by Jeffrey Cook
She closed her eyes again, reaching out to the saints whose light had always blessed her—and to the one who might be willing to cast her shadow in this place. The sound of the howls intensified, and when Celeste opened her eyes, she could see some of the most daemonic of the creatures retreating in pain, while others, frenzied, and still oncoming, started to smoke as they crossed the sanctified ground. For now, their defenses seemed to be holding, but she also saw stronger enemy forces coming, a few hulking daemons wading through the ranks towards the gates, while the arrows continued, even with the whirling melee, finding tiny gaps between the oncoming creatures to strike defenders time and again.
Hope I'm remembering Gran right. “Mesye la kwa avans pou el wa ye,” she said, focused on the candle, to more pained howls and hesitation. She also noticed that the arrows had stopped, giving her cause for a brief, entirely different thanks as she guessed as to the cause. "Thank you, Noriko."
But there was no time to relax. “The western wall,” Emi said. Her eyes had a thousand-yard stare, and Celeste realized she was trying to see through the eyes of multiple paper dolls at once.
Celeste and Nils looked to the west, and sure enough, a massive daemon had broken through.
“On it,” Nils said. He gestured for Emi and Celeste to stay where they were and limped as quickly as he could in that direction, starting to voice the words to his daemon-puppeting incantation.
Celeste glanced back to Hobie and Kaida, still holding the gates against the worst of the tide of attackers. Her next set of prayers, however, was interrupted when Emi, wide-eyed, started directing some of the defenders to the east. “Oh no. I almost missed them... Celeste. Inside. Please. Help Aki!”
“Where inside is she?”
“In the destruction!” Emi resumed redirecting their forces to cover new holes.
Figuring that was the most detail she was going to get, Celeste grabbed the still-burning candle, turned, and raced into the shrine building.
Sounds of fighting echoed through the building, mixing with the sounds of monks and maidens bravely carrying on with the ceremony. Celeste found where some of the violence had started and prayed for wounded JSDF troops on the floor as she passed.
The path of destruction led out into the courtyard with the pool, where Aki and a small handful of soldiers appeared to have led the intruders away from the main ceremony. They now were engaged in a desperate fight, while trying to back towards the bridges and the more narrow approach they offered. Aki had a silvery mirror cradled to her in one hand, held behind her to shield it, while she used her fan in the other. Every time something lunged and snapped at her, she interposed the fan, which flashed with a bright light, and seemed to burn the creatures who got too close to it. The troops fought to guard her flanks as they fought the tactical retreat, but their guns were proving far less effective than the enchanted war fan.
Celeste tried to bless the efforts of those fighting, while two more creatures fell under rapid sweeps of Aki's fan. When some of the things turned, Celeste focused the candle. “Mesye la kwa avans pou el wa ye.” She felt the effects more strongly this time on the most sanctified ground in the region, as did the creatures, some actively starting to smoke, as they tried to make their way to Aki.
Aki tried to surge forward through the attackers, burning one of the creatures that came at her low. That left her shoulder vulnerable, and a thing with a scorpion tail plunged the stinger into it. Aki's mouth opened in a scream, but no sound came out, as another thing caught her by the arm holding the mirror, pulling at her. The mirror crashed to the ground and cracked from side to side.
10
Sunrise
Igarashi Noriko
Noriko remembered the last time they'd taken on the Huntsman. He'd had to bind himself to a human form to remain in this world. Now he needed no such limits. In his natural form, he was not the largest of daemons, but 8' tall was still more than big enough as far as Noriko was concerned.
While many of the creatures had reptilian features, he reminded her the most of a black panther: furred, muzzled, and lean. However, he also had jutting boar's tusks from his muzzle and eight spider-like eyes, four running vertically down either side of his face. Each was blank white, and unblinking. The information they'd found, which only Nils could read, said he'd intentionally blinded himself in a ritual, trading his sight for greater senses as he ascended up the ranks of daemon-kind, to better track and find whatever he was tasked to. He carried a rune-covered shortbow in each of the two pairs of arms, with backward facing hands.
