I stared at Saigyō Shinoda as he stepped out of the shadows into the dim light.
'I was half about sure that you'd come! I did well to suspect you,' he sneered.
Abruptly, terrifying animal growls shattered the intense quietness of the night, making my blood run cold.
In less than two, a horde of Inugami accompanied by the members of the Shinoda clan rushed into the tower to confront us.
Panic shot through my veins.
This isn't good!
'I can't use you to get the Shimazaki arrested for sorcery anymore, but I've got other projects for you!' declared the man who was at the head of the Shinoda clan as he drew up to Shirane, Heihachi- bat- and I. 'I noticed that there is not the signature of your superior on your form yesterday. I conclude that no one knows that you've come here, which means that no one will come looking for you. There's nothing more perfect than this!'
A twisted grin spread over his face.
'You, monster-hunters, have got incredible abilities that are very rare. This force will be very useful to me for annihilating the Shimazaki!'
He laughed wickedly.
'I'm going to make you my pet,' he said to Shirane before he looked at me. 'While you, you'll be my hostage. My beautiful hostage.'
He lifted his hand to caress my cheek.
I pulled slightly away from his touch, my eyes widening at him, my heart fluttering in my chest.
'As though I'm going to let you do!' exclaimed Shirane, at that moment, invoking his scythe. But even before he could make a move, Saigyō Shinoda's personal Inugami attacked him, biting him ferociously at the leg.
I gasped out in shock.
Shirane's scythe vanished and he fell to the ground, crying out in pure agony as the dog-spirit sank its canines deeper into his flesh. Unexpectedly, Saigyō Shinoda intervened, giving the dog-spirit a large kick in the belly.
My heart skipped a beat.
The blow sent the Inugami flying across of the hall, where it crashed on the ground with a loud thud.
Instantaneously, I got down onto my knees to help Shirane. He was in terrible pain and he was losing a lot of blood. Taking his jacket, I wound it around his leg to stop the bleeding, alarmed.
'What the hell did you do, you vermin?!' the leader of the Shinoda clan roared at his Inugami, full of rage. The dog-spirit picked itself up, growling menacingly at its master, ready to attack him.
It was said that Inugami turned onto their creators when these became too domineering.
'What are you waiting for?' the man shouted at the members of his clan. 'Get me rid of it!'
In obedience, five members of the clan ordered for their respective Inugami to attack Saigyō Shinoda's dog-spirit.
I watched, horror-struck, as these pounced onto the lone Inugami, bitting it to death, tearing it's flesh out and dismembering it.
Snapping out of my trance-like state, I called for Burabura without wasting a minute and the small yōkai appeared, creating a screen of smoke between the Shinoda- and their Inugami- and us.
'Heihachi! Help me!' I said, urgently and the latter took back human form. Burabura handed it a loin-like piece of cloth which he wrapped around of himself, covering himself up.
Grabbing Shirane's arm, I sent it around my neck and wrapped my arm around his waist, while Heihachi did the same on his side to help the red-haired boy walk.
We absolutely needed to get out of there!
'Burabura, keep them occupied!' I asked the chōchin-obake and the Tsukumogami transformed itself into a terrifying six-feet tall, horned, red-skinned Oni.
The disoriented members of the clan entered in a state frantic confusion at the giant creature which had appeared out of nowhere.
Heihachi and I managed to get Shirane through the door of the tower and moving as fast as we could, we managed to make it out of the domain, entering the forest.
I took worried glances at the red-haired boy. He was in a very bad state. I doubted that anyone at the village would accept to come to our help and hide us.
Desperate, I looked around our ourselves, seeking a place of refuge when, my eyes fell onto a small cave a short distance away in the dim light of the rising sun.
'Heihachi, over there!' I called, and he followed my eyes onto the small refuge.
We hurried up to it and put Shirane down to sit. The cave made the size of a small hut, with dried grasses covering the ground.
I was dead scared for the redheaded boy.
The hemorrhage had stopped. But Inugami bites were known to be mortal!
It couldn't be cured by doctors!
Dog howls erupted in the forest in all of a sudden, accompanied by noises, or rather, shouting human voices.
