Page 46 of Night of the Dragon

The sobbing grew louder, now coming from the swirling mass near the shrine, and my heart sank. With a final, ear-piercing wail, the ash cloud reintegrated, as the huge demoness, unhurt and very much alive, threw back her head and howled.

“Kuso!” Okame scrambled back, raising his bow again. “Well, this could get tiring. How many times are we going to have to kill the thing?”

“The shrine.” Tatsumi drew Kamigoroshi in a flare of light as the demoness lowered her arms and turned toward us. “The shrine is the anchor,” he growled, his narrowed gaze on the tiny wooden structure behind the monster. “We can’t kill the kijo itself. Something is keeping its spirit tied to this world. Destroy the shrine, and its anchor might disappear.”

“Noooooooooo!”

The frantic, terrible scream made me wince—I clapped my hands over my ears—and caused the flowers to sway wildly. The demoness whirled, covering the shrine with her huge body, wrapping her arms around it. “No, you cannot!” she sobbed, glaring back at us. “It is mine! You cannot take it! The memories are all I have left of her!”

All I have left ofher.

I jerked up, eyes widening in disbelief.Could it be...?

Raising their blades, Tatsumi and Daisuke started grimly forward, while beside me, Okame fit an arrow to his string. The demoness was still crying, arms curled protectively around the shrine, her huge body trembling with sobs. “Forgive us,” I heard Daisuke murmur, as he and the demonslayer drew closer to the sobbing monster. “No one should have to live so mired in despair. Whoever you were, we’ll set you free.”

The demon’s sobbing ceased. She raised her head, though she didn’t turn to face the warriors approaching her from behind. “A curse on you,” she whispered, and around us, the very air stilled. I felt the power of her words, tinged with hate and grief, ripple out from where she stood, twisting my stomach into a knot. “May you know the same pain. May it burrow so deep into your soul your memories become poison and you drown in a river of tears. May it lodge itself like a broken mirror in your heart, cutting and slicing with every breath, every heartbeat tearing it wider.” She turned, holding out a bright, foot-long talon, her voice rising in volume and intensity. “May it rack your bodies and consume your minds, until you are a husk of what you were! Until nothing is left but poison, tears and agony, and you wish to die, but even death will elude you!”

Tatsumi let out a savage, unearthly snarl and lunged, Kamigoroshi flaring purple in the dim light. He was moving before the demoness finished her curse, but she rose even higher, eyes glowing red behind the Noh mask, and screamed.

This time, the wail was a physical force, slamming into me and knocking me back. The flowers danced wildly, many of them dissolving into black soot and swirling through the air. For a moment, I couldn’t breathe, the taste of salt, ash and grief clogging the back of my throat, as something dark and terrible burrowed under my skin.

Beside me, Okame let out a strangled noise and collapsed, falling to his knees in the flowers, his bow dropping from his hands. Farther ahead, Tatsumi and Daisuke also went down, though Tatsumi stayed on his feet a few seconds longer, shoulders hunched and sword gripped in one hand, before a gasp escaped him and he fell, disappearing into the flowers.

“Tatsumi!”

The demoness slumped back, sagging into the flowers, head bowed and hair covering her face. For the moment, she didn’t seem to be moving. I rushed forward, though a sudden cry of pain from Okame made my stomach twist. Reaching the spot where Tatsumi fell, I saw him lying in the black petals, arms curled around himself and knees drawn to his chest. He was shaking, jaw clenched, and his eyes were glassy. He didn’t seem to notice me as I knelt beside him. I put a hand on his arm, and a chill shot through me. His muscles were like steel cords, locked into unyielding bars around him. I could suddenly see fiery bands racking his body, stabbing into his chest.

“Tatsumi,” I whispered, seeing no response, no flicker of recognition in his eyes. A few yards away, there was a howl of pain that made my heart clench. I had never heard Daisuke cry out before, in pain, anger, grief or fear. “What’s happening? What can I do?”

Tatsumi’s expression contorted. He tried to move, uncurling his arms to push himself upright, but the fiery bands around his body flared and he cried out, collapsing back into the flowers. “The...curse,” he gritted out. “Can’t...m-move.” He grimaced, clenching his jaw to keep a gasp from escaping. “Destroy...demon. Only way...to break—Agh!”

“Tatsumi.” I clutched at his sleeve, feeling helpless, as he curled in on himself. In front of the shrine, the demoness stirred, slowly raising her head. Our gazes met, and behind the sobbing Noh mask, I saw her eyes.

For just a moment, they were clear, almost regretful, as we stared at each other. But then a curtain fell over her expression, and her eyes glazed over, slipping into the madness of grief and rage once more.

“You.” The demoness straightened, her shadow creeping toward me across the blanket of flowers. I flattened my ears but moved in front of Tatsumi, trying to shield him from her as best I could. Unfortunately, this small action seemed to incense her further. Her eyes glowed, and tears began leaking from beneath her mask as her voice turned chilling.

“You would protect him? The thief? The one who would steal away what is mine? You would shield him fromme?” She flexed her claws, seeming to grow in size, even as I shrank back in fear. “Do you seek what is mine, as well?”

“No,” I said, holding up my hands. “Please, listen to me. We’re not thieves! We don’t want to take anything from you, we just want to help you move on.”

“Thief!” the demoness snarled, gliding forward. “Traitors! I will kill them all! They will not take what is mine! I have lost too much already!”

Terror shot through me. I raised my hands, and a wave of foxfire erupted from my palms, flaring a brilliant blue-white in the darkness. As before, I could sense the tiny ball of power glowing in my chest, and felt the searing heat from the kitsune-bi warp the air around it. The demoness screamed as the fire struck her, catching her robes and igniting her hair. But she didn’t stop, plowing through the wall of flames until she was directly above me. Her burning, grotesque face filled my vision, and I gave a yelp of fear, throwing up foxfire-shrouded hands to ward her away.

With a shriek, the demoness lashed out, and something struck me in the side with the force of a mallet. I was hurled through the air and landed several yards away, rolling through the flowers in a black cloud, the ground spinning wildly before I came to a hard, dizzying stop. Blinking back tears of pain, I clenched my jaw and pushed myself upright, searching wildly for Tatsumi and the demon.

Tatsumi tried to stand, his snarl of pain and defiance filling the air as he shoved himself to his feet, clutching his blade. Planting his feet, agony written on every part of his clenched muscles, he faced the demoness towering over him, and for a moment, the monster paused, stunned to see him upright and facing her.

Then the bands coiled around Tatsumi flared, and the demonslayer staggered. With a scream, the demoness stabbed down, slamming Tatsumi into the ground, her claws sinking deep into the earth to pin him in place. As Tatsumi cried out, she raised her other arm, bright red talons gleaming in the darkness, to strip the life from him.

“Kiyomi-sama, stop!”

My voice rang over the flowers, frantic and terrified, echoing around the cavern. And the huge demoness froze.

Slowly, she lowered her arm. Slowly, her masked, terrible face swung around to stare at me. I trembled as her blank, hollow eyes met mine, and dug my fingers into the earth as the demoness pulled her claws from Tatsumi and began walking toward me.

Cautiously, I stood, being careful not to jerk or move too quickly, though my limbs were shaking and my heart was fluttering around my chest like a moth. As I rose, a shadow fell over me, the scent of tears and ash burning my throat. I swallowed and looked up into the dark, glassy gaze of the demon.

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