by Kate Grove
It noticed her.
When it lunged, Ciara backpedaled and ran back the way she came. The Voice only worked on humans. She couldn’t use it on that animal or whatever creature it was! Up ahead, the sounds of fighting reached her ears. Too many people were in one place, and if she was truly unlucky, then Juro or Kawayuki was there, too.
Ciara slid open a random door to her left and barreled inside. She shut the door closed and prayed the creature didn’t see through the thin paper walls. Her breath hitched as she saw its silhouette slowly move on the other side of the door. It had the gait of a predator.
It took its time walking down the corridor and toward the fight. The minutes crawled slowly as the creature finally disappeared from sight. Ciara pricked her ears. She was expecting screams soon. The creature should arrive at the fight in the next minute or so.
She glanced around the room, looking for something useful. Any weapon would give her reassurance in this situation, even if she had no idea how to use it. Her gaze landed on a familiar mirror.
“No way!” she gasped. Mesmerized, she walked over. As if in a trance, her hand lifted, and she stroked the strange symbols on the frame of the mirror. Her breath made small clouds on the shiny surface. Tentatively, Ciara reached out to touch it. Just before her fingers connected with the silver surface of the mirror, she stopped.
Here was her chance to go home and leave behind this crazy world with its insane samurai residents. She could go back to modern times, continue teaching, and…
Be as miserable as she had been for the last few years.
Her fingers twitched at that thought.
Or she could stay here. In constant danger but, hopefully, by Katsuo’s side. Would he even want that? Did she want that? Her throat constricted at the thought that he might not care. That he’d choose someone else. Then again, the last few days, before he showed up with a stranger at their home, had been blissful. She didn’t remember the last time she was that happy. It was probably before the car accident. She felt empowered. She felt cherished. It was an amazing feeling.
What should I do? she mused, hand hovering over the smooth surface of the mirror. She looked at her reflection. Dark purple irises gazed back at her. Then her reflection rolled her eyes, as if she was annoyed with her. Ciara was so surprised she took a step back. Her reflection’s expression darkened as she looked at Ciara, challenging her. Ciara had no idea what her reflection expected of her.
A loud, metallic clang coming from behind her alerted Ciara that the fight had arrived outside her room. She looked at the door in fear. A blade ripped vertically into the paper covering the door. Ciara gasped and took a step back. She bumped into the mirror.
“No!” she cried, as Katsuo’s face flashed through her mind. She expected to be transported back to her own time and country, but nothing had happened.
Ciara inched away from the mirror, and when she judged she was a safe distance away, she let out a sigh of relief. Her reflection stared at her with an irritated expression. Ciara cocked her head to the side, and the reflection followed then pointed behind her.
Ciara ducked at the last second and quickly jumped to the side. She twirled on her feet to see Kawayuki grasping at the air where her torso had been. He snarled as he realized she had escaped his grip. He moved toward her, but Ciara danced away.
“Get back here, little witch!”
“Leave me alone!”
“Don’t you want to go back?” he asked. Ciara hesitated for only a second before deciding to ignore him and run away. She heard his steps echoing behind her.
She jumped through the ripped paper door and found herself in the midst of a fierce fight in the corridor. She rolled on the floor, among several pairs of feet, until she hit the wall. The breath rushed out of her, but the skirmish around her didn’t stop.
Kawayuki’s soldiers fought with Katsuo’s. Ciara’s heart skipped a beat. Had he come to save her? Hope flared in her chest. Hope for a future together with Katsuo.
She had to find him.
63
Kawayuki burst out of the room to chase after her.
“Defend me!” she yelled out. The fighting stopped immediately, and all samurai turned toward Kawayuki, their swords raised high. Even his own soldiers faced him.
Ciara smirked and couldn’t help but taunt him. “Next time, make sure you’re not the only one wearing an amulet,” she said. “Then again, I doubt there’ll be a next time.”
