One of them said, “Hey. Hi. What’s the matter?” She stared at his face and he remembered he was kind of gross-looking.
He made a face. “I forgot that my roommate, Doctor, ah, Summers, has my car. Porsche. His is in the shop. His Beemer. I told him I had a double shift but we, ah, ran out of emergencies so I’m going home early because I’m still healing from my skiing accident.” Inwardly, he winced at his unconvincing story.
The redhead looked impressed and said, “Oh, you’re a doctor?”
“Yeah. I numb ‘em.” He shrugged casually. “I’ll have to go call him. I just called the museum and told them I’d drop by to work on some lecture slides. On ebola. And numbing.”
The hotties gave each other a “let’s-go-for-it” look. The redhead said, “We can give you a lift, Doctor.”
“We’d be happy to,” added her little blond pal.
Xander said, “Thanks, ladies,” and followed them to a Camry with a bumper sticker that read LOVE A NURSE.
But the ironic thing was, Xander was too sore and too exhausted to even consider it.
* * *
“Oh, God, this thing is such a clunker,” Cordelia wailed from the passenger side as she kept scanning Claire Silver’s book of spells. “Giles, when are you going to get a real car?”
“Cordelia, I realize that as a young Southern Californian caught in the clutches of the obsession within—”
“Wait,” Cordelia said, waving her hand. “There’s a loose page stuck in the back of the book.” She glanced at it. “Oh, my God, Giles, listen!”
June 17, 1820
I have just learned something absolutely fascinating! A scroll has made its way to me from the actual Buddhist monastery on Mount Hiei, recording a number of events within the chronology of the Sword of Sanno. For indeed, such a sword exists, and resides there now!
The Emperor Kammu kept this sacred and dangerous object with him, housing it in the pavilion wherein dwelled the embodiment of his ancestor, Amaterasu-no-kami, the Sun Goddess.
But after widespread unrest (due to an unfair system of taxation and other social problems), the Emperor Kammu ordered the nation’s capital moved from Nara to Kyoto. (Interestingly, this is when the current system of Japanese writing began to become codified, and there are many more documents preserved about magick spells from here on than in the previous centuries.) At any rate, during this enormous undertaking, an earthquake occurred, and Emperor Kammu became concerned that this violent shifting of the earth had aught to with the sword.
The Emperor sent the Sword of Sanno, with great pomp and ceremony, to the monastery, bidding them to protect it for all time. But to the head monk he wrote a remarkable and mystifying thing:
“I charge thee to do all thou canst to maintain the peace between thy patron kami, Lord Sanno, and the most dishonorable demon, Chirayoju, both housed within the weapon. For thou alone keepest the secret, and as we have agreed, I shall tell no one else. For Lord Sanno’s wrath would be terrible indeed, and no amount of atonement could ever satisfy the betrayal he must certainly feel by the actions of this most desperate Emperor.”
From this I conclude that the Emperor bound Sanno within his own Sword.
“So there’s someone else in the sword?” Cordelia asked. “Or is he the guy who’s possessing Willow, or what?”
“I don’t know,” Giles confessed. “But we’re there now, so . . .”
He slammed on the brakes.
“Good heavens, is that Xander?” he asked, pointing at a car pulled to the curb just ahead of them.
As if on cue, Xander straightened and waved at them.
CHAPTER 14
As Tsukuyomi, the Moon God, glittered over the wintry landscape, Lord Chirayoju’s hellish army marched swiftly and silently toward Emperor Kammu’s palace. Once they had been sighted, runners burst into the Emperor’s exquisite banquet hall with news of the invasion.
As the cold, exhausted men tumbled into the exalted company, the music stopped and all eyes looked to them. They lay prostrate until the Emperor gave them leave to speak. For daring to burst in as they had, it would have lain within his provenance to command them to take their own lives. One waited on the Emperor’s invitation; one did not dare to thrust oneself into his presence. But it was clear there was a crisis, or they would not have been so bold, and the Emperor quickly learned what was transpiring beyond his palace walls.
