Jin II: Fire and Ice Part 4

The winds blew across the tree-covered landscape. Clouds drifted under the Moon, their great shadows blanketing the temple grounds. Their shades faded in the presence of Jin, who stood with his newly acquired dragon-scaled ōdachi as he faced Entei. Streams of blue energy flowed from his eyes like mystic smoke, and a matching glow adorned his blade with the same flickering aura with the Eye of Genma shining in the center of the draconic hilt.

A growl emerged through Entei’s gnashed fangs. Smoke and ember rose from his gritted teeth, and he tightened his grip around his own ōdachi

“You…” Entei said. “How are you not dead?!”

Jin remained focused on Entei, redoubling his grip on his sword. “I’m honestly surprised, myself,” he said. “I had no idea that the Eye was capable of this.” He smiled and continued, “It still lives up to its legend of bringing great fortune. I suppose that includes tapping into the dragon’s power. It’s no wonder why it’s so coveted by greedy humans and demons.” Jin’s smile left him, and he hardened his gaze. “All the more reason why you’re not getting it.”

Entei snarled, “Even if you have the dragon’s power, it won’t be enough. In the end, you’re just a monkey with a bladed club. What can you possibly accomplish?”

“Hmph. I killed Shimotora, “Jin said. “And if I recall, I drove you into eating his heart for strength.”

Entei released another growl. “You think yourself clever, human, but once I kill you and take the Eye, your sharp tongue will be of less worth than your gravestone.”

Jin chucked, “All you’ve done is make threats throughout this conflict. And, yet, I’m still here.”

Entei’s brow creased at Jin’s words. He brandished his Rekka, and his fingers tightened around the hilt. “Not for long!” he growled.

Entei dashed with his wings, kicking off the dust beneath his feet, and raised his sword. He flew straight at Jin and swung down. Jin widened his stance, tensed his legs’ muscles, and turned his draconic sword. The blades clashed, and sparks erupted. The energy of their edges fought with streaks hitting the ground around them like lightning.

The hairs of the warriors waved from the force, and Jin bared his teeth with Entei flashing his. The aura around Jin flared. He stepped and forced his strength against Entei’s. Chest tightening with his arms burning, he pushed Entei back. The wispy aura around the blade grew bright. He swung his sword and threw Entei off with the aura emitting from the sword, striking Entei’s and blasting him away.

Entei bared his teeth as he flew back at the power from Jin’s blade. He shuddered, clinging to his sword. Fanning out his wings, he stomped the ground. Dust trails rose with his feet digging into the stone tiles, but the energy still flickered against his sword.

The energy wave illuminated, brightening Entei’s face. His orange and blue eyes flared with wisps of their own. He opened his mouth with a dragon’s roar and slashed the energy, dispersing it into glowing, tattered ribbons that disappeared into thin air. Entei straightened his posture and returned his attention to his Jin.

Jin looked at Entei and focused on his sword. His broadened eyes scanned the blade. “Incredible,” he said. “Even the sword’s kenatsu can push you back. If your sword was enough to fell Shimotora, this weapon is exactly what I need to destroy you.”

Entei barked, “Ridiculous! You? Kill me?” He stepped closer, and smoke and fog rose from his mouth. “I have burnt villages to the ground and vanquished entire armies!”

“And yet, you cannot kill one lone swordsman,” Jin said. “I guess I’m the exception.”

“Enough!” Entei said.”

He flapped his wings and charged again at Jin. Jin readied his sword. Entei swung his blade, and Jin stepped to the side, vanishing in a stream of blurred lines.

Entei’s eyes snapped open. “What?!” He looked in all directions but couldn’t find Jin.

“Entei!” Jin’s voice shouted.

Entei jolted at the voice and turned his head. He saw Jin standing near a wall of the temple grounds. Jin focused on Entei. He drew his sword to his side. Widening his stance, he tightened his grip on the blade and took off, dashing in a streak of light. The light passed instantly with the rush of the wind and a thin spray of orange.

Jin slid across from Entei’s left. His drawn sword glimmered, the edge of which carried a spot of lava-like blood. The blood dripped from the sword and burned a smoldering hole in the stone.

Entei stood. Mouth closed, eyes shuddering, he wiped his cheek and looked at his hand. His burning blood dripped from his palm with smoke rising from it. He bared his teeth and clenched his fist before turning to Jin.

