“We have the sun-disk,” Ahlaksiz explained.

  She didn’t add the part about us only having half, and that the other half was back in the La Canada mansion. But that was enough for the Monkey Princess, because she was suddenly looking at me in a new light, almost in awe.

  “Ferris,” she said, as if testing the name on her tongue, “you’re committed to this?”

  What a fucking question. Hell, I’d come this far. “Yes.”

  She nodded. “And you have faith in Ahlaksiz? That she’s doing this for the right reasons? Because if not, if the Eye of Ra corrupts her, you’re going to either have to be the one to end her, or a great force will come to end you all. Is that understood?”

  Fuckity fuck. “Yes.”

  Again, she nodded. “Well then, let’s retire to my palace, so that you might have yourself a gaze into the Eye of Ra. As fucked up as that is.”

  A yelp sounded, and behind me, Jalee was standing, scrambling for clothes and holding them over her head.

  “You okay?” I asked.

  “Rain!” she protested.

  I felt the next drop, then more, and a second later a deluge of a downpour was upon us. I and mine were soon out of the water, helping to hold clothes over her to keep off the rain.

  “What’s wrong with your friend?” the Monkey King asked. “Afraid to get wet?”

  “She’s a thunderbird,” Ahlaksiz replied, “so yes.”

  With a humored smirk, the Monkey Princess waved her hand and her cloud appeared over Ahlaksiz, spreading out like a blanket that blocked out the rain in that one spot.

  “That’ll do until we’ve arrived at my palace.”

  “Thank you,” Jalee and I blurted out together, and the Monkey Princess was out of the water, guiding us toward the trees. She whistled and the other monkey people appeared in the branches.

  One came with armor for the princess, and I noticed that the rest were dressed now, too. I gathered up my wet clothes and dressed—as uncomfortable as that was—then watched as the princess leaped into the trees.

  “Try to keep up,” she called back, swinging away.

  17

  The first image that came to my head as the monkeys swung away was how much I couldn’t stand that scene from the fourth Indiana Jones movie, where they were swinging on vines. That wasn’t about to be me.

  Still, we had to keep up, so I started running, working my way through the trees along the ground as best I could. Without a doubt, though, this wasn’t going to work. I kept getting caught on branches or stumbling over jagged rocks. Basty groaned from my shoulder to show his distaste. Jalee and Kinara took to the skies, while Ahlaksiz went into cougar form, pouncing from tree to tree. A glance back showed Milrae was having an even harder time than I, her skeletal wings catching on the trees. She growled, drew her sword, and cut off the nearest branches.

  “No!” a voice said, and suddenly that guard from before was there, hanging from a nearby tree with her staff pointed at Milrae. “You do not harm our trees.”

  “I can’t get through this place!” Milrae protested.

  “Stay or figure something out, but you don’t keep the princess waiting.”

  This was a different guard from before, one with almost blond hair, dark eyes, and wearing red and gold armor—where she wore armor. A lot of her skin was exposed, her breasts covered by gold cloth, gold strands along her cleavage. Her monkey tail even had a red and gold ornamental design at the tip. She noticed me looking, grunted, and said, “Get to it, before you lose your chance.”

  In a flurry of quick movements, she was on her way.

  “Fucking great,” Milrae said, glaring at me. “We’re in trouble here, and you’re busy checking out the new chick.”

  “Hey!” I protested, but… she caught me. I gave her a regretful grimace, then said, “Wait, my druid power!”

  Her face lit up, her annoyance gone. “Think you can make it work?”

  “Oh, I’ll get us up.”

  She seemed to have not gotten my stupid attempt at a joke, which was fine by me because we needed to be on the move.

  “Hold on to me,” I said, holding out my hand and pulling her close. Once her arms were around me, I reached in deep to pull on those powers within, then stretched out for the nearest tree. Its response was instant, a small vibration telling me it was ready.

  As it bent, I knew what we needed to do. Together, we ran up its side, teetering as we went, and it sprang up, tossing us into the air and to the tops of the trees. Branches moved out of our way, others catching us and propelling us forward. As we started to fall, more branches helped, so in a matter of seconds the two of us were up at the top, running along while the monkey people swung beneath.

