The Pink Pearl

Chapter 12: My Name

  "You can't take him from me!!!" Giichi harshly closed his right hand around Hayate's shoulder. He tossed the Oni as far across the stone as he could, which was quite far. The demon smacked into the cave wall, making a huge indent.

  Itsuki reacted quickly. He shot forward, swinging his sword in a wide arc. The dragon pushed off the ground, hardly dodging the blow. He remained floating there and flung his arm out, sending a powerful spray of boiling water straight for Itsuki.

  The human raised his left arm to block his face. He didn't care how much this was going to hurt. He wasn't about to let Giichi get away with slaughtering his family.

  Itsuki kicked off the ground, striking down with his glowing sword. Giichi hissed, steaming water dripping off his wicked fangs.

  Chikao acted faster than the other two could. He twisted his hand around the red cord connecting him to his human and pulled back harshly.

  Itsuki came flying backwards, narrowly avoiding another violent spray of water from the dragon's maw.

  "Don't be so reckless," Chikao chided him. Itsuki nodded solemnly, holding his sword tightly.

  Chizu ran at Giichi, leaping off the stone and going in for hand-to-hand combat. She couldn't float like a dragon, but she was incredibly fast! It was hard to keep up with how quickly they were fighting. The Tengu moved with such agility that it was as if she could fly, too.

  "Nori, what can you do?" Chikao asked quietly. His free hand started glowing, and he touched it to Itsuki's burns. Itsuki's skin healed itself almost instantly.

  "Uh- uhm-" she was shaking where she stood, clutching her staff to her chest tightly.

  "Be careful," Chikao gently pushed Itsuki forward, "wait for an opening. Chizu excels at close combat, but Giichi will surely find a way to create some distance from her. That's where you come in. We'll need to catch him off guard and bring him to our level before we can even begin to think of beating him."

  Itsuki nodded again. He watched the fight carefully as he made his way closer. Chikao knocked an arrow, sending in as many distractions as he could. They all hit the dragon, but not many found their way into his flesh. His scales were sleek and smooth, like the Seita's carapace. It wasn't easy to find any chinks.

  Hayate finally picked himself up out of the hole he was in. He rolled his shoulders and grumbled to himself. Then he glared over at Giichi, though he didn't say anything to him.

  "Enough! I'm tired of fighting for something I have a right to!!!" As Giichi spoke, a powerful wave came from his center of mass. It easily overcame Chizu and washed her back towards Nori and Chikao.

  Itsuki knew this was his opening. He jumped into the air and struck down, aiming for the head. The dragon turned to Itsuki, catching the wooden blade in his hands. It was obviously burning his skin, and Itsuki only poured more and more of his spiritual power into it.

  Giichi seethed, twisting his wrists. The sword snapped. Itsuki let go and grabbed onto Giichi, forcing his power into his hands.

  The dragon opened his mouth, spraying scalding hot water into the human's face. Itsuki was hardly able to close his eyes in time, turning his head to the side. Still, he refused to let go.

  Giichi's arms liquified, causing Itsuki to fall onto the stone floor, just inches away from where the lava met the rock. He painfully got to his feet to see a massive, swirling dragon where Giichi used to be.

  Itsuki drew Fujin's Wind Reaper and it vibrated excitedly in his hands.

  There was a soft chuckle from across the gargantuan pool of lava, yet it carried across and echoed against the walls.