Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 104141 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 104141 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 521(@200wpm)___ 417(@250wpm)___ 347(@300wpm)
The track cut sharply into the trees on the west side of the slope and within seconds the mansion was gone behind us and the chaos was muffled by leaves.
"Yoichi?! Where are you going? The evacuation is the other way."
He didn’t even look over his shoulder. “Let grandma answer for you.”
“What?” I looked at her.
“Grandma?” The old woman chuckled. “You’re the one old enough to be my great-great-great grandparent.”
I blinked.
Yoichi growled.
“But I will answer your question, Tora.” Then, the old woman sat up. Her spine, which had been bent almost in two, minutes ago, straightened all at once. Her cane shifted in her grip and she gave me a smile that was not the smile of an old grandmother trying to save her grandsons. It was the wicked expression of a warrior that had just won.
I leaned away. “W-what is going on?”
"You passed our tests, Tora." She winked. Her voice came out clearer and younger than it had been thirty seconds ago. "Now we have a detour."
“Who are you?”
“Someone you’re not supposed to know about, but this day has called for drastic measures.”
“That’s still not an answer.”
“I love that the Dragon has picked a smart woman. Sometimes the men only pick with their cocks.”
I widened my eyes.
Those grandsons laughed.
“You have a brain and even your own power. Very good blood. Lots to work with. If she were alive right now, the Dragon’s mother would be proud.” She tapped her cane once against the floor of the cart.
Bang.
The sound cut through the chaos around us.
For half a second, nothing happened.
Then the cane shimmered, and a magical transformation began. Deep inside the wood itself, moonlight rippled. Pale silver lines spread across the polished surface in branching veins.
I opened my mouth in shock.
The wood melted, turned to silver, and reshaped into a blade.
A katana.
The handle elongated.
Glowing symbols surfaced.
The air sparked.
I sucked in a breath. “H-how did you do that?”
“Don’t worry. It’s not magic. It’s just an illusion that I’ve practiced for a long time.”
Yoichi snorted up ahead. “Do not be scared, Nyomi. The boys may be annoying and her odd, but they are friends."
"More like protectors." The old woman pointed her katana at the boys. "Go. Help the others evacuate."
The boys answered her in one voice. "Yes, Shigo-sha."
Then they jumped off the moving cart and blurred. The space where their bodies had been streaked sideways into a long smear of motion and then they were gone. Just gone. Into the trees in two directions at speeds no human child should have been able to move.
What the fuck?
I stared at the place where they had been. My heart was pounding so hard I could hear it in my ears. "Y-your name is Shigo-sha?"
"It is my title."
Terrified, I looked at her. "What does that mean?"
She turned her face fully toward me and her eyes were not the eyes I had looked into outside the mansion. Those eyes had been wet with desperation and fear. These eyes were ancient and held power. “It means Death Guardian."
“Well. . .” I stiffened. “That sounds important.”
“It is the most important of all.”
Yoichi snorted.
She frowned at him. “You’ve failed on your watch.”
Yoichi sighed. “Everything was out of my control.”
“They won’t be able to do the Burial Ritual.”
Yoichi growled. “Why didn’t you tell me they were going to do the ritual in the first place?”
“Because you would have tried to stop it—”
“It’s too dangerous and they have just begun for such a huge commitment—”
“It’s been enough time for them to decide—”
“No time at all—”
“You see time differently, old man. They’ve had quite an adventure already—”
“The Burial Ritual binds their souls. This is a decision that one takes years to decide—”
“The Dragon needs his spirit animal tonight for victory—”
“He could win without it.”
“He will die without it.”
Oh shit.
I thought back to when I’d been on that Scooby Doo mission with Hiro and the twins and spotted paintings from Kenji’s mother.
I had looked at Hiro. “The people in the paintings were Kenji’s mother’s family?”
“Yes. Her bloodline. Her clan. They gifted my brother with this island and people.”
“People?”
“Yeah. I jokingly call them The Silent Ones. They blend in. Staff, gardeners, vendors. Some stay in the hidden wings. Some choose the shadows. They serve him without ever being invited. They answer to no one except his mother’s last wishes to protect him.”
I brought my mind back to the present moment and took the old woman in.
She’s a part of Kenji’s mother’s family? She’s one of the Silent Ones and Yoichi is too.
Shivering, I considered their debate about the Burial Ritual. “W-what else can we do to give Kenji an advantage?”
Yoichi let out a long breath. “You don’t need to—”
“Aww, Tora. I’m glad you asked. Don’t listen to him.” The old woman smiled. “Tell me something.”
I swallowed.
“Are you ready to bleed for your Dragon?”
“I am.”
“And are you ready to lose something that is very precious to you?”