Sword Kissed Page 11

  Akari drew her sword and rushed toward the nearest demon, an oni with a white face and horns that had been chasing a young woman. The creature roared at her, trying to intimidate, but Akari could not be cowed. She easily decapitated the monster with one swipe.

  “Thank you,” the woman said as she ran toward Akari.

  “What happened?” Akari asked.

  “I don’t know,” the woman said. “The ground shook, and then there was a sound like an explosion. Then the monsters flooded into town and…” The woman stopped speaking, and her face went blank.

  Akari shook her arm. “And what?” she asked. Akari watched, horrified, as the woman’s eyes turned black and her skin ashy. Dropping her eyes, she saw that the woman’s feet were entangled in smoke. Akari stepped away and then hacked at the smoke with her sword, but it was too late. The woman crumpled to the ground like so many others who had been drained of their life force.

  Takeo grabbed Akari’s arm. “Come on,” he said. “We need to get out of here!” He pulled her and leaped onto the roof of a nearby building in one jump, dragging Akari along with him. From their new vantage point, they could see the full extent of the demon attack.

  Sentient smoke was creeping through town, sucking the life force out of anyone it touched, human and fae alike. The monsters were running amuck, destroying homes and the marketplace. Some people were trying to fight back, but they were no match for the feral beasts.

  “What can we do?” Akari asked. There were so many monsters, and the smoke that could drain them with a touch. She knew if they went back to the ground, they would be overwhelmed.

  “We need to find the rest of the Sword Kissed,” Takeo said.

  “And Sera,” Akari agreed. They rushed along the tops of the buildings, leaping from one to the next, using Takeo’s speed to move them quickly. They were heading toward Sera’s dojo. When they arrived, they did see several Sword Kissed fighting the demons, but not near as many as there should have been.

  “Where is everyone?” Akari asked after she and Takeo jumped down next to the other Sword Kissed.

  “I’m not sure,” a Sword Kissed named Watase said as she impaled an ōkami. “But Sumida is there.” She motioned to the soulless body of Sumida on the ground.

  “They can drain Sword Kissed?” Akari asked, horrified, as she kicked a bakeneko.

  “Nothing seems to be able to stop them,” Watase said as she paused for a breath.

  Akari turned to Takeo. He was wrestling with an onikuma. Even though he did not possess Sword Kissed abilities, he was at least able to injure or hold monsters back until a Sword Kissed was able to take the monster out.

  “Every time we take one out,” he said, panting, “three more seem to replace them!”

  “Where is Sensei?” Akari asked of no one in particular as she hacked and slashed at any monster she could.

  “They took her,” another Sword Kissed named Kimura said. “She came out of the dojo, and a smoke demon enveloped her. It didn’t drain her like the others, but it dragged her into the woods.”

  “And Kaya?” Akari asked of her best friend.

  Kimura shook her head. “No idea.”

  “The woman said there was a large explosion,” Takeo said with a grunt. “What was it? Where did it come from?”

  “It seemed to come from west of town,” Watase said. “But then the monsters arrived, so we did not have a chance to go see what it was.”

  “That could be where the monsters are coming from,” Takeo said. “Akari, you go check it out. We will stay here and try to hold them back.”

  Akari hesitated. They were barely holding on as it was. She didn’t want to leave her friends to defend themselves.

  “Go,” Watase yelled. “We need to stop them! They are going to overrun us at this pace.”

  Akari turned and ran toward the west. If she stopped to think about it, she wouldn’t go. She had to fight her way through the monsters as she went, but she was quick and agile and able to make it outside of town.

  She had just gotten beyond the town’s border when she saw it—a large rift had opened in the ground. Monsters were pouring out of it. It reminded her of one of the paintings she and Takeo had seen in the temple. The world was tearing itself apart. But why? Why now after so many centuries?

  More importantly, how could she stop this rift before it grew even bigger?

  She fought her way to the rift and called down into it, “Chiyoko, I am here! Teach me to help you!”

