“DAMN YOU!”
Whether it worked or not soon became irrelevant when loud stomping alerted her to the other gorilla yōkai charging her from behind. She spun around…
… and was just in time to see her enemy right in front of her face. He plowed into her with the speed of a Gundam entering the atmosphere at terminal velocity.
Lilian’s world became a torrent of agony.
***
The orbs of void fire rained pandemonium on the hapless parking lot. Everywhere they struck was consumed by the insatiable sentient hunger that was the Void. Everything was erased from existence, right down to its very concept.
The Void is a most unusual thing. Unlike every other element, be they celestial or otherwise, the Void had a limited form of sentience. It wasn’t truly sentient, of course, but merely acted like it.
While not a living, sentient being, the Void hungered like one. It held one desire: To consume everything and bring the world closer to the final oblivion. In accordance with this fact, the Void had, if not true sentience, then at least the ability to determine what it should consume first.
Thus, when the orbs of hellish black flames descended upon the earth, the first thing they did was seek out the closest living organism. They sought to devour the tanuki.
“Aw, shit! Not good! Not good!”
Like a fox fleeing from a dog, the tanuki fled from the void fire that rushed to consume him. As the flames of the Void doggedly tailed its foe, the blacktop it traveled over was consumed, leaving nothing but blackened earth still burning in hellish flames.
While void fire is not sentient and therefore not capable of thinking tactically, it does have a sense, a desire to consume that which it seeks in the most expedient manner possible. It is not capable of thought, but it can sometimes behave as if it does.
Which explained why the tanuki suddenly found himself surrounded by black flames on all sides. The supernatural creature realized, in that moment, that he could not dodge the flames that even now rushed to consume him.
Iris watched in satisfaction as her void fire crashed into the tanuki with the violence of a lion tearing apart an antelope. It had taken some work. She’d been forced to combine an illusion with standard void fire, making the tanuki think that there was more void fire than there actually was. Then she had used the illusion to guide the tanuki into her trap. Yes, it took a lot of effort, but it had been well worth it.
She turned away and prepared to help her sister, who was clearly outmatched by the two ferocious gorilla yōkai.
She was just about to run toward the redhead, only to stumble forward as blood splashed across the ground. Her mind exploded with agony as something penetrated her back, pierced all the way through her body, and jutted out of her right shoulder. Iris looked down, not quite able to believe what she was seeing.
Sticking out of her shoulder was a spear made entirely of sand.
“What is…?”
“Don’t think this fight is over, kitsune,” a voice said from behind her. It sent chills down her spine. “This battle is far from over.”
With her legs wobbling precariously as they struggled to keep her standing, Iris turned around. The yōkai who she had thought she’d killed was walking out of the black void flames. Her mind went numb with shock.
“No… no way… there’s just… no way you could have survived that…”
The Void is known as the most destructive force in the world due to how it operates. The Void consumes everything it comes into contact with. It is the literal end of all things. Anything that touches the Void is erased; its very presence on this earth becoming nothing but a distant memory.
There should have been no way for this tanuki to survive.
And then she saw it.
The sand sloughing off his frame like molten slag as it was consumed by black flames.
He covered himself in a thick layer of sand, her pain-filled mind realized. The top few layers of sand were consumed by the Void, allowing him to escape unharmed before the fire could reach his body.
If she’d had more tails, at least three, she could have made the void fire powerful enough to consume the tanuki, sand and all. Being only a two-tails with an incredible aptitude for her element meant that all she could do was use standard void attacks that lacked the power to truly consume everything before the youki fueling it was consumed.
“You’re a dangerous opponent,” the tanuki said seriously. “I underestimated you because you’ve only got two tails. That won’t happen again.”
Sand gathered in the air like streamers blowing in the wind. They swirled around the tanuki, coalescing into a giant ball and hardening. Then, all at once, the sand burst forward and took shape. A streamlined muzzle filled with sharp, jagged teeth emerged from the giant sphere. The dragon head, one of the eastern variety, flew forward and clamped down on the nonplussed Iris’s shoulder, biting through flesh, muscle, and bone with ease.
Iris’s scream echoed across the parking lot turned battlefield.
***
The gorilla yōkai that had slammed into Lilian kept going well after ramming her like a speeding truck. He blasted straight into a building, the wall blowing inward as he continued running. Lilian’s back screamed in pain as shards of broken brick carved bloody furrows into her skin.
Then, without warning, the gorilla yōkai stopped moving. However, Lilian, with nothing to halt her momentum, continued flying backward. She crashed into the wall on the opposite side of the room and broke through it. Brick fragments flew all around her. Pipes broke and slashed into her skin. Pain. Agony. It was all she knew.
Seconds later, she hit the ground outside, the impact jarring her right shoulder as she tumbled down a grassy slope.
Lilian gasped in breathless asphyxia. Everything hurt. Fire lanced down her back, her pain receptors had overloaded her body and cast her mind into an endless void where nothing existed except agony. Even her battle against Kiara hadn’t made her feel this bad—probably because she’d been knocked unconscious quickly.
