For a time, Kisaki simply stood peering down at Crag’s body, as if unable to believe what she’d just done.

You have been judged worthy, my master.

At first, she was confused, wondering why someone had called her that, but then she realized she hadn’t heard it with her ears, but in her mind.

She looked down at the sword, her eyes wide. “Did you just speak to me?”

If it had, it was now silent. The only thing Kisaki heard were the ambient sounds of the town around her, quiet now that the battle had ended.

“Holy crap, you did it!”

She looked up to find Stephen headed her way. He ran up and grabbed hold of her in a hug. Then, almost as if realizing what he was doing, he backed up a step, looking embarrassed for whatever reason.

“Heh,” he said, looking down at the Taiyosori. “Is that a sword in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?”

She inclined her head at him, not understanding. “It’s not in my pocket.”

“I know, it’s a ... never mind. You were amazing.”

“It wasn’t me,” she said softly. “It ... the sword...”

“Yeah,” he replied, looking it over. “Pretty wild. Although I’d be lying if I said that was the weirdest thing I’ve seen today.” He gestured toward Crag’s body. “By the way, he isn’t going to get back up again, is he?”

“I very much hope not.”

“Good.” He let out a sigh of relief before turning once more toward the Taiyosori and holding out his hand. “Could I? Just for a second anyway. I mean, I haven’t seen anything this cool since Conan the Barbarian. Heck, Frostmourne’s got nothing on this bad boy.”

She backed up a step. “I’m sorry, but touching it would likely destroy you.”

“You’re kidding, right?” He let out a laugh, but then noticed how she shook her head. “You’re not kidding? Okay, I’ll take your word for it then. It’s still pretty darn cool.”

Kisaki smiled. “I believe you are right. It is indeed cool.”

“Although not even remotely inconspicuous.”

“True, it is perhaps a bit overly...”

Kisaki trailed off as the sword began to glow again. The blood upon the blade instantly evaporated and then the glow intensified until it was once more painful to watch. When it cleared, she was once again holding a mere quill.

She and Stephen looked at each other in amazement, then back at the former weapon. “Better?” she asked after a moment.

“A cell phone would probably stand out less, but yeah. I’d say so,” he replied with a laugh. “I guess in this case, the sword is actually mightier than the pen.”

“Hey! How did you do that?”

Kisaki and Stephen turned to find the woman from the van approaching them, followed by the man with the camera. He aimed it at Crag’s body for several seconds, then turned it toward Kisaki.

“You’re certain that’s not a weapon?” she whispered to Stephen.

“Depends on who you ask,” he replied.

She looked at him sidelong for a few moments while the woman turned toward the camera and spoke. “Beth Billingsly here for Excitement News. Cartersville, a sleepy little town in the middle of nowhere. Normally a quiet place, one where you can safely leave your doors unlocked at night. But today, it’s become a battleground in a war between monsters. Impossible to believe, but true. I can assure you, no camera tricks were used in the footage you just saw, nor now as we show you the aftermath of this battle in which the age-old words of King Kong were proven true. 'Twas beauty slayed the beast.”

“Who is she talking to?” Kisaki asked. “Has she been driven mad by fear?”

“They’re a local news affiliate out of Punxsutawney,” Stephen explained in a hushed tone. “My mom sometimes watches them. They usually cover boring stuff: bake sales, pig roasts, crap like that.”

“News?”

“You know, like gossip, except on TV.”

“I do not know...”

Before Kisaki could say more, the woman stepped up and shoved something at her face, the cylindrical object she’d been wielding. Kisaki raised her hands in a defensive stance, but Stephen spoke up before she could throw a punch.

“Not a weapon,” he whispered out of the corner of his mouth. “Just a microphone. It records your voice.”

“Ah. Like a magic glyph.”

“Excuse me?” the woman asked before turning back toward the man with the camera. “Keep rolling, we’ll edit that out.”

He gave her a thumbs up.

“I think I speak for the residents of this town, nay, perhaps the whole state when I ask how does it feel to have done what you have accomplished today?”

“Feel?” Kisaki replied. “I simply did what I had to. Many more would have suffered had I not.”

“Tell me, do you have any regrets killing Sasquatch?”

“Sasquatch? You mean the storm giant? I regret the path he chose, that he attacked this town rather than leave peacefully. I regret that he slaughtered my friend’s people a millennia ago. However, I do not regret ending the threat that Crag presented.”

The woman raised a skeptical eyebrow toward Kisaki, but kept asking questions. “Crag? Was that its name?”

