Author's Corner

I'm alive! Still feeling tired and groggy, but I'm otherwise okay. Editing this chapter definitely cheered me up lol.

I hope you all enjoy this one! Let me know what you think in a comment or drop me an ask over on Tumblr (my current URL is kagkik). Enjoy!

EIGHTH BLOOD

Chapter 82: Lord of the ridge

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When dawn broke, Megumi came to bid them farewell. It was a beautiful sunrise, but Octavia couldn't help but feel disheartened by it. There were only a few days left until the duel – until sunrises would be ruined forever. Forcing aside her dreary thoughts, she turned away from the golden glow on the horizon and watched as Megumi caressed Kanetsugu's face fondly.

"Won't you stay a little longer?" she asked. "Just for one more day?"

Kanetsugu shook his head. "I'm sorry, my lady, but I'm afraid we can't."

She heaved a sigh. "Suit yourself. Do visit again soon, though. And bring Kannika with you next time. We have much to catch up on."

"I will," he promised, then added under his breath, "If we survive, that is."

Her eyes darkened slightly. "Don't say that. Don't ever say that."

"Why?" Octavia cut in. "As much as it pains me to say this, he's right. If Sesshoumaru can't defeat the usurper, what chance do we have?"

Megumi frowned. "You don't have much faith in him, do you?"

"I'm just being practical. Faith has nothing to do with it."

"It should."

Octavia fought the urge to flinch as Megumi glided closer and trapped her with a stare. It was as cutting as ever, but there was something else this time. If Octavia hadn't known better, she might have mistaken it for regret.

"Believing in someone only gets you so far," Octavia whispered, holding the demoness' steely gaze. "It doesn't matter how strong they are. If you love them, you have to be willing to fight for them."

"My son has no need of a protector."

"It's not a matter of needing. Have you ever stopped to consider what he wants for a change? Or why he goes to such lengths to keep an orphan like Rin safe? He knows how it feels to have no one on your side. He didn't want her to grow up thinking that she wasn't worth protecting."

"I don't like your accusatory tone," Megumi warned. "I've had quite enough of you and your insufferable attitude. You think you know everything, but in reality, you understand very little."

"Of course I don't know everything. But I know enough. Your father hated being alone so much that he offed himself, and yet here you are, repeating his every mistake. You say this is what you want, but it isn't . . . If you stay here, there won't be anyone to stop you, either."

Megumi's pupils were so thin that they might as well have been invisible. Octavia waited for her to lash out, but all she said was, "Farewell, rodent. I shan't miss you."

Kanetsugu politely bowed his head, then set off walking down the steep wall of steps. Octavia maintained eye contact with Megumi for a while, before finally turning her back on her and jogging after Kanetsugu. If she'd been looking, she would have seen the demoness take an involuntary step forwards, only to scoot backwards again, disgusted by the brief moment of weakness.

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Kanetsugu was waiting by the cliff's edge.

He said nothing as Octavia approached him from behind, lost in thought. She followed his gaze to the network of rivers below, none of which glittered with starlight as they had done under the cover of night. She wondered how many of her brothers and sisters were in those strange waters, billions of miles from their homes. What was stopping them from leaving this cursed plane and flying back to where they belonged? Were they like her? Were they trapped here, too?

"How would you feel about a slight detour?" she asked.

Kanetsugu's eyes slid to hers and he frowned. Taking his silence as a sign of good faith, she told him what she intended to do next, then waited for his response with bated breath.

To her immense surprise, he said yes.

Not wanting to push her luck, she kept her mouth shut and entertained herself by taking in the sights as they travelled southeast, away from the Western Lands entirely. She was asleep for most of the journey – her exhaustion having finally caught up with her – so it raced by in the blink of an eye.

The first thing she noticed upon waking was the stink of volcanic ash. Opening her eyes, she saw plumes of smoke cutting into the sky like great metal cranes, set on demolishing the clouds themselves. They flew towards a ridge oozing with molten hot lava and landed on the summit, touching down on its crispy black surface. Stifling a cough, Octavia marched towards the large skeleton that served as a makeshift house and peered into its gaping mouth expectantly.

