Night of the Dragon

by Julie Kagawa

  “We’re fighting illusions!” she cried, and pointed at me with a long black fingernail. “It’s the kitsune! Kill the fox, and the shadows will vanish. Orochi, destroy her!”

  With a roar, the Orochi reared up, four of its jaws opening and breathing a wave of fire at the top of the steps. I cringed back as the inferno howled toward me, but before the flames could get close, they slammed into a wall of magic that flared blue-white between us. The fire sputtered out, and a few steps away, Reika winced, her brow furrowed in concentration. The few demons that made it past the samurai and Okame’s arrows hurled themselves up the steps but they, too, hit the barrier of holy magic and were flung back, though each time they did, Reika would shudder as she fought to maintain her hold on the wall.

  I flung out a hand, and a trio of Yumekos appeared to surround me. “Okame!” I cried, tossing a pair of illusionary ronin into the fray, as well. “We have to take down the Orochi! If it gets up here, Reika won’t be able to hold it back.”

  “Don’t ask for much, do you?” the ronin gritted out, but he turned his bow on the massive creature still making its way across the courtyard, snapping and crushing the samurai around it. He loosed an arrow that hit the Orochi right in the chest, but the monster didn’t even notice it.

  “The heads, Okame,” I gasped at the ronin. “It’s too big to hurt directly, but cut off the heads, and maybe the body will die.”

  The Orochi was very close now, a writhing, unstoppable force just a few yards away. As it reached the first step, an arrow sped through the air, and a head that had been rearing back to breathe flame spasmed as the dart slammed between its jaws and pierced its throat.

  As the neck fell limply to the monster’s side, a shout of triumph arose from the remaining samurai in the courtyard. Perhaps seeing that the creature could be hurt, after all, they surged forward with renewed effort, blades rising and falling through the demon ranks. One warrior, standing his ground as a head snaked down at him, slashed at it viciously and managed to strike the Orochi’s neck. The head reared up with a scream, half-severed from its body, spilling bright red blood over the stones as it thrashed.

  Another gout of flame came at me, again sputtering out against Reika’s barrier, and a demon snarled as it bounced off and tumbled down the steps. Reika gasped, and I spared a split-second glance at Tsuki-sama and the mages, desperately hoping they were almost done. We couldn’t keep this up much longer.

  A chill slithered up my spine, and the hairs on my neck rose. I turned, just as the scorpion twin on the Orochi’s back raised her arm, dark metal glinting between her fingers, and hurled it at Okame. The black, razor-edged throwing dagger, the kind I’d sometimes seen Tatsumi use, flashed through the barrier and struck the ronin in the chest. He staggered back with a strangled gasp, dropped his bow and exploded into a cloud of white smoke as the yokai’s slitted eyes met mine through the barrier. Her lips curled into a cruel smile as she raised her arm once more.

  I flinched as that arm came down, the dagger blinking from her fingers in a dark blur. I felt the wind from its passing as it missed my head by inches, zipping past me, and struck the shrine maiden in the chest.

  Reika jerked with a gasp, sleeves billowing around her, and staggered back. One hand clutched at her heart, but the other still remained before her face, maintaining concentration even as the barrier flickered and sputtered like a candle in a wind. She swayed, clenching her jaw, and dropped to one knee, as crimson spread over her spotless white haori and spattered the stones beneath.

  Reika-san!

  Something inside me snapped. The ball of light that had been a low, continuous flicker in the pit of my stomach exploded, flaring up and out, expanding through my veins, my skin, erupting all around me. I screamed my rage at the demons swarming up the steps and sent a column of foxfire roaring through their ranks.

  The blue-white flames howled, flaring hungrily as they engulfed the demons, and screams began rising into the air as the kitsune-bi consumed them. The ones that the flames touched first had just enough time to shriek before twisting into smoke and vanishing on the wind. Baring my teeth, I walked to the edge of the steps, foxfire blazing and snapping around me, and sent tendrils of fire cutting through my enemies like a kama through rice. Yokai wailed in pain, demons shrieked as they were sent back to Jigoku, and euphoric rage rushed through my veins as I seared through everything in my path.

