Yami no Tenshi—Angel of the Darkness

Episode One—Motoshi of the Dark Angels

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The storm was relentless.

Heavy raindrops pelted the earth with such force that any attempt at navigating the woods would have proven to be completely pointless. It was practically impossible to see more than a few feet ahead. There was little lightning, little thunder, no wind. Just rain falling straight down from clouds that were so dark they were nearly black.

The Demon Realm had certainly seen better days.

Deep within the shelter of the dark forest, a tall lone figure leaned against a tree. He was soaked to the bone, yet he didn’t seem to care that his black pants and deep blue sleeveless haori were sticking to his skin. It was raining so hard that even the feathers covering his large black wings were wet. Long raven bangs hid his eyes as he continued to stare pointlessly at the muddy soil in front of him. The rest of his hair, which very nearly reached the ground, was beginning to cling to his back. Any water that hit the metal scabbard of the katana resting on his hip instantly ran off again, adding moisture to the already over-saturated land.

At length he finally shook his head to move the dripping hair from in front of his face. When he heard a faint rumble of thunder, his sharp bright sapphire eyes wandered to the few patches of clouds he could see through the trees. His gaze was a distant one, as if he was searching for some sort of answer from within the storm itself.

He lowered his eyes again. This time his hand reached for a small pendant that was hanging around his neck. It was made of polished silver, and engraved on it was a dragon coiled around the blade of a sword. In an instant, painful memories from three months earlier flooded his mind.

It was on a night just like this that he lost his family—and, in a way, his entire life.

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The young raven-haired man peeked through the flaps of his tent at the late afternoon sky. Stifling a yawn, he climbed out and stretched his wings, allowing what little sunlight was left to warm the black feathers. Upon glancing around the camp, he realized that just about every member of his clan was gone. It wasn’t surprising, really. They were probably all off getting ready for the ceremony.

He stole a glance through the woods towards the west and grumbled when he could see several gray clouds dotting the horizon. “Great. I hope the rain holds off at least until later tonight.”

“It’s about time you woke up, sleepy head.”

He turned when he heard the soft feminine voice behind him. A white-winged girl who was almost as tall as he was standing there with her arms crossed tapping her foot. He smirked when he noticed the playful irritation in her dark blue eyes. “Hey, Kayu. Is something bothering you?”

“Yeah. My idiot brother who likes to sleep in until it’s time for everyone else to go to bed.”

“Hey, you gotta give me credit today. At least the sun is still out…a little.”

She sighed as she approached him and smacked him on the back of the head. “You’re missing the point, Motoshi. Why can’t you get on a normal schedule like everybody else around here?”

“Shove off, sis. I can’t help it if I’m a night owl,” he complained while carefully rubbing where she’d slapped him.

She threw her hands in the air before turning and walking away. “You’re hopeless, bro. I don’t know what I’m going to do with you.”

A devilish smirk crossed his face as he quickly and quietly caught up to her. He tugged playfully on her long white ponytail and started laughing. “Leaving so soon? But I haven’t finished picking on you yet.”

“That does it!” She elbowed him in the chest with just enough force to make him release her. Without giving him anytime to recover, she pulled him into a headlock and started roughly messing up his hair. “See how you like it, tough guy.”

“Hey! Watch it! That hurts!” He poked her in the side and at the same time sent her a small shock of electricity through his finger. After she jumped away, he flung her over his shoulder and flew away.

All the while she was wiggling around trying to get loose, but his grip was too strong. “Put me down! What are you planning to do to me?”

“You’ll see.” There was a certain mischievous tone in his voice that hinted he had big plans.

Unable to get free, she stayed quiet until she realized he had stopped above the lake near their camp. “Oh, no! No, no, no, no! Don’t you even think about it, Toshi!”

“Say you give up, then, and I’ll let you go.”

“Fat chance!”

“Then I guess you’re in the mood for a bath.”

“You wouldn’t dare.”

“You don’t think so?” He folded his wings and started to drop towards the water.

“Okay, okay! You win! I give!”

His wings flew open again, and he brought both of them to an abrupt stop just above the lake. As he released his hold on her, he couldn’t help but laugh. “Chicken. I can’t believe you’re afraid of a little water.”

She punched him on the arm as she shoved away and hovered a short distance above the lake as well. “You are such a kid! I hope you plan on growing up a little after your initiation tonight.”

