style="font-size:15px;"> «It’ll heal…» he replied.
«Don’t beat yourself over this, Inei.» Kara sighed. «That kitsune girl tricked us all.»
«I’m going to have to learn to trust your intuition more, Nakano.»
«Have you always felt the demons near?» Ayame sat down next to them.
«I don’t know. I mean… even back in my home world I usually felt a chill run down my spine whenever there was one near – even before I could see them…» Kara replied. «But I’m not sure if it’s an intuition or just my heightened sense of self-preservation.»
«Have the mystics said anything about that?»
«No, they only spoke about the brand… why?»
«Well, perhaps you have their powers – at least, to some extent?»
«I’m not sure that’s the case, Ayame.»
«Whatever the case – we are glad you survived the night.» Itsuki stepped away for a moment and returned with some herbs and new bandages.
«I couldn’t let you down, Inei. Your words kept sounding inside my head and not letting me put my weapons down.» Kara smirked, allowing him to apply the healing herbs onto her burn and bandage the arm again.
When he finished, he gently squeezed her arm.
«I’m happy that my words found their way to you, Nakano.» He said with a smile.
He leaned down and kissed her in the temple, making Ayame giggle.
«I was wondering when you two would make it official.» She laughed.
«I wasn’t sure something like this is allowed at all.» Kara answered.
«Don’t worry. We are not prudent people.» Ayame bumped her slightly. «Only the royal family and the top aristocrats are needed to uphold some sort of secrecy in their love life. People like us are left to live freely.»
«That’s actually…» Kara leaned back, feeling her muscles ache less and less with each minute spent in the water. «A great thing to hear.»
«I told you not to worry about it.» Itsuki sat down behind her.
Kara let her eyes close and relaxed. But very soon she dozed off – she was extremely tired and needed the rest. Her friends let her stay like that for a little while, before waking her up.
«We’ve made camp.» Itsuki said. «Eat something and you can sleep a little before we continue.»
Kara got out of the water, feeling very refreshed, and dressed up. After a hot meal, she sat with her back against the rocky side of the hill and dozed off again.
By the time she woke up – the sun was already going down. Ayame and Itsuki seemed to grab a bit of sleep, with one of them always watching out for anyone out in the forest. But their rest was calm, and Kara felt much better after having this stop.
«Lord Ryuu asked me to bring you back before the night sets in. I think he wants to make sure that brand does what the mystics said.» Itsuki said to Kara, offering her some herbal tea.
Kara took a few sips before answering:
«Sure. I just don’t want anyone to get hurt.»
«Lord Ryuu’s warriors are very capable.»
«Don’t worry, the meeting point is ways away from the village, so none of the civilians will be in harm’s way.» Ayame added.
After finishing the tea, they packed up the camp and left to the rendezvous point. Akuma recovered his strength and was now eager to run again with Kara on his back – he kept nudging her with his nose all the time while she was preparing the saddle and checking the bridle.
As soon as they rode off, Kara felt how great of a horse Akuma really was – he was very strong, faithful and so amazing at listening to her every move, that she was glad to have found him.
When they reached the field – Lord Ryuu and a regiment of his soldiers were already waiting for them. Five mystics were standing at the ready, chanting something around Lord Ryuu.
«The sun is setting, Nakano. Are you ready to see if our suspicions are true?» the commander said.
«Always, Lord Ryuu.» Kara jumped from Akuma. «I’d take the horses to a safe place, though…»
Lord Ryuu shouted a short command, but when a samurai stepped up to Akuma, the stallion snorted angrily at the man.
Kara caught the horse’s head and pressed her forehead against his nose.
«Akuma, please. I don’t want you to get hurt. Let this man take you somewhere safe. And I will see you in the morning, I promise.»
The stallion snorted again, hitting his front hoof on the ground, but stepped to the man, allowing him to grab the reins and nervously lead him away.
«Can I offer you some tea, while we wait?» Lord Ryuu proposed, and the Spy Masters agreed by slightly bowing to him. Kara did the same, finding it better to have some kind of a distraction before the possible battle.
They sat down in the middle of the field, surrounded by nearly a hundred men that stood some distance away. Two servants served them tea and once they were left alone, Lord Ryuu looked at Kara with a stern expression.
«The villagers told me you killed a child.» He said.
«It was not a child, my lord. It was a kitsune. A shapeshifter. It tricked the people into believing it was a small girl.» Kara replied.
«So my mystics said.» The commander nodded. «They also found a couple of stones on the girl, marked by demon runes.»
«I believe the creature Kaito, who we killed and the kitsune girl were working together and were trying to open the gates that you were warned about.» Itsuki said, glancing at Ayame.
«The girl did know that Kaito was dead, before any of the villagers even realised the man who they knew as Kaito went missing.» Ayame added.
«Have you, or your men seen any more creatures around?» Lord Ryuu asked, sipping his tea.
«No. We believe there were only two of them…»
«At least, if we are not taking into account the smaller demons that attacked Nakano last night.» Itsuki nodded.
«We will hope that tonight will be calm and the danger has passed.»
Kara suddenly felt her arm warm up where the brand was located. She glanced around, tense and vigilant for any signs of creatures that might appear. It was still dusk, but even though many of Lord Ryuu’s men lit torches, the field was quickly turning dark.
Before anyone noticed this change in Kara’s stance, a sudden chill running down her spine made her jump to her feet. As she looked around, noticing a faint bit of shadows appearing behind Lord Ryuu’s men, Itsuki, Ayame
