The True Confessions of a Nine-Tailed Fox

As if Den’s words had shattered the mirage, all of a sudden I could see clearly again. Those weren’t Bobo, Steelfang, One Ear, and the other wolves swimming back to shore with their haul of pearl oysters. The wolves weren’t there at all – their shapes had been nothing but illusions conjured up by a spirit who had never seen a wolf before and whose understanding of fur was distinctly fuzzy, hence why I’d thought I’d glimpsed scales.

And Bobo – the “Bobo” who was cutting through the waves so aggressively – that was the oystragon itself! Gone were the bright green scales, the yellow belly plates. The long, lean body shortened and grew stout, and in the bamboo viper’s place was a creature shaped like a cross between a dragon and a lion dance costume, with bulbous eyes and coarse scales like oyster shells.

“An oystragon?!” shrieked Floridiana. She scrambled to sit up on the beach where Den had flung her. “What in the name of the Kitchen God is an oystragon?”

Who cares what it is? I yelled back. Kill it first, ask questions later! Lodia! Run!

The girl had frozen in knee-deep water, gaping at the monster that had suddenly appeared in place of our friends.

“But Bobo...Steelfang...One Ear...everyone else,” she whispered. “Where are they?”

To my absolute horror, she did move then – but not backwards towards the safety of the beach. She splashed deeper into the ocean where the monster held sway.

Stripey flew around and pushed against her chest with his forehead, trying to shove her back, while I grabbed loose strands of her hair and tugged.

Go back, Lodia! I ordered. We’ll find them! Den! Get her out of here – Den?

The dragon was gone. Everyone was gone. I hovered alone over the waves that lapped at the empty beach behind me.

No. I wasn’t alone. I could feel the strands of Lodia’s hair between my beak still.

Lodia! Stripey! Den! Where are you? Can you hear me?

No answer but the sea breeze that rustled the coconut palm fronds, and the surf that struck the rocks.

Hey! Hey! Everybody!

As I battled my senses, trying to see what I knew to be there, rather than what I saw to be there, garbled voices filtered into my ears, as if from far away underwater.

Not good enough. Where was the monster now?

Keeping hold of Lodia’s hair, I flew around the side of her body and fluttered my wings. They brushed a sleek, feathered neck.

Stripey! Stripey! Can you hear me?

Yes! His voice was still garbled, but at least it was intelligible now. We have to get her onto dry land!

Come on Lodia! Listen to us! Move your feet!

Both of us shoved with our heads and beat our wings as hard as we could, trying to force her back.

“I can’t!” her voice filtered through to us, from the spot that my eyes insisted was empty air but that my brain knew had to be her mouth. “Something has my legs!” She shrieked.

At that moment, the cloth I was pushing my forehead against vanished. I shot forward, strands of hair dangling from my beak. They were no longer connected to Lodia’s head.

Lodia! Lodia! I flapped about until I crashed into Stripey. Pain screamed through my side, which I’d injured when I fell out of the air during the festival. Stripey! Where did she go?

Don’t know! Something must have pulled her under!

How do we find her? I can’t swim!

There was a strangled gasp from where Stripey’s head was, then nothing.

Stripey! Stripey! Where are you? Panicking, I flew back and forth, hoping to crash into him again. Den! Den! You useless dragon! Do something!!!

Out of nowhere, something latched onto me. Bands wrapped around my wings and pinned them to my sides. My ribs shrieked. The monster had me! The monster was going to eat me!

No! This was not how I was going to die! I refused to die and abandon my friends this time. I already watched Lord Silurus eat Stripey once. I was not going to let another monster get him, or Bobo, or Lodia, or Floridiana, or Steelfang, or One Ear, or any of the others!

“For Heaven’s sake, stop pecking my hand!” snapped a familiar voice. “Hold still so I can stamp you!”

I went limp with relief. Floridiana! Is that you?

“Yes!” A cold, hard surface squelched against the top of my head. Goop splattered into my eyes and made them sting. I blinked and blinked, and when I could finally see again, I could actually see again.

The ocean, so smooth and peaceful and turquoise just a moment ago, roiled white and green from battles all over the place. Several yards away, Lodia’s head and shoulders broke the surface long enough for Stripey, who sported a vermillion stamp on his forehead, to swoop down and grab her sleeve with his claws. She thrashed, trying to kick something off her.

Further out, Den was darting in and out of the water, locked in combat with the oystragon. Dusty swam in circles around them, distracting the monster with kicks and bites.

Further out still, tentacles shot out of the water and lashed at Steelfang and the other wolves. Bobo’s bright green form wound around one of the tentacles. As I watched, she unhinged her jaw and bit it as hard as she could. Green blood sprayed through the air. The tentacle flailed.

In the distance, an arc of gelatinous domes bobbed on the waves: the jellyfish that Den had told us about. The ones whose tentacles could curtain off an entire section of ocean. They were keeping everyone else in the Western Sea from getting close enough to intervene – or even to witness this battle.

What do they want? I demanded. Are they hungry? Are they punishing us for a border violation?

Floridiana shook her head. “No idea!” She plunged into the water before I could stop her, swimming for Den and Dusty.

