Dragon Island (12 page)

“BEAR!”

At that moment, something huge hits the arena roof. The impact shakes the entire structure.

Dust, stalactites, and boulder-sized chunks of rubble rain down from the ceiling to demolish everything in sight, only barely missing Ningai Ura, Kitsune, and myself.

Hebira isn’t so lucky.

A piece of fallen stone as large as a pickup truck drops onto his head and sends the daikaiju reeling.

A second impact rocks the arena and the ceiling bulges inward as though an asteroid had just crash-landed on the chamber’s roof!

Ningai shouts in anger, demanding for Hebira to feed and feed now.

Hebira shakes the daze from his serpentine eyes.

Kitsune and I scream as the snake daikaiju flares his hood and strikes.

But Hebira isn’t fast enough.

A massive green-scaled paw crashes through the arena ceiling in an explosion of dust and debris. Moving with incredible speed, it catches Hebira and slams the giant snake against the arena wall, squashing and killing the daikaiju instantly.

“Kumagor!” Kitsune shouts, shocked awe in her voice.

“Kumagor here?” Ningai spits as though he were a villain from a comic book. “Impossible!”

He looks at Kusanagi in disbelief and then points the sword at the clouds of dust still hovering beneath the large hole in the arena ceiling.

“Stop this instant! I command—!”

On the other side of the hole, Kumagor roars, letting Ningai know exactly what he commands so far as the immense daikaiju is concerned: absolutely nothing!

The roar is the loudest I’ve heard yet on the island. Louder than Hebira’s hiss. Louder than Nekokat’s sonic scream. Maybe even louder than the thunderous howl of the red-eyed daikaiju.

It’s like a thousand bomb-blasts occurring all at once. Its sonic vibrations are so powerful that they bring Ningai Ura and his tower crumbling down into the pit beneath us!

I allow myself a brief moment of elation as I watch Ura disappear into the darkness below, a scream on his lips. I’m only partially saddened to see Kusanagi’s shimmering light extinguish as it disappears along with him. Then I howl with fright as Kumagor’s scaly, jade paw swipes in our direction.

Kumagor strikes the post at a point just below us, snapping it in two. Kitsune and I go hurtling into the arena stands. We land hard and the post splits again, this time vertically. Thankfully, we are not injured. But our chains have been separated from the post.

We are free!

Kitsune bolts for a doorway at the top of the stands leading out of the arena.

“Run, Raymond-sai!”

She doesn’t have to ask me twice! I charge after her. She disappears into the doorway. I start to take up the chase again, then pause.

I turn and dare a glance through the hole in the arena’s ceiling. The dust cloud hanging there thins and I see a wrinkled, scaly muzzle full of giant, yellow fangs spanning the entire length of the crevice.
 
The muzzle’s jagged teeth point in every direction and drip waterfalls of saliva. It’s a mouth made for chewing T-Rex heads like popcorn shrimp or swallowing blue whales whole.

It’s the mouth of a monster king.

Kumagor roars and I stumble through the doorway with the world quaking around me.

Kintaro was also phenomenally strong, able to smash boulders, uproot trees, and break spears over his knee by the bundle. His animal friends served him as messengers and mounts. The more fearsome among them even fought alongside him. Some legends say that this close relationship existed because Kintaro was able to speak their language. Many modern recounts of the Kintaro legend interpret this latter ability as the existence of a psychic link between Kintaro and his beasts...

Excerpt from
We Are Legend: The Truth Behind Heroes and Demigods of the World
, by Carl Davidson (1975)

I
curse under my breath as Kitsune and I run, thumbing my nose at the day I crash-landed on
Kaiju
Island
to find a world full of ancient dragons, evil monsters, magic swords, and insane despots.

We barely make it out of the Ningai Ura’s underground chamber without the daikaiju Kumagor bringing the entire place down around us. We sprint as fast as we can, heedless of any direction other than away. The going is extremely difficult with the entire Xenomian structure shuddering around us.

Kumagor’s fury is as indifferent as an erupting volcano or an on-shore hurricane. We move, having to dodge falling samurai droids, clouds of steam billowing from burst pipes, and the sparking electricity of severed wires.

At last, the quivering dark metal walls give way to an enormous cavern of sturdy rock. Kitsune and I stop to take a moment and catch our breath.

When I gaze up at her in the sparse light spilling into the cave from the Xenomian chamber’s terminus, I’m surprised to see that she is crying.

I place my hand on her shoulder. Like me, her entire body is covered in a layer of dust. So when I give her a pat, small, swirling clouds form at her shoulder.

“Hey, don’t be sad.

“We made it!

“I’m the one who cries all the time, not you!”

Kitsune shakes my hand off and wipes away her tears.

“You,” she says, her sobs drying up, “you summoned Kumagor!”

“What?” I say, panting myself. “No, I didn’t. I was as surprised as you or Ningai Ura!”

“But you did! I heard you! You cried, ‘Bear,’ and Kumagor came!

“Even without Kusanagi in your hand, he came!”

“Bear is my dog,” I confess. “I was...I was just frightened.

“I called him like I always have when I’ve needed protection.”

“Kuma is the word for bear in the language of the Toho!”

“So?”

“So, you called Kumagor—the great bear-dragon—simply by speaking his name! Not even the
shobijin
can summon a daikaiju with such ease!”

Kitsune looks at me in awe. It’s as though she is seeing me all over again for the first time.

“You are Kintaro’s heir.”

Kitsune falls to her knees and prostrates herself.

