“You… are beautiful,” she said, then shook as a wave of shadow passed over her. It faded, and I knew it was still her within. “Go! We have to get to the others. We need to get out of here, lead them away from the temples.”

  I was so unsure of what she had just done, taking the Eye of Ra like that, but it wasn’t like that could be changed. So I ran, charging up the stairs, her feet pounding along as she followed. We emerged to the temple above as a screeching sounded from all directions.

  We were definitely under attack.

  18

  The wave hadn’t hit us yet, and as we emerged, I was relieved to see that it was more of an energy with the enemy here and there, as compared to the millions of enemies I first thought it to be.

  “What did you do?” the princess was saying, storming out alongside Ahlaksiz. “Taking the eye wasn’t part of the deal!”

  “I only need to borrow it,” Ahlaksiz countered. “Until we’re close enough for the eye to pinpoint his location. That’s all.”

  “That’s all?” The Monkey Princess let out a loud hoot. “You’ve damned us for this quest, you realize that, don’t you?”

  Ahlaksiz frowned, reaching the ledge to look out at the approaching wave of energy. “I don’t think so. Not if we can misdirect them.”

  “How…?”

  “The temples are protected, right?” Ahlaksiz pointed in the direction of where the Nikko temples were. “Oni guard the temples from evil spirits. If my team can make it there, flare the energy of the eye at the right time—”

  “All of their focus would go to you…” The Monkey Princess was still frowning, but she nodded. “Only problem is, I was entrusted with the eye. I can’t exactly let you off the hook like that.”

  “What’d you have in mind?”

  “Two of my guards will accompany you to ensure you stick to your word.”

  Ahlaksiz grunted. “You mean, to end me if the shadow takes hold.”

  “And that. We can’t have Ra returning, and if destroying you is the price to ensure that, I’m sorry to say it will be the price we pay.”

  “We don’t have time to discuss,” the guard in pink and blue armor said. “I volunteer.”

  “Koharu, perfect. You and Mizuki.”

  “Me?” Mizuki looked horrified. “I’ve sworn to protect you. To leave your side—”

  “To see that the Eye of Ra is not abused,” the princess interrupted, “is part of protecting me. There’s no time for debate. My word is spoken.”

  Mizuki glared at me but bowed to her princess.

  “Thank you,” Ahlaksiz said, then to us and the two guards, “follow me to Nikko temple. We’ll fortify our position there, and see what they might throw at us.”

  She didn’t even wait to see if we were following, but simply ran and leaped, transforming as she went and making it to the nearest tree. The rest of us followed, with Kinara giving us a very confused look.

  As I ran at her side toward the edge, I said, “We have the Eye of Ra. She took it, and now we have to make sure it doesn’t consume her.”

  “Oh, is that all?” Kinara laughed, then leaped and spread out her arms, wind catching her wings so she could glide over to the trees and follow our fearless cougar. Jalee went next, leaping up in a burst of electricity, then me and Milrae. Her energy gave her wings enough to get us to the first tree, and I was able to use my druid power again to send us along. The wave of energy was growing close, but Ahlaksiz had been right—it wasn’t going toward the princess’s temple anymore, but converging on our position, fast.

  We needed to move faster as a group but I was starting to feel drained.

  “What can we do?” I shouted.

  “Keep going!” Jalee shouted, suddenly shooting up into the sky. “I’ll slow them down.”

  She flew off toward the direction of the incoming energy, shooting blasts of lightning down at the enemies. I wasn’t sure it would work, but it had to. Then, to my surprise, a burst of water shot out from the distance, where I assumed the river, or maybe a lake I hadn’t known about, was causing part of the energy wave to be washed away.

  “What was that?” I asked.

  Milrae let out a whoop. “Seems Amabie hasn’t abandoned us!”

  I couldn’t spend time on the thought, but as the next tree threw us forward, I managed a smile. If she was nearby, and willing to help, we might actually have a shot at this.

