"Demon, shroud in the dark. May steel devour you with zealous purpose."

I repeated the words until there was nothing else in my mind. My eyes continuously stared upon the golden-accented katana, which at it's hilt read that exact sentence I kept repeating.

My hands flipped the sword to its other side, which had a similar incantation, but it had been furiously destroyed years ago.

Even so, I remembered the words exactly. But I couldn't find the strength to repeat it out loud.

The sword I held in my hands had been with me since nearly the beginning. And I had almost used it as my end. I didn't even have the strength to kill myself with it after my most shameful moment. So instead I hid it, all of it, and sentenced myself to slowly wither away. But I supposed fate had other plans.

Finally, my gaze went from the mesmerizing steel to my surroundings. It was bleak and dark.

The snow clouds had come to hang over us once again, making it the darkest night it had been in decades. One could barely see their hand right in front of them.

But we all had torches and lanterns. If nature did not provide, we would make our own way.

I watched the men pack the last of our supplies into our carefully hidden carriages.

Mt.Fuji was steep from where we were onwards, so we would have to move on foot and with the hounds. Luckily, or unluckily, depending on how you look at it, we didn't have far to walk. Mt.Fuji was absolutely enormous, but we were able to catch up to our yokai before it had barely scratched the surface of the behemoth.

I thought about the wretched yokai that we had chased all this way. My blood slowly began to boil in anticipation, even eagerness, to finally finish our first quest, to know once and for all that I could make a return to the life I longed for so desperately.

As I grew deeper involved with my thoughts, Yasuo put a hand on my shoulder, which caused me to jump in surprise. He spoke after I had regained composure. "Are you alright, Kenshi? You seem more on edge than normal."

I replied truthfully. "I may be on edge, that's true, but not more than I am eager. This is my chance to redeem myself."

The tall Yasuo nodded. "That's good to hear, then..." We stared into the distance for a while before he kept going. "I just wanted to say, it has been an honor to lead you and everyone to this fight. There is no other party I would want to spend my life with than you all. And I know I am only the second in command, but it feels as though-"

I cut him off. "No, Yasuo. You're the one that made this camp into what it is today. Be proud of yourself and your accomplishments. You're the one who we hold allegiance to."

He smiled at the sentiment. But soon, Yasuo was needed elsewhere, so he said his goodbyes as he walked to attend to other matters. "Thank you for that, friend. Once we are through with all this, the drinks will be on me!"

I chuckled as he faded into the crowd. Keeping his spirits up even in the darkest of nights, like a good leader does.

I stood idly in the middle of camp for a moment before Kohei sounded his horn to gain the men's attention.

He spoke loudly. His face was pale with what seemed to be anxiety. "Our Huntsman has gotten the hounds ready, and we have hidden our horses well, which means only one thing... It's time to kill the yokai!" The men nodded and mumbled with each other. Obviously not the reaction he wanted, but he brushed it aside. "Let's move!"

Our caravan started to get in formation on foot. Kohei, Yasuo, and the Huntsman in front with the dogs. Me, Mahiro, Sora, and Lee in the back. The Doctor crept along in the middle of all the men.

We started trudging up the snowy base of the mountain, following the hounds.

I looked to my left and saw Mahiro. The dark bags under his eyes had lightened, and his knuckles were completely healed. I was proud of the man. Even though he never told me, nor anyone, of his past, I could feel the weight it put on him, the same as mine. And his brutal way of calming himself had been put aside. He was healed, but still scarred. He had a long way to go, but he was far further along than when we met.

I almost chuckled at the thought that when we first met, he was reluctant even telling me his own name.

The hounds had gotten a scent, and our caravan started moving through the forest and shrubberies. It was a harsh path, but it would bring us to the yokai much quicker.

My head turned from the left to the right. And there was the once stone cold Sora, whispering to Lee about whatever they usually talked about. His expression may still have been lacking, but I noticed the lack of a cumbersome blade on his hip, instead, he relied on Lee.

Lee was smirking at his own thoughts as Sora kept murmuring. He wasn't as cheerful as he had been since losing his chance at living the life he wanted, but he could at least smile once again.

And finally, there was Yasuo in the front, practically giving orders to Kohei. He had moved from Kohei's lackey to a strong leader.

And for me? I could feel improvement, but there was always the one thought, the one memory, knawing at the back of my mind. The one thing I still couldn't come to terms with.

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

But I could possibly start mending that festering wound if I regained confidence in myself again, regained my honor.

We moved throughout the brush and snow. The yips and howls of yokai we weren't concerned with echoed through the distance.

Soon the Huntsman halted our caravan and looked at something on the ground. He spoke to Yasuo and Kohei, and that sentence was whispered all throughout our group of Samurai. An unknown face from in front of me whispered to us in the back. "He found tracks of the yokai."

Without warning, the Huntsman hit his dogs and shooed them into the forest, most likely to be mauled to shreds. I guessed we didn't need them any longer. But even if the hounds were no longer needed, it was cruel. The Huntsman didn't care, though. He only had one obsessive mission, to kill the one creature that escaped him. It was the only thing that he ever spoke about. Only one thing he would even think of.

But we didn't make a fuss at the Huntsman letting go of the dogs. We just had to follow the tracks.

We held our torches close to the ground, inspecting the large footprints as we followed them.

They were walked all over once we got to them, but I could still make out the yokai's tracks under all the human footprints. It was limping with the same leg that our archers had shot last time we encountered it. This was definitely our yokai.