Her hopes were dashed when she discovered that it was empty.

"He's not home," she observed, staring at the unlit forge disappointedly. "Damn it."

Kanetsugu poked a pair of prongs that were hanging on the wall, before shifting his attention to the heap of hefty-looking weapons in the corner. Octavia coughed into her sleeve as he proceeded to march over and pick up a giant double-sided axe. She opened her mouth to reprimand him, but the ash in her lungs made it impossible to do anything other than wheeze.

Covering the bottom half of her face with her sleeve, she staggered out of the large skeleton and nearly collided with something big and hairy. A three-eyed ox was standing on the threshold, gazing up at her with a blank expression. Octavia yelped in surprise and stumbled backwards, alerting Kanetsugu of the danger. However, instead of springing into action, he simply lowered the axe and moved away from the pile of weapons he'd been eyeing up previously.

The ox seemed pleased by his decision and bellowed gently, before trotting away without another sound. Kanetsugu locked eyes with Octavia for a moment, then hiked after the ox wordlessly, leaving her no choice but to follow. The ox led them through a burned forest and down a rocky slope ridden with magma. The ground was cracked and hard, and the trees had all petrified a long time ago, therefore they were as hard and dead as stone. Fortunately, the air wasn't as thin as it had been at the summit, but Octavia still found it hard to breathe with all the ash swirling about.

"Where's it taking us?" she croaked.

"Where do you think?" answered Kanetsugu. "Oxen travel in herds."

Her eyes widened as they travelled under a rocky arch and found themselves in a smouldering field full of cows. They came in varying shades of colour, but they were all three-eyed and docile-looking. The one they'd followed grunted softly before rejoining the herd to graze on the charcoal grey soil. Not the most appetising of meals, but who was she to judge?

The sun finally broke through the clouds, making the ridge seem brighter and less like a wasteland. She smiled as some of the oxen bellowed happily and lifted their noses towards the sky.

Her smile faded when her gaze landed on a familiar figure lounging on top of a boulder.

Totosai craned his head sideways and locked sights with her by chance, before demonstrating a friendly wave. Eyes blazing, Octavia left Kanetsugu on the edge of the herd and shoved her way towards the boulder. The blacksmith's face fell when he noticed the fury in her expression and he stopped waving, opting to hastily clamber to his feet instead. Octavia broke into a run when she saw him jump down from the boulder and sprint off in the opposite direction.

She managed to catch up to him before he could leap over a particularly high crest and grabbed his fraying collar. Totosai shrieked as she hoisted him up by the front of his kimono and shoved him against a rocky incline, trapping him there.

"Mercy!" he pleaded. "I beg you! Mercy!"

"Oh, come off it," she growled. "I'm not going to kill you, so stop snivelling like a baby and start talking. I know all about the dagger and your little scheme with Nidawi. Did you honestly think I wouldn't find out? Well, did you?"

"I'm sorry! I couldn't tell you! I wanted to! Believe me, I did, but I couldn't—"

"You lied to me!"

"I didn't! I merely withheld the truth!"

"Why!"

"Sesshoumaru would never have allowed you to live if he'd known the truth," Totosai murmured. "He would have slaughtered you where you stood. I did it to protect you."

"That's bullshit."

"It's true! I swear!"

"Why would you go out of your way to protect me? You all think I'm going to end up destroying everything!" Her eyes burned with tears. So what if Kanetsugu heard? He was the least of her worries now. "I'm just a pawn to you. Nidawi promised Touga that she'd protect Sesshoumaru, and so did you. You reforged the Reikon Blade to save his life. It doesn't matter what happens to me. I'm a ticking time bomb. I always have been."

"Not this time," argued Totosai. "Things are different now. You're different."

Octavia couldn't help but be reminded of what the Dressmaker had said to her in the kasbah. You usually despise each other. I wonder what's changed.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"It doesn't matter."