I gasp in shock.

“Kitsune!”

She remains still and reverent.

Something inside me likes the sight of her like that, there, on her knees with her face pressed to the ground—something much bigger than I care to admit.

Something wishing to feed and grow even larger.

I shake myself, removing its presence for the moment. I place my hand on Kitsune’s shoulder.

“Kitsune. Please. Get up.”

At that moment, the cave walls surrounding the chamber exit explode in a spray of rock and debris.

I crouch and shield my face as an immense cloud of dust fills the cavern and washes over us.

The dust cloud speaks with a thousand howls and roars. The cloud thins and I’m able to see the hordes of kaiju stampeding toward us!

They are of every size and shape imaginable— grotesque parodies of animal life as we know it. There are giant spiders with snarling wolf heads. Enormous, saber-toothed rabbits with scaly, crocodile tails. Armored moles that could easily be mistaken for dump trucks.
Worms
the size of telephone poles. Hordes of insects equal in size to Kitsune and me. And last but certainly not least, Hebira’s slithering, viper children!

In short, they are monsters!

I stare at them, frozen with terror and disbelief.

“Can you halt them?” Kitsune asks from behind me, her voice full of desperation.

“Can I what? No! How could I possibly—?”

I feel something jerk my shirt collar and turn to see Kitsune hauling me to my feet!

“Then run, Raymond-sai!” she yells. “They flee Kumagor! So must we!”

I hop to my feet and sprint after Kitsune. I run as fast humanly possible, but the kaiju still overtake me.

I glance down, shocked and horrified to see several of the spider-wolves abreast of me. But my alarm is wasted. They pay me no head. Under different circumstances, I’m sure it would be open season on yours truly! But right now, they just want to get away from Kumagor as badly as I do.

They scamper ahead of me, crawling up the walls onto the ceiling, trying to reach a safe vantage higher above.

But when it comes to Kumagor, something tells me there’s no such thing!

I’m about to be trampled to death by a herd of hoping monster jackrabbits when Kitsune’s hands appear from the cavern wall to my right and yank me down into a hole.

“Crawl!” she shouts. “Crawl!”

We claw at the earth and with our hands and feet, dragging our bodies deeper into our less than ideal hiding place.

We’ve gone probably twenty yards when the racket from the kaiju silences.

“I think they have—!”

The earthen tunnel shudders as something outside pounds through the cavern with unquantifiable force, raining more dust onto our backs.

It happens again and Kitsune and I cover our heads with our hands. With the third impact, I realize what’s going on.

Kumagor is coming, one colossal step at a time.

My heart throbs uncontrollably. I whimper as tears begin streaming down my face.

“Stay quiet, Raymond-sai,” Kitsune whispers. “And still. Our lives depend on it!”

I nod, though Kitsune can’t see it. I try to forget about the pounding outside and concentrate on that of my heart, trying to slow it down through sheer force of will.

Breathe, I think.

Breathe.

In through the nose.

Out through the mouth.

In through the nose—

Outside the tunnel, Kumagor growls. It’s a sound like the last of the water draining from God’s bathtub.

I begin to tremble.

Out through the mouth.

In through the nose—

My trembling ceases. My heart slows.

Outside, Kumagor growls again, but this time the noise is almost a purr, only threatening because it’s coming from such a large beast.

Out through the mouth—

Kumagor begins stomping around outside again, nearly causing our hiding place to collapse and crush us to death.

But this time, his steps are retreating, and it’s not long before they quiet altogether.

Kitsune and I don’t speak or move for a long, long time.

Mikoshi-nyuudo is one of the many monster-monks found in Japanese legend. It is said the more one looks upon Mikoshi, the taller the monk grows. To look too long meant certain death...

—Excerpt from
Kaiju!
by Shigeru Kayama and Takeo Murata (1954)

L
ying on my belly deep in the earth of an island bursting with monsters, magic, and arcane, technological wonders, I take stock of my situation.

Pros:

I’m alive. That’s a biggie! I will put a mental gold star by that one.

I have a beautiful native girl as a friend and guide. Another biggie there.

I found a magic sword, my only protection in this insane place.

Cons:

The plane carrying me to visit my father in
Japan
was attacked and crashed by one or more daikaiju—AKA giant monsters, AKA dragons—leaving only me alive.

I’ve had to constantly flee for my life through dense forests and underground fortresses from monsters, ogres, and dragons ever since!

All this has been orchestrated by a mad, would-be world conqueror who may or may not still be alive.

I lost the magic sword, my only protection in this place.

I’m still alive, and so most likely will have to endure more of the above!

No doubt about it, the cons definitely outweigh the pros here!

“Raymond-sai,” Kitsune says at last.

“I’m okay, Kitsune.”

“We must back out of here and re-enter the labyrinth.”

“I figured as much.”

“Do not worry. It is not much farther to the Toho village.”

I work my way to our tunnel’s entrance, having to shimmy backwards on my hands, feet, and belly. The action is awkward. Never having been accused of possessing grace, I accidently slip and plunge my face into the mud beneath me just as I reach the tunnel exit.

Angry at myself, I climb the rest of the way outside and wipe the muck from face and eyes.

I gasp at what I see.

The cavern has been hollowed out to such a degree that a mountain could now pass through it with ease. Boulders, rubble, and mounds of earth now carpet the ground. Claw marks the size of field furrows criss-cross the cavern walls, dividing them into haphazard grids that disappear into darkness as they stretch for the ceiling.