It hissed and rounded on the warrior, grabbing the chain and pulling him toward it. Kita was unable to react quickly enough, and was drawn in and swatted aside. Through the dizzying pain he still managed to hold onto his weapon. Unfortunately, that instinct allowed the nightmare to yank him back once again, catch him in its hand and begin squeezing the life from his body.
* * *
Shinobu, still suffering through the torment of the nightmare, felt the presence of the demon from behind. Anger flooded into him, and his eyes snapped open. “I hope you’re ready for this,” he growled.
The strider hopped to his feet and in one fluid motion, turned and drew his blade. He cut the fiend in every direction, left to right, up and down and diagonal. The blows came with such speed the monster could not hope to defend itself. Pieces of it flew in every direction, and before long there was nothing left but shreds of black particles dissipating into black mist. Shinobu dropped to his knees once more and grabbed his head. Another nightmare came behind him, its yellow eyes glowing.
* * *
The Tasarien’s blows were heavy, and Kenyatta had to bring both swords up to successfully parry its attacks.
“How long before you falter, human?” it asked in that wicked, crackly voice.
“Funny,” Kenyatta replied, especially wary of those huge razor-sharp pincers snapping at his neck. If this demon got ahold of him with one of those pincers, it would snap him in half.
The fiend drew back and launched its right pincer straight at him. Kenyatta dropped to one knee and slashed upward, scoring a long gash along its arm. It hissed and recoiled, but that split second earned it another slash across the leg. When it dropped to a knee, he thrust his swords into its midsection several times before it was able to slam him to the ground with its arm. Kenyatta blinked away the stars in his vision and rolled back to his feet, gasping for air.
* * *
Weakened though the demon was, Kita still struggled in vain to break free of the nightmare’s vice-like grip. Then, seemingly from nowhere and everywhere at once, he heard a voice in his head.
“Maintain your concentration. Keep your mind focused.”
He didn’t know where the voice came from, but it gave him a flicker of strength. For a moment, he was able to separate from the pain and concentrate on freeing his weapon. Growling, he pulled the weapon free and snapped the shaft together, twisting it into its double-bladed form. Kita stabbed the nightmare in the face till it dropped him. Then he spun the staff vertically, slicing the monster repeatedly before finally driving the blade home.
* * *
“Infinite pain, despair, and torture is your fate. All that you love will wither for eternity and you will burn and freeze for all time. You will be dismembered and put back together for the pleasure of being taken apart again. Lowly human, your soul will be ripped to shreds and fed to the lowest forms of the abyss.”
All of this and far worse bombarded the strider. Every path he took in his mind to escape the hideous suggestions lead to another one, for there was nowhere he could hide from the nightmare.
A sharp pain like nothing he’d ever felt pierced his chest and through his heart. His chest felt cold, and then numb, and he was paralyzed on his knees, awaiting oblivion. Despair and resolution consumed him. Isolation absorbed him and he felt dark and alone with no one to help. There was no hope, no sense in resisting. He may as well open his arms and welcome death and the abyss that was to become his new home for eternity. His foe was stronger than he and it was impossible to win.
Then he felt a fire grow from deep within, and it gave him strength. He rose to one knee. “Your suggestions would work on someone with the will of a coward,” he growled. “I am no coward!”
Shinobu gritted his teeth and struggled to his feet. “You’ve made a fatal mistake, demon.” A surge of energy rushed through the strider as he straightened. The nightmare doubled its efforts and the pain seared through every part of his being. He dropped to his knees again, but in an instant the pain was gone and his head cleared. He managed to turn his head to see Kita standing between him and the dissipating nightmare. Then he fell into darkness.
* * *
Kenyatta staggered to his feet and raised his weapons. The Tasarien now had many glowing holes in its chest, and its green lifeblood dripped from its poisonous maw. “Not bad, human. But not good enough, either. You must do better if you are to best me.” Then it stood tall and still, and its eyes turned milky white. The blue sparks from the tips of its horns flickered with building energy.
