“Where would we go?” Kisaki asked.
“No idea, but not here sounds like a good start.”
Kisaki nodded, then glanced at Shitoro. “And this Crag will follow?”
“Almost surely.”
A frown creased her face. “But before then?”
“As I said, my lady, he suspects you have the Taiyosori. I have little doubt he will throw caution to the wind to try to find you and take it. He will ravage this place looking for you or anyone who might know where you’ve gone.”
“And by ravage, you mean?” Worry was beginning to creep into Stephen’s voice.
“I think you know very well what I mean. He will tear this town apart, piece by piece, human by human.”
“Damnit!” Stephen cried, slapping the side of the building they’d stopped near. “I have friends here. There’s good people in this town. Hell, even Robbie doesn’t deserve that ... mostly.”
Kisaki approached and put a hand upon his shoulder. “I agree.”
“But, Lady Kisaki...”
She silenced Shitoro with a look. “This is my fault. I should have heeded your wishes, Shitoro, stayed and studied, but I did not. And now all of this falls upon me. I won’t allow innocent people to be slaughtered, not when there exists the possibility I can do something about it.”
“We can’t win this alone,” Shitoro pleaded.
“Then we shall find allies to stand with us.” She turned toward Stephen. “These police I have heard of. They are warriors, yes?”
“In a sense,” he replied. “I mean, I think some of the cops in town are ex-military.”
“Very well. We will reach out to them, have them warn the others.”
“And then?” Shitoro asked.
“Simple, my friend. And then we shall fight.”
31
“Let me get this straight,” the officer manning the front desk of the Cartersville police department said. “We need to evacuate the town because otherwise we’ll be living out the plot to Day of the Animals, as led by Mighty Joe Young?”
“Well, when you put it that way, it does sound a bit farfetched.”
“Farfetched?” the desk sergeant, Ashby Coulson, replied. “You’re that Fuller boy, right?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Your mom works down at the Post Office.”
“Uh huh.”
“So, what, did you steal a box of stamps and try licking the glue to get high?”
“What?”
“Listen, kid,” he said, his expression darkening, “it’s been a busy day. We arrested a couple of weirdos earlier dressed like Tarzan and Jane and picked up some bodies that the coroner is losing his shit over. I don’t have time to listen to your ... come to think of it, didn’t all of that crap happen near your home?”
“Um...”
“Yeah, it did. My buddies have been looking for you, wanted to know if you knew anything. But I see now that you were off getting stoned with your girlfriends here.”
“I am not his girlfriend,” Kisaki said. “I am his great-aunt.”
Tamiko buried her face in her hands and simply shook her head.
“So what is it?” Sergeant Coulson asked. “Weed, meth, those new bath salts?”
“I’m not on drugs!” Stephen shouted, banging his hand against the desk. Judging by the look upon his face, Kisaki considered that it was an action he immediately regretted. “I’m sorry.”
“Do that again and you’re going to be,” the sergeant warned. “Listen, I get it. I was young and stupid once, too. It’s summer, you’re bored, and you felt like experimenting. So I’m going to give you one chance. Go back to whatever basement you lit up in and sleep it off. Because otherwise, you’re going to sleep it off in lockup while I phone your parents.”
“That should be interesting,” Tamiko commented under her breath.
Stephen seemed to be at a loss of what to say, so Kisaki pushed her way forward. “I am sorry, but we simply cannot leave. That would be the more prudent course of action for us, yes, but your town would suffer as a result. The creature who is looking for us will not give up easily. I fear many of your people would perish before his rage was sated.”
The officer let out a pained sigh. “How about this? You either give me proof, or I put your butts in a cell. You have three seconds.”
“Shitoro.”
The tiger demon looked up from where he’d been lounging on the floor. “I was merely waiting for you to ask.”
Sergeant Coulson stood up. “What the?! How did you do that?”
