Pilgrim 3, p.35
Pilgrim 3, page 35
There were seven demons present now, and they certainly crowded the space, Jelmay doing his best not to make any sudden movements, yet occasionally letting out a squeak when one of the demons came too close to his body. The biggest hellspawn stepped over to Danzen, his lips deformed, teeth jutting in all directions, slobber dripping from his chin as he scowled at the former assassin.
Danzen shifted his chin toward the demon, daring him to disobey.
Even in his blindfolded and prone position, he put on the air of someone in power, his shoulders pressed back, a fierce look on his blindfolded face, and soon, the demon responded.
“What is your wish, my lord?” the hellspawn asked, his voice low and rumbly.
“Cause chaos,” Danzen said. “Through that door, disrupt whatever you can.”
“As you wish.”
The demons were turning away from Danzen when he called out to their leader. “And one more thing.”
His hellspawn turned back to him.
“I need you to cut me.”
Danzen knew that he drew power from his injuries, and he had figured out along the way that the deeper and more severe the wound, the more power he drew. The scrape on his knee, while strong enough to summon a handful of demons, wasn’t enough. He needed something larger, especially if he planned to use his strength to free himself from the restraints that bound him.
The demon looked down at his hand, and as he did the claw on his pointer finger began to grow. He approached Danzen, whose robe was open at his chest from some of the punches he received from Tensei.
“What’s going on over there?” Jelmay asked as the demon ran his sharp claw across the front of Danzen’s pectoral muscles, opening up a deep gash. More portals appeared, and as they started to claw themselves out, Danzen felt the result of his blood, a deep power within him surging through his veins, pulsing through him.
With a grunt Danzen pulled himself from the ground, ripping the chains away. He smashed the cuffs covering his hands together and shattered them, Jelmay yelping once again. Now freed, Danzen ripped his blindfold off and stood there for a moment, hunched over, breathing heavily, somewhere between fifteen and twenty demons crammed into the small space around him.
“Go,” he bellowed. “Make them regret this day.”
****
Danzen broke through Jelmay’s restraints like they were made of rice paper. His demons had cleared out of the room, the dungeon with a low ceiling, a handful of candles lighting the space, making the air stuffy. It dawned on him in that moment that they were underground, and he vaguely recalled Oiwa saying something about underground passages beneath Odval. Were they still in the village? He would find out soon enough.
“By Sunyata,” Jelmay said as soon as he could see Danzen and the utter animosity he was exuding. “You look as if you’ve gone mad…”
“I’ll be fine,” Danzen said, his voice a bit haggard now. “Do you know where we are?”
“Underground Odval,” Jelmay said, confirming what Danzen had assumed just moments ago. The bakeneko turned and ran his paw across the space where his tail had once been. “I’m not going to say that I’ve been here before as a result of my gambling, but… I’ve been here before as a result of my gambling.”
“I see.”
“But not this time.”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“This time was your fault. Just in case Kudzu asks later on.” Danzen was just turning to the exit when Jelmay placed a paw on his arm. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
“Are you?” he asked, referring to his severed tail.
“You’re asking me if I can walk, yes, I am. Am I going to miss my tail? Of course. The damn thing has been with me for quite some time, hundreds of years. It’s not unheard of for a bakeneko to have their tail cut off, prized possessions as they are, so…” Jelmay bit his lip. “I’ll be fine. If anything, my pride is hurt. Don’t worry about me. Bah. I’m guessing you’re going to deal with Soko and whoever she is with, right?”
Danzen nodded. The wound on his chest had almost stitched up fully, but it had left the front of his robes wet and stained with blood, and it would certainly result in a future scar.
“In that case, I’ll find Kudzu and Lady Pilgrim.”
“And my weapons as well, if they are around.”
“You’re going to fight them without weapons?”
Danzen glanced down at his arms, which were still wrapped in fabric from the usage of his bladed gauntlets. “This ends tonight.”
