by Adam Lynch
When the fox is finished with the Starlight, it looks up at the rest of us with luster eyes and a blood-stained jaw. Soldiers whimper, the officers flinch, and Yuuto and I gasp.
She pulls off of him and turns towards me, staring. She ceases growling and licks the blood off her chops. She stands tall on all fours and folds her three long beautiful tails around her body like soft blankets. Then, she slides them through the leaves slowly. She relieves the tension on her face, relaxing her red eyes and flapping her tall ears lightly.
Her outer fur is bright orange while under her body is white. She has a long snout and a small black nose. Her teeth are as sharp as a shark’s, but her whiskers are as cute as a bunny’s. The fox’s body is as tall and large as an elephant with tails that are a half longer. A god-fearing creature… I’ve never seen one before. I didn’t even know they existed.
“Nobody move,” says Judan.
“Wha-what is that thing?” a soldier asks.
“A… kitsune…” says Friasha.
“A what?”
“Can’t one have up to nine tails?” another soldier asks.
“I thought its existence was a myth?” asks another soldier.
“Fraisha,” says Judan. “How do we escape this thing?”
“Escape it?” He scoffs. “We’re going to capture it.”
“Have you lost your mind? We couldn’t even fight the Starlights, and this thing tore them to shreds.”
“We might not have to fight it. Look, it’s not attacking us. It only attacked the Starlights…”
“Why is that?”
“Maybe… like the tiger-bears, she can be tamed?”
“I… I don’t know, Fraisha… this is a legendary creature. It may be too big and powerful for us to control… I don’t like that...”
“Taiyo,” whispers Yuuto to me suddenly. “Now’s our chance. Tell the kitsune to kill the Darkane.”
I look away, startled by hearing this from him. Oh no. I almost forgot I was doing this. I know it’s probably the only way, but… why does it feel so wrong? I didn’t order the fox to kill the Starlights—I just told the earth to summon an animal to save us. So, to save us, the fox decided to kill the Starlights.
Wait. That’s it. That’s how I avoid forcing the animals to kill against their nature. I tell them to “save us” from a specified enemy, and how they do that is up to them. Though, I suppose every animal would try “saving us” differently, depending on their defense mechanisms, but this is the only way I can think to avoid directly commanding the fox to kill the Darkane. I’ll simply ask her to “save us” from them.
But then again… by knowing exactly what the fox will do—and even hoping that she will do it—is that not the same thing as killing someone? Whether directly or indirectly, isn’t my intent still the same? No matter what, I still want the Darkane dead, don’t I?
But if all of this is true, then doesn’t this mean I’ve already asked animals to kill for me? So then that means… I’m already a… murderer?
“Please, Taiyo, remember what we talked about earlier. It’s us, the animals, or them. We have no choice. We have to kill them. It’s survival. It’s the only way to protect the innocent and those you care about. We’ll figure out everything that happens after... together. You’re not alone. I’m with you, and will help you through everything that comes. I promise.”
I feel better hearing him say this. I think he’s right. This is the only thing to do, and maybe even… the right thing to do… right?
“Is there something else you’d like me to do for you, Taiyo?” the kitsune asks me suddenly, her gaze still intense on me. “I’m sensing that there’s still something holding you captive… just give me the word, Taiyo… and I’ll tear whatever it is to shreds...” I hate having to ignore her. I feel rude doing so, especially after she saved our lives, but I have to…
Or wait…
Maybe not, actually…
Not anymore...
“Look,” Fraisha says to Judan. “Look at how the kitsune is staring at Taiyo…”
“But why?” Judan asks. “Could that mean something?”
Unable to think of an answer, they examine with deeper curiosity.
My eyes widen as my mind wanders, staring at the trees in front of me. Suddenly, I’m thinking about all the possibilities… of freedom. Freedom… what is that like? I can hardly remember. It’s almost like I never was free. But was I? Have I ever really been free? I mean… totally free? Hmm… I wonder what I’m even getting at here...
I face Yuuto who nods at me. I face the soldiers, then Judan, and then Friasha. Then, I face the kitsune who hasn’t shifted her gaze from me, not even once. She patiently awaits my answer—the answer which I am preparing to give her… now.