  “Over here!” Ahlaksiz shouted, and she leaped from a branch onto the curved roof of one of the outer temples. I hadn’t realized we were so close and was filled with relief at the sight of that building. My next jump didn’t require the assistance of any trees, and soon I was on the temple, scrambling to avoid falling—but that didn’t work out so well, and I went rolling over the side to land on my shoulder with a flare of pain.

  “FUCK!” I shouted, turning and pushing myself up with my other arm, the hurt one limp.

  Milrae landed at my side, grabbing me and pulling me into the temple, then pointing to a series of other temples nearby. “We need to get to those ones. They have the Oni.”

  “I… I’ll try.”

  She eyed me, only then realizing I was injured, and ran her hand over my shoulder. “Out of its socket, we just need to…” She gripped me firmly, slammed me into the wall, and adjusted my shoulder to pop it back in place.

  I growled in pain, but it was back in its socket and the pain was fading fast. “Go,” I muttered, and was right behind her, head spinning and light spots blinking in and out. I stumbled along, vaguely aware of Kinara landing at my side and running with me, then Ahlaksiz pouncing down, transforming to her human form as she reached the temple.

  A woman shouted, then ran off with a man stumbling along behind her. I laughed, seeing that Ahlaksiz was nude—of course she had to be, if she’d transformed to make it here.

  “If this is what sent them running,” she said, indicating her body, “they’re lucky. Let’s hope they keep running and make it out of here before the real terror arrives.”

  I couldn’t help but notice her skin was tighter, breasts perkier. Somehow merging with the eye had truly made her more youthful. As sexy as she was, I didn’t know if I preferred one version over the other. There was something kind of hot about making it with an older woman—but even in this form, I knew she was much older. Not that any of that mattered at the moment.

  Milrae had her layers from before, which she’d managed to hold onto, and at least offered up a cloth to Ahlaksiz. She wrapped it around her breasts and hips, tucking it in and tying it off. The cloth wouldn’t allow her to walk along the Tokyo streets without getting attention, but it’d do for now. I had to assume she’d be able to get those wings in and out as she willed.

  “Everyone here?” she asked, and I turned to see the two monkey-women guards land just outside the door to the temple.

  “All but Jalee,” I said, looking out to the sky. Just then, a burst of light shot down like lightning, striking the ground. When the dust cleared, I could see the dark form of Jalee, trying to push herself up. “I got her.”

  I ran out and found the guard, Koharu, joining me; together we pulled Jalee to the safety of the temple. As soon as we were in, Ahlaksiz let her new eye flash, a signal of some sort going out clearly, and the wave of energy converged on us.

  At that same moment, shadow creatures that I presumed were the so-called Shades stormed the temples, along with other creatures. Screams tore through the air, wind blowing doors and wooden windows open.

  I felt pain at my side and looked down to see dark eyes staring at me from a translucent body, its hand reaching into me.

  “Ahhhh!” was all I could manage, drawing the sword and swinging, to no avail. It went right through the being.

  A different kind of shout came from nearby—a warrior’s battle cry, as two glowing red Oni charged through, swinging blades on the ends of long sticks, cutting through this spirit and the two Shades that followed.

  As predicted, the Oni were on the warpath. I thought I recognized one from the statues before, with its red skin, golden robe, and weird crown sticking up from its head. It had a small handle that, when thrust out, became a spear of glowing gold energy. The Oni tore into Shades and spirits alike, the gold light seemingly vaporizing them.

  Turning to escape the scene, I came face to face with what I assumed to be a Shade. It had every aspect of a shadow, but instead of being flat on a surface, it stood in front of me, blurring the view of the temple door and pathway beyond. My sword ready, I sliced, but the Shade evaded and hit me with a strike that sent a cold chill through my torso. I wanted to curl up and beg for mercy but knew that wouldn’t do me any good.

