this strange, terrible emotion that could only be love. “We’ll stop him,” I told the kitsune next to me. “This fight will not be in vain, Yumeko. There is still time. And I will be at your side until the very end, I promise.”

Yumeko gazed at me, golden fox eyes meeting my own, and the depth of emotion staring back made my stomach twist wildly. A small part of me wanted to flee, to turn away and put distance between myself and an obvious weakness, to slam the door on these emotions and become an empty shell, as I had in the days before I met her. I stayed where I was, meeting her eyes, though my heart and stomach refused to calm. I was still stumbling in the dark, letting these strange feelings take me where they would, but with her, I knew I was safe. I trusted she would not put a knife in my back and push me into the void, that she would at least catch me if I fell.

Who are you trying to fool, Tatsumi? You’ve already fallen.

“Tatsumi,” Yumeko whispered, and even the sound of my name on her lips made my pulse spike. One slender hand rose, trailing soft fingers down my cheek, and I closed my eyes. “I...”

A shudder went through the air. It rippled across the ground, seeming to originate from the center of the city and expand outward, a pulse of darkness fed from blood and death and human souls.

“It’s happening,” Yumeko whispered, just as the pulse of magic reached us. I had the brief sensation of being swarmed, of millions of spiders, centipedes, worms and crawling things scuttling over my body and under my clothes, wriggling into my flesh. I saw Yumeko cringe, her ears flattening against her skull in loathing, before the feeling passed and all felt normal again. Silence descended over the palace, every human frozen in fear and confusion, hands on the hilts of weapons as we waited for what was to come.

And then, the kami started to scream.

It wasn’t a physical sound. There were no high-pitched shrieks carried over the wind, no cries or wails or anything you could hear. It was more a sensation of utter terror, of thousands of voices rising in one unified cry of pain and horror. It came from the earth, the sky, the forest surrounding the city, a bombardment of emotion and fear that pierced right through you, shredding your soul from the inside.

Yumeko gasped, flinching and clapping her hands to her ears, as if the screams of the kami were physically painful. I leaped off the railing, gazing around for the others, for Lady Hanshou and the Tsuki daimyo, knowing that whatever Genno had planned, it had started. The final play had begun, and we needed to move now.

“Kage-san! Yumeko-chan!”

The ronin leaped up the steps, bow in hand, followed closely by the Taiyo. “What the hell is going on?” Okame asked, his face pale as he strode toward us. “Does anyone else hear that? I feel like my ears are going to start bleeding.”

“It’s the kami,” Yumeko said, her voice shaking as she slid off the railing. She gazed at the sky, at the forest looming beyond the city, her eyes huge with fear. “I’ve never...heard them scream like this. Something terrible is happening. We need to find Kiyomi-sama.”

“I am here.” The Moon Clan daimyo strode up the steps, her face as pale and grim as Yumeko’s. Behind her, like a poised, elegant shadow, came Lady Hanshou, though her lips were also set in a tight line, her expression dark. Yumeko drew in a sharp breath as she caught sight of the Kage ruler, her back straightening in alarm.

“It’s all right,” I said in a voice only for her. “The Kage are here, but they’ve come to help us stop Genno.”

She shot me a brief worried glance. I could see the questions in her eyes, the concern for me, knowing that if the Kage were here, they would have also come for Hakaimono and the sword. I had no doubt that Hanshou had plans for me once this was over, if any of us survived. But right now, stopping Genno and preventing the Summoning was the only issue that mattered.

“Yumeko-san.” The Moon Clan daimyo’s voice was grave. She paused in front of her daughter, and the similarities between the two women were remarkable and obvious. “I must gather my remaining forces for the final march,” the daimyo stated. “Whatever the Master of Demons has set in motion, we cannot let it stop us. Whatever Genno has brought about, no matter the cost, we must reach the cliffs of Ryugake and halt the Summoning of the Dragon.” She sighed, and for a moment, seemed decades older. “The kami are fleeing the island,” she whispered. “I can feel their presence leaving the land, and soon they will be gone completely. I am not certain what the day will bring. My forces have been decimated, and even with the Kage’s help, we will be at a terrible disadvantage. You have seen Genno’s army, what he is capable of, and you have lost someone dear. We might not survive this battle, Yumeko-san, but our time is nearly up, and our choices are gone. Are you and your friends still with us?”

“Yes,” Yumeko answered, and there was no hesitation or fear in her voice. “This is why we came, Kiyomi-sama. We’re not giving up now.”

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