My made made up, I open my mouth to speak, but it’s not my voice I hear. It’s a loud shriek that sounds like an old dying woman. My heart skips a beat and I lose my breath. I notice everyone facing the direction it came from… behind Fraisha.
I go to look in that direction, then zap! Lightning shoots from there to the kitsune. She’s knocked off balance, and grunts. She swiftly recovers, growling and getting in a defensive position.
When I face the direction from where the lightning was shot, I gasp and shudder. It levitates above the ground like a ghost, has eye sockets that are empty like a skull’s, and it has long and shriveled fingers with chipped nails that have dirt and bacteria inside them. It is tall, slender, deformed, and has shriveled flesh that’s barely hanging on its rotten skeleton. Its body is clothed in a black hood and cloak. It has no teeth. Its jaw is dropped and broken, and from out of its mouth it sounds like an old, dying woman struggling to breathe.
Having revealed itself, it shrieks again—its cry so loud that the ground shakes, and the leaves fall from the trees. We cover our ears to decrease the pain.
The banshee shudders when it passes Fraisha to get to the kitsune, noticing him. It shrieks and zaps him into a tree.
“Everyone get behind something!” shouts Judan as they all obey.
The banshee panics when it sights movement from so many in the area. It shrieks and sweeps a beam throughout the area, aimless and chaotic. It burns trees, dried leaves, bushes, and anyone who fails to reach cover in time.
“Taiyo! Run!” shouts Yuuto, yanking my arm as he flees. I shake myself out of my shock, follow him, and then sprint to cover. I don’t pay attention to the beam that suddenly hits me like actual lightning. Hair springs from my skin while my body stiffens and jolts. The power shocks my nerves and paralyzes my muscles—I… I can’t move them. I feel energy fleeting my body. My mind struggles to retain consciousness. I… I can’t go out like this. I’ll die. Everyone will die.
Dizzy, and with blurred vision, I look up at the banshee and watch it levitating towards me. My heart races, terrified of what appears to be the grim reaper coming to get me. It tilts its head and bends its wrists as it seemingly stares at me.
Suddenly, the kitsune charges the banshee, stealing its attention. It shrieks so loud it can be heard for miles. It shoots a burst of lightning so quick and powerful it was as if it had come directly from the clouds. Boom! The lightning shoves the kitsune through three trees that shatter.
Fires roar all over the scene, causing smoke to cloud vision, even for the banshee. It levitates closer to the kitsune to get a better look at her condition. It approaches slowly and cautiously, obviously terrified of her.
As the smoke intensifies, Yuuto and I cough and struggle with everything we have to remain conscious. Suddenly, energy in our bodies replenish when we sight Fraisha sneaking up from behind the banshee.
“No!” shouts Yuuto, luring the banshee’s attention.
Fraisha slashes the banshee’s back. It shrieks. He attacks it again and kicks it to the ground.
He drops the katana, pulls out his hunter’s knife, sits on it and stabs it repeatedly from the back. The banshee shrieks with every stab.
He rolls it over, its face facing him. He pins it se
curely to the ground, staring at it. He smirks as he catches his breath. “Now… now I got you!”
“No! No!” shouts Yuuto. I’m terrified seeing how terrified he is. What is it? I face Fraisha and the banshee again. Wait… what is he… oh no… no, no, no...
The banshee has no eyes to burn, but Frisha’s eyes glow like moonlight, beginning the cycle that Yuuto once explained to me. He grins from ear to ear.
“No! No!” cries Yuuto.
Fraisha’s moonlit eyes shoot a beam through the banshee’s eye sockets. The banshee screams like a woman getting stabbed to death. It squirms left and right, but it’s too weak to break free. The beams sear though its sockets and out the other end of its skull. When this happens, the banshee loses life instantly and becomes as dead as it appears.
“Yes. Yes,” Fraisha says as his eyes glow red for a second and then back to their original silver color. A grin stretching from ear to ear, he lifts his face and hand to the sky. “Now, come. Be a part of me.” Hundreds of volts spark from his body as if lightning had struck a body of water. From his body, the lightning surges up his arm and then to his hand. From there, it shoots to the heavens.
