Page 41 of Night of the Dragon

But even more chilling than the demons were the hundreds of wailing, tormented spirits that swarmed through the ranks of monsters. All once human, surrounded by a sullen red glow, they drifted over the ground, their voices a cacophony of madness, rage and grief. Some were dressed in armor, some trailed long white funeral robes behind them and some had only a few rags clinging to their ghostly bodies. Amanjaku tormented them, chasing or stabbing at a passing spirit, laughing as the soul writhed in terror and pain. Sometimes even the oni would take a swat at one of them, though the spirits seemed to instinctively flee from the monstrous demons.

And yet, even that was nothing compared to the true horror that lay below us. In the center of the valley, lit by a baleful purple glow, a gaping pit like the maw of an enormous beast seemed to descend straight into the underworld. Oni, demons and tortured spirits crawled from the fissure in waves, fighting each other as they clawed their way into the living world. My breath came in short gasps, as a fear unlike anything I’d ever felt crawled up to burrow into my heart.

“Merciful Kami,” Kiyomi-sama whispered behind me, her voice faint. “What has Genno done?”

“He’s opened the gates to Jigoku.” Though Tatsumi sounded horrified, there was something in his voice that made me shiver. Something almost contemplative.Hakaimono.I wondered what the First Oni thought of this, of a gate opening directly to his home world. “That’s what Akumu was talking about,” Tatsumi went on, staring into the valley. “Why O-Hakumon allowed Genno’s soul to be summoned to the mortal world. It was to open the way for Jigoku.” He paused, a wry look crossing his face as his voice turned almost gleeful. “I didn’t think the old bastard had it in him.”

“How are we going to get through that?” I whispered, watching even more demons and spirits crawl out of the pit, some being yanked back down by larger demons or even other souls trying to escape. I looked beyond the valley, to a line of jagged cliffs that marked the end of the island. I also saw, with a chill that went through my whole body, a faint, sickly glow that announced the arrival of the dawn. The last full day before the night of the Wish had begun.

“We’re not,” Okame muttered, sounding grave. “There’s no way we’ll be able to cut our way through that. The whole damn army will be pulled down before we’re halfway across.”

“We must.” Kiyomi-sama stepped forward, gazing down on the mass of demons below. “I will make ready my forces. We will march on the valley, and we will meet the enemy today with honor.”

“Kiyomi-sama.” Hanshou spoke, her low voice a warning. “The gate of Jigoku lies open. There is no end to the demons and tortured spirits coming from the pit, and no way to close it. Even if your forces destroy the first wave, more will come, and they will keep coming until every one of us lies dead.”

“The demons are moving,” the Moon daimyo replied far too calmly. “If we do not stop them here, they will reach the city and slaughter everyone still living. But first, they will sweep through the villages, the farmlands, the communities on the outskirts with no walls and no soldiers to protect them. If I must sacrifice my entire army to see my people safe, I will do so.”

“We cannot win this...” Hanshou began.

“I know that, Hanshou-sama,” the Moon daimyo said quietly. “But what would you have me do? Ignore the danger? If your land was threatened with annihilation, would you not give everything to try to stop it?” The Kage ruler fell silent at this, her eyes darkening, her lips pressed into a thin line.

“Very well, Lady Moon,” the Shadow ruler said. “If this is your decision, the Kage will fight at your side. The shadows will defend this land for as long as we are able. Kage Tatsumi,” she continued, and I blinked as her dark gaze fastened on the demonslayer. “You know what you must do. There is still time to make up for past failures.” Her lip curled at the edge. “Do not disappoint me.”

Tatsumi didn’t answer his daimyo, just nodded once, and Lady Hanshou turned away, sauntering back down the hill with Masao at her side. Kiyomi-sama paused a moment, then turned to me again.

“Yumeko-san.” Her voice was bleak, but resolved. “I must dispatch messengers to every town and village in Tsuki lands, with orders to evacuate the islands,” she told me. “The people here must flee, or the demons will slaughter us all. The warriors will stay, defend these lands for as long as they are able to fight, but this has become a losing battle. If you decide to leave the island with the rest of my people, I will not fault you.”