He also had four hunting creatures of his own, held back from the frenzied attack to serve as his guard. They were most akin to giant spiders, but with reptilian scales and a pair of scorpion tails. These things again, Noriko thought. She let any remaining other creatures race ahead, then, knowing this was as alone as he was going to get, signaled Ishiko. It was almost a relief to be leaping into the fray again, after all the time spent trying to make a combat form function for making reasonable plans.
The two girls left their hiding place, charging. The Huntsman tilted his head, picking up the sound of them, and hissed and clicked a command to his guard-creatures. The four tensed, readying to pounce, while the Huntsman continued to fire unerring shots through the chaotic whirl of the fight.
When he turned one of his bows on them, Noriko heard Ishiko mutter, “One less shot for Aki and the others.”
Noriko grabbed an arrow out of the air, just in time to jab it into the side of a striking tail as one of the things lashed out at her. The creature hissed, scuttling back with the arrow plunged through its scales. The others, more cautious, scuttled around, trying to flank them, forcing Noriko and Ishiko to turn to fight back to back. "Acid spit, all sorts of poison," she quickly reported to Ishiko, ready to defend against just as quick a counterattack. “I wish Nils were here.”
“You wish your disabled boyfriend were dodging acid?” Ishiko asked as the pair did just that, ducking and weaving, fending off attacks coming from all directions. “Is the honeymoon over?”
“No, but he could—incoming!” Noriko's warning was enough that they turned on time.
The Huntsman was still launching arrows into the field ahead with one bow, but without looking, he'd fire a shot now and then at the girls fending off his lizard-spiders.
“Last time, Nils sicced one of these things on the others. Let us concentrate on the main event.”
“Must've been nice,” Ishiko granted, before it was her turn to call a warning of the Huntsman's shots, since she was facing him by this point.
Noriko turned again, then deflected a couple of attacks from scorpion tails as the things tried to probe their defenses. After the first few failed strikes the creatures closed in, narrowing how much room they had to move.
"You ready?" Ishiko asked from behind her, as their room to fight narrowed.
"If you have a plan, now's the time."
"Always. Guard high, on three. One..."
The Huntsman had turned, slowing his shots to whistle a command to his creatures, but it was too late. However good his hearing, the Huntsman didn't speak the training jargon of the Storm's Light the way Noriko did. After the numerous times Ishiko had jumped the gun when they were younger, they'd all agreed that "on three" now always meant Ishiko would be moving on two.
The nearest creature attacked, and Noriko batted the tail aside, then spun, keeping her spear high, whirling it about to keep the things at bay. Ishiko spun as well, ducking under Noriko's spinning spear and continuing on into a lunge that drove her sword through the scales and into the creature's head. Much as she appreciated the spear her boyfriend had runed up a spear for her, Noriko missed her thunderstaff in the moment, while admiring Ishiko's skill with the sword.
"One down," she said under her breath.
"I've got their pattern down," Ishiko muttered back as she back-pedaled to guard Noriko again. "Next attack, get to him, make him stop shooting. I'll get these."
"You sure?" Noriko asked, fending off another assault.
Before there was any answer, the creature to one side of Noriko snapped at her. She realized nearly too late that it was a feint to draw her attention and, just in time, spun to deflect a tail strike, fending off the stinger inches from her neck.
Ishiko turned as well, timing her strike perfectly. As Noriko was blocking, the sword swiped downward, lopping the stinger off of the tail entirely.
"Go, go!" Ishiko insisted.
Noriko got two running steps at the wounded creature as it tried to back away. She planted the blunt end of her spear on its head and drove the hilt downward. The lizard-spider's head smashed to the ground, and Noriko pole-vaulted over its body and past the damaged tail.
She'd initially hoped to catch him off guard, but had no such luck. Without even looking her way, he side-stepped her attack. She followed with a thrust with the spear, which he parried with one of the bows. Touching the runes Nils had inscribed on her weapon sent a chill through her hands, and she heard a crack. Her first worry proved unfounded, her spear remaining intact, but the Huntsman's bow hadn't fared as well.
