"My Lord!" shouted Jinpachi, catching up to him. "Four of the Queen's wyvern riders are closing in."
"Are they?" he asked. "Find me a grappling hook."
Miyoshi held on tight to Taiko. Staying on Hyōga was hard enough as he slid through the air, the wind howling past her along his graceful body- untying Taiko while still so high up would have been too dangerous. Not that Miyoshi wanted her untied anyway, but this way she had an excuse.
The clouds that surrounded them parted, and stretching out below were the Isshou Mountains. Miyoshi felt her stomach float as they dove toward them and she squeezed Taiko as hard as she could.
"We have to stop here," shouted Ikumi, barely audible over the wind.
"Hyōga is fading. I think this is where the split is going to happen."
At first Miyoshi though he was going to slam head first into the ground, but at the last moment he arced upward, turning in a circle around a peak before finding a relatively flat area to come down on. There was barely a bump as he came to rest on the rock ground.
Miyoshi slid off first, catching Taiko when she came next.
"Can you untie me now?" she asked.
Miyoshi sighed.
"I guess."
Chiyo and Yumi dropped to the ground, taking Tomiko with them. They put her still unconscious body against a rock, a little ways away from Hyōga. Jammlo barely kept to her feet as she dropped off, wandering just far enough away from the dragon to plop to the ground in safety.
"Go back home," said Ikumi patting Hyōga on his cheek. "You'll disappear if you stay here."
Hyōga lifted off, sailing into the air back toward Frostspire. Miyoshi hoped that he wouldn't cause trouble now that Tomiko was no longer there to watch over him.
The ground shook, and a crack appeared in the earth as the lands toward Frostspire were covered in a blur.
"The Sugarbulb swamps," said Chiyo. "That's what should be there now. I guess we'll see them again soon."
"Oh!" said Miyoshi, "Minoru!"
She pulled the crystal from her pocket and called out to him. He appeared, but instead of his usual clean blue he appeared gray and distorted.
"There they are! Seize them!"
Miyoshi spun around and saw a group of soldiers, led by Akio, charging toward them.
"What?" shouted Yumi. "How did he follow us so fast?"
There were at least ten of them. Miyoshi hurried and tried to get Taiko's hands free while Chiyo got her staff ready. She fired off two shots, but they barely managed to knock the men they hit off their feet.
"I'm a little low on power right now," she said, panting.
"I think I might be able to summon a puppy, if I had a few minutes," said Ikumi.
Miyoshi glanced over to Yumi. She was ready with her spear, but she wasn't in the best of shape either.
Frost appeared on the ground and the men screamed as it enveloped their feet, freezing them in place. Tomiko was standing now, a flurry of snow surrounding her arm.
"I'm not sure of a few things right now," she said. "But I do remember that I was supposed to be rid of you."
Akio yelled and charged forward into the blast of wind that Tomiko let loose. The force of the wind slowed him to a stop, and with a twist of her hand Tomiko made its path curve, sending it to hit him from the side. He tumbled along the ground, catching a bush just before he was thrown down the slope of the mountain.
"Tomiko, I will have you!"
She snapped her fingers, and the bush froze. Akio shouted in pain as his hands were caught in the frost and he fell, sliding down the mountain out of sight.
It only took one glare from Tomiko to send his men running for their lives.
"I thought he was staying," said Taiko. "Did he change his mind?"
"That's not really Akio," said Minoru. "It's just a fragment of that world that hitched a ride with Tomiko. Kind of like me."
"So the Tomiko I saw back in the palace-"
"The real Akio isn't rid of her either, I guess."
"At least he went down easily enough," said Yumi.
"He's just a shadow of the real thing," said Minoru. "He doesn't have the specialness that you guys have anymore. This world wasn't made for him."
Minoru was growing fainter.
"Your crystal!" said Miyoshi, "I shouldn't have taken it back from Jinpachi. What should I do? Throw it back to-"
"It doesn't matter," he said. "I don't have a place in that world anymore. I was a figment created by the grief that twisted it in the first place."
