Grimm Tales: Rise of the Yokai

Chapter 19 Serpent vs Storm

"JASON!" I yelled.

I took off, running towards the fallen werewolf as fast as I could, before one of Orochi's tails lashed forward and slammed into the sand in front of me, cutting me off from my friends.

"I'm not finished with you yet," said Izanami.

I ducked under Orochi's tail when it lashed out at me again. My friends had reached Jason while Izanami was focused on me. Sarah knelt over Jason's limp form while the others took up a defensive position around them.

"Sarah!" I shouted while doing my best to avoid Orochi's wild attacks. "Talk to me, Sarah! Is Jason okay?"

"I don't know. I think ..." She bent over Jason. "I think ... oh, no. Zane! Zane, he's not breathing!"

Everything slowed to a crawl. It was too much for my brain to process. Jason, bloody and beaten. Sarah, giving him mouth-to-mouth, trying to keep him alive. My friends, hurt and exhausted, looking out for each other just like we always had.

And Izanami.

Izanami, the goddess responsible for the nightmare we'd been through. Izanami, who'd ruined lives, taken lives, to summon the monstrosity that was even now bringing its tail down directly over my head.

"Now you die, mortal," said Izanami.

Izanami, whose desire to kill me may have just cost Jason his life.

And at that moment, something inside me just snapped.

I didn't care what it took. I didn't care if it killed me. Izanami had caused all this pain, all this suffering. Even if it tore me apart, I was going to Make. Her. Pay.

Time sped up again. The impact of Orochi's tail sent a shower of sand raining over the beach.

"Pitiful," spat Izanami. "And here I thought he'd put up more of a fight at the end. No matter. On to the next—" The goddess stopped short to the sound of Orochi's angry, panicked hiss. "What? Why are you ..."

That's when she finally noticed me, perched on the uninjured side of Orochi's head. I may have already blinded the head on one side, but I could see myself reflected in the remaining eye, its pupil an angry black slit in a sea of yellow.

My eyes glowed a vivid, electric blue. Arcs of lightning danced over my body, leaving behind angry burns when they jumped to Orochi's scales. The anger I'd felt at Izanami was still there, but it had grown quiet and calm, like the eye of a storm. Power beyond anything I'd ever felt pulsed through me.

And I had the perfect target to use it on.

I raised my left hand, and leveled it right at the center of Orochi's eye. Motes of blue energy swirled through the air, pulling together in front of my outstretched palm. In moments, they'd grown into a sphere a bit bigger than a softball.

A word sprang into my head. I didn't know where it came from, but one of the first things they teach you about magic, is that words have power. They can help you focus your magic to get the most out of it. And something inside told me that this one wouldn't disappoint.

"Hakai."

Izanami vanished just before the sphere exploded in a wave of energy. Orochi shrieked in pain, but only for a moment. When the energy dissipated, Orochi's remaining eye was gone.

And it had taken over half the head with it.

I couldn't believe it. Orochi had been batting us around like toys this entire time, and I'd just taken out one of its heads with one spell.

Orochi's neck went limp, and collapsed under the weight of the mangled head. I jumped clear just before it hit the ground, and stared up at the seven remaining heads, each one frozen in shock.