What now? Kenyatta thought as he watched the sparks between its horns. A surge of blue energy flew at him like a bolt of lightning, and even with his remarkable reflexes, Kenyatta was unable to avoid the bolt. He was blasted several dozen feet away and hit the ground rolling until he came to a stop, convulsing and struggling to regain his feet. Another bolt shot at him, but somehow he managed to roll away in time to avoid it. The Tasarien moved in closer, building its energy for what Kenyatta knew was a final blast of energy that would destroy him. To his right he saw Akemi standing in front of a recovering Kenjiro, and four approaching pit demons.
The Tasarien let loose another blast, and on pure instinct Kenyatta pointed one of his swords at the demon, and the other at one of the hulking pit demons in front of the ninja. The sword harnessed the energy and it passed through the blade, then through Kenyatta’s body, then through and out of his other sword and shot directly at the targeted pit demon. His body vibrated but he held firm as the bolt jarred the pit demon and knocked it to the ground.
“Clever little insect,” the Tasarien rasped.
Kenyatta barely registered the comment, still shaking from the bolt that had passed through him. There was an angry roar from behind, and he saw, through blurry vision, the pit demon rise and disappear, reappearing behind the Tasarien. It grabbed the squirming fiend’s throat and ripped it out, then dropped it to the ground where it lay evaporating into a mist. Kenyatta backed away on wobbly legs, his swords at the ready. To his good fortune, the pit demon gave him no notice, but turned and headed back to the others.
* * *
Not quite believing his luck, Kenyatta saw his friend drag the limp strider to rest under a group of boulders, then rush to aid Akemi and Kenjiro. He concentrated on steadying his wobbly legs and started after the departing fiend that had just inadvertently saved him. He was unsure if he should attack the pit demon closest to him now or wait. He’d seen firsthand what it could do and had no desire to tangle with the thing on his own. Still, the original plan had fallen apart by now, and they would have to fight one each by themselves.
Akemi dropped to one knee and began to chant in a language the others did not understand. She thrust Sekimaru into the ground and closed her eyes. She gripped the hilt of the sword with her left hand and held her right hand in front of her face, fingers curled downward except for her index and middle fingers, which were bent but pointing up. The pit demons struck hard at the two humans, but when they did, a transparent shield blocked them. Akemi fell further in meditation, and every time one of the massive fiends struck the shield, she staggered.
Kita sprinted toward them to try and even the odds, hoping that Kenyatta would be able to handle the straggling pit demon without any help.
Kenyatta trotted, then sprinted to catch the massive demon. He leaped at the fiend and dug both blades deep into its back. The hide was tough, and he couldn’t free his weapons. He lifted his knees up and pressed his feet on its back and held tight as it spun from left to right, reaching around its back to grab at him. He pushed with his feet and pulled with all his strength until he finally freed his blades, flying backward to land hard on the ground.
Kenyatta rolled to absorb some of the shock, then came to his feet. The furious demon rounded on him, its hands glowing and yellow flames pouring from its mouth. It sent a stream of fire at Kenyatta, who darted left and right, avoiding each blast as he worked his way toward the beast.
Akemi w
as weakening under force of the attacks, and after two more blows, her shield shattered. She snapped out of her meditation, snatched Sekimaru from the ground, and slashed the reaching hand of a fiend on her side. Kenjiro struggled to his feet and moved to her side. The three pit demons encircled them and closed in.
“To the end,” the samurai said to his younger sister.
“Nonsense!” came a yell from behind, and Kita raced by in a blur to slam into one of the fiends. He scored several stabs to its chest before leaping back. The sight of their new friend brought renewed strength to the siblings, and they attacked with renewed fury.
Kenyatta knew he couldn’t block such powerful blows, so he avoided or parried. Still, every parry resulted in him rolling to absorb the shock of the blow, and the shock was slowing him down. He tried just avoiding the attacks altogether, which was the only advantage he had. It slammed the ground and swung right to left, then hurled a small fireball at him, which he barely avoided. Kenyatta screamed at a sudden searing pain in his ankle, and looked down to see a flaming whip wrapped around it and burning his flesh.
