"What did you do that for!"
"To prove a point. You have no separation from your emotions. Your gateways are wide open."
"I was in the middle of channeling my energy when you hit me!"
"And do you really think your enemy is going to wait for you to finish before attacking you?"
She crossed her arms over her chest in response, "That's why I need you to teach me how to get control of it!"
"Then learn to control your emotions."
"What do you suggest then?" She threw her hands up in exasperation. The energy in the clearing felt like a hive of angry insects now. Her skin prickled as if she was being poked with a needle in a thousand different places.
"First you need to start by letting go of your anger over me hitting you."
"What makes you think I am angry at you?"
He gestured to the flames that danced around her and a cluster of golden lights that were hovering around her. They were nearly transparent in the gray early morning light. If she hadn't been so angry about him hitting her, she might have stopped to admire their beauty. One of the golden flecks of light came over and landed on her arm where she felt a sharp pain like a sting.
"What are they doing?" She swatted at it but her hand just went through it and it floated away.
"Right now they are reacting to your angry energy," he said and held his hand out. One of the specks landed on his finger and transformed from yellow to green and faded into his skin.
"I'm not angry!" As she said this a dozen more lights appeared and buzzed around her.
He was smiling faintly as he gestured towards the collection of dust mote sized lights. "They indicate otherwise."
She ground her teeth together. What did it matter if she was angry or not?
"I want to teach you, but you're going to have to learn to let go."
Suzume rolled her eyes, this was pointless. He obviously couldn't teach her anything.
"This is a waste of time." She marched towards the edge of the stone circle.
The lights flickered and buzzed around her, bumping into her, biting her all over her skin, and her anger only grew. It built up in her like a blaze.
"Suzume, if you'd just listen."
But she couldn't hear him. She was trapped inside a buzz of angry flying lights, which were darting around her and swirling around her with angry energy, stoking the flames inside her, until it grew larger and larger threatening to consume her. The stone in her pocket warmed up and added to the growing heat. She swatted at the flying lights as if it would make any difference. And then something was bubbling up inside her. She felt it rising and growing inside her before it burst out of her like a blast toward Makato who rolled out of the way just in time to avoid having his head removed from his neck. It collided with a stone at the far side of the clearing, burning through the rope with its folded paper talismans. The flames lit up the stone and a series of arcane markings that had previously been invisible. The flame sank into stone and the markings disappeared.
The stone started to shake and the earth around it split apart, and a long fissure open in front of it. A long, low cackle emanated from a long hole in the ground, as a clawed hand burst from it.
24
Suzume reached for her staff. With its familiar weight in her hand, she tried to take a step backwards out of the ring of stones. But as soon as her feet got close to the edge, energy crackled and sparked against her skin. She leapt away before she could get burned. A shimmering barrier of energy surrounded the ring of stones. The orbs hung above each of the stone lines of energy, connecting them and extending outward to create the barrier. They were not some benign yokai of light, but guardians of this place. Which meant they were there to keep whatever was inside the stone inside.
The maniacal laughter filled the air and rattled through Suzume's skull. She fought the urge to cover her ears to stop the noise, because that would mean letting go of the staff and somehow she thought it was more important to hold onto it right now. Makato drew his bow and arrow, pointing it at the hole. Something black and gray with oily, black strings dangling from its wrists clawed its way out of the hole. The stone behind it had cracked in half and any sign of the fire Suzume had shot disappeared. All that remained was a smoldering pile of rubble.
The thing, whatever it was, crawled out on all fours. What Suzume had originally mistook for oily string was actually limp hair which fell in a curtain in front of the thing's face. A putrid scent that followed it, like long rotten meat.
Makato shot an arrow at the top of it's head. It landed in the flesh of the creature with a sick wet noise. But the creature kept crawling towards them, its eerie laughter filling her skull. She grabbed onto the side of her head to try and block out the sound but it seemed to be coming from inside.
"What is that thing?" Suzume asked. Giving up on blocking it out, she held her staff in front of her in the guard position, trying and failing to summon the fire she had just used to free this thing. But it would not come to her; there was not even the faintest spark along her skin. It was as if her energy had been all used up, but she could still feel it churning in her gut, like a small inferno just out of her reach, waiting to be grabbed a hold of and used to vanquish this horrifying creature before her.
The creature stopped its slow progress towards them, and then slowly unbent from all fours to stand and stare at her. It had the general shape of a woman, and was wearing all white. The long black hair was obscuring her face but Suzume could see the molted gray skin beneath.
"It's a yuri," Makato said, not removing his eyes from the creature.
"You're telling me restless spirits are real too?"
It shouldn't have come as that much of a surprise, if Kami and yokai were real, why not the spirits of the dead, trapped on earth because of some unfinished business.
The arrow in the yuri's skull was forced out and it flopped onto the ground it front of it, landing on the grass at her feet. Where ever its feet touched began to rot, spreading outward like an infection, turning green grass at first brown and then black with a mold like decay. The path in which it had crawled out now looked like a slimy black trail.
