Epilogue #2
Yoichi grabbed my arm and stopped me. “We have no time.”
“But. . .”
Another woman helped her up. She was shaking so hard her teeth were chattering.
A third boom rolled across the island.
This one was farther away. The ground didn't shake, but a small group of kids raced away in horror.
Goddamn it. Where are their parents?
We got to my cart, and I turned to my guards. They stood in formation around me. "Listen."
They watched.
"I’m safe with Yoichi. Go get your kids, wives, and loved ones off this island. Get them on a helicopter or boat. Once your families are safe, come find me. But your families are priority right now. Not me."
None of them moved.
I looked at Yoichi.
He shook his head. "Their first priority is you."
I drew in a breath, raised my hand, and pointed to the soul pin that Reo had given me.
Yoichi frowned.
“The Tiger commands it. Go get your kids and wives off this fucking island. The Dragon doesn't have to know. If he has a fucking problem with it, I'll deal with him personally.” I dropped my hand. “Now go!"
For one beat, nothing happened.
Then the tall one with the scar through his eyebrow gave me the deepest bow I had ever received in my life. "Yes, Tora."
He turned and ran off.
Two more nervously backed away and then ran off too.
The rest stayed.
I looked at them. "No kids or wives?"
One nodded. "None."
"Parents on the island?"
They shook their heads.
Yoichi crossed his muscular arms over his chest. “Are we done saving everyone else besides yourself now?”
“No, but I will get onto the cart.”
To my surprise, Yoichi let out a dark chuckle and headed to the driver’s side.
I climbed in the back. "I know you disagree with what I just did."
"I actually don't."
"No?"
"I think what you did was admirable and beautiful." Yoichi gripped the keys hanging from the ignition, twisted them, and turned the cart’s engine on. "I just think the Dragon will break my ribs over it."
I widened my eyes.
Yoichi glanced over his shoulder. “Lucky for me, I heal pretty fast.”
Another boom from the outer ridge.
The cart shook, and then an older woman got in front of us.
Yoichi let out an annoyed breath. “Move. Now is not the time.”
“Oh, please help us!” The woman’s white hair was pinned in a low knot. She donned a black dress and had a cane in her right hand which made sense because her back was hunched over like she was in pain.
Her left hand held the small hand of a little boy. Another little boy stood on her other side.
Yoichi frowned at her. “The helicopters and boats are over there.”
The woman kept her gaze on me. "Tora, can you help us?"
I leaned forward. “What do you need?”
My remaining guards moved instantly, and one yelled out. “Step back. Get in line for evacuation. Now."
The old woman did not move. "Please, it’s just me and my grandsons. I’ve already lost my son—their father—in the last battle."
I looked at the two boys.
They were maybe eight or nine years old and wore matching lavender shirts and shorts.
Yoichi blew out that exasperated breath. “We don’t have time for you right now, old woman.”
I blinked. “Yoichi, we can help them.”
He sighed.
I gestured for them to come over. “How can I help?”
The old woman's eyes filled with hope. "These two little boys are my grandsons. I don't want them to die. Can you help us get to the evacuation? My old bones will not get us there fast enough. Please, Tora."
Yochi barked at her, "There's no room on the cart. We’re already at capacity for your security."
"There is room.” I scowled. “We'll take fewer guards. A cart will come back for them."
Yoichi pursed his lips.
“Come on.” I gestured for her to come over and sit next to me.
The guards backed up.
The old woman bowed so deeply I thought she would fall over. "Thank you, Tora. Thank you. Bless your soul a thousand times—"
“Just get on with it.” Yoichi sucked his teeth.
I blinked again, shocked at how rude Yoichi was being when I knew him to typically be very thoughtful.
She let her grandson’s hand go. The two boys ran over and hopped in the front with Yoichi who immediately frowned at them.
I saw one of them stick out his tongue at Yoichi.
Meanwhile, the old woman took her time getting over to the cart. She moved like every joint in her body was made of rust.
Her cane wobbled.
Yoichi scowled. “Speed it up, grandma!”
“Yoichi.” I stared at him in shock. “That’s quite enough. Let’s be nice.”
Still, she’d barely moved a few inches.
Holy shit. This woman is the slowest woman alive though.
Time was bleeding away from us.
A third boom from the outer ridge rolled across the trees. Closer this time. The cart shook on its wheels.
Somewhere behind us, a baby started screaming.
I glanced up and saw the helicopters rising into the air.
Oh good. They followed my orders and are getting people off the island. I’ll be up there in time for the second trip.
