by D. N. Leo
“You are too young and inexperienced to handle this,” said a senior member. “I can help with the negotiation. I’ve established good rapport with the Mahitos,” said another senior member.
Mori smiled, but Sai jumped in and cut her smile short. “She’s the alpha—she should be negotiating. The Mahitos are outsiders. They don’t understand fox business. If you need money, you have only to ask me,” he grinned. “But money isn’t going to buy back our long lost power in the werefox world, will not buy back the lives we have lost protecting the key.”
Mori narrowed her eyes. “What are you proposing?”
“I want to protect this clan. I want everyone to be safe. And I can do it for real. Not just talk. We don’t work for nothing. Guarding the stupid key is equal to working for nothing, and I don’t like that.” Sai paced, circling Mori, looking her up and down. He moved a step closer but then felt Roy’s hand on his shoulder, gripping him like a pair of iron pliers. Sai glanced up and gauged Roy’s eyes, eyes that looked as if they could shoot fire at Sai. He knew he’d be at a disadvantage against Roy, so he withdrew.
“No, we don’t want to do this. Whatever it was, the mission began before our time. Now we have families to take care of,” a middle-aged man added from the far end of the room.
His comment triggered a round of similar protests.
“We won’t honor this mission.”
“We’ve done our fair share.”
“If I can’t protect my family, what the hell am I doing protecting a mysterious key?”
Mori raised her voice over them. “But you know what will happen to the city if the key lands in the wrong hands. We’ll all die. You family’s survival is a moot point in a dead city.”
Silence. Just when the crowd seemed to be on the verge of agreeing with Mori, Sai spoke again. “Yes, the key protects the city and keeps it safe. But it’s been our responsibility for such a long time. We’ve given more than enough. It should be someone else’s turn now. If the Yakuz want the key, let them have it. They won’t destroy the city in which they live. They’ll protect the key and stop attacking us. It’s a win-win solution.”
“You want to give the key to the Yakuz?” Mori stared hard at Sai. She smiled as the pieces started to come together for her. “What’s in it for you, Sai?”
“As I said, I act only on the best interests of our clan.”
“So you think it’s best if I give up the location of the key to the Yakuz? That way, we don’t have to fight?”
Sai nodded enthusiastically.
“Do you want to be the leader of the clan, Sai?”
He shrugged and said nothing.
Mori smiled. “I was wondering how the Yakuz found out about the family who knows the secret of the key. How they’d known my whereabouts that night and where I sent our spy. I also wondered how the gray wolf clan knew when I was alone and injured so they could attack me.”
As Mori advanced, Sai staggered backward. “Don’t you accuse me of anything! I challenge your leadership!” Sai growled.
“Challenge my leadership?”
“Yes, I’ll fight for it. The old-fashioned way. If I win, I lead.”
“And if you lose?”
“I’ll spend the rest of my pitiful life guarding the stupid key.”
There were rumbles in the room.
“No, this is not a good time for it.”
“I’m supporting Mori. She’s been a good leader. I don’t want a fight.”
“If you don’t want to fight, go elsewhere.”
“An alpha has to be able to defend her position in battle.”
“Battle my ass, it was ancient.”
A wave of arguments. People talking over one another.
Mori and Sai circled threateningly, looking into each other’s eyes, about to fight.
A senior member raised his hands. “Stop this. Stop. Do not fight.”
“This is tradition. If she insists we follow tradition and protect the key, then she should defend her leadership,” Sai snarled, shifting into a formidable fox.
Roy darted over, grabbing Mori’s hand before she shifted. “You don’t have to do this. Please don’t, Mori.”
“I don’t want to fight. But this is a leadership challenge, not a threat. You can’t protect me from this, Roy.” And then she shifted.
The crowd got excited now. “Fight! Fight! Fight!” they cheered.