"It matters to me!" She let go of his kimono and scooted backwards, using every ounce of her willpower to keep her tears from falling. "I am so sick and tired of being treated like a bloody idiot all the time! You and Nidawi both act as if I'll crack under the slightest bit of pressure, but guess what? I've been under pressure my whole life! My parents are dead! I had no one! No real friends or family. No one to rely on . . . Do you have any idea what that's like?"

"No," Totosai confessed. "I suppose I don't."

"Exactly! So don't stand there and act like you have my best interests at heart. You don't care about me. You don't even care about Sesshoumaru. The only reason you're doing any of this is because his father told you to. Is it any wonder that he doesn't like you? Every time he asks for something, you tell him no. I don't care if you thought it was justified, or if he needed to learn a valuable lesson first. He shouldn't have to prove himself to you. Or anyone, for that matter!"

He seemed taken aback by her outburst. "You've certainly changed your tune. The last time we saw each other, you were basically his prisoner."

The sun disappeared behind the clouds, transforming the ridge back into a desolate wasteland.

"Why are you here?" the blacksmith asked, frowning slightly. "I doubt you came all this way just to lecture me. What is it that you want exactly?"

"Armour."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Not for me," she clarified. "For Sesshoumaru."

"What's wrong with the set he has now?"

"He lost it. It wasn't his fault. You were right about one thing – everything that's happening is my fault. I know that. Which is why I have to fix it."

Totosai stroked his beard. "I suppose it's not the most outrageous request anyone has ever made . . . Very well. It'll be ready in a month. Come and collect it then."

"I can't wait that long."

"I'm afraid you'll have to. Art takes time, my dear. Plus, I have to gather the necessary materials—"

"I don't think you understand the urgency of our situation, old man," Kanetsugu interjected, startling them both as he landed noiselessly beside Octavia. "We could all be dead by then, including Sesshoumaru-sama. You'd be crafting armour for a corpse."

"Exactly," Octavia said, grateful for his intervention. "We need it now. Please, Totosai. We'll do anything."

The blacksmith arched an eyebrow. "Anything, eh?"

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Withholding a string of curses, Octavia scuttled across a narrow bridge made of crumbling stone. Totosai had agreed to forge a new set of armour under one condition – he wanted her to slay the beast that had been terrorising his cows for the past six months.

The beast in question was a giant hound named Kumoshi. According to Totosai, Kumoshi had appeared out of nowhere and proclaimed himself lord of the ridge without even bothering to consult the mountain's inhabitants first. In the past month alone, he'd apparently devoured an entire third of Totosai's livestock, as well as most of the local wildlife.

The blacksmith had vowed to fashion armour out of Kumoshi's fangs in exchange for his life.

Kanetsugu hovered in the air above the bridge, as per Totosai's request. He wasn't allowed to help her, but he could observe from a distance.

"I bet you're loving this," she grumbled when a particularly sharp rock dug into her palm, drawing blood.

"I would be under different circumstances," he replied. "But not these."

"I don't believe you."

"I don't care what you believe."

Sucking her wound, she shot him a glare and finished crossing the bridge. "You didn't have to bring me here. You could have just taken us straight back to the temple. Why didn't you?"

"You're not the only one who doesn't want to see him die."

"I thought you hated him."

"Disliking someone isn't the same as hating them."

She tilted her head to meet his stare. "You hate me, though. Don't you? I can tell. Do you hate me because I'm human or is it something else?"

"I don't need a reason," he hissed. "You are the single most repulsive creature I've ever met."

She laughed. "Is that the best you can do? I've heard better insults from toddlers."

Before he could respond, the ground rumbled loudly. Octavia ducked behind a rock and waited for the tremors to ease. A low-pitched growl bounced around the mountain, causing grit to roll down the inclines like dusty waterfalls. She lost sight of Kanetsugu amid all the havoc being caused. When the ground finally ceased shaking, she refrained from calling out to him, not wanting to draw attention to herself.

It proved to be a wise choice when a huge beast with black fur suddenly emerged from a large vent and sniffed the air. Octavia clamped her hands over her mouth to muffle her breathing and willed herself to stay as still as possible.

