I threw another large rock off to the side behind a formation of stalagmites. My plan worked, and all but two of them went to investigate. But then my spell ran out of juice and I popped back into existence before they disappeared.
"Fuck."
The two standing closest to the fissure passage pulled their swords and charged me. I squeaked and called my katana, narrowly missing blocking both of their slashing attacks.
"Great plan," Rome said snidely and shifted behind me, batting one of the skeletons away while I managed to remove the skull of the other with my sword. The remaining dozen or so, rushed back, swords drawn.
Remy barreled through them like bowling pins. With swords. A couple of them got some nasty slashes in mid-charge, but he brushed it off as he and his brother began a coordinated attack that left me breathless. Roki was right behind them, separating skulls from neckbones with his katana. Until the day I died, or even after that, I would never tire of watching his swordplay. I was good, he was exponentially better. He had to be, since he lacked most of the combat magics because of his nogitsune lineage.
Even Geri had shifted and was tearing them apart, limb from limb. When the last one had been reduced to two-hundred-and-six individual pieces, we all turned nervously to the gaping hole through the wall. Nothing came through, no horns of alarm were blaring, and we sighed in relief we hadn't been discovered.
I looked down at the pile of bones at Remy's feet. "Ikea skeleton!"
Rome smacked me in the back of the head. "Don't help!"
"Hey. I distracted some of them momentarily for a little bit while you got in position to decimate them with your mighty paws!"
He shook his head, his eyes never leaving me as he fought not to scream in frustration. "Gah!" He stomped off, throwing his hands up in the air and shaking his fists.
"I think he likes you," Remy said with a chuckle as he passed by me to follow his brother through the fissure.
"You guys are going for the same hole? Kinky!" I grinned at Roki and headed after them.
Slamming into one of their backs, I rubbed my nose and stepped around them. "Give a girl some warning when you stop…"
Exiting through the hole, I'd stepped out onto a wide mesa, overlooking the City of the Dead. Hellheim. The underworld.
The brownish stone beside us muted into mottled grays and blacks the closer it got to the walled fortress of a thousand spires. The cavern above it had to have been over a thousand feet high and green lights twinkled among the murderous stalactites above. No movement could be seen behind the obsidian walls surrounding the city, but purple, blue, and black flames twinkled everywhere we looked. It was beautiful. It was scary. It was the most impressive thing I'd ever seen. And I'd seen Remy, David, and Hiroki naked in the same bed.
"That's really far away. And how the hell are we going to find her once we get there? And did anybody bring any food? I'm like really hungry. And I have to pee."
All four of them turned and stared at me.
"What?"
"You're like a little fucking kid sometimes."
"That makes you a perv. I see how you look at me."
"Like I want to strangle you?"
"Uh, that's not really my kink. But you can call me names and spank me if you want." I grinned at him.
Remy coughed as his brother turned crimson red and then shifted to the ultraviolet spectrum. "Seriously? Can you not take anything seriously?"
I glanced down just below his belt, cocked an eyebrow, and looked back up at him. "Nerp."
"Nerp? What the hell is a nerp?"
"Do not get her started," Hiroki stepped behind me and covered my mouth with his hand. I licked it like Stitch licking a window, but he held fast, and I was getting saliva all over my face. It's much less fun when it's your own.
Rome calmed down and shook his head. "Sabine is in that direction." He pointed at the city. "I won't know where exactly until we get in there. Do we go, or do we go back?"
"Gmof," I muttered behind Roki's hand.
"You are sure?"
I nodded. It was easier than talking. Less messy, too.
"All right. Let's go."
Roki let go of my face and we started marching toward the city. "Seriously though. Does anybody have like a Snickers Bar or something?"
"Shut up!"
"Cuz Rome needs a snickers bar. He's an asshole when he's hungry."
Chapter 24
Getting into the city was easier than getting into the cavern. There were guards, but not outside the wall. They were inside, almost like their job wasn't to keep people out, but in. It was a city of the dead, that was probably the case. We'd just need to figure out if getting home was going to be a problem later. If we survived.
