light as the demoness lowered her arms and turned toward us. “The shrine is the anchor,” he growled, his narrowed gaze on the tiny wooden structure behind the monster. “We can’t kill the kijo itself. Something is keeping its spirit tied to this world. Destroy the shrine, and its anchor might disappear.”
“Noooooooooo!”
The frantic, terrible scream made me wince—I clapped my hands over my ears—and caused the flowers to sway wildly. The demoness whirled, covering the shrine with her huge body, wrapping her arms around it. “No, you cannot!” she sobbed, glaring back at us. “It is mine! You cannot take it! The memories are all I have left of her!”
All I have left of her.
I jerked up, eyes widening in disbelief. Could it be...?
Raising their blades, Tatsumi and Daisuke started grimly forward, while beside me, Okame fit an arrow to his string. The demoness was still crying, arms curled protectively around the shrine, her huge body trembling with sobs. “Forgive us,” I heard Daisuke murmur, as he and the demonslayer drew closer to the sobbing monster. “No one should have to live so mired in despair. Whoever you were, we’ll set you free.”
The demon’s sobbing ceased. She raised her head, though she didn’t turn to face the warriors approaching her from behind. “A curse on you,” she whispered, and around us, the very air stilled. I felt the power of her words, tinged with hate and grief, ripple out from where she stood, twisting my stomach into a knot. “May you know the same pain. May it burrow so deep into your soul your memories become poison and you drown in a river of tears. May it lodge itself like a broken mirror in your heart, cutting and slicing with every breath, every heartbeat tearing it wider.” She turned, holding out a bright, foot-long talon, her voice rising in volume and intensity. “May it rack your bodies and consume your minds, until you are a husk of what you were! Until nothing is left but poison, tears and agony, and you wish to die, but even death will elude you!”
Tatsumi let out a savage, unearthly snarl and lunged, Kamigoroshi flaring purple in the dim light. He was moving before the demoness finished her curse, but she rose even higher, eyes glowing red behind the Noh mask, and screamed.
This time, the wail was a physical force, slamming into me and knocking me back. The flowers danced wildly, many of them dissolving into black soot and swirling through the air. For a moment, I couldn’t breathe, the taste of salt, ash and grief clogging the back of my throat, as something dark and terrible burrowed under my skin.
Beside me, Okame let out a strangled noise and collapsed, falling to his knees in the flowers, his bow dropping from his hands. Farther ahead, Tatsumi and Daisuke also went down, though Tatsumi stayed on his feet a few seconds longer, shoulders hunched and sword gripped in one hand, before a gasp escaped him and he fell, disappearing into the flowers.
“Tatsumi!”
The demoness slumped back, sagging into the flowers, head bowed and hair covering her face. For the moment, she didn’t seem to be moving. I rushed forward, though a sudden cry of pain from Okame made my stomach twist. Reaching the spot where Tatsumi fell, I saw him lying in the black petals, arms curled around himself and knees drawn to his chest. He was shaking, jaw clenched, and his eyes were glassy. He didn’t seem to notice me as I knelt beside him. I put a hand on his arm, and a chill shot through me. His muscles were like steel cords, locked into unyielding bars around him. I could suddenly see fiery bands racking his body, stabbing into his chest.
“Tatsumi,” I whispered, seeing no response, no flicker of recognition in his eyes. A few yards away, there was a howl of pain that made my heart clench. I had never heard Daisuke cry out before, in pain, anger, grief or fear. “What’s happening? What can I do?”
Tatsumi’s expression contorted. He tried to move, uncurling his arms to push himself upright, but the fiery bands around his body flared and he cried out, collapsing back into the flowers. “The...curse,” he gritted out. “Can’t...m-move.” He grimaced,