"For power, of course."
***
Three figures materialized out of the darkness. Suzume's eyes darted towards them as they approached and she half rose, preparing to protect herself. They were the same three monsters from the swamp, with black slick skin and yellow gleaming eyes. They saw Suzume and grinned at her. Kichirou saw her staring and glanced over to them. He stood to greet them.
"I've told you not to appear that way before me," he scolded.
The middle one grinned, displaying his pointed white teeth. He glanced in Suzume's direction before bowing to Kichirou. The three Yokai pulled at their foreheads, as if they were taking off masks, and when they did, they changed from gruesome swamp creatures to monkeys like Kichirou. In their hands they held leaves, the anchors of their disguise. Dressed in haori of lesser quality, with plainer designs, Suzume assumed these were Kichirou's underlings.
"Where is our brother?" Kichirou asked.
The middle one lowered his head. "Dead, brother. The Dragon killed him."
Suzume shook her head. What did they expect when they tangled with a dragon? As much as she wanted to be free of the Dragon, she doubted these baboons would be the ones to do it.
"The Dragon, has he escaped?" Kichirou asked.
"She has him," the one to the right replied.
"So is this woman your leader?" Suzume asked.
The monkey ignored her and she scowled at his back. He was damnably persistent in keeping her in the dark. "Then we should move now."
"I want the Dragon dead as much as you four, but I seriously doubt any of you have the power to stop him," Suzume said.
Kichirou turned to face Suzume. "It is not one of my clan who has him now. She who has him is much more powerful than you can imagine."
"Who is she?"
"She has many names and many faces, you would be better served to worry about your own head. Forget the Dragon, he is as good as dead."
Initially, she thought the monkey was a bit of a joke, but his tone had her second-guessing. She did not think anyone was powerful enough to go against a dragon, but her knowledge of the Yokai world was woefully limited. And she hoped it would stay that way. Once she returned to her place at the White Palace, she would forget any of this ever happened; it would be all a bad dream. Either way, she had no intention of staying with these monkeys a moment longer than she had to. They were no better than the Dragon, and at least he was good looking.
The monkeys approached her, long-fingered hands grasping at her. Suzume felt her power rise like the tide within her. She had sat close to the fire, drawing the red aura into her, and she felt stronger by being near it. She pulsed with energy, and it rippled beneath her skin--she was full to bursting. When the two monkeys grabbed onto her arm, the power exploded out of Suzume and hit the monkeys, throwing them backwards.
The force of it had Suzume stumbling backwards as well. The warmth cocooned her but did not burn, though sparks jumped along her fingertips. The two monkeys who went flying collided with the third underling, who came too late to help. Suzume caught her balance and used the momentary distraction to run. She got a few feet before two more monkeys dropped from the treetops and grinned at her.
"You cannot run, Priestess." She shoved them with all her might. They screeched as if burned and fell down on the ground, writhing in pain. She ran around them and into the forest. The power coursed through her and the shimmering red aura surrounded her.
The monkeys, undeterred, followed after her but at a safe distance. She ran through the forest, blinded by the night, and she tripped over a fallen branch. She landed on the ground and scraped her knee. Cursing, she scrambled back to her feet, but the monkeys surrounded her on all sides. Hands up in the air, she spun around in a circle; the light on her hands had already begun to fade. Her reckless burst had used it all up, it seemed. Great, so it's not limitless.
"Grab her, Shiro," Kichiro said.
Suzume stood her ground as the monkey, Shiro, approached her. She held up her hands, preparing to zap him. "Like I am willing to go anywhere with you." She sneered.
"You would be wise to come with us," said Kichirou.
"Ha, and why's that?"
"Because the entire Yokai world is looking for you and not all of them will be as kind as us."
"You're lying. This has to be about the Dragon." What could they possibly want with me? She touted her divine lineage often, but Suzume doubted Yokai with their superstrength and powers cared one little bit about any of that.
Kichiro laughed, throwing his head back. The other monkeys joined in a whooping laughter. She placed her hands on her hips, having forgotten her intention to zap the monkey, which made no attempt to approach now.
"The Dragon has no power anymore. The priestess ensured that when she sealed him away long ago."
"What do you mean? He's back now."
The monkey shook his head. "You really know nothing."
"Care to enlighten me, then?" she asked.
They closed in once more and Suzume held up her hands to threaten them, but the power had faded to a couple sparks. If she was lucky, she would have enough to stop one of them but not all five. The one closest to her rushed her and the aura around her shot out and burned the monkey's hand. The fur on his hands burned away and left charred flesh, which split to reveal angry red muscles. Suzume stared at the injured monkey, wondering how this could have happened. Where had these powers come from and why could she not control them?
The leader looked to his injured companion.
"Why don't you ask the Dragon? He is with his beloved now. Perhaps she can provide the answers you seek."
"That's not possible, Kazue is dead. She would have died five hundred years ago."
"Who said it was the original Kazue? Can she not be reincarnated? Is that not why the Dragon set out on this mission?"
"You're tricking me," she replied.
"You wanted to know who our leader is, well, now you know. She is Kazue's reincarnation."