Jin turned around as he said, “I seemed to have pulled back more than I thought. I should’ve expected this from the dragon’s power.” He flashed a smirk as he focused on the cut on Entei’s face. “Although, I could still hit you, even slightly.” His smile faded, and he hardened his gaze. “That only means one thing.”

Entei narrowed his eyes at Jin, his teeth still bit together.

Jin only looked back. The calm wind passed him by, blowing back Jin’s hair upon hitting his face. “Your end is only a matter of heartbeats,” he said. With his tattered cloak blowing in the wind, he raised his sword to Entei and set his eyes on his opponent like a reaper ready to claim the demon’s vicious soul.

A trembling overtook Entei’s face and his teeth. “This… human…” he thought. And orange light glowed within the cut on his cheek. It thinned and shrank before closing shut. A growl rose behind his clenched maw, and he shouted, “My end?! You arrogant bastard of a primate! You’ve seen what Shimotora and I were capable of, yet you mock me. I beat you to within death’s clutches, yet you mock me! And now, when hiding behind the dragon’s power, you speak of bringing me MY end?!”

Jin stood. Silent.

“You…,” Entei said. “Do you believe yourself to be invincible with the dragon’s power? Do you believe yourself to be a god?!” Entei breathed with his brown knitted together. He exhaled, expelling smoke and fog out of his body. “No,” he said. “You’re just a human, a talking animal. And it seems the only way to remind you of your place is to flay and char you until there’s not a single drop of fat!”

“You’ve already seen that I’m willing to fight to my dying breath. Killing me won’t be an easy task,” Jin said.

“No,” Entei snarled. He readjusted his grip on his sword. “But it’ll make the Eye a far more satisfying prize, especially after killing the hated slayer.”

“I’ve already told you,” Jin said. He swiped his sword to the side. “You’re not getting the eye!”

The wind settled. Entei closed his lips, as did Jin. One stared at the other with energy streaming from their eyes. Jin slid his back foot a little farther than the other. Entei narrowed his eyes, flexing his finger around his blades. A shining orange and blue light outlined him and flickered off his body.

Entei took off with a roar. Jin stood and raised his sword to his front. Entei closed in. He lashed out and swung his sword. Jin swung and clashed his blade against Entei’s. Their energies collided. Violent winds bellowed and twisted around in a burst of pressure and colored, waving lights.

Entei grunted. He raised his hand and struck his fist into Jin’s face, knocking him away. Jin flew back but flipped upright. He staggered to stand up straight and planted his foot to align himself. Entei tore through the air skyward with another beat of his wings. He ascended high over the ground. As he looked down, he saw Jin look up at him.

“I will not be defeated…” he said. Entei raised his free hand, and the light around it grew bright and flowed like fire. “I will NOT be defeated!”

He reeled his hand back. Flaming streams swirled into his hand and convened, erupting into a ball of fire. Entei thrust his hand and launched a fireball—another great flame shot from his palm, followed by another.

The fireballs plummeted with their flames tailing behind and closed in fast.

Jin tensed his body and jumped to the side. The first shot hit the ground and exploded, sending smoke and pieces of title flying. Jin covered himself from the rushing heat biting at his arm. He looked up and jumped back, and the second one crashed with another burst of fire. Pieces of the ground dispersed, and Jin guarded himself from the rubble. The last fireball came down fast.

Its burning light brightened the area. Jin glanced up at the fireball and snapped his brow together. He gripped his sword with both hands, and he drew it back. He bent his knees and leaped toward the flame. Raising his sword, Jin swung down and slashed the great flame down through the middle. The fires passed Jin and died into fading embers.

Jin landed on his feet. A beast’s roar echoed and filled his ear. He looked up again, seeing a stream of twisting winds and ice raging toward him. He pulled his leg back and dashed in a streak of light.

The winds hit the ground and exploded into freezing gales. Low whales moaned with their winds and a sheet of jagged ice spikes formed over the titles. Jin slides his geta against the ground. He turned and braced his arm against the cold air, and his hair and tattered cloak swayed before the winds died.

“I must be cautious!” Jin said. ‘Even with the dragon’s power, the slightest mistake and I’ll be killed.”

Entei stared from above. His hands gripped his sword in a strangling hold.” His teeth clicked together in a smoke-filled hiss. He beat his wings and flew straight down. Entei set his feet and stomped on the ground a few feet away from Jin.