“And what about Sumi? She’s coming here, you know. Perhaps we have an angle there as well,” Jelmay suggested.
Danzen slowly nodded. “Yes, we will deal with her in due time. But first,” he looked to the door of their cell, “I’ll go right, you go left.”
There were a number of instincts Danzen had gained over his years as an assassin, and one of them was the direction of the nearest exit. When Tensei left the room, he had gone to the right, which Danzen had a hunch this would lead him directly to the young assassin, and from there Soko, and even the Witch of Diyu, if she was still around.
There really was no telling, and the calamity caused by his hellspawns had already started to reach his ears. It was time to move, and it was a matter of seconds later that Danzen was in the hallway, confirming once again that they were underground, the walls and ceiling made of dirt, small candles lighting the stone steps that led up. He could already see the results of his demons, scratches across the surfaces, strange wet spots on the stairs as he made his way to the top, a door that had been ripped off its hinges—they were certainly active.
Moonlight washed over him.
Danzen stepped out onto a scene that was almost expected, Tensei, Soko, and the Witch of Diyu all engaging his demons, only Tensei noticing that he had emerged from the underground passageway.
A rush of fresh air reached Danzen, his nostrils flaring open as he took a look around and recognized that they were on the outskirts of Odval. It was a garbage dump of sorts, the area filled with scattered debris, sharp objects, and discarded building materials. Certainly a large enough place to host the battle that was about to happen.
Disregarding Danzen’s hellspawns, Tensei advanced on him with both of his butcher blades drawn, the young man ecstatic to get the opportunity to engage a weaponless Danzen.
His first cross-body attack came in fast, Tensei wielding both blades with gusto considering his opponent was unarmed. He continued this style of cutting, hoping to catch Danzen as the former assassin dodged his attacks, Danzen now focused on a spot just a few hairs past Tensei. He knew better than to watch the blades—the moonlight reflecting off their tips could throw him off—no, it was better to take on Tensei as a whole, to gauge his movements in a calculated manner and strike when he least expected it, almost as if he were outside looking in.
One tried-and-true way to do this was to tire him out.
Danzen was sure that Soko and the Witch of Diyu had noticed his presence, but they continued to be distracted by his demons as Tensei threw himself into a fury of attacks. While Tensei was fast, and his short stature gave him a good place to strike from, a potential bonus when dealing with a taller opponent like Danzen, he still showed signs of a new swordsman, someone who had been with the blade for a while, but not long enough.
Danzen noticed this in the hint of apprehension holding some of his strikes back, Tensei as fueled by adrenaline as he was by fear. After all, Danzen was weaponless, and most weaponless opponents didn’t keep on their enemies, mirroring their footsteps, practically stalking them.
Most ran.
The technique Danzen was using was one he had learned long ago, something Biren Yeshe had personally taught him, one in which he became his opponent’s shadow, always attached, never letting up. This produced a kind of tension that Danzen would use to his advantage as soon as he found his opportunity.
With a grunt, Tensei leaped into the air and tried to bring both swords down, a move that left him wide open for a calculated strike. Danzen’s foot connected with Tensei’s chin as the young man’s blades were still over his head, physics taking over by that point and changing Tensei’s trajectory. He slammed into the ground and skidded a few feet away, the breath knocked out of him. On him before the dust could clear, Danzen flipped Tensei over. Using his knee as leverage, he unceremoniously ended the young man’s life by snapping his neck back.
Just like that, Tensei was dead.
Danzen quickly retrieved both of Tensei’s swords, quickly gauging their weight in his hands, and turned to the main fight. Soko and the Witch of Diyu were just wrapping up, his demons either dead, or starting to de-materialize.
Sucking in deep breaths, Soko looked toward Danzen and said something inaudible.
The Witch of Diyu, whose face was covered by a mask that prevented her from inhaling her own poisons, slowly came forward, her hands curled at her sides, Danzen noticing once again that she had a prosthetic attachment to her fingers, giving her sharpened nails.