"I knew you, didn't I?" asked Tomiko.
"Yeah, you did. But I've been dead for a long time. It's about time I disappeared. Goodbye, Tomiko. Try to listen to Taiko, okay? I think she's got the right of things."
Minoru's voice trailed off, his image already gone.
"It's over," said Taiko, her hands still tied. "Would you guys mind if I took a quick nap? I'm just a little-"
An arm locked around Miyoshi's neck. She yelped loudly, reaching behind to elbow whoever it was. Instead she found her arm seized and twisted behind her back.
"Akio!" shouted Yumi, "Didn't we just dump you off a cliff?"
"You're looking at the original," he said, his hot breath on Miyoshi's neck.
"You'll be rid of me soon enough, but I'm taking one of you with me as a souvenir."
Miyoshi was dragged back, her boots scraping along the ground as she tried to dig them in. They caught on the crack, and a moment later she saw the distortion pass over to her world. She was back in Akio's realm.
Miyoshi tried to bite his arm, but it was too firmly held around her neck. She nearly broke her shoulder as she fought against his grip, but she was still sinking deeper and deeper into his world and away from hers. The crack was opening wider, almost too much to step across now.
"Let her go!" yelled Yumi as she jumped across, spear in hand.
At first Miyoshi was afraid that she was going to stab Aiko through her, but instead she used her spear to pole vault over his head and kick him in the back. Miyoshi felt him lurch forward with a grunt, and his grip vanished as he went for his sword.
Miyoshi turned around and decked him in the jaw. The effect came more from surprise than raw power, but he stumbled to the side giving Yumi a clear path home.
"Come on!" yelled Miyoshi, running and leaping across the quickly growing rift.
She turned to see Yumi right behind her, but just before she could jump Akio, too quickly recovered, dove and caught her ankle in his outstretched hand.
Miyoshi heard four voices, one of them her own, scream out Yumi's name. With a thunderous clap the distorted vision in front of them vanished. The mountainside was left whole, quiet and peaceful, with the Sugarbulb swamps lying beyond.
Yumi looked up to see an empty mountainside. Her friends were gone. So was Tomiko. So was the rift, and the distorted image that was in front of her a moment ago.
She yelled in pure fury, rolling over to kick at Akio's hand. He let go of her ankle and she raced him to her feet. She aimed her spear at his chest as he lifted his sword in defense.
"Well at least I get to finish you off," she said, growling at Akio.
"You're in no condition to fight," he said with a grin. "Look how sloppy your stance is. Drop your weapon and surrender."
"You're not looking great either."
He might have had an easier time at Frostspire, but he still looked tired and he was already panting. A shift in his guard showed her pain that he was trying to hide.
"What's wrong," she asked, "Broke a rib diving after me?"
Being hurt like that made it hard to move in certain ways. Yumi guessed where he would dodge, feigned a thrust, and sent her real attack right where he was trying to escape to. If she'd been at full strength, it would have been the end of the fight, but she was slow and limp enough for him to parry the tip of her spear with his sword.
He stepped inside her guard and wrapped his arm around her spear, using it as an anchor as he spun around to aim hi
s elbow at her head. Yumi ducked and kicked at his leg, dropping him to his knee. He used her spear to pull her toward him, flipping her over his back onto the ground. Yumi lashed out with her foot, catching him in the side and sending him falling back.
She rose to her feet again, her spear back under her control. For a moment, they just stared at each other. They were both breathing hard. They were both hurting. Yumi gritted her teeth and charged. Akio shouted and met her. Her spear, aimed at his head, reaching him first, but he dodged it by an inch. His sword came up and stuck her shaft, tearing the weapon out of her hands. At the same time, her uppercut, its path made clear by his swing, thundered into his jaw.
He hit the ground and his sword dropped from his hand. Yumi picked up her spear and limped over, placing it at his neck.
"Minoru was right. The real you is a much bigger pain in the ass."
Akio groaned and stirred, looking up toward her.
"At least this world will get to lose one of its tyrants," she said.
