Part 1 (2/2)

2.

Kira held the sword high and angled at his neck, trying not to show her uncertainty. She'd never had to deal with a demon in public before.

After the first attack on the prince, her uncle, the king, had decided that the citizens of Hansong should be kept ignorant of the demon threat. A pointless and stupid mandate, as far as Kira was concerned. The only thing it did was increase the rumors that surrounded her.

People thought she was the monster behind the mysterious disappearances.

They were right.

But it wasn't what they thought. The people she ”killed” were already dead.

”I arrest you in the king's name,” Kira said, thinking quickly. She had to get him away from the crowd.

The demon threw a wooden plank at her and began crawling backward.

”Help! She's trying to kill me! Someone stop her! Please help!” He hurled persimmons at her.

Kira's sword slashed through the air, slicing all the fruit open. She heard gasps in the crowd.

Underneath the man-skin, Kira saw the demon grin as several grim-faced men planted themselves before her, their arms crossed. An angry muttering rose.

”She's a demon! No human can be that fast. And look at how high she jumped,” a merchant shouted out. ”It's unnatural!”

”No, she's a k.u.miho! Don't look into her ugly eyes! That's how she enslaves you, and then she'll eat your liver!” someone nearby warned.

Kira never moved, her eyes steady on the s.h.i.+fting face of the demon as he mocked her. So now they thought she was a k.u.miho, a nine-tailed fox demon. This was a new one. She'd be amused by the insult if their ignorance weren't so galling. She knew they couldn't see the demon's true form. They didn't know that the demon had feasted on the internal organs of its prey before donning its skin. They only saw a large unarmed man, dressed in the long yellow coat of a scholar, facing off against the most feared person in all of Hansong. Kira had no friends here.

”What's going on?” An old man parted the crowd by smacking the legs of the spectators with a red cane. Unlike the common folk, he wore a blue vest and a gold medallion over his white clothes, indicating his status as a clan leader. He approached on her right side and bowed.

”Young mistress Kang, I am Master Lee of the Hansong Lee clan. It seems people have forgotten that not only are you the king's niece, but you are a saulabi and the prince's bodyguard!” Master Lee glared at everyone.

Kira didn't think anyone cared that she was a saulabi, a soldier of the king's elite army. Contemplating all the unfriendly faces, Kira wondered what was the greater sin: having yellow eyes or being the sole female warrior? Would she be less of an aberration if she'd been a man?

Master Lee turned to her again. ”However, I must ask you to put away your weapon. We cannot allow you to harm an unarmed man,” he said. He gave her an apologetic bow.

Kira kept her eyes trained on the demon as she responded to the old man.

”I'm arresting this man for violations of the king's law and I'm taking him to the palace prison,” she said.

”On what grounds? It's all a lie! She just wants to kill me,” the demon protested. ”Ask her!”

Master Lee peered at Kira questioningly, but she didn't respond. She was not a good liar and the truth was that she would behead him the minute they were alone.

Kira s.h.i.+fted her sword to attack position.

The demon rose to his feet. ”Ha! See?” He faced the crowd. ”Who's the villain here? I'm no criminal. I am Master Song's eldest son. Quick, someone run and fetch my father so he can put an end to this.”

The crowd pressed forward restlessly.

Kira leaned closer to the old clan leader. ”Master Lee,” she whispered. ”This man is not who you think he is. Don't trust him.”

”She's a k.u.miho!” the demon said in a loud, abrasive tone. ”She's brainwashed the royal family into accepting her, but don't be fooled. Just look at her eyes and you'll know the truth. People have been disappearing because she's killed them all, like she wants to kill me now! If you let her take me, who will she come for later? You?” He yanked on the sleeve of a nearby spectator. ”Or your son?” The demon pointed at a mother holding her child. ”She'll kill us. Kill us all.”

”Monster!” a vendor yelled from behind his stall. ”Go away! We don't want you here!”

”Murderer! Murderer!” the crowd shouted.

Kira frowned, disgusted at how well the demon played up the crowd's prejudice.

”My apologies again, young mistress,” Master Lee said, looking uneasy. ”Please put away your weapon. We will ask our local magistrate to sort this out.”

Kira cursed her uncle for allowing the citizens to be oblivious to the dangers they faced. If she attacked, the crowd would turn on her. If she dropped her weapon, the demon would attack. Not that she was afraid. A normal human could not take on a demon in hand-to-hand combat. But she'd never been normal.

”Fine,” she said, addressing the demon with a loud sigh. ”Make me do this the hard way.”

She slowly lowered her weapon. ”You're just not that bright, are you? I mean, how are you going to escape? Do you really think these people can stop me?” Kira raised an eyebrow. ”They're more scared of me than of you.”

She sheathed her sword and unbuckled her weapons with slow and deliberate care, her eyes never leaving the demon's ever-s.h.i.+fting face.

”Why don't we show them just what kind of foul piece of excrement you truly are,” she said. She smiled as she tossed her weapons over to Master Lee.

At that moment, the demon charged, powerful fists swinging at her. She dodged, rolled, and blocked blow after blow, then somersaulted backward away from his brutal attack.

He pursued her with punis.h.i.+ng punches and kicks. His body seemed to swell in size. Hard-pressed, Kira fought with knee blocks and flying leaps, but he was stronger than she'd expected.

With a rapid-fire twirling jump, the demon planted a vicious mule kick on her chest, sending Kira hurtling into the crowd behind her. Her nambawi flew off her head, leaving her face exposed.

Rough hands pulled her up and shoved her toward the demon. Kira leaped forward, unleas.h.i.+ng a series of breakneck kicks so fast that her leg whirled with the speed of a spinning top. The demon grabbed her leg and slammed her to the ground. Before she could catch her breath, he seized her by the neck and lifted her off her feet. He drove his other hand like an eagle's claw into her diaphragm, seeking to rip out her liver.

Kira slammed her forehead into his face, then jabbed her thumbs into the demon's eyes. With a howl of pain, he loosened his grip. Kira dropped onto her hands and whipped her leg up and over, smas.h.i.+ng her heel onto the top of his head and bringing him to his knees.

She heard Master Lee call her name. He unsheathed her sword and tossed it to her. She s.n.a.t.c.hed it out of the air and swung down in a high arc, decapitating the demon. Black ooze seeped out of the deflating corpse.

”There's no blood!” a man gasped.

Kira heaved a painful breath. The king would be furious at the public demon slaying.

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