***
Invisible bindings crawled up his chest, constricting his breathing. Black creeped around the edge of his vision, and keeping his eyes open proved a challenge. He should have noticed from the start that this was not some human spell. How could I be so blind as to not see it from the start? Kazue is dead, and even if she has been reincarnated, it does not change that betrayal.
"Who are you?" he snarled from behind clenched teeth. Just opening his mouth to speak took all his effort and concentration.
She laughed, covering her mouth with her hands. "I've already told you, I'm your beloved Kazue, of course."
He glanced down and long strands of hair like tentacles wrapped around his body. She's a shifter, a powerful one who uses other Yokai's energy. This must be the Yokai the giant salamander heard about. A Yokai like her usually stuck to luring human men in with their pretty face before they ate them alive. They were known to eat lesser Yokai when given the chance, but this one had grown powerful--more powerful than he had seen before--if she could read minds and take on Kazue's appearance based on his memories. Kazue's spell did more than I realized if I fell for these petty tricks.
He bared flat human teeth at her as she laughed at his struggles.
"Struggle all you like, you'll never escape."
"Since when does your kind go for bigger prey?" he said. He only needed a moment to refocus his energy and break free. Perhaps if he distracted her, she would loosen her grip enough for him to access his energy.
She threw her head back and laughed. "Much has changed since you went to sleep, Dragon."
"That is becoming quickly apparent."
"Don't worry, you won't have much time to lament the changes."
He grinned. Her admission, though indirect, weakened her spell; spells of this kind held power in the belief. The more the victim believed what they wanted, the stronger the hold. But this shifter was a vain creature and had not passed up an opportunity to gloat. If she had kept on pretending to be Ka
zue, he would not find the chink in her spell that he needed. He saw it like a hairline crack in a vase--running through the black hair that bound him was a single silver hair.
He refocused on putting all the energy he had into that one single hair, what little he had access to. Her tendrils of hair tightened around him, feeling the flow of his energy, trying to combat his escape. She had assumed her meal was coming to an end, she thought she had won. But beneath the bindings, he flexed his fingers and wiggled his toes. He could feel his energy locked behind invisible dams seeping out through the cracks and he unraveled her spell from the inside. She was so busy gorging herself on his spiritual energy she did not realize she was taking too much too fast. A dragon's spiritual energy was much richer than the average Yokai. And too much rich food could make you sick. Overstuffed, she loosened her bindings, getting lazy as she was satiated. He broke through her blocks, one after another.
"Tell me at least before I go, who is it that controls this area?"
She narrowed her eyes at him. "What does it matter?"
"Call it curiosity. I've been dying to know."
She leaned in close, whispering her mouth against his skin. She stank like rotting meat. "It was me."
"That was your mistake." He opened his mouth and icy blue energy poured out of his mouth and blasted into her face. She screamed and fell backwards, but her head, encased in ice, cracked down her forehead then a spiderweb of hundreds of cracks stretched across her face. The cracks grew until they split and broke apart in chunks. The pieces tumbled to the floor as she desperately tried to put her face together until one by one she fell apart until nothing was left but her headless torso and the slack bonds of her hair around his body. He tore it away with his claws and then stared down at the shriveled husk.
With her spell broken, she returned to her original form--blue skin, long hands and a humanoid body, shriveled and dried as an old husk. The spiritual energy she had absorbed seeped out of her and into the ground. The earth at his feet burst to life, plants poked through the ground, and flowers bloomed. The Yokai's black hair crumbled into pieces and then turned to dust. She had lived for thousands of years draining the energy of other creatures. These type of vultures usually preyed on the weak. But this poor idiot had finally bitten off more than she could chew.
"Damn Kazue," he said. If it wasn't for her, he would never have fallen for this creature's trap. How can I cut her out of my heart?
***
"How do I know you're not trying to trick me?" she asked with her hands crossed over her chest.
"What benefit would I get from lying to you?"
She shrugged her shoulders. Everything, if you can win my trust, then you can please whoever is pulling all the strings. She was not sure why, but something in her gut told her that Kazue wasn't the one behind all this. She suspected this was all a ruse to keep her here and it was working.
"All right. So say I believe it's Kazue, what does she want with me?"
"Your mother never told you?"
Suzume frowned at him. "What does my mother have to do with this?"
"You really don't know? I assumed because of your exile..."
Before he could finish his sentence, a bright blue light lit up the night sky. It encompassed the trees and the monkeys turned as one to face it. Suzume too stared as if mesmerized until something struck her in the back of the knee and she fell to the ground, encased in white light. She heard the energy rush by like a gale-force wind and the monkeys screaming in agony. After a few minutes the sounds died away. The white barrier that protected her shrank back down to size and a small figure no higher than her calf stared up at her with large black eyes set into a round head. He had no mouth but tilted his head back and forth as he regarded her.
"You saved me?" she said to the creature.
It nodded its head and made a sound like branches in the wind.
She was stunned, why would some spirit save her? "Thank you."