  Akari saw something coming up the rift toward her. She strained to see what it was in the darkness. She only realized too late it was the largest oni she had ever seen.

  The beast roared as it jumped out of the rift, knocking her backward and pinning her to the ground. She dropped her sword just out of reach. The beast opened its mouth and growled fiercely, dripping its pungent drool on her face.

  Akari growled back and tried to push the beast off her, but it was too heavy.

  They were at an impasse. It couldn’t kill her, but she couldn’t fight back. She looked around, trying to figure out a new plan, but then she felt her back get wet. Then rain began to fall, lightly at first, but soon it was pouring. She heard a rumbling and lifted her gaze just as a torrent of water started rushing down the hill toward her. It knocked the beast off her and back into the rift. After she grabbed her sword, she plunged it into the ground. She held on tight to keep from being washed away. Some of the monsters with large claws had also managed to hold on and keep from being swept away.

  “Ayiii-ya!” several small voices yelled. The kappa they had met in the forest were running toward the monsters, poking them with their sticks, forcing them to let go and be washed away.

  Soon, the flash flood had washed all the creatures away and was running toward town. She hoped the waters would clean away the monsters there as well. She looked in the direction from which the flood had come and saw Ameonna drifting toward her.

  “Ameonna,” Akari yelled. She stood up and ran toward her. “You saved me! Thank you! But how did you know?”

  “We hill folk are connected to the earth,” she said. “I heard you call to Chiyoko.” She then waved someone else over.

  A small green creature with clothes made of leaves drifted down on vines of ivy. She was a kodama, a tree spirit. The kodama went over to the rift, and then laid her hands on the ground. Instantly, plants, flowers, tree roots, and vines grew together to stitch the rift closed.

  “This will not hold the rift closed for long,” the kodama said in her small lilting voice. “But it is the best I can do for now.”

  “We seem to be growing weaker as Chiyoko grows more ill,” Ameonna said sadly. “But we will defend the earth for as long as we can.”

  “That is all any of us can do,” Akari said. “This is a great help. It will at least buy us time while we figure out what to do next.”

  Akari thanked all the hill creatures before hurrying back to Takeo and her fellow Sword Kissed. Without thinking, she ran up and hugged Takeo when she saw he was safe, but then she quickly pulled away.

  “What happened?” Takeo asked. “It was as though a river came out of nowhere and swept the monsters away.”

  Akari nodded. “That’s exactly what happened. The hill sprites, they came to help. Ameonna washed them away while a kodama sealed the rift, for now anyway.”

  “What should we do?” Kimura asked. “They will come back, and we are still missing several Sword Kissed.”

  “We need to group,” Akari said. “We need to find the rest of the team and Sera. We have to work together. We aren’t strong enough alone to defeat this.”

  “I wouldn’t plan on finding Sera anytime soon,” Kimura said. “There is no telling where that smoke monster took her.”

  “That is a good point,” Takeo said. “What about Kaya?”

  “If I can’t talk to Sera,” Akari said, “then I should find Yoshimi. She still might know something that can help us interpret what we learned at the temple.” />
  Takeo nodded. “Okay, you find Yoshimi. We will look for the rest of the Sword Kissed.”

  Akari nodded and headed toward her house. As she went through town, she was distraught at the level of damage she saw. There were so many people who were dead and injured. And while the flood did wash away the monsters, it had swept away innocent people and destroyed more homes as well. But she could not stop to help the people now. She needed to stop the threat, then they could rebuild.

  When she arrived at her house, though, she realized she had not been spared the destruction.

  The roof of her house had caved in.

  14

  Yoshimi!” Akari called as she climbed the steps to her house. “Are you here?” She forced the door open. Nearly everything in the house had been destroyed, the furniture, the walls, the decorations. The roof was all over the floor, and she could see the clear blue sky above. She had a feeling the flood did not do this. There was no water anywhere. She only hoped Yoshimi and Elwin had not been home when the house was attacked.

