Dragon Island (8 page)

I sigh.

But I guess such a religious system is only natural. Judging from Kitsune’s clothing, I should have guessed the Toho are a primitive, tribal people with all the usual customs and beliefs associated therein.

This Gryphina they worship probably isn’t alive at all, but some giant totem they’ve constructed.

“And Ryuu doesn’t really have eyes or a face to see with or to be looked upon in return?” I ask.

Kitsune shrugs.

“Yes and no. For when summer and winter are mild, is it not surely Ryuu’s face smiling upon us?

“On the other hand, when the storm blows or the earth quakes, is it not the angry, furrowed brow of Ryuu that we gaze upon?”

Again with the Yoda-speak. She talks a lot, but says nothing.

“But what you suggest, Raymond-sai,” Kitsune continues, “that a living being could actually gaze upon Ryuu’s true face and live to speak of it?

“Impossible!

“Not even the shobijin would dare try such a thing.”

I scratch my head, considering.

“If Ryuu’s presence is strongest within the deep labyrinth, this supposed meeting place of all realities, and the shobijin are afraid to face him there—or anywhere else for that matter—why would we want to go poking around inside it?”

I throw up my hands.

“And that’s not even mentioning the Xenomians who supposedly dwell there.”

Kitsune sighs. It’s obvious my game of twenty questions is beginning to irritate her.

“It would indeed be quicker if we had a boat to sail the river running by my village,” she says. “But we do not. Not out here in the wild.

“And besides, I’m not entirely sure it would be any safer.

“The island has become unpredictable. The kappa’s attack is proof enough of that. If the nocturnal kaiju are becoming bold enough to walk in the open while the summer sun shines, I doubt even Kusanagi could protect us—especially if the dragon who attacked you returns!

“And what is more, I sense the kappa’s attack was only part of something greater to come—something that has been approaching the Toho clan for a long time and has at last caught up with us.

The forest suddenly feels cold. I fold my arms across my torso and rub my biceps.

“But do not let all my talk worry you, Raymond-sai,” Kitsune says. “We will only be traversing the deep labyrinth’s outer passages. Ryuu’s purest essence is located much deeper inside, far beyond Xenomian territory at the labyrinth’s heart.

“If we move quickly and quietly, we should pass through without notice from either.”

“I guess that’s it, then.”

Kitsune nods and turns to resume her walk.

“Wait a minute!” I say, halting her. “If only the shobijin traverse the deep labyrinth, how will you navigate—?”

Kitsune interrupts me.

“I have much of the shobijin’s training. I know the way through the deep labyrinth. Or, at least the part we need to use: the passages linking the various sides of the island. I travelled through them to reach this side when I saw your star fall from the sky.”

“So you are a priestess of Gryphina, then?”

Kitsune’s face darkens.

“No. My twin sister perished before we could complete our training. Without her, I was unable to continue my instruction and take up the mantle of a shobijin.”

I struggle for a response. “I...I’m sorry.”

Kitsune clasps my hand in hers. There’s a heartbreaking sadness in her eyes that I haven’t seen before. It’s terrible to look upon. Doing so makes my own eyes water.

“The—” Kitsune’s words catch in her throat, threatening to turn into sobs. “The wound of her passing still hurts, even after so long.”

Kitsune releases my hand.

“In some ways, I believe my sister’s passing was when this all truly began, Raymond-sai.”

“When what began, Kitsune?”

“The long, slow death of my people.”

Chiroptophobia (ki’rop’toe’fo’bee’ah) n. – the excessive and uncontrollable fear of bats.

-
Webber’s Dictionary
(2009)

“Y
ou were not kidding when you said the labyrinth was deep!”

Kitsune and I stand above a giant hole in the earth.

“Yes,” she says. “This place is called Doragon’s Mouth. It marks the beginning of the deep labyrinth on this side of the island.”

“Dor-ah-gon’s Mouth,” I say, sounding out the word. “As in the dragon’s mouth?”

Kitsune nods.

The name is a good one. The hole swallows up the evening’s fading twilight so that nothing but darkness is visible in the farthest reaches of its creeper-covered throat.

It’s an ominous place. Even the cicadas know it. They’ve gone silent out of respect.

Kitsune grabs one of the vines running into the cave’s vertical entrance and motions for me to join her.

“Come, Raymond-sai. We must hurry.”

She wants me to climb down into that black pit!

Dread presses down on my chest like a lead weight. Once again, my legs adhere themselves to the ground and refuse to move.

Why does everything have to be so hard here on
Kaiju
Island
? Since the plane-crash, I’ve had to endure one horrible experience after another.

I desperately want to go home to Mom and Bear.

“I—” I stutter, “I can’t.”

“Now is not the time for silliness, Raymond-sai. “The sun will soon set. We need to get under—”

At that moment, a single loud screech sounds from the darkness below.

“Oh, spit!” I say, verging on hysterics. “Oh, crap! It’s Ryuu! He’s heard us!”

The screech is joined by thousands of others. The combined shrieks create a din of noise unlike anything I’ve ever heard. It’s like a chorus from hell.

I sink to my knees and press the palms of my hands over my ears, but it doesn’t block out the noise. I scream, trying to replace the horrifying sound with that of my own frightened voice.

Then all falls silent.

Kitsune and I look at each other. We lean over the hole’s edge and peer down its throat.

For a moment, I see nothing. Just the bottomless, black pit. Then I notice the darkness begin to move and flutter. My heart jackhammers as fear presses against my bladder, threatening to empty it.

I grab Kitsune’s free hand. She’s trembling. Not as badly as I am, but her shakes are there, making her fear as undeniable as my own.

