A great cheer went up. Phoebe grinned as women began rushing around her. Her sisters gathered their arms. They all prepared for the coming raid.
Her people had once been feared among those who dwelt near the mountains, awed for their beauty and worshiped for their prowess on the battlefield. Times had changed since then. No longer were they feared. Barely anyone even remembered them. With the rise of human technology, with the advancement of human weaponry, they, like many yōkai, had become relics of the past.
But that did not mean they were dead. She and her sisters would show people why they were so feared. They would show people why they used to inspire awe. They would reveal to everyone why the yama uba were considered some of the greatest warriors of their time. They had to, for the continued existence of her race depended on it.
I just hope we will be able to find enough men to accomplish our goals.
***
Iris watched the rolling hills of green pass her by. Beyond the hills was a small mountain range. If she was being honest, this scenery bored her to tears.
After arriving at Özalp, they had boarded a train that took them all the way to Yerevan, Armenia. They’d had to board another train after that, one that would take them across the border and into Azerbaijan.
She wondered how Lilian was doing. Was she safe? Was she unharmed? Iris tried not to think about what those foxes from the Shénshèng Clan might be doing to her, but her mind was constantly plagued by images, vivid, detailed images invoked by the unwilling imagination. She saw them when awake and while sleeping, scenes of horror, of her sister being tortured, of her Lilian being raped, of her being cut and torn and brutalized by unworthy hands. There was no end to the terrifying scenes that played out in her mind.
I’m grateful that he’s here with me. I’d have gone mad if not for his presence.
She tore her gaze away from the window and looked over at Kevin, sitting on the other seat in the compartment, fast asleep. Though, sitting was probably an inaccurate way to put it. He had been sitting several minutes ago, but he had since sprawled out against the seat. Now he lay on his back, one leg falling off the seat and onto the floor, the other resting on the bench. He was using their duffel bag as his pillow.
Slowly, meticulously, Iris stood up and knelt next to Kevin, studying him closer. Messy locks of blond hair sat on his head like a bird’s nest, framing his sun-kissed face. His chest rose and fell, the shirt stretching over corded muscles. One hand rested on his stomach. The other was positioned at an awkward angle, hovering against the seat behind his head.
Kevin wasn’t the most handsome male she’d ever met. Even at school, there were several boys who beat Kevin in the looks department. At least, where their face was concerned. She didn’t think any of the boys at school, be they star athletes or not, had the type of body her sister’s mate possessed. Still, while not handsome beyond her wildest dreams, she would admit that, from a purely physical standpoint, her sister had chosen her mate well.
Of course, there was far more to Kevin than his looks. Since the beginning of their journey, he had taken charge, determining where they would go and how they would get there. His calm demeanor and meticulous planning had given her strength. His ability to face down danger like that kasha back in Van had reassured her that they could rescue Lilian.
While gazing at his face, her eyes trailed to his lips. His mouth was parted as he breathed through it, deep and even exhalations, a sign of someone in a deep sleep. Would he wake up if she kissed him?
Wait. What?
Iris shook her head.
What am I thinking? Kevin might be a stud and really kind, but I’m only using him to get close to Lilith. He is the key to unlocking my sister’s heart. Nothing more.
That’s right. Iris would probably end up having sex with Kevin at some point anyway, but it wasn’t like she’d fuck his brains out because she wanted to. She was just using him. Her goal was to become the third wheel in his and Lilian’s relationship. If she could do that, then she could reclaim her place at Lilian’s side/bed… well, she could share that place with Kevin, but it amounted to the same thing.
She eyed his slightly parted mouth once more. Her throat was dry.
Still, it couldn’t hurt, could it? Just a quick one. He’ll never even know.
Iris twirled a strand of hair between her fingers as she deliberated. It wasn’t like giving him a small kiss on the lips would be wrong. She’d done plenty of other things that were much worse. Surely a small peck would be fine.
It’s not like I’m betraying my feelings for Lilian or anything. I’m just satisfying my own curiosity. She nodded to herself, then grinned. Besides, if I do end up getting my way, Kevin will be joining Lilian and me in the bed anyways. I’m just preparing for the inevitable.
Iris leaned down, about to place her lips over Kevin’s, when her entire body shook.
Kill… him…
“K-ku!”
Iris’s hand spasmed. Her shoulder twitched, jerking and shaking as she tried to pull it away, tried to fight off the desire to kill the young man before her. Vile blackness spread across her hand, a miasma that crept along her flesh like tendrils of some abominable monster.
Kill him…
“N-no…” Iris whimpered.
The black reached her nails, lengthening them, sharpening them. Deadly claws capable of cutting through all life. Oblivion made manifest. They inched closer toward Kevin’s face. They threatened to stab the young man through the eyes. Her breathing became labored as she struggled, as she fought against the desire to kill her sister’s mate.
Bring the world…
Kill him…
One step closer…
Kill him.
To oblivion…
Kill him!
The voices became worse. Old gods knocking on the gates of her mind. Voices of insanity threatening to tip her over the edge. She struggled against them, these voices in her head. She fought with everything she had. Even if this was a losing battle, she couldn’t afford to give up.
