Ed note: Just a note that there's a brief but slightly graphic mention of a death in the last two paragraphs of this chapter.

Fire in the Fog

Whatever it takes

'Cause I love the adrenaline in my veins

I do whatever it takes

'Cause I love how it feels when I break the chains

Whatever it takes

You take me to the top I'm ready for

Whatever it takes

'Cause I love the adrenaline in my veins

I do what it takes

[Whatever It Takes: Imagine Dragons]

They had cleared the farthest edge of the forest by the time the tengu arrived like a gathering storm, blotting out the sky and spiralling in a dark, screaming tornado that touched down where their campsite had been. Marin watched in sick horror through the branches of the tree that sheltered the group while the vast mass of crows lifted again and split like the points of a compass, streaming away in all directions, searching.

"Time to go." Marin jolted when Daisuke's voice broke the sudden silence left by the tengu. "If we're lucky, and we move fast, Tai Yi Jun, or Amatsu-Mikaboshi, whatever it's calling itself now, won't figure out exactly where we're heading long enough for us to reach the mountain."

"After all," Jing Yun added, shouldering his packs as everyone came to their feet and gathered their things together, "what kind of idiots would go back there?"

The journey from Rongyao was a rushed and nightmarish trip, trying to stay out of sight of the flocks of crows that wheeled and screamed in the sky above them. They sighted oni, and smoke billowing up in the distance that Marin tried to not think about too hard. Every plume of smoke was another village that the demons and monsters had plundered.

Daisuke shot her a look as they flattened themselves behind a stand of trees, out of sight of the road.

"The faster we get to Mt Daichi, the faster we can end all this," he whispered.

"I know," she breathed back. She leaned in to his warmth, but he had already pushed himself to his feet, striding ahead a little too fast.

At night they kept going for as long as they were able to see in the faint moonlight, and then took shelter, taking it in turns to keep careful watch. No one complained about the pace. No one wanted to linger for long, and the nights were cold without a campfire to draw attention.

When they paused for the night to eat and sleep, Daisuke was too restless to sit still. The moment that he'd bolted down a few mouthfuls he was on his feet again, pacing. Jing Yun shot him a measuring glance, but didn't say anything, and when Daisuke wandered impatiently beyond their small circle, Marin got up to follow him.

"You're avoiding me," she said when she caught up with him, and Daisuke wheeled around.

"Hell, yeah, I'm avoiding you!" he threw back at her incredulously. "Do you think it's easy to keep my hands to myself when you're so close?"

"I'm not made of glass, you know." Marin moved towards him, and Daisuke backed up.

"And I'm not going to burn you just for the sake of a few kisses!"

"Maybe I think it's worth it," Marin snapped back.

"I know I'm irresistible," Daisuke said with a ghost of his usual grin, but Marin wouldn't let herself fall for the distraction. "If it was the other way round, would you say it was worth it?"

Damn it, she hated it when he was right. She opened her mouth, but before she could speak a distant, thunderous growl rolled through the ground and echoed off the mountain walls.

"What the hell was that?" she heard Jing Yun ask, and Meixing hissed at him to shush! as another far-off snarl rose through the thickening mist.

"Byakko," Daisuke uttered under his breath, and Marin nodded. "The gods are hunting us."

A huge, dark shape ghosted across the stars, and a chill ran down Marin's spine. They all stayed perfectly still, eyes fixed on the undulating shadow that blotted out the stars until it was gone.

"Seiryuu," Marin whispered back. "They haven't found us yet, but they're getting closer."

None of them slept for the rest of the night, and the moment it was light enough to see the path and avoid stumbling to their deaths in the dark, they shouldered the packs that they had already made ready and pushed on up the narrowing mountain trail.

…

Daylight didn't bring much better visibility. The fog had drawn in, heavy and damp and smothering, and Daisuke wasn't the only one who flinched every time a breath of wind stirred the grey air into eddies. Zhu Yi was, of course, the one who first sighted the dragon sliding silently through the valleys between the sandstone spires of the mountain, and he sent the wordless alarm down the line of the Seishi with a tap on each shoulder and a pointed finger.