Jin readied his sword and stared down Entei with a hardened gaze. He drew his weapon back and dashed into a steak of blue waving light with dust in his wake. Entei raised his weapon with Jin closing in, and they again clashed their blades.

Waves of light erupted from the meeting of their swords. Their auric energies locked themselves in a struggle between elemental and draconic power. Jin’s arms trembled, and he bucked against Entei. Entei growled and reaffirmed his footing.

Eyes flared, teeth clenched, Jin forced Entei away from his sword and slashed his chest.

Entei roared with his blood rushing out of his wound and dripping to burn holes in the ground. Jin pulled back and swung his sword, slashing Entei’s body again. The demon released another beastly cry, clutching his chest, and stumbled back.

Jin drew his sword to his side and lunged at Entei. His leg swung out in a blur and struck Entei’s body.

Power flowed from his legs in a wave of blue light. Jin thrust his leg and threw Entei from his geta. Entei coughed, a breath of smoke and fog leaving his lungs. He soared in a blur. He smacked and spiraled off the ground and crashed hard through the stone wall of a building behind him. Bits of rubble scattered on the floor in chunks.

Jin landed but kept his eyes on where he sent it and saw the demon resting on his back. He flexed his fingers, wrapping them tight on the hilt of his sword, and raised it with both hands. Closing his eyes, he slid one leg back and breathed. His eyes snapped open with bright energy rising from them. The cloak of power around his sword flashed and twisted and shaped like a single-edged blade covering the inner one. Wisps ran off the outer edge, and their light shone over Jin.

He swung his sword down, and bright blue energy rushed as a crescent wave from the blade in a burst that twisted the winds. His arms moved in a swift swing upward and fired another wave, shaking the earth. The arches traveled, cutting into the ground and behind trails of molten stone.

Entei shuddered as he rose off the floor. His eyes shut, he shook his head with a groan and rose to his feet. A blue hue brightened his body. He opened his eyes, and they snapped wide at the incoming light arches. He crossed his arms over himself. They closed in and struck Entei in a blast of blue light and smoke.

Pieces of the building flew, carried by the violet winds of the blast. Jin watched from where he stood. The winds died, and the stones stopped falling. The dust cloud faded in the wake of the winds, revealing blue fires around him.

At the center, Entei stood. Hunched over his arms slouched, blue and orange gashes riddled his arms and chest, glowing with their colors. Drops of the demon’s lava and ice-like blood tailed from his wounds, burning holes and forming ice patches as they dripped onto the tiles.

Mixed breaths left his body in deep groans. Entei collapsed to his knee, jabbing his sword into the ground. The wounds on his arms and body were closing, but they were closing little by little. Entei clenched his teeth and looked at Jin. He pushed himself with his sword and stood upright as his wounds closed shut.

“It should not have taken that long to heal…” Entei said.

Jin kept his eyes on Entei.

Entei gnashed his teeth hard, a heated growl emanating from his clenched jaw. “You…!” he said.

Jin wielded his sword and widened his stance.

Entei’s eyes glowed, and wisps of light streamed from the irises. He beamed with orange and blue lights and flickered off his body. “You…!” His aura expanded and burst into a vortex of orange and blue energy.

Winds spurred, twisted, chaotic without any direction. Jin guarded himself against the fierce winds. Entei fanned his wings, and the energy enveloping him flickered more intensely.

He bellowed with a deep, growling roar from his throat, “BASTARD!” He dashed ahead with his wings. The air exploded around him, and the ground shattered under him as he took off. His power trailed behind him, and a streak of fire and ice and he released another cry.

Jin shook, his blue eyes wide, and raised his sword to fight, only for Entei to grab his face and take him into the air. He clutched Entei’s arm with his free hand, groaning under the demon’s palm. Thrashing, he kicked Entei’s chest and sides but couldn’t free himself from his grasp.

Entei ascended higher and faster with Jin in his hand, turning left and around over the grounds, flying further away from the temple. They soared over the ever-expanding forest, and Entei retained his grip on Jin’s head.

“You wretch!’ Entei snapped. “How dare you challenge me?!”

Jin thrashed in Entei’s grip and continued kicking his body but to no avail. Entei flew over the forest. Each flap of his tremendous wings carried him and Jin further. The temple became more distant behind, and they approached a great, wide, open spot of grass.