She rushed off, leaving Kawayuki to deal with more than a dozen soldiers. He cursed after her, but Ciara brushed off his threats easily. She found another staircase leading up. She had no choice in the matter as she ran upstairs, further from Kawayuki.
Eventually, after long, long minutes of escaping and running around randomly, evading soldiers to the best of her abilities, she found herself at the top of a tower. Her face paled as she realized this was exactly what stupid people did in horror flicks. They ran upstairs while Ciara threw popcorn at the TV and shouted at them, ‘Idiot, you can’t escape that way!’ How ironic it was that she ended up in the exact same situation.
She turned back, but it was too late. She could hear the sound of fighting on the floor below. Her only option was to bar the entrance leading to the tower. She struggled to lift the heavy wooden door but eventually managed. She let go of it, and it closed with a loud bang. Ciara looked around and spotted a log standing in the corner. Quickly, she brought it back and slid it in the bracket, effectively locking herself up in the tower.
“Phew!”
Ciara backpedaled as someone lunged at the door from the other side. She had just made it in time. She turned around and bumped into something.
“Ow,” she stepped back, massaging her nose. Her eyes widened as she realized she was standing face-to-face with Kawayuki. He grinned his black teeth at her.
“I was beginning to think you were avoiding me.”
“I was,” Ciara admitted readily and took two steps back. “How did you get up here before me?” She was sure she was running ahead of him.
“It’s pointless, my little birdie,” she heard from behind and twirled around. She was stuck between Juro and Kawayuki.
“How—?”
“It was a clever trick, using our soldiers against us like that,” Kawayuki said. “But it was rather pointless, as you can see. Thank you for demonstrating your power. Now I can use it against Kitayama.”
“You wish.”
“Oh, I have many wishes,” Kawayuki said then nodded to the samurai. “And Juro here, too. Isn’t that right?”
“I’m here only to follow your orders, Kawayuki-sama.” He bowed.
Ciara backed away, aiming for the door behind her. She couldn’t get to the barred door, but maybe she had a chance if she went outside. As soon as she looked through the doorway, she felt her hopes crumbling. A cold gust of wind blew up, making her shiver. She glanced to the side to see there was only a narrow path leading around the tower with a low wall running around the edges. She could see a huge battle unfold below between Kawayuki and Katsuo’s men.
“What are you looking at?” she heard Kawayuki ask before she was backhanded.
She was so fed up with him.
Katsuo led Riku and their men through the castle, methodically going from room to room as they broke into small groups on each floor. Whoever stood in their way met their end early. As they got deeper into the compound, however, the strangest thing happened.
They met a group of Kawayuki’s soldiers already wounded, some dead, some still alive. Their injuries were bad, but not fatal.
“What happened here?” Riku asked as they made their way upstairs. He was looking around at the enemy soldiers, tumbling left and right, nursing their wounds.
“Must protect…” Katsuo heard one of them mumble. “Must protect… Queen,” he said as he lost consciousness.
Katsuo found one who was still conscious and used the tip of his katana to tilt the soldier’s head. He was mumbling the same thing ov
er and over.
“What are you talking about?”
“Protect… her,” he murmured, half-conscious.
“It’s useless, Katsuo-sama.” One of his men stepped up next to him. He was trained in medicines. “It looks as if they are under the influence by something. They aren’t aware of what goes on around them.”
“Like a spell?”
“Or badly administered medicine,” he supplied.
Katsuo withdrew his blade and thought for a moment.
“Stay here with someone and make sure you save as many as you can. I want to know what happened. But be alert. They’re to be prisoners.”
“As you command, Katsuo-sama!” He bowed and quickly gathered two more men to handle the task at hand.
“Where do we go from here?” Riku asked. “We’re almost at the top floor.”
“Then we—” Katsuo started but suddenly fell silent. When Riku was about to ask him, he raised his hand to make him quiet.
