“Vacation. He took the last two months off,” she replied.
I narrowed my eyes. “That certainly fits the time line. Saito, Hashinaki. Thanks for the help. I’ll be in touch.”
“Our pleasure,” they replied in concert, then cut the call.
“It’s Kuroshi. He’s drawing the noose tighter and tighter around us. He could be any damn where in the whole wide world. He has an army of Tengu convinced that you killed your father in a bid to take his position and that the Oni are the reason that everything’s wrong with the world.”
“And we’re stuck there. We’re both trapped now, Charles,” Momo declared.
I grinned at that. “Actually, that’s about the only thing I have a solution for. Momodara, what are you best at magically speaking?”
“Air magic. Duh,” Momo replied. “I know lots about nature magics too though.”
“Excellent. That means we can fly right out of here.”
“W-what?” Momo stuttered. “Charles, there’s no way they’d set an air mage up in a sky high prison without warding the whole building.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes really. They’ve got guards patrolling the perimeter just waiting for an idiot like you to try your luck. I can’t pass through the wards they set up over here without losing my powers for a good five minutes, and do you know how long it takes to reach the ground floor when you throw yourself off here?” Momo ranted.
“Less than five minutes?” I suggested.
“Less than one minute,” the Tengu wailed.
“That’s too bad,” I said, shaking my head. “If only I had thought ahead and read up on wards and how to undo them. Oh wait,” I paused dramatically. “I did.”
“Huh?”
I stepped out of the apartment, willed a blade of hard arcana to form upon my wand, and slashed the empty air around the rooftop edge. A bright golden paling came to life, parting for half a second before returning into place and slowly fading back to invisibility.
“Anti magic paling alright. You Tengu really don’t mess around with wards.”
“You think slashing your blade around is going to work?” Momo demanded. “We really are stuck here. Without condoms!”
Ah. So that’s why she was so upset.
“I have another trick up my sleeve,” I replied. “You said this ward saps any air magics that comes into contact with it, right? For five minutes?”
“Yes. It probably works on other types too. It’s foolproof.”
“Is that so? Let’s check to see if the Tengu thought far enough ahead to account for this then.”
I willed magic into my right hand, focused it upon my finger tip, and drew a circle. Not facing me, but intersecting the paling. I flicked the reflective mirror into existence, and the moment I did, a sound like bells ringing reached my ears. The paling quivered.
The ward flickered and fizzled out. Momo looked flabbergasted.
“How did you do that?” she asked.
“Any air magic coming in contact with the ward gets sapped. That includes the ward’s magic too. Looks like your former minions didn’t think that I would reflect the paling to pass through itself.”
“You made it cancel itself out?”
“Come for my good looks, stay for my wits,” I replied.
Perhaps I shouldn’t have. The Tengu princess looked like she was going to fall head over heels.
“That’s really cool. You’re cool Charles Locke.”
It must have been the first time someone said that to me that without sarcasm.
“Party tricks are worthless without a mistress of air magic to fly us to safety,” I said. “Your turn.”
Momo chuckled at that. It sounded a bit like chirping. “Well I can’t let a dumb monkey like you outdo me, now can I? Behold the secret techniques passed down by the Tengu of Mount Fuji.”
The Tengu sorceress drew in power. First a breeze, growing into a gust, until shrieking winds howled around us. She brought her hands together, compressing the wailing winds closer and closer together until her hands were completely cupped.
When she opened her hands, a tiny cumulonimbus cloud came out.
“Is that a vassal cloud?” I asked.
“Her name is Cotton Candy,” Momo declared.
Cotton Candy expanded, free from the Tengu’s cupped hands. Wide and tall, the vassal cloud grew until it was about the size of a Honda Civic. Pretty damn respectable if I do say so myself.
Momo hopped on like it was her own personal pony, patted the fluff behind her and said, “So Charles Locke. Where to?”
Chapter 31
“Just a bit further West, Momo. South face of Mount Jinba over there,” I called out.
