Night of the Dragon

by Julie Kagawa

  The massive creature against the wall drew in a raspy, shuddering breath. “Why?” it moaned, followed by a low sob. “Gone. Gone, both of them gone. How could he betray me? I am alone. Always alone.”

  As we stepped into the room, the aroma of the flowers filled my senses, cloying and bitter, clogging the back of my throat. I tasted salt and tears, and it was suddenly difficult to breathe, as if I had been sobbing nonstop for hours and could no longer catch my breath. It was an alarming, alien sensation, and I fought the urge to gasp out loud.

  But Yumeko drew in a faint, ragged breath, barely a whisper in the vastness of the cave, and the sound of crying ceased.

  The kijo turned and faced us across the carpet of flowers. Her face was covered by a white Noh mask sculpted in the throes of terrible grief. The eyes were closed, the mouth open in a sob, and painted tears streaked one side of the porcelain cheek. A pair of black horns curled from her brow above the mask rim, and her nails, painted bright red, were nearly a foot long. She stood there, towering over us, and I saw what she had been hunched over.

  Flanked by torches, a small wooden shrine sat against the far wall. Through the open doors, a scattering of items flickered in the torchlight: a folded obi sash, a hina doll with its tiny miniature kimono and painted face, an omamori talisman for luck and protection. The shrine itself, though faded and gray, pulsed with an aura of menace and despair, warping the air around it. The black iris flowers were thickest near the base of the shrine, and they rustled softly as the huge kijo stared at us.

  “Who are you?” Her deep voice rippled through the air, and the flowers beneath us trembled. “Why are you here? Have you come to take what is mine?” She stepped forward, placing herself between us and the altar, hiding it with her bulk, and her voice became menacing. “No, you cannot. It is mine! It was always mine!”

  “We’re sorry to have intruded.” Yumeko eased forward a step, holding up her hands in a soothing gesture. Her voice was strained, as if she were struggling not to burst into tears. “Please excuse us. We’re not here to take anything. We’re just trying to find the path through the mountains.”

  “Thieves!” the kijo roared, seeming to swell with fury, flaring her claws as she rose to her full terrible height. “Traitors! I won’t let you take it! It is mine! It is all I have left!”

  I muttered a curse and raised Kamigoroshi before me. The monster was lost in her own world of grief and rage and wouldn’t hear anything we had to say.

  “Yumeko, get back,” I warned, stepping in front of the girl. “You can’t reason with it. It’s going to attack—”

  With a chilling howl that shook the walls and made the flowers writhe madly, the kijo raised her talons and barreled toward us like an avalanche.

  23

  The Kijo’s Curse

  Yumeko

  My fear spiked, driving away the relentless despair clawing at my insides. The monster—the oni or demoness or whatever she was—wailed as she came at us, a maelstrom of fury and anguish that battered me like a hurricane. I staggered back, but Tatsumi and Daisuke leaped forward, blades drawn, and Okame swiftly raised his bow, firing two shots as the demon charged. One hit her forehead and deflected with the sound of cracking porcelain, but the other struck the monster square in the chest, sinking deep into her billowing robes. She screamed but didn’t seem slowed by what should have been a fatal shot, turning her attention to the warriors in her path.

  Tatsumi and Daisuke dove to either side as the demoness reached them, avoiding the long, bright red talons scything down at them. Their swords flashed in unison, cutting across her sides, parting the fabric of the many-layered kimono and slashing deep into her flesh.

  The demoness howled, rearing back in pain. What erupted from beneath her robes wasn’t blood but dark ash shooting into the air like a swarm of flies. It misted into the air and settled over the flowers in a choking fog, clogging the back of my throat as I breathed it in. I coughed violently, tears burning my eyes, the taste of salt thick on my tongue. Tatsumi and Daisuke staggered back, wincing and covering their faces with their sleeves, as the demon’s howl turned into a piercing wail.

  “It hurts!” she sobbed, tearing at her own robes with her talons, ripping through the cloth like it was made of parchment. “The pain, it never goes away! I cannot bear it!” She gave another sob and turned on Daisuke and Tatsumi again, raising her claws. I swiftly knelt and plucked one of the flowers from the cave floor, hoping that a few more Daisukes and Tatsumis would confuse the monster long enough for the real ones to kill her. But as soon as it left the ground, the flower turned to ashes in my hand, dissolving into black dust.