Surprise
T
he world spins as I open my eyes. Everything’s a blur. Ugh, I feel dizzy. I shut my eyes and open them again. I sit up and shake my head, and it starts throbbing—ah, it hurts. What happened? Where am I? Why do I feel like this?
It’s dark with minimal light. Nighttime? In front of me are the bars for the cell, but I notice this cell is smaller than the other cells I’m used to overnighting in. Ahead, there are some lit torches and lanterns, and a small tent where I spot medical supplies. I must be inside the medical cell—the cell they put the injured prisoners so they can monitor their wounds.
Then suddenly, I remember everything. Yuuto! I spin my head side to side. I find him laying on a mat unconscious on my right. Okay… he’s okay. I’ll let him sleep. I look in front of me again and notice two trays of rice—both generously filled in front of the cell door. Have we… we’ve been unconscious all day, haven’t we? Since the mission...
I remember. It was the smoke from the fire… and… the lightning that zapped us. The banshee! The kitsune! What happened to them? Is the kitsune alive? Did she escape? Evidently, the Darkane, Yuuto, and I survived and were taken back here. Have they captured the kitsune? And what of the banshee? Where did that thing even come from? Since when does something like that exist? Since when do kitsune exist? Oh wait. That’s right. I remember what happened now. The banshee was killed by Fraisha… who… burned out its eyes sockets and stole its powers.
That’s the worst of it. That’s the worst of everything that happened—Fraisha stealing the banshee’s powers. I had a chance to stop him with the kitsune. Everyone could have been free. But I hesitated… and now… there’s no hope. There’s no hope for any of us. We’ll never be free, and it’s my fault.
Who can stop a man that is lightning itself? I can’t stop him. Yuuto can’t stop him. Akio and the others can’t stop him—but do they know that I wonder? Are Akio and the others aware of Fraisha’s new powers? I have to make sure they know the next time I see any of them… before they initiate their escape plan… because it won’t matter how good their plan is… none of us will be able to stop him… or even escape him… there’s no hope left.
I can’t summon lightning to stop him. He can defeat any animal I send his way—even the kitsune. No man is powerful enough to fight him. I’ve doomed us all by not taking him down when I had the chance. Yuuto told me to kill him, but I hesitated because I’m weak. In fact, with powers like mine, I could have worked with the others to help us all escape a long time ago when Fraisha was a normal man… but I didn’t. I didn’t even when Akio asked me to… because I’m stupid. I’m weak. I’m a hopeless, incompetent coward. He’s strong enough now to take every one of us down collectively without any effort. He doesn’t even need an army anymore—he is the army.
Unable to keep still any longer, I stand to my feet, and walk around the cell. It’s so dark I can hardly see, especially towards the back. I don’t think anyone but Yuuto and I are in here. I walk aimlessly, desperate to move. I look up, folding my hands behind my head. I huff loudly in frustration, stretching my back... and then suddenly, trip over something hard—I nearly fall.
“Ah!”
“Sorry. I’m sorry,” a female voice utters, her voice scratchy… but it also sounds familiar—wait. I tripped over a person? A girl? Wait, who is that? It can’t be—It’s not her, is it? I spin towards her, squinting my eyes. It’s so dark I can barely see who she is.
“Oh, uh… it-it’s okay,” I say. “It’s my fault. I… I should have watched where I was going.”
“No, it’s my fault. I had my legs stretched out, and it’s dark in here…” She pauses, and so do I. “Wait… who… who are you?”
Gulping, I bend over towards her. “I-I… it’s me… uh… Taiyo. I-I’m from the same village as you.” Ah. Why did I say that? So dumb. She knows that.
She gasps when we’re close enough to see each other’s faces. “Huh? Taiyo? O-oh…” Her voice shaky suddenly, she stares with wide eyes. I do the same for a second, and then turn away, gulping. She sounded kind of disappointed, didn’t she? Well, of course she’s disappointed, Taiyo. Why would she ever be excited to see you? You’re weird, awkward, and creepy. Just walk away and leave her alone before you make her uncomfortable again...
“We-well… b-bye now. Have a good night…” I walk away.