“I can’t believe you’re making me do this. The Tengu will never forgive me for going to the Oni for help,”
“If we clear this mess up, Momo, those overgrown chickens are going to beg you on their hands and knees to lead them again,” I muttered. “We’ll be safe at the Oni temple. The Tengu don’t know about it.”
The Tengu princess let out a low rolling chuckle. “Hands and knees? I think I like the sound of that.”
Sadistic tendencies comes in small packages.
“Charles, I don’t get something though,” Momo spoke up.
“What’s that?”
“Kuroshi is just a Human. How could he kill my father and the Oni Kunshu?”
“He didn’t do the dirty work. He had an assassin that called himself the Demon Slayer. It couldn’t be a coincidence that the killer knew just where to catch your father unawares, or how to bypass an entire army of Demon Ogres,” I explained.
“So Kuroshi sold my dad out?” Momo asked bitterly.
I nodded my head gravely. “In real time probably. The only way to have caught your father off guard would be through impeccable timing and coordination. He knew where he was, where he was going, and probably had fail safes in place to make sure he died no matter what.”
A lump formed in my stomach suddenly. Like I’d forgotten something terribly important and I just couldn’t remember what.
“But Charles, if the Demon Slayer was working for Kuroshi all along, then wouldn’t it make sense that he’d know exactly where the Oni base would be?”
Sweat trickled down my brow. That’s what I forgot.
Momo’s breathing picked up. “And I bet he got awful suspicious once his little pawn didn’t check in with him. And that means…”
We crested over top the last hill to see a pillar of black and gray smoke billowing into the sky. Fires burned and the distant echo of gunfire reached our ears. Specks down below moved erratically, the scent of blood was in the air.
“And that means Kuroshi is done playing games with shadow puppets. Faster,” I called out. “To the main temple, go!”
Cotton Candy, the vassal cloud, zipped down low and fast. I hung on for dear life, as the Tengu princess urged her on.
We shot towards the Oni temple just as an explosion nearly knocked me off the cloud. I craned my neck to see the temple’s doors blown wide open. Squads of Crow Tengu advanced, with Tengu sorcerers bringing up the rear. Gunshots and Ogre battle cries suddenly joined together to form the din of battle.
“Momo. Do you see the scabbard I have on my back?”
“What?” she asked.
“Do you see it?” I demanded.
Momodara nodded.
“Take it. Flit around and look for a Human sized woman with an Oni mask leading the troops. Her name is Anzuki. If you offer her the sword, she’ll know you’re with me.”
“But what about you?” she asked.
“Drop me off behind that wall. I’m going to have a word with the Tengu there.”
“Be careful?” Momo asked.
A grin widened on my lips. “Of course.”
I leaped off the cloud, rolled to my feet and put my back to the old brick temple wall. Those Tengu must have been the advanced group getting greedy. No sign of a rear guard and I could still see On
i swinging weapons in the distance. That meant these birds had probably slipped around the main force to try and cut off the serpent’s head.
“Not if I cut your heads off first,” I murmured, and sprung to action.
Guns are really cool. I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you that, but the thing with modern technology is that it has a few drawbacks that aren’t readily visible when you’re drunk on the fact that a gun explosively fires bits of shaped metal that are capable of ending a life in the blink of an eye.
My favorite weakness is how they make gunmen tunnel vision. If it’s not directly in their field of vision, which is usually narrowed to the sights on their gun, then you could river dance in a gorilla suit a meter behind a gunner and they’d never notice.
That’s what happened when I snuck up on their six. Too bad my gorilla suit was at the cleaners. I slit the throat of the nearest greater Tengu with ease. The second one fell too before the third sorcerer managed to squawk an alarm. I plunged my wand-sword into his chest before he could electrocute me.
About half of the cramped Crow Tengu trained sleek modern submachine guns on me. This would have been a very effective tactic in bringing about a brutal and sudden end to my life had I been alone with them. Unfortunately for the Tengu, they were in an Oni stronghold swimming with enemies.