  With a shriek, the demoness lashed out at Daisuke, and the noble barely ducked and twisted aside to avoid it. Her claws caught the ends of his hair, and a few pale strands drifted to the ground, sliced neatly in two. “Villain!” she screamed at him as he swiftly backed away. “Monster! I loved you! I gave you everything!” She lunged at the noble, reaching for him with her talons, but an arrow flew through the air, striking the side of her neck, making her flinch and stagger.

  The demoness wailed, frantically swiping at Daisuke with one claw, and this time, the noble didn’t leap back. His sword flashed, cutting into the demon’s sleeve, severing the hand at the wrist. More darkness rushed from the stump left behind, swirling into the air as the demoness stumbled back, her shrieks reaching a crescendo. And then, a streak of darkness from the side, as Tatsumi rushed in, ducked beneath a flailing talon and stabbed up with Kamigoroshi. The point of the blade struck the demon in the throat, right below the mask, and exploded out the top of her head. Grabbing the sword hilt with both hands, Tatsumi yanked the blade out through the skull, splitting the demon’s face in two and sending the mask flying into the flowers.

  With an agonized howl that shook the ground, the demoness frayed apart, her huge body exploding into ashes. I put a sleeve to my mouth and nose as the black dust cloud settled over everything like a softly falling rain, coating the flowers and making my eyes burn. With the passing of the demon, silence descended, broken only by the roar of my heart in my ears.

  Tatsumi and Daisuke sheathed their blades, giving the other a respectful nod as the dust settled around them. Forgotten, Suki drifted down from where she had been hovering overhead, her intangible form wide-eyed and frightened as she gazed where the massive demon had disappeared in a cloud of ash. “Is...is it gone?” she whispered.

  Cautiously, I dropped my sleeve from my face. “I think so,” I murmured back. My eyes watered, and I swiped at a final tear that had crawled down my cheek. “That must have been what the Kirin warned me about,” I whispered. “The lingering spirit of grief and rage that haunts this island. What could have caused it to stay here? Tatsumi-san?”

  Tatsumi and the others had joined us, looking tired. Ash streaked their faces, and Okame’s jaw was set, as if he was trying not to let his emotions get the better of him. Even Daisuke looked strained, his posture stiff and his mouth pressed into a grim line.

  Tatsumi rubbed a hand over his eyes. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “It wasn’t like anything I’ve seen before. Normally, women who become kijo are still flesh and blood. But that was clearly some sort of spirit. Perhaps it was a reiki—a demon who has died but is so consumed with revenge that it cannot return to Jigoku to be reborn.”

  “Well, whatever it was,” Okame broke in, “it’s gone now. Though, it really didn’t seem to like you, peacock,” he added, gazing at Daisuke. “You didn’t piss off a demon in a previous life, did you?”

  “Not that I am aware of,” Daisuke said, and his normally tranquil voice shook a bit at the end. Wincing, he put a hand over his eyes, as Okame gazed at him in concern. “Forgive me,” he murmured, “but the scent of these flowers is making it difficult to concentrate. I fear I might dishonor myself and start weeping if we stay here much longer. Now that the spirit has been put to rest, perhaps we c
an move on.”

  “But...” Suki hesitated, gazing around with fearful eyes. “I can still...hear it crying.”

  We fell silent, a chill going through the air, as the echoes of sobbing rose from the flowers surrounding us. Against the far wall, the wooden shrine glowed, flaring with an ominous purple light. Blackened flakes of ash and soot began rising from the petals in front of it, floating up to swirl through the air, growing thicker and darker with every passing second. The white Noh mask, threaded with cracks but still in one piece, drifted up and flew silently across the room until it hovered in front of the black cloud.

  The sobbing grew louder, now coming from the swirling mass near the shrine, and my heart sank. With a final, ear-piercing wail, the ash cloud reintegrated, as the huge demoness, unhurt and very much alive, threw back her head and howled.

  “Kuso!” Okame scrambled back, raising his bow again. “Well, this could get tiring. How many times are we going to have to kill the thing?”

