Dance with the Devil

© Samurai 2020, all rights reserved. ___________ The moon was high in the night sky, and he knew it was time.

He rose from bed and took his companion sword from under his pillow, leaving his wife where she lay beside him, blissfully unaware of the events about to take place. Stepping through the moonlit kitchen, his feet made the floorboards creak desperately, as though they pleaded him not to venture out into the night. If his wife was awake, if she knew, she would be pleading him to stay too.

Oh, but Sylvia...

It is time.

He slipped on his cloak, a garment as crimson as blood, and stole out into the night, the cold of midnight sneering at him as he left the warmth of his house. The wind whispered around him, caressing him with its frigid, clammy hands, and the forest glowered at him, its bare trees foreboding and unwelcoming.

But it was time.

"Come, Sirius," he whispered to his loyal black dog, and the beast followed, her footsteps full of power.

But even Sirius seemed unsure, and while she remained at his side as they walked the path along the edge of the forest, she radiated apprehension. She kept her head low and her ears back, listening to the night.

"I'm nervous too," Masaki said, keeping his hand on his swords, "but we don't have a choice."

He looked up at the moon and added, "The time has come."

They continued towards the sea, the forest glaring at them the whole way, and the closer they got to the glittering water, the rockier the path became. Masaki stepped carefully, and when he finally walked onto the sand, something changed in the ground.

It had begun to shake.

Sirius whined, her tail between her legs, and Masaki ran - he didn't want to be anywhere NEAR those giant rocks if they fell. Behind them, at the end of the path, the ground split in two, and the chasm followed them, ripping through the earth.

His mind went into a panic.

RUN RUN RUN RUN RUN-

The waves grabbed at their feet, and they could run no more. The quaking ground rattled the beach, and the chasm only came closer...closer...closer...

Then it stopped, and the shaking stopped as well. The beach - and the entire world - was thrown into an eerie silence, and all that was left was the wind and the shadows of night.

And then a figure rose out of the chasm in the sand.

It was a being of darkness, composed of nothing but the emptiest of shadows, and it had two eyes that blazed like white flames. Those eyes were fixed on Masaki and Sirius, and the creature seemed to smile, its cloak billowing around it in the wind.

"Hello, my little samurai," it said in a hollow, ethereal voice. "I'm pleased you could make it."

Masaki fought to calm his mind and spirit, screaming at the fear and panic to LEAVE, LEAVE, LEAVE! Vanish and let him be a valiant warrior! Disappear and let him face this creature with nothing but courage! Go away and let him vanquish this beast!

"Ah," the creature said. "Fear. I can sense it... That is all that lives within you now, little Masaki. Nothing but fear. And I thought you could be the one to defeat me..."

It chuckled and took a step towards him, the sands swirling around it. "I was wrong about you. There is nothing to fear from a samurai..."

There was! There was! There had to be! He couldn't let this creature take over his village, his home! He couldn't let it threaten his wife and unborn child! He couldn't let it... He wouldn't let it...

Sirius lifted her head and growled deeply in her throat, the display of ferocity taking Masaki by surprise. For a fleeting moment, she pressed her head against him, as though to grant him some of her canine fierceness, and in that moment, her loyalty to him burned as strong as fire.

You are not facing it alone.

Masaki looked at the creature for a long moment, his dog at his side, and a storm raged inside him.

Afraid.

Afraid.

I'm afraid.

So afraid.

But with Sirius at his side, there wasn't anything to fear, was there? If they fought, they fought together. If they died, they died together.

He unsheathed his sword and moved towards the creature, his steps timed with Sirius's, both of their footfalls sending courage into the earth.

It was time to dance with the devil.