“With my mouth, human,” Shitoro replied. Then, before the sergeant could say anything further, there came a flash of light as Shitoro transformed into his bipedal form. “Shall I offer anything else as way of proof?”
“Holy shit! What the hell is that?!” He began to fumble with the holster at his side.
“Whoa, hold on,” Stephen cried. “It’s okay. He’s a friendly ... err ... demon.”
Just then, another officer stuck his head in from an interior door. “Yo, Coulson, what’s going on out there? We just got a bunch of 9-1-1 alerts about ...” He trailed off as he caught sight of the youkai. “What the hell was in the coffee this morning?”
“Will someone please listen to us?” Stephen asked. “We need to talk to the captain, now. It’s a matter of life or...”
The entire building seemed to rock as an explosion sounded from nearby. Tamiko and Shitoro were knocked to their knees, while Kisaki and Stephen just barely kept their feet as plaster dust fell from the ceiling around them.
Cries of disbelief and question rose up from elsewhere in the building.
If those inside were not aware that they were in danger before, Kisaki noted, then they surely were now.
♦ ♦ ♦
Kisaki ordered her human friends to stay inside, hoping against hope they listened. She said the same to Shitoro, although she sincerely doubted he would follow her commands. He was loyal and brave to a fault, but he was in over his head on this one.
Deep down, she wondered if she was, too, but there was only one way to find out.
Before the police could organize themselves, but also before they could try to stop her, she raced out the front door.
When they’d gone in, just a few minutes earlier, the street had been quiet. Some townsfolk were milling about, enjoying the sunny day, but they were few and far between. Stephen had explained that a lot of people were out of town on summer vacation, which was fortunate. Sadly, Kisaki had a feeling there were still plenty left who would not live to see the end of this day if they weren’t quick enough in their warning.
The scene before her now proved her deepest fears true.
Cars had been upended, one into the side of the building she’d just emerged from. She watched as wolves dragged a person from one and began savaging his body. Sadly, he was beyond saving. However, even had she tried to, it was doubtful she’d have been given the chance, for Crag stood in the middle of the street flanked by two bears.
He’d been in the process of tearing apart a traffic light when she’d exited. But now he dropped the twisted metal in his hands and smiled at her, revealing sharp teeth. “See, little hanyou, there is no place to hide from Crag. For too long we have hidden from the humans, cowered in places they didn’t deem worthy of venturing. It is time they once more learned who their masters are, and your death shall pave the way for that.”
“You speak arrogantly, mazoku,” Kisaki replied. “I am the daughter of Lady Midnite and I will not die so easily.”
That revelation apparently caught the monster by surprise, judging by his almost comical expression. “Midnite? Truly? It all makes sense then. So you do have the Taiyosori. Give it to me.”
“It is not yours to take.”
“Tell me, child. What filthy human did your mother lay with to give birth to a bastard such as you? You don’t have the look of one of the blessed isles.” He flashed a predatory smile her wa
y. “I am right, am I not? If so, then your parentage means nothing to any of us. Your kind are forbidden. You were born already destined to die. I will be rewarded for erasing your stain from this world. That is, if I do not conquer it first myself. The sword, NOW!”
Behind Kisaki, she could hear the sound of doors opening and men shouting orders. She risked a glance over her shoulder and saw weapons being brought to bear, aimed toward the creatures currently ravaging this once peaceful town.
“Take it if you can,” she said a moment before multiple guns opened fire.
♦ ♦ ♦
Time slowed once again as the first of the shots struck, hitting the ursine to Crag’s right.
The sound of gunfire grew faint and then faded altogether as her vision clouded and she once more found herself in the body of another.
Strong arms were wrapped around her neck from behind, cutting off her air. She tried to pry them off, but they held her in a seemingly unbreakable grasp. Two more men rushed at her from the front, their hands balled into fists. Kisaki was in trouble but, oddly enough, felt no fear.
