I took a deep breath as I opened my palm to look at the charm. It blazed in my hand, but instead of telling it to pipe down, I gathered my power around me and latched onto theyokispilling out of thecharm.
“Rise, Umigame,”I called in Japanese, my voice echoing with power.“I summon you from the oceandepths.”
A bright green ball of energy burst from the charm and hurtled straight for the ocean. It hit the water with tornado-like force, throwing water in every direction as the sea began to spin. Foam sprayed up from the whirlpool as the ocean bubbled and frothed below us, and the three of us backed away from the ledge, fear rising in my chest to chokeme.
“Take cover!” Raiden barked as an enormous wave began to crest. He dragged Shota and me up against the cliff, which thankfully curved inward, providing a tiny bit of shelter. We watched in horror as the wave climbed to five, ten, fifteen feet of frothymadness.
This isreallygoing tosuck.
Sucking in a breath, I squeezed my eyes shut and clung to Raiden and Shota as the wave crashed into us. The icy water smashed us into the cliff wall, but since we were already pressed against the rocky face, it didn’t hurt as much as I’danticipated.
“Dammit!” Shota gasped, spluttering as the water sluiced back down the cliffside. “My pants areruined!”
Raiden snort-coughed, hacking up sea water. Or at least I thought that was what he was doing—I couldn’t see him as I was bent forward, coughing out a lungful of water myself. “You should have thought about that when you asked to go riding in on a sea tur…” His voice trailedoff.
“Holy shit,” Shota breathed. “You really did it,Aika.”
Slowly, I lifted my head to the ocean. My mouth dropped open in awe, and the miserable wetness and the lightheaded feeling of barely escaping death faded away. Floating in the ocean, right in front of us, was amassivesea turtle. He had to be about thirty feet long and nearly as wide, with a gorgeous iridescent shell and dappled blue and black skin that covered his head and limbs. His body was turned sideways, and he regarded me out of his enormous lefteye.
“You summoned me?”he asked in Japanese, his voice echoing in the air even though he didn’t open hismouth.
“Umm.”I swallowed, my throatverydry all of a sudden.“Yes,”I said, stepping forward.“My friends and I would like safe passage to Ryujin’s kingdom. Can you take usthere?”
“Hmm.”TheUmigame’seye narrowed. The top of my scalp began prickling, and I stiffened as the sensation swept me from head to toe. Was it doing some kind of weird scan on me? Shota and Raiden shivered next to me, and I wondered if they were feeling the same thing.“Yes, the three of you are strong enough to ride.”TheUmigamedrifted closer to us until the side of its shell scraped up against the cliff wall.“Jump onto myback.”
I swallowed, peering over the edge of the cliff—it was a twenty foot drop at least. How were we going to get down there without breakingsomething?
“Don’t worry,” Shota said, correctly interpreting the look on my face. He unzipped a pocket on the pack he’d slung over his back and withdrew anofuda.“Hiyaku!”he cried, tossing the strip of paper into the air.Soar.
Theofudalit up, then exploded with a hugepop, like a kernel of corn in the microwave. My eyes widened as a huge white feather floated down in its place, coming to hover just beyond theledge.
“Ofudasaren’t only good for warding offyureiandyokai,” Shota said as he hopped onto the feather without a care in the world. It shivered slightly beneath his weight, but it held. “Hop on!” He held a hand out to me, as if he were merely asking me to cross the street instead of board a giantfeather.
Swallowing hard, I took his hand. He squeezed my hand, giving me an encouraging smile that banished some of my nerves. Carefully, I pressed my foot against the feather to see if it would hold. I fully expected the fluffy strands to part, but they held, resisting the pressure. Satisfied, I stepped onto it, then moved aside so Raiden could joinus.
“Koka suru,” Shota ordered the feather.Descend.The feather slowly drifted down, depositing us onto the giant sea turtle’s back. The moment it touched theUmigame’swet shell, it disintegrated, turning into a soggy piece of paper. “One-time use only,” he explained as he settled, cross-legged, onto the turtle’sback.
“You guys have to teach me how to use those sometime. They seem really useful,” I said as Raiden and I sat down on the hard, damp shell. Thoseofudacharms were looking more and more appealing by the second. “How many different kinds ofofudaarethere?”
“A lot,” Raiden said, “but we can at least teach you the warding ones that you can use to keepyokaiandyureiat bay.” His features tightened with concern. “We should have taught you before weleft.”
“It’s okay,” I said, feeling a sudden wave of sympathy for Raiden. He’d probably never had to babysit someone like me before. “I’m sure I’ll be fine with you and Shotahere.”
“Of course you will,” Shota said breezily, patting the turtle shell. “Now would you mind doing the honors and getting us underway?”
I turned around to face the back of theUmigame’shead, even though I knew he couldn’t see me looking at him.“Are we going to be able to breathe while we’re riding on your back?”I asked, goosebumps prickling over my flesh as it occurred to me that I didn’t understand the logistics. We didn’t even have anything to hold onto.“How do we stayon?”
TheUmigamechuckled.“There is no need to fear,”he said.“I will not let you die while we travel. Are you ready togo?”
I swallowed. “Ready as I’ll everbe.”
“Good.”
And with that, theUmigamedove beneath thewaves.
I held my breath as water rushed all around us, expecting to be blasted off the turtle’s back by the currents. But I stayed right where I was, comfortably seated on the turtle’s back, my butt parked between the two grooves I’d settled in. Looking back, I noticed that Raiden and Shota were still there as well. Shota gave me a thumbs up, and Raiden actually grinned. Their hair was waving in the water behind them, a ghostly green sheen on their faces, but other than that they looked totallynormal.
“You don’t have to hold your breath,” Raiden said, bubbles coming out of his mouth. My mouth dropped open in shock—his voice was slightly warbly, but perfectly understandable. “TheUmigame’syokiis protecting us.” He gestured around us, and I gasped as I realized a shimmering sphere had surrounded us like a giant glowingbubble.
