The Twelve Kingdoms: Shadow of the Moon

asked, "Are they still after us?" She twisted around to look at the woman.
    She said, "They are legion." Yet her voice was gentle and somehow reassuring.
    "Who are you?"
    "We are servants of the Taiho. Now face yourself forward. He would not be pleased if I dropped you."
    Youko reluctantly straightened. All she could see was the dark sky and the dark ocean, the faint light of the stars, the faint white light of the waves. A high, winter moon. Nothing else.
    "Keep ahold of the sword. Under no circumstances should you let it out of your possession."
    The reminder struck within Youko a chord of fear. It could only mean that more gruesome battles faced them.
    "The enemy?"
    "They pursue us. But Hyouki is fast. Do not worry."
    "Then . . . . "
    "And see that you do not lose the sword or the scabbard.
    "Or the scabbard?"
    "Sword and scabbard are a pair and must be kept together. The jewel attached to the scabbard is there for your protection."
    Youko looked down at the sword in her arms. A blue-green sphere the size of a ping pong ball was attached to the ends of the ornamental cord wound around the scabbard.
    "These?"
    "Yes. Hold them and see for yourself. It should be cool enough to tell."
    Youko grasped the spheres. The sensation gradually seeped into her palms. "They're warm."
    "You will find them of use whenever you are wounded or sick or fatigued. The sword and scabbard are valuable treasures. Do not lose them."
    Youko nodded. She was thinking of her next question when their speed suddenly slowed.
    The white moon shone in a halo on the dark water. The intensity of the reflection weaving across the waves grew as they descended, almost as if the moonlight itself was exciting the whitecaps into a lively froth. Closer and she could see the surface of the ocean churning into a waterspout.
    Youko realized that the panther-beast was about to dive directly into the ring of light at the center of the sparkling whirlpool.
    "I can't swim!"
    "Do not worry," the woman said, tightening her embrace around her waist.
    "But . . . . "
    She had no time to raise any other objections.

    They plunged into the whirlpool. Youko shut her eyes, prepared herself for the hard collision with the water. She felt instead . . . almost nothing. Not the spray of the surging waves, not the cold touch of the sea. Nothing but an immersion in the silver light, light that leaked through the corners of her eyes.
    Something like a thin gauze brushed against her face. She opened her eyes. They were ensconced, it seemed, within a tunnel of light. There was no darkness, no wind, only an encompassing glow that enveloped them from head to toe, a halo of moonlight cutting beneath the black waves.
    "What is this?" Youko wondered aloud.
    There was a ring of light below the beast's feet, as there was above its head. Whether the light streamed from head to feet or the other way around she could not tell. In either case, they would cross it's length shortly.
    Almost as soon as they had leapt into the circle of light she again felt the gossamer veil brush her face. With a bound they shot above the water. The sounds of the ocean returned. Raising her eyes she again took in the wide, dull expanse of the sea. They slipped from the halo of the moon. How far from the surface she could not tell. All she could see were the tops of the waves bathed in the moonlight.
    The surface churned into a radiant foam, as if driven by a fierce wind. The waves rose up around them in concentric rings, broke into whitecaps. Astride the panther-beast Youko could feel nothing of the hurricane, only the draft of a slight crosswind. The clouds roiled above. The beast pushed harder and climbed into the sky. They were soon too high to see even the moonlight weaving across the storm-tossed seas.
    "Hyouki!" the woman shouted.
    The alarm in her voice made Youko look back at her. Following the woman's gaze she saw a multitude of black shadows leaping out of the moon's bright halo.
    The only light was from the moon and its reflection upon the sea. They raced into the covering darkness of the gathering clouds.
    Pitch black.
    There was no heaven and no earth. And then only the deep amber glow that remained of the moon, a faint light that danced and shifted like the flames of a raging fire. She saw the countless shadows and knew they were coming for her. The creatures raced from the blood-red moon, the apes and rats and birds, the red-haired beasts and black-haired beasts and blue-haired beasts.
    Youko