The Twelve Kingdoms: The Shore in Twilight

not be aware of it himself, or comprehend what sort of a creature a kirin was, or that he was being returned to Mt. Hou in human form. He would not remember the first time when, with Keiki's help, he had embraced the truth about himself and transformed.
    The transformation that symbolized the completion of the journey from "himself" to "Taiki."
    When Renrin departed, trailing the golden threads behind her, he remembered.
    He remembered he was Taiki. He remembered Tai. And his Lord.

    The wind and rain pounded against the dark shore, as if sweeping the equine silhouette from there to here, driving it down to the broad expanse of the gray beach.
    Amidst the breaking waves, falling on them like a small rain of hail, the one shadow stood rooted at the water's edge.
    Astride Rikaku's back, Shouryuu looked down at the shadow. The shadow looked up at Shouryuu.
    "Taiki?"
    The boy clearly trembled. He had never know this man by his taika visage, that bestowed by the place of his birth on this side of the Kyokai. And even if Taiki could remember the world over there, it was unlikely that he would have recognized Shouryuu.
    By the same token, neither would Shouryuu know Taiki on sight. Except that the damp, wind-tossed hair reflecting the dark light brought to Shouryuu's mind this person's unique characteristics. Those jet-black eyes that spoke of a resilient strength, like that of the bent bow returning to its true form.
    "Do you understand if I call you Taiki?"
    He nodded silently.
    Seated upon Rikaku's back, not waiting for a response, Shouryuu reached out and placed his hand upon his head. "According to the authority invested in me as King of En, I appoint thee Taishi."
    As soon as he spoke those words, the boy closed his eyes and fell back a step. Shouryuu grasped the arms reached up to the sky and hauled him onto Rikaku's back, in the same motion jumping off himself, slapping the beast on the flanks.
    "Go!"
    Rikaku spun around, cut like a knife through the swirling winds, and took off like a shot, leaving the wave-swept shore behind.
    Shouryuu watched them leave. Hankyo nudged at his heels. He climbed onto Hankyo's back, glancing over his shoulder as the fleet-footed beast soared into the sky.
    The reinforced coastline turned away the battering waves like so many splashes in a pond. Past the coastline, the city reached out and out and out. His people, his country, and everybody he knew no longer existed. This was a foreign nation to him now.
    The provinces of his youth sank into the mists of time, an old ship disappearing beneath the waves. He nodded once, acknowledging the strange new kingdom that appeared before him
    And so he buried his past, his country and his kin. This had become, in a sense, his long-delayed funeral.

    The clouds gathered from the east. The winds rose, scouring the peaks of Mt. Gyouten. A black spot appeared on the lead-colored clouds. Unconsciously, Rokuta rose to the tips of his toes. A second black dot appeared beside it. The winds swept them through the sky at such a speed they seemed on a collision course with the mountains ridges.
    They traced an arc around the back of the wide terrace and then swooped down and landed. The assembled crowd ran up to the pair of youma, each bearing a figure of a person on its back. The one glanced over his shoulder at them. The other slipped off the shirei's back and fell prostrate on the ground.
    Keiki impulsively scrambled ahead of Rokuta and then abruptly held up. Rokuta as well skidded to a stop and groaned aloud.
    The figure on the white cobblestones appeared younger than he should be at his present age. There was hardly a spark of vitality left in his ashen face and tightly-closed eyes. The color of his complexion suggested profound debilitation. The steel-colored hair lying against the stones appeared distressingly short to Keiki and the others. The arms thrown out at his sides were sickly, pallid, and thin.
    As much as they wanted to draw nearer, the overpowering stench of death held them back.
    " That's our little pipsqueak?"
    Rokuta took a step backwards. Keiki as well had no choice but to retreat.
    A deep and profoundly evil spell coiled around Taiki, pushing Keiki and the rest of them backwards like a force field. Like the curse of death congealed, the bloody, bilious scent was invisible to their eyes but overpowering in its presence.
    "What could have brought him to such a state?" Rokuta wondered.
    As if overwhelmed by the situation before him, he