  God, this was almost worse than that vine-swinging shit from the movie! At least, if I’d been watching it in a theater. But running along treetops and having branches toss me when needed was one of the greatest thrills of my life. Milrae let out more than one giggle and whoop of excitement, and at one moment time seemed to slow as I turned to smile at her. My perverted mind reminded of that old “women jumping on trampolines” bit Jimmy Kimmel used to do, as she fell and was propelled back up alongside me, her milkshake-breasts bouncing in a way that made me want to bury my face between them. Maybe it was the adrenaline of the moment, or maybe I really was a major hornball—probably both, but either way, I was having a blast, and she was fucking hot.

  The guard from before came swinging up next to us, eyeing what was happening with complete confusion, then fell back below to swing on more branches. Before we knew it, the journey was coming to an end, because the trees gave way to a temple atop a large rock that jutted up from the mountainside. Even if this place hadn’t been protected by the same magic that had kept the large Amabie tree and other places hidden, it was so secluded and hidden by the tall trees, and inaccessible any way other than flying or using the trees, it was no wonder people likely had no idea it was here.

  To my surprise, though, one big push by the trees to propel me into the sky showed me a view of the Nikko temples we’d visited earlier. We weren’t so far from them; in fact, this building we were converging on might have once been considered part of the others. I fell, noticing three large statues at the entrance—the hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil monkeys again. I had to laugh, then shouted as I realized there was no tree to catch my fall.

  “Hold on!” Milrae said, clearly sensing the same, and she spread her skeletal wings. As before, energy flowed and the tissue that had once made her wings seemed to momentarily return, forming just enough to give us a gliding descent before fading to leave us rolling across the stone entrance.

  The Monkey Princess was already there, standing at the entrance and watching as we rolled past her. Two guards landed, their staffs halting my roll—not without pain—and I looked up to see the one with the golden bra, and the other with the colorful armor.

  “Koharu, Mizuki, is that any way to treat our guest?” the princess scolded.

  “Only helping him out,” the one with the colorful armor said, kneeling to help me up. The other helped Milrae, though that didn’t soften the glare she received.

  At that moment, more monkey men and women swung up, landing around us, followed by the rest of my monster team.

  “Stand guard,” the princess said to her people, then nodded at Ahlaksiz. “You are ready for this? For the shadow that might consume you?”

  “I am.”

  “Then enter. You, alone.”

  Ahlaksiz hesitated, then shook her head. “I’ll need him—he’s the one with the summoning power, and he’ll serve to ground me.”

  My mind went to an image of her holding onto me as lightning shot through her, like I was a grounding rod. Was that a thing? I glanced around at the others, nervously, then nodded as I stepped over to Ahlaksiz.

  “Why do they need to stand guard?” I asked.

  “Using the eye is incredibly dangerous,” the Monkey Princess said. “We need to be ready in case it draws the attention of any nearby enemies. Spirits, monsters… Legends.”

  I gulped. All of this to find some guy? If he was my best chance of being able to learn to cultivate my powers, though, and therefore challenge the lamia and obtain the other half of the sun disk so we might open the way to the other world, so be it. Then there was the issue with that organization Greg worked for, and the whole Amabie thing. With so much going on, my head was starting to spin, but one thing was clear—I needed as much power as I could get.

  “I’m ready,” I said.

  “Be careful,” Kinara called after me as I followed Ahlaksiz and the princess.

  “You all, too,” I replied over my shoulder.

  We entered through massive doors—as made sense considering the size of the princess. Inside, the temple was much plainer than the touristy ones we had briefly stopped by, with old, warped wooden floors and beams and several statues clearly related to more monkey gods. Along one wall was an old ink painting that seemed to depict the Monkey King’s journeys across all of Asia.

  “Your father, right?” I asked.

  The princess nodded. “His travels took him to many places, and luckily for me, one was here—where he met my mother, daughter of one of the famed Daidarabotchi, giants who built much of Japan.”