“I wouldn’t count on that. The clan is so boring. Someone needs to liven it up a bit.”

“Dad’s not going to like hearing that, you know.”

“Oh, who cares what that stuffy old man thinks? If he wouldn’t be so insistent that we keep to ourselves, things might actually be a little more exciting around here.”

He froze when she suddenly cleared her throat and turned her face away.

“He’s right behind me, isn’t he?”

“Uh-huh.”

He cringed when a fist suddenly came into contact with the top of his head. With a nervous laugh, he spun around to find a guy who looked quite a bit like himself staring him down. His father was a rather big man—not as in fat, but large and muscular. Needless to say, it wasn’t wise to make him angry. If a demon wanted to keep the bones in his body in tact, he learned very quickly to hold his tongue whenever Shoshiro was around.

Motoshi quickly threw on a fake smile. “Hi, Pop. What’s up?”

“Oh, nothing important, really. This stuffy old man was just looking for you to say the ceremony will begin shortly, so don’t be late.”

“Way to go, bro,” Kayu muttered.

Shoshiro rolled his eyes before saying anything more. “At any rate, I’m curious. What are you two doing way out here?”

Motoshi started to give a clumsy response, but then Kayu piped in. “We were practicing, Daddy. Toshi was working on his electrical attacks when he’s near water, and I was letting him use me as a target so I could improve my dodging.”

Their father’s expression clearly indicated that he didn’t believe their lie, but he called their bluff anyway. “Just make sure you’re both careful, all right? I don’t want either of you two to get hurt.”

“Will do.”

“We’re going to be starting soon, so don’t dally too long.” Without another word, he flew off in the direction of the nearby mountains.

Motoshi waited until his father was out of earshot before shifting his attention to Kayu. “Way to think on your feet, sis.”

“Yeah, well, considering he’s been grouchy for most of the day, I figured it should look like we were doing something constructive.”

He laughed. “Thanks for covering my tail.”

“What are sisters for, right? Now what do you say we head over there, too?”

He gave a quick nod and started to fly away. Before he could get very far, though, Kayu snuck up behind him and shoved him downward into the water. By the time he surfaced again and had moved the hair out of his face, she was already quite far ahead. “Remind me again which one of us is the kid!!” he called after her.

He could hear her laughing as he jumped out of the lake and quickly shook off as much of the water as he possibly could. Once his wings were dry enough to allow him to fly properly, he bolted after her. “I’m gonna get you for that, sis!”

She glanced behind her and shrieked when she saw how quickly he was catching up. Hoping to stay ahead of him, she started flying as fast as her wings could carry her, laughing all the while.

They reached the mountainside in record time. By now the sun was beginning to set, so a huge bonfire had been thrown together in a large clearing. The thick black smoke it created swirled high into the sky, as there was little wind to blow it off course. Nearly the entire clan, about four dozen Dark Angels of all ages altogether, was crowded near the flames.

Motoshi pretty much ignored all of this. His attention was focused entirely on catching up with his little sister and getting even with her.

At some point, she began darting in and around the trees surrounding the clearing, and he temporarily lost sight of her. He gave up for the time being and lowered himself to the grass before making his way over to where he knew his mother was most likely to be.

She was right where he expected to find her—chatting up a storm with some of the elder clan members. His mother could always find some sort of excuse to talk to them, simply because she loved to listen to their stories about the old days. He personally couldn’t figure out what was so interesting about talking to these old geezers, but…whatever.

Tokiko excused herself when she noticed her son approaching. She, like all the other females in the clan, had white wings instead of black, and she almost looked too young to actually be his mother. Almost every one of the Dark Angels had mistaken her and Kayu for each other at some point, which was completely understandable. The two looked a lot alike except for one small thing—their eye color. Tokiko was one of those rare albinos, so consequently her eyes were pink instead of blue like the rest of the head family.

She went to meet her son and sighed when she got a better look at him. “Motoshi, what did you do this time? Why are you all wet?”

“I didn’t do anything. Your daughter dunked me into the lake.”

“He had it coming, Mom.” Kayu suddenly flew in from nowhere and hovered behind Tokiko. “He tried to do the same to me.”

“There you are, you little sneak!” He started to chase her again when she darted in the other direction, but his mother caught him by the arm before he could go very far.

