She wasn't going to let these creatures treat her like a servant. Using her haughtiest voice she said, "You dare insult me with this pitiful servant? Bring me a more satisfactory supplicant." Suzume always found her words much more powerful than her fists.
The creature did not respond and instead marched over to her. She backed away to the wall, hoping her internal fire would stop him when he got closer to her. Sparks danced along her flesh as he grabbed a hold of her arm, but he did not hesitate to grab onto her.
"Let go of me!" she shouted.
The creature ignored her words as if they were a minor annoyance, just like the sparks that would normally repel any other yokai. He dragged her out the door and into the ring of huts beyond. He brought her to the center most circle, where a two yokai sat. Unlike the others the man to the right had a blue mask, with long fearsome tusks that jutted out from the front and the hair falling behind it was white as winter snow. Dark eyes watched her from behind the mask, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end. This must be their leader.
She turned towards him, prepared to give him a piece of her mind. Before she could a girl who would not look Suzume in the eye handed her a bottle of sake. Suzume caught a glimpse of burns along the girls forearm as she handed her the bottle. Then the Namahage who dragged her out pushed her towards the leader.
"You serve the chief," the Namahage behind her said.
"I will--" Suzume prepared a retort.
But a very large blade against her throat cut it short. "Or you die," the Namahage said.
"My pleasure," said behind gritted teeth. A plan was already starting to formulate in her mind. Using brute force against these creatures wasn't going to work.
Suzume plastered on a fake smile. In the White Palace, she had often poured sake when she entertained guests or when someone important came to visit her mother and Suzume was summoned to be a pretty decoration. The goal was always the same, charm the head of any group and a world of possibilities would open to you. Whether information or an influential vote, it didn't matter, the method was always the same. This was different of course, the air was charged with hostility and she could not control the fire within her from reacting to the presence of so many yokai. But if she could sway their leader then she'd gain control and that's exactly what she needed.
She approached the leader's table and poured sake into his glass with all the elegance and poise of a woman raised in the White Palace. Her gaze flickered up to the chief. His dark eyes pinned her in place and she could feel energy emanating from him. It drew her to him. Her own spiritual energy seemed to hum inside her, like someone anticipating a meal. She felt that same sort of mouthwatering sensation that spread across her entire body.
Then someone reached up to cup her rear. Suzume jumped out her skin as she spun around to face whoever it was that dared to touch her.
More of the boorish creatures had entered the ring and had taken a seat behind her.
"Sake for me as well," he held up his cup for her to fill.
She debated whether or not she could get away with dumping all of the sake on his head but he patted the large knife set down on the table in front of him and she held her false smile in place as she poured for him as well.
"That's a good girl," he said patting her bottom again.
Suzume jerked backwards and out of reach before he could attempt it again, or something worse. She clutched the bottle so hard she thought it might shatter. These were definitely not the gentile courtiers she was used to. Down the line she poured for each Namahage in turn. They seemed to think the fire that she spouted was some sort of novelty. About halfway through she gave up on elegance, as they groped and grabbed forcing her to slosh the contents of the bottle, spilling it on the table.
Once Suzume was finished filling all their glasses, more girls, some obviously burned some not so obvious, entered carrying bottles of sake and took over refilling for the Namahage. Suzume was relieved of the duty, but still hovered around the edges of the feast pretending to be serving. The chief had not called for her again, and after seeing one servant girl smacked hard for attempting to approach without being called, she knew that wasn't the way.
She could try and run away; the Namahage were getting drunker by the minute. Their voices rose as they sang, wrestled, and carried on. Now would be her best chance for escape. Except the chief kept watching her, no matter where she was she felt his eyes on her. He would not call her to him and allow her to use her charm against him but she seemed to have captivated him. That was a good start, she supposed.
"You should be serving," said a rumbling voice from behind her.
Suzume looked around. A group of the Namahage had stopped their carousing to glare in her direction. They had removed their masks to drink, and their faces were almost human except for their blood red eyes.
"I am." She held up the jug, which sloshed, exposing her for how little sake she had poured.
"You serve or you die, offering," he said. raising the blade high above his head.
The sparks were dancing along her skin, so whatever happened she was ready for it. Suzume dropped the jug of sake on the ground. Liquid splashed on the earth and pieces of pottery scattered. She held up her hands in a last moment of defense and then she felt something like a pop that exploded out of her chest, at the spiritual gateway near her heart. Red energy slammed into the Namahage's chest. He froze in place, and for a moment his eyes rolled back in his head. Then bright red and orange energy burst out from his mouth and returned to Suzume. The Namahage crumbled to the ground, folding over himself.
When the power hit her it seemed to sizzle inside her veins, and her mouth tasted of ash and fire. It spread throughout her like a wildfire: igniting all of her senses, exciting and intoxicating. She had a taste of this power before when she had taken it from Makato on accident, when Kazue had taken over her body. But this was different, instead of closing awareness she felt an increase in it. She could feel everything around her: the bonfire at the center of the clearing, down to the very core of the embers, the heartbeats of all sixty seven Namahage who surrounded her, and more than anything she felt the power of the chief. He was a bright beacon of energy, a blazing hot fire that drew her like a moth to the flame.