"I know you're there," the beast announced calmly. "I can smell your fear."

Ignoring her frantic heartbeat, she stepped out from behind the rock and gazed into the beast's icy blue eyes. In contrast to his colossal size, Kumoshi was sleek and graceful, with slender limbs and pointed, skyward-facing ears. His fur shone like polished tumblestone, and his nose was blacker still, sparkling in the daylight brilliantly.

"I don't believe we've met. My name is—"

Octavia drew the mark for 'earth' and launched a barrage of rocks at Kumoshi's face. She'd hoped to catch him off-guard, but he leapt out of the way effortlessly, causing the rocks to crash into the fissure he'd crawled out of instead. He landed behind her and slashed at her with his claws, but she parried the attack with a thick slab of stone she'd prised out of the ground. Kumoshi chuckled when he saw that her composure was slipping, and pushed against the slab. The stone splintered, then broke apart completely, sending Octavia hurtling backwards and into a boulder.

"That was a little uncalled for, don't you think?" he remarked. "Have I done something to incite your anger, or are you simply blowing off steam?"

"Totosai sent me," she grunted, ignoring the pain in her skull.

"Hired someone to get rid of me, has he?"

"Hired implies that there's money involved, which there isn't." Scrambling to her feet, she leaned against the boulder for support. "I have come to kill you, though. You won't be lord of the ridge for much longer. I can promise you that."

He howled with laughter. "How humorous. I shall enjoy eating you."

"You'll have to catch me first."

Kumoshi lunged forwards, missing her by a hair's breadth as she shoved against the boulder she was leaning on, sending it shooting backwards with her still attached to it. She used the small window to summon a new wave of rocks and hurled them at Kumoshi, then dove into the vent to hide. She didn't wait for him to come looking, opting to wriggle into a tight space that was adjacent to the entrance. There was no way he'd be able to reach her now. Unless he was able to shrink himself the same way Sesshoumaru could. Why hadn't she considered that sooner?

Her heart hammered furiously as the sound of Kumoshi's breathing spilled into the alcove. She reversed deeper into the enclosed space, wishing that she could turn her body into a liquid so that she could seep into the cracks between the rocks.

When she could go no further, she closed her eyes and racked her brain for a solution.

Which mark would guarantee her victory? 'Shield' would only delay the inevitable, and she wasn't close enough to Kumoshi for 'sleep' to have any effect on him. Using 'earth' in such a cramped space was too risky, 'fire' was too unpredictable, and relying on 'air' to deplete the cave of oxygen would kill her long before it killed him. There were no plants or traces of moisture in the cave, so 'wood' and 'water' were out of the question, and 'grow' would be no use here, either. She could try 'freeze', but she hadn't had as much practice with that spell, and the cave was far too hot for the likes of snow or ice to last longer than a handful of seconds.

"Where are you, assassin sent by Totosai?" Kumoshi taunted. "Come out and face me like a man."

"Do I look like a man to you?" she rebuked fiercely.

A single great eye peered into the gap, sparkling like a sapphire. Octavia clenched her jaw as the split pupil dilated, reminding her of a door at the end of a corridor getting smaller and further away. "There you are," he purred. "Now, keep still. I'd hate to snap off your arms and legs by mistake. You humans may be fragile, but disfiguring one's prey is so undignified."

She balled her hands into fists. "I'll show you undignified."

Kumoshi growled when she sapped some of his youki and hurled it back at him. She then vaulted out of the alcove and sprinted past his writhing form towards the exit. There were only a few yards left to go when his tail swung down and blocked her path.

She made a sharp 180-degree turn and ran in the opposite direction of his thrashing tail, heading deeper into the cave. His youki surged in her veins, making her stronger, faster. She followed the tunnel to what was by all accounts a dead end. The ground gave way to a sheer drop overlooking a ravine filled with lava. The smoke burrowed into Octavia's eyes, making them water.

There was nowhere to go.

"Looks like I have you cornered, little mage."

