24 Fire in the Shadows I

  [Player: Kazuki Arata]

  [Level: 4]

  [Waza: Black Hand, Thread Cutter, Aura Sense, Dark Rider, Retribution, Eviscerate]

  [Kegare: 3%]

  [Objective: Survive]

  ---

  The shrine bells boomed. From somewhere near the central hall a horn blast underscored great bells ringing. Kazuki, Fleet, Suzume and Karaba had been knocked off their feet by a nearby blast - Karaba, the lightest of them, had been thrown meters in the air. They barely had time to breathe when another explosion ripped through the air, this one a little farther away.

  Kazuki's ears rang. He jerked to his feet. Smoke billowed above the gate. A third thunderous boom followed, and a swirl of hot wind sent dust and gravel skittering across the courtyard.

  Karaba growled something Kazuki couldn't hear over the ringing of his ears before spreading his wings and shooting off into the air.

  Kazuki seized Fleet's hand and helped him up. Fleet's eyes were wide and his mouth was moving but Kazuki couldn't hear him. There was no time. "Fleet! Be a fox. Hide! Be safe! We're going to find the Master."

  Kazuki and Suzume sprinted toward the main complex. Halfway there, she stopped at a stack of crates, pulling out a bow and quiver.

  Kazuki looked around, heart pounding. "Karaba?"

  "He went to the Master's Hall. He's there already." Suzume said.

  "We'll help hold them back."

  Suzume nodded, though her face was pale. A full breach—something she had never thought could happen. "Be careful. I'll take the vantage up on the walkway near the gate.

  They parted, dashing through clouds of dust. Another explosion rocked the courtyard and then a new sound rose above even the explosions: A deep roar, like a man's voice but louder and more savage than any human throat could make.

  Kazuki skidded to a stop, nearly choking on debris. Through the haze, he glimpsed something huge plowing through the remains of the shattered gate; blood red skin, black-tipped horns curling around a massive bald head—an oni, carrying a black iron hammer the size of a full-grown man itself.

  Its small eyes were an incongruously delicate blue and they locked onto the main hall. Shrine attendants scrambled out of the way, some flinging paper talismans that fizzled upon contact with the Oni's thick red skin. Others shot arrows that stuck harmlessly in its muscular arms like toys.

  The red beast let out another roar and charged straight toward the Master's Hall.

  Kazuki clenched his fists. *The Master is in there—*

  But the Oni never reached the hall's doors. A black-winged blur slashed across Kazuki's peripheral vision. Karaba lightly touched the creature's shoulder before vaulting over its swinging club. Hi sword, that strange delicate hybrid of katana and epee, was extended like a stinger.

  Kazuki lost sight of them behind a swirl of dust and smoke. He heard the Oni's enraged below then, abruptly, the beast's roar gurgled into a wet gasp. Kazuki saw the dust twist and move, tracking Karaba's wings.

  Then a moment of silence followed by a heavy thud as something enormous collapsed behind the haze. Kazuki shuddered. Karaba had just taken the creature down, like a single soldier destroying a tank.

  But distant screaming and the sounds of violence echoed from all over the shrine. It was getting louder and closer. He whirled around, searching for the source, and saw—

  A giant frog, slime dripping from its mottled green skin, bounding across the outer yard with stilted, jerky motions. A giant centipede scuttled behind it, chitin clacking as it sinuously sped forward. Both creatures were the size of cars. Parasitic lumps, kobito, clung to their bodies like skin cancer, showing nothing but pale, happy childish faces laughing as the creatures they had infested tore through the shrine grounds. The frog and centipede were spattered with blood—they had left a path of destruction, including the bodies of anyone who had been in their way.

  Kazuki lunged forward not even thinking how he could fight them, as the frog pinned two shrine guardians under its massive hindlegs while the centipede snapped its mandibles shut and open with the sound of hatchets on stone..

