“How do I look, Shitoro?”

“As exquisite as the full moon on a clear night. As majestic as all the stars that have ever shined in the sky. As...”

She silenced him with a wave of her hand, suppressing the grin that threatened to blunt her bad mood. She hadn’t been going for regal. If anything, she had been hoping for plain, nondescript.

Partially to help erase the shadow that Ichitiro had cast upon her day, but mostly out of curiosity as to the cause of her awakening, she decided to pay a visit to the planet below. Even if there was a petty war afoot, it might serve as a temporary distraction.

Her people were attuned to war, having once – long ago – served as the generals and taskmasters of the elder gods. Though those days were long past, her people could still sense upheaval. Oftentimes, it was minor, barely a blip in their subconscious. On rare occasion, however, something occurred that was significant enough to wake the great demons from their slumber.

Nevertheless, Midnite found it hard to believe that anything of true importance had occurred. It had barely been three centuries, after all. It had taken the humans a good thousand of their years just to master the use of fire alone.

She was still eager to stretch her legs, though. At the very least, she would enjoy a walk upon the white beaches overlooking the ocean – so vast to mankind, yet so small to her own perception. Perhaps a stroll through the waist-high grass of a field as well, enjoying the feel of the sun on her skin. Yes, that would please her.

Though in the past, the daimao had appeared to mankind in all their glory – inspiring fear, awe, and worship – it was occasionally desired to put forth a less intimidating presence so as to more closely observe them scurrying about in their short lives. Some daimao, such as Ichitiro, would never deem to lower themselves that way, considering themselves above such folly, but Midnite and her less warlike siblings occasionally enjoyed such forays.

She opted for such today, donning the clothing of a simple peasant girl and willing all of her divine markings hidden. To the uninitiated, she would appear as nothing more than a simple, if stunningly beautiful, woman in her mid-twenties.

“When shall I expect your return, mistress?” Shitoro asked.

“Why, whenever it pleases me to return, my servant.”

Shitoro turned a shade whiter and added, “I do not wish to pry, my lady. It is simply so that I may have another bath waiting for you. The world of man is so ... dirty at times.”

This time, Midnite allowed herself to laugh. The little tiger demon was always masking his concern for her with some mundane task. Fine. If it would keep him from pulling the hair from his paws with worry. “A day at most, I should think. I wish to enjoy the sun, but I have always enjoyed gazing at the stars, too. Draw a bath for me come the morning.” Time passed differently on Earth than in the celestial realm, but it would still afford her a goodly visit before he began to fret.

“It shall be done,” the little demon replied, visibly mollified.

Midnite smiled, then eyed the rows of shimmering crystals along the wall of the summoning chamber. A tiny bit of daimao life force filled each. Though youkai such as Shitoro could not make the journey under their own power, the crystals allowed them to do so. A little bit of their master’s power, so that they might venture out as needed or directed.

Despite his fear of displeasing her and his perhaps even greater fear of the world below, Midnite had little doubt that, should she be late in returning, Shitoro would come looking for her. Others of her kind might have found such a thing to be tiresome, but she considered it an endearing trait.

Good intentions aside, though, if that happened, he was bound to end up in some trouble or another. A full-sized tiger was something most humans avoided. A tiny one, somewhat less so. She made it a point to mind the hours so as to spare either of them such an ordeal.

With that, Midnite raised her hand and began to summon the cosmic energies needed to make the journey, preparing to transfer her essence to the small blue world below and the islands her people favored above all others.

Stolen novel; please report.

“Be careful, my mistress,” Shitoro said.

And then she was gone.

♦ ♦ ♦

Midnite expected to appear upon a calm beach on her favorite of the blessed isles. Though she knew the inhabitants had a name for this land, she had never bothered to learn it. It was simply her preferred spot upon the Earth, a place where she could enjoy the wind in her hair and the fresh smell of the salty sea air.

What she did not expect was to arrive in the middle of Hell. Wind and rain pummeled her, but despite the weather, smoke hung thick in the air. Though she had no need to, she took a breath and coughed, the odor of sulfur heavy upon it. She knew that scent. It was the smell of war itself.

