Daniel

“We need a plan,” Kenta said. He’d recovered well from the attempt on his life. The Kaminoke patted one of the straw doll bobbing sisters in gratitude as her eleven siblings moped about his hair. They seemed sad he’d be leaving tomorrow.

“We can’t make a plan without intel,” Daniel countered. Seven kids ringed a bedroom otherwise bare of Tsukumogami except for Tarō, who slept with Cassie as her futon.

The war council wasn’t going well, to understate it. Everyone felt drained from the day. Wendi stressed over the conflict with the Tsukumogami, expression strained, gaze unfocused. Feelings of guilt, confusion, and anger from Matsu’s banishment twisted Daniels’ guts. Paul, Lea, and Rana looked especially haggard as they contemplated the odds.

“Agreed,” Lea said. “Who knows how many mages await us or what Elements they wield.”

Paul bowed his head, attitude bleak. “We barely survived three mages last time.”

“It would be bad enough if Tesem alone waited outside!” Daniel succumbed to a morose moment as he spoke.

Everyone hushed as Rana withdrew her Shew Stone to project an image.

From a low perspective, perhaps a few inches above the ground, strangers came into focus. Twelve mages crossed the screen, each equipped with four glowing weapons crafted from complex Letter patterns. Each wore the gold-rimmed black capelet of the Nephilim with a Vitruvian human—two superimposed positions with four arms and four legs inside a circle and square—between the shoulders. Each wielded one of six Elements: Fire, Ice, Wind, Water, Stone, and Lightning. Each rode a powerful mount counting as its own threat with a Head Case tied to its saddle.

Two mounts stood apart from the conjured beasts: the Wolf and the Bear. Daniel recognized the Wind Wolf and measured the Stone Bear its equal, both entities tiny shards of their cosmic counterparts, somehow rendered subservient to their mage masters. He reckoned those two would be their most formidable foes.

Yet something about the lone Ice mage demanded attention. He wore crystalline plate mail and sat on a white throne frozen to the shell of his bestial mount. At his side hung a wicked blade of ethereal but solid violet metal. It had a Taotie mask for a handguard and, for all its apparent mass, seemed lighter than air.

From the moment Daniel laid eyes on the man, he’d found his opponent. Hate at first sight. Something deeply infuriated him about the absent, disinterested expression on the mage’s dark, young, and impossibly handsome—stolen—face. He felt himself involuntarily sneering.

Rana explained. “I left frogs on our trail to see what we’re up against. Unfortunately, the spy I left outside the Tsukumogami tunnel entrance was eaten by a stork, so I don’t have a recent visual.” Rana’s eye twitched as she told them that last part.

“Finally! Some good news!” Kenta said, pleased they had something on the mages, not that Rana’s frog had been eaten.

“You can see through the frogs?” Paul asked with eager interest as if he wanted to have a long conversation with Rana but didn’t want to derail the meeting. Rana surprised the others with a grunt of affirmation.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Though she hadn’t said anything, Daniel had long since deduced that fact from her fight with the Wind Wolf. It appeared not all the others had been so attentive.

“Notice anything unusual?” Rana returned their attention to the projected memory.

They all exchanged glances as if to ask what part of what they’d seen was usual.

“Where are the Cintamani?” Daniel asked, “They can’t be stored in a Pwyll’s pouch; Rana’s stomach is the exception.”

“Correct,” Rana nodded. “These mages were gathering Cintamani in the Wilderness when they found us. They use wagon-beasts to cart their caches along the Roads to the City. Our Nephilim pursuers left behind everything they couldn’t carry. After sacrificing their profits, they’ll be that much more desperate to catch us.”

“That’s why we’re grateful you’re on our side!” Wendi said. “We’d be clueless without you around.” The frog girl coughed, uncomfortable with the praise.

“The trouble is,” Daniel pointed out, “We’re outnumbered almost two-to-one.”

“If I were a bored mage with a lot of time on my hands,” Rana interrupted, “I’d make beasts. I wouldn’t have to worry about feeding them since it takes weeks for them to die of hunger, and they’re expendable anyway. I could probably conjure several by myself without taxing my daily reserves of magic, considering I don’t know when my target will emerge from hiding. Maybe half a dozen over the course of, let’s say, three nights, for example.”

Lea rolled her eyes, “Hypothetically speaking.”

“Correction, we’re miserably outnumbered,” said Daniel.

“On the bright side,” Rana said, her voice devoid of optimism. “The Black Dog can’t trap us in disorienting mist during the day. I’m almost certain that was his Night domain ability.”

“Leave dog-boy to me,” Wendigo said, shocking Daniel with her presence. “I’m looking forward to a rematch.”

The blue devil abruptly shifted to red Wendi, who added, “Ziege and I’ll beat him no problem!” Daniel wasn’t sure whether to be pleased with the Wendigo’s helpful offer or disturbed she and Wendi were communicating without his knowledge. He’d never heard of a split personality this weird. Frankly, he still felt grateful Wendi wasn’t losing her memories.

Daniel felt the need to spotlight their actual goal again. “Remember, we don’t have to defeat them—we’re escaping. Focus on that.”

“We can’t outrun them with Cassie asleep,” Rana corrected him, her tone deadly serious, “And an hour of flight isn’t enough if she were awake.

“We’ve already led them on a fair chase. Those hounds will have their taste of blood no matter what. They won’t kill us, but they’ll make us wish we were dead. Don’t fight like children. Fight like cornered animals. Ignore your wounds, forget the pain, fight until you’re pinned, then keep struggling. If you fall, make them bleed for victory.”

He paled to hear those words, but he found himself agreeing with her. Those Nephilim mages were very bad people. He could hurt bad people to defend his friends. “Either we all get away, or we all go down fighting. Is everybody with me?” He extended his left hand.

Wendi put her right hand over his because he sat on her left, “Are you kidding?” She grinned, the Wendigo giving a darker smile somewhere behind her innocent eyes.

“Obviously,” Paul said as he laid his gauntlet on top.

“Was that supposed to be a question?” Lea asked as she hovered her hand above the pile.

“The Kaminoke never leave a friend behind,” Kenta laid a strand of hair on Paul’s gauntlet.

The five turned to Rana, whose eyes widened in astonishment at something behind them.

Cassie, risen from sleep, had pulled her hair into a ponytail. She no longer hid her leaf-shaped upturned nose, and her raised chin presented an air of confidence echoed in her posture.

She stood straighter and, while taller than Rana before, had gained a few inches from her powerful claws. Cassie kept her clothes the same, but a new attitude made her tank top and fitted shorts seem more athletic and deliberate. Tarō the scarf billowed about her neck, imitating a breeze. The greatest physical difference, however, was her arms.

She’d retracted her wings into hands. While slimmer and bonier than human arms, they had nimble strength and flexibility. Vestigial wing membranes connected her inner arms and elbows to her armpits. Her delicate webbed piano fingers were elegant, not fragile.

Cassie didn’t seem bothered about losing her wings. Rather, she was in control of her body like never before.

“I’m in, and I have a plan,” she said, a knowing glint in her eye as she bared her fangs in a fierce grin.