Come by Night 3: Kitsune No Yomeiri

Chapter Thirteen - Alone

*raijū – thunder beast

I confront the thunder beast as you run off. I hope like hell you don't get caught. Please be safe and clever, Hotaru. I will catch up to you soon. I have your scent, and I will find you. But first, I have to keep this relentless thing from pursuing us.

The raijū's body crackles, lightning sizzling around it. I have no fear, for am kitsune and I have lightning of my own. With my kitsunebi hovering over my shoulders and lightning flashing in my hands, I am about to launch my attack at the creature—

A shrill whistle cuts the air.

My ears flatten, my concentration dissipating at the pain. The beast bounds past me to the one who commands it. Despite being dressed in fine robes and appearing as a man, the dragon is brimstone and fire in my nostrils. This is exceedingly bad. Powerful I may be, but I am no match for a dragon.

I make to vanish and run, but a net is cast over me from behind. My illusion shatters under its nullifying magic and I am bound. Guards surround me on every side, weapons drawn. "Go after the other," he commands the raijū, which bounds off to do its master's bidding.

"NO!" I yell before I stop myself. A stupid mistake on my behalf, but I am beside myself with fear for you. The dragon turns his attention to me, and smiles.

"A nine-tailed fox, hmm?" the dragon says in a resonate voice, smoke emanating from the thin slits of his nose. Eyes of molten green-gold fix me and I know I am in deep shit. "What are you doing here? Mischief, without a doubt. Come to free a partner in crime, I suspect. A bad gamble to make, but bold. Now it is my fortune to claim such a prize! A kyuubi yōkai will fetch a fine price tomorrow night."

My lip curls. I gekker low in my throat. Inside, I feel fear. What if the raijū kills you? I need to get out!

"Prepare him," the dragon orders.

I mean to fight, but the binding on the net is made for something of my strength. I cannot keep them from placing the gauntlets upon my wrists no matter how I squirm and strike. These metal arm bands will keep me from using my powers without the key holder's consent. If I thwart my new master's will, the kanji etched into the bindings will glow violet and scorch me until I abide.

Even so, I try anyway. I attempt to use my magic to render myself invisible and vanish, but the more I try, the greater the pain, until I fall to my knees, gasping. It's no use. I am bound.

The dragon laughs. "Foolish beast. Even a great yōkai such as yourself cannot overcome this kami-wrought enchantment! You are bound, demon, and I will prove it to you," he says smugly. "Revert to your pure form."

And I do. I become the monstrous thing I really am, a demon fox unveiled. I cannot stop the transformation. My body does as it is commanded without my permission. I shriek my rage. I glower at my jailer, for all the good it does.

"What a quarrelsome brute. Your new master will have quite the challenge on his or her hands. Normally, a rabid fox wouldn't be worth the bother, but I think it is a selling point in your case. Get used to pain, beast. I am certain you are in for quite a lot of it.

"Take him to lower level," the dragon orders.

Unlike most of those imprisoned in the auction house, they drag me to a special cage near the offices in the basement. This stone vault has unique fortifications against demons of my caliber, and I cannot teleport out or use the shadows to slip away. The dragon is smart to isolate me. There is no way to trick my way out of here. Once the guards thrust me inside, I am unnetted and locked in. I cannot break out of the lattice-work grid that shuts me off from the outside world.

I am truly trapped.

The dragon chuckles to himself as he walks to his office. I hiss and shove at the immovable bars. It is useless. As the silence descends, the hopelessness of my situation sinks in. I do not know if you are alive or dead. My daughter is not here, which means a kami has her already. I fear the one who must have her. My former master. The heart goes out of me. Never have I felt so hopeless. Left with only my imagined fears growing larger in my mind with every passing second, I am lost to despair.

Hotaru, Tsukiko, I have failed you.