She turned and saw Kumoshi skulking closer. One of his eyes looked bloodshot. Her chest swelled with pride in her own abilities, and she stood her ground as he came within attacking range.

"I wouldn't do that again if I were you," he warned when he noticed her outstretched hands.

"Or what?"

"Or I'll be forced to end our game of tag early, which would be a shame, don't you think? I haven't had this much fun in ages. Not since Suitopi died."

Octavia hesitated. She'd heard that name before, but she couldn't remember where.

"Well?" jeered Kumoshi. "What will you do next?"

Deciding that it was worth the risk, Octavia hastily drew the mark for 'freeze' in the air behind her, creating a bridge of ice across the ravine. She knew it wouldn't last long in this heat, but that just meant Kumoshi would have a harder time catching her if it collapsed before he finished crossing.

The ice groaned beneath their combined weights, splintering rapidly as the heat from the lava weakened its foundations. Octavia redrew the mark several times over in an effort to replace the ice that had melted, but it was like trying to fix a roof in the midst of a hurricane.

Eventually, she had no choice but to stop trying and instead focus all of her energy on making it across the ice bridge. She could hear Kumoshi gaining on her. He couldn't have been more than a few feet away when the bridge shattered prematurely, sending them both plummeting into the ravine. Octavia screamed as huge chunks of ice smashed against the sides, making the smoke hiss and crackle. Her eyes shot to Kumoshi – who was falling too – and widened when she saw him drive his claws into the cliff face, then cling to the rock for dear life.

She was about to draw the mark for 'earth' and do the same, when something intercepted her fall at the last second. Her face hit something hard and her body was swathed in darkness before being propelled upwards. When the darkness lifted, she looked up and saw Kanetsugu's stony expression. Her mouth fell open in shock when she realised what had happened.

"Did you just—"

"Don't read too much into it," he snapped, cutting her off. "Sesshoumaru-sama would gut me like a fish if he found out I let you die."

She beamed at him, not caring if he found her ugly or unseemly. "Thank you."

"You can thank me properly later. That damned beast isn't dead yet."

She followed his gaze to the ravine, where Kumoshi was swiftly scaling the steep cliff.

"I have an idea."

"Does it involve more ice? Because that was a dumb move, even for you."

She shook her head. "I do need to borrow some of your youki, though."

"What? Why?"

"You'll see. Put me down over there."

He landed on the edge of the ravine and set her down on a reasonably flat stretch of rock. Kumoshi roared as her eyes found his, and his climbing grew more frantic, whipping up a cloud of dust and embers.

Octavia reached out and touched Kanetsugu's forearm lightly, giving him a chance to shove her hand away. When he didn't, she tapped into his youki and siphoned power from it. The mitama marks themselves provided plenty of power, but for her plan to work, she needed actual life force, and it couldn't be her own. For humans, it was reiki, whereas for demons, it was youki. She'd seen Augustus do what she was attempting to do dozens of times, but he'd never let her experiment with it herself. It's dangerous, Vee, he'd claimed. You're not ready yet.

What did he know?

As soon as the cloud obscuring Kumoshi parted, Octavia drew the mark for 'freeze' again, alongside a few small additions. She added the Japanese characters for 'skin' and 'bones', then infused them with youki, exactly as Augustus had done with the life force of his human cadets. The kanji glowed fiercely before merging with the mitama mark. Octavia's breath caught in her throat as a new mark appeared before her, just as she'd hoped it would.

Oblivious to what was happening, Kumoshi clambered over the edge and swiped at her with his claws. She quickly released Kanetsugu's arm and pushed the new mark towards Kumoshi. However, the moment that it touched his chest, it disappeared.

Her stomach sank. Had she done it wrong?

She was halfway through frantically drawing the mark for 'shield' when Kumoshi lurched to an abrupt halt, before landing roughly on his stomach, limbs frozen at his sides. His eyes were the only parts of him still capable of moving, and they darted back and forth between her and his immobilised paws, full of shock and outrage. It was like staring at a paused screen.

"What did you do?" Kanetsugu asked quietly.