Makato shot a quick series of arrows into the thing's chest, and it jerked backwards with each blow but did not fall. After the last arrow pierced it, the yuri started a slow shuffling progression towards them. The fire was crackling all over her body, and Suzume created a ball of fire, flinging it towards the creature. But when the fire landed on her, it singed her clothes but it did not deter her forward momentum.
Instead of deterring it, she had drawn the creature's attention onto herself and it continued its slow shuffling gait towards her. Suzume backed up, but the barrier behind her was sparking and sputtering as soon as she got close. She stepped away from the barrier, and then hugging the ring of stones, skittered along the edge. Each time she moved, the creature made a jerking motion in her direction to follow. Makato continued to shoot arrows into it to no avail. They only hindered the shuffling footsteps for a moment before it would continue again.
From beneath the curtain of the thing's hair, Suzume could see a one eye with a wide, white iris and a flash of pointed teeth as it smiled at her. But did not speak.
Suzume ran faster than the thing but she couldn't run around this circle forever. She stood in place to lure it closer to her. If she could get closer to Makato perhaps they could make a plan together. The yuri closed the distance despite Makato's attacks. Dispelled arrows were littered on the ground, some snapped under the yuri's foot. Suzume pressed her body against the rock behind her, hands clutching her staff with desperation. Almost. Not yet. Just a second more. She held her breath. And then when it was in striking distance she swung her staff, knocking it upside the head.
The blow landed on decaying flesh, which squished beneath her blow as if it was full of liquid. The head rocked on the neck of the creature, turning almost at an angle and leaving the yuri momentarily stunned. Suzume darted past it to the oppo
site side of the ring, where Makato was standing ready with his dwindling supply of arrows.
Suzume reached him after her short sprint, panting for breath as she stood behind him. The yuri made a slow uncoordinated turn and resumed its shuffle towards her with much farther to go.
"What is that thing doing in a Kami's place?"
"Someone must have used the holy ground to seal it here."
Suzume smacked him up the backside of his head and when she did she felt a flicker of his power join hers. It felt the same way it had when she'd faced Kaito. Makato shouted an oath before looking back at her with a scowl.
"Why did you do that?"
"I told you my energy unleashed dangerous things and you didn't listen!"
"Is now really the time for 'I told you so'?"
"Well if you hadn't insisted on teaching me here."
The yuri stopped its maniacal laughter, and the silence that followed was worse than the laughter. The two were frozen in place, waiting and watching as it titled its head from side to side examining them. Suzume's blow seemed to have broken something in its neck because the head wobbled from side to side with each unsteady movement.
The creature was closing in on the two of them now. The entire circle of stones was gray and covered in the creeping slimy filth, which inched up even the rocks and toward the barrier that flickered and sparked against it. She did not want to touch that slime, and feared it was some sort of extension of the creature. Suzume was out of ideas and the thing wasn't stopping no matter what they did.
"We should combine our energy," Suzume said, putting her hand out for Makato to take.
Makato eyed her hand dubiously. "I don't know if that's a good idea."
"Then use your vines or something against it, lift up the stones so we can walk under. Do something, cause my fire alone is not enough."
"When you took energy from me before, I felt something."
"We don't have time to talk about it. This is life and death."
Suzume looked at him, real fear was coiling in her stomach now. How long could they run around in circles before it inevitably caught up with them?
"We have to at least try," Suzume said, grabbing his hand before he could protest further.
When Makato's hand was in hers she felt a rush of power almost immediately. Makato looked at their conjoined hands and then towards the creature. It was almost within arm's reach, and was holding out gray arms as it would embrace them. The hair fell behind it's shoulders and exposed bones protruding from the skin there.
Makato grabbed onto her tighter and with his new commitment the energy pulsing between them grew stronger. Energy shot through Suzume, for a moment stealing her breath. She gasped and her free hand clutched at her chest. It felt as if someone was inside her clawing at her heart. But it went outward from there, passing through each of her centers of energy, igniting them and energy burst from each stream between points in a feeling that was both exhilarating and terrifying.
The inferno that churned inside her gut was spreading through her body, fed by energy that was poured into her from her hand and the contact with Makato. The energy was building beneath her skin, growing and swelling to fill every corner of her before traveling through the hand that connected her and Makato, creating a swirling pathway of energy that coursed through the both of them.
If she closed her eyes she could feel his heart beating in time with hers. It was as if they had become one and part of something large than the two at the same time. She was one with the universe, with everything living thing on the planet, connected by a living stream of energy: one every creature drew from and fell into upon their death to feed the living. If she wanted to she could reach into that endless stream and find other hearts beating in time with hers, who must have sensed her call. She felt their answer echoed back at her from miles and miles away.
Makato's hand squeezed hers and brought her back to the present, grounding her in the moment where the thing was nearly upon them, its horrifying gray skin and blackened nails about to grab a hold of her.
