by Julie Kagawa
The wall of kitsune-bi sputtered and went out. I landed on the steps and glanced back at Yumeko, whose face was pale in the dying light of the foxfire.
“An illusion,” she whispered in horrified disbelief. She shook herself and hurried forward, joining me on the steps, though her eyes were shadowed with fear and alarm. “Kami, how strong is he? What is his game? And how are we going to stop a ninetailed fox with that much power?”
“No time for that now,” I told her as we raced up the stairs. “We take care of Genno first, and worry about the ninetail after we send the Master of Demons back to Jigoku.”
The steps curved up the mountain, growing steeper and rougher by the second, until they finally ended at the very top of the cliffs. A flat circle of rock surrounded by torches and crumbling stone pillars stretched before us, overlooking the ocean.
In the center of the circle, with his hands raised and his ghostly robes billowing around him, a translucent figure in white stood before a stone altar. A long scroll, one end weighed down by a rock, lay on the altar, the other end flapping in the wind. The Dragon’s Prayer, the pieces brought together and made whole once again. A bleached human skull sat in the center, the eye sockets glowing with crimson light. Around the figure, lining the edges of the circle, nearly a dozen bodies knelt motionless on the rocks, glimmering daggers lying forgotten at their sides. Their chins rested on their chests, and streams of blood ran from their recently slit throats, dripping to the ground.
“You’re too late.” The ghostly specter lowered his arms and turned, smiling at us over the circle of rock. Genno, his transparent form a pale blur against the rain and darkness, met my gaze with triumph in his eyes. “You cannot stop me now, Hakaimono,” he said, raising one translucent arm toward the sea. “The prayer has been completed. The Harbinger comes!”
A massive bolt of lightning streaked from the clouds, hitting the surface of the ocean. I felt a rumble from deep below travel all the way up the mountain, shaking the stones at my feet. Yumeko staggered, and above us, the tempest swirled like a whirlpool in the sky.
“All will be darkness.” Genno’s droning voice rose over the wind. The yurei turned his back on us, gazing toward the ocean with his arms lifted to welcome the Dragon. “All will be pain, fear and death. I will strike down the empire and rebuild this land in my image. There will be no more samurai, no emperor, no noble class. There will be only men and demons, and as Jigoku and Ningen-kai merge, all human souls will bow to me, as O-Hakumon promised.”
I gripped Kamigoroshi as rage and bloodlust swelled, a maelstrom of demonic fury rising to the surface. “Not if I send you back to O-Hakumon first,” I snarled, and lunged at the Master of Demons.
The second my feet touched the stone circle, there was a flash, and pain erupted through my body. Glowing, red-hot chains appeared, wrapped around my limbs, anchoring me to the rock. I looked down to see symbols and kanji appear on the stones, written in blood, covering the entirety of the flat surface.
“Did you not think I would be ready for you, Hakaimono?” Genno turned back, a cruelly amused look on his narrow face. “Did you really believe I would allow you to make it this far without consequence?” He gestured to the bodies surrounding us. “My blood mages, they gave their lives to create this binding circle for the express purpose of stopping the First Oni. You will not interfere, not when my moment of triumph is at hand.”
A glowing ball of foxfire flew past my head toward the yurei in the center of the circle. For a split second, a look of shock crossed his pale face before he dodged nimbly aside. The sphere of kitsune-bi arced over the ocean, leaving a trail of light behind it, and Genno’s eyes snapped to the girl who had stepped into the circle beside me.
Yumeko opened her hands, and foxfire flared, engulfing not only her palms, but her entire body. It raced up her arms, her back, spreading over her robes, until she was wreathed in blue-white flames. Her tail swayed and whipped behind her, snapping with foxfire, and her golden eyes shone with fury as she faced the Master of Demons across the stone.
“No more, Genno,” she said, a virtual torch blazing blue-white at the edge of the circle. “This ends tonight.”
“Annoying fox.” The Master of Demons drifted back, a faint red glow surrounding him as he gestured almost contemptuously. “Begone.”
Three sickles of darkness, deadly spinning crescents, flew at Yumeko, trailing black fire as they sped toward her. She dodged, throwing herself to the ground as she dove aside, though one of them caught her sleeve as it passed, slicing through the fabric like it wasn’t there.