The field expanded in the middle of the trees surrounding it. Boulders lay spread through the grass. Entei’s shadow cast itself over the field. He grinned at the environment. His wings stopped, and he pulled back his arm with Jin in his grasp. Entei hissed, muscles bulking as he tensed his arm and threw Jin hard toward the ground.

Jin fell fast, holding his sword tight with his teeth gnashed in his descent. He smashed hard and carved a great wound into the earth. Dirt and scattered with rising dust, and he crashed into a boulder. The great rock cracked against him, and the ground trembled.

A throb rushed throughout the back of Jin’s head, and a high-pitched whine rang in his ear. The sound dimmed with the pain in his subsiding. His clenched teeth held back a groan, and his eyes creaked open. His vision cleared, the world around him became focused, and he saw the massive ditch he was in. He blinked a few times and slowly rose to his feet with his sword etched into the ground to help push himself up.

“He’s determined,” Jin said. He looked up and saw the Moon in the sky. Narrowing his eyes, he saw a winged spec making its way over the jewel of the night sky while slowly descending. “But at least being away from the temple will give me more room to fight,” he said.

Jin whipped his sword to his side. He crouched and jumped high out of the chasm, landing on the rock behind. He stood as Entei touched down before him. Entei locked his eye on Jin and closed his wings.

A wind blew over, stirring the grass and leaves of the surrounding tree. Jin closed his eyes as his hair and tattered cloak bent with the wind, cutting off the energy trails. He breathed, taking the cool air through his nose, and exhaled gently. His snapped open, and the energy trails resumed their flow. He kicked off from the boulder in a streak of light with a boom.

Entei shot up and quickly swung his sword. His blade clashed with Jin’s, and sparks of energy erupted from their sword. The auras of their weapons flared and twisted the aura and roused the grass beneath them. Entei growled and pushed back, and Jin’s blade flung from his guard. He slashed at Jin’s side, missing as Jin evaded, and attacked with an overhead swing, flames trailing behind his sword. Jin raised his sword and struck Entei’s blade again.

Jin buckled under Entei’s strength, but his footing stood firm to the ground. He pressed his hand on the back of his weapon. His arms strained as Jin rose, pushing Entei back, and he threw Entei’s sword off his. He watched Entei stagger, and he stepped his foot back. Gripping his sword, Jin raised it overhead, and a light blue auric wave cloaked the sword. He swung, striking the ground, and a large blue crescent wave of light rushed from the. It ate a line through the ground and crashed into Entei.

The wave rushed and drove Entei into the surrounding forest, smashing him through tree after tree as the energy burned his body. His voice rasped behind his clenched jaw and burrowed into a growl. The energy pushed him deeper into the forest and collided with a massive tree, setting off a thunderous eruption of dust and light.

Splinters of wood dispersed through the smoke from the blast, and the ground trembled with the light dying out. The shaking ceased. In it ends, a loud, furious cry. The bestial howl echoed throughout the forest, and a blazing line of fire shot through the smoke.

In the distance, Jin peered to where he sent Entei. He narrowed his eyes and saw an orange beacon of light. The light grew closer and brighter, and his skin stung at the hea as it drew near. Jin’s eyes shot open. He jumped to the side, and flames streamed, roaring out from the trees. Jin locked his arm over himself from the heat. The beam of fire blasted clean through the boulder and burned the trees of the surrounding forest behind it.

As the flame died, Jin lowered his arm. He looked to see the hole melted inside the large rock. Embers flicked within, and the molted stone bled out as if from a fresh wound.

A rumble echoed from the trees at the right, and Jin turned to the noise. He saw the cloud of smoke rise over the tree. The rumbling continued, and a lone plume speared from the smoke. A pair of wings fanned out and dispersed the cloud, freeing Entei.

The demon’s eyes lit bright with his power. He saw Jin below and raised his left hand. The winds whistled, and streams of a brisk blue swirled over his palm and convened into a small ball of sparkling ice. Entei drew his arm back, his hand thrust forward, and the orb exploded into spears of razor-sharp ice jetting from his palm. The ice streaked down the sky with lines of frost streaming behind them.

Jin readied his sword, and the ice came down fast. Two ice spears rained down, and Jin dashed to the side. They hit the ground, exploding with cold gales, and jagged, frozen stalagmites rose from their impact. More spears came down, and Jin raised his sword.

