He twisted sideways and a shining arrow flashed past his shoulder. Among the foggy plumes, a kami drew another arrow back to his cheek. The point lit with his ki and he let the projectile fly.
As Yumei and a daitengu appeared in the torii, the arrow whooshed past Shiro, missing him by a foot. It struck the daitengu and he fell, convulsing with the shaft sticking out of his ribs.
Shiro vaulted forward, Emi still clinging to his back. The kami nocked another arrow and fired point-blank. Shiro cut it down in midflight with his staff, then tore the blade through the bow. Light flashed over the kami as he cast a shield.
Shiro whirled, angling for another strike, but the kami snatched Emi’s long sleeve. He ripped her off Shiro’s back and swung her over the open crevice beside the pathway. With a flailing hand, she grabbed the kami’s wrist and pulled him over the edge with her.
Shiro dove after them. Hanging half off the ledge, he grabbed the back of her obi, stopping her fall. The kami, clinging to her sleeve, pulled a short sword from the sheath at his hip. She dug her fingernails into his wrist.
“Shukusei no tama!” Hot ki flared through her and light flashed beneath her hand.
Purification magic surged through the kami and his grip on her sleeve faltered. He fell, vanishing in the steam.
Shiro drew her up and, for a single instant among the chaos, he crushed her against his chest, his face in her hair. Somehow her arms were around his neck, and she held him just as tightly, knowing it was their final embrace, their final moment together. There would be no more time for farewells.
One moment was all they could spare, and then he released her and turned back to the gate.
Yumei had pulled the arrow from his daitengu and the warrior was on his feet again, ready to fight on. The other four raven yokai waited behind him, and with them stood the two Shijin, Genbu and Suzaku. The latter had shifted to a new form that was a cross between the red-haired woman Emi had seen before and the great eagle, with scarlet wings furled against her back and a long tail of feathers that dripped flame.
With a final glance over the assembled warriors, Shiro pulled Emi onto his back again. He launched down the pathway into the web of lava and boiling steam. Yumei matched him stride for stride, and the others followed in a line, weapons gleaming in the red glow. Shiro seemed to know exactly where he was going. He and the other Kunitsukami must have scouted this place before Izanagi blocked the gates.
Shiro carried her into the long grasses of the meadow. At the far end of the plain, a column of silvery light rose from the top of the mountain ridge toward the cavern ceiling. Had Izanami completed the ritual?
Not yet, Amaterasu whispered, but soon.
Emi could feel Amaterasu’s frustration; she was desperate to descend and bring her full power to bear, but she dared not descend now and incapacitate Emi and herself in the middle of battle.
Halfway across the meadow, a figure encased in golden light awaited them—Izanagi, shielded within his sun barrier. Arrayed behind him, eight kami stood with magic already shimmering in their hands, protective shields in place.
Still running at full speed toward the waiting enemy, Shiro glanced at Yumei beside him.
“Are you ready for this?” he asked.
“Worry about yourself, kitsune.” Yumei’s eyes gleamed, and his cold warrior mask splintered into a savage grin. “Even if I should fall—this night, the battle calls to me.”
Shiro seemed almost as shocked by the Tengu’s grin as Emi, but then he laughed. Without breaking pace, he signaled the yokai behind him.
Suzaku rushed past him with a sweep of her wings, and Genbu followed, knives of ice filling his hands like crystalline claws. They charged Izanagi as Shiro angled away from the deadly Amatsukami.
As the line of kami moved forward to support Izanagi, Yumei barked an order. The five daitengu flew ahead on pumping wings, speeding toward the kami. Swords came free of sheaths and darkness rippled over them. Beneath the moonlight, with shadows trailing from their wings and blades shining, the daitengu were sinister wraiths, bringers of death—fierce, fearless, unstoppable.
Suzaku reached Izanagi. She didn’t even slow as she whipped her naginata at his barrier. The bladed pole arm struck the dome of light in a fiery explosion. As she spun past him, Genbu flung daggers of ice into the barrier. They shattered against the shield and light rippled upon impact as the arctic cold dimmed the power of the sun.