  She was about to leave the house when she heard a creak from a back room.

  “Yoshimi?” She stumbled over piles of roof tiles scrambling to get to the noise. “I’m here,” she yelled. As she got to the back of the house, there was still a wall and door intact that led to the bathroom. She tried to open the door, but it was stuck. “Hello? Yoshimi?”

  “Sakura…sakura…” a low voice said with almost a laugh, as though taunting her.

  Akari felt her anger rise. She drew her sword, and then used all her strength to kick down the door.

  She saw Endo standing there, but she was no longer herself. She was three times her normal size and half smoke demon. She was holding Yoshimi in one large clawed hand. Yoshimi was unconscious. The outside wall to the bathroom was gone.

  “Endo,” Akari growled as she lit her sword. “Let my sister go.”

  Endo laughed. “Give me the map,” she said. “And I will let her go.”

  Akari didn’t even hesitate. She would give anything to protect her sister. She reached into her pocket, but the map was gone.

  “I…I don’t know where it is,” she said. “But we didn’t find anything there anyway. Just an old temple ruin.”

  Endo’s face twisted in a grimace, and she moved her hand toward Yoshimi.

  “Sakura,” Akari yelled. “Sakura! Why do you keep taunting me? Who are you? Who am I to you? Are you Chiyoko?”

  Endo’s face writhed, as if she were fighting something, and then it disappeared in the smoke. Another face appeared, one that looked like the face of the statue in the temple. “We are all Chiyoko,” the face said.

  “I know you are sick,” Akari said. “Tell me how to help you.”

  “There is great evil in the world,” Chiyoko said. “My mother buried us in the earth to save the world. But it was too late. There was a darkness even deeper in the earth, older than time itself. I spent centuries trying to hold it back…” Her face grimaced in pain, and she started to fade. “I cannot…cannot…”

  Her face vanished, and Endo’s reappeared.

  “Stay back, Akari,” Endo said. “Or I’ll devour your sister’s soul right now! I need them. I need the energy to grow. I won’t hesitate to take as many as I need to get back to my full strength!”

  Akari took a step back and lowered her sword. “Whatever you want, I’ll do,” Akari said. “Just don’t hurt her.”

  “The end has come,” Endo said. “Do not interfere or try to stop us again. Stay away for two more days, and I will give you back your sister.”

  “What happens in two days?” Akari asked.

  “The end of the world,” Endo said.

  With that, she flew from the room and into the woods, clutching Yoshimi in her smoky grasp.

  Akari ran to edge of the house. “Yoshimi,” she yelled into the darkening sky. She thought she heard whimpering, but it might have just been her imagination. She stood there for a moment, afraid to look away. She might never see her sister again. She finally took a step back, crunching broken bathroom tiles under her feet.

  Two days. The end of the world. What was going to happen in two days? Whatever it was, could she really let it happen? She wanted to save her sister, but if she let the earth be destroyed, what would her sister be coming back to? Could she really live with herself if she let the world end in the hopes of saving one person? Would Yoshimi want her to? Could Yoshimi ever forgive her?

  No. Yoshimi was far too selfless for that. Yoshimi would want her to stop whatever evil Chiyoko had been unable to stop.

  But what could Akari do?

  She made her way back to the front of her house, carefully stepping over the remnants of her life. Her mother’s favorite serving dish. Her father’s ink stone. A framed family photo. She picked it up and held it to her chest.

  As she was exiting the house, Takeo ran up.

  “Akari,” he called.

  She fell into his arms. “Yoshimi,” she cried. “Endo took her!”

  “Endo?” he asked as he held her tight. “She came back?”

  “It looked as though she had completely merged with the demon that had inhabited her,” Akari said. “She was half Endo and half smoke.”

  “I fear we may not be able to save her,” he said.

  “I know,” Akari said. She slightly pulled away, still gripping the photo in her hand. “But she took Yoshimi. We have to find her.”