The Namahage had risen, surrounding her with their blades drawn, ready to attack. The women were like dim candles in the dark as they shrieked and ran away from her, but they did not matter. Suzume held out her hands, which were burning balls of flames. Every inch of her was made of burning flame. She had become the living embodiment of flame. But the energy of the Namahage she had absorbed, which had burned hot and fast through her, was already fading away. When she looked at the Namahage in front of her she did not see yokai that were a threat but a chance to gain even more energy. A chance to gain even more power.
She raised her hands up to unleash her fiery fury upon them, to drain them down to the last, saving the chief for her desert. Then the blue masked Namahage pushed his way forward and stood with his hands raised in the air. Suzume hesitated, wondering what he would do next.
Then he fell to the ground in a deep bow. The group followed suit, and row by row the Namahage bowed to her.
Suzume lowered her flaming hands to her side and looked at the Namahage.
"What is this meaning of this?" Even her voice had taken on a strange, powerful edge, echoing with power.
"You have returned to us at last, mistress." The blue masked Namahage said. Looking up at her, he removed his mask to reveal the face of a handsome man with dark red eyes. "The lady of flame."
31
They moved through the forest too slowly for his liking. The limitations of his fragile human body were reinforced by every ache and pain, and how he lost his breath when he tried to run or leap over obstacles that he would have before. The others were making adjustments to their path, taking longer roads around with less obstacles, and slowing down so he wouldn't have to work so hard and it only increased his anger and f
rustration. He felt smothered, but showing his anger was its own version of weakness, something they could use against him further. So he pressed forward, following the trail Noaki had set out for them.
According to the information Tsuki and Noaki had gathered from the local yokai -- lowly creatures that he would not even bother himself to acknowledge had he come across them -- the Namahage had been running amuck since he had disappeared. They were terrorizing local villages and kidnapping young women, spiriting them away to their village in the mountains. Where this village was located no one could say. Noaki had pinpointed a cluster of spiritual energy that he believed to be the Namahage village and that was where they were headed.
The forest was dense, and uninhabited by nothing more than low level yokai. When he had ruled, Kaito had been aware of the Namahage but they'd always been under the control of their ruling deity, the Lady of Flame, and they'd never given him much trouble. So much had changed while he had been sealed, and it only resolved his desire to regain what he had lost when Kazue sealed him. After wandering for hours, not seeing anything other than animals and trees, it was a shock to find two women wandering alone in the forest.
Their group saw them before the women noticed them. Their clothes were that of peasants but they carried no bags marking them as merchants, nor did they carry any baskets as if they were foraging. The girls kept glancing around themselves, as if they expected something to leap out from the trees.
Makato waved to them and greeted them. "Hello."
The girls clutched onto one another and tried to hurry past but did not run, though Kaito could see the terror plain on their face. They've seen yokai before. They know not to run.
"Don't go. We just wanted to ask you some questions," Makato said, his hand outstretched towards them.
"Stay away, yokai!" One of the girls screeched and broke from her friend before running off into the woods. Her other friend turned to do the same, but was not as lucky because she stumbled and fell.
Noaki caught up with her first and he blocked her route to escape by standing over her. She looked up at him with wide terrified eyes, which darted towards his naked blade. Makato ran over, inserting himself between the girl and Noaki, and shook his head at the legendary swordsman. Noaki nodded and sheathed his blade.
Makato crouched down beside the girl, extending his hand to her. "You don't need to be afraid, we're friends."
She stared at him without speaking. "We're searching for the Namahage village, do you know where it is?"
She shook her head. "I won't go back there. You cannot make me. She set me free."
Makato held up his hand in a placating gesture. "No one is going to make you do anything. We're trying to find our friend who was taken by the Namahage."
The girl looked from Makato to the yokai. Kaito had his arms crossed over his chest, eyes narrowed. If the girl didn't answer soon, then he was going to make her talk.
Her gaze lingered on him for a second, and he scowled back at her. She swallowed hard and tore her eyes away from the angry dragon. "She may have already returned to her village. Those of us who chose to leave were given permission to do so. But a few remained to serve the Lady of the Flame."
Tsuki snickered and the girl looked at him with bulging eyes as if he had just roared at her.
Makato rested his hand on the top of her head. "You've done enough. Go back to your family."
The girl leapt up and scurried away from him. Makato turned to face the others and that was when Tsuki could no longer suppress his laughter anymore.
"The Lady of the Flame? I wonder who that could be?" Tsuki covered his laughter behind his hand.
Kaito only shook his head. "Suzume has likely awoken something dangerous. We should hurry."
As they continued up the mountain, they encountered more girls with similar stories. The Lady of the Flame had returned and taken control over the Namahage. She had ordered those who wished freedom to take it. It should have put him at ease that whatever Suzume had unleashed was magnanimous, but he had this sinking feeling. Nothing involving Suzume was ever that simple. She attracted trouble.