Suzume looked past the tiny Kodama. The monkeys were gone; only fragments of them remained. The trees were frosted--even though it was summer--and the leaves had fallen off the trees, creating a blanket of frozen leaves. What did this? Her feeble energy sparked, mixing with blue energy that raised a chill along her spine. The Dragon. She looked up as he strolled into the clearing. He glanced around at his surroundings, bemused by the destruction.
"I told you to stay put," he said.
"What took you so long?" Suzume snarled.
"I had to take care of a Yokai, the one the swamp creature said was draining other Yokai."
"I hoped she would have drained you," Suzume replied.
He laughed and then knelt down to the small spirit, who jumped into his outstretched hand. "I've put you through a lot. Thank you, I owe you a debt."
The spirit bowed.
"You left that thing with me?" She did not think he cared about anything other than his revenge.
Kaito glanced at her. "I have to protect my pet."
Chapter Thirteen
"I've had enough!" Suzume announced.
Kaito, as usual, was further up the road. The moon was out but just a bare sliver. She had to squint to see him. He tilted his head to regard her.
"You've had enough of the sexual tension and you want to give yourself to me?" he asked.
She did not even have the energy to argue. I am going to zap him for that later. They had been walking nonstop since they left the forest. It had been a few hours since then, but it may as well have been days, for all she cared. Her hair was a matted mess, mud chafed her skin, and her blisters had blisters. She did a test sniff--she stank like monkey and swamp. She wrinkled her nose.
There was a grassy knoll topped by a tree. She stomped over towards it, sat down and leaned against the tree.
"This place is a bit public, but I like a bit of danger," the Dragon said as he loomed over her, his arms crossed over his chest.
Suzume closed her eyes and ignored him. Maybe if I close my eyes, he and all of this insanity will go away. Even if I managed to get away from him and return to the palace, no one would believe that I'm the emperor's daughter.
The grass rustled beneath his feet and she could feel the power radiating from his body as he leaned in close to her. His breath fanned across her cheek. Her powers reached out probing tendrils, testing his spiritual power with her own. He did not back down but let her power caress his. The sensation of their powers mingling raised the gooseflesh on her arms.
"I forget how weak you humans can be," he said in a husky whisper.
"That's because you're selfish and self-absorbed," Suzume replied. She kept her eyes closed. She couldn't see his smile, but she could feel his amusement in the commingling of their powers. Kaito's spiritual energy was sending off sparks like it had before; in fact, it seemed to be mixing with hers.
"You would know," he replied.
She peeked at him from one eye, wondering if she wanted to take that as the insult it clearly was.
"We'll make camp, but not here on the side of the road. We're too exposed."
"What are you afraid of? You defeated the Yokai that was hunting this area."
He frowned but did not respond. A chill crept down her spine, she wasn't sure if it was Kaito's mood or some other premonition. Whatever it was, she had the feeling they were not safe. Kichiro had said other Yokai would be looking for her. What does my mother have to do with all of this?
She looked up and he had disappeared. She sighed. Where did he go now? She glanced around in several directions.
"Where are you? This isn't funny!" She twirled in place, looking for Kaito. She inhaled sharply and wrung her hands. The night was dark and the night insects were the only sound. If we get attacked by another Yokai... A hand came down on her shoulder and Suzume screamed. A second hand grabbed her other shoulder and twisted her around.
"What are you screaming about?" Kaito asked.
Suzume looked up at Kaito and felt a hot blush stain her skin. How could
I let him trick me like this?
"Nothing. A bug. A creature. Nothing," she said and ripped herself from his grasp.
He raised an eyebrow, but for once, he did not tease her. She ducked her head for a moment to regain her composure.
"Where did you go?"
"Why, did you miss me?"
"No. You said we couldn't camp here. Did you find somewhere for us to stay the night?"
He grinned. "I did, actually, and I have a bit of a surprise."
He held out his hand for her to take. She shrugged him off and followed him through the brush along the side of the road. They fought through low-hanging branches and tall grasses--or at least Suzume did; mundane things like struggling with undergrowth seemed beyond Kaito. It took a few minutes before they reached a clearing. The air was damp and smelt of sulfur.
"Is that?"
She ran towards the most glorious thing she could imagine. A group of craggy volcanic rocks created a pool of water. Steam rose from the water's surface in tendrils before dissipating in the night air. Suzume knelt down alongside the water's edge and the steam brushed against her skin like a kiss. She leaned over and dipped her hand into the warm water. The warm tingles raced up her arm and filled her in the same way the fire had. She did not see any of the red aura, but somehow she felt recharged just from the brief contact.
"A hot spring! I am saved." She sighed with delight.
"I thought you would like it." He leaned against a tree at the edge of the clearing, his arms folded over his chest.
Suzume got back to her feet, hands on her filthy hips. "What's your angle?"
"What? Can't I do something nice for my pet?" He grinned.
She decided to ignore the pet comment. "No. Not you. You're being too nice. Why?"
He uncrossed his arms and pointed. "You admit that you're my pet, then."
She scowled at him in response.
He laughed and then said, "You stink. I want to wash out that monkey stench."
She crinkled her nose at him. She hated to agree with him, but she did feel filthy and the water was calling to her. There's always a catch. Dare I risk it to have skin free of muck?
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