The Dragon Saga Box Set

by Nicolette Andrews

  Footsteps approached from behind. He thought he had found a place to himself but it would seem he had thought wrong.

  "Leave me now before I rip open your guts and choke you with them," he said.

  "I see your temper hasn't improved," the intruder said.

  A familiar face strode toward him. He blinked for a moment, because he could not believe it was real.

  "Shin?" he asked.

  "It's been that long that you've forgotten my face?" The okami smiled, revealing his pointed canines.

  Kaito rushed forward and the two of them embraced.

  "What are you doing here?" Kaito said as they broke apart. In all the centuries, there was no one he had trusted as he trusted Shin. To have him back was like a dream. He had not realized how much he needed him until he was standing in front of him once more.

  Shin grinned back at him. "I thought since you've finally woken, I'd pay a visit."

  Kaito shook his head in wonder, and then his gaze fell on the metal collar around the wolf's neck. Seeing that had the same effect as a bucket of cold water being dumped over his head. Things could not go back to how they were. Everything had changed. And despite his friend's teasing, he was not here for a social call. He'd been sent by that bastard Akio. The guardian of the forest had been summoned to the palace just like all the others who served him. But unlike the others, he had not made an appearance.

  Even before Kaito had been sealed in stone, Akio had been defiant. He was a constant thorn in Kaito's side. Now that he was back, Akio was no different. He supposed it was some comfort that some things never changed.

  "It's good to see you, even if I know it was not by your own choice," Kaito said, trying to force some levity into his tone.

  Shin nodded his head. "Akio thought it would be poetic to send me as a messenger." There was a bitter note in his voice.

  It was to mock them both—Kaito, who had once struck fear into the hearts of everyone on the island, and Shin, one of his four great generals and the person Kaito trusted above all others. He'd been the first to swear himself to Kaito, before the eight had even chosen him to rule Akatsuki. They'd been through everything together, and only a cruel twist of fate had separated them. Now the most brilliant, strategic mind and loyal friend had been reduced to a mere messenger.

  If Kaito saw Akio, he would tear his head from his neck. Once he had his army, he would make sure Akio paid and Shin was freed.

  "I know that look. Don't get carried away," Shin said, placing his hand on Kaito's shoulder, as if reading his thoughts.

  "You think I'll stand for this insult? I never should have let you go to him in the first place."

  Shin only shook his head. "I made my choice."

  Kaito bared his teeth at his friend in a mostly playful gesture. "Well I need you here. These men I have now are incompetent, none could stand up to you."

  Shin chuckled. "You flatter me, my friend."

  They were silent for a few minutes as they stared out at the ocean together.

  "I'm assuming Akio sent you with some excuse as to why he's not coming."

  Shin nodded. "There is trouble with the humans near his domain. He cannot leave right now because of it."

  Kaito has expected as much, and he would deal with Akio in time. But for now, it was good to have Shin here to help him. Perhaps this was what he was missing, having someone close to him that he could trust.

  "When do you have to be back?"

  "I can't stay long. He'll grow suspicious if I linger."

  "I'm not worried about him." Kaito waved his hand to dismiss the idea Akio could be any threat. "I'll send my own messenger telling him I've held you captive."

  Shin shook his head. "As much as I appreciate the offer, I don't think it's wise. He's made allies with some powerful beings."

  "I may have been gone five hundred years, but I'm not weak." Kaito laughed.

  But this wasn't their usual banter. Shin's expression was sober.

  "Who?" Though Kaito asked, he suspected he already knew.

  "There were talks with a man. I don't know how to describe him. He wasn't human, but he wasn't yokai either."

  "Kazue's son," Kaito

  Shin shook his head. "No, not him. This thing was different. He had a priestess with him. She did something to a man, made him into a monster..."

  "A priestess?"

  Shin wouldn't meet his gaze, and Kaito grabbed his shoulder and squeezed. "Tell me."

  "It's that priestess you were traveling with before. She used a song and it turned a man into a monster. He felt like a yokai, but he could use spiritual powers like a priest."

  Just like Kazue's son.

  Kaito turned and paced away from Shin. This couldn't be a coincidence. But all accounts of that half-breed had been he fought like a yokai, and could wield spiritual power like a human. Could it be he was trying to make more like him? And using Suzume to do it?

  He stopped pacing and turned to face Shin. "Where are they now?"

  "I don't think you should go to her."

  Normally he would have taken Shin's advice, but there were too many questions he needed answered. Suzume had sent him away, and ever since then there had been nothing but strange rumors. She wasn't acting as she should. If he could face her then he could hear the truth from her own lips.

  Kaito grabbed Shin's shoulder and squeezed. "Help me find her. I promise I will not make the same mistake again."

  Shin shook his head. "I must be a fool for doing this. But she's northeast of here, heading back toward the human capital. Whatever you do, don't get too close to the capital. The humans there are more powerful than they were in the past.

  Kaito grinned. "I promise to be careful."

  He transformed there and launched himself into the sky, leaving Shin behind. As soon as he set out, that feeling of unease coiled in his stomach. The command she had given him would prevent him from searching her out. But he could not sit still and wait for her to come to him any longer.

