The True Confessions of a Nine-Tailed Fox

Chapter 73: The Battle Begins

The remaining eight rock macaques, all veterans of battles in the Wilds, rallied at once. They started spitting acorns at Lord Silurus, but the nuts just bounced off his skin and plowed into the riverbed. Black sand clouded the water until I could barely see his hole. One acorn even blasted at me (friendly fire? Or not?), and I flailed sideways.

Hey! Watch it! I yelled.

"LORD SILURUS IS NOT GOING TO DIE AND REINCARNATE AS A TAPEWORM!" bellowed the catfish. "IF LORD SILURUS COULD NOT BE DEFEATED BY KNIGHTS OR MAGES, HE IS NOT GOING TO BE DEFEATED BY A BUNCH OF MONKEYS!"

The leader of the rock macaques used some of his precious air to shout, "Pull back!" and they kicked away, trying to lure the demon all the way out of his hole. One of them grabbed me, not gently. As she bore me upstream under her arm, I kept up the taunts.

You really think you can't be defeated? You really think you can't be killed? Then why are you still hiding in your hole? You know what I think? I think you know you're going to die!

The rock macaques and I were steadily pulling away, but the size of Lord Silurus' head wasn't decreasing.

"It's working!" the leader bubbled back at me. "Keep going!"

I stared into the shield-sized eyes that were coming up behind us, and I willed myself not to quail.

Right now, Silurus, you're regretting that you didn't seize your one chance to learn the secret behind earning good karma. You're hating yourself for your incredible shortsightedness. Should have thought ahead, shouldn't you!

Another giant wave bashed into us. When it had settled again and I knew which way was up and which way was down, the water was flowing – upriver?

Not so far away, Black Sand Creek shrimp guards were cartwheeling sideways, waving their legs and antennae, fighting to right themselves but crashing into screaming, fleeing spectators.

And downstream – there was no downstream. Only a teeth-lined maw surrounded by skin as tough as steel.

"He's almost all the way out!" burbled the leader of the rock macaques. "Just a little more!"

Only almost? Then what was it going to take to bring him all the way out?

I channeled all of my fear and desperation into a shriek. Six hundred years, Silurus! Six hundred years – and THIS is how it ends for you? Execution for your crimes, followed by eternity living life after life as a worm? Is this all there is? Then what was the point? What was the POINT of any of this? Tell me! Is this how it ends?

Incredibly, the demon opened his mouth even wider. I thought he was going to lunge forward and swallow us whole – but he started to suck instead.

The river changed course yet again. Water rushed into his mouth and gushed back out of his gills. Broken tufts of eelgrass, helpless mortal fish, wailing spirits, broken carts, even tiles from the ramshackle gate outside the Black Sand Creek Water Court hurtled at us, past us, into Lord Silurus' belly.

We were being dragged backwards too. The rock macaques were swimming as hard as they could, fighting to reach the riverbank. The one carrying me was falling behind, and we were getting closer and closer to those rows of teeth –

She released me. I tumbled towards Lord Silurus, waving my legs and screeching.

All of a sudden, a beak stabbed through the water and seized my shell. Then I was arcing through the air, tumbling towards the army on the riverbank. I twisted to see what was happening in the river.