The last of the priests exited, closely followed by the head priest and his second. The head priest turned to see Suzume standing to one side, her arms wrapped around her protectively as she contemplated her unfortunate fate. The head priest smiled at her and nodded his head in greeting. He walked past Suzume and down the covered walkway before Suzume had the sense to speak.
"Excuse me!" Suzume called out. Her voice cracked across the hushed silence of the temple and reverberated back at her. The echo did not disguise the desperate whine of her tone.
The head priest stopped and turned to face Suzume. The second hung back behind the head priest's shoulder. The head priest addressed Suzume, "Young Priestess, how can I be of assistance?"
Finally! Someone with some manners. She bowed. "I was hoping I could speak with you, if it is not too much trouble." Suzume felt compelled to respect the priest, she could not exactly say why. Even back at court when addressing her father, the emperor, she had at times been haughty and disrespectful. But there was a magnetic draw she felt to him as if he had all the answers in the world.
"What a coincidence. I was hoping to speak with you as well. Shall we walk in the garden together?" He motioned towards the garden on the other side of the walkway.
Suzume smiled in response. "That would be lovely, thank you."
The head priest excused himself from his second and then offered a bended arm to Suzume. She took his arm and they walked together in the opposite direction from the other priests. They headed towards the shrine and Suzume's stomach clenched with fear. Before they got too close, however, they turned and walked down a few steps and onto a garden path. Suzume exhaled with relief. I don't think I'll ever be able to go near a shrine again.
There was a stone pathway that weaved among miniature, decorative bushes. They were silent for quite a long time. Suzume took the time to enjoy the serene surroundings. It was a refreshing change. No monsters threatening to devour her for her powers. No creatures lurking in the shadows, hunting her. And best of all, Kaito was off somewhere pouting, which meant Suzume had a moment of real peace for the first time in weeks.
She hoped he would be the one that could help her master her powers. They passed by a decorative pond with koi swimming about in it. There were more gingko trees here that shaded the walk. The umbrella-shaped leaves littered the ground in a yellow carpet. It's almost too perfect here. I really hope this priest is really a priest and not the spirit of a priest who wants to use my eyeballs in an evil potion that will help make him invincible or something awful like that.
"You have questions?" the priest prompted, ending the comfortable silence and dashing Suzume's twisted thoughts.
Suzume, by now used to mystical individuals seemingly reading her thoughts, replied, "Yes. You mentioned our souls met in a past life. What did you mean?" She wanted to keep asking questions, but something about the slow cadence of the priest's voice and the tranquility around them kept her from asking all her questions in a rush. She would get the answers she wanted in good time, her little-used patience reminded her. As much as she felt it would, waiting wouldn't kill her.
He patted her hand, which was linked through his arm. "I have been head priest here for many lives. Oftentimes souls that reincarnate will travel similar paths. For many of my lives, I have been the head priest here. Including five centuries ago when your soul was last here."
Suzume gasped, impressed by his intuition. "How do you know that?"
He pulled away from her so he could face her. "It was a guess." He smiled.
Suzume frowned at the old man. "That's not funny, you tricked me." Maybe I misjudged him after all.
He chuckled. "I apologize. I could not resist. Your soul and mine did indeed meet long ago. When you are trained as I am, you can sense these things. The reason I was able to deduce the time frame is because of the great Dragon."
"What does he have to do with this?" Suzume crossed her arms over her chest.
"Because your souls' paths are bound together."
"No, they're not!" Suzume shouted without thinking. She balled her hands into fists at her sides. Why does everything come back to him and me? Can we all just move on from this destined souls thing?
The priest's brow furrowed. Suzume hurried to cover her faux pas. She had been spending too much time with the Dragon. "I'm sorry. I don't think my soul has anything to do with the Dragon."
The priest folded his hands in front of him. He inserted his hands into the billowing sleeves of his robe. He regarded Suzume for a moment without speaking. Suzume squirmed beneath his gaze. It felt like when he looked at her, he could see right through to her soul, and for the first time she was afraid of what someone saw within her.