Mori and Sai charged at each other. Mori’s supporters argued with Sai’s. The observers began to shift and fight amongst each other. The inside of the temple was a blur of dust, flying objects, and the sounds of wounded dog howls.
“Stop!” Roy yelled but nobody was listening. “Stop this!” he yelled again, but it made no difference. He pulled a gun and fired into the air. Silence ensued, but Sai and Mori were still snarling at each other. Both were badly injured. Blood was everywhere. Roy said nothing further, but walked to the middle of the room, snatched fox-Mori up, and swung her over his shoulders. She passed out.
Sai growled, and Roy pointed the gun at him. “Between your teeth and my gun, my money’s on the gun. To all of you—I’ve had enough of this nonsense. You want to shift, then shift. You want to bark, fight, and kill one another, that’s your problem. I’m taking Mori out of here.” Roy turned on his heel and exited the temple with Mori on his shoulders.
Halfway down the hill, Mori opened her eyes, finding that she had shifted back to her human form and was dangling from Roy’s shoulders. “Let me down, let me down!” Roy didn’t stop. “Let me down, Roy.”
“I just saved you.”
“Saved my ass.”
“Yes, and that, too.” Roy kept walking, ignoring Mori’s wriggling and verbal abuse.
Chapter 26
Orla and Lorcan went back to the warehouse to look for a sign of the real Chiyo and found nothing. Not only they could they not find Chiyo, but Goro’s body had disappeared as well. The building was empty, save for the eerie chilled air that filled the place. They decided to go back to the wizard for more information. The old man greeted them at the door with a warm smile as if not surprised that they had come back to find him.
He made them tea, then brought the steaming cups over to the table as he settled in for a long tale. Lorcan began their story with finding the kitsune that had brought them to Chiyo’s front door. From there, Orla related how Chiyo had kicked them out and they had found the temple holding her grandfather’s remains. The old wizard’s eyes grew sad as they spoke about his old friend, but he didn’t interrupt. They next explained what had just happened and how they’d ended up at his door. When Lorcan fell silent, they waited to hear what the old man had to say. He shook his head as he thought, silently coming up with ideas and dismissing them just as quickly. When he finally settled on one that he thought might work, he smiled and looked up at the young couple in front of him.
“When she accompanied you to my door, I sensed it might not be the Chiyo I knew, but I hadn’t seen her for such a long time. I wasn’t sure. I don’t think she’s with the Yakuz, but I think it’s more likely that we’ll receive bad news than good. If they’d gotten the information out of her, they wouldn’t have sent in the lizard shapeshifter. Don’t blame yourselves—you couldn’t have known.”
“The shapeshifter speculated you would have information about the key. You killed the lizard—will its group know that? Will they go after you?” Lorcan asked.
The old man looked at Lorcan and smiled. “You are both looking for the key as well.”
“Yes, but we were forced to do it for reasons important only to us. We’re not interested in any benefits the key would give the holder. We’re not gold diggers,” Orla jumped in.
“I can tell that much.” The wizard gave her a fatherly smile. “But as you can see, trouble follows whomever possesses the key—or even those with a whiff of information about it. What you don’t know won’t hurt you.”
“What does it do, really?” Lorcan asked.
“Power. The key
can open the source of God’s power.”
“What sort of power? Energy? Magic? Knowledge?” Lorcan pressed on.
“Curiosity killed the cat, young man.”
Lorcan smiled. “When we put our lives on the line for this key, we’re half dead already. If we can’t find the key, not only will we be dead, but we’ll put at risk the lives of other people who depend on it.”
“That’s the very reason I have to do whatever it takes to keep the information to myself. The key is safe now. You need not worry. But you cannot take it with you.”
“We came all this way. If you want us to go away empty handed, then can you at least give us an inkling of what this key is all about? If we—and many others—are going to die because we can’t have it, can you at least let us know that our cause is nothing compared to the disaster you’re protecting humankind from?” Irritation overflowed in Lorcan’s voice.