  Instead, I stepped back and saw Milrae coming at it from the side, so I nodded and pretended to strike before releasing the blade. The Shade fell for it, and then Milrae was there, summoning the sword as she attacked. It lit up with blue light, so it cut right through and lit up as it was in the Shade’s body. The Shade let out a gasping sound, then vanished like a puff of smoke. It seemed she had some sort of special way of working the sword.

  “Nice work,” I said, taking a deep breath and clicking my tongue, hoping that would help me avoid such close calls again.

  It didn’t do much, though. While my echolocation and blur powers worked great on living things and physical objects, with the spirits and Shades all I got were a series of strange dizzying sensations. If anything, activating the power made it worse—like I was under the surface of a pool of water, trying to surface as waves were hitting me from all directions. When I called out for Basty in hopes of him being able to help, nothing happened. He made a discouraged sound from around my neck, leading me to assume his power of vision didn’t do a damn thing against this kind of enemy.

  Kinara let out a yelp and fell, and I managed to clear my head long enough to see two Shades on her. Even with my head spinning, I charged them—not that it did any good. I passed right through one, was hit by another, and fell right next to Kinara. She lunged for me so at least we were together in our cold suffering. The two monkey women guards came to our rescue, chanting and keeping them at bay long enough for one of the Oni to charge through, tearing into the Shades and giving us a clear path of escape.

  Ahlaksiz leaped over, growling and waiting for Jalee to blast a line of spirits with electricity before charging into the nearest temple. It seemed Jalee’s skill was the most useful against this type of enemy. When we came across more, she blasted them, then turned and blasted another group.

  “I can’t keep this up forever,” Jalee noted. “I’ll need a recharge.”

  “You won’t have to,” one of the monkey women noted, indicating through the window where three new Oni landed, forming a line against the onslaught.

  We ran, ducking through temple halls and making our way past a long, lying down Buddha statue, then into a room with what looked like a large sake barrel—we were moving so fast, it was kind of a blur. From there, we descended stairs and made our way back to the main exit of one of the temples, where we regrouped and hesitantly approached the doorway.

  “Now’s our chance,” Ahlaksiz said, leaning against one of the beams, watching as the Oni had the enemy on the retreat off to the right, in the distance. “We break from here, get into hiding, and be on our way.”

  “Get to the car, then straight to Mt. Fuji, I hope?”

  She eyed me, then shook her head. “You’re forgetting about my friend, the ghost.”

  I scrunched my nose, really not wanting anything more to do with spirits. On their side or ours, it didn’t matter.

  “But the Shades and all that, won’t they be back?”

  “Not here.” She indicated the Oni, making their way back to their posts. “Not with them on duty. Others on the enemy side might come after us, might investigate the area, but that’s why we need to lay low. They’ll expect us to be on the move, so we wait—at least until tomorrow.”

  I took a deep breath, then nodded. It looked like we were going to find ourselves a ghost, then hang out in this place overnight. Fucking wonderful.

  19

  We had retrieved the car and found our way to an old ryokan that Ahlaksiz swore by. To my relief, the monkeys had returned her clothes to the car, along with the money and whatnot from her pockets. My clothes were finally drying out, but we still paid the front desk lady to grab us some clothes from anywhere nearby she could find. She had insisted that wasn’t her job, but when Ahlaksiz offered her enough yen, she agreed.

  We made our way up to the room, casting nervous glances between ourselves and back to the two monkey women with us.

  “Shouldn’t they get their own room?” Milrae asked.

  “We’re not leaving her side,” Koharu said, indicating Ahlaksiz. “Not while she has the eye.”

  Ahlaksiz went to check in for us, the rest keeping our distance. I had a feeling that if they were alone with her, they’d find a way to take the eye back, so I stood tall and said, “We all share the same room. Stick together.”

  Considering the company, that earned me an annoyed—or maybe suspicious—glare from Milrae. She had to use the bathroom, though, so as soon as we were checked in and she went for it, I followed her in.

  “What are you doing?” she asked, undressing and going for the squat.

  “I wanted to make sure you’re not getting the wrong idea. They’re here for protection, nothing more.”