  If he could see her face at least maybe he could prove to himself that she was not of his blood, that she was not betraying him. Perhaps he could continue on with his life as it should be. Maybe at last he would find peace.

  The journey there took longer than it should have. If he let his guard down he found himself wandering off track and away from where he should have been. But as he got closer to the human dwellings, the pain intensified. Her power to hold him back was stronger than he thought it would be.

  As he drew closer Kaito started to spread out his senses to search for her, and at first he found nothing. Then as if someone had lit a candle in the dark, he felt her close by. Kaito zoomed toward her, eager to be reunited once again. He saw her on the hilltop, the wind catching her hair and tossing it behind her. She seemed powerful and he had to admit, beautiful. Perhaps she'd come to her senses at last and that was why she had let him approach. Whatever her reason, he was glad for this chance.

  But as he drew closer to her, she formed a ball of fire and shot it toward him. He swerved in time to miss it, and flew out of range to avoid her attack. He hovered overhead, watching as fire encased her. This wasn't right. This wasn't like her. It had to be Kazue who'd taken control over her body again.

  He risked coming in closer, and this time she didn't attack him. Kaito landed and then slowly approached her. Flames crackled in her hands as she scowled at him.

  "Enough of these games," he said. "It's time you came back to me."

  She threw her head back and laughed. "Are you really such a fool? Isn't it obvious? I don't need you anymore. I've grown more powerful."

  He felt her power. It radiated off her like the heat of her flames. Her eyes were strange—it wasn't Suzume, but reminded him instead of Kazue, in the moment just before she had sealed him.

  Kaito stepped toward her. "This isn't you."

  "You think you know me?"

  "I do. Give up this game before you hurt yourself."

  She laughed again. It was high and
disjointed, not like Suzume at all. Then it struck him, the reason he could approach her at all. It wasn't because Suzume had welcomed him, it was because this wasn't Suzume.

  "You're not Suzume."

  Hisato assumed his own form. "You are correct, but she is mine."

  "What have you done to her?" Kaito growled as he lunged for Hisato, but he only leaped out of the way.

  Even taking that step forward filled him with pain. Kaito fell over to the ground as Suzume's command rippled through him, keeping him from getting closer. She was nearby. If he could only fight it, he could get to her.

  "Come and find her, if you can." Hisato waved his hand behind him and a portal opened up. "Before it's too late."

  39

  Suzume returned to the White Palace a woman on fire. As soon as she arrived, she did not even stop to wash the dirt off or change out of her travel clothes and instead went straight to the emperor. He had to be informed about her grandfather's intentions. Ryuu chased after Suzume as she hurried down the hall.

  "You can't just rush in there," he said.

  "You know what he's plotting and you'd try and stop me?" Suzume challenged him.

  "It's not that I'm trying to stop you. There's an order to these things."

  She yanked her arm free of his grip. "I'm not going to wait around. I've been playing by the palace rules all my life. The emperor needs to hear this."

  She turned on her heel and continued down the hall. Ryuu didn't try to stop her now. When she reached the audience hall, there were guards at the doors holding their ornamental spears and they thrust them out to stop her from entering.

  Suzume pulled out the seal her father had given her and flashed it in front of their faces. "I need to speak with the emperor now!" she shouted, her voice echoing off the chamber walls.

  The guard closest to her glanced at the seal and nearly collided with his companion as he turned to open the door. The pair of them stumbled so much in their haste to open the door that their decorative spears got tangled up in one another. After they dislodged their weapons, together they opened the heavy double doors. Suzume waited only long enough for a space large enough for her to slip through before pushing past them.

  Council was in session and the hall was filled with men. All of whom turned and watched as she marched toward the front of the room, her gaze fixed on her father who sat obscured by a screen. Her grandfather, who prior to her visit had retired from public life, had resumed his place at the top echelon of the emperor's counselors. Her grandfather raised one curious silver brow in question as she approached. He had likely started spreading rumors about how she'd set his palace on fire. Judging from the hushed, almost terrified way the courtiers all stared at her, they all knew. Not that it mattered. Her only concern was protecting her father.

  "Princess Suzume." His voice was distant and imperious. For a brief moment it gave her pause. This was the father of her memories, not the warm man she'd come to know. "Why have you interrupted our council meeting?"

  She bowed, realizing court protocol dictated it. The courtiers all whispered to one another, their voices like a low-level buzz.

  "I apologize for my intrusion. There is an important matter I must speak with you about." Her head swiveled from her grandfather. Then back to the emperor. "Alone."

  "A woman has no place here. How dare you," said one of the noblemen standing beside her grandfather. He was one of the minor lords who served her grandfather.

  She glared in his direction, and the man visibly shrank.

  "Lord Yamato is right. She had not even dressed properly," said another lord scornfully.

  Fire prickled along her skin and it took all of Suzume's self-control to keep herself from bursting into flame in front of the entire court.