He dashed and jumped to the side as one spear struck the ground. He then drew his weapon back as he ran. The blade flew in a bright streak, slashing the ice into glittering mist. Two more spears shot down over him. He stopped mid-run and sprinted off, vanishing a blur, leaving them to impale the ground as he reappeared and continued running.

Above, Entei growled with a cold breath. He stretched out his arm and opened his clawed fingers. Sparkling blue fog gathered in clouds around his arm. The clouds wrapped and froze into a solid coat of ice on his arm and extended into a set of claws.

Entei flexed his claws and flew fast toward Jin. Jin’s eyes went around, and he stopped himself. He raised his sword, and Entei swung out his claws. Bladed ice and draconic steel met sparks of dragon energy, and ice scattered. Entei forced his arm against the sword, and Jin’s feet scraped the ground to keep his body upright.

“Why won’t you die?!” Entei shouted.

“You’re not a good listener, are you, Entei?” Jin snapped back. “I’m not letting the Eye fall into your hands!”

One forced his strength, but the other resisted and pushed back. They stared into each other’s glowing eyes, and their teeth gritted. Jin’s hands trembled. Burning smoke and fog rose from Entei’s between Entei’s teeth. He opened with a mad roar and swiped his claw, knocking Jin’s large sword out of his hands. The sword spun into the air before spiraling back down and stabbing the ground behind Jin.

Jin staggered back from Entei’s strength. Entei rolled his ice-clad claws tight. He swung his arm in his charge and struck Jin across his face. Jin swayed from the blow, one step overlapping the other. Entei clenched his teeth, opening it with a roar as he took flight, his wings kicking up dust. His legs whipped out in a blur and kicked hard into Jin’s chest.

Jin coughed with the air leaving his body. A great ache spiked throughout his chest. His pupils dilated as he hunched. His dulled sight left the world around him a smudge. It returned only for him to witness a blur rushed from under him, and an ice-guarded fist smashed into his chin and shut his jaw.

Entei shot his fist up and threw Jin off his punch. The swordsman’s body flew over the grass and passed his sword. Jin groaned in the air as he soared. His eyes creaked open with his vision clearing. As the world came into focus, he saw Entei in the sky. The demon opened his mouth with a deep exhale, and streams of fire whirled into a flickering sphere of flames. He exhaled and erupted a large ball of hellish flames from his jaws. Jin’s eyes lit open, and he crossed his arms over his body. The fireball lit up the ground under him with a bright orange sheen. It crashed into Jin, meeting the soil in an explosive flash of rising fire.

The flames scorched the grass around the caved part of the earth, and ember-laced smoke rose from the crater. A line of smoke shot out from the hole out of the greater plume. A set of arms fanned out and dispersed the smoke, revealing Jin with a blue aura cloaked around him.

Jin landed on his feet and looked to see Entei in the sky. He gnashed his teeth at the demon. A sudden pang rushed through his body, and he clenched his chest. The light filling his eyes flickered, and the energy streaming from them stammered before they returned to natural flow. Jin gasped through his teeth. A heaviness overcame his legs like lead chained to his limbs, and he fell to a knee.

Entei smirked at the swordsman. The beating of his wings followed his descent, and he touched down in front of him. “Quite the burden in wielding the dragon’s power. Isn’t it, boy?”

Jin only barred his teeth. His legs remained weighed to the earth. He pressed his hand to his knee. His fingers tensed, muscles trembling as he rose. He faced Entei, and his vision dulled, leaving him to see the word as a dim smudge before it cleared. His teeth clenched harder at the sudden wooziness rushing through his body.

“What’s the matter? Does it feel like the life is leaving you?” Entei said. “It was to be expected. A mere human could never truly control Genma’s power. And the dragon was a fool, thinking your pathetic kind was ever worthy of it!”

Entei brought out his arm, and the ice covering it shattered into tiny crystals. His right hand tightened its grip on his sword, and he grinned. The markings on the right side of his glowed with an orange light, and the marks on the left shined blue. His entire body soon shimmered with dual flickering lights of demonic energy. The force swirled around him, snaked around his sword, and enveloped its blade. The elements sheeted the sword a mixed, illuminated coat with wisps of flames and icy fogs.

He widened his stance and gripped his sword with both hands. Jin panted, looking at the energy running off the blade. His gaze switched between it and the sword with the Eye of Genma still etched in the ground.

“If I can reach for the sword…” Jin thought.