The huge shape of Seiryuu spiralled below them in the mist, winding His way around the mountain, searching. The Seishi flattened themselves against the mountain under the scant cover of the bushes, and Daisuke could hear Marin's ragged breathing beside him.

He kept his eyes fixed on the dragon, his fingers twitching impatiently against the hilts of his daggers. It was getting closer, and before too long it would find them. If they broke cover and ran, it would be on them in an instant. Or Seiryuu would bring Amatsu-Mikaboshi down on them.

He turned his head. "I have to stop Seiryuu before He finds us," he breathed into Marin's ear.

"What are you planning?" she hissed back. "Daisuke-"

"Once He knows where we are, then either we're dragon fodder, or Amatsu-Mikaboshi will know if we let Him get away back to her. This is my chance to stop Him."

Before Marin could stop him, Daisuke pushed himself to his feet and broke into a run towards the edge of the cliff. He leaped.

Behind him, Marin shrieked, and Daisuke's name echoed off the mountains around them.

…

The plunge off the mountainside felt like flying, and in spite of probable imminent death Daisuke found himself lighting up with a grin. He spread his arms and felt the heat under his skin kick into life.

He'd done this before by accident, but this time he reached for that heat and let it loose, and it blazed into a glorious bonfire. Streaks of fire trailed behind him as he fell like a meteor, and when he struck the dragon from above they rolled together in a hiss of sparks and steam.

Daisuke caught the flames around his fist and wielded them like a whip, snapping it at the dragon, who writhed and lashed back at him with a snarl that shuddered and shook the mountains. Daisuke catapulted himself back into the air with a laugh, and came down on Seiryuu's back. He was starting to get the hang of this, and focused on the handful of fire that he held. What else could he do with it?

Daisuke hurled the fistful of flames straight at Seiryuu. The dragon bellowed as the crackling ball caught Him in the muzzle and exploded, and Daisuke nearly lost his balance as the beast god twisted away in pain.

"Try harder, Snake Legs!" Daisuke taunted as he came back to his feet. He reached for his daggers, and the flames in his hands coiled over the hilts and along the blades, reflecting flickers of gold and red in the metal as he pulled them free of their sheaths.

The dragon clashed savage teeth, biting at the space where Daisuke had been, but Daisuke was already pivoting away in a tornado of fire to bury a dagger in Seiryuu's side as the dragon bucked and twisted back on Himself and shook free, scattering ichor on the wind.

Daisuke was the burning flame that danced just out of reach. He barely felt the fangs that scraped down his shoulder and ripped through his sleeve. The blood flamed in his veins and he didn't feel it drip down his side as his grin grew wider. He sliced at Seiryuu's hide.

The dragon twisted furiously and Daisuke somersaulted into a dizzying fall. He flung his arms wide and the waiting fire caught him and bore him up. He reached out and hooked an arm around Seiryuu's hind leg. Talons slashed at him. They raked bloody grooves down his back, but Daisuke hung on and lashed at Seiryuu's soft underbelly with a whip of flames.

Seiryuu bellowed His pain and rage, and the mountains echoed with it.

Seiryuu's tail whipped around, and a sandstone spire broke with a thunderous crack, tumbling into the treetops far below. The dragon lashed around again, trying to shake Daisuke loose.

As Daisuke swung precariously from Seiryuu's wicked talons, trying not to think too hard about the drop under him, he heard a snarl vibrate up from the trees below. Something big was moving up the mountain. The trees at the edge of the rock face below the Seishi shivered, and the massive white shape of Byakko stalked into view.

Daisuke swore, and the sounds were whipped away by the wind as the huge predator fixed him with lethal intent.

With a deep-throated roar, Byakko leaped.

Daisuke heard the hiss before a red-fletched arrow struck the tiger god in mid-air, and a hail of impossibly fast arrows followed, glowing scarlet as they flew and bit into Byakko's hide, but the tiger barely seemed to notice.

Then the beast hit him and tore him from his precarious hold on Seiryuu. Daisuke was in free-fall and the wind was sharp with the smell of burning fur as he and the tiger tumbled out of the air in a rolling, furious whirlwind of fire and teeth.

Byakko bore him down, and in the heavy grey sky Daisuke caught a glimpse of Seiryuu spiralling free.