“Uh uh uh uh uh! Toshi, you need to stick around. Your father is going to be getting this thing started soon.”

“But Mom—”

“No buts, young man. Now you sit your rear end down, and don’t you move from this spot.” She nudged him over to a place on the ground by the fire in front of the rest of the clan and shoved him down so that he was sitting in the grass. “And I don’t want to hear anymore complaints. You can get your revenge on Kayu later. I’ll even help you plan a really good comeback. How does that sound?”

He couldn’t help but laugh. “All right. I guess I can wait that long.”

“That’s my boy.” She ruffled his hair a bit before heading off to join a couple of her friends across the clearing.

Motoshi tried to sit still, but he quickly discovered that the butterflies were flittering around in his stomach. He’d been excited about taking over for his father as head of the Dark Angel clan on the day he turned eighteen for a long time, and now that that day was finally here, he was nervous as all get-out.

He happened to catch sight of Kayu a short distance away. After getting her attention, he pointed to his eyes and then to her, letting her know that he wasn’t about to let her out of his sight.

Her retaliation was to stick her tongue out at him and make a face before hiding behind a small group of clan members.

He rolled his eyes and smirked. Typical little sister.

A moment later the sudden hush that fell over the clan caught his attention. He glanced in the direction his mother had gone when he spotted some movement out of the corner of his eye. His father had at last arrived, and he was holding his hand up to silence everyone.

That was the one thing he admired most about Shoshiro. Everybody respected him. Granted, that was partially due to the fact that the guy could be downright scary when he was upset. Mostly, though, the clan liked him because he had a strong sense of justice as well as a good deal of common sense.

Not like me, Motoshi thought to himself. I’m Pop’s exact opposite.

He had a strong feeling that, although pretty much everybody knew him, it would take quite a while to earn their trust the way his father had. After all, he was just a reckless teenager who was always causing some sort of trouble. What was there to respect?

Once things had quieted down, Shoshiro started to wander around the bonfire so that everyone would be able to see him at one point or another during his little speech. Motoshi listened intently, mostly so that he could get his mind off of how nervous he felt.

At long last, his father began to speak. “My friends, I trust that many of you would agree with me when I say that life in this clan is quite enjoyable. Only on rare occasions have we ever had trouble fending for ourselves, and despite the fact that we do have a few troublemakers in our group”—he shot Kayu and a couple of other young ones a playful glare—“as every clan does, I’m sure, we’ve been successful in keeping the peace amongst our kind.

“Now, as you all know, it would be difficult to maintain this level of prosperity without the guidance of exceptional leadership. I’ve done my best for these past few centuries to provide that kind of leadership to all of you. I wouldn’t doubt it if sometimes a handful of you didn’t agree with some of the decisions I’ve made over the years, but every one of you trusted my judgment enough that you were willing to stick it out with me until the end.

“And now tonight, as the mantle of leadership is passed on, I ask that you all show him the same respect and level of trust as you did me. The time has come to hand things over to a much more able-bodied young man.” Without another word, he removed the katana that was resting on his hip. Glancing behind him, he signaled for Motoshi to get to his feet and approach. This he did, and he moved fairly quickly due to his nervousness.

Shoshiro took the sword in both hands as he held it in front of him. “Son, I hand this blade over to you as I do the position as leader for our Dark Angel clan. The responsibility of taking care of everyone in the group is now yours.”

Motoshi took the sword as his father handed it to him. Unable to think of anything to say at the moment, he shifted his gaze to his sister and mother, who were standing just a short distance away. They were the ones who started the clapping and cheering that followed.

Shoshiro patted him on the back and whispered, “Don’t worry, son. I’ll still be around to help you out whenever you need it.”

He couldn’t foresee, of course, what would happen later that evening.

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Motoshi sat quietly off by himself in the corner of the clearing while the rest of the clan socialized with each other. A lot of the little ones were busy chasing one another around the bonfire to keep themselves out of trouble. Some of them had started trying to hide out now that nighttime had set in to cover their tracks.

The young newly appointed clan leader watched them for a while before his eyes fell upon the sword lying in the grass beside him. As his fingers ran along the engraved design of a dragon on the weapon’s hilt, he remembered something his father had once told him.

“This sword has been passed down in our family for generations. The first-born son always inherits it when he takes over as leader for the clan. But if his predecessor doesn’t feel he’s ready when he turns eighteen, the sword will not be given to him.”

