Ryuu shouted a short command, but when a samurai stepped up to Akuma, the stallion snorted angrily at the man.
Kara caught the horse’s head and pressed her forehead against his nose.
«Akuma, please. I don’t want you to get hurt. Let this man take you somewhere safe. And I will see you in the morning, I promise.»
The stallion snorted again, hitting his front hoof on the ground, but stepped to the man, allowing him to grab the reins and nervously lead him away.
«Can I offer you some tea, while we wait?» Lord Ryuu proposed, and the Spy Masters agreed by slightly bowing to him. Kara did the same, finding it better to have some kind of a distraction before the possible battle.
They sat down in the middle of the field, surrounded by nearly a hundred men that stood some distance away. Two servants served them tea and once they were left alone, Lord Ryuu looked at Kara with a stern expression.
«The villagers told me you killed a child.» He said.
«It was not a child, my lord. It was a kitsune. A shapeshifter. It tricked the people into believing it was a small girl.» Kara replied.
«So my mystics said.» The commander nodded. «They also found a couple of stones on the girl, marked by demon runes.»
«I believe the creature Kaito, who we killed and the kitsune girl were working together and were trying to open the gates that you were warned about.» Itsuki said, glancing at Ayame.
«The girl did know that Kaito was dead, before any of the villagers even realised the man who they knew as Kaito went missing.» Ayame added.
«Have you, or your men seen any more creatures around?» Lord Ryuu asked, sipping his tea.
«No. We believe there were only two of them…»
«At least, if we are not taking into account the smaller demons that attacked Nakano last night.» Itsuki nodded.
«We will hope that tonight will be calm and the danger has passed.»
Kara suddenly felt her arm warm up where the brand was located. She glanced around, tense and vigilant for any signs of creatures that might appear. It was still dusk, but even though many of Lord Ryuu’s men lit torches, the field was quickly turning dark.
Before anyone noticed this change in Kara’s stance, a sudden chill running down her spine made her jump to her feet. As she looked around, noticing a faint bit of shadows appearing behind Lord Ryuu’s men, Itsuki, Ayame and Lord Ryuu rose as well.
«They’re coming…» Kara whispered, unsheathing her katana.
In a matter of seconds the men began shouting and getting their weapons ready.
But the shadows that flew from the surrounding forest ignored them and headed straight at Kara.
«I think that if you don’t engage – they will ignore you!» Kara jumped away from Lord Ryuu and her friends, and then ran off to face the first few ghostly figures, that were screeching and howling from anticipation.
The creatures surrounded her, trying to pass her blades, but she was already swirling in her deadly dance, slicing their ethereal bodies and killing them as they approached.
She remembered the previous night, when she was alone and fighting for her life. She used less force this time, and she saw that all of the men around her were engaging the fight as well – first it was Lord Ryuu, Itsuki and Ayame, then the others joined in, getting to some of the passing creatures.
Very soon the whole field was engaged in battle – moaning and groaning ghosts, shadow-like slithering creatures and smaller demons that flew from the skies were fighting the people in a fierce battle for their lives.
Kara noticed how some of the men suddenly froze and turned to their comrades, stepping to hit those who were fighting alongside them. Then she saw how one of the ghostly creatures entered a man and took over him, making him its vessel.
«Don’t let them get inside you!» she screamed, fearing that the creatures that will find themselves human vessels can do much more damage than those without.
Her brand ached and pulsated with each wave of enemies she took upon, but she started to ignore the pain, channelling it towards anger and the will to cut, slice and kill anyone who approached her with ill intent.
At some moment she found herself standing back to back with Itsuki – he cleared his way to help her and as they battled the creatures, they seemed to feel each other’s moves, turning into a tandem of two warriors, eager to take on anything that comes up.
Unlike the previous night, this time the angry screams of the demonic creatures summoned more and more enemies, as Kara was not alone. But no matter how many there were – they couldn’t get to her.
As the first light scattered the remaining creatures from the field – the people left there emerged victorious.
«That was a great fight, Nakano!» Lord Ryuu walked up and slapped her on the shoulder, as she was catching her breath.
Even though the fight seemed over, Kara glanced around, trying to feel out if anyone among the men could still have the ghostly entities inside. For the moment everyone seemed fine.
«I can’t put you in harm’s way, Lord Ryuu.» Kara said, looking at Itsuki and Ayame. «These creatures are weak, but at some point the brand will call upon someone much stronger.»
«And we will face it together!» he replied, smiling. «Gather the men! We’re returning!»
Kara dared not to argue.
* * *
Though Lord Ryuu offered her his help in battling the demonic creatures every night, Kara decided not to keep the people in the castle in harm’s way.
On the third night she sneaked out beyond the walls and hid in the forest, battling the creatures on her own. And after that – she continued disappearing from the castle, not letting anyone know where she was – she was too scared for everyone else.
It was her burden – and hers alone. No one else needed to be hurt because of it.
Itsuki knew that she was running from the castle each night, but she managed to avoid him every time – and the other shinobi as well. Fortunately, she already knew a lot about their methods and how they could pursue her, and that gave her advantage.
Ayame was worried that Kara was doing this, but she respected her friend, and though she was always ready to help – she did not push and force Kara to accept it.
Kara, on the other hand, felt more in control, when she didn’t have to watch others around her. It made her fights easier and less stressful.
It became something of a habit – changing her timing and ways to leave, so Kara became quite confident whenever she left the castle. As she did on the nights before, she escaped from her friends and swiftly got over one of the walls – unseen by a single guard. She disappeared in the dusk before the night even started darkening the shadows among the trees. Kara went to her favourite place – a big meadow where she had enough space to fight and see the approaching danger.
She got ready as soon as her brand started burning with pain. But this time it was different. She felt the pain rise from its usual waves to a much higher level – at some point Kara felt shivers running down her spine, as the pain increased and made it extremely difficult to handle the katana.
Clenching her jaws together, Kara noticed two Greater demons come out into the meadow – the smaller creatures darted away, fearful to get in their way, leaving Kara face-to-face with the two disgusting demons that approached.
Kara jumped to the first one, not even giving the snake-like creature the time to curl up for a strike. The first few hits that Kara landed on its body were the last – the demon tripped and fell to the grass, already gasping for the last breath with a throat cut from the chin