Chapter 57: The Demon DancerYoshiki Yuzuko did not like the state Vasha was in.

  The wolf didn’t let her eyes linger for long, but every time her peripherals caught sight, the damage seemed to be worse. A lot of the prognosis had to be left to her sensory ability alone. Vasha was physically there, and there enough in the sense of energy that there shouldn't be a problem, but when Yuzuko followed the flow the problem became abundantly clear.

  Parts of Vasha were missing. Not physical parts, that she could easily heal, but parts of her continuity were cut out of her presence. It was like a stream broken by a dam. Somehow, despite it, the current seemed the same, except no fish made it downstream.

  It was surgery, in a metaphysical sense, and while Yuzuko knew she could undo the malpractice, the look in the wolf’s eyes said she wouldn’t get the chance for free. If that wasn't scary enough, it was scarier to think that the wolf could stop her. Vasha could kill instantly. She had killed instantly, perverting the land in ways that speared or consumed. She was the ultimate threat. The perfect surprise attack. Yuzuko chose her as a contingency for that very reason.

  And yet, the wolf was alive.

  Wounded, yes, but still able enough to be dangerous; still able enough to bite. And, where a normal wolf might maim or even a normal myrin, this one wounded in a way that left demons broken?

  “I feel like I can hear you thinking!” Tsukee said suddenly. “As a panethereal, you should be confident. In fact, I'm sure you are! But you're still worried, aren't you? You’re trying to be careful of my attacks.”

  Like a mortal worrying about an infection or a venomous bite. Maybe the scar wouldn't get you, but the tainted tooth would seal the deal. This wolf was not a simple opponent. This mission had long stopped being simple.

  Yuzuko said, “Will you tell me…? Who is the enemy that made a beast girl so dangerous?”

  Tsukee snickered. “Do I even need to tell you? Who's the only enemy of all myrin kind?”

  The enemy of all Myrin? That could be no other than Slavers. Myrin made for great labor and great mercs. Their innate abilities, transformation, and regeneration kept them on their feet when most people would break. There were always better slaves to buy, but compared to the myrin there were so much worse.

  “Have slavers become that dangerous?” Yuzuko wondered, had slave trading become so lucrative that it forced the myrin to learn magic? Was Tsukee the first of a new era, or a warning of what could be? Was she a sign that demons should give the myrin a place in their new world?

  Tsukee closed her eyes and smiled serenely. “Have Jade Wardens become so dangerous that your sect has to challenge other kingdoms? Or was it always going to happen?”

  The question took Yuzuko back, long before she knew what a Jade Warden really was. Their name was more like a threat than anything, much like the crack of the whip. When she was just a girl, Jade Warden was only said to get her in line.

  Yuzuko, dear, do this for me. I don’t ask for much, and I always keep those Jade Wardens away.

  Do this for me, or maybe I’ll stop and they’ll get you, and you’ll wish you did me this one small favor. So, with your transmutative powers, turn this slush into a potent bottle of wine. With your transmutative powers, turn this pink-dyed water into a potion of love. With your transmutative powers, make me richer, or I’ll let the Jade Wardens come down.

  “I can hear you thinking again.” Tsukee broke her free, silver eyes no longer closed serenely. They met Yuzuko’s, as if she could truly hear her thoughts–as if she knew the pain the demon just remembered.

  “No. The Jade Wardens would only be the start.” The sect would crush them, just to rip demon children away from people like her mother.

  “Then I might say slavers were only the start.” Tsukee flexed her glowing hands, bestial despite her mostly humanlike form. She wasn’t going to size Yuzuko up much longer, this moment of hesitation had said enough—there was a good chance she could win.

  Yuzuko decided she'd prove her wrong. If this fight was the opening salvo against an enduring history, she'd make sure her side came out ahead.

  Tsukee came at her explosively fast and she responded with the graceful motion of her hands. Going down to the liquid coating on her waist, her wrists flicked droplets that turned into knives.

  The wolf skidded to a stop and made a few skips back.

  Yuzuko followed with a twirling dance, film coating her arms and lashing down like heavy tails. Still, the wolf avoided them, but that meant nothing as they broke against the ground. With a flowing push from her hips they turned sharp and went flying, missing again as Tsukee disappeared.

  “It’s not invisibility, Yuzuko!” Vasha cried out.

  Yuzuko dipped and rose arms flowing, pulling a wave up around her.

  Tsukee remained unseen for a long moment, but Yuzuko felt the magic playing in the air. The wolf has slipped into another dimension? No matter, Yuzuko charged the water, flushing it against the veil. As it forced Tsukee back, she slid around her, wrapping her in a swirling ball. The wolf flailed inside, but it did her no good. Yuzuko’s palms met it, and the water ignited with blinding lightning.

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  Tsukee convulsed, eyes going white, mouth dropping open.

  With a swirl Yuzuko turned the ball into a wave, flushing the wolf several feet away. She swirled on, foot over foot, hips guiding her body, hands dancing liquid ribbons through the air.

  So long as she was prepared the wolf would never touch her, not without a ranged spell in her bag. So, Yuzuko swirled and swirled, even as Tsukee pushed herself up.

  “Not…water…” She sputtered and quivered. “Liquified energy…Reiki, mana, magyeon…forcing them to mix…causes…electric reaction…” She spoke, because her brain wasn’t ready to think again. “Not electricity…feels like it…hot under the skin…” Her claws dug into a boulder and she pried herself up. “She’s using exposed skin to feel more energy…the only way to stop her…is with a physical blow.” Her claws dug deeper as she set her feet, hurling the boulder as she turned her body.

