The incendiary still in his hand, he exited onto the veranda and leaned against the railing. A scent carried on the breeze. The smell of flowers tickled his nose. This counterfeit world was sweet and fragrant. The wind raised ripples on the lake—hardly large enough to even be called a pond—and the deep blue of the water filled his sight.
A word drifted into his senses. Yakou slowly backed away from the railing. By the time he had straightened up, his thoughts had formed themselves into a concrete shape.
“They came on a ship,” he said, with all the gravity of Isaac Newton catching the apple beneath the tree. “And yet there is no ship. Why is that? It could not fit on that lake. Why?”
He turned around, as if sensing a presence behind him. His eyes burned as they took in the manor house.
“It can’t be—but that is the only possibility. Or rather, what other possibility could there be? Perhaps I am not a citizen of Demon City after all. Here, the more unbelievable the circumstances, the closer they are to the truth. Yes, I shall put that supposition to the test.”
Yakou shouted with a steely resolve. He raised his arms. Unable to withstand the burst of colorless, odorless energy, a section of the railing silently crumbled away. He leaned over and picked up a piece of the wood. An ordinary piece from a loquat tree. Painted red.
“And still the wolf wears its sheep’s clothing,” Yakou said under his breath. He pushed through the door he’d exited from and went back inside.
He was in a luxurious living room. He looked around the room and then walked quickly to a bookcase along one wall and retrieved a round, golden censer, along with the chain, and put it into his pocket. It was a product of the Tang Dynasty. Incense could be placed inside a silver sphere engraved with the figure of a dragon. Hung around the neck or placed next to the pillow, it constantly surrounded the wearer with a mist of fragrance.
For what purpose were they parroting the look of a den of thieves?
Yakou hurried out of the room. He pulled the pin of the incendiary grenade with his teeth and released the striker lever with his thumb and tossed it inside the living room. There was nobody there to throw it back.
He spun around and descended the twenty steps leading to the courtyard. A sound arose like a howling wind. The windows and doors blew out. The flaming amalgam of thermite and napalm blossomed outward. The three-thousand-degree fire would reduce the manor house to ashes in less than an hour. Yakou was more interested as to what would become of this world after that, but now he had no choice but to retreat.
Kikiou said that the demon woman was on her way to retrieve Takako. Yakou’s feet kicked against the ground as he sprinted off. The blast of wind rent the back of his jacket, releasing his folded wings. In a few more steps, Yakou had taken to the air without any additional effort.
He didn’t stick around to confirm the results of the fire, but flew over the castle walls and sought out their place of entry. The lights went out. Yakou sensed that he was back inside the earth, in the grotto through which they had entered this realm.
Three had gone in. One returned. But this was no time for worry or regrets. The ten men he’d picked to guard Takako were the best of the best. And armed with the best. But he doubted any armaments would be useful against her. His grandfather could dispatch fifty like them without breaking a sweat, and she had killed him.
For the sake of their good name, Takako must not come to further harm. He had promised Setsura Aki—he who accepted Yakou and his clan as rightful citizens of Demon City—that they would protect her with their lives.
Passing through the grotto, the night descended upon him. He noticed one particular change at first. He took the censer out of his pocket. A blinding light flashed in his eyes. The material of the silver container was transforming.
“Of course.” He nodded confidently.
Out of the corner of his eyes, he took note of the dial of his watch. He’d entered the grotto four hours before, at nine-thirty at night. According to his watch, only three hours had elapsed. It was now half past midnight. Mulling over the possibilities and calculating in his head, he came to a conclusion in a matter of seconds.
“One hour passed from the time we arrived at their world until Kikiou was killed. As for the rest, time passed as it normally does.” Which meant that in their world time came to a standstill.
The moon hung high in the heavens. Yakou took a deep breath. He spread his wings, flexed them, and readied for flight. His supernatural senses told him that a massive and evil presence was closing fast on his position.
Chapter Two
Yakou spun on his heels and hid behind a nearby thicket. Seconds later, the figures of three people stood on the embankment above the grotto. It was a miracle that anybody could make it through Chuo Park to this spot—a miracle for anybody else but them.
Princess and General Bey. And between them, Takako.
The waxy white skin, the vacant—but somehow licentious—eyes, and more than anything else, the two black lines of blood draining from her neck to her ample chest.
Hidden in the weeds, Yakou ground his teeth. He was too late. Right then, a new hope welled up within him. His own vampiric senses told him that Takako hadn’t completely changed into a vampire. But he couldn’t very well go charging into the fray. Not only from Princess, but powerful vibes emanated from the warrior next to her as well. This was his first encounter with the supernatural soldier.
The three paused before descending the bank to the mouth of the grotto. They abruptly turned around and walked toward the copse of trees on their right.
He was trapped. As long as Yakou could sense them, there was no way they couldn’t do the same. He couldn’t tell if they were using Takako as a decoy. But as long as she was there, it wasn’t bait he could afford to avoid taking.
Yakou emerged from the thicket and climbed to the top of the embankment. He didn’t have to look very hard to pick out the three figures among the trees. If they kept on this course, they’d end up in the Juniso District in West Shinjuku.