  “The shrine.” Tatsumi drew Kamigoroshi in a flare of light as the demoness lowered her arms and turned toward us. “The shrine is the anchor,” he growled, his narrowed gaze on the tiny wooden structure behind the monster. “We can’t kill the kijo itself. Something is keeping its spirit tied to this world. Destroy the shrine, and its anchor might disappear.”

  “Noooooooooo!”

  The frantic, terrible scream made me wince—I clapped my hands over my ears—and caused the flowers to sway wildly. The demoness whirled, covering the shrine with her huge body, wrapping her arms around it. “No, you cannot!” she sobbed, glaring back at us. “It is mine! You cannot take it! The memories are all I have left of her!”

  All I have left of her.

  I jerked up, eyes widening in disbelief. Could it be...?

  Raising their blades, Tatsumi and Daisuke started grimly forward, while beside me, Okame fit an arrow to his string. The demoness was still crying, arms curled protectively around the shrine, her huge body trembling with sobs. “Forgive us,” I heard Daisuke murmur, as he and the demonslayer drew closer to the sobbing monster. “No one should have to live so mired in despair. Whoever you were, we’ll set you free.”

  The demon’s sobbing ceased. She raised her head, though she didn’t turn to face the warriors approaching her from behind. “A curse on you,” she whispered, and around us, the very air stilled. I felt the power of her words, tinged with hate and grief, ripple out from where she stood, twisting my stomach into a knot. “May you know the same pain. May it burrow so deep into your soul your memories become poison and you drown in a river of tears. May it lodge itself like a broken mirror in your heart, cutting and slicing with every breath, every heartbeat tearing it wider.” She turned, holding out a bright, foot-long talon, her voice rising in volume and intensity. “May it rack your bodies and consume your minds, until you are a husk of what you were! Until nothing is left but poison, tears and agony, and you wish to die, but even death will elude you!”

  Tatsumi let out a savage, unearthly snarl and lunged, Kamigoroshi flaring purple in the dim light. He was moving before the demoness finished her curse, but she rose even higher, eyes glowing red behind the Noh mask, and screamed.

  This time, the wail was a physical force, slamming into me and knocking me back. The flowers danced wildly, many of them dissolving into black soot and swirling through the air. For a moment, I couldn’t breathe, the taste of salt, ash and grief clogging the back of my throat, as something dark and terrible burrowed under my skin.

  Beside me, Okame let out a strangled noise and collapsed, falling to his knees in the flowers, his bow dropping from his hands. Farther ahead, Tatsumi and Daisuke also went down, though Tatsumi stayed on his feet a few seconds longer, shoulders hunched and sword gripped in one hand, before a gasp escaped him and he fell, disappearing into the flowers.

  “Tatsumi!”

  The demoness slumped back, sagging into the flowers, head bowed and hair covering her face. For the moment, she didn’t seem to be moving. I rushed forward, though a sudden cry of pain from Okame made my stomach twist. Reaching the spot where Tatsumi fell, I saw him lying in the black petals, arms curled around himself and knees drawn to his chest. He was shaking, jaw clenched, and his eyes were glassy. He didn’t seem to notice me as I knelt beside him. I put a hand on his arm, and a chill shot through me. His muscles were like steel cords, locked into unyielding bars around him. I could suddenly see fiery bands racking his body, stabbing into his chest.

  “Tatsumi,” I whispered, seeing no response, no flicker of recognition in his eyes. A few yards away, there was a howl of pain that made my heart clench. I had never heard Daisuke cry out before, in pain, anger, grief or fear. “What’s happening? What can I do?”

  Tatsumi’s expression contorted. He tried to move, uncurling his arms to push himself upright, but the fiery bands around his body flared and he cried out, collapsing back into the flowers. “The...curse,” he gritted out. “Can’t...m-move.” He grimaced, clenching his jaw to keep a gasp from escaping. “Destroy...demon. Only way...to break—Agh!”

  “Tatsumi.” I clutched at his sleeve, feeling helpless, as he curled in on himself. In front of the shrine, the demoness stirred, slowly raising her head. Our gazes met, and behind the sobbing Noh mask, I saw her eyes.