Sanno listened with glee as one of the runners answered the Emperor’s calm and careful questions, the words tumbling out of the frightened soldier’s mouth: “They are legions of demons, oh Great One, and vampires, and an angry mob of peasants. Their leader is a hideous being who floats on the lightest breeze. Its face glows green and slick, and it is nothing of Japan.”
The court drew back in horror. Exquisite ladies turned to their warrior husbands and begged fate not to make them widows. Poetry-loving dandies clenched their fists inside their sleeves, fretting that they might be ordered to actually fight against such creatures.
After Emperor Kammu had finished with the runners’ interviews, Sanno turned to him and said, “This is the evil Chinese tengu Chirayoju. It has sworn to drink your blood, but rest assured, most mighty sovereign, I shall protect you.”
With his hand on the hilt of the sword in his belt, Kammu inclined his head in great thanks and said to Sanno, “My debt for your assistance will never be repaid. I will give your retinue weapons, soldiers, and horses.”
“I have my own army, camping in the foothills,” Sanno replied haughtily, “but I will accept your generous offer, for no army should ever turn down provisions.”
Then Sanno clapped his hands and an icy winter wind whistled into the banquet hall. The assembled courtiers shook with cold, the oldest and youngest nearly turning blue, but Sanno did not seem to notice their discomfort.
He bellowed a fearsome battle cry, which was taken up by the wind, then shouted in ringing tones, “Come to me. It is time.”
Carrying his words, the wind streamed in the opposite direction. Finding there a door of rice paper, it blasted through, leaving a gaping hole in its wake. In another instant, it burst through the very wall of the palace itself.
The Emperor noted the damage and was silent for a moment. Then he dared to say to the Mountain God, “It would be well if you would meet him outside my castle gates. Within, my people are defenseless.”
Sanno glared at the Emperor. He thundered, “Am I not here to protect you, oh living god on this earth? Would you have my army expose itself to unnecessary harm and possibly fail in their mission? My troops will occupy this palace, and your courtiers must look to themselves.”
Then Sanno bowed low, perhaps mockingly so, and added, “For your life must be preserved at all costs, Great Kammu.”
“Then I shall share the danger,” Kammu answered, rising and descending the dais where he sat with his Empress. “I go now to don my battle armor.”
Sanno nodded, satisfied. For it was well that the Emperor joined the battle. In truth, the Mountain God’s hatred for Chirayoju raged so fiercely that he did not care if Kammu’s life was saved or lost. He did not care about the dishonor Kammu’s death would cast on him. He only wanted the demon vampire dead. And the sight of Kammu at the head of his own army would inspire Sanno’s warriors to fight more courageously.
As he left the banquet hall with every face lowered to the ground save Sanno’s, the Emperor went not to the armory but to the pavilion wherein dwelled the form of Amaterasu, the Sun Goddess, who was the Emperor’s ancestor. She stood on a pedestal in a beautiful, flowing gown of rose and scarlet, her mirror—part of the royal regalia—in her grasp.
Humbling himself on his knees, Kammu said to her, “Divine One, I fear that Lord Sanno has come not to protect our familiy, but with the sole purpose of vanquishing the Chinese demon that marches on us. I fear that in the heat of battle, the Mountain God will sacrifice whatever he must in order to kill this Chirayoju.”
The room blazed with light as
Amaterasu moved from her pedestal and stepped down from the platform, until she stood only one step higher than her descendant. She was so beautiful that it was difficult for Kammu to look upon her, so he kept his gaze lowered and stared at the floor.
“You are a wise man, Kammu,” the Goddess said. “For indeed, Lord Sanno will take no care to curb his violent hatred of Lord Chirayoju. If one of our family stands between him and the demon, he would cut through that one as easily as his winds tear rice paper.”
Troubled, Kammu listened, and became more troubled still as Amaterasu continued.
“My brother, Tsukuyomi, has told me that Lord Sanno’s heart has changed for all time. His rage will remain after Lord Chirayoju’s death, should he prevail in this war. He will never rest because Gemmyo, the Fujiwara daughter, has been taken from him. He will destroy the palace and all the land of Japan.”