“I guess that means Pop thinks I can handle this,” he muttered. But now that all of this responsibility had been placed on his shoulders, he was seriously beginning to doubt himself.

“Hey, what are you doing over here all by yourself?”

He quickly snapped out of his thoughts when he saw his mother heading his way. “Nothing. Just thinking.”

Tokiko took a seat next to him and put her arm around her son’s shoulders. “You nervous?”

“A bit...” he admitted.

“Don’t be. You’ll do just fine.”

“Yeah, but Mom, eighty percent of this clan is several hundred years older than I am. It feels a little awkward.”

“Well...it’s true that the old timers are pretty set in their ways and probably disapprove of a young clan leader. Some of them probably feel you don’t have the experience needed for this kind of position.”

“Thanks. That helps a lot.” His voice was dripping with sarcasm.

“But that’s one of the first things you’ll need to do—prove them wrong. You have to show them that you can handle this job. That’s how your father earned everybody’s trust.”

“Maybe...but I think I’ll worry about that tomorrow.” He grabbed the sword as he rose to his feet and began to walk away. “I’ll be back in a little while. I’m gonna go for a walk.”

“Okay. Don’t be gone too long.”

Once he was deep enough into the woods to where he could no longer hear the rest of the clan, Motoshi leaned against a tree and crossed his arms in front of his chest. It was good to know that at least Tokiko and Shoshiro believed he could managed as the new clan leader, but that wasn’t what was important. He knew that if he wasn’t sure he could do it, there would be some problems. Somehow he’d have to find a way to convince not only the elders but also himself that he was capable of filling his father’s shoes.

He was abruptly jolted out of his thoughts when something tackled him with such force that it easily knocked him to the ground. On instinct he leapt to his feet again and immediately drew the sword when he spotted a tall and slender winged silhouette in the darkness that he didn’t recognize—not right away, at least.

“Well, now. That’s a mighty fine greeting to give an old friend. Wouldn’t you agree?”

He soon relaxed and actually began to laugh as he slid the blade back into its scabbard. “And you think sneaking up on someone and tackling him to the ground is a better way to say hello? You scared the hell out of me, Tosuke, and you nearly ended up with a sword in your gut because of it.”

The newcomer snickered as he wandered over to the Dark Angel. Now that he’d moved out of the shadows into the moonlight, Motoshi recognized the bat demon he knew so well. The guy had his raven-colored hair pulled high into a short ponytail—as always—and was dressed entirely in black to hide himself better in the shadows of the forest. In the several years that they’d known each other, Tosuke hadn’t changed a bit.

The bat pulled Motoshi into a lose headlock and grinned. “I see you finally took over for your old man. How does it feel to be head of the pack?”

“Ugh, don’t start.” He pulled himself free and turned away.

“Am I to interpret that as saying, ‘I don’t think I can do it’? Hmm?”

“Heh. I’m that transparent, huh?”

“No, not really. I’ve just known you long enough that I can basically read you like a book. Listen, buddy. Nobody’s perfect. You know that, right?”

“Well, duh.”

“So that includes your father. I’m sure he felt the same way when he took over for his old man, too. He learned as the years went by what worked and what didn’t. You’ll do the exact same thing. Mistakes are an everyday occurrence, so don’t be afraid to make a few every now and again.”

Motoshi shook his head and chuckled. “That right there is proof why you’re the brains of the operation.”

“I know.” He was startled by a blood-curdling scream that came from the direction of the clearing. “That doesn’t sound so good...”

“Motoshi!! Where are you?!”

Motoshi sprinted forward when he heard his sister calling him. Tosuke wasn’t far behind. “Kayu! What’s going on?”

She suddenly appeared directly in front of him, nearly plowing him over. He was surprised at how frightened she’d become since he’d last seen her just minutes earlier. The girl was so frantic and out of breath that she was having trouble speaking. “You need to get back to—they came out of nowhere—we’re not even—we can’t—!!”

“Kayu, slow down!” He grabbed her firmly by the shoulders and made her look straight at him as the rain clouds he’d seen that afternoon began to dump its load on them. “What’s wrong?”

“We’re being attacked!!” she finally blurted out.

“Say what?!” He nodded for Tosuke to follow as he led his sister back towards the clearing. The sight that awaited him made him stop in his tracks.