This… this pain…
Lilian had not realized that she could feel such pain. It hurt like nothing else had ever hurt before. Unfathomable agony held her mind in its ferocious, crushing grip, squeezing her with titan-like strength. Her vision blurred in and out of focus. She could barely even think, for the pain overwhelmed her ability for complex thought.
A shadow blocked out the sun. A dark muzzled face surrounded by fur met her fuzzy vision.
“And so the little kitsune’s life ends here.”
The gorilla yōkai raised his hand.
This… this is the end, isn’t it? I’m gonna die here…
She didn’t want to die. She didn’t want this to be the end. There was still so much that she had to live for.
Beloved…
The image of her mate’s smiling face filled Lilian’s vision. Tears blurred her eyesight. She wanted to see her mate. She wanted to be with him, to hold him, to kiss him, to sleep with him—at least one last time.
...I’m sorry.
***
Everything was going according to plan. The thugs had attacked Lilian and her sister, separating them and taking them on simultaneously. As expected, the two kitsune were no match for the more powerful yōkai.
Cassy stood on the roof of the building that Lilian had been plowed straight through. She had a clear view of the young kitsune as she lay on the grass, the gorilla yōkai standing over her, his fist raised for the finishing blow. It looked like this was the end.
Relief swept through her. Lilian would die without Kevin being aware of what happened until it was too late. While Kevin would no doubt be sad for a while, she planned on staying in Arizona a bit longer than necessary to console him and hopefully start a relationship beyond that of a boy who’d taken in a stray.
All of those thoughts, dreams, and hopes were dashed when a familiar figure rushed out of the building carrying a long pole of twisted and sharp metal.
&nbs
p; ***
Lilian couldn’t figure out what had happened. One second, the gorilla yōkai had been about to crush her like a Titan crushing a human. The next he was roaring in agony as he fell to a knee.
Snarling like a vicious beast, the gorilla yōkai turned to swat at something outside of her vision, but whatever it was had obviously evaded, if the angry roar that the yōkai unleashed was any indication.
The gorilla yōkai stood back up, but he wobbled precariously. Without a clear view, Lilian couldn’t tell what was happening, but it looked like the gorilla had been injured somewhere.
Surging forward, the gorilla yōkai disappeared from her line of sight. She wished to see what was happening, but her body refused to move. It just wouldn’t respond to her mental commands. All she could do was lay there and listen as another earth-rending howl, this one of pain, rent the air, followed by a loud crash.
Seconds later, a figure appeared within her vision. Lilian nearly cried when she saw messy blond hair framing a handsome face and familiar light blue eyes.
“Beloved…”
***
Kevin knelt down next to Lilian, relief warring with worry and rage. He wanted to scoop the redhead into his arms but dared not to. She’d clearly suffered terrible injuries. Her body was broken, her arms bent at an awkward angle, her legs crushed. Bruises covered every inch of skin, spreading across her body like spilled ink soaking into a canvas. Who knew what sort of damage he would do if he moved her.
“I’m here,” Kevin said. “Don’t worry, Lilian, I’m here, and I’m gonna protect you.”
“Kevin… you can’t,” Lilian gasped. Blood leaked from the corner of her mouth as she choked. “That’s a gorilla yōkai. They’re… known for their immense strength. He’s too powerful for a human to fight…”
“Stop talking,” Kevin admonished. “You keep talking and you’re just going to injure yourself further. And it doesn’t matter if that thing is a thousand times stronger than a human. I’m not leaving you to face this thing with the state you’re in. I won’t let you die.”
Tears pricked at Lilian’s eyes. Tears of joy? Maybe. Tears of sorrow? Possibly. Kevin had no way of knowing.
“... I don’t want to lose you,” Lilian whispered.
“And how do you think I feel? I don’t want to lose you, either. I’d rather die than let you leave me.”
“Beloved…”
Kevin stood up.
“However, I have no intention of dying either. Just sit back, focus on healing yourself. I’ll deal with the ape.” He smiled down at the redhead. Even beaten, battered, and covered in blood, Lilian remained ethereally beautiful to him. “I have a plan, so trust me, okay?”
The two stared at each other. Blue eyes into emerald green. For that single moment, nothing else existed. There were just two people, Lilian and Kevin, silently communicating in the way that only they could.
Lilian’s breathing was ragged but even. Her wounds were severe but not life-threatening. Provided nothing else happened to her, she would survive.
Kevin intended to make sure that happened.
“Okay…” Lilian’s soft, pained voice reached him. “I believe in you, Beloved.”
“Thank you.”
Kevin turned around to face the gorilla. He was getting back to his feet after Kevin had used a combination of his foe’s own momentum and his speed to knock the yōkai down. The impression that the yōkai had left in the dewy grass was an exact mold of his body.
“A human?” The yōkai stared at him as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “You mean to tell me that a human is now fighting me? You may have gotten lucky with that last move, child of man, but that was merely because you caught me by surprise. Do you honestly think you can beat me now that I know you’re here? Do not make me laugh. Your kind are even weaker than that kitsune you are trying to protect. You have neither the power nor the ability to kill a yōkai like myself.”
