Shoji and the Field of Memories
CHAPTER 7 - The Ghost Festival
(Phi Ta Khon, somewhere in the mountains outside of Chiang Rai )
The Phi Ta Khon, or Ghost Festival was spectacular. Filly had warned the portal may place them in the heart of the festivities since she was using the energy from the celebrations as a foothold. They had, in fact, exited right beside the ongoing parade in a side alley between two small street shops. Sho could smell strong spices mixing with the steam and humidity.
They were about 600 kilometers north of the Institute. There were mountains and dense jungle surrounding the village and Sho could hear the high whining of insects over the music and stomping of the parade goers.
Down the alley, he could see the procession walking by in a kaleidoscope of color. Men dressed in elaborate costumes of reds, blues, yellows, and pinks were twirling and dancing in erratic movements. They wore long and pointed masks painted with wide grins filled with white pointed teeth. The fangs shone brightly under the old street lights and would have been comical if they weren't so frightening. They were topped with colorful woven crowns, and long tassels with small metal bells hung from belts around their waists. The noise from the drums, bells, and chanting was incredible and Sho felt the overstimulation immediately.
"Alright everyone," Bella shouted over the noise, "our Nephilim will dispense through the crowd and begin searching for the demons that are almost certainly hiding among the dancers." Her face had taken on a serious expression that was intensified by the shadows cast from the crowd like headlights on the highway.
"The rest of you will have to work your way across the crowd and up into the mountain over there. The convergence is somewhere on the other side and the nests of demons are scattered throughout the area."
Myung pointed up over the crowd and Sho could see starlight illuminating the crest of the low mountain where the Milky Way cut into the peak.
Sho and the other Shadowhunters began to unsheathe their weapons. The ground below them flared as their enchanted blades sprang to life. They lit up the ally, and Sho's own twin scimitars blazed the same brilliant blue hue.
Kevin kept his broadsword on his back and had opted for daggers that would be easier to maneuver in a crowd. He walked over to Sho and they waved a stele over each other's parabatai runes. It was like his whole body came alive, right down to his fingertips. Sho could feel the connection between them grow stronger. Kevin looked him in the eye, confirming his sentiment.
The Downworlders were prepared far differently. Eric' hands had transformed subtly into claws with yellow nails curved inward like a rake. His hair had grown and his eyes shone lime green in the darkness.
Beside him Shakara had changed into slightly more appropriate clothing, her wide leg pants still a bright shade of pink and her shirt sleeves far longer than her arms. From beneath the sleeve Sho could see the thin chain she held with a small curved knife hanging from the end.
Arisa had changed as well. She was in all black, similar to the Shadowhunter gear, and her hair was tied up in a long ponytail that hung over her shoulder. She wore a vest with a hood that rested just above her eyes and carried no weapon in her pale hands.
Sho saw a scattered, wild look in her eyes that he was so unaccustomed to seeing. They hardly ever had to work together in such an environment. She was still strikingly beautiful, but he was more aware than ever of what she was in that moment; a damned, ageless woman of tremendous, supernatural power.
Filly hadn't changed much to prepare. She wore the same thin, lilac dress that clung to her shoulders and hips in the humid air. Her blonde hair was tied back in braids over her horns and she wore gladiator sandals that laced up to her knees. She had a naginata held in front of her, a tall thin pole with a curved blade at the end.
Sho saw her hands wringing the staff anxiously. He remembered the same feeling when he was younger, sparring with Takuya and Kevin in the dojo back in Tokyo. He remembered the way his hands had seemed to sweat with anticipation and his feet gripped too tightly to the floor.
But he was grown now; a trained fighter. His hands remained dry on the hilts of his blades and his boots felt grounded upon the dirt. The anxiousness was gone, and in its place he felt only urgency and expectation. The doubts that had plagued him earlier concerning his family and his place in this hot, foreign country had been left behind and he was focused on the task ahead. He felt at home among his fellow Shadowhunters and knowing their struggle was his struggle and their frustrations were his frustrations.
Don't worry Filly, he thought to himself. I'm a protector.
The group had walked up to the edge of the parade, knowing the glamors they wore hid them from the crowd. Damyun and Bella nodded once to each other and then they split along the parade with the rest of the Bangkok Shadowhunters following behind.
Sho and Kevin were left with the others to make their way straight through the procession. He looked around at the others and they all shook their heads in agreement as he led the way through the whirlwind of color and noise.
He held his blades close to his side as they edged slowly through the crowd. Masks seemed to be everywhere; their wicked faces tilted and turned in jittering motions that unnerved Sho. The drumming and thumping of feet seemed to beat in time with his heart. He could feel beads of sweat dripping down his neck and wetting his hair. The air was electric and the fresh runes on his arms and neck pulsed with power. They danced their way through, turning this way and that, being separated and brought back together through the mass of bodies.
Sho turned to his left and saw a giant gray puppet rise above the crowd, its long arms held up with poles waving about like banners in the wind. It had wide, white eyes that looked out across the crowd in a far-away stare. When Sho looked back down he saw Filly's figure moving on ahead of him, her naginata held firmly to her shoulder. She was looking around wide-eyed and seemed frightened.