“Yumeko!” I lunged toward her, straining against the chains, feeling several of them snap as I pressed forward. I was free only for a moment, as several more instantly rose to take their place, coiling around my legs, arms and chest, burning and searing where they touched, and I snarled in frustration.
“Rise.” Genno raised both arms, red light shining from his fingers, and I felt the chilling ripple of blood magic wash across the stones. “Crush them, my faithful minions,” he ordered. “Obey me in death as you did in life. Rise, and serve your master.”
The corpses lining the edges of the circle stirred, lifting their heads to reveal their sliced throats, then seemed to float upright, hovering a few inches from the ground. Clutching knives in pale, bloody hands, they glided forward.
Yumeko pushed herself upright, ears laced back and eyes wide with alarm. Blood soaked the fabric of one sleeve, dripping to the ground from her arm, but she raised her hands, foxfire pulsing at her fingers, and unleashed a roaring line of kitsune-bi. Not at the ghostly Master of Demons, or even the corpses floating toward her with their knives raised, but at the binding circle at her feet.
For a moment, the words of power flared red, shining like fresh blood as the foxfire struck the surface. Then, with a roar, the entire circle seemed to catch fire, kitsune-bi racing along the runes and symbols, until with one final flare-up, the foxfire sputtered and died, taking the circle with it.
The chains holding me down vanished. Genno spun, eyes widening, as I sprang to the center of the circle, Kamigoroshi ripping the first blood mage’s corpse in two. The others turned on me, jerking forward like marionettes, eyes blank as they slashed down with their weapons. Unhindered, I lunged into the center of the swarm, cutting through limbs and dead flesh, fighting my way forward. I lost Yumeko in the press of bodies, though I did catch glimpses of Genno through the slashing arms and flapping sleeves, the blood mage drifting farther away, a grim, triumphant smile on his face. With a snarl, I lunged after him, but the corpses pressed closer, relentless and unfeeling, forcing me back.
“WHO SUMMONS ME?”
Everything froze. Even the floating corpses shivered in place, paralyzed by the deep, inhuman rumble coming from the heart of the storm. I glanced up, and my stomach dropped as a massive head emerged from the clouds, trailing a long, endless body behind it. It defied belief, bigger than any living creature I had seen, a mountain of horns and fangs and scales the color of the ocean.
The Great Dragon god, the Lord of Tides and the Harbinger of Change, coiled his huge body around the mountain peak and gazed down on us insignificant mortals far below.
Genno spun, raising his arms to the huge Kami, his face alight with savage triumph. Desperately, I slashed at the corpses surrounding me, lunging for the Master of Demons even as I knew we had failed. The Dragon had come, and Genno was too far away; all he had to do was speak his wish, and everything would be over.
“Ryuujin-sama!” Genno cried, using the Harbinger’s formal name. The yurei’s voice rang over the storm, triumphant, but he spoke quickly, knowing time was of the essence. “I, Genno, Master of Demons, am the soul who summoned you tonight! By my right as scroll bearer, I ask that you grant me my heart’s desire!” He didn’t pause to accept the Dragon’s acknowledgment, but hurried on, and the world seemed to hold its breath. “Great Dragon, I wish�
�”
A sharp crack rang out, echoing over the chaos. It wasn’t loud or booming, just a split-second noise that was almost lost in the madness, but amazingly, Genno jerked as if he had been shot. His body flickered, like a candle flame in the wind, and he turned huge pale eyes from the Dragon to something behind him. Tearing through the last of the corpses, I looked up, and my heart stuttered.
Yumeko stood in front of the altar, the opened scroll flapping wildly in the gale, but she wasn’t looking at the prayer. The naked skull sat in front of her, glowing faintly with power, though the top of the skull was cracked and broken, as if it had been struck with something heavy.
Yumeko, her jaw set in determination, held a large stone in both hands, and slowly raised it over her head.
“Nooo!”
Genno’s shriek echoed over the wind, high-pitched and desperate. His face was no longer triumphant as he lunged forward, throwing out a ghostly hand. “Fox, do not dare!”
Yumeko gave a savage smile. “For Master Isao,” she whispered, and brought the stone down hard.