Akemi managed to cut many gashes in the hide of the beast, but it seemed not to notice. It continued to advance on her despite the damage she dealt it. Its hand began to glow, and a club of fire formed in its hand.
Uh oh, she thought.
It swung the club down and she hopped to the side and slashed its wrist. It looked at her with something akin to amusement in its cruel eyes, then spat a stream of fire that nearly scorched her left side.
Kenjiro had received several injuries as he worked to keep his enemy at bay. The pit demon continued to push him back with savage attacks that the samurai could scarcely avoid.
“I’ve had enough of this,” he growled.
The demon roared and produced a club of fire in its right hand. The club descended, and Kenjiro, with a mighty yell, brought his sword up to answer the blow. Sparks of fire erupted, and the pit demon was shocked to be held at bay by a mere human. The muscles in his arms strained as Kenjiro used all his strength to hold the monster back. He felt his strength beginning to ebb, but then a warmth trickled through his body, building until a surge of power filled him and exploded outward, sending the fiend stumbling in one direction and the samurai flying in another.
* * *
“Amazing,” Sensei Akutagawa said.
“Yes,” Taliah agreed.
Sensei looked at her, surprised. “I think Kenjiro just accessed a power within himself that had lain dormant till now.”
“If only the others can do the same,” Taliah replied.
Sensei could only nod in wonder as they both looked back to the wall that showed them the struggle of the five mighty warriors, and Takashaniel’s best chance at survival.
* * *
Kita parried and countered with his staff. Because of the two-handed weapon’s length, he was afforded more leverage to absorb the shock of such heavy blows. The pit demon’s chest glowed with red fire from the many wounds he had inflicted upon it. It seemed the fight would never end, but finally, the beast fell to its hands and knees.
It had barely fallen when Kita thrust his staff into the monster’s throat. He pulled the weapon free and separated it into its chain form, whipping it around his back, then swinging it wide to wrap about the demon’s neck. With a grunt, he yanked the chain free, shredding the pit demon’s throat.
Kita drew the chain back and snapped it into a staff once more, and with a final thrust sent it deep into the monster’s chest, sending it back to the dark realm.
* * *
The pit demon dragged him closer to it with its whip. The fire was gone now, but the pain from the burned skin was screaming at his senses. On top of that, a ring of fire now surrounded the monster, and it was pulling him into it. He tried cutting at the whip but it was made of unearthly material. In desperation, he launched his left sword into the monster’s chest and it released the whip and howled, stumbling back.
Kenyatta and the fiend seemed almost to have fought to a stalemate, each injured but determined to kill the other. Just when Kenyatta had run out of ideas, the monster staggered as it succumbed to the enchanted sword embedded in its chest. He charged in and stabbed the beast with his remaining blade and then withdrew the other and stabbed continually before it could recover.
Kenyatta then brought his blades up over his head in a cross to block the descending club of fire that the pit demon had formed in its right hand. To his surprise, he was in too close and the monster had overreached, catching its arm on the blades. Without a moment of thought, and with all the power he could muster, Kenyatta pressed the blades deeper into its arm and then slid them apart.
The demon shrieked, and its body burst into flames as an expression of its fury. It tried to push the flames outward, but it was too late. It had sustained too many injuries in this world, and the fires surrounding its body died. It crashed to the ground and melted into black mist, returning to the dark realm.
Kenyatta sat for a moment, panting and looking around. He knew it was not over, so he stood once more and limped as quickly as he could to the remaining fight.
As he approached, Kenyatta couldn’t help but be impressed at the power and skill the siblings displayed as they tore through their adversaries. They worked as one, even when facing separate enemies, they fed from each other’s energy.
Akemi worked even harder than before in a blinding display of speed and agility. Sekimaru was a blur in the air as she whirled around to attack, parry and counterattack. It was amazing that such a small sword so easily matched the power of that enormous club of fire, and the two behemoths that were the pit demons who wielded them.