The struggle was brought to an abrupt end when Kevin opened his eyes. The young man blinked several times, eyelids rapidly fluttering, before focusing on the sharp, claw-like hand covered in perpetual darkness mere inches from his face.
“What the…?”
The sound of his voice was enough for Iris to overpower the voices in her head. She jerked her hand back hard, falling to her rear from the force of the motion. She stared at Kevin, eyes wide. In return, the young man sat up, yawning as he peered down at her.
“Are you okay, Iris? Is something wrong?”
Iris tried speaking, but the moment she opened her mouth, bile rose within her throat. She clamped a hand over her mouth as the surge rose up. Scrambling to her feet, she rushed out of the compartment, leaving Kevin staring after her in bemusement. She raced down the hall, her feet pounding along the train’s corridor, until she found the toilet at the end, which she quickly knelt over and proceeded to vomit into.
The sickening, acrid scent of her own bile stung her nose. The aftertaste was awful. Her body shook, remnants from when her control had begun slipping. They traveled through her like jolts, upsetting her stomach and making it release its contents all over again, until nothing remained. Even then, she continued retching.
A hand touched her back. Strong. Masculine. Soothing. It eased the ache in her body. It cooled the heat that had welled up as a result of her struggles. The hand slowly rubbed up and down her back in gentle, controlled motions. Her shuddering eventually ceased under the ministrations, her body eventually relaxed, and the sickness-induced fog clouding her mind dissipated like a searing summer wind on a cold December morning.
“Are you okay?” Kevin asked from behind her.
“I…” Iris hesitated. Paused. A moment passed. She shook her head. “N-no, not really.”
“It’s the Void, isn’t it?” Kevin’s voice was neither accusing nor fearful. The gentleness in it shouldn’t have taken her
aback but did.
She didn’t turn to him, but a mirthless smile curled at her lips all the same.
“I’m surprised you figured that out.”
“Kotohime told me about the Void during our lessons on kitsune powers and culture.”
“Why am I not surprised?” Iris meant it to sound biting and sarcastic, but instead her tone was weak and frail. She hated how she sounded so pathetic. “That woman is always giving you lessons, hoping that arming you with knowledge of our kind will keep you alive in a world where humans were never meant to walk.”
Kevin said nothing. She wondered if her words angered him, but the soothing motions on her back hadn’t ceased, so she believed that he just had nothing to say.
“The Void is a curse,” Iris continued. “All those who can touch the Void bear unimaginable hardships. Every day is a struggle. Every night is a nightmare. We’re constantly fighting to keep the voices locked inside our heads, to keep them from commanding us, controlling us, forcing us to kill everything we’ve ever loved. You wouldn’t understand what that’s like, to hear voices inside of your head telling you to kill the things that are most precious to you.”
“You’re right,” Kevin admitted calmly. “I don’t understand. I never could. Perhaps it’s because I’m human, because I have no powers of my own. Or maybe it’s because I can’t touch the Void. Maybe only void users can understand each other. I’m not even sure Kotohime knows how you feel, and she’s pretty knowledgeable about specialized powers.”
“She only knows what everyone else knows,” Iris retorted. She was feeling a little better now thanks to Kevin rubbing her back. “Tell me, Stud, did Kotohime tell you how a kitsune’s specialized power works?”
“She did.” A second hand joined the first. Iris surprised herself by almost moaning in relief. “She said that everything has a pulse. The earth, the seas, the sky, the very air itself. It’s an implication about the existential existence of something beyond what can be perceived with the five senses; a vital sense of sorts, which gives all things their specific structure and function. Put in layman's terms, it’s supposed to be a driving will that directs subatomic interactions. By harmonizing with this pulse, yōkai can direct their youki in order to power their elemental techniques.”
Wow, so Kevin really had learned a lot. Iris was surprised and more than a little impressed.
“That’s right. And did Kotohime teach you about void powers?”
“Um, not really,” he admitted, sounding ashamed. “She only mentioned something about whispers, but she spoke in very vague terms.”
“That’s because she can’t understand what it means to be a void user,” Iris told him. “Kotohime is a River Kitsune. She feels the pulse of the river. She has that vital sense. The Void has no pulse. That makes it difficult for someone like her to understand the Void and how it works. Even I don’t understand everything.”
Iris took a shuddering breath.
“All I know is what I can feel, what I can hear. I know that the whispers are malevolent, that they want me to destroy everything, to bring the world closer to that final oblivion. Beyond that, I know that the whispers want to take away the things I hold most dear.”
“Lilian,” Kevin said.
Iris nodded. “Lilian is a Celestial Kitsune, a being of light. She is life. Her very existence is anathema to the Void. More than anyone else, it wants her gone. It wants to consume her. It wants to erase her very concept from the face of reality.” A self-deprecating chuckle escaped through parted lips slick with bile. “It’s ironic, isn’t it? The person I love the most is also the person who the voices want me to kill the most.”
Kevin didn’t say anything. He probably didn’t know what to say. Iris used that time to recover her wits.
