Page 29 of Son of Shadows

“The World Eater is coming,” she said, her voice as sharp as broken glass. “Soon all of you will die.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

After that ominous warning, there was an eerie silence, followed by a pounding in Ryuichi’s chest. He was about to head toward the main fortress and speak with Lord Hayasaka, when suddenly Masaru grabbed him and tackled him to the ground.

“Hey!”

Masaru snarled at him. “Head down!”

Ryuichi had no idea what was going on until he saw the two-ton boulder flying overhead.

It struck the top of the castle with a deafening boom. A huge cloud of dust and smoke bloomed where the impact occurred. When it cleared, Ryuichi could see that part of the building had collapsed.

“It’s Orochi’s army!” In total contradiction of what he’d just done, Masaru pulled Ryuichi to his feet and shoved him forward. “We need to take cover.”

More boulders pummeled the fortress, as did blasts of raging fire. It was as if the entire sky was exploding. Ryuichi, Koichi, and the others left the vulnerable courtyard to seek some kind of shelter, but there was nowhere to run. Still, they all sprinted away from the fortress as more of it crumbled.

Ryuichi feared Hayasaka and Katsu had perished in the initial onslaught. But another blast scattered the heavy debris to show Hayasaka shot toward the sky with his wings expanded in all their glory. He joined a formation of tengu who had just launched an arial attack on Orochi’s army.

Ryuichi was surprised by Hayasaka’s bravery. That wasn’t the nervous bureaucrat who’d screamed at Katsu about teacups.

“Archers, in position!” Hayasaka shouted as he swept low over the ground, where Ryuichi and his friends were still looking for refuge.

None of them were armed, and all of them were targets waiting to be struck.

Hayasaka’s archers assembled immediately. Their bows were made of pure gold. Their arrows were as sharp as knives and radiant with blistering heat.

Orochi’s yōkai seemed to be advancing from every direction. Still, Ryuichi couldn’t see any of the dragon’s soldiers. It was like they were hiding under some kind of invisibility cloak.

But probably not for long.

“Let’s get in this fight!” Ryuichi-kage yelled to no one in particular.

“With what? We don’t have any weapons!” Koichi shouted back.

“Ugh! Do I have to do everything?” Masaru said, sighing loudly and dramatically. He made a circle with his hands and closed his eyes. In the blink of an eye, Ryuichi and his friends were all magically outfitted with swords and shields.

“Show-off,” Haruki said under her breath.

Katsu and dozens of samurai tengu officers magically appeared above them, scattering through the air and then nose-diving toward the remnants of the fortress. Once they landed, Katsu immediately set about rousting troops and directing soldiers to their posts.

Ryuichi and the others clamored in their direction, watching with amazement as Katsu forged a floating map made of fire in the air above them. It somehow showed their enemy’s positions as they advanced, and where Hayasaka’s men were pushing back.

“That is one beast of a battle map,” Masaru said as he summoned his black-leather armor that looked more like a shinobi than samurai. Yet Ryuichi knew from experience it could repel any weapon—man- or yōkai-made.

Quite an asset in a dangerous situation like this.

Hayasaka flew down from the remnants of the burning castle and skidded to a stop in front of Ryuichi and his friends, who hadn’t left his side despite the chaos unfolding around them.

“I need you to defend the gate!” he commanded all of them.

Koichi shook his head. “We’re here to protect the kid.”

“Defending the gate takes precedence,” Hayasaka argued.

“The Ryukage gave me one bloody task before disappearing. If I’m going to die, I’m going to die doing the one thing I was assigned to do: Guard. That. Gate.”

Ryuichi had to admit—the old tengu was much more loyal than he had given him credit for.