I put my view on the older woman.
Her right knee buckled twice before she got her foot up onto the running board.
When she finally made it to my side, I extended my hand to help. Her hand shook so hard on my forearm that I had to brace her elbow with my other hand to keep her upright.
"Oh. Thank you so much," she whispered. "These old bones aren’t what they used to be."
Yoichi rolled his eyes.
I scowled at him again.
What is his problem?
She took her time sitting down, but right when her butt hit the seat, Yoichi sped off. The impact almost knocked the woman out of the cart.
I yelled at him, “Could you slow down?!”
We rolled out onto the main gravel road heading toward the helicopter pad.
Another boom went off.
The cart shook hard. The old woman pitched sideways into me and I caught her against my shoulder. One of the boys let out a short laugh.
At least he’s not scared.
The cart rolled on.
We passed a family running with two suitcases.
Shit. We need to get more carts going. I’ll see if one of the guards can check.
We passed a guard yelling into a radio and right when we were getting close to the fork in the road to make the right toward the helicopter pad. . .Yoichi turned the steering wheel hard and took the left.
Huh?
The cart swung off the gravel road and onto a narrow dirt track I had not even noticed was there.
I looked around. “Yoichi?”
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?”
I peered at her. “What would that be?”
“The little tiger.”
“Excuse me?”
Yoichi sighed. “She doesn’t even know she is pregnant.”
The old woman gave me a sad smile. “But you know now.”
My bottom lip quivered as I placed my hand on my stomach. “I’m pregnant?”
“You are. Very new. Barely there. No heartbeat, but the animal spirit hovers over you, waiting for that heartbeat to come. It’s a little tiger spirit.”
I had difficulty gathering myself.
Yoichi blew out a long breath. “Give her time to process.”
“We don’t have time, old man.”
Yoichi growled again.
She turned back to me. “Sacrificing that little tiger will boost the Dragon’s control and cut all the time of the Burial Ritual. The little tiger's life force will become his, woven into his spirit beast.”
“And. . .what will happen to our baby?”
“Your child will die, but she will live inside the Dragon, merging with his power.”
“She?”
“Yes. She.” The Death Guardian gave me a sad smile. “This spell calls for an ancient bargain. A massive sacrifice.”
I looked down at my hand on my stomach.
“You sacrifice the child to save the man.”
I turned to her.
Her gaze went wild. “If the Dragon loses, the Fox wins, and the Fox will take Kenji alive and capture this island. The Fox will take your child anyway, but not as a spirit-gift. He’ll keep you alive just so you can have that little girl.
And when she is birthed, well. . .she will live a small, broken life in captivity. ”
So many scenarios spun around in my head.
Back in the elevator, I had made a vow to Kenji, our love, and our people no matter how cold the decision would be. I’d committed to abandoning normal society’s rules of decency and go deadly cold if I needed to.
And now the universe was calling my bluff.
The old woman leaned back in her seat. “Or the child can live forever inside the Dragon's power, woven into his immortal spirit, never alone, never separated from him. And you will see that little tiger as you see his dragon spirit.”
But. . .killing our child?
I looked back down at my hand on my stomach.
“Will you do it, Tora?”
I closed my eyes and even with them shut. . .tears spilled.
Will I?
I opened my eyes and did my best to not imagine our little girl. My heart already ached so much. To think of her. . .it would be cruel. . .it would make me too soft with emotion. . .
The cart kept moving.
The trees kept passing.
A little tiger spirit is above me waiting to enter our child. Waiting for a heartbeat that may never come.
More tears spilled and I couldn’t even lift my hand to wipe them.
Sacrifice.
How unfair. . .that all this time I had tried to save Kiko’s unborn kids to now be faced with killing mine?
I’m going to kill Kiko. That I know. . .
The full moon watched.
Shigo-sha watched.
Yoichi went stiff as he kept our cart going forward.
The Dragon I loved was somewhere on this island, preparing to die for me without knowing what I was being asked to kill for him.
The boom of the antiaircraft guns rolled across the trees again, and the little tiger spirit waited to know its fate.
Fuck. . .
At the time of writing this, I'm finishing Dragon 7's First Act. Like all the other books, this will be out before the preorder date.
Dragon 1- 6 was all the wind-up.
Dragon 7 is the swing.
The war comes to the island.
The masks go on.
And every single one of them—Kenji, Hiro, Nyomi, all of them—is going to be asked the same thing Nyomi just was:
What are you willing to lose?