Doomed
My ink bottles slowly replenished themselves. When the third finally refilled, my powers and godly appearance came back to me, momentarily lighting up the small, dark space. I could see the sorrow and hopelessness on the faces of the dogs in the gloom. Kei was shaking, and all the dogs looked wide-eyed and terrified. Jun sat closely, protectively, by his rescuer. Daiko, for once was silent, due to shock. There was no need for medical attention as the leg had been neatly removed, with no evidence there had ever been a limb there at all. I'd tried to rejuvenate the leg to no avail, it was simply gone.
We all were shocked, horrified by what had just transpired- seeing the essence of two of our own ripped apart in front of our eyes. At least Daiko had escaped with his life. "Does it hurt?" Noriko asked him, leaning into Hana's comforting fur. "No..." Daiko admitted. "But I could really use a drink right about now." He said, half-joking.
"I think we all could." Hana seconded. I suddenly realized I had exactly what they were talking about and drew a sake container out of my travel-pouch. The very same sake that Kushi had given me, soon after I had descended. I'd nearly forgotten about it. "Would this suffice?"
"Oh yes it would." The dog perked up. "What's it named?"
"I don't think Kushi told us when she gave it to us." Hiraku said, examining the container. "Soul's Ignition" He recited, finding small hand-written lettering near the bottom. "Sounds just like what we need at this moment." I pushed the sake gently towards Shisa, and she lifted it, balancing it between her front legs to drink, she passed it to Ryota on her right. He drank a few swigs and then passed it on silently, and the pattern continued until it came in a full circle. When it came back to where Hiraku and I sat, he shook his head. "No thanks… I don't drink."
"Why not?" I asked, a little surprised. "…Let's just say it has something to do with a misadventure involving a chicken, an orange, a torch, and a tiger." Hiraku whispered, rubbing the back of his neck. "…And a ban from the Kamiki Festival." Despite the situation, I smiled, and although I don't normally drink, I lifted the container. Only a little more than a sip was left, and I swallowed it in one gulp. The taste was surprisingly pleasant, and as it reached my stomach a fire light my insides. A warm spark of hope, a bit of fight.
"We're not going out like this." I growled defiantly. "Not waiting for the demon to find us and rip away our lives one by one. Not without a fight."
The warriors nodded, murmuring their assent. "Not without a fight!" Ryota growled, standing on his feet. The others barked in agreement, all except one- who was distracted. Shisa sniffed in the air, trotting around in the dark. "What is it?" Ryota asked her. "I think there's something in here!" She chirped, her nose leading her to a crack in the wall. "Step aside, Shisa." I told her, and she backed up. I placed a cherry bomb in front of the crack, and it blew away the thin wall separating us from the sealed room within. A room locked away deep in the bowels of the house, hidden away from all prying eyes, where only a cat could enter. Instantly, we saw a variety of objects stuffed away into the cache, not treasures, in fact, closer to trash- a small stuffed toy, a fancy watch, a handwritten scroll, and a hairpin, among others. One item that caught my eye was a necklace, with a symbol of the gods inscribed upon it. It reminded me of one that my mother sometimes wore, she gave similar necklaces to both me & Chibi when we were young.
"Must be the cat's hoard." Ryota growled. Chi sniffed one of the items and sneezed. "These are cursed. Given the specificity of these items, I think these might be totems. Representative artifacts that allow him to control the object's owner." Chi theorized. "He can do that?" Hiraku asked. "Given his mastery of dark arts, I imagine there's not much he can't do." She stared disgustedly at the cursed items. "These artifacts no doubt lend credence to his power, we should…" Kei seized the stuffed toy and started shaking it fiercely, little bits of fluffy inside coming out. Chi laughed. "The pup has the right idea." The other warriors also set about to trashing the treasures. Hana & Noriko played tug of war with the fancy watch until it snapped. It felt wrong to destroy such a sacred necklace, but I knew there was a potential that every object in this room was one of his cursed items, using it to control a soul- so it had to go. It wasn't sacrilegious to destroy a sacred object if I did it, right? I grabbed the twine part of the necklace and shook it, the talisman smashing against a wood beam.
We placed the shredded remains of the totems inside a pot and lit a fire, just to be sure the spells were destroyed. The fire crackled and popped, evil energy leaving the items, and we looked at each other. Although it would be a difficult fight ahead, we were ready. We were ready to face Nekomata and his nefarious shadow once again, or die trying.