Page 51 of Night of the Dragon

Daisuke-sama...he’s enjoying this, Suki realized, just as the first of the demon’s blows got through, the curved talons ripping a savage tear across the noble’s shoulder and chest. Suki cried out, but Daisuke didn’t flinch. Instead, he spun with the blow, hair swirling around him, and brought his weapon toward the oni’s unprotected back. At the last second, the demon twisted away, but not fast enough, and the blade sheared across his arm, cutting deeply into muscle in a spray of dark blood.

Both combatants staggered back a few paces, panting. The front of Daisuke’s robe was torn open, and blood soaked the fabric from the terrible wounds across his chest. His face and hair were streaked with red, blood running down his sword arm and spattering the rock with crimson.

The oni smiled, seemingly unconcerned with the darkness dripping from his elbow and pooling at his feet. “You’re fast, human,” he said, nodding. “I’ll give you that. But you’re not better than me.” He raised the obsidian blade, dripping with Daisuke’s blood. “You’re going to die here, and your friends won’t make it in time to stop the Summoning. The new age of demons has begun.”

Daisuke gave a grim smile. “The first part might be true,” he said, panting. “But I’m afraid you’ve underestimated the rest of us. I have no doubt that Yumeko and Kage-san will reach Genno and emerge victorious. Our kitsune does not know how to fail.”

The oni chuckled. “Too bad you won’t get to see it,” he said, and lunged.

The clang of swords filled the air, echoing above the shrieking wind, as the demon and master swordsman continued their lethal dance. Suki watched, terrified but unable to look away, as Daisuke and the oni clashed at the edge of the cliff, mere feet from a heart-stopping plunge into the valley below. Overhead, the clouds swirled, and the wind ripped at their hair and clothes, as the demon and Taiyo swordsman fought on, their blades moving so fast Suki could barely follow them.

Once again, they drew back, swords raised as they faced each other across the stone. The oni was breathing hard, but he was smirking as he watched the Taiyo a few yards away. For a moment, Daisuke stood tall and proud, the wind tugging at his long hair, a look of stoic calm on his face.

Then he grimaced, and dropped to his knees on the stones, one hand going to his side. Blood gushed from somewhere beneath his robes, spreading across the fabric and staining it crimson. The demon’s smirk turned into a grin.

“You can’t beat me, human.” The oni’s voice held the certainty of death. “Even in Jigoku, I was Hakaimono’s equal when it came to battle. He had the stronger personality, and I had no desire to lead, but in a one-on-one fight I might have killed him, and we both knew it. You have no chance against me.” He took a step forward, causing the Taiyo to glance up, his face tight. “But you were a challenge for a human, and that’s not something I can usually say. I’ll do you a favor and end this quickly.”

He raised his sword, but jerked back as an arrow streaked toward his head, missing him by inches. “Oy, ugly. Did you forget I’m here, too?” called the ronin’s harsh voice. Though he still slumped painfully against the rocks, his bow was raised and his quiver lay beside him on the ground. “Just because I can’t stand doesn’t mean I won’t shove arrows through your ugly face.”

“No, Okame-san!” Clenching his jaw, Daisuke pushed himself to his feet. Blood soaked one side of his robes, pooling on the rocks beneath him, but he still raised his sword and faced the demon proudly. “This is my fight,” he said calmly. “Please, do not interfere. I am not defeated yet.”

“Dammit, peacock.” The ronin gritted his teeth, but reluctantly lowered the bow. “I said I’d chase that glorious death with you,” he almost whispered. “I never thought...I would be the one watching you die.”

The oni chuckled, low and ominous. “Oh, don’t worry, human,” he said, glancing at the ronin with an evil smile. “Neither of you are leaving this mountain alive. Have you forgotten there are two enemies here?” His grin widened, and his eyes glimmered red. “We haven’t.”

Daisuke paled, and at that moment, a shadow slid from a crevice above the ronin, black eyes narrowed with hate. The scorpion woman, somehow alive, pulled her lips back from her teeth as she glared at the ronin below her and raised her kunai, the throwing dagger glimmering black in the moonlight.

“For my sister,” she hissed, and brought her hand down. Without thinking, Suki flew at her with a shriek, and the world seemed to slow.