They found the village in the dying light of day. The ring of huts was silhouetted by fading sunlight trailing behind the mountains that cast the entire village in a golden glow. Despite his weakened connection to his spiritual power, and by extension his ability to sense spiritual pressure, a divine presence vibrated in the air as if he had walked into a shrine. Perhaps Suzume had awoken the goddess of flame. It would make their jobs a lot easier if she freed one of the eight. Having a Kami on their side might be what they needed to stop Hisato.
Just thinking of the fight ahead make him tired. The dragon's limbs ached in ways they had never done before and fatigue was a new and unwelcome feeling. Coupled with the crushing exhaustion, a warm trickle of blood dripped down his side from his most recent wounds which he'd refused anyone to look at, instead insisting he was fine. They all had likely reopened and were bleeding through the bandages. The wounds had not healed at all. And coupled with the new wound the Namahage had given him, they were not even healing as slowly as a human's would. The wounds were killing him slowly, like a knife being thrust into his gut inch by painful inch.
They surveyed the village from a distance. Kaito was surprised to find there were no guards on patrol. It was strange in itself, surely the secretive Namahage would post guards? Kaito reached for his sword, finding comfort in the weight of the steel. The others were similarly in defense mode. Rin had not transformed from her true kitsune form since their fight with the Namahage, and took up her guard beside Kaito. It bothered him that she felt it necessary to protect him, in the same way it annoyed him that he had to rely on a weapon to defend himself.
"Someone should go in and investigate," Makato said from his crouched position.
"It won't be you," Kaito snarled. He still didn't trust him. He didn't like how Suzume kept looking to him for guidance.
"What do you suggest, we just rush in there weapons drawn?" Akira drawled, scowling at the dragon.
"I don't have a death wish. Rin can sneak in quietly and take Suzume out."
"Wouldn't Noaki be better for that?" Makato suggested.
Kaito only scoffed.
"It's not your decision. You're no longer in charge here, remember?" Akira said, pinning Kaito with her dark eyes and challenging him to argue.
"I never gave up my control of this group," Kaito said standing up, which turned out to be a mistake. As soon as he did, Namahage came pouring out from behind the buildings as if they'd been waiting all this time to reveal themselves.
Kaito held up his sword, the pain in his side forgotten, as he prepared for battle. The Namahage had them surrounded in a matter of moments. Dozens of red masked faces stared at them blankly. Kaito turned, looking for an opening, but if he attacked, he'd be overwhelmed in moments.
The group broke apart, and a blue masked Namahage stepped into the circle facing Kaito.
"The Lady of the Flame is expecting you," the Namahage said.
The Namahage in the circle behind him stamped their feet together, repeating "The Lady of the Flame" their voices melding together into one.
Their group exchanged a look, not certain what to make of this situation.
"I don't give a damn about the Lady of Flame, where is Suzume?" Kaito growled at them.
"Lady of Flame," the Namahage chanted as they stamped their feet in unison.
Kaito pointed his blade at the blue masked Namahage who had not reached for the overlarge knife at his belt. "The Lady of Flame was sealed by Kazue five hundred years ago," Kaito said.
"She has returned to us," the Namahage replied.
"Maybe we should go with them," Makato said as he placed his hand on Kaito's shoulder.
Kaito knocked his hand away and rushed toward the Namahage, his blade swinging. The fool should never have exposed himself this way. Take out the leader and everything else crumbled. But before Kaito could land even a single b
low, the chief of the Namahage had drawn his weapon and knocked Kaito's sword from his hand. It flew across the circle landing at the feet of one of the nearby Namahage.
"Take them," said the leader of the Namahage.
The remaining Namahage broke rank, rushing forward to capture them. Being this greatly outnumbered and as weak as Kaito was any struggle was futile. They were brought to the center of the village where a large bonfire glowed with golden flames. The Namahage led them to what could only be described as a throne. The woman seated upon it wore an ornate golden headdress and a flowing golden kimono in a multitude of layers that were draped over the edge of the throne. She concealed her face with a golden fan, which she peered at them over the top of. She was attended by at least half a dozen Namahage, who knelt on each side of her throne.
As soon as he saw the goddess, he rushed towards her throne, "What have you done with my priestess?" he growled as he charged, but the Namahage kneeling at the foot of her throne leapt up to block him.
The woman rose from her seat and waved her hand. All but two Namahage who grabbed onto each of Kaito's arms stood back. The goddess looked at Kaito over the edge of her fan. "Nice of you to join us at last." Though he knew the voice, he refused to believe it was true.
Suzume lowered her fan and smirked at Kaito in triumph.
"You've got to be joking. What are you wearing?" He forced a laugh but his intuition told him something wasn't right. This was Suzume's face and voice but something was wrong here.
She scowled, chasing away the idea that she was possessed by something. Only Suzume would have that reaction. She turned her head away to hide her anger. "I am the Lady of the Flame, you should show me some respect," she said, affecting a haughty tone that she usually reserved for telling people she was the emperor's daughter. It looked like Tsuki was right.
The Dragon Saga Box Set Page 60