"Don't let Seiryuu get away!" he shouted into the wind.

They must have heard him. Tian Zhen's vines shot through the air to tangle themselves around Seiryuu and hold the dragon in a living net. As he fell, Daisuke caught a glimpse of Tian Zhen braced at the edge of the mountain path, his hands outstretched and straining to hold the dragon god.

Byakko's claws sank into Daisuke, and Daisuke couldn't help the howl of pain as they both smashed into the ground with bone-breaking force.

The huge tiger rolled free, coming up into a snarling crouch as Daisuke lay there for too long, breathing hard and staring up into the wheeling heavens.

When Byakko sprang, Daisuke heard Marin's scream ring through the mountains, and it galvanised him. It drove his arm, still gripping his dagger and wreathed in angry flames, up and into the heart of the god as it came down on him.

Byakko roared. He collapsed around the blade buried in His chest and slammed into Daisuke, huge paws scrabbling and drawing blood as Daisuke's celestial flames swept over Him.

Seiryuu answered, and tore free of the vines binding Him as He flung His head back and howled.

The life faded out of Byakko's eyes, and Daisuke shoved himself free of the fallen god.

The tiger god died. Daisuke was flung back into the mountain by the concussion of the blast, scoured by the blizzard of stardust as Byakko exploded. There was a deafening crack and thunder as huge chunks of sandstone broke and crashed into the valleys deep below and the spires crumbled around them. The noise went on as more and more of the sandstone peaks dropped away into the mist and the mountains fell apart.

Back on the path, Tian Zhen staggered, and Seiryuu whipped free into the sky. Daisuke stumbled to his feet, reeling, as he swore furiously. Blood dripped down and caked him with gritty sand, and every breath stung, but his attention was fixed on the thick grey sky above him, and the dragon escaping back to Amatsu-Mikaboshi with news of where they were and where they were going. It took him a moment to realise that something wasn't right, and he swayed on his feet, blinking as the dragon seemed to double back and grow larger.

He blinked again.

"Oh, shit."

And that was all he had time for before Seiryuu roared down at him from above. His arms came up instinctively, daggers bursting into flames, as the force of the dragon shoved him backwards before it peeled away a heartbeat before smashing into the cliffside.

When the beast came back at him, Daisuke was ready this time.

The fog hit before the dragon did, swirling fiercely around Daisuke and bringing a mist of rain that hissed and damped the flames that wrapped around him. Daisuke dragged heat up from the ground through the soles of his feet, burning away the fog, and Seiryuu was there, almost on top of him. Daisuke's daggers became arcs of light cutting through the heavy, damp air.

Seiryuu writhed away. The flick of His tail smacked into Daisuke, and he staggered.

He had to keep Seiryuu here and grounded. As long as the dragon wanted to kill him more than anything else, it would stay focused on him.

"Hey, Snake Legs!" he shouted. "You missed me!"

The dragon came at him fast from out of the mist again. Daisuke pivoted away. His blades slashed and he knew he'd hit when Seiryuu bellowed. The fog was closing in again, and Daisuke burned hotter. He ignored the crackle of branches catching fire, and the soft whump of undergrowth going up in flames. His eyes were narrowed, fixed on the roiling fog beyond the sharp drop of the cliff. Something stirred.

Daisuke's daggers were coming up to meet it even as the beast god materialised. He felt it hit, felt it smash him into the rock face behind him, even as one blade ripped along the dragon's side, snagging on the scales and pulling free. Daisuke felt himself falling.

Fire was sweeping out of control along the line of the mountainside, catching in the trees now.

"Daisuke!" He heard Marin scream his name, and her echo bounced it back again and again from the crumbling spires of sandstone reaching up out of the fog and trees. The dragon's head whipped around to find the sound. It gathered and coiled, launching itself at the path above, where the Seishi watched in horror.

Marin! Daisuke was on his feet.

Suzaku's flames shot up like a beacon, scorching the air and the stone beneath. With a wordless shout, Daisuke threw himself through the rippling heat to bring the dragon down. He plunged the daggers bright as flames into the dragon's neck and leaned into the thrust with all his strength, pinning the beast to the ground.

