Tales Of Ayakashi

CHAPTER 11

Atop the Mount Kurama:

Inushimaru gazed down at the trembling figure before him. The human traveler had fallen down on his knees, and was pleading and begging with fear. The golden light that had surrounded his figure when he stepped atop the Mount Kurama was slowly transforming into a familiar purple-red color of evil qi. 

It was Fear. The former golden color of Faith power was now nowhere to be seen. 

The Katana glinted in the night, as he brought down the blade. 

Slash!

Drip.

Blood splashed on to the stone paved platform, and small tendrils of blood rolled down the katana blade, falling onto the ground.

A tendril of evil qi slowly rose from the now dead body of the traveler, curling and writhing in a macabre dance. If someone listened closely they could hear the faint sound of wailing and screaming rising from the faint thread of evil qi. 

Inushimaru swung the blade, once, splashing the remaining blood on his blade to the pavement, then sheathed it. 

He pulled a small, round purple pearl about the size of his palm from his sleeve, then watched as the evil qi rose and drifted towards the pearl as if pulled in by a magnetic force. 

He watched the purple orb absorb the evil qi then slowly change colour from purple to red then to black and back to purple again. 

The once dull orb was now glowing with a faint purplish light in the dark as if someone had breathed life into it. If someone watched with a  slightly more discerning eye, they would see that inside that soft purple light you could thousands upon thousand of ghostly faces, their faces scrunched up in pain and agony, their mouth open in ghastly screams. 

Kamito leaned against a tree trunk, watching Inushimaru from a distance. His ears twitched from time to time, listening to any sound of movement.

After a while when Inushimaru joined him did he straightened from his posture, and the two faded into the night. Had it not been for the corpse and the faint trace of blood still lingering in the air, it would seem as if they hadn't there in the first place.

For a short while, the night regained its usual calmness. The wind blew through the woods, washing away the stench of blood and bringing with it the tides of storms to come. 

In the distance, thunder rumbled but the night remained tranquil. 

Beside the corpse, space distorted and three figures materialized into view. 

They were clad from head to toe in black, the lower half of their faces covered, only revealing their red eyes. They didn't seem to be wearing any weapons and when they walked, it was soundless as if they were ghosts. 

The man in the lead crouched down beside the corpse and dipped his finger into a pool of blood that gathered around it. Bringing it up to eyes level, he slowly rubbed his fingers. 

The man to his right, spoke cautiously. "Aniki," 

The former gave a nod, then stood up. "There's no mistake. It's Evil qi, " he said softly. 

The two beside him shifted uneasily, but apart from the slight movement none  of them showed any outward expression. 

The leader of the trio gazed thoughtfully at the corpse. "The blood is still warm. They couldn't have gone very far either,"

"Should we give chase?" the man on his left asked quietly. 

"It would be best if we could hand over this evidence to the Second young master,"  the leader contemplated. Then he nodded. "Give chase!" Then without a warning, space distorted and the three vanished into thin air.