Sho started towards her, bumping shoulders with people that couldn't see him. Filly stood unmoving in the crowd, looking across the parade without seeing Sho walking towards her. Suddenly, her braids flew up around her horns and it looked as if she dropped hard into the crowd.
"Filly! Kev, something happened to Filly!" Sho shouted. He looked behind him but Kevin had also disappeared. He whipped his head around frantically, strands of hair sticking to his cheek and neck. He pressed forward towards the spot where Filly had vanished. The crazed fanged masks flashed all around him and in his peripheral vision he thought he saw black masses running along beside him.
He recognized one of the Bangkok Shadowhunters, Aom, falling into the path ahead of him and he shouted out to her. Before she could turn around to face him Sho saw both of her arms fly out behind her, held by black, pitted claws. Then they were pulled back, separating from her torso while her body fell forward heavily to the ground.
Sho stopped abruptly. He stood there open mouthed and gapping at the body. Blood was running off into the dirt and people were tripping and stumbling over a person they couldn't see. Aom's face was turned away from him and her long brown hair was splayed out on the ground, caked with mud and blood.
Sho unfroze and ran towards her, his scimitars pumping in time with his steps. The demon was still holding one of Aom's arms in his claw, its body on all fours swaying low to the ground. Its face was covered in one of the festival masks but Sho could see white, barren eyes staring back at him.
The demon scampered out of sight towards the other side of the parade and melted into the trees. Sho made a sharp turn to his right and pursued it, almost falling out of the throng. He looked down the parade to his right and saw Kevin falling out of the crowd at the same time as him, his daggers dripping with the dark anchor of demon blood. Sho pointed ahead into the tree line with his blade and took off, knowing his parabatai would follow.
The darkness among the trees was a stark contrast to the light from the parade. Without his night vision rune he wouldn't have been able to see anything at all, but the rune allowed him to see the outline of the trees as if they emitted their own glow.
Stepping on through the brush his boot crushed something with a loud crackling sound. When he lifted his leg he saw the mask the demon had been wearing now crumpled and soiled with mud.
Confident he was following in the right direction he took off with more speed, the trees whizzing by and his blades slicing through smaller saplings like paper. He could tell he was running uphill and his quads were burning with the force of his steps. Behind him he heard Kevin's heavy breathing catching up to him.
The parabatai lined up side-by-side just as Sho slowed to a stop in front of a small pool. The water sparkled with the ripples cast out from the short waterfall at the other end. Kevin stepped forward, wading into the edge of the pool. The water crept up to his ankles and his feet sank into the soft mud.
He slipped his daggers away and reached up over his shoulder, pulling his broadsword from its holster. Kevin smiled as he wielded it before him. The sword burned up slowly until it was the same brilliant blue of Sho's scimitars. The water before them reflected the light and illuminated the pool.
There was a rasping sound coming from the trickling waterfall and Sho saw the demon appear from under the shower, water flying off its shining, grotesque frame. The face was rimmed with long ragged flesh that hooded the eyes and mouth, but Sho could see the outline of thin sharp teeth shining in the light, looking almost exactly like the masks worn by the festival dancers. Water dripped from the demon's face in heavy drops and the body sloshed through the water keeping close to the embankment behind it.
Sho kept his eyes fixed on the ravenor demon as it moved hesitantly at the end of the pool. "It killed Aom. And Filly is missing, I saw her vanish in the crowd," he blinked away sweat that trickled down his brow and crossed his feet one over the other as he moved around the pool, away from Kevin.
"Bella and Deer were fighting a shax demon when I found them. They were right about the demons hiding among the masks and puppets." Kevin had his sword held low to his groin and his shoulders were tensed up to his neck. "We managed to kill it but I lost them afterward. I haven't seen anyone since besides you."
The demon continued to move back and forth in the water, its head darting from Kevin to Sho and making low hissing noises that mixed with bubbling waterfall.
"We have to find Filly. She could be in trouble," Sho took a step into the pool and the demon leaned forward hissing loudly.
Kevin was grinning to himself, raising his right elbow up to his shoulder and pointing the blade toward the demon who had turned his attention away from Sho.
"I can handle this one brother. You go ahead and look for Filly and the others." The demon lashed out a short distance, splashing water on Kevin in a wave. Sho's parabatai held his ground and didn't flinch, letting the water drip from his hands and face back into the pool. He edged forward slowly, his knees covered in the dark water.
"Come find us when you're through," Sho said as he backed up. He held up his crossed scimitars behind his back, hiding their glow.
As it was, the demon was preoccupied with Kevin as he got nearer and deeper into the pond. Sho backed out of the pond and swiftly moved along the bank, hugging the curve of the water. Once he reached the waterfall he leaped silently up on the hill. He was beside a wide tree and turned his back to the trunk facing away from the pond and out of sight of the demon. He could hear Kevin moving in the water and the growing agitation from the demon as it hissed and popped.
He paused for a moment and held his blades to his chest. He could hear the demon moving around restlessly and easing towards the waterfall closer to him.
"Oh no buddy, your fight is with me," Kevin called out calmly.
Then Sho heard one of them, he wasn't sure which, lunge forward in the water, followed by a heavy thud and scores of splashing. Without looking back he seized his chance and dashed forward into the dark of the jungle.