Instead of giving in to despair, the body she inhabited grabbed the arm holding her, bent slightly at the waist, and threw her attacker over her shoulder into the man attacking from the left.
They went down in a tumble of arms and legs and she saw that the one who’d been holding her was the same man from the photo again. There was no time to gawk, however, as she was already on the move, sidestepping the remaining attacker and delivering a blow to his back that sent him to his knees.
The man from the picture rose to his feet. Instead of attacking her again, though, he smiled and gave her a thumbs-up before starting to laugh.
She turned away from him and saw another man staring back at her. This one was very familiar, with blond hair and a strong build. After a moment, she realized she was looking into a mirror. The man staring back at her was the same that Stephen had identified in the photos as his namesake, Lieutenant Stephen Fuller – his great-grandfather, her father!
The vision faded away as the real world began to once more take precedence. Stephen’s image blurred and merged with another for a moment, growing in size and stature, until it became that of Crag, charging her way, his massive arms raised above him.
Small blooms of blood erupted from his torso as several bullets struck him, but he seemingly ignored them as he reached her and brought his fists down, intent on ending this fight with one blow.
Kisaki was ready for him. The world was still moving as if in slow motion by the time he’d reached her, and that cold battle logic had already suffused her mind. Instinctively, she understood that Crag was yet another creature used to winning his battles by sheer virtue of his impressive physique.
He would need to do better.
She stepped nimbly aside as he brought his fists crashing into the ground, shattering the sidewalk, then brought her foot up in a kick that caught the brute straight in the mouth.
Sadly, it would seem she would need to do better as well.
Crag stood, a thin trickle of blood dripping down his jaw. He opened his mouth to laugh, revealing a few cracked teeth, but nothing more. “Is that all the daughter of the great Midnite has to offer? You insult me with your weakness. Give me the Taiyosori and perhaps I shall snap your neck so that you will embarrass yourself no further.”
“Listening to your voice is embarrassment enough,” she replied, stepping out of his reach.
Movement registered in her periphery and she risked a look back to see two wolves racing toward her.
“Get out of there!” a voice shouted from somewhere nearby.
Kisaki wasn’t sure if the warning was aimed at her or not, but more shots rang out and one of the wolves fell to the ground with several bloody wounds in its side.
Alas, that still left one. It closed on her position while Crag flanked her.
There was no way she could dodge both at the same time, but perhaps she didn’t need to. Remembering how her father had used his opponents’ strength against them, she stepped toward the wolf. It leapt for her throat, but she ducked down, catching it with her shoulder, and then flinging it into the arms of its commander.
Kisaki leapt away, aiming to put a little distance between her and her enemies, marveling at how she flipped through the air and then landed gracefully on her feet. That was new. She spun to see Crag angrily throw the wolf to the side. It hit the pavement with a yip of pain, bounced once, and then limply skidded to a stop.
As ancient and battle hardened as this mazoku was, he was an insult to the heroes from Kisaki’s studies. Brave, noble, willing to do anything for the men under their command, Crag was none of these.
What he was, however, was large and strong, something she would do well not to forget.
Glass shattered and someone cried out, but Kisaki couldn’t risk a look. She managed to just barely dodge another of Crag’s blows as he raced toward her again. He outclassed her in raw physical power, by a considerable margin it would seem, but she had the edge in speed.
“Lady Kisaki, run!”
She froze in place, a stupidly dangerous thing to do, and stared wide-eyed as Shitoro raced up from behind Crag in his tiger form. The little youkai leapt upon Crag’s back and sank his teeth into one of the brute’s ears.
“Argh!”
Crag’s cry of pain snapped Kisaki out of her shock and she used the distraction to step forward and deliver a punch to his midsection. It was like hitting solid rock. Though he let out a whoop of surprise from the impact, she was certain she’d done more damage to herself than to him.