Entei bent his knees and drew his weapon near the ground, and his wings opened, ready for another flight. His glowing eyes set on Jin, and his teeth joined with his curved lips to complete the twisted grin.

“We’ve reached the end, you and I, swordsman,” Entei said. “And with your death, the Eye will be rightfully mine!”

Jin returned his attention to Entei and gnashed his teeth. He closed his eyes and inhaled. The cool air weaved into his nostrils and filled his body. As he exhaled, a bit of the heaviness left his left, and the dizzy feeling parted from his body. He drew his foot back and faced Entei.

“Then come and get me!”

Entei’s smile devolved into a fanged scowl. His eyes glowed with wisps flaring, and his mouth opened with a bestial shriek. He stomped a foot forward, cracking the ground beneath his heels. His wings fanned hard, and he lunged into a vanishing blur. The terrain shattered from his strength and speed, and earthen dust whirled in violent winds from where he disappeared.

The winds rushed over Jin. He closed his eyes with his hair sprawling in the wind. He inhaled through his nose, and his chest filled with air. He then exhaled, and his body relaxed. The gales ceased. His skin tingled under a sudden mixed sensation of heat and cold, and his eyes snapped open.

He dashed, ducking his head under a blade coated in flowing frost and fire that emerged from nowhere. A large shadow cast over Jin. His eyes glanced up, and he saw Entei towering over him in his failed attempt to take his head. He switched his gaze to his draconic sword, still in the dirt. With another step, he disappeared in a visage of fading lines.

Entei looked behind, teeth gnashed. “No!”

Jin emerged from a blur and reached for the sword. He grabbed the handle tight, turned with his feet skidding against the ground, and freed the sword. His arm whipped to the side, and he swung the blade down.

Entei turned. His eyes bugged at the sword in Jin’s hands. His teeth grated together, and a hateful growl rose underneath. His fists rattled in his anger, and his brow creased.

“I am done playing games with you, monkey!” he shouted.

He brandished his sword to his side. The elemental forces surrounded stirred and twisted throughout the blade’s length. Sparks, fire, and glitters of ice clashed. The sparks crackled in their meeting and replaced the fire and ice. More sparks emerged along the sword, growing. More arcs branched out and erupted with a great, raging thunder as though they spawned from a storm.

Jin’s face brightened in the blade’s flickering illumination. He knotted his brown and drew one leg forward with the other further back. He drew his sword on the opposite side of his body and slid it under his left hand like a sheath. His brow unclenched, and the rest of his face softened. The light of the lightning brightened his face. Everything became quiet as if deafness had taken over. He then closed his eyes, and everything went black. The darkness was stagnant and surrounded him like a void, with only his breath heard.

The draconic aura emitted around his body. The light ran off him in waves. The waves drew back, pulling toward his body, and lined around him, forming a sheen brighter than before. The energy veiled around his sword. His entire form shimmered, piercing every corner of darkness created by the clouds above like a star, and the grass around him stirred from the force of his power.

“What?!” Entei saw the light encasing Jin and his sword. The lightning sparking around his blade crackled, the branches sprawling erratically like flailing tendrils. “Your tricks won’t save you, boy. Not this time!” He readied his sword to his side, the sparks following behind the blade, and his wings opened.

Fiery red and frost blue developed his body and appeared in waves. The grass under him reeled from his energy. The winds twisted from their combined power and rustled the leaves off the tree around them. Entei’s eyes remained on Jin while Jin’s eyes remained closed.

A lone leaf was plucked off a branch. It soared into the distance behind. It drifted, ascending helplessly until its climbing ceased. Little by little, it descended, fluttering in the faint wind’s care. It drew closer to the ground.

Entei widened his stance. Jin stood still, hair flowing in the force he created.

The leaf touched the grass.

Entei’s eyes bugged, and he leaned his body and took with a strong sweep of his wings. The ground shattered, the lighting from his sword trailed behind, and dirt and dust tailed his path.

Jin stood silent. The energy around him continued to glow, with the grass still bending with the wind. Entei sped closer, and the light of the arcs surrounding the demon’s blade flickered on his face. Jin dug his feet into the ground, his eyes snapped open, flaring with energy, and he lashed out his blade.

Two roaring voices filled the air. Lightning and energy met, and streaks of light and spark erupted in the clash.

The winds died, leaving everything to silence. A shadow loomed over the ground, and drops of red fell onto a spot of grass, specking their green with red. Jin looked ahead, his sword flaunting the sword. A trail of red ran down his arm, spawning from an open cut and dripping onto the grass. A sudden spark danced around him, and he jolted as they died.

