Sureiyazu

Episode 64: Power Grows, Power Dies

The door shut behind them. 

Yuri, Heishi, and Ryou peered around into the darkness. 

Before, they had heard someone screaming, but now, everything was still. No one, human or demon, made a sound. The blackness around them seemed to loom just in front of the demonslayers hauntingly. 

"Hello?" Yuri whispered. "Hello . . . ?" 

"I'm starting to doubt anyone's here," Ryou said quietly. "Maybe it was a lure?" 

Heishi tried raising his hand in front of his face - but couldn't see it. "I just wish we could see. It's hard enough trying to find a demon who doesn't want to be found in the daylight . . ." 

"Well, we don't know any magic," Yuri said. 

"That's been established, I think," Ryou sighed. 

"Come on, how hard can it be?" Heishi asked. "You're just supposed to focus on what you want to do or something . . ." 

"I'd like to see you do it," Ryou snorted. 

Heishi gave an offended start. "Maybe I will!" 

Yuri clapped somewhere next to him. "Go Heishi!" 

Heishi gathered his dignity and tried to focus all his willpower on making a light. A light. That was all he needed. A light. Then he could see. They could find the demon. He could show them both. A light. A light. A light. 

And suddenly, just when he'd almost given up, and his face felt redder than a tomato - 

A light appeared. 

A gasp rippled across the three. 

In front of Heishi, the faces of his two comrades were illuminated in a bright white light that hung a few feet above them all, casting strange shadows across the room, and across their faces, turning them into ghosts. On the other side of the room, a chest of drawers, a bed, and other furniture could be made out. 

"Woah . . ." Heishi said in disbelief. "I - I really did it!" 

The light began to move. 

It floated gently down, closer to Heishi, like a child asking to hold his hand. 

And he did . . . want to . . . touch . . . to touch it . . . 

"H-heishi!" Yuri exclaimed in worry, just as Ryou shouted, "Behind you!" 

"Huh?" Heishi barely said before everything exploded around him. 

Ryou slashed at the light, which dodged, pushing Heishi out of the way, while Yuri lunged for something behind him. Purely out of instinct, Heishi drew his sword. 

Now they were all facing the demon, weapons drawn. There was no way to describe what it looked like. It was made of darkness, of shadows that seemed to have come alive, and yet its mouth grinned, full of long, sharp teeth that were made of some glinting material that resembled metal. It had no distinct form, and resembled something like a pile of mud - that towered over them, nearly hitting the ceiling. And like an anglerfish, it had a long protrusion above its head, and, on the end - the light. 

Heishi's face burned with embarrassment. He raised his sword angrily. 

"Wait," Yuri said. His sword lowered. 

She took hold of their ears and pulled them closer on each side. "You guys can distract it. Then I'll come out of the dark and get it." 

"Fine, fine, will you let us go now?" Ryou hissed. "That thing looks hungry."