"Where is everybody?" One of the twins kept looking around suspiciously. It was pissing me off how much trouble I was having telling them apart. If I didn't identify one and keep my eyes on him, or if Rome wasn't telling me I was stupid and yelling at me, I had to ask who was who. Their hair, their clothes, their stance…all identical. Maybe I should just kiss them and then gauge their reaction. That could be fun.
But whichever one asked where everyone was, was right. The giant empty city was more than a little creepy. "I don't know. Maybe it's bingo night at the First Church of Hel?"
"That's Tuesdays. It's only Monday," Remy answered. It had to be Remy. Rome didn't have a sense of humor. I bounced and walked over to him, clinging to his arm to keep them straight.
"Can I help you?"
"Rome?'
He nodded.
I sighed. "When did you get a sense of humor?"
"They were in the gumball machine by the front gate. You didn't buy one?"
"I used my quarters at the laundromat."
"Should have told me. I would have bought you one. Hel knows you could use one." He grinned at his insult. I, personally, gave it a seven out of ten, but I was proud of him. Subtle, with just a hint of witticism.
"I buy in bulk off eBay. Gumball senses of humor lose their flavor after eighteen seconds. Then you have to spit it out."
His face fell and I felt kind of bad.
"So, which way do we go, George?"
He looked at me still clinging to his arm and I let go. At least he didn't shift while I was holding him. That might have been kind of awkward. Rome shifted and sniffed. Remy came up to me and offered me his arm. "Is this what you wanted?"
"Yes. Why can't I tell you two apart anymore?" I shot him a worried glance.
He just smiled.
"What?"
"Tell you later."
"Let us go," Hiroki said and motioned to the retreating backside of big, black, and fuzzy Rome.
Remy and I followed behind him, arm in arm, Geri off to our right, and Hiroki followed behind us, guarding our rear. Or looking at them. I shook mine just in case it was the latter. Having multiple boyfriends was a lot more fun than I thought it would be.
"Focus, Kaede."
Guess he was staring at my ass. Just to tease him, I shifted into my demi form, letting my tails lift the back of my skirt as they fanned out behind me. My ears began flicking around and I stopped cold, Remy jerking me forward with my unexpected stop.
"What is it?"
I let go of his arm, sounds assaulting me from all directions. Rome stopped and looked back at me over his big doggy shoulder, unconcerned about the cacophony surrounding us. "Do you not hear that?" I asked him.
He shifted back. "Hear what?"
"Roki?"
He let his ears and tails out, flicking around as they listened. "I hear nothing, Kaede-sama…"
How they could not hear it was beyond me. Moaning, chains shuffling, feet dragging… It was the soundtrack of a zombie movie and I was about to piss my panties. They were close, too. "They're here," I whispered.
"Kaede, shift your eyes…"
I looked at Hiroki, shaking my head in fear. I didn't want to. It was bad enough that I could hear them. I didn't want to see what was around us.
"Kaede is half inari fox as well as kitsune. She is a celestial messenger."
"We knew that," Remy said, nodding. "What does that mean for us right now?"
"She can see the celestial. The dead souls of this realm."
"They're all around us?"
I nodded in panic. "It's why the city seemed empty. It is a city of the dead. We just couldn't see them."
"We're hellhounds. The progeny of Hel, herself. Why wouldn't we be able to?"
"How the fuck should I know? What do we do?" I was failing to keep the panic out of my voice. Without realizing, I'd backed Remy and I up against one of the walls of the building.
"Shift your eyes, Kaede-sama. We need to know."
Remy tightened his grip on my arm and nodded at me encouragingly. I let my essence touch my eyes and almost shit myself. We were surrounded by the souls of the dead. "I see dead people," I whispered.
"How many?" Rome asked like it fucking mattered.
"Uh…all of them? We're surrounded."
"Can we hurt them? Can they hurt us?" Geri was making circles, staring in every direction and waiting for one of them to touch her.
"I don't know!"