“No.” I swallowed hard. “We’re not going to flee. But shouldn’t...shouldn’t you leave with your people, Kiyomi-sama? You’re the daimyo, the leader of the Moon Clan.”

“Yes,” the daimyo replied, and she sounded tired now. “And it is my responsibility to stay. If the gate to Jigoku is not closed, in a few days there will be nothing left of us. My duty as ruler of these lands is to protect my people and every spirit that calls this place their home. Even if those odds are impossible.”

For a moment, her eyes softened, a shadow of regret or longing crossing her face as she gazed at me. “I am sorry that I will never truly know the child I lost,” she whispered, her voice barely audible. “But I am grateful I had the chance to see her, if only for a moment.” One slender hand rose, the ends of her fingers barely touching my cheek, as the daimyo gave a sad smile. “Fight well, daughter,” she murmured. “If Fate is kind, perhaps we will meet again in the next life.”

Then the daimyo of the Moon Clan turned and walked away, toward the army waiting for her at the bottom of the rise. I watched her, hardly able to see through my blurry vision, then wrenched my gaze away and turned back to my friends.

Daisuke, watching the demons swarm the valley below, let out a long breath, his pale hair rippling behind him in the wind. “So, we come to the end,” he murmured, one hand resting easily on his sword hilt. The faintest of smiles crossed his face. “It is a good day to die.”

“Better than most, I suppose.” Okame sighed, joining him at the top of the bluff, resting an elbow against Daisuke’s shoulder. “Just don’t go off without me, peacock. We want this to be a good poem, after all.”

Tatsumi met my gaze, his eyes soft and his expression solemn in the growing light. He wasn’t looking at Kiyomi-sama, our friends, or the army of demons and tortured souls swarming the valley behind him. His gaze was only for me. I moved beside him, staring down the rise, at the open maw that continued to spew forth demons, spirits and other horrors. The ground was rocky and broken; there was no grass, trees, bushes or anything that could hide us or provide cover, even if we could sneak through unseen. Surrounding the valley were the stark, jagged cliffs that either rose straight up or plunged down into the ocean. So going around was impossible. Not if we wanted to make it in time.

“Is there...anyway we could get through without having to fight?” I wondered, trying not to sound terrified and desperate. “A spell or some kind of Shadow magic that would hide us?”

“I can’t maintain a spell that long,” Tatsumi said grimly. “Even if I could, all it would take was one touch or glance from a demon, and they would see us.”

“What about the Path of Shadows?”

His expression went so grave I instantly disregarded that idea. “Only a powerful majutsushi can open the Path,” he said. “And right now, with the gates to Jigoku open, the veil between the spirit world and the mortal world has been torn apart. Using the Path of Shadows to get through Jigoku...” He shook his head. “We could bring even more spirits into this world, or worse, the demons here could infiltrate Meido itself.”

My stomach twisted. Well, that was a bad,badidea. And I was out of options. Taking one step forward, I stared at the distant peaks, clenching my fists at my side. Genno was so close, just on the far side of the valley, preparing to summon the Dragon, unopposed. I had promised I would stop him. I had sworn to never let the Wish be used for evil. So many were counting on us to reach this madman, halt the Summoning and save the empire. There was still time. All we had to do was fight our way through the literal plane of hell.

I took a deep breath. “Then, I suppose there’s no other way...except straight through.” An icy fist grabbed my insides and squeezed, making me sick with fear, but I fought down the nausea and forced a smile. “It doesn’t look that bad, really. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”

Tatsumi stepped close, his voice only for me. “I’ll be right beside you,” he murmured. “If I fall, don’t look back. Keep going, get to Genno, stop the Summoning. I...promise to do the same, if I can.”

Silently, I turned into him, clutching his haori as I pressed my face into the fabric, trying to control my shaking. His arms came up, one slipping around my waist, the other resting against my head as he slid his fingers into my hair. He didn’t say anything, but I heard his heartbeat pounding against my ear, felt the slightest of tremors in his arms, and closed my eyes, letting myself disappear into him for just a moment. One more time, before we went out to meet Jigoku and the army that awaited us.

Fox girl. This way.

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