Page 14 of Cherry Moon

Mama Rita collapsed onto her back on the bed, drawing her last breaths and slowly changing back to the blobby chicken.

See? Nothing but a trick from the mazoku.

I flung the essence from my katanas, white energy flying outward, taking the form of a pure white version of the chicken thingy.

That’s how it worked. Take the essence, use it for something less nefarious. But what could I use this thing for? Keep it around to stand guard for other messed up clucky blobs?

I grabbed my second katana, holding them both in an X across my face and watched the door, sending Bob and Rose out to explore.

If anything else was out there, they’d let me know.

I caught my breath, my chest painfully tight.

Taker? Mama Rita? Cleansing the rot or whatever? And the thing about cherries? Shit. This wasn’t good.

My babies returned, having found nothing. They circled me, and I sent them a mega wave of loving energy.

Mama Rita…

The creature’s body exploded into a cloud of Sakura. I yelped in surprise, the flowers withering, turning brown before vanishing. The white version from my weapon followed suit.

What. The. Fuck. This wasn’t how these things worked.

Sakura? What… What…

“I’m gonna faint.”

I didn’t, somehow keeping my swords crossed while my mind lurched like a ship caught in a storm. The rest of me stayed frozen in the silence.

There would be more.

There were always more.

My babies stirred, their ears pricked.

Oh, shit. “What is it?”

Rose shot off first, followed by Bob. My grip tightened on the teal-and-gold hilts. The new colors had been added by Uncle Ryoka when he repaired the hilts, or tsuka as they were known.

Fuckers. These absolute fuckers. Think they could breach my sanctuary, did they? They wouldn’t be leaving. Bollocks to that wobble earlier. Valid, yeah, but not enough to bring me down.

Nothing ever would.

My blades crumbled to metal dust. I dropped both the remaining tsuka with a cry of surprise, the shakes returning tenfold. I stumbled back into the table again, unable to process this nightmare.

My katanas.

My katanas couldn’t be gone.

The tsuka became dust, too. Defo gone.

“Holy shit…”

Happiness flushed through me via my wolves. Familiar, sparkly happiness.

“G?”

My katanas.