“Yes.”

“And would you feel different knowing he might be an endangered species?”

“I believe I have already noted that he was a danger, to my friends as well as all those who walk upon this world. That danger would have been magnified a hundredfold had he managed to take possession of the Taiyosori.”

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Oh boy,” Stephen muttered by her side.

“Tie oh sore ee?” Beth asked, butchering the pronunciation.

“The blade of heaven,” Kisaki explained. “A weapon of divine power.”

“A weapon of ... mass destruction, you might say?”

“No,” Stephen said, jumping in front of Kisaki. “She did not say that. Nobody is saying that.”

“Cut! Listen, kid, you can have your turn when I’m finished with her. But if this is something that people need to be aware of, then I’d suggest you get out of my way. My viewers have a right to know.”

“All six of them?”

“Not after tonight’s broadcast. Now kindly...”

“Oh great, the cops are headed this way,” the man with the camera said.

“Quick, start rolling again.” She pushed the microphone past Stephen. “Can we at least know your name?”

“I am Kisaki, daughter of Midnite...”

“Kisaki, Stephen!”

The pair immediately turned toward the sound of Tamiko’s voice. She was waving to them from several buildings down. “Come quick! I need your help.”

“People need to know if they’re in any...”

Kisaki interrupted the reporter. “You must please pardon me, but my friend requires our assistance.”

Stephen paused long enough to smirk in the news woman’s direction, then they both turned toward Tamiko.

This didn’t appear to discourage Beth in the least as she started talking again the second they stepped away. “You heard it here first on Excitement News. The impossible has come true. The world has its very first superhero and her name is ... Midnight Girl.”

Kisaki and Stephen ran to where Tamiko stood beckoning them on. As they neared their friend, she glanced over at him.

“Tell me. What is a superhero?”

♦ ♦ ♦

Kisaki practically bowled over Tamiko, grabbing her in a hug and lifting her from her feet.

“Whoa!” she said. “Someone has been eating their vitamins.”

“And then some,” Stephen added.

“I’m so glad you’re okay,” Kisaki said at last, putting Tamiko down.

“Me too. I hated to leave you guys alone against that freak, but I didn’t know what else I could do to help.”

“You served an important purpose. It is far more honorable than perishing needlessly.”

“I was hoping you’d say that. Speaking of which, that’s why I was yelling for you.”

“Not just saving us from the paparazzi?” Stephen asked with a grin.

“I found Shitoro,” she said, “but I need your help with him.”

“Is he ... hurt?” Kisaki asked hesitantly.

“I don’t know,” Tamiko admitted. “Best come see for yourself.”

They followed her as she ran past another building, then turned behind it, where a large pile of trash stood heaped against the wall.

“Where?”

Kisaki’s question was answered almost immediately by a small voice echoing from somewhere. “Human? Human, are you still there? I swear, if you have abandoned me, I shall call down a curse that will...”

“Shitoro?” Kisaki cried.

“Mistress Kisaki?” he replied from somewhere unseen. “Oh, thank the elder gods you’re okay. I thought the worst when Crag unleashed his spell.”

“Where are you?”

“That’s what I wanted to show you,” Tamiko said, leading the way.

On the far side of the trash pile lay a small metal canister, a waste basket if Kisaki remembered correctly. Shitoro’s feet were sticking up out of it.

“See what I mean?” Tamiko gestured toward it. “I’ve been trying to get him out, but he’s stuck.”

“Does that sword of yours double as a can opener?” Stephen asked with a smirk.

“I do not know,” Kisaki replied, grinning, understanding it was a joke. “But perhaps it wouldn’t be wise to find out.”

“Okay, then, let’s do this the hard way. Tamiko, hold on to the pail with me. Kisaki, you grab his feet.”

The next few minutes were spent alternately trying to force Shitoro free and gently trying to twist him out, all to his continued complaints about their ineptitude.

Finally, he came loose with an audible pop, sending both sides tumbling into the pile of trash.

“Well, this is gross,” Tamiko complained.

“Oh, come on. I’m not that bad,” Stephen said from beneath her.

“I ... err ... didn’t mean it that way.”

He laughed. “I know. Help me up. I’m sitting on something that’s kind of sticky.”

“I think we’re back to gross again.” She chuckled and offered him a hand.

Over on the other side, Shitoro stood and began to dust himself off. “Many thanks, my lady.”

“Eh hem,” Tamiko said.

