The Oni Slayers: Chapter 13

Shimura held a thin remote the size of a mini notepad in his hands. He pressed one of the buttons and a thin transparent layer of red with flickering gold specks appeared at the door frame of the transportation device. Saiyou stepped in first and disappeared into another dimension. Shimura went in next and turned his head to Takuya. “Just so you know, Takuya. It’s probably worse than the elevator ride,” said Shimura. Takuya’s stomach gave a lurch and marched forward. He stuck one foot into the portal and pulled it out quickly. His foot had disappeared into the red while the surroundings of Shimura’s laboratory were still visible through the translucent veil. With all his mustering courage, Takuya leaped into the portal to find that his two feet met a hard ground. “What took you so long,” said an impatient Saiyou. “That’s it?! You said it was worse than the elevator ride!” Takuya yelled in surprise. “That’s because we’re still at the bridge of the demon portal. Once you cross the bridge, that’s when all the crazies start flying at you,” explained Shimura.

The entire space was still a red void with flickering gold, but there a long strip of black ground leading into the distance. As they advanced forward, the black road behind them crumbled and disappeared. At the end of the road, there were molten red colors moving about around a black hole. The three of them stood on a single strip of black peering down into the black nothingness. “Here’s the fun,” grinned Saiyou and jumped down into the hole. “I beg to differ,” remarked Takuya. Shimura immediately followed and the black strip began to disappear. The two mentors were gone and not a single thing was heard. Takuya gave a gulp and turned around. He closed his eyes, held his breath, and fell backwards into the hole.

As Takuya’s eyelids opened, the solid strip slowly disintegrated and the red surroundings grew further away from him. A dark and quiet abyss enveloped him as he fell slowly. In fact, it felt a little too slow as if Takuya was descending into a slumber. Then suddenly, a force tugged him and jerked wildly downward. The sucking air made a loud whooshing sound that roared in Takuya’s ears. His limbs flailed awkwardly and his clothes flapped loudly in the wind. He struggled to turn his body around so he could see ahead and regretted immediately. It was equally as frightening as going on a roller coaster. Takuya was making twists and turns in the air unable to see where he was going. His eyes saw a gleam of white ahead and prayed for the terrifying experience to end. Shooting out of the clouds from the sky, Takuya torpedoed headfirst into the snow.

Patting himself free of snow, Takuya ran up a hill to catch up to Saiyou and Shimura. The demon skies were not blue, but a dark purple with a dash of blue clouds. The fierce wind tore up the atmosphere and stung Takuya’s cheeks. He pulled over his hood and tightened his scarf. For the couple of hours of walking, their feet crunched in the snow. The bleak landscape was white without a single tree in sight other than an occasional rock. Takuya’s feet were struggling to lift itself for each step. The sudden winds were so strong that if Takuya had jumped in the air, he could have been blown away like a dandelion in the wind. As they continued to walk, the three of them reached a large body of water. “How are we getting across?” asked Takuya. “We’ll float,” said Saiyou just as a few pieces of ice began to drift towards them. Saiyou leaped to the closest piece and Shimura followed his lead. Takuya took a step back and jumped towards Shimura. His landing jiggled the ice and began to tilt towards the water. A mass of yelps and shouts echoed in the air as the trio struggled to stay on board. Saiyou widened his legs to maintain balance and Shimura pulled Takuya away from the edge. The momentum shifted and the ice stopped tilting back and forth. “Damn you,” muttered Saiyou under his breath.

The sheet of ice continued to float towards the horizon without any paddling required. After a few minutes, the waters began to slightly ripple. Some dark shadows from below the waters revealed itself and disappeared into the depths. Saiyou and Shimura took their stances with hands waiting to grasp their weapons. A long spiraling horn pierced the ice from below the waters separating the trio. A huge splash of water sprayed on the each of them as they drifted further and further from each other. “Saiyou! Shimura!” called out Takuya.