"There is a bond when two souls must share a journey. You and the Dragon share this bond. It does not have to be a romantic bond, oftentimes it can be merely friendship or even enemies. I said many souls travel the same paths, but despite that, no journey is the same. You may be the reincarnation of Fujikawa Kazue, but it does not mean you will love and live as she did. You are your own person. And as with High Priestess Fujikawa, when a soul has been damaged by a past life, it will often times drastically alter the future path to heal the old wounds."
Suzume was somewhat mollified by this. Then I don't have to be with Kaito... She was oddly disappointed, but she pushed the feelings aside. It was better not to analyze that thought. "What can you tell me about Kazue?"
"High Priestess Fujikawa?" he corrected, using her more formal form of address. "She is often called the first priestess. Though there were shrines and attendants before, she was thought to bring them together by traveling between them and sharing knowledge about the mystical world, and she is credited with founding many of the shrines around the kingdom, including the Eight High Deity Shrines, which includes the shrine at the White Palace."
"Is it true she was the mother to the first emperor?" Suzume asked. What a strange twist of fate if I was my own great-great-great-great-grandmother.
The priest shrugged. "It is difficult to say. During Priestess Fujikawa's time, the empire was made of many factious clans ruled by different lords. The early records were destroyed when the shrine that held them burned back in the two hundred years after the beginning of our empire. Most of those early days have been lost to the mist of time. There is no way to say whether she was the one who bore the first emperor or if it is truly myth. This I can tell you: she trained in this very temple and she died at a young age."
"How did she die?" Suzume asked, but as the question escaped her mouth, a roar ripped through the tranquility of the garden. "What was that?" Suzume twisted around to find the source of the sound.
The ground rumbled beneath Suzume's feet. It lurched and bucked and she had to focus just to keep her balance. Suzume threw her arms out to keep from falling. She looked to the priest. He had his head tilted up to the sky. He muttered under his breath and it sounded a lot like the prayers she had heard earlier that day. Suzume followed his gaze. Gray storm clouds fat with rain had blotted out the sun when just moments ago it had been a sunny day. Rain burst from the clouds and pelted Suzume and the priest like icy needles.
Suzume squinted as something writhed among the clouds. Lightning flashed and lit up the dark sky. Then she saw a flash of pearlescent skin and a serpentine body. No! The Dragon hovered far above them and he opened his mouth in another thunderous roar. His eyes were an electric blue like the lightning that cracked and sizzled behind him. He opened his mouth and ice shot from it. The ice flung to the ground and impaled the earth at their feet.
A barrier materialized around her as Suzume threw her hands up just in time to protect herself from the falling ice. The dagger-sharp shards sizzled and clanked off her force field, melting the ice as it hit. Some of the ice daggers were so large they did not melt immediately but threatened to pierce it. The Dragon circled back around and disappeared behind the clouds. While he was gone, Suzume chanced a glance at the priest. He had fashioned himself a bar
rier as well and continued chanting under his breath.
"What's going on? Is that Kaito?" Suzume shouted to the priest.
He did not respond. The rain had solidified and now pelted their barriers as enormous balls of ice. The ice balls hit her barrier before sizzling and rolling off in rivulets of water as they melted.
The Dragon roared and coiled about the sky. It looked like Kaito in his dragon form, but between the clouds, it was hard to tell. All she could see was the writhing body of the Dragon seething among the clouds. How many other dragons could there be?
Then her questions were answered when the Dragon bellowed, "Kazue, I am coming for you!"
Great, what have I gotten myself into now?