  I blinked at the legend, one I actually hadn’t heard of before. That was somewhat rare for me, especially in regards to Japan, but I imagined it wouldn’t be the first to catch me off guard.

  “But we’re not here to discuss my past or birth,” she continued, leading us to the side of the painting, where she pushed one wall so it slid back behind the other, creating an opening.

  We entered the back room to find a staircase that led down. I was about to head for it when a massive hand from the princess stopped me. She gave me a warning look, then knelt and folded her hands together, speaking rapidly in what I assumed to be Chinese, as it certainly was too melodic for Japanese; I didn’t recognize a single word. When she clapped her hands together, a shimmer of light moved over the staircase opening, and she nodded.

  “Hai, dozo.” She stood, motioning for me and Ahlaksiz.

  “She won’t be joining us down there,” Ahlaksiz said at my curious glance.

  “I would hardly fit,” the princess said with a laugh that made her large breasts shake. I tried not to look, but she caught me, then laughed harder. “Mortals! Always so uncomfortable around nudity.”

  “It really is quite humorous,” Ahlaksiz admitted, but then nudged me. “Ferris here is getting better, though.”

  “Better?” I tried to play along, defending myself. “Isn’t it special when one can appreciate the body? I’d hate to find the day when I see breasts like that and don’t find myself impressed.”

  The princess gave me a humored, tight-lipped nod, then said, “Get on with you.”

  I nodded, heading for the stairs. To my credit, I couldn’t think of a man alive who wouldn’t have at least wanted to stare at those breasts for a minute or two—gay or straight. They were simply incredible; so large and yet fitting, with areola about the size of my head, nipples that stuck out as far as my nose. Not that I was into breasts like that, considering my tastes ranged from the smaller side to at the largest maybe being what Milrae had. But these things were a piece of art to be admired.

  Making my way down the stairs, I paused to put my hand on Basty in his scarf form around my neck. Ahlaksiz put a hand on my shoulder from behind me, whispering, “You’ll do fine.”

  “I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t believe that,” I replied, glad to have the surge of confidence. It hit me then that I had come a long way in a short time. Maybe? Part of me wondered if this side of me had been there all along, and I simply hadn’t had the chance to test my courage.

  Each stair creaked with our descent in a way that threatened to give way, to send us tumbling down into the darkness below. A click of my tongue helped me navigate the darkness, almost like I could see each step and the widening room beneath. Soon, I came to realize it wasn’t only a room down there, but the inside of the hillside, complete with roots. Their presence gave me comfort, knowing I could call on them if needed. The bottom of the room gave me a strange response, though, like it wasn’t quite there.

  I petted Basty and whispered, “Are they doing okay out there?”

  In response, he sent me an image of Kinara flirting with one of the female guards while Milrae watched with a frown. There was no jealousy from me, though, because I knew Kinara—she was having her fun, nothing more. And from what I’d seen, anything she managed to snag, she’d share with the rest of us. To my relief, no signs of trouble yet. That would probably wait to start until we were at this weird eye thing.

  Finally, another click of my tongue confirmed we were at the last step, and there was a small, stone platform. The strange response from my echolocation seemed to be water, and the smell of the cold room had that old, damp sense to it.

  “Well?” I asked, stepping onto the stone and turning to see the glimmer of Ahlaksiz’s eyes.

  She stepped up to me, took my face in her hands, and kissed me, deep and passionately.

  I blinked, caught off guard. “What was that for?”

  “In my shop, I wasn’t sure I’d ever truly find excitement again, adventure like this. Then you came along. Even then, I simply thought I’d arm you, point you in the right direction. Instead, I ended up as part of your group, in your bed, and… loving life. Thank you.”

  “And thank you,” I replied with a nervous chuckle.

  She kissed me again. “And that one was in case we don’t get the chance again.”

  “Don’t say that.”

  “I’m only being practical. This is a gamble, as much of life is. I choose to take on life with you, but if I die in the process? Don’t mourn me—have fun, find Vaper, and do your best.”