With Yumei flanking him, Shiro bounded through the grass, intending to bolt past Izanagi and straight for the mountain. Izanagi whirled, a glowing katana in his hands, and when Suzaku slashed at him, he caught the long haft of her naginata with his blade and a flare of golden light threw her back. He whipped around with inhuman speed and launched into Shiro’s path.
Skidding, Shiro pivoted away from the Amatsukami’s sword.
“Yumei!” he shouted as his hand closed around Emi’s arm.
Before she could do more than gasp, he swung her off his back and threw her toward Yumei. The Tengu caught her in his arms.
“Go!” Shiro yelled, and he vaulted in front of Izanagi, staff whipping down. His blade slammed into Izanagi’s sword in a sizzle of fire and light.
As Yumei careened away from the battling gods, he folded his wings and swung Emi onto his back, freeing his hands to fight. She gripped his shoulders, cursing her unwieldy kimono.
Ahead of them, the daitengu were locked in battle with the kami, and magic bombarded the meadow. At Yumei’s fast approach, the nearest pair of kami faced him. Shadows writhed over him, red magic forming strange runes across his hands and forearms. As his daitengu drove into the wall of kami, Yumei cast his hands outward.
Darkness blanketed the meadow, an impenetrable night that obscured even Izanagi’s golden barrier.
Yumei shot forward, Emi able to discern his movement only by the wind in her face and her sense of vertigo. Izanagi’s sunlight ruptured the darkness and the unnatural night evaporated as quickly as it had fallen, but Yumei was already past the line of kami.
Leaving the battle and their allies behind, he half ran, half flew across the open meadow. The rocky ridge loomed in front of them, and he sprang onto the barren slope.
Emi clutched his shoulders, pressing close so she wouldn’t unbalance him as he charged up the steep rocks with powerful leaps and beating wings. She focused on the beam of light rising toward the cavern ceiling and ignored the detonations of magic coming from the meadow behind her, refusing to think about Shiro facing off against Izanagi’s lethal magic. Stopping Izanami was up to her and Yumei now.
The crest loomed ahead of them, and with a mighty sweep of his wings, Yumei flew over the edge.
Magic erupted around them. His arms snapped over his face, a dark shield forming as three blasts struck them. The force hurled him backward and he landed hard on his knees on the plateau’s edge.
Three kami advanced, magic glowing along their swords. Behind them, in the center of the plateau, Izanami stood at the edge of the circle, holding the heavenly spear as she chanted. Light beamed into the sky in an incandescent column and electric power singed the air.
Dislodging Emi, Yumei lunged to meet the oncoming kami. His spear spun in his hands and shadows rippled off his wings. As they met his charge, the kami split, circling him with their swords a blur of deadly steel.
Yumei slipped between two katana, caught the third on the haft of his spear, and smashed his elbow into the face of the kami behind him. Magic flashing, they closed in and he ducked a sword while kicking another kami’s foot out from under him.
Emi couldn’t stop to watch. She couldn’t help. Instead, she darted past them toward Izanami.
The brilliant circle pulsed. Izanami lifted the spear high, her voice rising with power, and the mountain shuddered. With a final cry, she thrust the diamond spearhead into the light.
A sound like thunder boomed through the cavern. Radiance burst outward in a sheet of light that spanned the entire cavern ceiling, and the power s
wept toward the earth. It slammed onto the plateau, throwing Emi and Izanami to the ground, before continuing down the mountain slopes. Gasping, Emi raised her head.
Where the column of light had been, a massive pillar of smooth white marble now sat upon the plateau. From its base, eight immense ribbons of light extended as though the pillar pinned them to the ground. They flowed upward in a tangle, untouched by gravity, and passed through the cavern walls and ceiling as though they were insubstantial.
The Bridge was open. From across the dozen paces between them, Emi met Izanami’s stare.
Izanami leaped up and sprinted toward the heavenly roads. Emi ran after her, a blade of wind forming in her hands. Amaterasu’s power streamed through her as the goddess guided Emi’s limbs.
Stopping in the circle of light, where all eight roads converged, Izanami raised the spear. Light refracted from the diamond point in a rainbow of colors and she turned to face one of the roads.
Before she could step onto the heavenly pathway, Emi lunged in with her wind blade extended. Spinning around, Izanami caught Emi’s blade on the spear’s haft.