Kenjiro avoided a horizontal swipe by his adversary, then came up with a diagonal upward thrust with his sword. The sword left a body-length scar that stretched from the fiend’s right leg to its left shoulder, that sent the demon staggering away.
Kita saw the blow land, and could have sworn he saw something that looked like surprise on the demon’s face. It gave an angry roar and plunged its fist deep into the ground and ripped out a bed of solid rock. It hurled the flat rock at the samurai, and Kenjiro leaned forward and whipped his sword up and over in an overhead chop, slicing through the rock as if it were butter.
Kenjiro charged at the beast with a series of vertical and horizontal swipes, which it blocked with its naturally armored forearms. It waded through the assault and grabbed the samurai, lifting him up to eye level. Kenjiro could see the fire in its eyes, as well as the fire dancing in its mouth.
He needed to think fast. His sword arm was pressed to his side, but his other arm was free. The pit demon drew in a deep breath, and Kenjiro struggled to turn the sword upward and stab the beast in the wrist. It loosened its grip just enough for Kenjiro to slip his arm free and grab the embedded sword. He pulled the sword free, reversed the grip, and stabbed the beast in the top of its hand between two of its four fingers. The fiend reflexively dropped him, and as soon as the samurai touched the ground, he shot forward and thrust his sword deep into the midsection, then with all his strength, cut out sideways and hurled himself to the side and rolled back to his feet.
The monster made an angry, moaning sound, clutching its torn abdomen. It stared hatefully at him, then whipped out a hand and hurled a bolt of fire at the samurai, who stood crouching and holding his ribs. Just before the bolt hit its mark, Kenyatta tackled Kenjiro aside just as the flaming ball passed. Kenyatta’s back was singed, and he lay there, eyes clamped shut, groaning against the sting.
“Don’t say I never did anything nice for you, samurai,” he growled through clenched teeth.
* * *
Akemi darted left to right, avoiding the pit demon’s tireless assault. Although it was far stronger than she, Sekimaru still held true, and met every bit of the monster’s power with its own fury. Finally tired of the game, the beast raised its fiery club into the air and, before bringing it down, stomped its foot into the ground, creating a small tre
mor.
The ninja was thrown off balance, but kept her feet as the monster brought its club down with enough force drive her into the earth. Sekimaru flared to life, and when Akemi brought the sword up to deflect the blow, it destroyed the flaming club.
The demon went into a fit of rage and brought its hand down to slam the ninja into the ground, but again she brought Sekimaru forth and ran the sword through its palm. The monster had never known such pain and tried to pull free, but the sword drained its dark life force.
Akemi was overwhelmed by the surge of dark power and her strength faltered. Just when she could no longer withstand the struggle between the fiend and the hungry sword, she heard the strider’s sword slice through the air.
The demon stumbled backward and fell to the ground, and Akemi saw Shinobu standing behind it, holding his head with one hand and barely standing upright. He managed a glint of a smile before he turned his gaze back to the fiend, trying to rise. Sekimaru had drained a great deal of the pit demon’s material energy, and it was having a hard time maintaining itself in this dimension. Black mist seeped from its many wounds, and it began to dissipate. The ninja went in for the killing blow and cut the beast deeply across the neck. Its roar turned into a sickening gurgle. Then, in dying revenge, it threw its hand in front of the ninja. Red light glowed from its palm, and Akemi drew her sword in front of her and braced her other arm behind it just as the flames engulfed her.
“No!” Kenjiro ran toward his sister, but there was nothing he could do. The monster descended back to the dark plane, and when the smoke thinned, Akemi stood with her arms crossed, Sekimaru in a reverse grip, and tendrils of smoke slithering from her body. Then her knees buckled and she fell to the ground.
“I’m sorry,” Kenyatta said once he reached the samurai, crouched over Akemi. “I did not want to interfere in your battle so I hesitated.”
“Save your apology for the day that you do interfere in our fight,” the samurai responded. “She would rather die than accept help in a fight that she was confident she could win.”
Echoes of a Shattered Age Page 24