Akio only smiled. Something hit the back of her head. Her body went limp and she was unable to even catch herself as she collapsed. She found herself looking up at a man she'd seen before, holding a rock.
"Good timing, Jinpachi," said Akio.
Yumi cursed the both of them as she blacked out.
Epilogue
The Darkberri caves were quiet, silent except for the occasional echo of dripping water. The glowing lichen gave them enough light to see by, although Taiko still had to watch her step.
"I smell it," she said. "It's in here somewhere, but I can't pick out a trail."
Her fuumog's nose had tracked the monster this far. Now they just had to find it among the twisting tunnels that ran under the Oogie Mountains.
"Over that way," said Chiyo, pointing to a tunnel that split off from the cavern. "If the maps in my book are right, there's an underground lake down there. If I was going to have a lair, it'd be near water."
"Lead the way, Tsuki Okami."
Ikumi's wolf crept silently forward, ready to pounce at any sign of trouble. Chiyo followed him, staff pointed ahead. Tomiko, without a word, summoned a flurry of snow to her hand, priming her magic to strike. She followed on Chiyo's right while Ikumi stayed behind her.
Taiko looked for Miyoshi and found her stuffing her face with the berries that grew all across the cave floor.
"Miyoshi! Not now!"
"Mm?"
Miyoshi swallowed, but grabbed another handful.
"But they're so good!"
"We can take some home before we leave," said Taiko.
"No, we can't. Chiyo said they'll spoil as soon as we take them outside. Try some!"
Taiko shook her head and started following the rest.
"Come on, before you get left behind."
Taiko's arms were seized and locked behind her back. Miyoshi had them entangled in her own, her hold firm but not uncomfortable.
"I think I'm going to have to tie you up again tonight, Miss bossy," she whispered, her head resting on Taiko's neck.
Miyoshi was getting disturbingly good at it. Taiko didn't actually let her do it, but Miyoshi always wound up getting Taiko at her mercy whenever she wanted, and despite her best attempts to resist Taiko was spending a lot of time bound snugly while Miyoshi treated her like a slave.
She was absolutely merciless when it came to how thorough and secure her ropework was. It was never painful, but it was always as tight as it could otherwise be, and Taiko could usually barely move. Miyoshi had learned quickly, and Taiko had no choice but to obey her commands and satisfy her whims if she wanted her freedom again. Miyoshi had even punished her several times now for not yielding fast enough, demanding to be untied, or not sucking her toes as ordered. She'd been bent over Miyoshi's lap and spanked, left tied to a chair and gagged for hours while Miyoshi went to pick flowers, and even brought to the cusp of orgasm and then denied release, spending the whole night tied to Miyoshi's bed wanting to cum while Miyoshi, satisfied by Taiko's own tongue, slept on top of her.
She'd become a regular tyrant, but there was nothing Taiko could do. Every moment with her was worth it. No punishment was as bad as spending a night without her. No ropes were too well-tied if they made her smile.
Taiko was snapped back to attention when Tsuki Okami growled. Miyoshi let her slip free and she ran to the tunnel they'd advanced down. She caught up with them to see the monster- the kurosumi- standing at the edge of the water.
Ikumi stood her ground, but Taiko could see the fear that she was struggling to conquer. Taiko remembered the demons she'd face herself, and knew that Ikumi would stay strong.
The creature stalked forward, ready to attack. Chiyo sent lightning arcing down her staff and toward its body, but animalistic instincts let it dodge easily. Taiko focused on the creature's body. It liked to melt. It was as much a substance of its own as it was the creature's, and Taiko sensed where she could join her will with it.
She stood with her arms out to her sides, brought them to cross above her head, then circled one through the air while the other curled against her chest. Her magic flowed out and touched the kurosumi's body.
"Melt, tar!"
The kurosumi roared in anger as its arms and legs went gooey without its consent. Stuck in place, it was a ripe target for Tomiko. A freezing gale whipped up around her and flowed out over the creature. It stopped melting and froze solid, locking its last snarl of fury in place.
Tsuki Okami, seeing his opponent rendered harmless, hammered into it and sent it crashing to the ground. It shattered, pieces of the awful thing scattering across the cave floor.