Throughout the yōkai’s speech, Kevin found himself getting irritated. It boiled through him, this white-hot flame of anger and rage and annoyance, a conflagration that engulfed his soul in its fiery essence.
Anger tended to invoke shōnen-like speeches.
It was a protagonist thing.
“Just who the hell do you think I am, Furry?! You think you can look down on me because I’m a human?! I don’t care if you have super special abilities that I don’t! I don’t care if you can crush a car like it was made of plastic! None of that matters to me! I might not have the strange powers of a yōkai, but that doesn’t mean I’m weak! And I’ll prove it to you when I break you for what you did to Lilian!”
That was right. This person, this yōkai, had hurt Lilian. It didn’t matter to Kevin if this monster had the strength of a thousand men, for what he did to Lilian, Kevin would show no mercy.
“The yōkai world is a dangerous place. If you want to survive, then harden your heart and keep moving forward.”
The words of Heather rang in his ears. He didn’t want to kill. He didn’t enjoy killing. The idea of taking a life was abhorrent to him. However, for Lilian, he would harden his heart and do whatever was necessary to protect her.
This was Kevin’s love.
This was Kevin’s resolve.
Chapter 7
Fighting Dirty
Iris knew the moment she opened her eyes that she was not dead. A blue sky greeted her. Sparse clouds sprinkled the sky. She was lying on her back—or she assumed she was. She couldn’t feel her back, or much of anything, really, so it was hard to tell.
“Are you finally awake?” a voice asked.
A face appeared above her seconds later, sharpening into focus. Familiar icy blue eyes greeted Iris. They were set in a young-looking face that could have only been described as cute. Hair as black as raven feathers surrounded this face, contrasting with translucently pale skin.
“Hey, Frosty…” Iris muttered weakly.
Christine clicked her tongue. “Even though you’re in such a sorry state, you still can’t call me by my name. Do you know how annoying that is?”
“Heh… I can imagine.” Iris gave the yuki-onna a weak smirk before she realized something. Christine was present, which meant she was here, with her, and not at school or home or wherever she went after school. “What are you doing here? And how did you know I was in trouble?”
“I thought that would be obvious.” Christine’s voice was laden with sarcasm. “I’m here to rescue your sorry ass. As for how I knew you were in trouble… I didn’t. I saw Kevin running out of the school, looking frantic. I figured something happened and decided to follow him, though it took more effort than I thought it would.” The snow maiden grimaced. “He’s pretty fast for a human. Even skating, I could just barely keep up.”
Skating was a term that yōkai with ice manipulation abilities liked to use. The basic idea was that they created a path made of ice and skated on it. This had the benefit of increasing their speed. Skilled “skaters” could even manipulate ice to fight three-dimensional battles by utilizing angles instead of simple linear movements.
“I guess all that track practice was good for something.” Iris paused. “What happened to the tanuki?”
“If you’re talking about that furred creature over there, then as you can plainly see, he’s currently chilling out.”
Iris groaned as she turned her head—why did such a simple movement hurt so much?—and saw what Christine was talking about. The tanuki was frozen in a large block of ice, his final expression, eyes bulging and mouth agape, was one of terror. Iris decided that it was a good look. It was fitting for someone she disliked after only their first meeting.
“Kotohime took care of one of those giant apes and is currently fighting the nama-something or other,” Christine continued speaking.
“Kotohime is here, too? And you also said that the stud is here as well? Where is he?”
“Last I saw of him, Kevin went into that building.” Christine pointed at something beyond
Iris’s sight.
“I can’t see where you’re pointing, you know,” Iris muttered dryly.
Christine had the decency to at least look a little embarrassed.
“Oh… right…”
***
Kotohime stared up and up and up, into the eyes of her foe.
“Oh, my. You are quite large, aren’t you?”
Not that she had expected any less. The creature that she was in combat with was a namahage, after all.
Namahage were a type of oni, a demon yōkai with ogre qualities. Like all stories of yōkai, the tale of these supernal creatures originated in Japan… well technically, they originated from China. The legend went that the Emperor Wu Han from China came to Japan, bringing with him five demonic ogres to the Oga area. These ogres established themselves at the two local high peaks, Honzan and Shinzan. There, they came down to the villages and stole crops and women.
The citizens of Oga made a wager with the demons. If the ogres could build a flight of stone steps, one thousand in all, from the village to the five shrine halls in a single night, then the villagers would supply them with a young woman every year. However, should they fail, then they would leave.
As luck would have it, the ogres were almost successful in completing the one thousand stone steps. Yet just as they were about to finish, one of the villagers mimicked the cry of a rooster. The ogres departed, then, believing that they had failed.
Of course, that was merely a legend perpetuated by humans and not real. The truth was that namahage were a breed of oni that lacked the brute strength of regular oni. However, in return for not having the brawn of a pure oni, they retained their sanity and ability to think rationally.
“You’re the kitsune’s bodyguard. I didn’t expect to be facing you,” the namahage said, his voice a deep, baritone growl.
Kotohime’s placid smile hid all of her thoughts, though the killing intent that she released, the blood lust hidden beneath her calm veneer, betrayed her.
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