  But then something... happened. The moment the frog and centipede locked eyes on Kazuki, they froze. They both fixated on him, an object of fascination for their primitive minds. The shrine guardians managed to pull themselves out from under the now distracted beasts and escape. Both huge creatures were silent, staring at Kazuki but the faces of the kobito, burrowed into the giant animals' bodies, were no longer laughing. They were chattering angrily in high pitched voices, demanding that their hosts obey them and continue killing.

  The frog let out a low croak and hopped backward. The centipede recoiled from attacking.

  Kazuki's hand went to his chest. He wore the Kappa King's red scale on a leather cord beneath his shirt; it was warm and he felt it pulse. In unison, the kobito parasites twitched, sensing that they were no longer in control.

  Then the red scale at his neck got even hotter. The frog and centipede convulsed, thrashing in place. Kazuki heard a viscous squelch as one of the kobito was forcibly ejected from the frog's neck, splattering to the ground. More of the wriggling parasites popped out from the two creatures, each landing with sticky thuds.

  Kazuki gaped. The monstrous frog and centipede, now freed of the kobito, slumped then croaked and hissed in confusion, no longer enraged.

  Somewhere on the upper walkway, an arrow hissed through the air. Then another—and another. Suzume's archery found each ejected kobito, piercing their bodies as they were shrinking and contorting into an ambulatory form with which they could escape. Pale fluid—blood?—spurted from them.

  Freed, the huge animals were now just that, a frog and an insect, scanning the shrine yard with something like natural instincts.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  "Go," Kazuki urged softly. The frog gave a final croak and bounded off through a gap in the walls, the centipede scuttling behind it, leaving the shrine in frantic retreat.

  Kazuki swallowed and touched the gift from D. It was cooling but still warm.

  He wanted to feel relief—but fresh explosions shattered the moment. Beyond the swirl of smoke, he glimpsed shapes pouring in: scrawny lesser yokai. Some scuttled on all fours, others soared overhead on ragged wings. Their sheer numbers threatened to overwhelm the defenders.

  Someone shouted. "Cover the courtyard! Guard the Master's Hall!"

  Kazuki gritted his teeth. He felt so helpless without the strength of kegare. But as the wave of lesser yokai poured in, he had no choice. He had to find a way to fight.

  Kazuki scanned the wreckage. Next to a battered shed used for storing garden tools, half-collapsed from an explosion, he spotted a handle and some metal. He sprinted over and found two machetes lying amid the splintered remains of a wooden shed. Their edges were chipped, but Kazuki swung them, one in each hand and... they felt good.

  He remembered how Karaba's training had shown him time and again how clumsy he was with the long razor blade of the katana. One time Karaba had said that Kazuki fought like he was hacking at weeds. Perhaps he had been right.

  When he turned, half a dozen lesser yokai were already rushing him—patchwork creatures made up of animal and insect and even toys and fabric bound together by magic,

  He lunged. The first yokai, a snarling monkey with the barbed tail of a scorpion attacked. Kazuki ducked it and hacked with both machetes in a cross pattern. The creature squealed, blackish goo spraying. Another yokai swiped at his flank. He spun, deflecting the blow with the left machete, then burying the right blade in its chest.

  The system interface winked into partial view at the edge of his vision:

  [Kegare: 6%]

  I can do this, he told himself and each kill came quicker than the last. The third yokai was a shrieking bat-thing that looked like an animated kite full of mouths. It flew overhead; Kazuki leapt, hooking it by the wing with the left machete, and slammed it to the ground. Two more strikes ended it.

  He panted, stepping back, chest tight with adrenaline. Then he felt it: a faint crawling inside him. The "corruption." Kegare.

  [Kegare: 8%]

  With each kill, that number rose, creeping upward like a black tide.

  Kazuki clenched his teeth. Part of him recoiled. It was back. Another part felt a surge of twisted relief. He had had it all wrong; he didn’t need kegare to access his powers. Using his powers created kegare!

  I'm back.

  Even as that thought flickered, a new wave of lesser yokai charged. He moved, letting muscle memory guide him. The machetes hacked left and right, scraping flesh, severing limbs. Now, with the feeling of his power building, it really did feel like a game. Unnatural fluids sprayed as Kazuki split anything within reach. Button mashing. It was... fun.