  “Fuck. Stop.”

  “Language. And no.” She gave my package a gentle caress, then said, “Game time.”

  “I think the game-time thing is usually more like a slap on the ass,” I pointed out, but it was more of a nervous reaction than anything else. She ignored the comment, already turning and kneeling at the water’s edge.

  Three little hairy creatures emerged from the water to stare at us. They almost resembled monkeys, but had sharp fangs and long claws on their hands. Red, beady eyes glared at us,

  “Gangi Kozo,” Ahlaksiz said to me as she knelt there, then said something in that language the princess had used, clapping her hands. When she looked up, they muttered something in response, then ducked back into the water, vanishing. In explanation, she looked back at me and said, “Like water spirits, they are the spiritual foundation of this temple. Lucky us, they aren’t giving us trouble.”

  “Yay,” I replied, completely unnerved by the exchange.

  “Stand tall, Ferris, we’re about to be tested.”

  I gulped, took a deep breath, and pushed my chest out. Fuck, I had no idea what to expect. This was like watching the Lord of the Rings and knowing Pippin or the other one, Merry, was about to look into the Palantir, while having the power to stop it. Only, in our case, we had no choice. We could have stopped, given up on this whole idea of me reaching my full potential, using the Iridant to summon some crazy new monster, and even said fuck it to the idea of using the sun disk to open a way to the monsterverse. But we weren’t about to do that, were we?

  Nope.

  So I stood proudly, a bit nervous, ignoring the urge to scratch my crotch because my clothes were still wet and it was uncomfortable. More so in this dark, cold place.

  Ahlaksiz seemed to know what she was doing, because she had her hands out, a glowing light moving toward her in the water. It emerged and burst with light so the stone walls and roots all lit up, and blinked at us as if it were truly an eye—though by the look of it, the thing was more like a glowing ball of orange light.

  “Here’s where I imagine it gets fun,” Ahlaksiz said, tensing up. “Ra, guide me to Vaper.”

  In a flash, the ball of light flew at her. She balked, looking as if she might leap out of the way, but instead stood her ground, bracing herself like a fighter about to take on a bull. It struck, entering her, and another flash of light surrounded us. Only, this time it wasn’t just light. It was a vision.

  We were out of there, flying over Nikko and soaring through clouds, then down, moving along the ground, searching, advancing on some presence that fluttered in and out of focus. Then light started to fade, the sight of Ra meeting resistance, and the image vanished. But not before one last image came to us, and the vision was clearly done—Mt. Fuji, a forest at its base. A quick search as the light faded, but that was as much detail as we were going to get.

  The light was gone, the eye exiting Ahlaksiz as we were returned to the chamber. It floated there in front of her, highlighting her features as she turned to face me.

  “We know the general location,” she said, “but it won’t be enough.”

  “Meaning?”

  “We’re going to have to take the eye with us.”

  I gulped, not liking the sound of that. The talk of the shadow came back to me along with thoughts of losing Ahlaksiz to it, whatever that might mean.

  “I’m not sure it’s worth the risk.”

  She eyed me, then slowly shook her head. “Be certain, Ferris. Because I know it is. I know this, and believe it enough for the both of us.”

  Basty was still around my neck, and suddenly he bristled.

  “What is it?” I asked him, and he gave me another glimpse of the group outside, waiting at the temple—this time, though, they were braced, alert, watching something moving for them. It looked at first like a wave of silver and purple, but only partially there, as if made of heavy gasses.

  “Spirits,” Ahlaksiz said. “Ghosts, and Shades… coming. Let’s move quickly.”

  She snatched at the Eye of Ra, pulled it into herself, then grimaced as the light moved into her and vanished. Her left eye lit up and she seemed to lose twenty years of age. Of course, that was ridiculous—she was incredibly old, so twenty years would have meant nothing to her. But where she had maybe looked to be in her fifties one minute, the next she seemed maybe to be in her mid-twenties. The light from her left eye faded, but the eye remained completely golden, including the white part. When she looked at me, it was with a new understanding, as if she could see into my soul.