“It doesn’t need to be like this,” Danzen said as he held both weapons out, the blades pointed slightly inward, which was the appropriate way to wield two swords. “This isn’t between you and me; at least it doesn’t have to be.”
Smoke began to billow out of the Witch of Diyu’s hands. “I always wondered what it would be like to fight someone like you.”
.Chapter Four.
Danzen felt the difference in fighting the Witch of Diyu almost immediately, the woman faster and much more confident than Tensei. He avoided her first few swipes, noticing that the prosthetics she had on were attached at the wrist, that there were polished canisters of powder there, which must have been how she was creating the smoke and her various poisons.
He quickly came to understand her attack pattern—moving quickly to strike and then zipping away—Danzen wishing he had his boomerang sword with him. This fight would have been over by now.
The smog grew thicker and thicker every time she came forward, Danzen on the defense at the moment as he tried to adjust to her fighting style, which was unpredictable in a calculated way, fast-paced and wild. She came within inches of connecting with him several times, and while Danzen wasn’t opposed to adding some of his demons to the mix, it would be better if he ended this quickly so he could deal with Soko, who continued to watch along the perimeter of the fight.
The color of the smog changed; what was formerly used to obscure her movement became a choking agent, Danzen feeling his throat constrict.
He jumped backward a few times, trying to get away from the poison she had unleashed. The Witch of Diyu kept on him as he had done Tensei just moments ago, relentlessly pursuing him, smog thick in the air around her as she did so.
Danzen tried a whirlwind attack, one meant to force her away, his goal being to put some distance between the two of them as he found it harder and harder to breathe. Her response was brutal and fast, the expert assassin spinning through the smoking poison she had created and shouldering into Danzen, taking him down.
She tried to land a death strike and he moved, her claws sinking into the soil. He hoped that this would dislodge the apparatus from her hand, but she moved away quickly enough that she was able to attempt the same maneuver again, Danzen finally sending a knee up that threw her off him.
More smoke, but this time there was something different about it, Danzen not only choking now, but also sensing an itching sensation moving across his skin. He finally fell, choking now as his skin burned as if it were on fire.
The Witch of Diyu approached him.
He tried to muster the strength to swipe his blade at her but was no longer able to. Looking up at the woman, Danzen summoned his Demon Speak ability, even though he assumed she would be beyond his influence.
“Stop…” he said.
It had no effect on her. The Witch of Diyu dropped before him and placed her metal appendages under his chin, dangerously close to his neck. She lifted his throat, and as she did, a blade came straight through the side of her skull, the woman thrown to the side followed by an arc of blood as the sword withdrew from her head, her mask dislodged as she hit the ground, dead instantly.
Soko now floated before Danzen, the smog haloing around her. She remained like this for another twenty seconds before exhaling audibly. “I always wanted to kill her, the useless old hag,” she said. “Now, as for you…”
It was sudden, and it completely took both Soko and Danzen off guard, but he recognized the next sword on the scene, the one that sliced through the side of Soko’s shoulder and brought the female assassin down.
Danzen managed to lift his hand into the air, and as he did Astra returned his grip.
“Finish her!” he heard Jelmay shout.
But Danzen wouldn’t have the chance; Soko disappeared into the mist, nursing her wound as she did so. He knew what it looked like for her to retreat, he’d seen it enough times now, and while the wound Jelmay had clearly given her wasn’t fatal, it had done some serious damage to the arm she generally wielded her blade with.
As Danzen got to his feet he spotted something else, that the prosthetics that had been on the Witch of Diyu’s wrists were now missing.
Had Soko truly moved that fast, fast enough to take them? It was the only explanation.
Once again, she had gotten away.
****
“It’s all my fault,” Jelmay said as he reached Danzen. “I tried to throw your sword at her, but as I grabbed hold of it, the blade sort of took on a mind of its own. Pilgrim, can you hear me? Pilgrim!”
