Ayakashi Monogatari

Chapter Eleven: Afterlife Reverie

Chapter Eleven: Afterlife Reverie

If there was ever a time in my life when I wanted to piss myself, it would be now. Asura's frightening image had already been branded into my brain since the first day I encountered him, but a giant Asura was utterly horrifying.

Even though I was frozen in terror, my father glared up at the gigantic Shinigami without a shred of fear. "Drop the act, Asura! You're not fooling anyone, and you're not putting your filthy hands on my daughter ever again!" Asura's bellowing laugh rattled my bones. "Well, well, how nice to see you, Seimei Touma. You haven't changed a bit from the day I met you. This isn't just about the White Rabbit, you know. I've come here to settle a little score...with you. Why don't we relive some happy memories and have an old-fashioned duel, just like old times?"

Seimei unsheathed his Sword of Exorcism, and a blast of blue fire ejected from the scabbard. "Same to you, Asura." He turned to the rest of us. "Luca, Celestia, Karen, take Minami and Raven far away from here. The rest of you, go with Sojobou and Karasu. I'll deal with Asura by myself." Luca and Celestia took a quick bow. "Yes, Lord Seimei." Luca shifted into his monstrous black wolf form, while Celestia jumped on his back. She grabbed my hand and helped me climb up onto the sheet of cords and muscles that was Luca's posterior.

I glanced over my shoulder to face my father one last time. "Dad, you can't do this by yourself! Asura's going to kill you!" Seimei shook his head and gave me a weak smile. "Don't you worry about me. You just get as far away from here as you can and keep an eye on Karura. I'll be fine. I put my trust in you...now it's time for you to put some trust in me. I'm going to finish what I should have done a long time ago."

I knew there was no convincing him. I was well aware of the past Asura and my father shared. He would not be swayed by my words, no matter how much danger he was in. Karen hovered above my head on her broom, now in full-on panic mode. "C-come on!" she shrieked. "We gotta get outta here!" I clenched my teeth and curled my fingers around the stiff fibers of Luca's fur, clinging on for dear life as he sped off into the bowels of Kurama Mountain. Celestia was practically glued to my back the whole way through. Raven and Karen flew close behind. Karura was perched on my shoulder, casually hanging along for the ride.

The black wolf bolted through the narrow labyrinth of twisting tunnels, thrashing me back and forth like a roller coaster ride. If I ever made it out of this, I was going to have some serious whiplash. "Where are we going to go?!" I shouted. "Once we make it out of Kurama Mountain, we'll have to join the others in the fight against the Ayakashi that have overrun the island!" Celestia shot back. "As of right now, our main goal is to keep you away from Asura and to keep Karura safe!" I grimaced. "Why the hell does SHE have to be kept safe!? She's a Kami, for crying out loud!"

"I am weak in this form," Karura explained, seeming to sneer at the same time. "Now that I am bound to you, my true powers can only be activated once I possess your body. In this state, Asura could easily kill me." I rolled my eyes. "Good to know."

Luca's bellowing voice spoke. "Hang on tightly, Lady Minami. It's going to be a rough ride." Turned out he was rushing full-speed toward a stone wall with the intention to smash through it. "Put your heads down!" he warned.

I did as I was told and bent down below Luca's flank. The Inugami collided head-on with the rock wall, bulldozing through it and leaping back into the outside world. A blast of cold air struck me. My stomach lurched as the wolf soared through the air and landed on a jagged, rocky outcropping encircling the mountain. Up above, Kurama Mountain looked as though it had a bite taken out of it. Perched on the upper cliffs was a monstrously-sized Asura. "Looks like he got into some Shinigami steroids," Karen commented. I swallowed a hard lump in my throat. "I-I don't understand. How...did he get so massive?"