Fire ran up the length of his blades, and he forced it into the wounds until Seiryuu's azure hide glowed like a forge. Scales blackened and charred, peeling back from the blades as he drove them deeper.

As Seiryuu's muzzle swung towards him, Daisuke looked into the beast god's slitted eyes. A membrane slid across them in a slow blink, and the bottomless void stared back.

"You'll have to try harder next time," Daisuke snarled.

The dragon's lipless mouth curled back in a smile that was nastily wrong.

"I know where you are now," Tai Yi Jun's voice rasped from Seiryuu's mouth. "I know where all of you are."

Daisuke rocked back sharply. As Seiryuu exploded and shook the mountain with the force of His death Daisuke was already running, muttering a litany of curses under his breath.

"Fuckfuckfuck-" He skidded into the circle of Seishi. "We have to go."

"Daisuke? What happened?" Marin was asking, staring at his shredded, gritty tunic and the blood soaking it, but he grabbed her wrist and tugged her into a run with him. He didn't have time to waste on cataloguing the throbbing score marks or the deep punctures from Seiryuu's talons. He could hear the rest of the Seishi pounding on the path behind him and he kept going.

"How badly do you need to get to the priestess scroll?" he panted, sparing a quick glance back over his shoulder.

"Very!" Marin gasped back. "Daisuke, what is going on? We're going to fall in this fog if we don't slow down, and in case you haven't noticed it's a long, long way to fall!"

He kept going, but he slowed a little, and the Seishi caught up with them.

"I fucked up," he told them grimly without looking back. "Amatsu-Mikaboshi has been looking for us since the wish took us all out of there, and when I fought Seiryuu they found us."

There was a long silence, broken only by the muffled sound of their hurried footsteps in the thickening fog.

"I've blown our chance of sneaking into the palace, and they know we're coming. How badly do you need to see that scroll?" Daisuke asked again. "Can you make the wishes without it?"

Marin was silent for a moment, her hand clutching at his as they picked their way through the coiling mist.

"If I have to, I can make the wishes here and now," she said reluctantly. "But without the scroll –" She broke off, and Daisuke felt her fingers tighten painfully in his.

"Without the scroll," Marin began again, "I can stop Amatsu-Mikaboshi, but I can't bring the world back afterwards. I need the incantation that started the Universe of the Four Gods."

"We keep going," Daisuke said flatly.

Fog pressed down heavily on the mountain and closed in around them, growing thicker all the time. Meixing's light turned the mist into a wall of grey that never lifted, and they all kept their eyes firmly on the path under their feet even while they kept going as fast as they dared.

Daisuke had the constant, uneasy feeling of a sudden drop just out of sight. Without a frame of reference, it felt as though they were climbing forever in an endless loop, and it was something of a shock when the steep steps ended and the huge red gatehouse loomed abruptly in front of them.

It was very different to the last time they had been here. They stepped gingerly over the gates broken on their hinges and into the courtyard. The mist coiled over the stones, muffling the sound of their feet and hiding the carnage. They climbed as quickly as they dared up to the main building, and as the mist drifted away below them they could see the full extent of the damage.

Inside the courtyard, the mountain wind whistled eerily through the pillars. The paving stones were littered with the broken bodies of crows and half-transformed tengu, feathers sticking in puddles of blood as bright as if it had been shed an hour ago instead of weeks or months. Daisuke swore under his breath as he looked around, and ahead of him Meixing shivered convulsively. Everything looked as though it was stuck in that moment of time when Marin had made the wish and they had all been pulled away.

They scrambled their way through the destruction, and Daisuke tried to not look too closely. Black, sightless eyes seemed to follow them. Vines had coiled in a thick jade tangle, chaining the tengu to the paving stones and the shutters. Tian Zhen's handiwork. And red-fletched arrows bloomed from the eyes and chests of more tengu corpses. Claw marks gouged every surface and the balustrade on the staircase was shattered. He heard Marin's sharp inhalation as they recognised one of the bodies caught on the broken fretwork.

It was Zhang Yong, his neck twisted at an unnatural angle and face frozen in a dying rictus of fear and horror. His staff lay, shattered, at his side.

Marin didn't even seem to realise she was sobbing until Daisuke turned to block the sight from her and his arms wrapped around her, gathering her close.