The skull shattered. Tendrils of black and purple light rose from the pieces, spiraling into the air as the power was released, and Genno wailed. His body seemed to dissipate, fraying apart like mist even as he clutched at it, desperately trying to hold himself together. But he grew fainter and fainter, until he was only the vaguest outline of a man hovering before the Dragon.
Genno.
The voice wasn’t the Dragon’s, but it seemed to echo in the clouds, in the rolling thunder all around us. I recognized it; even after a thousand years, it was impossible to mistake that voice for anyone else.
O-Hakumon, the ruler of Jigoku.
Master of Demons, the voice droned, a terrible rumble in the clouds. The fading yurei cringed, eyes wide with terror as he looked toward the ocean. You have failed, and by our contract, your soul is once again forfeit to me.
With a final scream, the ghost of the Master of Demons became a crimson ball of light that rose swiftly into the air and streaked toward the horizon as if demons were chasing it.
It hadn’t gone far, however, when there was a blast of heat, and a pair of flaming wheels with grinning faces soared overhead. Cackling, the wanyudo demons sped after the fleeing soul, which darted and flew like a terrified dragonfly, trying to escape them. But the demons were faster, and as one wanyudo caught up to the frantic soul, its huge mouth opened, gaping wide, as it clamped its jaws around the ball of light. A tiny scream emerged from the tainted soul as it was dragged from the air in the grip of the demon, who sped toward the ocean without slowing down. I tensed as they approached, but the wanyudo dropped past us in twin balls of fire, plunged into the waves and jagged rocks far below, and vanished from sight.
26
The Harbinger
Yumeko
We...we did it.
I held my breath as the screams from the flaming wheel demons faded into the wind. For a moment, I stood motionless before the altar, my heart pounding in my chest, waiting for something to happen. For Genno’s furious spirit to rise back into the air with a maniacal laugh, mocking us for being so foolish to think we had beaten him. But Genno did not appear. The storm continued to rage, and overhead, the terrifying visage of the Great Dragon still hovered in the clouds, his eyes shining like moons as they watched us.
My legs shook, and I sank to my knees on the rough stone. The rain beat down on me, and there was a prickling sensation where a jagged piece of skull pierced my calf, but I hardly felt it. It was hard to believe, after everything we’d been through, the hardships we’d endured and the sacrifices that had been made, but it seemed that we had won.
“Yumeko.” Tatsumi knelt in front of me, and I collapsed into him, pressing my face to his haori as he pulled me close.
“We did it.” My voice came out choked, and I closed my eyes. Beneath my hands, Tatsumi was shaking, too. “Genno is gone, Tatsumi. It’s really over.”
I felt him take a deep, steadying breath. “What about the Wish?” he mused. “What will happen to it, now that the summoner is dead? Will the Dragon disappear, or will he give it to someone else?”
“I don’t know.” I swallowed and peeked up at the huge Dragon god, still coiled around the mountaintop, uncaring of mortals and their short existences. “Maybe we should ask him.”
“That won’t be necessary.”
The low, familiar voice echoed behind us. I peered up to see Seigetsu standing at the edge of the circle, his hair and tails whipping behind him in the gale. He wasn’t looking at us, however, but at the Great Dragon looming overhead, endless coils flowing in and out of the clouds.
“There will be no more wishes,” the ninetail intoned, and raised a great yumi longbow, aiming it at the God of Tides overhead. The arrowhead pointed at the Great Dragon was white, streaked with veins of crimson, and flickered with a malevolent darkness that seemed to corrupt the very air around it. I could suddenly smell salt and tears on the wind, and the taste of ash clogged the back of my throat, as Seigetsu gave a triumphant smile. “Not tonight, or ever again. This is the final play.”
With a scream from the arrow that turned my blood to ice, it flew through the air in a streak of light and darkness and struck the Great Dragon between the eyes.
A terrible roar rang out, causing the rain to spiral and the clouds to swirl even faster as the Harbinger convulsed like a snake that had been jabbed with a spear. It thrashed, huge coils slamming against the mountainside, causing the peaks to shake and huge rocks to tumble into the ocean. Rain beat painfully against my skin, stinging like needles, and the wind shrieked like an enraged yurei in my ear.
I whirled on the other kitsune, clenching my fists, my heart hammering a panicked rhythm in my ears. “What did you do to the Dragon?”