The Huntsman flung the bow away from him and instead drew a pair of curved knives from the sheaths on his back. "At least he's not shooting anymore," Noriko muttered.
She fended off the first attack and dodged the second, but quickly found herself being driven back. It became much worse when he dropped the second bow as well, going for a second pair of long, curving knives, sweeping at her, feinting, and attacking from too many angles to account for, leaving her little option but to retreat and defend.
He drove her backwards until she stumbled and fell backwards over the corpse of one of the fallen guardian creatures. The Huntsman's tusked grin grew as he prepared to lunge again. Before she could roll to the side, there was a clash of metal on metal as Ishiko tried to use his focus on Noriko to attack. It hadn't worked, as he'd turned in time to deflect her sword, but it forced his attention off of Noriko.
She kicked back to her feet, and rushed right back into the fight, trying to flank him with Ishiko.
This time, when she joined the fight with the daemon, Ishiko was obviously injured. A portion of her onna-bugeisha outfit was burned away from her left side where she'd been splashed with acid, while one arm had a bleeding cut. But at least she was still moving and fighting.
With both of them fighting, they were able to steadily drive him backwards away from the corpses and on to better ground to fight on, but neither was able to land a blow. Even when they managed to maneuver into flanking position and trap the Huntsman between them, he consistently ducked or side-stepped every strike. The sword slashes and spear thrusts alike came within centimeters, but each time, he pulled away, parried, or shifted to narrowly avoid the attacks. With each narrow defense came an immediate counter-attack: the four knives let him attack every time either girl got close without ever letting down his defense. Despite the combat precision, he never seemed to take his blank-eyed focus entirely off of the battlefield.
Ishiko ducked in and out of his reach, her own enhanced instincts for battle helping to match the Huntsman's preternatural awareness. Noriko tried to buy Ishiko time, occupying the daemon as much as she could while Ishiko tried to probe for patterns or weaknesses.
Noriko winced as she failed to pull back in time from an attack to avoid the counter-assault entirely, and took a deep cut to her forearm. She managed to keep a hold of her spear as she pulled back. The Huntsman overextended himself in trying to follow up while she was wounded, and Ishiko took advantage, finally scoring a hit of her own. The blade flashed bright as it hit, and the Huntsman whirled back around to face off with her, with the cut to his side still smoking and leaking ichor.
Noriko tried to take advantage when he turned fully, thrusting her spear at his back. One of the four arms seemed to dislocate at the elbow in order to twist around and block her strike. Surprised at the maneuver, she was still off-balance when another arm struck backwards, smashing his elbow into her face.
Whether she'd thought he'd turn to face off with Noriko at her strike, or that the attack would give her an advantage, Ishiko lunged in, caught off-guard when he proved ready for her. The Huntsman blocked her attack, driving her sword upward, and slid another knife under her guard—and into her guts. He struck hard enough to lift her off her feet, his upper-left wrist seeming to dislocate as he turned the blade.
Ishiko managed to push off, falling away from him. She struggled back up to her knees in time to block an attempt to follow up, but that was as far as she got, clutching at her stomach with her off-hand.
Noriko attempted to get to her but only managed to prevent the Huntsman's next attack on the immobile Ishiko. The daemon forced her away and back until she almost stumbled again amidst back-pedaling defensively.
Before Noriko could renew her attack, he was coming at Ishiko again, but this time, she had a plan. With her sword readied, as soon as he came at all close, Ishiko's off-hand came up, flinging her own blood at the creature. He got a knife up, but it did little to block a spray of blood against his face and torso. To Noriko's surprise, he paused, hesitating with a look of uncertainty. Oh, right. She messed with his sense of smell.