Just a bit of let up on the gunfire was enough to let a particularly large, scaly skinned Ogre reach their firing line and swing his katana in a wide arc.
Chicken fingers.
“Who you?” the Oni demanded, wiping blood off his slimy green forehead as a swarm of lesser Ogres poured out of hiding places.
Recognition ignited in me. “I loved you speech.”
“My speech?” the Ogre asked, flustered.
“Yeah. Where’s Anzuki?”
The Ogre faltered, “Uh…”
“I need to go talk to your Kunshu. She’s waiting for me so take me to her.”
“Uhm. Okay. We go.”
Their ineloquence was almost charming.
The scaly green warrior led me down the hall past onlooking Ogres armed with clubs, axes, and katanas. We next passed a room filled with wounded and dead Oni, leading to the central antechamber I’d met Anzuki’s father in.
As the scaly green Ogre tore open the screen door leading to the central chamber, I caught sight of Anzuki. She had her red sword drawn and pressed to Momodara’s throat. Momodara had the fingernails of one hand digging viciously into Anzuki’s forearm, her other palm, crackling with lightning, was inches from the Oni’s face.
“Charles,” they both called out at the same time. Like they’d spent time practicing to practice getting it in sync. “Just who does this girl think she is?!”
I should have known they’d be like this.
Chapter 32
“All right,” I said, taking in a deep breath.
It’s important to keep calm when attempting to diffuse explosives.
“Momodara, Anzuki, listen very carefully. You are both on each others’ side. Both of you know what it’s like to lose someone close to you. Both of you know what it’s like to be used and betrayed.”
They glared at each other reluctantly. Their magic and weapons refused to budge. I should have explained the situation better to Anzuki. I shouldn’t have let Momodara go in alone and unintroduced.
“Bury the hatchet. Why try to kill each other when there’s a whole army practically aching to do that for you?”
Anzuki cursed under her breath, drew her sword back from Momo’s throat, and sheathed it. “Welcome to my house, Tengu scum, pleased to have such a fine guest.”
“The pleasure’s all mine, Oni sow,” Momo replied, curtsying.
We didn’t have time for this. “Anzu, what’s the situation? Hit me with it.”
“Yes,” Anzuki replied stiffly. “Tengu struck about half an hour ago. Outer perimeter totally lost within fifteen minutes, reports still coming in from village center. I think they’re losing momentum.”
“I think so too,” I agreed.
“Wrong,” Momo declared. Our eyes turned to her. “Standard Tengu tactics is to surround and harry foes from distance. Once foes decide to fortify we get all our sorcerers together in a flock and then, well…”
“Well what?” Anzuki asked.
“We call lightning down on our enemies until there’s nothing left. Tengu love to keep their trump cards in reserve, you know,” Momodara said.
I gulped. Even with a dozen master air sorcerers, that’d be more lightning raining down than anything could handle. Wrath of the Heavens.
“We don’t have a lot of time left then. We beat back the Crow Tengu making a move on the temple, but if they surround us like they surrounded the village, we’ll be finished,” Anzuki said.
The temple shook with a loud crack. Light flashed through the windows and illuminated storm clouds stained even darker with smoke from the burning buildings. Then another flash, a crack. Followed by yet another.
Momodara balled her fist. “Too late.”
It was deafening. Unnatural. A storm of lightning bolts rained down from on high. I lost count after thirty thunder strikes. Mercifully, it finally came to an end. The village must have been completely leveled. They’ll be coming for the temple now for sure.
A half charred Oni staggered in through the doors.
“Report,” Anzuki commanded.
“E- uh, Eva--” the Oni gulped.
“Evacuations,” Anzuki suggested.
“Yeah that. Half ways done. The Demon Generals and Humans all in temple back already. Lost about half of the big Oni.”
Anzuki cursed underneath her breath.
“They’re going to hit this place next. What do we do Charles?” Momo asked.