Where moments ago there had been peace and quiet, there was now nothing but sheer chaos. A pack of renegade fox demons had apparently taken everyone by surprise and had already slaughtered a large number of the clan. The ones who were trying to escape were hindered by the rain, unable to fly away because their wings were getting wet.

“Damn it!” Motoshi drew his sword before turning to his sister. “Kayu, find Mom and start getting the elders and the kids out of here. Whatever you do, don’t let them follow you guys back to the camp.”

“I’m on it.” She took off running through the rain across the clearing while trying to avoid the fox demons at the same time.

Tosuke drew the dagger he always kept on his belt and joined his friend in fighting the intruders. After delivering a good swift kick to one fox and running the blade through another’s abdomen, he and Motoshi stood back to back as they quickly became surrounded. “I’ve had run-ins with this pack before. They’re nothing but trouble.”

Motoshi tried to flip the wet hair from in front of his face. “I believe it. Be a pal and give me a boost.”

Tosuke did as he was asked and bent down to let him slip his foot onto his hands. Motoshi jumped at the same time that the bat threw him straight upwards. Since the feathers on his wings were too wet for flying, he would have to do this quickly.

While he was in the air, he raised the sword above his head to attract as much electrical energy into the weapon from the storm clouds as he possibly could. By the time he had enough and started to drop, he yelled down to his friend, “I’d get off the ground if I were you.”

Since his own wings had no feathers, Tosuke had no problem taking to the skies out of the way. The instant Motoshi’s feet hit the ground, the foxes all rushed him at the same time. Before they could even touch him, though, he ran the sword into the ground, sending the electricity he’d gathered through the wet soil like a conductor. In a matter of mere seconds, each demon had been sufficiently electrocuted. Once the energy had completely drained from the weapon, they began dropping like flies.

Tosuke lowered himself to the ground approached his friend with a smirk. “Pretty nifty trick. When did you learn that?”

“I don’t know,” he answered as he pulled the blade out of the ground. “Just something I made up on the spot.”

“You mean you weren’t even sure it would work?”

“Nope.”

He started laughing and slapped the angel on the back. When he did, he received a bit of a nasty shock.

Motoshi gave a timid chuckle. “Sorry. I guess I still had some left over.”

“You think?” Tosuke spun around and slugged a fox that had tried to sneak up on him. “I forgot that you can be downright dangerous when you’re fighting in the rain.”

“You know it.” He whipped around and swung his blade when he heard another intruder rushing up to him, but he was surprised when his sword came in contact with another one. The rest of the foxes hadn’t had much for weapons besides daggers and such, so this guy must have been the leader of the pack.

He shoved away from the fox and quickly took on a defensive stance. “Tosuke, I’ll take care of this one. Go see what you can do to help Kayu and the others.”

“You got it.” Without a second’s hesitation, his wings flew open and he darted in the direction Kayu had gone a short time earlier.

The two demons stood silent for quite some time, staring each other down through the pouring rain. Finally the fox lost his patience and charged Motoshi, who had little trouble deflecting his blade off to the side. While his opponent was off balance, the angel easily got behind him and struck him hard in the back with the hilt of his sword. At the same time, he shot quite a bit of electricity through the metal. The fox stumbled and was barely able to stay on his feet while the energy circulated through his body.

Motoshi stepped back and waited for him to straighten up. He could have easily killed the demon right there if he had wanted to do so, but he needed answers first. Once the fox turned to face him again, he spat, “What’s your business here? What reasons does your pack have for attacking my clan?”

The fox only sneered as he attacked the angel again. This time when their swords clashed, both of them refused to let the other overpower him. After so long, though, Motoshi could feel his enemy gradually pushing him backwards. He was forced to send another wave of electricity through the weapons to the fox in order to distract him enough to shove him away.

As the intruder pushed himself to his feet, he asked again, “Why are you attacking us? Answer me!”

This time when he was attacked, Motoshi jumped out of the way to get behind. The fox managed to move quick enough to block the blade that was headed for his throat. “Ever heard of a guy named Heru?”

“What about him?”

“He’s the head of the bat demon clan your friend originated from.” With a sudden push, he shoved the angel away with such force that it knocked him to the ground. Before he could get to his feet, he ran the sword deep into the ground directly next to Motoshi’s neck, missing him by less than an inch. “He’s wanted the Dark Angels dead for some time now, you see. So he hired us to carry out his wishes.”