Kammu’s blood ran cold. Summoning all the resolve in his warrior’s heart, he said, “Divine Ancestor, I pray you to tell me how to stop both Lord Chirayoju and Lord Sanno.”
Amaterasu’s fiery presence cooled as she said gravely, “There is a way, but the rituals I reveal to you in my mirror must be precisely executed. In the chaos that will crash down upon this place, it will be most difficult.”
“I will prevail,” Kammu assured her.
“Does he carry an object of personal significance?” she asked.
“Hai,” he said eagerly, “a great sword.”
“A sword. That is the best answer that you could have given me.” She lowered her head, and a golden sunbeam tear slid down her cheek.
“However, it may be that you will fail, Emperor Kammu. In that case, you will die an excruciating, humiliating death. You will never see Heaven. And the world as you know it will end.”
Kammu sighed, his heart heavy with dread. “But if I do not attempt it, all will surely be lost.”
Amaterasu slowly nodded in agreement. More tears slid to the floor, catching the mats aflame. For truly do the Divine Ancestors love the Emperors and their families.
* * *
At midnight, Chirayoju’s army of peasants, devils, and vampires attacked the castle with savage ferocity.
Emperor Kammu’s men, fierce warriors all, had never battled such terrifying opponents, but they bravely fought with swords and lances as from the battlements, the archers let fly their flaming arrows.
Beside them, Sanno’s army flung themselves head-long into the fray, as if they had no fear of death.
Fires blazed around the castle as the terrible invaders drew near, and the situation looked bleak indeed as rank after rank of Sanno and Kammu’s combined armies fell beneath the onslaught.
Still, there was hope. Instructed by Sanno to string measures of rope low to the ground before the castle gates, the bloodthirsty kappa tripped and spilled the magic water in the bowl-like indentations in their heads. The human peasants of Chirayoju’s army, sent ahead to absorb the arrows and lances of the Emperor’s troops, were cut down like straw. Many of the eta vampires turned to dust as they were staked through the heart. And the oni were just as likely to turn on each other in the violent frenzy as on their nominal enemies.
Yet their leader, Chirayoju, seemed unconquerable. With its green, moldy face and taloned hands, it was a terrifying sight as it rose into the air and hurled volleys of fireballs into the castle courtyard.
Sanno answered in kind, and the two pummeled each other with fire and blazing whirlwinds. Sanno stamped the earth in fury. The ground shook so hard that trees were uprooted, waterfalls sprayed upward, and dragons threatened to escape from the cracks and fissures. The castle itself began to disintegrate. Timbers crashed to the castle floors. Kammu’s favorite daughter was crushed to death, as were many others.
In desperation, realizing that the powerful demon and the equally powerful kami would soon lay waste to all of Nara, Kammu prayed to his Divine Ancestors and all the Heaven People, and suddenly the sky lightened a few degrees as Amaterasu showed her face far earlier than expected.
“Chirayoju!” Sanno called to his enemy. He pointed at the mountain range. “The sun will rise soon, and she will bring your death. Let us finish this. Surrender, and I will kill only you. Your vile followers may continue their miserable existence.”
Sanno’s challenge confirmed the Emperor’s greatest fear about the Mountain God’s real intentions. The thought that the remaining oni and kappa and vampire eta would be free to prey on his subjects was insupportable.
“Never!” Chirayoju shouted, as it pounded the castle with more fire. More than two-thirds of the beautiful palace blazed, and Kammu’s second oldest daughter was burned to death in her chambers.
Emperor Kammu sat straight on his warhorse and lifted his hands. “Lord Chirayoju,” he said, “it is as Lord Sanno has said. The sky lightens. Soon you and your vampire warlords will burst into flame, even as my palace and my child have burst into flame. I propose combat between the two of you. And I swear that I will offer my blood to you if you are the victor.”
“What are you doing?” Sanno thundered at Kammu.
The Emperor lowered his voice and said, “My Divine Ancestor has revealed to me how you may kill it. I will arm you with the knowledge.”
As reassurance, he spoke of some of the rituals and incantations that Amaterasu-no-kami had shown him in her mirror. But the Emperor did not reveal that he knew how to defeat the Mountain God as well.