  At the bottom of the steps, the huge Orochi snorted, pausing in surprise as a flaming kitsune glared up at it, but then its remaining heads gave angry hisses and reared back to strike. The scorpion yokai on its back narrowed her eyes as our gazes met once more, and raised an arm, the lethal dagger ready to fly at me.

  An arrow streaked from nowhere, striking her in the chest. Her yellow eyes widened in shock as from the corner of my eye, I saw Okame, jaw clenched and teeth bared, put another arrow to his string, before the second dart struck the yokai in the throat and punched out the other side.

  Somewhere in the courtyard, there was a scream of fury and anguish from the second scorpion twin, and the Orochi howled in response. I flung my arm at the monster towering overhead, scoring it with flame, and the creature turned its heads away with a snarl. But its eight long tails whipped around, faster than thought, and something struck me in the side. I was lifted off my feet and smashed into the courtyard, the impact jolting the breath from my lungs as I rolled to a painful stop on the hard stones. The foxfire flared once and sputtered out.

  Dazed, gasping through the searing pain down one side of my body, I raised my head. Demons and yokai surrounded me, and the monstrous Orochi was still attacking at the foot of the steps, only now there was no barrier and no foxfire to keep it back. For just a moment, I saw Chu on the top stair, snarling his defiance to the demons and towering Orochi, and Okame grimly raising his bow for a last stand. Then the enemies surrounding me rushed forward with shrieks and snarls, blocking my view, and I saw nothing but my own death closing in.

  And then, the area around me exploded in brilliant golden light.

  Warmth blazed down on me, like the eruption of the sun through the clouds. The demons and yokai that had been surging forward to kill me jerked back with shrieks of alarm, flinching in the intense light. Wincing, I pushed myself up a little farther, and something stepped in front of me, an elegant creature with shifting scales, cloven hooves and a single horn curling back on its brow. The Kirin, blazing with holy fire, raised its head, its dragon-like face terrifyingly blank as it gazed over the battlefield, and let out a cry that send chills racing up my back. The demons closest to us burst into golden flames and vanished, twisting away on the wind, leaving nothing behind but smoke. With a swish of its tail, the Kirin leaped skyward, soaring like a phoenix toward the huge monster near the front of the palace. Where it landed, there was another burst of light, and more demons howled as they erupted into flames and disappeared.

  The Orochi turned, its six remaining heads whipping around to face the holy beast blazing like a sun as it strode forward across the stones. With a hiss, four of the heads reared up and spat fire, which engulfed the Kirin and caused it to disappear in the flames.

  I gasped, but the inferno surrounding the Kirin flared, the tongues of fire turning a brilliant white gold and then exploding in a flash of heat and light. The Kirin continued to stride forward, the flames engulfing it almost too bright to look at. I could feel the intense heat from where I lay across the courtyard, though for me, it was akin to lying in a beam of very warm sunlight, pure and soothing. I was certain it didn’t feel like that to the demons.

  With a snarl, the Orochi backpedaled, retreating from the Kirin and the dazzling radiance shining from its body. The army, too, was retreating, fleeing blindly, while the remaining samurai struck down the demons or yokai that were too slow. I saw the surviving scorpion twin on the Orochi’s back, her sister’s body cradled in her arms, one hand stroking her twin’s pale forehead.
She shot a final, lethal glare at the palace, at the ronin who still guarded the top of the steps, before calling something up to the monster.

  With a last, defiant hiss, the Orochi turned and fled, abandoning the demon army to its fate. With shocking speed given its bulk, the monster sprinted across the courtyard, slithered up the wall and vanished over the edge. Its eight tails whipped and thrashed behind it, and then it was gone.

  * * *

  It took me a few tries to get up. My body ached, my shoulder crushed from where I had landed when the Orochi hurled me aside. I felt empty and drained, the searing, white-hot ball of power within now a tiny flickering ember. Setting my jaw, I finally pushed myself to my feet, clutching my throbbing shoulder, and gazed around at the aftermath.

  It was a scene of carnage. Bodies, both human and yokai, lay everywhere, bleeding, smoldering, some twitching weakly in their death throes or too hurt to move. The air was filled with the stench of blood and smoke, and the moans of the wounded and dying drifted over the wind. Swallowing the nausea in my stomach, I began walking toward the palace, trying to ignore the gaping wounds, the bodies that had been burned, cut open or torn apart.