Motoshi found it hard to find his voice for a moment. As far as he was aware, his father and Heru had been on friendly terms for years. Why would he suddenly turn around and order his clan’s killing? Unless…

At last he snapped out of it and roughly kicked his opponent in the chest, knocking him to the ground as well. Before he could get up, Motoshi did the same thing the fox had done to him—but he ran the blade straight through his chest instead of the dirt. For quite some time the fox writhed in pain.

When at last he became still, the angel pulled his sword away and stared through the rain in the direction of the camp. He had to get back—fast.

But before he could make a move, he suddenly felt very light-headed. Apparently he’d used more of his electrical energy than he thought in the first attack because now he realized that he was considerably drained. He fought to stay awake as he hit his knees, but he could feel himself losing consciousness, and he tumbled to the ground, unable to get up again.

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It was the sun’s glare as it rose in the east that finally awakened Motoshi. When he felt the warmth on his face, he started to come around and began to sit up again. He had a pounding headache, and he was still a little wet--and now a bit dirty--from fighting in the rain.

He took a look around as he shakily rose to his feet. For a moment he forgot where he was, but when he saw a large plume of smoke billowing in the distance, memories of the previous night came flooding back.

Quickly he grabbed his sword and slipped it back into the scabbard before flying off in the direction of the camp. As he drew nearer, it became obvious that the smoke was coming from that exact location. Still, nothing could have prepared him for the sight that awaited him.

The smoke was rising from what little remained of the tents in the camp, which were still smoldering. Everywhere he looked, all he could see were the charred remains of the members of his clan. Everyone was so badly mutilated that he couldn’t even recognize any of them anymore. It was almost enough to make him sick to his stomach.

As he wandered through the death zone, he began to realize that there was no way anyone could possibly be alive…not even Kayu or Tosuke. If they had, they would have come back to the clearing to find him and tell him what had happened. They wouldn’t have simply run away. Or, if they had been captured, he had little doubt that Heru would have them put to death right away.

He stopped walking and glanced down in the grass when he felt something hit his foot. Much to his surprise, it was the pendant his sister always wore--the silver one with the dragon coiled around a sword. As he picked it up and inspected it, he was even more amazed to find that it was still in perfect shape except that a link in its chain had snapped.

Without giving it a second thought, he removed the broken chain and tossed it aside. After detaching the decorative strings hanging from the hilt of the sword and tying them together to make one, he hooked the pendant to it and hung it around his neck. For along time he stood in silence, just staring at the ground.

“Sorry, Kayu,” he finally mumbled. “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to protect you and everybody else. I’ve failed miserably…both as the new clan leader and as your older brother.”

“Damn. One of ‘em survived.”

Motoshi spun around at the sound of an unexpected voice a short distance away. Behind him stood a group of five bat demons, one of whom looked very much like Tosuke at first glance. Unlike his friend, these bats clearly had a huge bloodlust and were itching for a fight. There was little doubt in his mind that they had come from Heru’s group.

The bat who looked like Tosuke snickered. “That wasn’t supposed to happen, buddy. You were supposed to die last night with everyone else. Looks like we’re gonna have to cover for those stupid foxes’ mistake.”

Motoshi knew that he couldn’t very well take on this group of bats by himself, at least not in the worn out condition he was in. He’d have to get away as quickly as he could. Before they even had a chance to draw their weapons, he spun around and flew into the nearby woods.

As he expected, they immediately started to give chase. He darted through the trees as much as he could, hoping to confuse them enough to where he could get away. After flying at top speed for who knows how long, he finally came to a stop and listened carefully. He could no longer hear the bats, nor could he see them.

Thankful that he could finally take a rest--but at the same time not letting his guard down--he glided to the top of the nearest tree and collapsed on one of the thicker branches that could support his weight. He was completely out of breath, and the muscles in his wings burned from the strain. As he glanced at Kayu’s pendant again, he mumbled, “Why do I suddenly feel like a fugitive?”

This routine of constantly being on the run would continue for the next three months.

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Motoshi’s head shot up when he heard another crack of thunder, bringing him out of his unpleasant trip down memory lane. He was almost certain he’d heard something else…but what was it?