"Get back," said Chiyo.
She struck the broken fragments with her most powerful blast, reducing them to tiny shards for good measure.
"It can't, uh, reform from that, can it?" asked Taiko.
"No," said Tomiko. "It won't bother anyone again."
Ikumi closed her eyes and bowed her head.
"The spirits are thankful," she said. "They don't revel in killing, but that thing didn't belong here."
It didn't take them long to get back to the surface. Taiko basked in the gentle warmth of the sun. Tomiko didn't care for it as much.
One month had passed since the battle at Frostspire. Queen Tomiko was a different woman now, just as promised. She was still melancholy and reserved, sometimes even indifferent. But her cruelty and despondency were gone. Sometimes she even had fun when Taiko gave her no other choice. The first festival she'd been forced to be a part of had her desperately pretending to be unimpressed, but as hard as she tried she wasn't able to keep from smiling once or twice.
Haru was waiting for them above.
"Did you find it?" he asked, walking over to Chiyo.
"Mm-hm," she said.
"I'm glad you made it out safe, then!" he said, wrapping his arms around her.
She tried to wriggle free, embarrassed. Taiko didn't know why. Everyone knew they were together now. When he only squeezed her harder in response she surrendered, and as red as her face was she looked warm and safe in his arms.
"So, back to Umai?" asked Ikumi, standing next to Taiko.
"Hm... it's still early."
"We could stop by Tampopo forest and see how Uffmog and her cubs are doing," said Miyoshi.
"Or we could go collect some specimens from the doppi plants that are blooming right now by the Midori Lake," said Chiyo. "They only do that two weeks out of the year, and they're almost up."
Tomiko just sighed.
Taiko looked to the sky as she thought about what adventure to embark on next. Grief tugged at her heart when she found herself wondering what Yumi would have suggested. Taiko would never know what kind of fate she'd gone to in that other world. All she could do was hope that she would have her happy ending too.
Yumi entered her master's chambers. She knelt, waiting with head bowed as he finished writing out his orders to send to Captain Yushin.
"You may speak," he said, putting down his br
ush and rolling up the piece of paper.
"My mission has been a success," she said. "Kori has been captured, and sealed in the prison at Chinmoku Rock."
"The Oni are finished, then. Good work."
It was a crucial victory, but Queen Tomiko- or at least her shadow- still remained strong in her frozen kingdom. After losing Frostspire Akio's forces had been obliged to retreat. Having to lay siege to Ishi-jo further weakened him. Now, with the fortress back in his hands, he was slowly getting things under control again.
Yumi was helping him. Not by choice, obviously. There was a new mark on the back of her neck, made with the kurosumi's tar. It was Akio's crest. After taking her back to Ishi-jo in bondage Akio had broken her again, just as he promised. Naked, on her knees, crushed by the rope digging into her arms and chest, and stinging all over from a brutal whipping, she pledged her oath of absolute servitude to him. She accepted his symbol as a part of it, and when it was drawn on her neck with his cursed brush it forever sealed her obedience to him.
"Strip," he said, turning to watch her.
For just an instant, she resolved not to. In that instant, the pain of every torture she'd endured since her first capture at Akio's hands echoed throughout her body, and she swiftly got to work removing her uniform. She folded it neatly and laid in on the floor, kneeling before her master- there was no denying that he was- so that he might enjoy the sight of her naked body.
Yumi was thankful that he was the only one who was allowed to see it. She was his to enjoy, but she was his alone. He'd changed. He was no less strict a master, no less dominating, but he was no longer cruel or wanton. He cared for her. As a valued piece of property, perhaps, but no more would he entertain the kind of inhumanity he threatened when she was first his prisoner. Her life so far was still filled with humiliations, punishments, and unwilling servitude, but there was hope, too. She was allowed to have things to live for and a limit to the evils she would have to endure.
She was also his only personal slave now. Once determined to be the first to rape every woman who entered Ishi-jo, he now reserved all of his attentions for Yumi.
[No data] Page 35