A heavy, gnarled gasp sounded from behind. Entei shuddered with his breathing. He looked down to find a lava-like, slushed, freezing blood drop on the ground. His eyes followed the drops, finding a great, deep gash hewed into the mixed-colored orb and spanning from his lower body to his shoulder.

The glowing light in the orb on his chest and marking on his body faded, and the energy flowing through his eyes died. His hands trembled. He dropped his sword, and it dispersed into flames.

Entei panted. He shut his mouth and sputtered with a plashing cough, vomiting his mixed blood from his maw.

“Im…possible,” Entei said. His voice rasped and gargled his own blood. He walked with legs trembling through each step. “This… monkey… Shimotora… A lowly creature like him… defeated us…” Entei stopped. A frozen spot emerged on his finger. It spread throughout his hand, and the left half of his body turned into ice. The skin of his other half darkened as though it had been burnt black. It rose from his hands and made its way to his neck. “Unbelievable…”

With his breath leaving him, his head solidified. The left half froze solid, and the right half was charred black. His body toppled over and crumbled onto the ground in a pile of smoldering ash and shattered ice.

Jin breathed in and exhaled through his nose. His legs became heavy again, and he clutched his chest with his free hand. Jin dropped to a knee and stabbed the sword into the ground to keep from falling. He then released the sword and planted both hands to the ground. The aura around him dimmed into faint wisps and faded from his body, and the streaming energy left his eyes, leaving them to their initial blue hue.

The pang left his chest, but his legs weighed him down. In front of him, the sword glowed within the soil. Its power flowed from its draconic steel, and light enveloped it. The light shrank and formed into the shape of a curved jewel. The light died, and the jewel fell to the ground.

Jin panted and grabbed the Eye of Genma. He held the jewel in its palm. Baring his teeth, Jin slowly rose to his feet, quaking from the weightiness still in his legs. He turned and walked to where Entei stood. As he came close, he would see more of his fallen foe’s ruined body. Upon reaching the demon’s final resting place, his eye scanned remains, reduced to only chucks and crumbles in the dirt.

Jin sighed at the Moon and said, “Master Setsu. It’s over… Entei and Shimotora are no more.” His lips lowered, frowning with his loosened brow. “I’m… sorry, I wasn’t quick enough for the temple, its people, and for you. I can... only hope you and the others find peace with the demons finally gone.” He switched his glance to the jewel in his hand. “And Genma…”

A new pain raged in his chest, with his heart pounding in his ears. His shoulders slumped with his upper body. He looked ahead. The vision of the world dulled and dimmed. His body tottered from his weight.

“I… I…”

His eyes rolled up and closed shut. He tilted back and dropped hard to the grass.

Everything became quiet again. A calm wind passed through the forest over the field, and the Moon loomed in the sky, bathing the swordsman in its light.

*          *             *

Hours passed. The Moon was lower in the sky, but the night remained. Below, Jin’s body rested on the lone field. In front of him lay the remnants of Entei. The half of the ashes rested while the half of the ice was melting away.

In Jin’s hand, the Eye of Genma was undisturbed.

A sudden pattering broke the silence. The sound of grass caving in a rhythmic crunch grew closer to Jin. A pair of sandal-clad geta stopped near Jin’s head, and a shadow cast over his body. The figure stood tall and broad, with long silverish-white hair masking his eyes.

“Jin the Swordsman,” the figure said in a deep and raspy voice. “First, Kitetsu, and now Shimotora and Entei. Your skills have allowed you to survive another day.” The figure turned his head to the jewel in Jin’s hand. “But luck was also on your side. Had it not been for the Eye of Genma, you would be in the next world.”

The figure reached down and grabbed the Eye from Jin’s hand. He then picked Jin up by his arms and hoisted him over his shoulder.

“Then again, the fact that the Divine Dragon blessed you with his power and that you could wield it for so long without dying is indicative.” The figure walked ahead, passing Entei’s corpse, and carried Jin under trees. “Perhaps you’re destined for greater things but still have much to learn.”

The figure continued with Joe in tow until they disappeared into the shadows of the trees.

• Geta (下駄) = traditional Japanese footwear.

• Kenatsu (剣圧) = (剣Ken = Sword) and (圧 Atsu = Pressure/Force)