The cacophony of screeching returns, louder than ever.

“Get down!” Kitsune says. We both dive face-first to the ground just as hundreds of bat-creatures burst from Doragon’s Mouth in a mad flight for the blood-red sky.

As we lay here, our hands covering our heads, I dare a quick glance at the monsters. What I see is right out of Bram Stroker’s Dracula.

The bat kaiju are as large as a man. They have wingspans that would fill up my living room back in the States. They are furless, and their skin glistens like slick, black oil in the setting sun’s light. A filmy glaze covers their eyes and twin yellow fangs protrude from their upper palate.

But what’s worse—even worse than their screeching—is the malevolent intelligence I see in their snub-nosed faces. It’s the look of a cold, calculating predator on the hunt.

I jerk my head back down. Tears leak from my eyes as I offer up silent prayers for our safety.

I miss Bear sooooo much.

Then the bat kaiju are gone as quickly as they came.

I feel Kitsune’s hand on my shoulder.

“Raymond-sai, we must go.”

I don’t move.

I hear Kitsune sigh.

“Raymond-sai, I cannot lie to you. The deep labyrinth is far from safe. But if we are still out here in the open once night falls, we will surely die.”

Minutes pass.

The sun sinks lower.

“For goodness sake, Raymond-sai! You are supposed to be the heir of Kintaro. Start acting like it!”

Despite Kitsune’s words, I don’t want to move. Not another step. Not another inch. I’ve had my fill of the island. Death would almost be preferable at this point.

Almost.

Slowly, I rise to my hands and knees. I wipe my face and nod at Kitsune. She nods in return.

Kitsune walks to the edge of Doragon’s Mouth and takes a tangle of creepers in hand. Then she edges out over the cave like a spelunker and starts to lower herself down.

I rise to my feet, adjust Kusanagi on my back, and do the same.

We climb down, the twilight dissipating with every foot we drop. Then it vanishes completely, the sound of the cicadas disappearing along with it.

Icy panic races up the length of my spine. A film of sweat blankets my skin.

“Kitsune!” I shout. “I can’t see! I—!”

I feel her steadying hand on my arm.

“I can see for both of us, Raymond-sai. Do not worry. Keep going.”

I obey.

The farther we drop, the cooler the air around us becomes. By contrast, I feel Kusanagi growing warmer and warmer on my back. I know it’s impossible for an inert piece of metal to give off heat. But unless my senses have somehow gone haywire—which I fully admit is very likely under the present circumstances—the sword is actually radiating warmth.

It’s not an uncomfortable sensation. Actually, it’s just the opposite, so I put it out of my mind for the time being and concentrate on the task at hand: reaching the bottom of this cave without dying.

I’m thinking I’m making great headway in that regard when I hear several snaps sound from above me.

For a second, I don’t realize what the noise is. When I do, it’s too late!

I scream as I abruptly drop. The vines I’m clinging to have snapped beneath my weight! I jerk to a halt a few feet farther down when my left arm entangles within a mass of creepers. But their hold is less than secure and I feel myself begin to slide again, the perspiration on my arm acting like a slick grease speeding me on my way.

“Kitsune! Help!”

The echoes of my cry sound all around me, reverberating off what must be the far sides of the cave walls. I’ve no way of knowing for sure with the complete darkness enshrouding me.

“Raymond-sai!” Kitsune calls from somewhere below me.

“Kitsune!” I answer. I gasp as my arm slips through the creepers. My wrist catches at the last second, and I cry out in mingled despair and relief.

One more slip and I’m a goner!

“It is okay, Raymond-sai!” Kitsune says. “You are going to be all right—!”

But her words are eclipsed by my scream as I slide out of the creepers to plummet through open air.

Some theorize that UFOs are not, in fact, of extraterrestrial origin. Rather, they postulate that these mysterious craft come from an alternate dimension of space and time.

—Excerpt from
Foo Fighters: Fact, Fiction, or Folly?
, by Diane Shadden

“U
mph!” I grunt as I land flat on my back. The sound is more one of surprise than pain.

“Raymond-sai, are you okay?” Kitsune asks.

I don’t know.

I sit up and pat myself down, overjoyed to find everything intact and in its proper place. When I lost my hold on the creeper vines, I’d been certain that I was going to fall hundreds of stories to my doom. In truth, I’d been dangling mere feet above the cavern floor.

It’s been like that since I crash-landed on Kaiju Island—one surprise after the next!

“I’m alive!” I shout. “Alive!”

Kitsune quickly shushes me.

“We must be quiet, Raymond-sai,” she whispers. “We have survived entering the deep labyrinth, but we will not make it much farther if you continue to yell at the top of your lungs!”

“I’m sorry, Kitsune,” I whisper to the two luminous eyes gazing at me in the darkness. Apparently, my imagination was not playing tricks on me the other night. Kitsune will not have any trouble navigating down here, after all. “I’m just glad to be alive.”

There’s a brief pause, then Kitsune speaks. “I am glad you are alive as well, Raymond-sai. I wish to keep it so.

“Come. Let us be off. One does well not to linger within the deep labyrinth any longer than he or she must.”

I feel her hand nuzzle its way into mine. She pulls me to my feet and we begin walking quickly through the pitch.

We trek for hours. Days. An eternity. Time seems to have no meaning here within the deep labyrinth.

I hear things moving all around us in the dark—things that slither and creep—and I’m selfishly glad that it’s Kitsune who’s able to see our surroundings rather than me.

It’s cold down here.

So cold.

I shudder and Kitsune tightens her hand around mine. Having to constantly depend upon her comfort makes me feel more cowardly and ashamed than ever.