Noriko caught her balance and lunged. While the disoriented Huntsman got a knife up defensively, she went low, driving her spear through a foot, and into the ground. Catching on, even as she was coming at him, Ishiko flung her sword. Noriko caught it neatly out of the air and swung. The Huntsman tried to pull away, to find himself rooted to the spot. In her first swing, she took off one of his arms. Her follow-up thrust caught his throat, with another bright flash from the sword. A twist of the blade, and she pulled back. The knives dropped, and, for a few moments, he clutched at the wound in his neck, trying to stem the tide of ichor. Within moments, he'd gone still, and the head hung forward, all eight eyes slowly closing.
Noriko dashed for Ishiko, who nearly fell backwards as she tried to move again. Noriko crouched to support her.
“Okay, come on. Stop getting your secret weapon all over the place.”
She listened for what it was Ishiko was trying to say. Finally, she made out the word. "Emi."
"Okay, we'll get you to Emi—and Celeste. They'll help."
"No, no... Emi." Ishiko pointed to one of the trees, where one of Emi's 'eyes and ears' rested. The dolls weren't capable of particularly complex signals, but they'd long since worked out ways to get the important things across. And right now, the signal was clear. Defenses breached.
Noriko tried to keep a reassuring tone as Ishiko lost blood. “So we'll think of something. Emi can—” But the doll went limp, and then fluttered forward with the breeze. That wasn't up to much interpretation. Before Noriko's mind could accept that the unthinkable had happened yet again, the doll had already fallen into the spreading blood.
Ishiko was trying to speak again. She leaned in. "If the... if the Mirror is broken... no more... no more prophecy... are you leaving?"
Noriko didn't hesitate. “Right now, I'm not here for prophecy.” She picked Ishiko up, cradling her against her. “Hold on. Let's let people see their hero.” She readied Ishiko's sword in the other hand and begin to fight her way back across the battlefield to the Shrine.
****
Sleep wasn't happening. As Noriko sat there, just before dawn, the chants were ongoing, as the priestesses and monks dedicated the new ground. The wails of pain, mourning, and despair went on as well. The invading creatures were all dead, the assault stopped, but the costs had been high.
Having been so recently in the element her battle-form brain was built for, it hit all the harder how difficult it was to think through the exhaustion. Of course, part of her didn't want to think at all.
Eventually, Noriko would be able to comfort herself, really, with the fact that she'd gotten Ishiko back in time to still be semi-conscious as she was lain next to Aki, for Aki to hold Ishiko's hand—with the one hand she herself had left. Eventually was
not now.
Tearing the old shrine down was barely necessary anymore, with all of the damage. The water and the bridges were some of the last things still truly in place. The mirror was broken, so she wasn't entirely certain what gain there was in dedicating the new shrine now, but it gave people something to do.
"Well?" she asked, as Celeste approached.
"Got them all back to sleep. Burning the candles to keep Aki's amputation from becoming infected. Hobie will recover. Kaida's system is still fighting the poison, but she'll pull through. And then Emi... has a fight ahead of her."
There was a pause.
“I know that I shouldn't be suspecting a last-minute surprise on Ishiko.” She'd watched those last minutes, under the healers' care. She'd known. “But part of me still does.”
"I know," Celeste told her, moving to kneel next to her friend. "And I'm sorry. The priestesses who just came out of the dedication say she'll have a hero's funeral."
Despite all the fighting she'd been doing, Noriko wanted to hit something. And then probably a lot more things. "What's the point?"
Celeste paused long enough in answering that Noriko looked, to see her friend's tear-stained face as she struggled to make coherent sound come out in answer and ended up just sobbing instead.
Noriko reached out, to rest her hand on Celeste's shoulder. "I'm sorry. It's my all-legs-no-brain thing. I know you did your best."
"We all did. It just..."
"And we did everything right. We had the right plan. You saved Aki's life... and a lot more. Just like at the Tower... you can do everything right, and sometimes things still go wrong. I'm grateful. And I'm sorry I said that. I'll thank the priestesses.” She paused briefly. “I noticed the candle you never use because it's Not For You did a bit of burning tonight.”
“Yeah. Expanding my horizons, I guess. Might not have been able to drive off the last ones without it.”