“You cannot stop me.” Izanami sounded calm, her expression composed. “I will not fail.”
She thrust the spear out, throwing Emi away. Emi sprang again and a gust threw Izanami back a step, but the goddess parried Emi’s strike. Izanami whipped the haft down and struck the back of Emi’s knee, buckling her leg. She fell back and rolled, barely evading the spearhead.
“You are a fool, kamigakari,” Izanami said coldly. “You would condemn your world to self-destruction?”
“To protect it from you,” Emi shot back as she jumped up and blocked the spear with her blade.
“You cannot see this world suffering. You cannot feel it dying.” Izanami’s face tightened, pain rippling across her delicate features. “I can feel it. I have felt it for centuries. I will not allow it to continue any longer.”
Emi hesitated, Izanami’s torment catching her off guard. The goddess snapped the spear at Emi, the diamond blade catching her kimono and tearing the silk. Scrambling away, Emi realigned her grip on her sword and dove in again. Spear and blade crashed together, and a blast of wind swept into Izanami, shoving the goddess back. Izanami jerked her chin and the earth rumbled. Cracks opened beneath Emi’s feet, tripping her.
Sword against spear, wind against earth, they battled beside the great pillar, surrounded by the eight heavenly roads. The diamond spearhead found Emi’s skin, but she didn’t falter. Again, the weapon slipped through her guard and bit into her flesh. She fought on.
Izanami drove Emi back, the earth cracking and buckling beneath her. Struggling for balance and braced by the wind, she fought to find an opening. Amaterasu guided her, fighting through her, but with her ki split between worlds, the goddess’s power was waning too quickly.
Emi swung her blade and Izanami slipped aside. As the ground heaved under Emi’s feet, the spear haft whipped around and struck Emi’s shin with a crack, buckling her leg.
Izanami spun the spear again and sliced the back of Emi’s hand. The wind blade fell from her grasp and vanished as the power forming it lost shape. The effort of commanding elemental magic in this realm was devouring her ki, and Amaterasu’s guiding strength faltered.
Izanami pulled the spear back, aiming for Emi’s heart.
Instead of ducking, instead of dodging, Emi threw herself forward and caught Izanami’s wrist in one hand.
“Sotei no shinketsu!” she screamed.
The binding spell erupted over Izanami in a wave of bluish-white light. The binding lasted only a few seconds—just long enough for Emi to yank the jade knife free from her obi and slash wildly at the goddess. The blade scored deep across Izanami’s belly.
Izanami’s paralysis broke and she thrust the spear between Emi’s ribs. Blood splattered the ground—hers and Izanami’s. As the knife fell from Emi’s injured hand, she staggered back, her broken leg trembling weakly. Izanami, gasping in pain with blood running down her front, raised the spear.
Emi grabbed the haft and shoved it upward. Balling up her other hand, she threw her fist into Izanami’s cheek. The impact ricocheted up her arm, and Izanami fell.
Amaterasu’s power flooded through Emi. Wind swirled in her hands, reforming into a blade, and she raised it over Izanami. Finally, this would all end.
A rough hand grabbed Emi’s arm. Someone jerked her back and swung her around.
Then a glowing blade slammed into her chest.
Emi gaped at the sword buried in her body almost to the hilt. With quivering muscles, she lifted her head and met Izanagi’s cold, dark eyes. He smiled at her, a satisfied smirk that said she should have known she couldn’t win, that she couldn’t defeat them.
He yanked the blade out, tearing the wound open. Emi staggered, hands clutching at the blood gushing from her chest. Izanagi veered around, his blade snapping up. From out of the shimmering light all around them, Shiro appeared, fiery tails flaring out behind him and double-bladed staff whipping toward Izanagi. Their weapons collided.
Emi stumbled back another step, weakness overwhelming her body. She had to help. She had to …
Her knees hit the ground. The world around her blurred.
Then power blasted into her as though lightning had leaped from the heavens into her body. Scalding kami ki poured into her mortal flesh, and with it came a familiar but alien spirit, an impossibly vast mind and undeniable will.
Amaterasu was descending, and Emi was swept away on the tides of celestial power.