He started running. His feet didn’t touch the ground. His wings unfurled and he glided a foot above the ground. He soon caught up with them.
Takako was alone. The other two had unexpectedly vanished. Left to her own resources, Takako would wander the park forever. She probably wouldn’t last two minutes on her own.
The ground in front of her surged upwards. It reached Takako’s height and split down the center. Lining the top and bottom of the widening, cavernous hole were millstone-sized teeth. This was a mouth.
Takako was about to walk right into it when something passed through her and was absorbed by the gaping mouth in the earth. A roar resounded like a big Chinese gong.
Takako stepped onto level ground. Yakou swooped down in front of her. “Hold on.” He seized her by the shoulders and inspected the wound in her neck. “We’re going to get out of this. Just hold on a little while longer.” He took a step to the side. “I’m not running or hiding. Why don’t you show yourselves?”
His command was met with silence, only the wind in the trees. Only the moon illuminating the desolate night.
“Why the reticence? If you don’t make an appearance, then I’ll take this woman with me.”
Only the whispering of the wind. The strangeness of this response left Yakou feeling uneasy. Having suddenly laid his cards on the table like this—and taking the abilities of the enemy into account—they only came after the most desirable prey. The options he was left with were obvious.
He wasn’t confident that he could hold his own. Neither did he think he would lose. It definitely wasn’t in his nature to turn tail and run. But as long as Takako was here, he had no choice. With the wings on his back, he was sure he could escape.
Despite all that, his enemies bided their time. What were they planning? Yakou didn’t have time to debate the issue. He had to act. He put his arm around Takako’s waist—she’d just been standing there—and soared into the sky. Low-altitude flight
would make him too tempting a target. If he didn’t want a face-to-face confrontation, following the safest strategy was best.
The twisted trunks and branches of the trees fell away like a black waterfall. He slipped through the canopy and flew into the great dome of the heavens.
Takako unexpectedly squirmed in his embrace. “She’s coming—she’s coming—those red eyes—”
The calm evening sky became a desolate battlefield.
“She’s there!” cried Takako, reaching out with a white arm and pointing to the right.
The sublime brilliance of the moon hovered impassively over the unfolding field of death. Her body bathed in light, Princess hovered there a hundred feet above the ground. Her black hair fluttered. Even her scorched, scarred face appeared lovely.
This was the perfect setting for a battle of the black arts.
“So you came.”
“Where’s your companion?” Yakou spoke in tones no less fierce than the bewitching echoes of Princess’s words. Both of their eyes glowed red. “If he has the means to join us, then let us settle everything once and for all.”
“Hoh. A man of action. So unlike the Elder.”
“So you’re the one.” Yakou’s voice gained additional resolve.
“Exactly. I am also the one who killed Setsura Aki.”
“What?”
“That man is dead. Right now he is lying on the ground in front of the Keio Plaza Hotel. Food for worms. Although I lost one from our side as well.” Princess’s vampiric telepathy had informed her of Shuuran’s final moments.
“And who would that be?”
“A girl named Shuuran.”
“Somebody destroyed her? Who? She’s one of your servants, after all. I wouldn’t have thought she could be defeated so easily. Can you say for certain that Setsura Aki is dead?”
Princess didn’t answer.
“I’ll be on my way.” Yakou raised his right hand. “But let me offer one more correction. You did not lose only one. As you will discover when you return, Kikiou is also history.”
Princess continued to hold her tongue. Out of shock, Yakou surmised. But the next moment, her loud laughter rent the night air. Her whole body shook. Her hair all but stood on end like the demon she was.
The strange and off-putting vibe seized Yakou. His grandfather had also told him of this aspect of the beast’s nature. Even taking into consideration the demonic powers that had sent him to his grave, he could not have imagined such a raw and unfettered display.
Because of Shuuran’s loss. Or perhaps because—except that he couldn’t have known about that.
The Demon Princess finally got hold of herself. “Kikiou is dead? That Kikiou? What marvelous news. If you indeed pulled off such a feat, then we all have cause to rejoice. But the bastard cannot die. We will all wither on the vine while he lives on and on until the end of time, futilely chasing his empty—”
“Dreams?”
“Dreams.” Princess finished her sentence just as Yakou anticipated the word coming out of her mouth.
“I traveled to your world. I saw mountains. I saw your manor house. All dreams, I thought. That world. You. And equally ourselves.”
“And what led you to that conclusion?” Princess scoffed. “Who decides that our world is the dream and the human world is reality? And if so, then what becomes of you? We and the humans have worlds of our own, but not you. You belong to both. And are truly alive in neither.”
“That is true. And all the more reason that choices must be made. I choose the human world. And even to live in the light of day, if possible.”
“Now that is a dream,” the Demon Princess sang out coldly in the night air, her voice like the edge of a blade.
The time had come.
Yakou raised his right hand. The demon qi coiled like a spring, waiting to spring forth.
At that moment, a strange object intersected the space between them. It looked like a semi-transparent belt or band. It was a good ten feet wide, and long enough to cross the sky over Chuo Park like a belt across a fat giant’s belly. Its entire length writhed like a snake.