Our entire caravan had turned deathly silent. Nothing but footsteps in the cold snow and evil howling in the distance could be heard.

Even though this was my chance to redeem myself, I could feel my heart pounding with anxiety. What if I failed again? What if this was just all fate's sadistic humor and I was just going to shame myself again?

No. No. I would kill the yokai, without aid from an Ember. I would prove myself worthy once again.

My right hand grabbed onto my sword instinctively. I anxiously tapped on the hilt as the tracks grew fresher and fresher.

I mumbled to myself under my breath. "Demon, shroud in the dark. May steel devour you with zealous purpose."

Those words were comforting, empowering. They were what I needed for what was going to happen in the next few minutes.

Our caravan came to a sudden halt, which made us whisper in fear among ourselves.

The Huntsman spoke to Yasuo and Kohei once again, and once again, it was repeated throughout us all. "He sees the yokai..." They whispered.

I grit my teeth at the notion, still repeating the words in my head.

Yasuo stood tall and waved hand signals at us, telling us to put out our torches. We did so, reluctantly.

Ash covers the land as snow. The embers of a forgotten time have died out. All that’s left is us and the dark.

We slowly moved into position as the yokai stood in its small clearing in the snow. Spear wielders incircling the creature. Archers in the back. And us swordsmen moving in for the kill.

I made out the silhouette of the yokai in the dark. It breathed heavily and stood as still as a statue.

My stomach turned. It felt like something was wrong, it always felt like something was wrong on Mt.Fuji.

The swordsmen refused to move, but Kohei furiously waved at us to seize our opportunity.

To my right was Lee, his sword drawn and his face hiding a clear abundance of fear. To my left was Mahiro, who was breathing deeply. Staying calm.

It felt like centuries past as we slowly crept forward. The yokai didn't move, nor notice us.

I inspected the ground carefully. It wasn't playing the same old trick with a pitfall trap. It didn't seem to have any sort of defense.

The scarred yokai was only feet away now. I could clearly see it just staring into the distance now that I was close.

I repeated the words one last time in my mind. Demon, shroud in the dark. May steel devour you with zealous purpose. It felt as though my soul was leaving my body as I grew close, but through the fear, I recited the second sentence, the one I had denied for so long. Man, made whole in the light. May love guide your hand in your righteous quest.

Slowly, my age-old sword left its holster, prepared to strike.

As I got within distance to attack, something caught my eye. A shimmer of light in the darkness.

Soon the one light turned into countless. Eyes refracted the small bit of moonlight in a shimmering gleam.

I opened my mouth and my lungs squeezed all the air I had in me as I screamed. And as I screamed, so did the yokai. Through its horrid shrieks, I yelled. "AMBUSH!!!"

Lee instantly turned and ran towards Sora, who was defenseless against the wall of yokai that had crept behind him.

My head turned from Lee back to our yokai, who was retracting its hand from a swipe.

My eyes scanned the area for where it may have it, and eventually, I saw...

Mahiro stood in the path between me and the yokai. clutching to his torso. The familiar sight of sanguine red flowed from him.

Mahiro's pale face turned to me with a smile. "I'm... Not quite sure what came over me..."

He collapsed under his own weight and to his knees and coughed dark blood onto the white snow.

I felt as though I was about to pass out. It was so fast that I had almost no time to even think about it. "You... Saved me..."

As his eyes slowly started fluttering closed, he responded. "Don't make me regret it."

I watched Mahiro, the person most critical of me, die saving my life. As he fell limp to his side, he smiled peacefully, then the expression turned to nothingness.

My attention was peeled from Mahiro, who chuckled in the cold embrace of the snow, to the yokai. It had reared up to attack once again.

For a split moment, I considered jumping on Mahiro, protecting him however I could, but I had to dodge, or I would be committed to the same fate he gave his life to keep me from.

My legs sprung with all the adrenaline in my body, causing me to fly backward.

My body collided with the icy snow as painful screams from our men infiltrated my ears and engulfed my mind.

No time to mourn, I have to move.

I stood and looked around, trying desperately to figure out what was happening. But instead, I just witnessed it all like a fool.

Yasuo ran past me in the dark, claw marks and blood made him almost unrecognizable. He screamed to me as I stared at him blankly. "RUN!"

The half-dead man sprinted over to a yokai, which an unknown Samurai was desperately trying to keep at bay. He pierced the things hide and it collapsed to the ground. But as he killed one, another smaller yokai jumped onto his back and bit deeply into his shoulder. Soon, he threw the thing off of him, not even bothering to look at his wound before he killed it. He instantly moved to the next soldier that needed help.

I noticed that I still stood idiotically in the snow, paralyzed by Mahiro's death.

I shook my head furiously and regained control.

A shriek that sounded as though Lee had made it came from behind me. My feet instantly carried me to the sound.

Lee was still alive, and so was Sora. Lee was waving his sword at a yokai as Sora grabbed another arrow from his pouch.

But as their attention was on that one yokai, another tackled into Sora. As the demon opened its maw, Lee screamed a battle cry. His face held more pure emotion than I thought possible. He stabbed into the creature, saving his friend.

As he screamed, something happened. The fury in his eyes turned bright and he emitted a firey aura from himself. As I watched his moment of selflessness, I became blinded.

A flash of white light illuminated not the snowy clearing, but everything. It seemed to have even washed over my very soul.

We could be the lights in the darkness. We could fight. We could survive.

This was still my time to fight for what I believed in. My chance to redeem my honor was right in front of me.

I would wreak vengeance for Mahiro. Vengeance for everything.