She doesn’t reply or say goodbye back—and her not doing so hurts me like a knife cutting into my heart. My heart stops and I gasp. I knew it. I knew she didn’t like me. I knew she thought I was a freak.
Suddenly, I hear what sounds like sobbing from her. This confuses me. I face her to confirm what I heard. She’s hugging her legs, burying her face in between her body and legs. Seconds pass and she sniffles louder. Oh my gosh… she really is… crying… but why?
I want to ask why, but then I remind myself that she most likely doesn’t want me to be the one who comforts her—in fact, me doing so would probably make her feel worse. She doesn’t want to have anything to do with you, Taiyo. Accept it. Leave her alone. She wants to be left alone.
But it feels wrong to walk away and leave her like this… what do I do? I look back and forth, and then awkwardly, I sit down where I was standing. I eye the ground, but look at her every few seconds. I’m indecisive about whether I should say something to her. Maybe I should at least see if she’s okay? No, Taiyo. Leave her alone. Stop being weird and trying to bother her.
Hearing these thoughts, I don’t do anything. Instead, I keep silently still, feeling guilty and hating myself. Her sobbing continues.
“I-I’m sorry…” she says suddenly. I face her, surprised and puzzled. “I’m sorry you have to be in here with me… listening to me like this… all night…”
Wait. Did she just say she’s sorry she has to be in here with me? As in, she hates the fact I’m in here with her? That’s what she said, didn’t she? That’s what she means, doesn’t she? Doesn’t she? Suddenly, I feel uncomfortable sitting so close to her. She’s disgusted with me being this close to her. She’s disgusted being trapped in here with me.
I turn from her. I don’t look at her. My body shakes uncontrollably, but I try to hide it. “No, I-I’m sorry…” I stutter. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” I pace off to the opposite end of the cell from her, and sit down. I do my best to hide from her sight.
“Wh-why do you hate me so much?!” She yells at me suddenly. I face her, bug-eyed. I don’t reply, too shocked by what I heard. “What have I ever done to you?” She buries her face in her legs and sobs louder. “What have I ever done to anyone?”
A guard comes by the cell suddenly, bangs on it, and shouts, “Hey, shut it in there.” Then he walks off.
Somehow, the guard doesn’t startle me at all. In fact, I don’t care—I hardly even notice. My curiosity is too eng
rossed with Kagami. I can’t believe what she said to me. Was she talking to me? I look around again. Nobody else is in here. I’m sure—except for Yuuto, but he’s still unconscious.
I’m speechless. I don’t know what to say, but after hearing what she said to me, I no longer feel afraid to speak up to her. “Wait… huh?” I ask.
She doesn’t respond, but continues sobbing. Not knowing what else to do, I scoot closer to her. I do this until I’m halfway towards her, then stop—a safe distance.
I’m confused. She thinks I hate her? “Y-you think I hate you?” She still doesn’t respond. “N-no. I… I don’t… I definitely don’t… h-hate you…”
With no reply, she settles down and lifts her head. Without looking at me, she dries her tears. “Ugh, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry…” she says. “I-I didn’t mean to yell at you like that. I know you don’t hate me. I’m being ridiculous. It’s just that so much has been happening, and I can’t take it anymore. But I’m sorry. I shouldn’t be taking any of this out on you. I’m sorry you have to be in here with me dealing with this. I’m sure you’re tired and want to be left alone. Go ahead and go to sleep. I promise I won’t bother you any more.”
Oh my gosh. I almost forgot what she went through yesterday—and who knows what she went through today... so horrible. How can I be thinking so selfishly? I shouldn’t be thinking of myself and what she thinks of me. I should be thinking of her… and how to comfort her. I need to ignore how I feel for a minute and make sure she’s okay. I definitely don’t want her thinking that she’s bothering me about anything—because that’s totally not true at all. That will never be true.
I scoot closer to her from halfway in the cell. As I approach, we lock eyes, both our eyes widening and my heart skipping a beat. “No, it’s… it’s okay. I’m not bothered by you. I could never be bothered by you…” I look down for a second, and then reunite my eyes with her. She appears puzzled.
“O-oh really? Well, you seem like you are every time I’m around you. I was starting to think you didn’t like me or something—like you thought I was annoying or weird.”