Another huge splash of water appeared revealing the owner of the long spiraled horn. The ghastly demon fish leaped out of the waters continually spraying the air with moisture. Takuya’s coat was getting more soaked than ever. Its enormous back fin and tail swished in the air. As it dived back into the waters, more horns emerged from the waters. The gaping mouths of the demon fish showed their piranha-like teeth waiting to sink on flesh. “My hands are getting itchy,” grinned Saiyou as he cocked his gun. Saiyou held a 0.5 caliber rifle in place and aimed at the monster fish from afar. He pulled the trigger and the bullet pierced its beach ball sized eye. The demon fish let out a shrill screech as blood gushed from its socket. It dived its head back into the water and inked it red. Another fish torpedoed out of the water lunging in Shimura’s direction with its mouth open. Shimura fired a shot with his huge handgun and blasted it into smithereens. The entrails stained the nearby pieces of ice. A couple floated in the waters for a moment and then sunk down into the deep.

Takuya paddled furiously away from the monster fish. His wet gloves were soaked by the icy water and the knife-like sensation pierced his skin every time he dipped his hands. Even as Takuya paddled, the fish behind was even quicker and the peaking horn was closing in on proximity. Frantically, Takuya expedited his paddling. The demon fish opened its mouth and took a big chomp out of the sheet of ice Takuya was standing on. “Wahh!” shouted Takuya in fear.

Saiyou heard Takuya’s cry and turned to see that the monster fish was closing in on Takuya. He aimed at its head and opened fire. The bullet pierced the skull and the fish jerked backwards into the water. However another fish immediately lunged out of the water and chomped down on Takuya along with the sheet of ice. “Takuyaaaa!” shouted both Saiyou and Shimura. Shimura aimed at the monster fish that ate Takuya, but another fish had its eyes on Shimura. Quickly, Shimura switched over to shoot at his nearby enemy. Saiyou kicked the fish to gain some distance in Takuya’s direction. When he pointed his rifle again to shoot, the fish already disappeared into the waters. Then suddenly it hurtled upwards into the with its mouth opened. In it was Takuya sitting on a lion with all four of its legs stretched to keep the fish from snapping its jaws shut. The majestic beast had golden fur and a black mane. It had brilliant green eyes that shone like emeralds. The lion jumped into the water before the fish snapped his jaws shut.

Saiyou switched to a semi-automatic pistol and began firing to no end at the multiple demon fish in the vicinity. The magazine ran low but the body count was high. Blood gushed out of wounds like fountains and the bodies that fell made huge splashes in the water. The waters became a deep red and the menacing stench of blood filled the cold air. Another demon fish was swimming near. Saiyou tossed the empty cartridge away and reached for the sword on his back. He jumped high into the air and sped back down with his blade pointed at the fish’s head. Saiyou stabbed the fish multiple times before retreating to a piece of ice.

The school of monstrous fish retreated back into the depths of the water and Saiyou and Shimura pieced their ice together with their swords. Takuya’s lion swam next to them. “So you aren’t dead yet,” said Saiyou. Takuya expected a glare but instead Saiyou wore a smile. “You idiot!” Saiyou burst out. “Do you know how I felt the moment that giant monster of a fish swallowed you? I was so friggin’ worried! I went completely ballistic! How was I suppose to tell your grandfather! My reputation was at stake!” “Then maybe you should step down from being General,” suggested Shimura. “Shut up,” barked Saiyou. Takuya was relieved to hear Saiyou’s words.

The elevator door opened to aisles of desks with people working diligently on computers. An old man wearing traditional robes stepped out. “Excuse me, sir,” said a woman politely. “How may I help you?” “I am looking for my grandson and my student,” replied the old man. “May I please see some identification? I cannot let you in any further,” said the woman. “Well, I have an old badge here,” chuckled the man. He took out a old piece of bronze colored medal with the engraving reading General Ryuzaki Nanjiro.

