Page 33 of Son of Shadows

The World Eater let out an earth-shattering roar before charging and stepping on hapless tengu soldiers who screamed out in agony before being flattened like bugs.

Every one of Ryuichi’s muscles tensed.

“I’m so dead,” he mumbled.

His heart was beating so hard he was sure it would burst out of his chest.

Orochi opened his mouth widely to bite him. Or perhaps just swallow him whole.

Suddenly, Ryuichi felt lightheaded, like he was about to drift off to sleep. He closed his eyes for a second, and when he opened them, he found himself in the stable, which was now missing a wall and part of the roof.

Masaru had managed to teleport them out just before they’d been eaten, and the stable was a good place to hide for now.

“Thank you. That was a close one.”

It’s all part of the job. Now keep our head low and try not to get eaten by the dragon.

“Don’t plan to.”

Ryuichi glanced around, grateful they’d made it. Behind them was an absolute slaughterhouse. But as he scanned the destruction, he realized there was no sign of his party. Somewhere in that madness, they’d lost his shadow, Haruki, Keiko, and Koichi.

“Where did the others go?”

I was too busy saving us to pay attention. Last I saw, they were headed here.

They were nowhere to be found.

“We need to go back and find them,” Ryuichi pleaded.

Masaru scoffed inside his head. No. Keiko will kill me if I put you back into danger.

“We can’t leave them!” Ryuichi tried to force Masaru to leave his body, focusing his mind and willing it to take control.

His surly kitsune wasn’t having any of it. Ryuichi could feel him pushing back, as if he intended to stay there forever.

They would want you safe. We’ll find them when this mess calms down.

“What if they’re hurt?”

They would want you safe, Masaru repeated. We need to protect you. We’ll worry about them later.

Ryuichi wanted to argue, but he knew it was pointless. Masaru couldn’t be reasoned with when he was stubborn like this. He’d have better luck taking a bottle of sake away from Koichi.

He didn’t want to accept the fact that when Masaru possessed his body, there was nothing he could do to stop him. He was essentially powerless against Masaru.

He glanced over to the tree line, where a few ragged survivors of Lord Hayasaka’s forces remained, huddled together in fear. Those who couldn’t teleport or turn invisible ran into the woods, trying to disappear and escape their enemies.

Ryuichi’s lungs were full of smoke and fire. It really hurt to breathe. He hoped and prayed his friends were safe and didn’t die a painful death.

“What do we do now?” he asked Masaru, hoping for some wisdom from the kitsune, even though that was a stretch.

We look for our friends and find your father.

He liked the way Masaru said that—as if it were easy. But they had no idea where anyone had gone. Especially not his father.

Close the gate, said a strange, feminine voice inside Ryuichi’s head.

That definitely wasn’t Masaru.