Chapter Thirty-four
The Dragon swooped down from the sky, and the wind, unhindered by the barrier, froze Suzume down to the bone. The bushes were fringed with frost, and the sky was thick with clouds so dark they blotted out the sun. The Dragon skimmed the edge of Suzume's barrier. Her barrier crackled as his clawed hand tried to grab hold of her. She panicked as he came near her and she stumbled backwards against her own barrier. It did not burn, but felt like a warm tickle. But she could smell the burning flesh on the Dragon; it smelled like burning rotten meat. He roared in pain and reeled back from her barrier. He opened his mouth and aimed a spray of ice at Suzume, which collided with her barrier and shook it. Steam rose off her barrier where ice had pelted it. Her barrier flickered for a brief second.
Slack jawed, she watched the Dragon's underbelly pass over her. She could feel the cold wind rolling off of him. He came really close to taking my head off. Her hands went to her throat. Her pulse jumped beneath her skin and her heartbeat was loud enough to drown out the sound of the pounding rain that followed the falling ice. The Dragon roared and twisted in the sky. His body coiled around without end like an endless mass of twisting flesh.
"Face me, Kazue! You cannot hide behind the barrier forever," the Dragon thundered.
"He's lost his mind!" Suzume shouted at no one in particular. She thought he would be upset after discovering her past life, but this seemed a little overdramatic.
"You need the staff!" Rin shouted from Suzume's left.
Suzume twirled around inside the barrier. Rin stood beneath a gingko tree, her mouth set in a line. Suzume had never seen her look so serious and it scared her. She looks terrified. Suzume's hands shook and she clamped them down at her sides to hide their shaking.
"What staff?" Suzume cried over the wind.
"It's in the shrine. It belonged to Kazue. It will help you focus your power."
Suzume glanced over her shoulder towards the shrine. It was a hundred feet away, at least. And on top of that she would have to get around the bushes and then cross open ground before reaching the shrine. She might as well paint a giant target on her back that said "come eat me". The barrier flickered again. I don't know how much longer I can keep this up. I'm getting weaker every minute, and Kaito has gone insane.
"Go, I'll cover you," Rin said. Before Suzume could even voice a complaint, the Kitsune ran out from beneath the tree and into the way of the descending Dragon.
As the Dragon descended, Rin transformed from woman to animal. Her fur was bright orange, her underbelly was white and her numerous tails whipped behind her.
That's Rin? Suzume gasped. She should have known Rin had a different form, but it still came as a shock. Rin bared her teeth at Kaito as he lunged for her. He was distracted by the introduction of the Kitsune. Rin lunged for Kaito's throat and caught him. Though Rin was perhaps a third the Dragon's length, she was able to get enough leverage to bring him crashing to the ground. The force of his impact shook the ground and he snarled at Rin as he gained his feet and broke free.
Suzume did not take another second to watch the battle and ran full speed for the shrine. Crossing the open ground took only a few seconds, but it felt like an eternity. She did not look back, but she heard the Dragon growl and felt each breath she took. Run. Don't look. Keep going. By the time she reached the shrine, she was panting for breath. She stumbled inside, tripping over her hakama as she ascended the steps. She saved herself from face-planting by grabbing the door frame.
As she took a moment to catch her breath, she looked around the shrine. It was a plain square building. In the center of the room was a rectangular pedestal. It was long and narrow, with sticks of incense burning at the four corners.
Inside the shrine, the outside noise seemed to dim and Suzume could focus on the staff. It lay on a stand that kept it propped up on the platform. She walked over to it hastily. Thankfully, unlike the other occasions when she'd been near a shrine, she did not feel anything stirring or her power reaching out for the object. She stood over the staff for a moment, examining it. It was surprisingly unimpressive. The staff was made of worn wood that was smooth around the edges and the middle where Kazue had gripped it. It appeared to have been painted red at some point, but the paint had long since faded to a burnt orange color.
This is it? She picked up the staff. It was light and fit in her hand. She stood it upright and it was the same height as her. It's like it was made for me. She twirled the staff and brought it down in front of her with a swipe. It felt right. Holding this felt natural as if she'd been trained with it her entire life, but she'd never touched a weapon before.