Katsuo pricked his ears. He heard Ciara’s voice. She was singing a strange song, muffled by many layers of doors and furniture. It was coming from directly above him, possibly two or three floors up.
He looked up as if he could see through the wooden planks separating each floor. The voice rose, as if Ciara was screaming. Katsuo cursed and ran off, leaving his men behind.
Riku stood there, frozen for a moment.
“What do we do?” one of the men asked him.
“One with me, the rest of you continue to search of the castle.
“Yes, sir!”
Ciara could smell rain in the air and stepped outside, backing away. Kawayuki was slowly walking toward her with deliberate steps. Juro was nowhere to be seen, and that worried Ciara more. Just what was he planning?
She saw something move out of the corner of her eye. A white crow perched atop the railing, looking down at her as if in disdain. It was a majestic creature. Ciara blinked in surprise, locking eyes with the bird for a moment. Its ebony eyes flashed with green for a split second. Ciara blinked in disbelief, but before she could do anything, the crow jumped into the wind and sailed away. In its place, Ciara could see Juro’s face.
Damn. They had cornered her while she was distracted by the rare bird. She felt a gust of wind hit her back as her legs bumped into the low wall running on the edge. There was no escape.
“Stop!” she ordered, using her Voice. The men stopped for a second before they chuckled at her feeble attempt at controlling them.
“I’ve told you, little birdie. It has no effect on me,” Juro said.
“Neither does it affect me,” Kawayuki added, fingering the thin chain around his neck. “What will you do? You either comply, or you’ll be thrown off from here.”
“If you kill me, then you won’t get what you want,” she said, trying to stall for time and come up with an idea. She could see no way out of this sorry situation. The men stopped a few feet away from her. There was no room for her to back away anymore and they felt they could take their time with her.
“What a cruel woman,” Juro said. “After killing Yura and countless soldiers, you’re going to kill your own blood, too?” He smirked. “Have you already forgotten my promise to hunt your cousin down? If you don’t help us, I’ll make sure she will.”
Ciara’s mind went blank for a moment as guilt washed over her. And Juro didn’t even know the worst of it, that she had already spilled the blood of her mother.
The wind was laughing at her.
You’re not going to believe him, are you? It was as if her mother was whispering in her ear. She had often used the wind to deliver short messages to Ciara when she was still alive. Rain started to fall in tiny drops. Let it go.
The smiling face of her mother flashed before Ciara’s eyes. She looked happy as white light engulfed her. Show them how wrong they are. I believe in you.
A big sigh tore from Ciara as if a great weight had been lifted off her, and she felt dizzy for a moment. She caught herself on the low wall at the last minute.
“Haha, look at her. She can’t even stand up straight!” Kawayuki mocked, laughing.
“Let’s end this,” Juro said, lifting his sword. Ciara met his gaze head-on. There was no hesitation in her eyes.
“You wanted a song, didn’t you?” The rain pelted down harder, but she ignored it.
Juro paused, curious to see what happened next. In the background, a loud bang resounded, as if something was trying to open the locked door.
“What are you waiting for?” Kawayuki shouted. “Idiot!”
Blackteeth unsheathed his katana and lunged for Ciara. She screamed, and even though both had protection from her Voice, the men froze for a moment at the sudden, high-pitched sound. It wasn’t a random scream, but the highest note from the aria Juro so desperately wanted her to sing. The pounding on the door became more violent and desperate.
The men’s momentarily distraction gave her enough time to start singing the part of the aria without words and full of high notes. She aimed all her anger and despair at Juro, who looked to be the more dangerous of them.
Kawayuki shortly lost consciousness, falling into a heap next to her, but Juro endured. His katana fell to the floor as he covered his ears, but the clank of the sword was lost in the aria’s passionate high notes. He stumbled back as the wind picked up and swirled the small raindrops around Ciara. Everything converged around her as if she was the eye of the storm as she sang, giving it her all.