Seigetsu raised a hand. “As I said before, all living things can be corrupted. Even Kami. The Great Dragon is no longer the God of Tides and the impassive Harbinger of Change. Kiyomi-sama’s madness is now his own—the arrow has twisted his mind and corrupted his spirit and he is a force of rage, sorrow and destruction. He will flatten this island, and everything on it, if he is not destroyed.”
Another roar rang out, the sound bordering on madness, and the Dragon appeared through the clouds. My breath caught, my stomach twisting in horror and fear. The Harbinger’s moonlike eyes now glowed purple-black, his huge jaws gaping in an animalistic snarl. A baleful crimson glow surrounded him as the massive creature coiled and thrashed in mindless fury, lashing out at invisible enemies. The ground under our feet shook, and I stumbled, nearly falling into Tatsumi, as the whole mountain trembled with the rage of a god.
Throwing back its head, the Dragon screamed, and threads of lightning, hundreds of them, streaked from the clouds, raining over the entire island. Tatsumi grabbed my wrist and yanked me to him, shielding me with his body, as a sizzling bolt of energy slammed into the circle mere yards from us, sending stone shards flying. Rocks pelted us, and as the brightness faded, we looked up to see the Dragon’s huge body uncoil from around the mountaintop and fly away. Back toward the valley and the armies of Shadow and Moon, still at its edge.
“He will destroy them all.” Seigetsu’s voice held a terrible ring of finality. “Every living soul on this island will be consumed by the Dragon’s fury and sorrow. And when he is done, he will sink the other islands, and then move on to the empire itself. Nothing will be able to stand against him, unless he is stopped here, tonight.”
“You say that like you expect us to kill him.” I shook my head wildly, my heart fluttering around my chest like a panicked bird. “Even if we wanted to, it’s the Great Dragon! A Kami. A god.”
“And you carry a sword named Godslayer.” Those cold yellow eyes slid to Tatsumi, and a chill went up my spine at the realization. “Even the Harbinger is not exempt from his own rules,” the ninetail said gravely. “You are the only one that can
stop him, Hakaimono. The only one with the power to slay a god. You and the fox of dreams. It is time to fulfill your destiny and bring the game to its conclusion.”
He raised a hand, sleeves billowing in the wind, and a polished horseless carriage floated up to perch at the edge of the circle. It was a simple but elegant vehicle, a box made of dark wood, the entire back consisting of two doors that opened outward. I could see the faint outline of foxfire engulfing the entire carriage, and something in the pit of my stomach surged up, as if drawn to that light.
“Take the carriage,” Seigetsu ordered, as if he were sending us on a simple errand. A task to deliver a letter, not to kill an enormous ancient Kami who was now mad with grief and rage. “Use it to reach the Dragon. You have the means to control the carriage, just as I do. It will respond to your magic as it does to mine.” His smile was ghastly in the flickering light. “Go now, and slay the Harbinger, little fox. If you cannot, he will tear this island apart and destroy everything that you’ve come to care for.”
Kiyomi-sama.
I didn’t want to. I couldn’t kill an ancient Kami, even one driven mad. But if I didn’t do something, the Dragon would turn his wrath on Kiyomi-sama, the Moon Clan, the Shadow Clan, everything. Everyone on this island would be destroyed in the wake of the Kami’s rampage, and I couldn’t let that happen. I could not lose the family and the home I had just found.
“Tatsumi...” In desperation, I glanced at the demonslayer, wondering what he was thinking. I didn’t know what I could do if he refused to help me stop the Dragon, but I knew I couldn’t do it alone.
Tatsumi’s violet gaze met mine, and he gave a single solemn nod. “Go, Yumeko. I’m right behind you.”
Grateful tears rose to my eyes. Sprinting to the carriage, I braced myself as I leaped inside, half expecting the wooden floor to either burn the soles of my feet or for the entire vehicle to lose whatever magic held it up and plummet down the side of the mountain. But the carriage, though it bobbed a little when I entered, continued to hover in the air. Despite the elegant outward appearance, the interior was plain, the floor polished wood with no seats or cushions to sit on. Except for the nimbus of foxfire flickering through the open doors, everything was cloaked in darkness.