I turned to Anzuki. “You’d have cursed louder if you didn’t have a plan.”
I could practically feel Anzuki’s grin widening maliciously beneath her mask.
“We do the thing,” Anzuki said.
“The thing, huh? Getting boys,” said the slimy green Oni, running off.
I perked an eyebrow at Anzuki. Momo glared indignantly.
“Uh, we’re gonna, what’s the word? You Humans call it Crossing Over.”
I blinked. Crossing Over was when you found a location where the barrier between worlds was thin enough to allow moving from the mundane mortal world to the Supernatural one with relative ease. If you have a modest amount of magic in you and a really good place to Cross Over, you could take a whole party of people to wherever the place led.
There was just one tiny problem.
“Are you stupid? This isn’t a place where we can Cross,” Momodara said. “The walls between the worlds are thick, thicker than usual here. Even if we could do it, we have no idea what’s on the other side you--”
“Yeah I do. It leads to the Netherworld. And sure we can. We do it all the time. It’s easy,” Anzuki replied.
Momo’s eyes nearly bulged out of her skull. “What the hell? You’re telling me you can just, what, cut great big portals with your swords like it’s nothing? Like it’s no big deal?”
I didn’t blame Momo for her disbelief. I’d have had the same reaction in her shoes. However, I’ve seen Oni magic with my own eyes. Just because something was impossible to everyone but the most elite of mages didn’t make it anything more than child’s play for the magically gifted Oni. There was just one problem.
“I can’t go with you,” I said.
Anzuki regarded me with surprise. “Charles?”
“At this rate, Kuroshi’s ill-gotten army of Tengu is going to have us on the run forever and ever. I need to find out where he is. Then we stand a chance to getting our hands on him and cutting him down once and for--”
“Uhm, I know where all the Demon Priests are though,” Anzuki replied.
I stopped dead in my tracks, and turned around. My face filled with disbelief. “You’re kidding me.”
“If Kuroshi is a Demon Priest of ours then he’s probably in Da
d’s skull fortress in the Netherworld. Dad liked to keep all his advisers safe and in one place.”
The puzzle pieces clicked into place. “That clever bastard,” I murmured, turning to Momo, “That’s why he only ever talked through video chat. He was on vacation all right. In the Netherworld.”
“Does that mean you’re coming with?” Anzuki asked.
I nodded. “Hell yes. Do the thing.”
“Doing the thing!” Anzuki cried out.
The sky rumbled, Oni surrounded the antechamber and pushed their hands down onto the floor. Magic poured into Anzuki until, just as the first lightning bolt struck the roof, I felt the magic reach its zenith.
Howling wind, sulfur, and smoke assaulted my nose. Visions of red and bone white and ashen black washed over my waking sight until I felt the ground give way. I found myself falling through the heavy air of an unfamiliar land.
The sky was purple, the clouds black. Before me stretched a strange Hellscape of bleached bones and furious, bubbling volcanoes rife with danger and power in equal doses. Parched trees and sharp hills stained the ground, and on a great mound stood a huge fortress of stone, towers piercing the violet sky.
My feet hit the ground with a crunch. Any higher and I’d have broken a leg. Anzuki fell comfortably to her feet next to me, and Momo on Cotton Candy on my other side. Oh, and about a hundred Oni and retainers at my back.
“We made it,” Anzuki said.
“Just a short walk to the castle,” I said, breathing a sigh of relief. “Bringing Kuroshi to justice should be formality now. Good. It’s refreshing when a plan like this goes off without a--”
In the valley of splintered bones below us, another portal opened. Glistening symbols chattered into existence, and the immense portal yawned wide. Into the Netherworld burst a four story tall behemoth made of metal, magic and with one space opera worth of modern weaponry strapped onto it.
“--Hitch.”
Chapter 33
“You jinxed it,” Momo rasped, arms crossed over her flat chest. “What did I tell you about Tengu liking to keep trump cards in reserve? Kuroshi must have planned for this all along. Now it’s all over!”
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