Why should he be surprised? It was all quite boring.
Until the last grain touched his lips.
The moment it did, he heard a deep rumbling. One that echoed all around him like an earthquake. Every item on the shelves started to shake and rattle.
The yokai seemed angry and belligerent. Scared.
Ryuichi wanted to run from the room. Instead, he held his ground.I’m not a coward. I will not flee.
Run, idiot! Run!
He ignored his inner coward.
All of a sudden a vase flew at his head.
Ducking, he watched as it struck the wall behind him and slid onto a lower shelf.
“Who are you?”
Ryuichi looked around for the source of that gentle tone. “I am no one.”
“He’s unworthy,” a deeper voice mocked. “Who would want to fight with his ilk? It’d just make you sick. And embarrassed.”
While that stung, he refused to let the disembodied voice—or any other creature in the room—know that. “I am unworthy, but my heart is true.”
Laughter rang out.
Ryuichi flinched inwardly. On the outside, he showed no emotion. He knew better.
Never let anyone know your weakness. Never let them see your fear or watch you cry.
From the highest point of the top shelf on his left, a bloodred mist took form. It reared up like a cobra, then danced and slithered over the shelves until it touched the floor.
Weaving back and forth, it came nearer and nearer.
Ryuichi didn’t move as the mist encircled his body.
Then it slapped him. Hard.
“Hey!”
Without a word or response, the mist jerked away and pooled in front of him, where it turned into a fierce, handsome young man. Tall, with lean muscles, he had black hair and white eyes that stared a hole straight through Ryuichi.
That was scary enough, but those eyes were rimmed with a thick band of black charcoal to make them appear even more ominous.
Dangerous.
And never had Ryuichi seen anyone dressed in such a manner. The young man’s black leather armor fit tightly against his body, molded to it with laces and buckles. A black leather hood lay against an ebony silk cape pulled up into his belt to keep it out of his way during battle. A black kerchief hung about his neck, as if he normally used it to cover his face. Over his left shoulder stood a dozen black arrows from a quiver strapped to his back.
Yet he had no yumi or sword.
There was something innately sinister and quelling about this creature.
Something that said he’d rather kill Ryuichi than help him.
Ryuichi stood as solidly as stone, if stone had a pounding heart.
With one finger, the young man reached out and touched Ryuichi directly between the eyes. That touch burned through his body like fire, causing him to hiss.