  More men shouted out their disapproval until their voices overlapped one another into a collection of angry shouting. The emperor raised his hand, silencing them all with his gesture.

  "Princess Suzume, I gave you my seal believing you would use it wisely. We will speak later." His tone was meant to be final.

  There was a slight smirk on her grandfather’s face. He thought he had won, but she wasn't going to let him get away with this. She would have her revenge for how he ruined her life.

  She turned and pointed her finger at him. "Lord Kaedemori is plotting to overthrow the throne."

  Utter silence followed her proclamation. No one moved, as if everyone feared the first to exhale would be executed. She could feel her grandfather's stare on her, but she kept her gaze fixed on her father. It was difficult to read his expression through the screen.

  At last it was a member of the council who broke the silence. "We cannot be wasting time on the fantasy of a young girl." He too was another one her grandfather had in his pocket.

  "This isn't a fantasy. He has plotted with yokai to-" Suzume tried to defend herself.

  "Your majesty, send her away. She's clearly hysterical," shouted a counselor, cutting her off. "Yokai? These are nothing but fairy tales."

  Suzume took a step closer to her father, and the guards at the foot of the throne held her back. "Father, you know this is true. I have proof." She pushed against the guards but no matter how she struggled she couldn't get any closer to her father.

  "Enough." Her father's voice snapped across the room like a whip crack. Even Suzume ceased her struggle. The emperor pointed toward the door. "Take her out of here."

  The guards grabbed her by the arms and dragged her from the room while Suzume kicked and flailed against them.

  "Father, you can't do this. You're in danger!" she shouted. But her cries fell on deaf ears and she was deposited in the hall. The door slammed shut, keeping her from her father.

  Suzume scowled at the guards, as if the force of her displeasure would move them. But in the end, she turned and walked away. She had not gone a few feet when she ran into Ryuu.

  "I don't want to hear anything from you." She held up her hand before he could say something like he told her so.

  "Come with me." He grabbed her by the wrist, dragging her after him.

  She tried breaking free of his grip, but he was deceptively strong. He didn't stop walking until they were alone in a deserted garden. All the leaves had fallen off the trees and the wind blew over the desolate landscape. Winter wasn't far off now. But despite the chill in the air, Suzume was burning up.

  Ryuu looked around the deserted garden before his gaze came to rest on her. "I imagine you saw the true strength of your grandfather."

  "He's a greedy old man. My father will see reason."

  Ryuu sighed. "I've told you to be careful, and now your grandfather knows about your power and he knows you're out to get him. You won't be safe in the palace. You should leave."

  "You of all people have no right to tell me what to do." She turned to walk away but he caught her wrist.

  "I swore to Izume to protect you, and I'm not going to let you get in the way of that."

  She yanked her hand free. "And what about my father?"

  He shook his head. "The emperor has men who can protect him. Who's going to protect you?"

  She forced a laugh. He almost sounded like Kaito. "Don't you know? I'm more than capable of taking care of myself."

  She walked away from him, not sparing him a second glance. It wasn't until she was back in her own room that Suzume exhaled, sliding against the wall. She hoped wrapped inside her old life she'd feel safe from Hisato's influence, but even as she tried to expose Lord Kaedemori her thoughts were filled with concerns about Kaito, and how to break Hisato's hold on her. She'd rushed in to accuse her grandfather to protect herself from being ejected from the palace for being what she was. But her father had treated her so coldly. She might have made things worse. Now Ryuu even wanted to take her away, but she needed his help more than anyone else.

  Suzume paced her room as she tried to think of how to ask for help without breaking Hisato's command and how to protect her father from her grandfather's plots. There wer
e so many emergencies vying for her attention, she didn't know which one to worry about first. Tsuki and Akira, who were lounging in her room, assumed she was only worried about her grandfather's plots and called out unhelpful suggestions on how to capture him. They all wanted her to leave the palace behind, and saw her stubborn insistence on staying as her own selfishness. She wished she could explain her reasoning to them, but each time she tried the words dried up in her throat. Just when she thought she was going to wear a hole in the rug, a messenger arrived.

  Her father had summoned her to speak with him. He was likely going to scold her for the scene she'd made earlier that day. She changed before she left, at the messenger’s insistence, and she hurried ahead of the messenger to her father's chambers. The servants opened the doors and let her in.

  Her father was seated beside a table where tea had been set out. He sipped casually as she burst into the room, her hair fluttering behind her in her haste. Her father glanced up at her dramatic entrance.

  "I'm glad you could join me."

  "How can you be so calm when your life is in danger?" Suzume threw her arms out to make her point. Her fear for him hadn't been feigned.

  Her father set the teacup down on the table in front of him. "Every moment I've sat on my throne my life has been in danger. If I got worked up over every threat, I'd never be able to rest."

  But she couldn't return the gesture. He wasn't taking her seriously. He thought she was being hysterical.

  "This isn't some vague threat. Lord Kaedemori is partnering with yokai and plans to usurp you to put my younger brother on the throne," Suzume shouted as she lost control of her temper, flames shooting off her fingertips.

  Her father gestured for her to sit. "We need to talk."