Danzen didn’t respond. He was still waiting for Soko to burst out of the mist that surrounded them, the female assassin never one to forego an opportunity for a surprise attack. He couldn’t relax himself, and it was only when Jelmay said Kudzu’s name that he snapped out of it.
“Kudzu and Lady Pilgrim are alive,” Jelmay said, repeating himself. “They’re a bit worse for wear but…”
Danzen blinked a few times and finally looked at the bakeneko.
“We need to get them some help though,” he said. “Maybe Oiwa can help.”
It went against his nature to not go after Soko, especially with what she had done to Danzen and his companions. He could track her. It may take all night but eventually, she would need to wind down at some point. After all, she was still human, and that was when he would strike. As soon as she relaxed her guard, which because of her form would coincide with daytime, he would make his move. Soko could travel quickly, and it wasn’t impossible for her to get to Bahlingar by morning. If he hurried…
No, Danzen had responsibilities, and the two most important ones were behind him, injured, Kudzu helping Yato stand.
“My scabbard.”
“It’s back here,” Jelmay said as he led Danzen to the others. He returned Astra to its sheath, and after fixing the front of his robes, he tucked the blade into his belt. Jelmay tossed Nomin’s short sword and Yato’s gauntleted blades into a swath of fabric he’d procured from the dungeon below, a fine enough place for them for now.
“Pilgrim,” Kudzu said, her voice tinged in relief.
“I told you he’d be all right!”
“I don’t want to hear it from you right now,” Kudzu growled at Jelmay, the woman currently in her human form, the left side of her robe barely hanging from her shoulder as she continued to prop Yato up. “It is your fault we’re here in the first place; we were looking for you.”
“My fault? This wasn’t my fault, this was Pilgrim’s fault. They ambushed me too, you know. How they knew I was using a disguise, I’ll never know. Then again, I probably shouldn’t have disguised myself as Pilgrim…”
“Why would you do something like that, Jelmay?” Kudzu yelled at him.
“Please,” Yato said, her eyes clenched shut. “Not now.”
Danzen stepped over to the young assassin to see that there were abrasions all over the exposed parts of her body, some of the bruises looking like they belonged to individual fingers.
“Did Tensei do this?” he asked carefully.
“He… he did. If it wasn’t for my restraints, he wouldn’t have. Is he…?”
“He is. How did you get them out of their restraints?” Danzen asked Jelmay.
“Easy,” he said as he showed Danzen one of his claws. “It works great as a lockpick. I guess you could say I alone perfected this little trick over the years, but most bakeneko can do it.”
“Let’s return to the inn and regroup,” Danzen told them. “We will see to dealing with Sumi tomorrow.”
“And if Soko alerts her in some way?” Jelmay asked. “Do you think she’ll do that?”
He considered this for a moment.
Soko’s actions against the Witch of Diyu solidified something Danzen had noticed about the woman long ago—she was only in it for herself. Not only had she wanted to finish Danzen herself if it actually came down to it, but she clearly wanted the secrets to the Witch’s powers, which she’d told them years ago were kept in her hermitage behind Sainshand. If Soko was going anywhere at the moment it was there—taking on the Witch of Diyu’s knowledge would only make Soko even deadlier.
“I don’t think she’ll alert Sumi,” Danzen said with finality. “At the end of the day, Soko doesn’t really care about the contract. She’s been using it as an excuse all along to get to me, even if she’d like the remnant that Sumi has also offered. Soko can get more remnants if she wants, and she took the one I had on me, Shimaru’s eye. They are available, and if anyone knew how to get them, it would be her. Now that she can access the Witch of Diyu’s powers, I think that is where she’ll go next. Let’s get to the inn. We need to prepare. Sumi’s part in our narrative ends tomorrow.”
****
Oiwa was surprised to see Danzen and his companions, the elderly woman wrought with concern once she noticed Yato’s and Kudzu’s injuries. “I thought the worst happened,” she said to Yudono, her husband next to her, nodding in agreement. “But I kept my faith that what was left of Sunyata was watching over you. We haven’t disturbed any of your things, and…”