Floridiana! Come back! They’ve got this! Help Lodia!

“But – ” Her gaze darted between the two groups, torn between saving her horse and her friend (or whatever Den had become to her), and the girl and crane who obviously needed her more.

Lodia’s going to drown! Come on! I flew in circles around her head, yanking at her wet hair.

“Okay, okay! Stop attacking me!”

I’m not attacking you! I’m reorienting your priorities!

“After this is all over, we are going to have words,” she threatened, but she did strike out for where Lodia and Stripey had disappeared under the waves yet again.

Bobo had no idea how everything had gone so wrong so fast. One minute, she and the wolves were racing pretty, colorful fish down to the oyster shoal. The next, the oysters disappeared and invisible tentacles attacked them out of nowhere. She couldn’t see the wolves anymore either, which meant that whoever was attacking them could cast visions, just like Den. A dragon, maybe?

“Sssteelfang! One Ear!” Maybe if she shouted loud enough, she could break through the vision, at least enough for them to hear her. “Are you all okay?”

No answer.

“Who are you?” she yelled at the tentacles. “What do you want? Why are you attacking us?”

No answer from the tentacles either.

Rosie had been right! West Serica really was full of demons! Rude, mean demons who blinded you and confused you by making you see only an empty ocean, and then attacked you with tentacles.

“Ssstop it!”

She twisted her neck and bit the tentacle she could feel – but not see – around her chest. It squeezed harder, and she felt her ribs creak. She bit down harder too. She didn’t let go even when it did, so it started waving around, trying to shake her loose.

“Oh no, you don’t,” she growled through a mouthful of slimy skin. “You attacked us firssst. Do you know what I did to the lassst demon who hurt my friends?”

The tentacle started swinging her in big half-circles. Bobo had no idea which directions were up, down, or sideways anymore, but partway through one swing, her body broke the surface, flew through the air, and then splashed back into water. Then she reversed directions for another big swing going the other way.

This time, when she arced back into the air, she was ready. She sucked in a big lungful of air before the tentacle yanked her under again.

“Let go of me, you vicious viper!” shouted the owner of the tentacle.

At last! The demon was talking!

“Ssstop attacking me and my friends and I’ll let go!”

The tentacle changed patterns and started jerking her up and down instead of swinging her. “It’s not my call! I’m just following orders!”

“What orders? Whossse orders?”

“Captain White Lip! He said your dragon king breached the border so we had to teach you a lesson!”

“How dare you attack me!” Den bellowed at the oystragon. “Do you know who I am? I’m a dragon king! You’re an oyster with ideas above its station!”

The jumped-up shellfish dared to sneer. “A dragon king, are you? Here I was thinking you were just a four-legged snake who strayed into a different fief. But if you’re a dragon king leading an invasion of the Western Sea – well, that’s another matter altogether, isn’t it?”

A four-legged snake?! Den lunged, jaws wide. The oystragon flipped, twisted, and dove. Den plunged after him. The oystragon taunted him, arcing and swooping through the water, staying just a tail’s length ahead of Den. He stretched out his neck and bared his teeth, but he was too short to – oh.

“Change!” Den commanded his body.

In a flash, his head shot forward on a much longer, thicker neck. He snapped his teeth and grazed the oystragon’s shoulder, before the ugly creature rolled sideways and lashed out with his claws. They raked across Den’s snout, but his transformation had hardened his scales, and the claws slid off harmlessly. The oystragon backed away, but Den hurtled forward and crashed into the creature’s side.

The illusion of an empty ocean flickered.

Bellowing, Den charged the oystragon once more. The creature fled for the surface – right into a kick from a pair of powerful back hooves.

“Take THAT, you cowardly fiend! I am the Valiant Prince of the Victorious Whirlwind, Vanquisher of Invaders, Inquisitor of Vassals! Know my name and FEAR IT!”

“Dusty! Watch out!” shouted Den.

But instead of biting the horse’s legs off, the oystragon flung an illusion of blackness around himself. It only took Den an instant to shatter it, but by then, the wretch had vanished.

“Let go!” Lodia shrieked when her head broke the surface. “Let go, demon!”

But the tentacles around her calves yanked, and then her head was underwater and she was fighting to hold her breath, fighting to stay calm. Bubbles streamed out of her nose as she clawed at the tentacles. Her short nails didn’t bother the demon at all.

She felt Stripey’s claws tangled in her tunic and digging into her flesh, and faintly she heard him shouting above the water, but she couldn’t see him or the demon. And she’d lost her spectacles, which was most terrifying of all.

Another invisible tentacle lashed around her wrist and pulled, and now she was bent in half at the waist. The demon was dragging her down. She was going to drown. The claws in her tunic didn’t let go, which meant that Stripey was going to drown too.

She fumbled at his feet with her free hand, trying to loosen his claws. He didn’t need to die along with her. But he refused to let go.

None of the villagers had ever mentioned demon attacks. They went swimming and fishing themselves. So why was this demon so determined to kill her? Why her? Why now?

All of a sudden, the oystragon was right in front of her. His jaws opened to reveal two rows of pearlescent fangs. “Don’t take it personally, human girl. You just offended the wrong goddess.”