Juro fell on one knee as Ciara reached the highest note. The swirl of violent wind and sharp raindrops turned against Juro and unleashed their fury on him. It was as if countless tiny blades had cut into his skin. Ciara swung her arms in Juro’s direction as she finished. Mini icicles hurled themselves in his direction, injuring him. He fell to the floor, bleeding from countless wounds.
Ciara’s legs gave way, and she fell back, ending up on her bottom, her back to the wall. She was panting from exertion, and her throat felt as if it was on fire.
“You never knew that was a powerful spell, did you?” she croaked, smirking at him.
The blood around Juro gathered in one spot and shot out like a spear, cleanly penetrating his left shoulder. It splattered on the wall behind him, and he screamed in pain as he clutched his injury.
At that moment, another loud bang came from the direction of the door. Ciara glanced over, seeing the heavy wooden door break into pieces, and saw Katsuo emerge from the stairway below. His eyes were molten gold as he looked around. Ciara opened her mouth to shout for him, but nothing came out. She struggled to get up, but something grabbed her leg.
Her mouth opened in a silent scream as she turned back and saw that Juro had a firm grip on her ankle. He had a sinister look on his face as he glared at her, momentarily ignoring his wound. Ciara’s voice was temporarily gone, which was the price paid for using such a powerful spell combined with her special ability. Juro’s grip tightened, making her tear up at the pain. She repeatedly hit his hand but to no avail.
The next moment, a boot came down on Juro’s arm, and he screamed, immediately letting go of Ciara’s leg. She was hurled around, and by the time Ciara had regained her composure, she was standing behind Katsuo on the other side of the small tower room.
64
“Are you all right?” Katsuo asked, keeping Juro in his sight. Ciara touched his shoulder and squeezed it in reassurance.
He glanced back at her. She nodded with a small smile. Up close, she could swear his gold eyes were glowing, but she couldn’t decipher the emotion behind his gaze.
“Good. Stay behind me,” Katsuo told her, turning back to face Juro. Just in time, too, because Juro had just thrown a shuriken at them. Katsuo quickly parried it with a swift motion of his katana. The throwing star embedded itself into the wall.
“Not today, Juro. You will pay for all your crimes,” Katsuo spat, taking a step toward him. Ciara let go of him and looked around to see if there was anything she could use as a weapon. Unfortunately, she did
n’t find anything useful.
“I should’ve killed you the first time we met.”
“Oh, spare me the dramatic speech, would ya?” Juro cut him off. “It wasn’t personal. Unfortunately for you, you just happened to be at the wrong place and time.”
“You made it personal as soon as you came into my house and turned my betrothed against me,” Katsuo replied while casually flicking the blood off his blade in one swift movement. He took up a fighting stance. The weight of the katana in his hand was familiar and reassuring.
“You’re just too straightforward.” Juro shook his head. “That’s going to be the end of you.”
Katsuo lunged at him, sword raised, and Juro met him halfway, blocking his attack mid-air. His left arm hung by his side, useless, but he was adept at using single-handed techniques. The blades strained against one another as opposing forces collided. Katsuo’s grip tightened on the hilt and felt the pressure in his arms as he pushed back.
“Is this all you got?” Juro grinned at him, showing off his pointed teeth. He put more pressure behind his sword, completely ignoring his bleeding wound. Katsuo sneered as he was forced to take a step back. His fangs were visible, too.
“You’re not the only one with surprises,” he said, letting go of the constraints on his youki. Juro was taken aback, but he quickly counterattacked with his own demon energy. Two powerful forces collided, sweeping across the tower room and hurling everything away in its path, including some possessions of their owners.
The soldiers who were about to climb up the stairs and come through the door were pushed back by the invisible force and fell downstairs. Ciara was thrown back to the wall by the pressure surrounding the two. Her instincts flared, creating a protective energy enveloping her. Suddenly, she was free and able to breathe again. It was as if she had been in a vacuum when the two youki collided. She could still feel the power swirling around the room, making her skin tingle.
