Shadow of The Fox (Shadow of the Fox #1) - Julie Kagawa Page 0,149
not permit him to fall. On my honor, I will fight as if his life were my own.”
The oni chuckled. “Good,” it rumbled, and took a step forward. Stones cracked under its weight, and the air around it shimmered with heat. “Good! Come then, humans. I have been bored for days. At least try to make a fight of this.”
“Tatsumi,” Yumeko whispered, and for a moment, the intensity in her voice calmed the rage within, piercing the bloodlust and vicious glee. “That’s the oni who destroyed the temple and killed everyone there. Please be careful. But if you can...tear him apart for me.”
The oni laughed, the savage sound booming into the air, stirring the amanjaku into a shrieking, cackling frenzy. “Yes, demonslayer,” it mocked, as Hakaimono rose up with a howl of its own, turning my vision black and red. “Take me apart, if you can.”
I bared my teeth in a savage grin. “So eager to die, Yaburama?” I heard myself say, and for the briefest of moments, caught a flicker of shock in the demon’s eyes. “You always were a conniving bastard, even in Jigoku. I’ll be happy to send you back.”
The oni’s face contorted with rage, and it lunged at me with a roar, swinging its club in a vicious arc. I snarled back with the fury of a hundred demons and leaped out to meet him.
32
Fox Magic Unleashed
I shuddered as Tatsumi gave a snarl unlike anything I’d heard before and sprang to meet the oni, whose giant tetsubo was sweeping down to crush him to the earth. At the last second, he twisted aside, the iron club missing him by centimeters and crashing into the stones. As he darted in, Kamigoroshi flashed purple in the darkness, cutting into the demon’s arm and releasing a spray of blood. It sizzled as it touched the ground, smoke writhing into the air from the puddles, and the oni howled.
With ringing shrieks and cries, the amanjaku surged forward, swarming into the courtyard, as Daisuke and Okame raised their weapons. The ronin’s bowstring hummed, releasing arrow after arrow, and demons screamed as they died. Daisuke took several steps forward, putting himself between us and the horde. For a moment he went perfectly still, only his pale hair rippling in the wind. Then, as the first amanjaku reached him, he exploded into motion, his sword a blur as it sliced through demons, so quickly he was moving on to the next foe before the amanjaku realized it was dead.
“Yumeko!” Reika snapped, jerking my attention away from the battle. “This way, before it’s too late. We have to find Master Jiro!”
A bark rang across the courtyard, Chu peering at us from the doorway, looking impatient. Reika sprinted forward, kicking away an amanjaku as she leaped over a rubble pile, making the demon yelp in pain. With one final look at the three humans, surrounded by amanjaku in the shadow of the massive oni, I followed.
Demons chased us, leaping from the walls and crawling from beneath the verandas, scuttling toward us in a red, blue and green swarm. I dodged a pale blue demon, avoiding the spear it thrust at me, and leaped over a second as it swiped a kama sickle at my legs. Fox magic rose up, but before I could think about throwing kitsune-bi around, Reika shouted “Light” and flung an ofuda at the group of demons in front of us. The paper exploded in a blinding flash that caused the mob to shriek and cringe back, covering their faces. We scrambled between them, leaped up the steps onto the veranda and ducked through the entryway of the castle.
“Close the doors!” Reika cried, spinning and putting her shoulder to one of the heavy wooden barricades, Chu barking and dancing around her feet. I rammed my palms into the second, pushing as hard as I could, and the doors gave a reluctant groan as they swung shut. Reika shoved a cracked board through the handles, just as a blow rattled the outside, followed by the angry voices of the amanjaku.
“There,” she panted, backing away. “That should hold them for now.” I dared a quick glance around, seeing a dark hall with wooden pillars marching down the center, though everything in it—shoji screens, fusuma panels, shelves and bits of pottery—was smashed to bits and covered in filth.
“Something has been very messy,” I pointed out. “I suppose demons aren’t very good housekeepers. Do you think there could be more?”