  In the center of it all, holy fires faded but still glowed with ethereal light, the Kirin stood motionless, its great noble head turned toward the palace. Toward the figure of the daimyo approaching it. Kiyomi-sama had come down the steps, moving slowly but steadily across the bloody courtyard, toward the Kirin waiting for her in the center. When she stood in front of the great beast, she lowered her head and bowed deeply at the waist, while the Kirin watched her with impassive dark eyes.

  Lady of the moon islands. As before in the forest, there were no words, but I could feel the Kirin’s voice inside me. Ruler of the Tsuki. The kami have heard your request. You have called on me, and I have come.

  “Thank you, lord of the forest,” Kiyomi-sama murmured, still bowing low. “I am in their debt, and in yours. What would the kami ask of me?”

  The Kirin swished its tail, raising its magnificent head. Only that you keep these islands safe, as your line has promised since the day they made their pact with the kami. Let it be a haven for the spirit world. Let the shadow of man’s greed never touch this place, and may it be a place of peace for all living creatures.

  Kiyomi-sama straightened slowly. “I swear it will be so.”

  The Kirin tossed its head. You will not see me again in your lifetime, it said simply. Rule well, lady of the moon. For just a moment, its dark gaze flickered to me. And may those who follow rule as wisely as you.

  The Moon Clan daimyo bowed again, and the Kirin turned away. There was a glimmer of light through the courtyard, like a ray of sun piercing the branches of the trees, making me wince. When I looked up, the Kirin was gone.

  When she raised her head, Kiyomi-sama’s gaze found mine over the courtyard, and something in that grim, sorrowful expression made my stomach clench and everything inside turn to ice. Without speaking, I hurried across the yard and up the steps, searching frantically for a figure in white and red, unwilling to believe what I had seen.

  You’re okay, Reika-san. You’re too strong to die. Any second now, you’re going to march up, swat my ears and scold me for being so reckless...

  My thoughts trailed off, and the breath froze in my throat. Okame knelt beside the palace wall, Chu’s hulking, furry form across from him, both flanking a figure in red and white, leaning against a pillar. The shrine maiden’s face was pale, her hands fallen into her lap, her head resting back against the wood. The once spotless white of her haori was stained crimson.

  “Reika-san?”

  Numbly, I approached the miko, ignoring Okame and the grim, anguished look in his eyes. Chu’s soft, hopeless moans. As I knelt at her side, Reika’s eyes opened, dark and glazed over with pain, fixing on me. One hand, pale and stained with red, rose toward my face.

  “Yumeko-chan.” Her voice was barely a murmur. I had to lean close to hear her, taking the offered hand. “You’re all right. Is...the daimyo safe?”

  I nodded, unable to speak, and she smiled. “Good,” she breathed. “I was afraid you would do some...foolish kitsune thing, and then how would I explain to Master Jiro...that I let you die?”

  I choked on a sob, and the flood of tears lurking behind my eyes finally burst forth, running down my cheeks in a hot stream. “You can’t go, Reika-san,” I whispered, barely able to get the words out. “We need you here. How...how will we defeat Genno without you?”

  “Baka.” Reika’s fingers gently squeezed my hand. “You don’t need me,” she whispered. “You have...everyone else. Okame, Daisuke and Kage-san...they’ll fight for you. You’re not alone, Yumeko-chan. Besides...” She smiled, serene and completely at peace. “Death isn’t goodbye forever. I’ll be keeping an eye on all of you from the other side, don’t think I won’t. And if you ever visit the shrines and hear the kami whispering in the trees, know that I’ll be there, watching over you always.”

  I could no longer speak. I bent over our clasped hands and sobbed, hearing Okame sniff loudly, wiping his eyes. Chu leaned forward, not whining or making any sound, and pressed his blocky muzzle gently into Reika’s side. She looked over at him with a sad smile, placing a hand on his forehead.

  “You miss Ko, don’t you?” she whispered, stroking the guardian’s silky mane. “Don’t worry, we’ll see her soon. Master Jiro, too. Yumeko-chan,” she breathed, and I raised my eyes to hers, tears still pouring down my cheeks. “Thank you,” Reika murmured. “For letting me be a part of this. For all the adventure and frustration and nearly dying more times than I can count. I don’t regret any of it.” One last smile, as the light behind her eyes started to dim. “You...you did good, kitsune. I am proud...to call you a friend.”