As she took in her surroundings, she noticed the bodies lying upon the scarred and pitted remains of what was once a place of serenity. Scorched and blackened, some of them lay in pieces, and many had strange wounds upon them.

Though a part of her was aghast at what she saw, excitement quickly overcame it. She was no stranger to the battlefield, having looked down upon the dead and dying many a time, but this was new. Though some of the fallen had obviously taken their own lives via ceremonial blades, many more had not. Yet there were no signs of arrow or sword wounds upon those who hadn’t. It was as if the fires of heaven itself had descended and wrought its vengeance upon them. But that was silly. She would have known had that happened.

Strange, she thought. Strange, yet exhilarating. Perhaps there was a reason she and her siblings had been roused after all.

An unfamiliar noise came from overhead, a bizarre whistling roar. She glanced up to see the oddest bird she had ever seen swoop past overhead. Some kind of oni, perhaps – one with strange metallic skin and bright red markings on its wings.

No. It didn’t move like anything natural, at least that she’d ever seen. She followed its course out over the ocean and her breath caught in her throat. At first, she thought she was looking at whole islands made of iron just off the shore, but then she realized her mistake. She’d seen human ships before, feeble fragile things that they used to cross the seas, explore, and – of course – wage war on one another, but never anything like this.

They were like mountains of steel upon the water, mountains from which thunder now sounded. Smoke and fire came from the top of the ships, and a sense of familiarity hit home. She remembered seeing cannon fire, primitive and cumbersome weapons, but curious as they brought a new element to the battlefield. This reminded her of it, but many times more devastating.

She watched as the strange metallic creature in the sky caught fire. Bits and pieces of it were blown off until finally it slammed into the ocean at tremendous speed, exploding upon contact.

It seemed impossible, but her senses told her the flying creature wasn’t alive. It wasn’t anything natural to this world, even with all its wonders. Could it be? Yes. It had to be some kind of craft, a ship of the air.

Unbelievable.

After countless centuries of the same thing, over and over again, this was all new. How had the humans come so far in so little time? Had something helped them? Had some divine force gifted them with this knowledge?

She initially suspected Ichitiro’s hand in this. If there was one daimao who would wish to see the art of war increased to such a level among the humans, it was he, but she quickly dismissed it. No. Her brother was far too stupid and self-absorbed. This was beyond him.

A chill ran through her as she continued to watch, slowly realizing these vehicles of war were potentially beyond what any of her siblings might be capable of building.

The weaponry on display was awe-inspiring. It almost brought a tear of joy to her eye to behold. Such might wielded by such small, insignificant beings. They were still nothing individually, but housed in such iron titans as now rode the rough waves before her, they could potentially overcome that weakness. Though she still hadn’t seen anything on par with the worst a daimao such as herself could wrought, surely even a mazoku would have to give pause before such a sight.

The wind buffeted her as she watched, but she paid it no mind. The storm was nothing to her. She felt no chill beneath the rain, nor discomfort as her simple dress billowed around her like a flag in a breeze.

She might have stood there for the entire day, staring at the spectacle unfolding before her, drinking it in as one who has been parched for too long might guzzle water. But then she was roused by a loud noise – another roar of thunder like that which came from the ships, but smaller and much closer.

Her keen senses picked up the whine of something small cutting through the air as it raced toward her, quick as a lightning bolt. Time slowed around her as she focused on the source, a small capsule of metal flying in her direction. Curious. Again she was reminded of cannon fire, but this time it was much smaller.

The bullet – although she didn’t know it was called that – slammed into her midsection, barely an insect sting to the ancient creature. The hole it created in her flesh sealed itself almost immediately, although, she rued, it did leave an unfortunate tear in her dress.

“What in holy hell?”

“Hah, you missed.”

“Fuck you.”

She turned toward the sound of the voices. Two humans wearing uniforms of drab green were advancing upon her, pointing what looked to be hollow sticks in her direction. Though their words were alien to her at first, her advanced mind quickly made sense of the chattering that was their primitive tongue. Though a human would most likely drown in its own blood before mastering the celestial tongue, their many languages – crude as they were – were easily learned by her.

Though she didn’t quite understand what she was being called, she perfectly grasped the meaning when one of them stepped forward and said, “Move a muscle and I’ll blow your Jap face clean off.”