Chapter 27
Amaterasu’s ki flooded her human vessel as her spirit settled within its new housing. She cast her healing magic through the damaged flesh and agony flared as damaged bones and organs knit together.
As the body healed, she felt Emi’s awareness falter and fade, overwhelmed by kami power, but Amaterasu had no time to mourn her.
Ignoring the pain, she forced herself into a sitting position, one hand pressed to the healing wound on her chest. Only a few feet away, Inari and Izanagi battled. Fire sparked off Inari’s staff as it hammered into the sun god’s golden barrier.
Within Amaterasu, Emi stirred, her grief and longing kindling at the sight of Inari’s wounds. Blood drenched his kosode and streaked his face.
In a rush of movement and light, Susano sprang onto the plateau. The horns of his dragon form protruded from his hair and a long reptilian tail snapped from side to side behind him. In his hands, Murakumo shone with power. He barreled into the battle, swinging his blade across his body in a two-handed strike. It slammed into Izanagi’s barrier with a blast of lightning, throwing the Amatsukami back.
From opposite sides, the two Kunitsukami attacked. Izanagi bared his teeth and a flare of golden light flung the yokai away. His sword caught Susano’s shoulder, gouging a deep wound, and as Inari lunged at him from behind, the sun god thrust a hand out. A blast of superheated air hurled Inari into the pillar. He struck it hard and slumped, too stunned to rise.
The ground rumbled.
Sarutahiko charged across the plateau, a massive, curved sword in his grip. The mountain vibrated with each step, and shards of rock jutted from his shoulders like spikes of armor. Around the edges of his face and across his hands, his skin had darkened with the texture of stone.
Susano jumped aside, clearing a path for his leader, and Sarutahiko met Izanagi’s shield with a crushing blow that sent shockwaves through the plateau. Inari staggered up and rejoined the fight, and together the three Kunitsukami surrounded Izanagi.
Breathing heavily as the final stages of healing completed, Amaterasu clambered painfully to her feet and turned her back on the battle. Where Izanami had fallen, a crimson smear stained the glowing surface, but the goddess was gone. With a pounding mortal heart, Amaterasu ran several steps then stopped. She couldn’t see Izanami on any of the eight identical roads.
Blood, Emi whispered.
Amaterasu jerked her head down. A red smudge marked a step that Izanami
had taken. Amaterasu followed it with her gaze, seeing a second smudge and splattered droplets—then a third, clearly set upon the second-to-nearest road.
The mountain quaked and Amaterasu stumbled. She looked back.
Sarutahiko, Susano, and Inari circled Izanagi, striking his barrier over and over but unable to break through. Blood stained the shoulder of the sun god’s kimono, the spot where Emi had stabbed him days ago, yet his sword still flashed toward the Kunitsukami, seeking their flesh.
Then, from over the crest of the plateau, Uzume appeared. She flitted toward the battle on light, agile feet, tawny-feathered wings rising from her back and her hair bound in a tight bun. She had exchanged her beautiful kimono for the simple, close-fitting garments of a warrior.
She held no weapons, instead carrying a fan of ofuda in her hands. Her movements as swift and smooth as long-practiced choreography, she slipped past her husband and raised an ofuda. The paper talisman flashed green and hovered weightlessly. She pivoted beneath Inari’s staff and set another talisman in the air.
She danced through the battling warriors, laying her ofuda with nimble grace until they hovered in a circle around the battling men. Only as she placed the last one did Izanagi notice what she had done. He staggered back a step.
The three male Kunitsukami ducked out of the circle as Uzume held up the last talisman. Lines of green light shot from the ofuda in her hand to connect them all in an eight-pointed star with Izanagi in the middle.
Emerald power exploded from the talismans, engulfing Izanagi’s barrier in a violent barrage.
Susano raised his sword. Lightning leaped from the blade and crashed down upon the sun god. Then Inari and Sarutahiko struck simultaneously, and beneath the onslaught, the golden barrier shattered. Sarutahiko’s sword ripped through Izanagi’s chest.
Finally, the sun god fell.
As he crumpled to the ground, a pale glow swept over his skin. Radiance rose off his body like heat waves as his celestial spirit separated from the dying vessel that could no longer hold it.