“And you humans, too. I suppose you do have your uses at times. I...” He paused as he looked Kisaki over. “What happened to your neck?”

“This?” She reached up and touched her throat, still a bit tender from being manhandled. “Courtesy of Crag.”

“That brute!” Shitoro cried. “Where is he? I shall teach him a lesson that one even as dense as he won’t soon forget.”

“Pushing up daisies,” Stephen replied.

“Daisies? What do flowers have to do with...”

“I believe Stephen means he is no more.” Kisaki glanced his way and he nodded. She then noticed Tamiko standing next to him, her cheeks bright pink. “Did the storm giant strike you, too?”

“Me?” Tamiko asked, quickly stepping away from Stephen. “No. It’s just ... kinda warm out, is all.”

“Wait,” Shitoro said, glancing between the trio. “You vanquished Crag?”

“Yes,” Kisaki replied.

“With your bare hands?”

“No. He was too powerful for me to...”

Stephen clapped her on the back. “Don’t sell yourself short. You knocked him on his butt more than once. And throwing him over your shoulder? That was freaking cool.”

“Truly?” Shitoro asked. “Amazing. Crag was impressively strong, even for a mazoku. Yet you managed to hold your ground against him?”

“For a time,” she replied.

“A mere second is more than most can lay claim to. Believe me, I know.”

She bent down, put a hand on his shoulder, and looked him in the eye. “Know that your people are avenged, my friend. Crag died on his knees.”

Shitoro nodded solemnly but still pressed on. “How?”

After a moment, she said, “The Taiyosori.”

“Ah, I think I see. He tried to take it and it struck him down.”

“He did, but it merely wounded him. I ... it turned back to its true form for a time and I used it to behead him.”

“You wielded the Taiyosori?”

“Yes. I have held it since leaving the...”

Shitoro waved a hand dismissively. “The Taiyosori allowed you to take it, yes, I already know that. It accepted your blood as that of your mother’s line. But to allow you to wield it in battle, a thing which has not been done for several millennia at least, that means it has accepted you as its new master.”

“But it’s my mother’s sword.”

Shitoro placed a hand on his chin and thought about it for a moment. “Perhaps no longer.”

Tamiko finally stepped between them. “Enough with the gloomy faces. Kisaki just kicked that monster’s butt and saved the town. That calls for a celebration to me.” She turned and began to lead them out of the alleyway.

“I’m not sure the town is in any condition to celebrate.”

“Then we’ll figure out something,” she replied. “At the very least, let’s find someplace to eat. I don’t know about the rest of you, but fighting storm giants leaves me starving.”

♦ ♦ ♦

Unseen by Kisaki, her friends, or many others who were present to bear witness to the events of that day, another set of eyes watched it all from the shadows.

Small, black, and beady, they followed the battle with nervous anticipation.

A wolf spotted the interloper at one point and gave chase, but he managed to lose it by virtue of his small size and quickness.

Then, when Crag cast his spell, he had almost been swept away by the raging winds that followed, managing to barely find shelter in time.

All he truly wanted was to run and get as far away from this accursed place as he could. But he’d been given orders, and such matters weren’t to be ignored lightly. He had already displeased his master once and suffered greatly for it, only surviving by his good graces. He wouldn’t risk that again.

The girl had put up a surprisingly good fight. Even among his own people, Crag was considered a superior warrior, nearly unbeatable on the battlefield. Yet this girl and her pathetic human pets had managed to not only bloody the mazoku, but wound him grievously in the process.

However, in the end, it had all seemed for naught, and he’d been certain that the hanyou would die badly. But the girl had one more surprise in store for Crag – the very reason that he’d been sent to observe her – the Taiyosori.

At first, he’d been confused as to why she would attempt to use something as useless as a quill against a beast such as Crag. He’d stolen plenty of them in his time and never once found them to be of much use for anything. But then she’d proven him wrong by actually blinding the mazoku with it. It seemed impossible, but what happened next made that look mundane by comparison.

It wasn’t a quill at all.

It was the Taiyosori, that which his master lusted endlessly for. Somehow, it was on this world and being wielded by the hands of a mere half-breed.

Within moments, the fight was over and Crag lay dead, vanquished by the most ignoble of foes.

He ignored the rest, as he processed that which had transpired. Besides, he had the information he needed.

Ito slipped away into a stand of trees, where he transformed back to his bipedal form. He pulled a crystal, grey as the sky during Crag’s conjuring, from his robes and commanded it to take him back to the celestial palace.