This sky creature resided only in the atmosphere above Shinjuku.
Yakou leapt to the right. Princess also took defensive measures. Waves of qi shot out. The “torso” of the “belt” didn’t show so much as a bruise. Princess’s body was flung a dozen feet off.
Sensing the degree of recoil, Yakou permitted himself a small smile. Too soon.
“Good show!”
The scornful voice echoed down on him from above. Yakou looked up. The white dress swooped down, the tips of her feet aimed at his head. Still holding Takako in his arms, Yakou managed to dodge out of the way only by a whisker, and only thanks to his animal-like instincts and reflexes. He couldn’t help but be impressed.
The powers of his qi hadn’t done a thing to her.
“The only way to kill me is old school.”
The ferociousness of her kick—the air pressure from which could have gouged the flesh down to the bone—dissipated and Princess rose up elegantly before Yakou. She licked her lips.
“Now it’s my turn.”
“Your skills are equally remarkable,” Yakou observed quietly. “Except you can’t kill me if you can’t catch me. I will swat away whatever you send flying.”
“If you were so talented, you would even repel light. But what about this?”
The woman’s beautiful face twisted in an extraordinary obscene manner. Her white hand touched the collar of her dress. Several seconds passed. Yakou stood stock still in the air. There was no change in the murderous vibe linking the two of them together.
The Demon Princess’s lips moved. “Let go of her.”
Like a swirling current, a strange expression flooded Yakou’s face. The pure, white streams of moonlight changed to a poison that would drive the human race mad. The alluring toxin even crept into Yakou’s thoughts.
As if in accordance to the command, Yakou’s arms slackened. Takako slipped out of his grasp. A moment later, Yakou got control of his senses and wrapped his arms tightly around her waist.
The Demon Princess bared her fangs and growled like a wild beast. “Release her.”
Takako’s naked body tumbled like a blossom though the empty sky, seconds later disappearing into the dense black canopy of the forest.
“She has served her purpose. For some reason or another, General Bey seems stuck on the woman and so I’ve dragged her along thus far. Well, good riddance. But you, my friend, are not escaping so easily.”
In response to the smile on her face—that looked like it was painted on with an evil brush and accursed paint—Yakou did not retaliate in the slightest. It was clear that he was under some sort of hypnotic spell. But when and how? It seemed improbable that the grandson of the Elder could be entranced so easily, even by the Demon Princess.
She removed her fingers from her collar. “Let us go down.”
Facing each other, they descended directly to the ground and stood on the pavement. The general’s imposing figure appeared from the dark forest.
“Where is she?” he asked.
“She fell,” Princess said shortly.
The general answered with a fierce look but said nothing. He turned to Yakou. “What do you intend to do with him?”
“We’re taking him with us.”
“To what end?”
“Stop asking so many questions. You’ve done what I brought you here to do. As promised, you may fill your gut with all the blood this city has to offer.”
“That goes without mentioning. Starting tomorrow night, this city becomes my battlefield. Nothing would be more fitting to this place. What’s going on in that pretty head of yours?”
“Oh, nothing.”
Taking the lead, Princess returned the way she came.
A short while later, three silhouettes appeared on the ground beneath the moonlit sky. They stood in front of the manor house. The smoldering ruins of it were wrapped in blue s
moke through which darted the occasional red tongue of flame.
“Nice job,” General Bey said sarcastically. “So what do you do about your safe house?”
“Don’t worry,” a voice responded from beneath their feet. Kikiou’s voice. Three pairs of eyes looked down. “As soon as I ascertained their illegal entry, I moved the sleeping quarters to another location as a precaution.”
Kikiou’s severed head appeared like a strange plant pushing out of the earth.
Chapter Three
“How are you feeling?” asked the doll girl in the dark blue dress.
“As well as could be expected,” Setsura Aki answered in a thin voice that was nevertheless as strong as steel.
Setsura lay on the bed. His chest was wrapped in bandages. His black silk shirt hung around his shoulders like a cloak. The doll girl had brought him here—to the house of Galeen Nuvenberg in a corner of Takada no Baba, or Magic Town—after the previous night’s battle.
The small stone house was filled with something that would never otherwise be associated with the lair of a wizardess—sunlight streaming through the bedside window and the skylight in the ceiling.
The doll girl smoothly leaned over and picked up a silver platter resting on a summer futon. “You haven’t eaten much. Are you not feeling well?”
“I got stabbed right under the heart. But I seem to be holding up. At any rate, it looks like I’m not so immortal after all.”
Setsura’s voice was faint and low. As he had observed, such a wound would probably have killed the average human. And as he had observed, his once incorrupt body had again put on corruption. Had he still been exhibiting the symptoms of becoming a vampire, being gouged anywhere on his body other than his heart would prove no more severe than a bad scratch.
For all the good that being human once again meant, it could be seen as equally unfortunate. The “normal” Setsura had the ability to enter suspended animation. That hadn’t been possible because his fight with General Bey had exhausted his stores of energy. He’d entered the realm of the living dead only after Princess thrust the dagger into him.
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