  Yuzuko flowed back onto one foot, windmilling her arms around. The water sliced through the thing of dirt and stone, revealing Tsukee running toward a fallen slab. The wolf shoved her fingers under it and sent it flipping over. This time Yuzuko sank into a low crouch, swirling beneath it, a wave curving a crescent toward that wolf.

  Who wasn't there!

  “She’s in the ground!” Vasha cried.

  Yuzuko sprung back as Tsukee rose with claws slashing up.

  “Damn...” The wolf said.

  That was all Yuzuko let her say before water whips lashed, snapping her back. Yuzuko went low on her backfoot again, pinwheeling her hands, churning the water into two circle blades. She slashed, chewing through bone, bleeding an X across Tsukee’s body. On that backfoot she swirled again, wrapping her in another bubble.

  “How many of these can you survive?” Her palms came down and lightning crashed. Tsukee convulsed and her body went limp.

  Yuzuko washed the wolf away again but watched her closely this time, dancing slowly, cautious of another trick. She lay still, even as the seconds ticked on, her body barely moving to breathe.

  Was that it then? She doubted two shocks would down a myrin for long, but Vasha had wounded her, how much more could her regeneration take? Still, Yuzuko twirled the water into circular blades again, deciding she’d take her head before she missed the chance.

  Sliding in, she was forced to stop as a thicket of stalks erupted around the wolf. She raised her hands to throw the blades, and grass came rushing at her, growing fast and long, weaving into ropes, trying to trap her!

  Again…

  She spun into a razor sharp vortex, shredding the grass around her. As clips fell she felt what she had missed, an afterthought at first now screaming like siren alarms. A dense mass of reiki was drawing nearer, making the entire domain flow to it. Had the patron gotten free? No, the sealed seed was still nearby—still covered in the circle she had drawn. So this was something else? No, someone else, and as they last clip fell, Yuzuko could see her in full.

  She held a katana out to her right, a spectral doll rising from it, cradling the wounded myrin. It dropped her back into the forest as her wounds closed and the spirit guard captain, Chiaki returned her blade to its sheathe.

  “I didn’t rest for very long, maybe twenty or so minutes? Yet things have changed so much.” She looked at Vasha, then back at Yuzuko. “I suppose she’s the reason you escaped.”

  “What does it matter, spirit guard? I won’t let you trap me again.”

  “I know.” Chiaki plucked a handful of berries from a nearby bush. She drew her sword again, and smeared the berries down it. “And that’s unfortunate. I’ve called too many spirits into this domain tonight. I’ll have to rely on its power going forward.” Petals grew along the handguard, a vine curled around its handle and up her arm. “I think you’ll wish I trapped you in a moment.”

  Chiaki closed the gap with a few flitting steps, her sword soaring like a swallow through the air.

  Yuzuko flowed away, but the tip managed to bite, slathering jam on her arms. She swung them down to pull a wave and they ruptured as bushes erupted from her wounds. She cried out, the sudden pain too fast; blinding. Chiaki flitted in and opened her stomach, making her eyes widen in horror.

  She felt the reiki swell as another bush exploded out of her side. Her breath rushed out with it and she tried to catch it, but had to throw herself back as Chiaki swung again.

  The spirit guard smeared more berries on her blade.

  Yuzuko healed, flesh and bone knitting back together as she ripped the intrusions away, but her breath came labored as Chiaki moved.

  She rolled away from an initiating slash. She flowed away on a sudden stream as the blade danced after her. Ribbons followed her fingers and hardened, blocking more strikes, dropping like heavy crystals to the ground.

  Chiaki almost stepped over one, before her other foot sent it flying at Yuzuko’s head.

  The demon swirled, sending it around her, turning it into a spearing jet.

  Chiaki stabbed the ground and a grass wall blocked it.

  Yuzuko swung her foot and waist, curving a wave to slice through them both. She only cleaved one as a mushroom ate the attack, bouncing Chiaki away.

  The Spirit Guard landed and Yuzuko’s arms swung up as she flowed forward.

  Suddenly, small mushrooms burst from her skin.

  She could feel their roots beneath it, stitching in, drinking away her life as flesh turned gray.

  Another scream almost exploded out of her. She bit it back, however, fearing where spores might go, washing herself with a wave to rip the shrooms away.

  It crystallized quickly as Chiaki shot forward with a swing.

  Yuzuko slid back swirling ribbons again, just trying to mount an attack.

  Meanwhile, Chiaki tossed seeds high into the air.

  They grew into shoots raining down, pinning the demon in place.

  Yuzuko couldn’t stop the coming scream this time, not with one tearing straight through her eye. She was only screams then, and tears and crying, unable to twist and rip the shoots free.

  Meanwhile, Chiaki was already upon her, behind her, sword tearing down her back.

  Three berry bushes erupted, tossing flesh and bone away. That silenced Yuzuko, as her lungs were shredded too.

  “Did you know that the spirit of this domain is a harvest spirit?” Chiaki smeared more berries down her blade. “Her reiki wants everything to grow into something bountiful. This domain will make many farmsteads happy, and since so many spirits are born from malicious feelings, it’s always a joy to see domains like it.” She let out a resigned breath, as if accepting something she had been fighting. “So, I’ll admit that I’m a bit crossed that your sect invaded it. I suppose I’m glad then, that I’m glad its power will undo you.” Her voice came coldly.

  She swung for the neck.

  Yuzuko tried to twist, tried to flail, tried as she could to pry herself free, but beyond tearing her wounds there was nothing she could do. The sword finished its path through her, like a fin through water, and while her neck quickly healed, she felt the seeds left behind.

  She felt them take root, digging deep into muscle and arteries. She felt their bulbs grow, pushing blood down her throat, spurting it out of her mouth. She felt branches lance like needles through her, growing and ripping, sinew snapping under the strain. And then came that explosive growth, prying her head away…

  [Chapter 57 ends…]