The old man took a few minutes, contemplating. Then he spoke slowly. “One of the power sources that the key can control or release is the water element. That was why the sea dragon wanted it. The sea dragon wanted to flood and drown the entire city. It needs the water element to do so.”
Orla’s eyes widened. “Sea dragon’s territory expands with the water. Of course, it would want water everywhere.”
The wizard nodded. Lorcan buried his head in his hands for a while, trying to gain control over his sneer. He smiled. “Sea dragons exist in children’s fairy tales. There are explanations for this. At a very basic level, tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the moon, the sun, and the rotation of the Earth. Let’s say someone could somehow affect the celestial rotation and ultimately impact the orbits of the related planets. That person would create tides that would drown whole city. But I can’t see why someone would want to do that . . .”
“The sea dragon. The sea dragon would want that, Lorcan,” Orla explained.
“Orla!” Lorcan exclaimed.
“Had I mentioned that information comes hand in hand with trouble? It’s here already.”
They old wizard bolted to the door with lightning speed. Lorcan and Orla were amazed to see him move so fast. They followed him, rushing out the door.
Chapter 27
The wizard rushed toward a shadow along the dark road. It slithered away quickly, similar to the movement of a gigantic python. Within only a few steps, the wizard had lost sight of the spying animal. Orla and Lorcan caught up with him.
“We’ve lost it. What was it?” Orla asked.
“A python,” the wizard answered.
“Lizard, python . . . what’ll be next?” Lorcan muttered. The wizard shook his head and turned back toward the house. Lorcan stopped him on his way. “Come on, we have to do better than this. We can help you. Tell us what you need. If we leave here and the Yakuz attack you, what are you going to do?”
The old man stared at Lorcan. “I’ll take the secrets to my grave.”
“That won’t save people’s lives. I can guarantee you that we can take the key to a very safe place. No one on Earth will ever have access to it. Isn’t that a better solution? Think about it. You might be able to keep certain information secret, but what if they found the key in some other way? What would you be able to do about it?” Lorcan was losing his patience when the wizard suddenly turned back.
“What is the place that you’re talking about? How can you be so sure it’s perfectly safe?”
Lorcan pulled out his wrist unit, put it on, and pressed a series of keys. A light beamed down from the sky, and the portal to the Daimon Gate opened. The wizard could see a glimpse of the goings-on at the entrance. Then Lorcan shut the portal and put the unit away. The wizard gasped, looking at Lorcan with a newfound respect.
“You never mentioned that you could wield magic, young man.” His tone was borderline accusatory, but Lorcan just grinned at him and shrugged.
“I wouldn’t call it magic, exactly. I’d just call it using my resources to get what I need. That is the place where I will keep the key safe. It’s not on Earth—it’s another universe. There are many worlds just like the world you live in now. The place I showed you doesn’t give access to evil men from Earth. The Yakuz and the sea dragon could never get the key. Do you understand?”
The wizard hesitated.
“I’m trusting you with our lives now, and it’s not the first time. Can’t you trust us just a little bit? I can build a data portfolio for you about all of Japan’s natural disasters. I can locate places you think the sea dragon might be. I can dig up information on the Yakuz for you. I have access to a system off-planet that can do that and more. Everything, that is, except magic.”
The wizard looked at him for a long time, then seemed to silently consent, sinking in to himself a bit. To Orla, it looked like the old man struggled with a load too heavy for his frail shoulders to bear. He nodded, but before he could say anything further, a group of shapeshifters swooped down from the sky as hawks, attacking them with their sharp talons. Orla had the presence of mind to duck, but the old man and Lorcan had been caught unaware. Lorcan’s face was gouged, and the old man was knocked over. Orla decided it was time for her to vent her anger from the close call she’d experienced at the hands of the lizard, and as these punks were obviously working for the same side as the reptile, they were fair game.
