Soul of the Sword (Shadow of the Fox #2) - Julie Kagawa Page 0,165

the Dragon, if everyone I care about is gone?

With the scroll in hand, the half-demon turned to Genno, sank to both knees and held the case up to the Master of Demons. Genno descended slowly, hovering a few feet from the ground as he ran ghostly fingers along the length of the wood. His eyes gleamed, and a triumphant smile spread over his face as he nodded.

“At last. The power of the Dragon’s Wish is mine.” With a soft chuckle, he floated back, the glee in his eyes truly frightening. “Nothing will stop me, now. Aka, make ready the ship. We depart for Tsuki lands immediately.”

Without a word, the half-demon rose, tucked the scroll into his obi and trailed his master out of the hall. The two yokai girls immediately turned and followed, twin scorpion braids swinging in tandem behind them. The army, however, remained.

At the door of the temple, Genno turned back, his gaze meeting mine across the rubble-strewn floor. His three lieutenants walked on, vanishing through the frame, but the Master of Demons gestured casually, like he was tossing a plum pit into the weeds.

“Finish them,” he ordered, and was gone.

My heart turned to ice, as the army of demons and yokai gave a deafening roar of bloodlust and surged forward.

Time seemed to slow. I watched the approach of the demon army in a daze, as the circle of steel, fangs and claws closed around us. In my peripheral vision, I was aware of Daisuke, Okame and the last of the tengu raising their weapons for a final stand. I heard Chu’s defiant howl, and saw Reika reach into her sleeves for an ofuda, shouting something to either me or the demons. Then a shadow fell over me, and I gazed up into the distorted face of a blue oni, eyes glittering as it brought a spiked club down at my head.

Time jerked into motion again, and I flinched back, bracing myself to die even as foxfire surged to my fingertips. Knowing it wouldn’t be enough.

Blood splashed over my face, hot and disgusting, making me cringe. I’ve been hit. I’m dying. But there was no pain, no indication that I’d taken a fatal blow, and after a moment of waiting to see if I would topple over dead, I opened my eyes.

The blue oni still stood before me…but only his bottom half. As I watched, numb, the thick hairy legs crumpled, and the eviscerated demon collapsed to the floor, thumping next to his severed top half, brutish face frozen in shock.

Kage Tatsumi turned to face me, eyes blazing red in the hellish light. Horns curled from his forehead, and glowing tattoos crawled up his arms, coiling around his chest. One hand gripped Kamigoroshi, the blade flaring and snapping with purple fire. He gave me a terrifying smile, then slowly turned to face the army in front of him. The demons and yokai stood frozen a few feet away, staring at the newcomer with eyes gone huge with recognition and fear.

“Yumeko.” I jumped at the sound of his voice, neither Hakaimono nor Tatsumi, but echoes of them both. “Are you hurt?”

I shook my head.

“Good. Stay there, I’ll be right back.”

Hakaimono roared, the sound making the pillars around us shake, and lunged into the midst of the army.

What happened next was hard to describe. Hakaimono moved through waves of enemies like a scythe, savage and unstoppable. Kamigoroshi flared, cutting through limbs, heads and bodies, splitting demons and yokai apart. Amanjaku hurled themselves at him, clawing and biting, and exploded into small clouds of gore before swirling away into mist. A hari onago backed desperately away, slashing frantically with the dozens of barbs on the ends of her hair, but the demonslayer ignored the hooks scraping his flesh and lunged forward, cutting off her head with one swipe of his blade. A minor oni howled as it swung an iron club at him; the demonslayer raised his arm, taking the blow without a grimace, before severing the demon’s legs at the knee. Shrieking, the oni collapsed in a puddle of its own blood, and Hakaimono didn’t even look down as he drove Kamigoroshi through its back.

In the space of a few heartbeats that felt like seasons, it was over. The last enemies, a trio of rat yokai known as nezumi, tried to flee the raging oni of death as he cut through the final demon. With a snarl, the demonslayer lunged after them, cutting two down just as they reached the