Sadly for her, she had moved in too close for the hit, putting herself well within range of his superior reach. He lashed out sloppily, catching her with a backhand that sent her flying. She landed, tumbled a few times, and then came to a rest on her back, stunned.
Before she could recover, one of the ursines leapt upon her in its bear form – hundreds of pounds of muscle, claws, and flesh-rending teeth.
It used its size to pin her before driving forward again, intent on tearing out her throat. She grabbed its head by the ears, just barely holding its snapping jaws at bay.
That wouldn’t help her for long, though. The bear had the advantage of superior leverage, using it along with its massive body to inch ever forward.
Kisaki turned her head to the side, sickened by its rancid breath, and saw a town in chaos. People, those foolish enough to step outside to see what was going on, were being pursued by youkai up and down the street. She watched as one woman ran blindly, flapping her arms in the air to try to ward off a hawk youkai harassing her. Elsewhere, a wolf tackled an older man from behind. He struggled feebly beneath it for a few seconds before falling limp.
All around her, the peace that had once reigned was being torn asunder and she was helpless to do anything about it, save keep this creature’s teeth from clamping down on her windpipe.
No!
She remembered what Shitoro had said about mercy. How it was a luxury, one that sometimes came back to bite the hand that offered it. She understood that now, viewing the battle around her, especially in seeing Shitoro’s brave stand against Crag.
It was only a matter of time before he pried the tiger youkai off his back and, once he did, she was certain mercy would be the last thing on his mind. It would have to be the last thing on hers, too, if she wanted to win this, if she wanted her friends to survive.
With a snarl of her own, she tightened her grip upon the ursine’s head and then gave her hands a twist. There came a sickening crunch. The bear’s eyes opened wide in surprise for a moment before glazing over as the life left them and its body fell slack upon hers.
She gave a heave, practically flinging the corpse off of her, and then stood, ready to give battle once more.
Kisaki wasn’t the only one. The police continued to fire upon the youkai in the street, but soon even more gunfire erupted around them. She turned to f
ind that some who’d managed to flee inside had returned carrying weapons of their own. It seemed that the citizens of this town were not willing to let it go so easily.
That was good, because it looked as if they were going to need every last bullet.
Let them deal with the smaller youkai, though. She set her eyes upon Crag just as he managed to reach behind him with one massive hand and grab Shitoro by the scruff of his neck. He gave a yank, but the loyal tiger’s teeth held fast. He pried Shitoro loose, but at the cost of an ear.
With a roar of rage, he balled a fist and prepared to drive it into Shitoro’s face.
Kisaki was on the move before she even realized she was doing so. Crag’s body was built like a concrete wall. His face had proven to be almost as hard. But Kisaki was a smart girl. She’d been paying attention to the lessons shown her in her visions and listening to the cool logic in her mind when it dictated a course of action. And now it was telling her to go low and take this monster out at the legs.
She spun and drove the heel of her foot into Crag’s shin. He cried out in rage, comically hopping on one foot for a moment. Pity for him, he’d forgotten the tiger demon still held in one hand. Shitoro, however, hadn’t forgotten about Crag. He raked the claws of one paw down the side of the monstrous beast’s face, drawing four deep lines that quickly filled up with blood.
The surprise of the attack caused Crag to let go and Shitoro fell into Kisaki’s waiting arms. She immediately dove away from the brute, landing and rolling while cushioning her friend’s body with her own.
“Are you okay?” she asked him.
He looked up and smiled as best as his feline face could. “I wasn’t finished with him yet.”
“You are as mighty a warrior, my brave Shitoro, as you are a wonderful tutor.”
“Thank you, my lady.” He paused, then raised one brow. “Wait, was that an insult?”
Fortunately, before she could answer, a cry rose from the nearby rooftop. “Get the big one! Now, before he can get away!”
Kisaki was certain the big one wasn’t looking to get away from anywhere, especially not after what she and her friend had just done. If anything, he would be angrier than ever. But she was more than happy to accept the help.
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