  “Uh-huh.”

  Her tinkling started, so I turned to the door, feeling weird about the idea of looking at her while she pissed. “I don’t understand what’s going on here. The dynamics of our… relationship.”

  “Me neither,” she admitted.

  “So…? I might have looked, but nothing more.”

  “Even if there had been more, why should I care?” She was done, the toilet flushed, and I saw her at the sink washing her hands. “It’s not like you’re my property to control.”

  “I mean, we have something special, though. If you looked at another man, I’d one hundred percent be jealous.”

  “Interesting. Then,” she turned to me, helping me out of my clothes. “Don’t look.”

  “What’re you doing?”

  “These clothes are damp. You need to change.”

  “But…” I protested at the fact that there were no clothes for me to change into, but she already had a white yukata from the shelf, setting it next to me as she pulled off my boxer briefs.

  “As long as I know you’re mine, you get to enjoy this…” She knelt, sliding one hand up my thigh, the other taking my cock and stroking it. I’d already started to get hard, but now went fully erect. When she took me in her mouth, I had to brace myself on the wall to keep from falling over. It made a loud thump, and a second later the door burst open, Koharu there with staff at the ready, Mizuki behind her.

  “Is there trouble?” Koharu asked, then her eyes lowered to see Milrae with my cock buried in her throat.

  “We heard a noise,” Mizuki said, frowning and staring at us as Koharu stepped aside, lowering her staff. “It was only this?”

  “Yes,” I said.

  “Do you mind?” Milrae added, voice muffled.

  “Actually, I do. We’re here on a mission, danger all around, and the first thing you do is put his chinko in your mouth?”

  That part was easy enough to translate for those who didn’t know the Japanese.

  Milrae pulled my cock from her mouth, then used it to point at the monkey ladies. “Or maybe you’re jealous because you want a lick of this magic stick?”

  Both of them blushed, but while Koharu looked slightly amused, Mizuki’s eyes narrowed with anger.

  “Put on your clothes. We don’t have time for this.”

  I started to move, even opened my mouth to apologize, when Milrae pulled me by the cock, licking my balls as she started stroking me. “Actually,” she said between licks, “you’re not in charge here.”

  “Ladies,” I said, bracing myself on the wall again, very confused by the whole exchange.

  “Actually, they’re right,” Ahlaksiz said, and the two monkey ladies cleared the path for her. “This isn’t the time.”

  I couldn’t help but notice the hint of a smile showing on Koharu’s lips as she continued to watch Milrae in action. Meanwhile, I was starting to feel like a piece of meat, being used to make a point.

  “What’ya mean?” Milrae asked, turning to rest her head against my cock, as if that was completely normal.

  “He’s going to meet the ghost soon, and will need training first. I’ve brought in changes of clothes, and the ryokan will provide dinner. After we eat, it’s time to go.”

  I frowned, taking the yukata and covering myself, then brushing past them and into the main room. Indeed, the sun was already setting. While I turned to ask how that was possible, I was instead silenced by the incredulous looks Kanara and Jalee were giving me, which I only forgot about when pausing to take in the beauty of the room.

  I’d only ever dreamed of staying in a place like this. Full tatami-mat floors, shoji-screen doors, and a view of a garden outside. A low table had two legless chairs with cushions, which might have been confusing if I’d not seen the setup in anime and manga. It was like I’d stepped into one of those stories, except more surreal because I had my amazingly hot monster ladies, plus the two monkey women, all crammed into this room with me.

  Considering how stunning they were, and my new milieu, I found my next breath strained. My throat went dry, my body rigid. It was like my body had decided this couldn’t be real, so it simply quit on me.

  “Ferris,” Kinara said, coming over and tearing me out of my stupor as she adjusted my yukata. It seemed I’d let it loose and was showing off the goods a bit. Why they would care, considering their ways, was beyond me. Milrae was there next with a glass of water, and Jalee approached, looking into my eyes.