One of them got close enough to Rome to reach out and touch his arm. He shrieked in pain and stepped away from the haggard soul.
"Yes! They can!" I nodded for emphasis.
Rome just sighed and shook his head, still holding his hand over the smoking wound in his arm. "How do we fight what we can't see?"
"Charge through them, swinging like madmen," Remy answered. "We take the lead and plow the way, track our sister, and get the hell out of here."
"Good plan." I squeezed his arm.
He nodded and looked at Geri and Hiroki. "Keep her safe." Then he shifted and stood by his brother as he did the same. They growled and started swiping souls in front of them. I sighed in disappointment. Their paws swished through them like smoke and they rematerialized a few feet away. They couldn't hurt them.
"Not gonna work! They're just moving out of the way!"
We were officially fucked.
Even Fenrir, who normally imparted words of wisdom during such moments of oh fuckery, was eerily silent. His body might be in hell, but his soul wasn't. I guessed he had difficulty with long distance calls. Probably didn't want to pay the fees. He should have opted for the interdimensional plan. It saved you a ton of money in the long run.
"Try your celestial fire, Kaede-sama…"
I couldn't exactly blast it out of my hand like a flame thrower. I could either do little floaty balls or call it to my hand, and I sure as shit wasn't touching them damn things. Either way it wouldn't be very effective against the horde of souls surrounding us.
"Katana!"
"Huh?"
Hiroki sighed and almost stomped his foot in frustration. "Use…your…sword."
"Oh. Why didn't you say that first?"
He did stomp his foot.
I called my katana and my celestial fire and let it slide up the blade. "Here goes nothing," I said and poured all the power I had into it. It flared a brilliant blue, leaving trails of fox fire in its wake like a light saber. I even made, "Jooo Jooo, Karaaaaak," noises as I swung the blade at the spirits surrounding us.
Wherever the blade touched, they dissipated into black smoke, but they shrieked and didn't reappear. It was working.
"What happens when you kill a soul in hell? Does it go to heaven or just kind of cease to exist?"
"How the hell should we know?" That was Rome. Definitely Rome.
"Well, it's working but I kinda feel bad."
"Just keep swinging!"
Using my blade, I stepped in front of the twins. They must have shifted back to make themselves smaller targets. I wasn't a very good shield.
"Which way?"
"Straight, go between the two largest spires and head for the highest building in the back. The one that looks like a temple. She's there. So is David. They're close enough to scent."
"Roger, Roger."
"Who's Roger?"
"You are," I answered and kept swinging, cutting a swath for us. The souls weren't stupid enough to not know that my swing was lethal, either. They started backing away and after a few more insta-kills, they fled the area. Thank the fucking fucks. My arms were sore, and I was sweating.
"You did it," Remy said and patted the top of my head. I lowered my sword but didn't feel comfortable enough to dispel it or the fire. Plus, it made a good torch and was kind of cool looking. I wondered if the school would let me run around the halls with it to show off.
We huddled together until we cleared the streets of Lower Detroit and made it to the stone steps leading up to the temple. Once we were there, I ran up the first couple, eager to get to David, but Remy stopped me with a hand on my shoulder.
"Go slow. We don't know what we're walking into. Whatever it is, it's most likely a trap."
I sighed and nodded, realizing the truth behind Remy's words. I dispelled my blade, leaned up on my tiptoes, and kissed him. I'd only meant it to be a peck, but my nerves got the best of me and I wrapped my arms around him, and it turned into something much, much hotter. Pulling away, I gave him a small smile and giggled at the confused look on his face. Then panic set in. I looked around him on the stairs and his twin was laughing his ass off.
"Rome?" I looked up again, afraid of what I would see.
He was turning red and struggling to form words. I kissed the wrong one again. "Oh, come on. Wear a fucking bell or something!" I turned around and took another step, waiting for them to follow me. At least I lightened the mood. Even Geri was chuckling as we traversed the multitude of steps.
At least, with everybody behind me, not one of them could see the blush that had crept up to my cheeks.