  For just a moment, they were clear, almost regretful, as we stared at each other. But then a curtain fell over her expression, and her eyes glazed over, slipping into the madness of grief and rage once more.

  “You.” The demoness straightened, her shadow creeping toward me across the blanket of flowers. I flattened my ears but moved in front of Tatsumi, trying to shield him from her as best I could. Unfortunately, this small action seemed to incense her further. Her eyes glowed, and tears began leaking from beneath her mask as her voice turned chilling.

  “You would protect him? The thief? The one who would steal away what is mine? You would shield him from me?” She flexed her claws, seeming to grow in size, even as I shrank back in fear. “Do you seek what is mine, as well?”

  “No,” I said, holding up my hands. “Please, listen to me. We’re not thieves! We don’t want to take anything from you, we just want to help you move on.”

  “Thief!” the demoness snarled, gliding forward. “Traitors! I will kill them all! They will not take what is mine! I have lost too much already!”

  Terror shot through me. I raised my hands, and a wave of foxfire erupted from my palms, flaring a brilliant blue-white in the darkness. As before, I could sense the tiny ball of power glowing in my chest, and felt the searing heat from the kitsune-bi warp the air around it. The demoness screamed as the fire struck her, catching her robes and igniting her hair. But she didn’t stop, plowing through the wall of flames until she was directly above me. Her burning, grotesque face filled my vision, and I gave a yelp of fear, throwing up foxfire-shrouded hands to ward her away.

  With a shriek, the demoness lashed out, and something struck me in the side with the force of a mallet. I was hurled through the air and landed several yards away, rolling through the flowers in a black cloud, the ground spinning wildly before I came to a hard, dizzying stop. Blinking back tears of pain, I clenched my jaw and pushed myself upright, searching wildly for Tatsumi and the demon.

  Tatsumi tried to stand, his snarl of pain and defiance filling the air as he shoved himself to his feet, clutching his blade. Planting his feet, agony written on every part of his clenched muscles, he faced the demoness towering over him, and for a moment, the monster paused, stunned to see him upright and facing her.

  Then the bands coiled around Tatsumi flared, and the demonslayer staggered. With a scream, the demoness stabbed down, slamming Tatsumi into the ground, her claws sinking deep into the earth to pin him in place. As Tatsumi cried out, she raised her other arm, bright red talons gleaming in the darkness, to strip the life from him.

  “Kiyomi-sama, stop!”

/>   My voice rang over the flowers, frantic and terrified, echoing around the cavern. And the huge demoness froze.

  Slowly, she lowered her arm. Slowly, her masked, terrible face swung around to stare at me. I trembled as her blank, hollow eyes met mine, and dug my fingers into the earth as the demoness pulled her claws from Tatsumi and began walking toward me.

  Cautiously, I stood, being careful not to jerk or move too quickly, though my limbs were shaking and my heart was fluttering around my chest like a moth. As I rose, a shadow fell over me, the scent of tears and ash burning my throat. I swallowed and looked up into the dark, glassy gaze of the demon.

  “That name.” The demoness’s voice was flat. Curious, but wary. “I know that name.”

  Slowly, I nodded. “Kiyomi-sama is the ruler of the Tsuki islands,” I whispered. “Long ago, she was betrayed by the man she loved, and her daughter was stolen from her. She spent years living with her anger and grief, and I think that, over time, those emotions took on a life of their own. They seeped into the land and, for whatever reason, became trapped here.”

  “Daughter,” repeated the spirit of Kiyomi-sama. Her voice was low, hollow, as if trying to remember something painful. “Yes, I had a daughter. Once, a long time ago. She was...she was taken from me.” She began to shake, tendrils of black soot rising up to swirl around her. Her claws flexed, and the eyes behind the mask flickered red. “Stolen,” she whispered, the tenor of her voice beginning to slip into madness again. “Gone. All I have left are memories...memories and...” She glanced back toward the shrine, glowing black and purple against the cavern wall. “You will not take them.”

  “Your daughter is alive!” I said, wincing as the demoness spun back, raising her claw. “She returned to the island and...” I trailed off, heart pounding, as those bright red talons hovered right over my head. “She’s...right here,” I whispered. “My...my name is Yumeko, Kiyomi-sama. I...was the child you lost. The daughter that was stolen.”