  Her eyes closed, and her chin dropped to her chest, her hand going limp in mine.

  Wordlessly, I lowered her arm and lay it gently in her lap, folding her hands so it looked like she was just sleeping. “Goodbye, Reika-san,” I whispered, drawing back. “Thank you for everything. And don’t worry. We’ll beat Genno, and I’ll make sure the Dragon isn’t called into this world. I swear it.”

  There was no answer. The shrine maiden lay against the pillar, eyes closed, a faint smile still on her face. Against her side, Chu’s body flickered, glowed red, and then shimmered into a million tiny lights. They floated around us for a moment, warm and soft, like tiny embers on the breeze, before they spiraled up and vanished into the wind.

  20

  Departure of the Kami

  TATSUMI

  The ring of shinobi surrounded us, a silent black swarm, blades glittering in the flickering lights of the fire. Kage Ichiro hovered at my back, and from the rubble, Taiyo Daisuke emerged, nodding to me in grim triumph, but it was the woman a few yards away who drew all my attention.

  Lady Hanshou smiled at me over the bloody corpse of Akumu, Kage Masao at her side. She stood straight and unbowed, her pale skin smooth and unwrinkled, her raven hair long and thick. With a shock, I realized this wasn’t an illusion; that somehow, the Kage daimyo had restored her health, her beauty and her lost youth.

  But then I saw the black veins crawling up her arms, the dark spiderweb spread across her temple and jawline, and I realized how she had accomplished such a feat. Hanshou had always been a talented majutsushi, one of the strongest Shadow mages in Iwagoto. But those lines down her arms and face were the marks of a much darker, forbidden magic. Blood magic.

  Not that it was surprising. She had used blood magic before. Long ago, a thousand years past, Lady Hanshou had summoned the greatest oni of Jigoku to fetch the scroll from her champion, Kage Hirotaka, because she feared Hirotaka would betray her and take the power of the Wish for himself.

  Searing rage flooded my veins. Those were Hakaimono’s memories, his sudden, ancient hatred for the Kage daimyo stirring to life. For a moment, I had visions of springing forward and driv
ing my claws through the woman across from me. But that would prompt the Shadow Clan to attack, and though wiping out the Kage had always been the goal, there were other, larger enemies to deal with tonight. A whole army of yokai. And the Master of Demons himself.

  “Hello, First Oni,” Hanshou greeted, watching me calmly over the field of carnage and death. “Or, is it Tatsumi-san? From here, it is rather hard to tell.”

  I smiled, showing fangs, and raised Kamigoroshi to the sickly light. “Lady Hanshou. It’s been a while. I’ll come closer and let you get a good look before I tear out your heart.”

  “Ah. So, it is Hakaimono, after all.” The Shadow Clan daimyo did not sound alarmed, though her face turned grim. “Striking me down here would not be advisable, First Oni,” she warned, raising a billowy sleeve. “I come with an offer of help.”

  I barked a laugh, causing the shinobi surrounding me to jump. “You have never helped anyone without it directly benefiting you,” I said. “What is the catch? Why are you really here?”

  “Do you not feel it, Hakaimono?” The words were a whisper, but I still heard them over the roar of the fires and the sound of distant battle. The ancient Kage daimyo stepped forward, crossing the road and walking by the smoking corpse of Akumu to stand in front of me. Kage Masao came with her, though he hovered at her back, watching me with dark, wary eyes. “We are at the end of an era,” Lady Hanshou said gravely. “The night of the Wish is upon us, and Genno still holds the scroll. If he summons the Harbinger, nothing that you or I have done in the past will matter. The world as we know it will end. Look.”

  She raised her eyes over the rooftops, to the edge of the city and the four great statues that loomed over at the corners: Phoenix, Tiger, Kirin and Dragon. I followed her gaze and saw the figures still on each of the statue heads, arms raised and sleeves billowing in the wind. Only now, they seemed to be drawing in some kind of malevolent, sullen energy, for an aura of darkness hovered around each of them. A black-red cloud of swirling energy.