The female demon jerked back, eyes going wide, as Suki appeared in front of her with a ghostly wail. The knife, however, still left her fingers as below them, the ronin twisted, somehow bringing up his weapon. The bow in his hand thrummed as he fired one blind, desperate shot, an instant before the black knife slammed into his chest. At the same time, Suki felt something foreign and cold zip through her body, fraying it like mist as it passed through, and the arrow struck the demon through one shiny black eye. The demon jerked, then toppled backward, her body spasming against the rocks as she finally died.

“No, Okame!”

The noble’s shout echoed behind her. Numb, Suki looked back as Daisuke strode toward the oni with his sword at his side. The look on his face chilled her; it wasn’t one of rage, anger or grief, but a focused, icy resignation. Halfway to his enemy, he lunged, moving blindingly quick, cutting savagely at the demon’s head. The oni took a step back, letting the point of the sword barely graze him, and plunged his sword through Daisuke’s stomach, the obsidian point exploding out his back.

Someone screamed. A moment later, Suki realized the high-pitched, keening wail was her. Impaled on the demon’s sword, Daisuke staggered, blood pouring down his clothes and staining his entire front red, but he didn’t fall. Before the oni could yank the blade free, one hand reached up and gripped the demon’s wrist, holding it in place. As the oni blinked in surprise, the noble raised his head, a defiant smile crossing his features, before he took one step forward, pulling himself along the blade, and drove his sword through the demon’s chest, sinking it nearly to the hilt.

The oni’s eyes bulged, mouth gaping, but nothing came out. Still with that faint smile on his face, Daisuke twisted the hilt of his sword around and yanked it up, through the demon’s collarbone, and brought the weapon slicing down through the monster’s neck. The oni’s head, still wearing a stunned, incredulous expression, toppled backwards, bounced over the rocks, and dropped off the edge of the cliff, vanishing into the waves far below.

Taiyo Daisuke staggered back, tearing himself from the oni’s sword, as the monster’s headless body fell to its knees then collapsed to the rocky ground. The noble’s entire front, from the chest down, was covered in red, and streams of crimson pooled in the stones beneath him.

For a moment, he stayed upright, the wind ruffling his hair and the bloody remains of his robe and sleeves. His face, lifted to the sky, was serene, and for just a moment, Suki dared to hope. To believe that the noble Taiyo, the beautiful swordsman who had smiled at a lowly maid in the halls of the Golden Palace, would be fine.

Then his blade dropped from his fingers, hitting the rocks with a clink that sent a chill through Suki’s entire insubstantial body. Taiyo Daisuke swayed, then fell to his knees on the stones, bowing his head. Suki sobbed his name, screamed his name, her voice tossed by the wind howling up from the sea, but he didn’t move.

“Oy. Don’t you dare die yet, peacock.”

Suki jerked up. The ronin was crawling over the rocks toward the noble, pulling himself painfully along the ground. He left a trail of red behind him, but his jaw was set, his eyes glassy with determination as he dragged himself, inch by agonizing inch, toward the body slumped on its knees a few yards away. Suki dropped lower, wanting to encourage him, desperately wishing she could do something to help him reach his goal. When the ronin paused, collapsing to the dirt and panting through gritted teeth, Suki drifted down until she hovered directly over Daisuke-sama, letting her light spill over the motionless body.

“Don’t stop,” she whispered. “You’re almost there. Don’t let him die alone.”

The ronin raised his head. With a surge of determination, he pushed himself upright and half staggered, half fell over the rocks until he reached the kneeling body. Gasping, he lay there a moment, his features twisted with pain, as lightning flickered and the clouds swirled overhead.

“Okame.”

The word was barely a breath, a whisper on the wind. Daisuke turned his head, gazing at the ronin lying beside him, and one bloody hand twitched. “You’re here. For-forgive me.”

“Dammit, peacock,” the ronin gritted out. Clenching his jaw, he struggled to a sitting position, then gently reached out and eased the other back until both of them were braced against a rock, the noble leaning against his chest. Daisuke slumped, relaxing in the ronin’s arms, and Suki drifted higher, giving them a little privacy. Silently, she hovered overhead, casting them in a faint light—the ronin, and the noble they both loved—as the wind howled and night fell over Taiyo Daisuke’s final moments.

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