He stood in complete silence, straining his ears to listen for any noises other than the rain and the thunder. At last his patience paid off when he heard voices. Without a second’s hesitation, he darted into the tree he was standing under and waited.

Within a couple of minutes, he spotted a couple of the bat demons he’d seen at the camp three months earlier. No doubt they were looking for him so that they could kill him. That was the only reason anyone could be crazy enough to be outside in this kind of weather.

He was about to take off when he happened to glance down at his sister’s pendant. That was when he suddenly remembered something Kayu had told him about the thing. There was a certain spell that, if spoken while wearing the pendant, could turn its wearer invisible.

He racked his brain to recall the words to that spell. It took a minute, but he finally managed to remember and mumbled, “Nascondalo dai loro occhi.” For a split second, he felt an unusual sensation shoot through his body, and then he stole a glance at his hands. He could still kind of see himself…but he hoped the approaching bat demons wouldn’t be able to.

He sat in a tense silence for several minutes as the bats drew nearer. Either they were too preoccupied complaining about being made to search for him in the storm or they honestly couldn’t see him. Whatever the case, they eventually wandered by without ever once seeming to notice him.

After they were out of sight, Motoshi dropped to the ground again. This time he muttered, “Riveli.” When he glanced at his hands, he was no longer transparent and the odd sensation had disappeared.

“That was kind of cool.” Although, he started to wonder exactly how Kayu had come up with that spell in the first place…

That was when he decided he was sick of standing in the rain. He knew of a cave that was relatively close by, so he took off running in that direction, all the while never once letting his guard down.

Once he found himself safely concealed within the cavern’s concealing darkness, he did his best to shake the water from his wings and tried to wring his clothes dry. As he was doing that, he thought he could see some sort of light shining from someplace nearby. He ignored it at first and instead focused his attention on the storm outside.

But after a while, his curiosity got the better of him. Upon traveling deeper into the cave, he could see the pale blue light coming from behind a rather large boulder. It took some doing, but he finally managed to get the rock out of the way.

Oddly enough, there was nothing else there. The light was coming directly from a considerably sizeable crack the cave wall that would have been large enough for him to hide in.

“That’s odd…I don’t remember this ever being here…”

Unable to resist the temptation, he crawled into the space. Little more than a few seconds passed before he suddenly felt like he was falling, but because he was completely surrounded by the light, it almost looked like he was just hovering. He tried to use his wings to slow himself down, but it wouldn’t work. A moment later he struck an unseen object, and the blow to his head temporarily knocked him unconscious.

He awakened to something rough and wet rubbing against his face. When he opened his eyes and sat up, he was surprised to see some sort of little strange furry animal licking him. Its long white fur was a little dirty, but otherwise it was pretty well groomed.

He picked it up by the scruff of the neck and stared at it. “What the devil are you? You almost look like a midget cat demon of sorts.”

“Meow!”

He sighed and put it back on the ground after it licked his nose. “I guess that answers that question…”

An unexpected and extremely loud racket startled him and caused him to jump to his feet again, sword drawn and at the ready. It wasn’t until then that he realized that he was no longer inside the cave. In fact, he didn’t recognize his surroundings in the least.

Once he was certain nothing would jump out at him, he loosened up and took a look around. All he could really tell right off the bat was that he was between two tall structures of some sorts. Not far from him was a large green metal box filled with garbage and trash from who knows how long ago. The ground was littered with even more rubbish that had been tossed away, and he noticed a lot of sloppy writing all over the walls.

Another noise similar to the one he’d heard earlier brought his attention to the only apparent way to get out of the area. He wandered in that direction with the cat not far behind. He stopped just before he left the shadows, and he could do little else but stare.

From where he was standing, he could see even taller structures—taller than what should have been possible to remain standing. Directly in front of him, numerous machines on wheels of all colors and designs sped in both directions. They were the source of the constant racket.

It took a moment for him to find his voice. “Whoa…what is this place?”

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Motoshi: All right, somebody tell me where I am! This place sure as hell isn’t the Demon Realm! Well…I don’t have any idea how to get back home, so I guess it doesn’t hurt to take a look around, right? But—man, oh, man—there sure are some strange things in this world, the creatures in particular. They aren’t like any demons I’ve ever encountered before. And don’t even get me STARTED on all the hazards around here. How can anyone survive in a place like this? It’s a madhouse! I just hope no one sees me…

Next time on “Yami no Tenshi!”