Together they took a hold of the staff with their free hands and imbued it with their combined spiritual power. And as if they were two parts of a greater whole, they wielded the energy at the creature. Bright, white, pure energy burst out of them and slammed into the body of the creature.
It stumbled backwards a few steps, but did not fall. The energy, instead of burning a hole through it as they intended, hovered in front of the yuri. It clung onto it with clumsy, decaying hands. It caressed the energy, forming it into a ball. The creature's darkness enveloped and shrouded the light until it was nothing more than a pinprick and then gone all together. When the light was gone and all that remained was a black mass of swirling grays and black, it pressed the energy into its chest. The yuri gasped, its white eyes bulging in the gray sockets as it threw its head back.
Her head snapped forward and she grinned at them. "Fools, you would have been better to be ripped apart than use your energy upon me," she said in a raspy voice.
The energy was still coursing through Suzume and Makato and their thoughts even seemed to be unified. She could not tell where Makato began and she ended. They created a barrier around themselves in a futile attempt to protect their bodies.
Their energy healed the decay of the creature's flesh, bringing her back to a semblance of life. It walked towards them with new pink flesh and a ruby red smile. The yuri closed in, hands reaching, pushing through the barrier as if it was nothing.
Makato was the first to let go, and he shoved Suzume behind him, placing himself in front of the yuri. Suzume felt their shared energy crash into her. Forced inside her by Makato's desperation to protect her, as if he would take refuge within her. Her skin felt too tight, as if she would burst from the energy buzzing inside her. But she was also paralyzed, and lying on the ground she was helpless to act as the yuri grabbed Makato by the front of his hoari. She inhaled his energy, which sparked along his skin, the last remnant of the power they had shared together. Thee yuri then placed her gray lips against his and absorbed his energy through her kiss. Makato was also paralyzed, limp in her hands. The color of his skin faded as she drank in his energy, leaving him pallid and gray.
When the creature was finished she dropped Makato to the ground. She was no longer decayed and stringy, but a woman in shape, with a beautiful face, round eyes, and red cherry lips. She wore a bright white haori and hakama with designs of flowers and insects along the hems. Her eyes had become a golden color and she looked down at Suzume who had fallen to the ground. She was trapped within her own body, paralyzed, and staring at the thing above her.
The woman knelt down and stared at Suzume.
"I can feel her inside you: that witch who trapped me here for five hundred years. I will have you suffer as I suffered but I will be more merciful and after a time I will kill you. But not yet. There is more to feast on to prepare myself for your punishment."
She looked up at the barrier, and with a wave of her hand she brought it down in a shimmering burst of sparks. She strolled past the ring of stones and the small sparkling lights followed after her as she walked up the trail towards the temple, where the others were unaware of what danger that was stalking closer.
In Suzume's limp hand, she held the staff. Just a few feet away, Makato was staring at her, but all he could manage was a slow blink. Suzume closed her eyes. Once again she was powerless to do anything.
"Lend me your energy, and I can save them."
Suzume eyes darted around for the voice. But it was inside her.
"Kazue?" she croaked.
Then something deep within her stirred. Similat to the burst of energy when Makato and her power combined, this felt as if it came from somewhere deeper than that. It reached for Makato's energy and her own which had mixed inside her. Something bloomed inside her, and grew like a fiery flower. Suzume cried out in pain as it burned her from the inside. This was power, this was what she had been looking for all along.
25
The putrid stink of rotted flesh and grave soil hit him like a punch to the face. Kaito reacted without thinking, instinct calling him to defend. Moving too quickly only pulled at his still healing wounds and he had to resist the urge to clutch at the throbbing wound at his side, or one of the others would notice his weakness and exploit it.
They'd all smelled what was coming, and had risen to defend. Noaki drew his sword, eyes trained on the direction from which the horrid smell was coming, his son, Tsuki standing beside him. Rin had transformed into her kitsune form and she leapt in front of Kaito with her back to him, as if to guard.
Kaito scowled at the back of her head. "What are you doing?" he snarled.
"You're still healing, don't pretend like you're not. I can smell the blood on you."
She did not even look behind to him, her numerous fiery tails whipped back and forth. Despite his attempts to hide his weakness, this is what he'd been reduced to.
"Here it comes!" Tsuki shouted.
Kaito looked past Rin to the forest pathway beyond. A lone figure in white approached. It walked slowly, and with each step the ground beneath its feet shriveled up and turned gray and then black. It looked to be a woman in shape, with long dark hair that hung almost to her feet.
"Master, it's a yuri. You should run before it reaches us."
Kaito ignored her comment."Where is Suzume?" A sudden realization dawned on him. He hadn't seen her in hours. Normally she'd be in the thick of things, squawking her displeasure.
Rin's massive kitsune head flicked across their makeshift camp. "Makato is missing as well." The kitsune half turned as if prepared to go look for them herself.
The Dragon Saga Box Set Page 55