Finally, we reached the landing and I peeked over the ledge before fully exposing myself to whatever was waiting for us. There was no sign of Sabine. David, however, was lying unconscious–or so I hoped–on a stone altar in the middle of the open temple. The roof was supported by columns on all sides, leaving no room for anybody, or anything, to hide.
"David!" I ran into the temple.
As soon as my foot touched the first stone tile, the columns flared to life and shimmering walls of spectral purple flames coalesced, blocking anyone else from entering.
Sabine's high-pitched laughter echoed off the flame walls as if they were stone. Rome had been right. It was a trap and I walked into it like a stupid ass fox. Hopefully I wouldn't have to gnaw my leg off to get out of it.
I spun around in circles, calling my sword and flame back into existence, looking for the source of the laughter. She was nowhere to be seen.
"Show yourself, Sabine."
An arm slipped out of nothingness and sliced open my arm at the shoulder. My blazer took the brunt of the damage, but I could feel the sting of the slice and the blue blazer turned purple as my blood seeped into it. As quickly as it had attacked, the arm was gone, safely tucked into whatever pocket it had sprung from.
My fox ears twitched around the room, listening for the slightest of movements. The muffled shouts and yells from outside the walls urged me to be careful and let me know I wasn't alone. That I had people with me who cared about me, loved me, and were worried about me. It didn't do me much good cut off from them, but it gave me courage.
"So, this is how we're gonna play it? You're gonna rely on sneak attacks? Come out and fight me like a woman, you Amazonian coward."
"You're not worth my time. Plus, I like seeing you squirm like the rodent you are."
"Foxes aren't rodents, you hellish bitch. And you can't say you aren't a hellish bitch, because you're literally a female dog from hell. So, suck it, Sabina the Teenage Bitch."
"My name is Sabine!"
Her blade sliced across the material of my back and I ignored the pain, swinging my blade around me and nicking the tip of her dagger just as she pulled it back into nothing
ness. At least I hit a nerve with my verbal dig.
"David. Wake up!"
"He won't. Not until I release him from his slumber."
"Why did you take him? Had to resort to kidnapping to get a date with my boyfriend?"
"He's not your fucking boyfriend!"
"Oh, yeah he is. I had sooo much fun with him. He does this trick with his tongue… Oh. I probably shouldn't tell you this. You might get upset."
I took a chance and spun around, driving my sword down, but she didn't attack. I knew I'd pissed her off though, she was remaining eerily silent. It was time to up my game.
"Your brother, too. Holy shit, does he know how to make a Lady feel good…"
I had used the spin and strike. She would be expecting it again. This time, I fainted and sliced upward just as the dagger and hand were emerging, I'd gone for the hand, but she realized my feint. I hit the blade squarely this time, but she managed not to drop it. She screeched as the fire singed the hair on her knuckles, though. I chuckled.
"Yeah. You should have seen us. David, Remy, and Hiroki…all naked, sweaty, and sexy. Next time I'll take a video when it's just David and me. I'll play it for you in your little corner of Hell."
The shouts warned me of her attack. Instead of slicing, she was aiming for my heart, straight behind me. I rolled forward and came up, throwing my sword at the hand. She pulled it back, but my katana followed her through the hole. The handle and half the blade clattered to the ground before dissipating into nothingness.
She thought I was disarmed.
Big mistake.
She opened another portal to deliver the final blow, but she never got the chance. As soon as I saw the opening, I called my blade and fire and jammed them through the hole where her hand and dagger were just emerging. My blade pushed hers away and slid deeper into the hole, making a slick, wet, squelching sound as it slid home into her chest. I heard her gurgle from the opening.
The portal didn't close, it tore wider as it ripped through the fabric of reality and she flopped forward, slapping loudly against the ground in front of me. She didn't move, or even twitch. I hadn't meant to kill her, and I panicked as I reached down and grabbed her wrist, dragging her from the other space.
A Tail of Woah: A Reverse Harem Academy Tail (The Fox and the Hounds Book 1) Page 22
