Rui leaped at her; she didn’t have a chance. The demon jabbed sideways with the hilt of her sword and hit Rui so hard she fell back against the garden fence and flipped over.
Jobo struck at the monster again and again, landing three blows from his spear and bearing the damage that should have been inflicted uponher. His words echoed in her mind.Any who strike such a demon will bear the injury themselves…
Hososhi, now, do it now.
Rui felt a flash of pain, and when she rose, she saw through the god’s own eyes. She saw two souls in the demon’s body, one young and afraid and in pain, one dark and full of malice.
She ran at them again.
The woman cried, “I don’t want to kill you, child!”
It stopped Rui in her tracks.
“… Who are you?” she asked.
Jobo struck. Chanting a prayer, a vow to the gods of the mountains, he attacked the monster with an overhand swing, but she avoided it, spinning at the last second, bringing her own blade to bear.
The spear broke in two.
Jobo smashed the broken shaft at the demon, who dodged again. He called an invocation. Rui recognized the words: the god-spear, the spear of heaven, bound with magic, the spear that killed the gods, strike down, strike now, strike now.
He held the broken shaft near the blade, made a desperate cut against the demon’s heart. Again she evaded. Again she retaliated, but this time he jumped. The sacred spear blazed with power, blinding her.
Rui saw it an instant too late.
He leaped over the demon’s head.
And landed behind her.
The demon’s eyes widened with shock.
And he struck. Cutting across her heart as she turned.
The demon gasped. And stood motionless. Jobo remained, staring into her eyes. The keen edge of the spear glinted in pale light.
Blood erupted from his chest.
Rui screamed. “Teacher!”
He sank to his knees. Blood pooled on the dirt around him. He coughed. He made a wet sound; he tried to breathe.
“Rui,” he said.
And fell back.
Rui could only scream in horror. The demon stood before him, motionless again.
“Teacher!” She rushed to his side.
“Rui,” he gasped. “Get away. Get away.”
She couldn’t. She stood, her master sorely wounded beside her, and faced the demon alone.
For just a moment, the demon seemed to change. Instead of a monster, Rui thought she could see the woman as she used to be, before the demon possessed her, before she’d become its servant.
Time hung around them.
The spear lay broken where it fell.
