The Twelve Kingdoms: Shadow of the Moon

" The name echoed through the air. A bright red fountain gushed before her eyes.
    My blood.
    Except that somehow she felt no pain. She shut her eyes. See no evil, she told herself. Incomprehensibly, it seemed that death should be more terrifying than this.
    "Hold on!"
    She was taken by the shoulders and roughly shaken. She came to herself, opened her eyes to see the stranger glaring at her. The concrete wall was hard at her back, her left shoulder dug into the cyclone fencing that enclosed the perimeter of the roof.
    "This is not the time to swoon!"
    Youko jumped up in alarm. The collision had tumbled her clear across the roof. An awful cry of torment arose. Sprawled before the doorway the great bird flapped its wings, fanning about it swirling gusts of wind. Its claws dug deep grooves in the concrete as it flung its head back and forth. It could not free itself. A beast had its jaws locked about the bird's neck, a beast resembling a panther wrapped in crimson fur.
    "What . . . what is that?"
    "I warned you of the dangers that awaited us."
    He pulled her away from the fence. Youko found herself staring at the beast and bird entwined in their death struggle, then back at the stranger.
    He said, " Kaiko. "
    The form of a woman rose out of the solid surface on which they stood, like a bather rising from a pool. Only the upper half of her body appeared, a body clothed in downy feathers, arms like graceful wings. She held a sword encased in a magnificent scabbard. The hilt of the sword was inlaid with gold and pearl and studded with jewels.
    It struck Youko as little more than a frivolous ornament. The stranger took the sword from the woman and presented it to Youko.
    "What . . . ?"
    "It is yours. You alone may use it."
    "Me?" Her eyes flashed from the sword to the stranger's face. "Why me?"
    He pressed the weapon into her hands, his face emotionless. "I have no taste for the sword . . . "
    "But you said you would help me!"
    " . . . and no talent with it."
    It was heavier than she would have thought. How in the world was she supposed to defend herself with this ?
    "What makes you think I do?" she shot back.
    "Will you die like a lamb led to slaughter?"
    "No!"
    "Then use the sword."
    Youko was lost in a chaos of thoughts. She didn't want to die, not here, not like this. But neither did she have any inclination to charge into battle waving this weapon above her head. She possessed neither the strength nor the skill to do anything with it. The voices in her head told her to wield the sword, to not wield the sword, to wield it, to . . . .
    She chose the third option. She threw it.
    The stranger shouted in anger and amazement. "You fool!"
    She had aimed at the bird's head. The sword fell short of the mark, skimming the tip of one wing and falling at its feet.
    "Damnation!" Snapping off a series of clicks with his tongue the man called, "Hyouki!"
    The panther disentangled itself from astride the bird's claws. It stooped, fetched the sword in its mouth and trotted back to Youko. It was clearly unhappy about having to abandon its prey.
    The stranger took the sword. He said to the creature, "Wait here upon my command."
    "As you wish," the creature straightaway replied.
    Patience, the stranger told it shortly. He turned to the feathered woman. "Kaiko."
    The woman bowed.
    At that moment, the great bird lifted itself free, showering them with gravel and concrete. It gyrated into the air. The panther-beast clambered skyward after it. The woman rose clear of the roof, revealing down-covered human legs and a long tail, and attacked as well.
    The stranger said, " Hankyo. Juusaku. "
    As had the woman, the heads of two fierce beasts appeared from the deck of the roof. One resembled a large dog, the other a baboon. "Juusaku, Hankyo. I leave her to your care."
    "By your command." They bowed.
    The stranger nodded, turned his back to her, strode towards the fence, and vanished.
    "Wait!" Youko called after him.
    Without asking her yea or nay, the baboon reached out and wrapped her in a tight embrace. The animal ignored her protests, lifted her up, vaulted over the fence and leapt into the air.

Chapter 6
    T he baboon sprang from rooftop to rooftop, from rooftop to telephone pole, hurdling from place to place with great bounding strides, almost as if carried aloft by the wind. This jarring, rampaging form of transport eventually brought them to the outskirts of the city and the ocean shore.
    The baboon released Youko atop the breakwater facing