It was definitely the members of the Shinoda clan tracking us down already. It was only a matter of time before the dog-spirits would wind Shirane's blood and find us.
I grew tenser.
'Leave me here! Go away! Flee! I'm slowing you down!' panted out Shirane.
'It's out of the question! I refuse to abandon a mission partner!' I said.
'Go away, I tell you!' he snapped. 'I'm going to die anyway! There's no known cure to Inugami bites!'
'No.' I shook my head. 'No, you're not going to die!'
Maybe- Maybe Tsunan can heal him with the power of his Juzu bead bracelet!
Turning to Heihachi, I told him swiftly, 'You take Shirane with you and run away! Find Tsunan before it's too late!'
I got to my feet then, starting to make for the mouth of the cave.
'And you, what are you going to do?' demanded Heihachi, anxiously.
'I'm going to do the necessary to keep them from pursuing the two of you!' I replied, pausing down.
Heihachi jerked to his feet, his eyes growing huge at me. Shirane was staring at me too, his expression frantic.
'Shun, you're not going to…' the dark-haired male trailed off, holding his breath. He shouted then, 'Stop! Don't do that!'
'Go!' I urged, running out of the cave, heading into the direction of the commotion.
The members of the Shinoda clan came to a stop when they saw me approach them, their Inugami no longer barking.
I was dead scared but I didn't let it appear, putting up a confident front.
'My full name is Shun Shutsuki,' I declared, stopping several feet away from the mob. 'And this is my ability. The Godai Shakujō.'
Several gasps of amazement could be heard as I showed it them.
'My comrade is in the corridor of death. Let him go! Take me in his place! If you renounce pursuing him, you can do what you want of me!'
I was certain that they hadn't seen Heihachi take human form thanks to the screen of smoke. For them, he was only a bat. And since Shirane was wounded, they were practically sure that he was going to die without being able to contact the organization to warn them about what happened.
Saigyō Shinoda moved up to me.
My breathing accelerated.
'Do you know into what you're engaging yourself, girl?' he demanded, pulling at the back of my hair, tilting my face up in this way. I cringed slightly, pressing my eyes shut, a small shriek escaping my mouth.
I disactivated my Godai Shakujō before I would attack him by accident, but also in sign of submission.
Something hit me at the head at that moment, knocking me down on the ground.
My eyes blew open while my hand shot up for my forehead at the searing pain, and my fingers became wet with blood. I realized that the man had hit me with the unlit torch he had in hand in a demonstration of force.
'Call your Inugami back!' he called at his men over his shoulder then, and they obeyed without discussion, whistling in signal for the Inugami which were scouring the woods separately from the group, to return.
I count on you Heihachi to get Shirane out of here!
I was taken back to the residence of the Shinoda after that.
Beneath the surface of the domain could be found a whole underground level which was the dungeons. There were small rooms like cellars on both sides with blinding white light hanging in the corridor.
The underground could be accessed from a secret trap door in the flooring of the tower.
My skin crept in apprehension and I felt utterly sick as I tried to think of the purpose of this place for the Shinoda.
'Leave me alone with her!' Saigyō Shinoda ordered the two men, who accompanied us, and these left immediately. I didn't try to resist as I was thrown into one of the dungeons and my hands chained to manacles hanging from the ceiling.
I couldn't hide my normal reactions though. My whole frame was shaking with fear, my breathing coming out ragged.
'I find you very docile. But I know that you're only putting up an act. I'm going to make submit to me for real!'
I stared at him frantically, as he took out a sort of riding crop.
'No, please-' I began to say when, abruptly, the object he had in hand, came down onto my flank in the form of a blow, causing me to shriek out in pain.
Seeming to appreciate my reaction, he hit me with it continuously and I bit my lower lip to keep myself from making anymore sound, my eyes stinging with tears at the infliction.
Several minutes passed by before I was finally given a pause.
I was beginning to lose sensation in my arms. I was also feeling dizzy, this, probably due to my injury at the head.
'Hey you!' called a familiar voice, out of the blue and a hand seized a startled Saigyō Shinoda by the face to smashing the latter's head against the wall, knocking him out.
My eyes went wide in shock at the person who had suddenly made eruption.
Thank you for reading!