  “Why did she take her?” he asked. He stroked her cheek and wiped away her tears. “Did she say anything?”

  “She told me to stop interfering,” Akari said. “To let the evil do what it wanted for two more days and she would return Yoshimi.”

  “What happens in two days?” Takeo asked.

  “The end of the world,” Akari said.

  Takeo sighed and held her tight. “That doesn’t sound good.”

  “She still wanted the map,” Akari said. “She must think there is something of value on the mountain.”

  “She probably just thinks we are hiding something,” Takeo said. “If she doesn’t know what is there, the curiosity must be killing her.”

  “She always wanted whatever I had,” Akari said with a sad chuckle. “Did you find Sera?” she asked, suddenly remembering why Takeo had stayed behind.

  “No,” he said, shaking his head. “Nor did I find Kaya.”

  Akari shook her head before turning back to face the shell of her house. “I feel so useless, so helpless. We have been tracking this thing for days, but we’ve learned nothing! Things have gone from bad to worse. Now my sister is gone, my mentor is lost, and my best friend is probably dead!” She rubbed her arms as the tears threatened to come again.

  Takeo wrapped his arms around her. “Not all is lost,” he said. “You have your strength. You still have some fellow Sword Kissed left. And…” He paused.

  Akari turned. “And…?” she asked.

  “And you have me,” he said.

  Akari leaned in and kissed him. It might not have been the smartest thing she could do in that moment, but she needed the contact, the reassurance, the warmth of his touch.

  She felt him start to pull away, as if he too was not certain they should be doing this, but she stepped forward, telling him with her body that she wanted this, just for a moment.

  He held her close, running his fingers through her hair. She opened her mouth and sucked on his lower lip. He tasted good. She could imagine this could go much further than one kiss. Maybe after all this was over…

  She finally pulled back. “Sorry,” she mumbled. “I shouldn’t have…We need to focus on Chiyoko and stopping the demons.”

  “Don’t apologize,” he said. “Maybe when this is over…”

  “If it’s ever over,” she interjected. “We have no way to stop it. We don’t even really know what we are dealing with. For a moment, Chiyoko took over Endo’s body. She said there was a…a darkness older and more powerful than her taking over the world. If she can’t contain it, what
chance do we have?”

  “We have to believe there is a chance,” Takeo said. “Otherwise, why keep going?”

  She took a deep breath and nodded uneasily. He was right. They had to keep going, keep fighting. It would at least give them something to do while they waited for the end of the world.

  “Elwin,” Takeo gasped as he looked up at the house, as though seeing the destruction for the first time. “Where is Elwin?”

  “I don’t know,” Akari said. “I didn’t see him inside.”

  Takeo held his hands up and closed his eyes, as if he were sensing something. “I can feel him,” Takeo said. “He must be hiding.” He leaped up the stairs and went through where the door used to be. “Elwin?” he called.

  Akari followed, feeling a little guilty she had completely forgotten about the boy.

  Takeo went into the guest room where Elwin had been sleeping. “Elwin?” he asked again.

  “Here,” a small voice replied. The futon mattress was leaning up against the wall and was covered with debris. The mattress moved a little bit. Takeo pulled the mattress down, and there was Elwin, completely unharmed.

  Akari could almost feel Takeo’s relief wash over him as he ran to the boy and took him in his arms.

  “Elwin-chan! You did a great job hiding,” Takeo said.

  “The house started to shake,” Elwin said with a whimper. “Yoshimi-san told me to hide. I didn’t want to leave her, but I was so scared. Is she okay?”

  “Yoshimi will be fine,” Takeo said to comfort the boy, even though he had no way to know if it was true or not. He picked up Elwin and turned to Akari. “We need to find someone else to care for him until this is over.”

  Akari nodded. She started to leave the house, but she stopped and placed the photo on what used to be the family altar. She kowtowed three times, asking for the blessings of her ancestors, something she hadn’t done in ages.

  Takeo came up behind her. “Who…who is in the picture?” he asked.