Satisfied that he now held the upper hand, Sanno waved his banners and shouted to Chirayoju, “Demon lord, though you are a foul pestilence, yet are you powerful. I have pledged to the Emperor Kammu that I would protect his household. Yet with our combat, you and I are destroying his palace and killing his children. I, too, swear that if you defeat me, I will allow you to destroy me.”
Chirayoju looked intrigued. As the monster hung in the air high above its followers, it looked toward the horizon. The mountain tops were dusted with the first purple washes of day. Perhaps it realized that if it did not defeat Sanno very soon, it would have to retreat, leaving its back vulnerable to every blow the Emperor and Sanno could deal.
At length it said, “I accept your challenge. I will come alone.”
* * *
They met in the courtyard, the great Mountain God at one end, the fearsome vampire sorcerer at the other. The sky was still dark, but the divine light of the sun would soon lift the veils of night.
The Emperor had chanted over Sanno’s sword, which was already an enchanted weapon, being the sword of a kami. But now it was even more powerful. If Sanno pierced Chirayoju straight through the heart, it would surely die.
Chirayoju faced the Mountain God without fear. This was but one minor deity; he was capable of devouring all of heaven itself!
Mockingly, Chirayoju made an elaborate bow and thought to himself, Soon, this fool will die. And then not only shall I drink the blood of the weak-minded Emperor, but I shall devour Kammu completely.
Also armed with a sword, Chirayoju assumed a battle stance.
Above them, in the parapets, the Emperor had donned clothes all of white. Around his head he wore a cloth inscribed with a character from the incantation the Goddess had taught him, the single word for the Life Force, which is ki.
He stood on sacred tatami mats blessed by the priests, and he poured ritual sake—rice wine—on the woven straw.
Below him, the two supernatural beings rushed at each other, brandishing their swords above their heads. The blades clanged, and sparks shot into the heavens like the lament-laden death songs of ancient dragons.
On the tatami before the Emperor lay his own sword. If he failed to stop them both, he planned to offer his own life to the gods, in the hope that they would protect his poor nation. As the Goddess had foretold, he would die an excruciating death, for he would slice open his own abdomen as atonement for his incompetence. The blood that gushed from his mortal wound would be the only blood of his that Chirayoju would enjoy.
But he prayed that this
would not be his fate. He prayed that, instead, he would see Sanno victorious, and thus betrayed. He could not allow Sanno to walk the earth, for the Mountain God had become an evil thing, much like the demon he fought. Kammu’s Divine Ancestor had assured him of this. And so she had revealed to him the sacred incantation, which would bind not only Chirayoju into the sword, but Lord Sanno as well.
“Chirayoju!” Sanno shouted. “I offer you an honorable death. Commit suicide with your blade, and I shall write a death poem for you.”
Chirayoju sneered at Sanno and flew high into the air. “If your poetry sings like your sword, I would writhe in the spirit world to hear its discordant verses.”
And so, as they charged each other in the courtyard below, Emperor Kammu prepared his tatami mat with salt and sake, and ran through his mind the phrases he must utter to bind them both into the steel.
As their swords clashed, the wind rose violently. The earth shook, rolled, and trembled. Around Kammu, his castle blazed. Though he would surely burn with it, he would not move from this place until all was accomplished.
Softly, he whispered a poem of his own:
“Weep now, earth, air, fire,
Tears for Kammu’s dead children,
Water, Earth’s fourth soul.”
The Emperor Kammu would not falter.
He would bind them—or die.
CHAPTER 15
There was no way anyone was sending Xander home, and that was that.
Now, that settled, he asked in a whisper, “Has it occurred to anyone that part of hanging out with the Slayer means getting a whole new education in petty crime?”
They watched as Cordelia approached the front door, nervously glancing back at them. Giles and Xander both urged her on. Finally, she began to pound on the door, screeching for help as loudly as she dared. They wanted the night watchman to come running, but they would rather not draw the attention of anyone working security at any nearby buildings. Not that there were many that could be deemed “nearby.”
“Help me!” Cordelia cried. “Oh, please help!”
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