  [Kegare: 10%]

  [Kegare: 11%]

  Slash after slash. More blackish gore stained the stones. Kazuki remembered every time Karaba had pushed him to his limits, every time he had had to stand up again and again with no dark power flowing through his veins to help. Karaba had failed at teaching him swordsmanship but he had forced Kazuki to learn how to keep going even when he was at his weakest. Karaba never taught me to fight like this… but he taught me how to survive.

  Finally, the horde broke. The surviving yokai scrambled back, hissing. Kazuki, chest heaving, took a step forward and brandished the machetes, wordlessly daring them to come. Of all these nightmarish creatures, not one of them dared accept his offer.

  He bent over, panting.

  He shut his eyes, and in the darkness of his mind, he willed the UI panel to appear.

  It wasn’t the total monochrome freeze from before. Time didn't stop; the interface simply overlayed his senses.

  A frightened cry snapped him back to reality.

  Kazuki sprinted towards it, weaving past collapsed walls and burning debris. He reached the southwestern walkway to find Suzume, perched on a walkway railing above the courtyard. She was locked in a standoff, her bow drawn and pointed downward.

  Standing on the rubble below was a burly human man with stubble and a baseball cap unmistakably aiming a pistol right at Suzume.

  Kazuki's mind reeled: A gun? Another human? Then he remembered that melted Mickey Mouse keychain.

  They're here..

  "Suzume!" Kazuki called, but she didn't move or look away. The man's finger was on the trigger, the weapon aimed at Suzume's chest. Suzume couldn't have ever seen a gun before but she could sense the danger she was in.

  A heartbeat passed. Bang! The man's shot cracked out, echoing strangely. Twang! Suzume released her arrow.

  The man staggered backward. An arrow jutted from his neck as it pumped bright red blood. His eyes went wide, and with a strangled gurgle, he collapsed.

  But Suzume had been hit too. She jerked, letting out a pained cry, and tumbled off the walkway. Kazuki sprinted, arms outstretched, catching her just before she crashed into the rubble.

  Her leg… blood was soaking through the hakama of her right thigh. But the angle was wrong. It couldn't have been the man's shot that hit her.

  "Suzume, hang on," Kazuki breathed, pressing a hand to the wound. She winced, biting her lip, eyes flashing with anger. "It wasn't him," she said through gritted teeth.

  Kazuki spun.

  Only then did he see her: a young woman stepping out from behind a smoldering pillar behind him. She was slender and small, dressed in tight black pants with silver zippers and a short bomber jacket left unzipped. Her hair was bleached blond, long and straight, her nails bright pink. Smoke curled around her from the spent muzzle of an old black revolver.

  She grinned."Got sniped by an arrow, kyaaa!"

  Kazuki felt Suzume's weight sag against him. She was losing blood fast. Rage flared in his chest.

  "Who are you?" he demanded.

  "Yumi desu. Yoroshiku. You must be Kazuki, right? She giggled. "This is f'ed up, man. Why are you here with them?" She gestured broadly at the shrine in chaos with her free hand while keeping the gun loose with her right.

  Kazuki felt a surge of emotions, shock, fury and... curiosity. "You're from Earth?"

  "Duh. Not so smart are you Ka-chan?" She leveled her gun at him.

  Kazuki braced for the shot, turning to shield Suzume as best he could, but Yumi's attention turned to someone beside her, scowling.

  A second human man was beside her— lean, with short-cropped brown hair and a haggard face. He carried a rifle across his back and wore a duffel bag stuffed with cylindrical canisters. "Yumi, we need to hurry. This job's a bust."

  "Cheh. Kevin, we're almost done."

  ***

  [Achievement Unlocked: Dual Weilder]

  [Next Chapter: Fire in the Shadows II]

  Thanks for reading!

  New chapter every day at 6:07 EST.

  If you’re enjoying the story, please consider leaving a like, review, rating, or comment. Writing can get a bit lonely and feedback is wonderful!

  Who is Yumi?

  Drop your theories in the comments—I read every one.