Soul of the Sword (Shadow of the Fox #2) - Julie Kagawa Page 0,155

kitsune who had outsmarted everything that had stood against her. She had done the impossible: fooled Hakaimono, possessed a demon lord and freed the soul he held captive. Together, we had a chance.

Though this wouldn’t be easy, by any means.

For a moment, Hakaimono was motionless, his blade and inky skin blending into the void around us. His horns and eyes glowed red in the blackness, and I could feel the energy gathering around him, the drawing of terrible power. Raising my sword, I forced my muscles to relax, preparing myself to respond when Hakaimono moved.

I was almost too slow. One second, the oni was frozen against the void, the next he was in front of me, and that obsidian blade was scything toward my face. I leaped back on instinct, bringing up my sword, and felt the jarring screech of the two blades vibrate up my spine. Hakaimono didn’t give me time to recover. He pressed forward with blindingly quick blows that set me scrambling backward, desperately fending them off. The clang and shriek of swords echoed around us, sparks flying between the blades and flashing across the demon’s savage grin.

With a brilliant flare of light, something streaked toward Hakaimono’s back, and the oni spun, ducking his head as a sphere of blue-white flames flashed between his horns, setting a few strands of hair aflame. Spinning back, he blocked my thrust to his heart and responded with a vicious swipe at my head that forced me to retreat a few steps. But then another globe of foxfire streaked through the darkness, and Hakaimono couldn’t dodge quickly enough. As he whirled around, the kitsune-bi struck his sword arm and exploded in a brilliant flash of light.

The oni’s snarl of pain shocked me. Foxfire was nothing but light and illusion; it wasn’t dangerous unless you did something foolish and let it lure you into the unknown. But as Hakaimono lowered his arm, I saw the curls of smoke rising from his skin, and his lips were pulled back in a grimace of pain. Somehow, Yumeko’s kitsune-bi had turned deadly, deadly enough to burn an oni lord.

“Well. Wasn’t that a surprise.” Hakaimono’s voice was soft, dangerous, as he turned his full attention on Yumeko. His arm was already healing, singed flesh becoming full and healthy in a matter of heartbeats. “You’ve picked up a few tricks, little fox. I see I’m going to have to take you a bit more seriously, after all.”

Yumeko, standing defiant with her ears laced back and her hands glowing with foxfire, met the oni’s terrible smile and didn’t back down. “Come on then, Hakaimono,” she challenged, and suddenly, her body split apart, becoming two, six, ten, twelve Yumekos, surrounding us in a circle. Hakaimono’s brows arched, and the ring of kitsune grinned. “Catch me if you can.”

I flew at the oni with a snarl, slashing my blade toward his neck, hoping to catch him off guard. With an almost irritated growl, he blocked my sword and surprised me by lashing out with a long arm, sharp claws reaching for my eyes. I dodged back, but not quickly enough, and curved black talons raked four deep gouges across my cheek.

Pain exploded through my face, and the force of the blow sent me tumbling sideways. There was no blood as I rolled upright, though I certainly felt the throbbing agony slashed across my skin, pieces of my soul that had been ripped away. I swiped a sleeve across my face and looked up, just as the ring of Yumeko gave a unified shout of fury and hurled a dozen spheres of foxfire at the oni between us. Hakaimono hunched his shoulders and shielded his face as they all converged in the center, and the globes of kitsune-bi slammed into him with the roar of an inferno. The First Oni disappeared into the blaze, and for a moment, the blue-white conflagration snapped and flickered like an enraged phoenix in the center of the void.

I took a breath and lowered my arm, as the army of kitsune disappeared with pops of white smoke until only one was left. As the flames of kitsune-bi began to flicker and die, she turned and gave me a triumphant smile, the ghostly light of the foxfire dancing in her eyes.

A low chuckle cut through the darkness, making us freeze, and Hakaimono stepped out of the flames. Kitsune-bi clung to him, blue-white flames snapping around his shoulders and up his arms. He was definitely hurt; ribbons of