She turned her head, presenting Kevin with what must have been a putrid smile. To his credit, the blond-haired teen didn’t flinch away from her. His blue eyes remained steady as he looked at her pallid face.
“So then, if the Void has no pulse, where do the whispers come from?” she asked.
Kevin hesitated, his uncertainty shining through. “I… I don’t know.”
Iris’s smile was filled with her own anxiety. “Neither do I, and that’s what scares me.”
***
Phoebe sat upon her mount. The horse’s bareback greeted her barely clothed thighs. She gently grasped the long, thick mane of darkness that traversed the horse’s head down to its neck.
Behind her sat several of her fellow sisters. All had mounts of their own. All dressed similar to her, their plates just a little less elaborate than her own.
Less than a kilometer away, the train sped along the tracks. She observed the fast-moving transport. Its bullet-shaped head cut through air and wind resistance with ease, not slowing down for anything. It was long. There were sixteen cars that she could count, and she knew that each car could hold up to twenty-four people, give or take. Judging from that number, she estimated there to be between 250 to 390 people.
She raised a hand, signaling the charge. Her sisters let out a booming yell, a ferocious battle cry, a signal of their impending attack. It was a prelude. Not even a second later, they charged, descending down the hill, their horses galloping forward at a hellacious pace that intersected with the train. The horses wouldn’t be able to keep pace for long, but it would be enough to let her and her sisters board the train.
Grinning, Phoebe spurred her own horse into a gallop. With luck, this raid would settle all of their needs, at least for the short term. It was the most she could hope for because that small hope was all she had left.
Fortune be with us.
***
Kevin didn’t know what to think. He’d never realized that Iris had it so rough. He knew a bit about the Void, about its darkness, its desire to consume everything, but he didn’t know what being able to touch the Void meant. Perhaps it was his humanity talking, but he’d always assumed it was just like any other kitsune power.
A glance at Iris revealed nothing. After their conversation in the restroom, she’d gone back to her old self, reverting to form, playful and mischievous, a succubus who enjoyed teasing others. The only sign of what happened was the slight anxiety that wafted off her frame like miasma.
He wanted to say something, to reassure her somehow. Iris was family, so he should be able to help her, but what could he do? He didn’t know what she was going through. He didn’t have the slightest inkling about her suffering. Anything he said would be empty platitudes.
Things were so much easier when my only problem was stopping Lilian from trying to get into my pants.
Kevin didn’t regret anything that had happened. The events that he’d gone through were what led him to becoming the person he was today. Despite this, he still sometimes wished that life wouldn’t be so hard, that it would at least slow down for just a moment. He’d like to relax for once.
How many times have Lilian and I found ourselves in trouble? Chris. Kiara. Luna. The Sons and Daughters of Humanity. He paused. I wonder whatever happened to those guys?
Kevin dispelled that thought with a shake of his head before it could fully form. He had no desire to know what that group of nutcases was doing.
Before anything else could happen, before his thoughts could move along a different path, the window to their compartment suddenly and violently shattered inward.
“What the heck?!”
Kevin leapt to his feet at the same time that someone jumped through the window, landing in a predatory crouch between him and Iris. The person, a woman in skimpy armor, glanced around the room with eyes the color of steel. They locked onto him seconds later, and then she launched herself at him with a war cry.
“HOLY CRAP!!”
He ducked under the first blow, a straight punch aimed at his head. He flowed around the knee that rose to meet him, his body contorting as he moved. His mind was still reeling, however, which explained why he couldn’t do anything when the woman lunged at him, slamming
bodily into his torso and smashing him into the door.
The door cracked. The wood splintered. Kevin felt an acute and sharp pain as tiny needles of wood became embedded within his flesh. The harsh fall on his back served only to exacerbate his pain. Blood, warm and slick, ran from tiny wounds as dozens of pinprick-sized stakes were shoved deeper into his back.
He ignored the pain and focused on the problem at hand. The woman had raised a club of some kind, and she looked ready to bash his face in. He brought his knees into his chest, put his feet on her stomach, and kicked the woman off him. She didn’t appear to have expected that and let out a startled yelp.
Kevin rose to his feet quickly, scrambling and preparing for the next attack that was sure to follow.
He needn’t have bothered.
“Extension.”
Two furry tails the color of midnight wrapped around the woman’s body like coiling cobras. They tightened until the woman let out a groan of discomfort. Then they lifted her off the ground, slamming her head first into the ceiling. Kevin blinked as the sound of tearing met his ears. He blinked again when the woman’s head went straight through the ceiling and became stuck there. The woman’s body twitched several times, then went limp, her arms and legs dangling like a marionette hanging from a rack.
The tails uncoiled and retracted. Wood crunching underneath sandaled feet caused him to look down as Iris walked out of the compartment. She looked most put out.
“I cannot believe that woman completely ignored me,” she huffed, crossing her arms under her chest. “That’s just rude.” She looked at Kevin. “You alright, Stud?”
“Aside from a few pinpricks in my back, I’m good.” Kevin took off his shirt, which now had holes in the fabric and blood staining the back. He clicked his tongue. “This shirt’s ruined. Dang it. And Lilian bought this for me, too.”
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