She began to chant under her breath, and purple lightning formed at her fingertips. Her eyes were open, following one bird, and then another. Once her gaze settled on one, lightning bolts flowed from her fingers, and the bird was zapped badly enough that it fell out of the sky and thought twice about trying to attack the group again. She was losing time trying to focus on one of the hawks at a time, but she was the only one who could fight them off. Lorcan had no way of getting to them, and the wizard was dazed, though valiantly trying to get back to his feet.
“You won’t have to handle them alone. I’m adding my magic to yours.” He let her know he was with her, and that somehow helped Orla gather her strength and courage for a major attack. She had her back to the wizard, and so she didn’t see that five of the hawks were flying in carrying a net with a large boulder in it. The old man was busy chanting with his eyes closed, and Lorcan was ducking to avoid an onslaught of vicious talons. The hawks let loose, and the boulder fell . . . right onto the old man. It crushed his chest, and that drew Lorcan over to him to try to protect him as best he could while Orla killed the rest.
She was stunned by the sight she saw when she turned around, but it only served to anger her more. The bolts of lightning were now thicker and seemed to have minds of their own. She no longer had to aim for individual birds—the lightning was doing it for her.
She fell to her knees near the old man, apologizing for being watchful and asking if there was anything she could do to save him. He patted her hand. “No, child. You can’t help me, but you can help by taking the key to a safe place. I have a map that will lead you to the temple. Please do it as soon as you can . . .” His body tensed, his eyes closed, and he took his last breath.
Chapter 28
Orla took the map from the man and unfolded it. They were, indeed, very close to the temple. But before they could determine anything further from the map, Lorcan sniffed the air. “Mori,” he whispered.
“What?” Orla was astonished, not because he had spoken Mori’s name but because he had sniffed the air and known it was her. He obviously didn’t even realize what he was doing. “Mori,” Lorcan repeated. He stood and glanced around. All of a sudden, a car raced out from a hill coming from a small road in the bush. Mori appeared to be tied up in the back seat of the car. She was kicking and shouting at the driver. The car swerved onto the main road and headed into town.
Lorcan chased the car. “Lorcan!” Orla called out. “You can’t chase them on foot!” Lorcan kept sprinting. “Lorcan!” Orla called again. Lorcan stopped.
“He got Mori. Someone got her.”
“I
can see that, but we can’t chase them on foot.”
“What do you suggest?”
Orla ran to a side street. She saw a scooter parked in an empty front yard. She made a run for it, ducked down by the scooter’s side, and picked the lock. It took her only a few seconds. “Sorry,” she mumbled to the absent owner as she pushed the scooter away toward the corner where Lorcan waited.
“We’ll return it, of course,” she said when she saw the look on Lorcan’s face.
“Do you know how to drive one of these?” he asked.
“Can’t be more difficult than riding a horse.”
“It is. A horse has four legs and can stand by itself.”
She shrugged. “You want to get Mori, here’s your chance.”
Lorcan looked at the vehicle, considered his options, and then hopped on.
“Are you sure?” Orla asked.
“There’s no other way. It can’t be more difficult than riding a horse, as you said.”
Orla grinned and hopped on.
When they were on the road heading into town, Orla noticed Lorcan sniffing the air repeatedly for Mori’s scent.
“Do you realize that you’re sniffing the air?” Orla asked.
“What?”
“Obviously not. Never mind.”
In town—Orla called it a town, but it was actually much smaller than a village in England—they stopped in front of a small traditional Japanese house. Wrapped in manicured gardens, it was quiet and peaceful, as was the street. Orla and Lorcan surveyed the area from a hidden position around the corner.
“How do you know she’ll be here?”
Lorcan shrugged, “I just know.”
Shortly, the car they had seen at the village approached and parked in front of the house. From inside, a man exited, a grocery bag in one hand. Lorcan charged at him from across the street. Without speaking a single word, Lorcan landed a punch on the man’s face. The groceries fell to the ground. The two men pummeled each other.