“Hmm, did your grandfather give you that lion?” asked Shimura. “Yeah. He said it was an amulet to protect me. I didn’t expect it to be a real lion,” answered Takuya. The body of water began to quicken its pace and the purple sky shifted to pink. The sound of water increased to roar. “Holy shit! It’s a waterfall up ahead!” Takuya yelled out. The pieces of ice were flowing rapidly towards the end of the waterfall. There were no objects to hang on to nor a piece of land to aboard. Within those seconds of reaching the end, Takuya and company stopped in midair. Then as they fell, Takuya held tightly to his lion and screamed with all his might. Saiyou and Shimura clung on to their ice sheets as they disappeared into the mist. Takuya lost sight of his mentors and continued to cling tightly to his lion. In the white mist, he spotted a dark shadow.

For a moment, Takuya couldn’t believe his eyes. The shadow appeared once more only this time more clearer. It was a teal furred Pterodactyl with its claws outstretched. The screeching caws echoed in the waterfall. As it approached Takuya, he fired at its stomach with his pistol. The Pterodactyl jerked and let out a cry of pain. It continued to pursue Takuya, but Takuya fired continuous shots until the beast disappeared into the waterfall. He then heard other gunshots nearby. Two new Pterodactyl swarmed around Takuya and he fired his gun. However, no bullet came out. Quickly he drew a loaded handgun. A Pterodactyl dared ventured closer to attack and Takuya fired a shot in its eye. He reached for a grenade in his pack and threw it towards the Pterodactyl. It missed, but exploded and the flames caught onto the beast. The fire nearly licked Takuya, but the lion had already dropped to the bottom of the waterfall.

Saiyou was firing wave after wave with his assault rifle as he fell from the waterfall. “Saiyou! Stop shooting whenever you want! I’m gonna die because of you!” shouted Shimura. “It’s alright! I’ve got everything under control!” assured Saiyou now spiraling down the waterfall. Shimura drew out his sword and sliced the incoming Pterodactyl in half separating its upper torso from lower body. Another Pterodactyl flew straight to Shimura. He stabbed it straight through its chest and shook off the carcass by kicking it a good kick. The flock of Pterodactyls continued to swarm, but then receded. Saiyou and Shimura fell through the mist and hit a ground of leaves. Takuya’s lion had disappeared. The climate had become surprisingly less cold. The fierce winds and snowy landscape has disappeared entirely from before.

The end of the waterfall were not jagged rocks and white water races, but a mystical autumn forest waiting for them to enter. “Weird,” said Shimura. “It’s like another dimension. Perhaps that’s why the Pterodactyls couldn’t pursue us.” “Are you suggesting some sort of barrier between multiples worlds?” asked Saiyou. “I don’t know. This is all very new to me. I don’t know if this is a new territory or another world within a world,” replied Shimura. “The only way to find out is to keep going,” said Saiyou looking into the autumn forest.

The forest was deathly silent. A slight fog had slithered around the tall aspens. As the company continued forward, the fog grew increasingly dense. Saiyou’s back became increasingly hard to discern among the fog. Takuya ran to keep up with him. Shimura had also begun to blend into the fog more so. In a matter of moments, Takuya could no longer see his two mentors. “Saiyou! Shimura!” called Takuya through the fog. “Takuya!” called out Shimura. Remembering that he had a lighter, Takuya scavenged the ground for a branch and produced a small flame. “Can you guys see my fire!” shouted Takuya. “Yeah!” responded Shimura. “I can smell it from here,” said Saiyou quite flatly.

The fog became a little less shrouded and the three friends reunited. “Put out that fire,” ordered Saiyou. “You already found us.” Takuya dowsed out the flame with his foot. He noticed a shadow appearing from the remaining fog. Saiyou quickly raised his hand and emitted a green blast from his palm. The shadow darted towards them regardless of the green energy. Takuya quickly raised his gun to shoot, Shimura pushed him to the ground. He swiftly turned and punched Saiyou in the face leading him to topple to the ground. “Are you out of your mind?!” Takuya shouted in surprise and anger. “I believe you are out of your mind,” said Shimura coolly.

#onislayers