The fight outside invaded the tranquility within the shrine. A yelp followed a growl. There was no time to think about why the staff felt so right, she had to help Rin. She ran out the shrine doors. The sounds of fighting had faded away. She looked up into the dark sky and fat drops of rain fell onto her face.
The Dragon was nowhere to be seen. Suzume stopped and looked around, the staff held loosely at her side. Why am I doing this? I should take this opportunity to run. She didn't know how to explain it, but she felt compelled to help, to fight the Dragon. Then a disturbing thought occurred to her. Everything was too quiet--something wasn't right. Then she felt pain, bright and sharp, at the base of her spine where something had struck her. She collapsed to her knees from the pain. Low rumbling laughter filled her ears.
She spun around to face her assailant. A man with dark hair hanging loose around his face walked towards her. He had an angular face with high cheekbones and a cruel smile. He walked towards Suzume, with a smirk tilting his lips.
"We finally meet face to face, Suzume." He paced towards her.
"Who are you?!" she demanded as she jumped back onto her feet. She pointed the staff at him.
He did not answer and instead circled her with an almost bored expression. His eyes glanced up and down her, not in a lascivious way but almost as if he were sizing her up.
"I asked you a question." Suzume jabbed the staff in his direction.
He laughed again. The sound rolled over her and made her skin crawl.
"We'll just say I'm an old friend." He stopped pacing and faced Suzume. His eyes were narrowed as he regarded her.
"I doubt that," Suzume spat. "What did you shoot me with anyway?" Her back still throbbed and she could not massage it as she wanted to. Both her hands were being used to hold up the staff and her arms shook with the effort.
"Perhaps I should correct myself, I was a friend of Kazue's."
She scoffed, trying to ignore her fear. "Kazue's friends are not necessarily my friends."
"Then you no longer deny you are her?"
"I'm Suzume--if you don't mind. Maybe you could give me your name since we're such good friends now."
He clicked his tongue as if he were scolding her. "Let's make this more fun and keep that a secret for now."
This guy is a creep. If I didn't have other things to deal with, I'd fry him, but as it is, I have a dragon to deal with. He blocked her way back to Rin and Kaito. She swung the staff, hoping to get him to move. He dodged her swing easily. Instead of Suzume hitting him with her staff, he grabbed it in the center, swung it under her armpit and flipped her over. The staff slipped from her grasp, and he used it to pin he
r to the ground as he loomed over her.
Suzume glared up at him. "What do you want?" she snarled.
"Nothing... yet." He leaned forward and brushed his lips against Suzume's, despite Suzume wrenching her face away from him.
"What is wrong with you!" she shouted.
She tried to kick him or punch, but her body was not listening to her. All attempts at defense were nothing more than lame twistings of her limbs. Her barrier was curiously dormant and she couldn't call forward her power in her own defense. He eased off of her and then, with one more wicked smile, he disappeared through a glimmering mirror, stars reflected on the other side. Wait, that's no mirror, is that a portal?
Who was that? the Dragon roared and the sound of the battle came crashing down on her once again. Suzume did not have much time to consider her strange encounter before she ran back towards Rin and Kaito. Rin, still in her fox form, came bounding over the decorative hedges, with Kaito hot on her tails. Rin spun around to face Kaito. The Kitsune opened her mouth and blue flames shot out and met Kaito's icy breath.
Steam erupted around them, haloing their heads in clouds. Suzume rushed forward, using the clouds to disguise herself. It was not enough, however, and Kaito spotted her and roared. He flew up into the air before coming hurtling down towards her. Suzume realized too late she had no idea what she was doing. The mysterious stranger had proved that much. Kaito's icy breath brushed against her cheeks and the perspiration on her brow froze.
"What am I supposed to do now?" She looked at Rin.
The Kitsune was badly wounded, her shoulder torn open, bleeding profusely. Along with myriad other wounds that were in some state of healing.
"Just use the staff, focus your energy on it and hit him with it!" Rin panted.
The Priestess and the Dragon_Book 1 in the Dragon Saga Page 24