She advanced on Kumoshi slowly, still not entirely convinced that the spell wouldn't wear off when they least expected it. "Whilst I was training with my brother, he showed me how to alter existing mitama marks. I once saw him make someone's mind go to sleep, but their body stayed wide awake and obeyed his every command. He told me that the first person he'd tried it on went into a coma, so he made me promise not to alter any marks until he thought I was ready. I agreed because I wanted him to keep teaching me, but also because I was scared of seriously hurting someone . . . I'm not like him. I don't want to be a monster."

"Are you scared now?"

"What?"

"You said you were scared of screwing up and hurting someone." He pointed at Kumoshi and asked, "Does he count? Or did you decide that it was worth the risk this time? He's going to die anyway. Does it matter whether it's accidental or on purpose?"

She gazed into the beast's icy blue eyes and swallowed. Kanetsugu was right. Again. She'd been so fixated on winning that she hadn't thought about the specifics. Agreeing to slay some fabled beast was easy, but actually doing it was another story entirely. Totosai might as well have asked her to bring him a piece of the sky itself.

Kumoshi wasn't like the ngea or their master, the ancient god known only as the Shadow. All he'd done was hunt and have the audacity to call himself a lord. He was hardly evil incarnate. What gave her the right to take his life? Because some old codger had asked her to? Because she needed his fangs in order to protect someone she loved? Who the hell did she think she was?

She knelt in front of Kumoshi and sighed. "I'm sorry. I've been selfish."

The beast narrowed his eyes dubiously. The action reminded her of another canine she knew. She ran her fingers through Kumoshi's silky black fur and exhaled deeply.

"What are you doing?" asked Kanetsugu.

"What I always do," she replied with a small grin. "Sticking it to the man."

Kumoshi's eyes widened as he suddenly regained control of his body, no longer bound by the mark. Stretching his arms and legs, he checked that he still had all of his teeth and claws before focusing his attention on Octavia.

"Get out of here," she told him. "I'm done fighting you. I don't care how many cows you've eaten. Totosai will just have to get over it. Go and find another mountain to rule over."

Kanetsugu's mouth fell open. "Are you insane?"

She tossed him a glare.

Kumoshi cocked his head sideways and said, "I am also interested in hearing the reason for your shift in attitude."

"I'm tired of being a pawn in other people's schemes," she explained. "Besides, it's not my place to decide whether you should live or die. Your life belongs to you and you alone."

His snout twisted in the semblance of a smile. "Good answer. You've done well, little mage. Exceptionally well, I dare say. Totosai will be positively over the moon."

"That I am!" a voice bellowed from above.

Octavia and Kanetsugu looked up in unison and saw the blacksmith seated atop one of his beloved cows. Oddly enough, the ox in question didn't seem even remotely afraid of Kumoshi, and neither did Totosai, who was grinning from ear to ear.

Octavia's eyes widened. "It was a test," she gasped. "I should've known. It always is with him."

The ox landed beside them and Totosai scrambled down from its back. "You passed with flying colours," the blacksmith announced. "Not only did you decide to spare Kumoshi, but your companion went against my orders and intervened when your life was in danger. Both of those things speak volumes about your character."

So much for sticking it to the man, she thought. This was exactly what he'd wanted to happen.

"But what if she had killed him?" Kanetsugu blurted out. "Test or no test, you were the one who asked her to, old man. What would you have done then?"

"It would have confirmed my worst fears about her," Totosai replied. "Therefore, I would've had no choice but to turn you away."

"And if he'd killed her? How would you have explained that to Sesshoumaru-sama?"

Octavia turned to Kumoshi, who was staring down at her intensely. "It was never my intention to injure you beyond repair," the beast confessed. "Forgive me for being dishonest with you. Touga was an old friend of mine. I know all about you, Erem's Vessel. Suitopi told me everything. She knew you would come. Her visions often wavered, but you were the only constant."

"Who's Suitopi?" she whispered.

"Her mother was responsible for creating the Shikon no Tama."

Octavia gasped.

"You knew Midoriko's daughter?"

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