“You win; Amaterasu is more trouble than she's worth,” Enma huffed. “Follow me.”
Enma tromped down the path toward the palace. We all stared at each other in surprise a moment before we chased after him. It all seemed rather anticlimactic after traversing Meido. Enma was the ruler of the territory, and there he was; rolling over after only one Oni fight. It seemed a little too easy for my tastes, and from the look everyone else gave me, I wasn't the only suspicious one. But none of us wanted to jeopardize Amy's rescue. So we followed Enma all the way to the enormous front doors of his palace where he pushed on a pair of giant pearls to open them.
The double doors swung inward smoothly and opened a passage wide enough to allow Odin and I entrance while still in our dragon forms. We cautiously ducked into a spacious hallway after the others. The floor was silver, and the walls were black lacquer; not a single painting hung upon their glassy finish. It was a sleek, masculine look; made even more so by strategically placed suits of Japanese armor. I pulled my wings in tight to avoid knocking the armor over.
After navigating the labyrinthine halls—the click of dragon claws on stone echoing off the lacquer—Enma finally pushed open another set of double doors, and we entered a vast room. The ceiling was studded with luminous pearls and faceted jewels that sparkled in the glow of god lanterns, and the walls were lined with painted rice paper panels depicting scenes of battles in Japan. Statues of gods and demons lined the room; staring inward at a giant, golden cage and the goddess who sat demurely inside it on a padded chair.
Amaterasu got to her feet as we approached. She nodded to Sakuya gratefully and smiled softly up at me.
“You make a lovely dragon, Godhunter,” Amy said. “Gold suits you.”
“Thanks,” I said as I bent the bars of the cage so she could step out. “But I don't think it suits you; at least not in its present form.”
“You didn't have to wreck my cage,” Enma huffed as he lifted a key. “There's a door right there.”
I turned to glare at Enma, and he looked away—right into Amy's acidic stare. Enma hurried forward and used his key to remove a pair of golden handcuffs from Amy's wrists. The cuffs fell to the stone floor with a heavy clatter, and a pale shimmer cascaded over them as their ward was broken. As soon as Amaterasu was free, she slapped Enma so hard that he flew into a wall; tearing apart the rice paper painting that lined it. It was a hell of a thing to see; that tiny woman tossing about a huge man.
“That's for being a coward and sending the Oni to hold me down while you subdued my magic with those manacles!” Amaterasu declared. “The rest of your punishment shall have to wait; right now, I want my people freed from Jigoku.”
“Your pet dragon has already demanded their return,” Enma snarled. “I shall deliver them to you later.”
“You shall fetch them now!” Amy shouted and the palace trembled as every light in the place burst into blinding flares of white fire.
Enma raced from the room, and Amy's expression settled into satisfaction.
“Amaterasu!” Sakuya cried as she hugged Amy. “I was so worried.”
“Thank you for bringing them to help me,” Amy murmured to Sakuya.
“You made me promise not to tell the other gods in our pantheon,” Sakuya said. “I had no choice.”
“You had a choice,” Amy said with a smile. “You chose to come into Meido after me, despite the horrors that awaited you. I must admit that your courage shocks me, and I apologize for being shocked. You are far stronger than I gave you credit for.”
“I shocked myself,” Sakuya said. “And I've also come to think differently of death.”
“Oh?” Amy lifted a perfectly arched brow.
“It's not a blessing if you're sent here.”
Chapter Forty-Six
We waited and waited for Enma to return with Amy's souls, but he never did. With grim expressions, we wandered out of the palace and then through the shimmering illusion Enma had opened for us. His throne was empty, but the disembodied heads still perched on their pillars before a crowd of anxious souls waiting to be judged. The heads looked nervous as Amy strode up to them.
“Where is your master?” She demanded.
“We don't know,” the male head said.
“Kagu-hana,” Amaterasu growled at it, “if you don't tell me where Enma is, we're going to have a soccer game with you as the ball.”
The male head paled, and the female shrieked as the souls of the dead scattered.
“Be silent, Miru-me,” Sakuya said to the female head. “Unless you know where Enma is.”
“He went into Jigoku!” The female head cried.
“Shut up, you stupid woman!” The male—Kagu-hana—growled.
“Where in Jigoku?” Amy focused on Miru-me.
“Enma said you wanted your souls, but he wasn't going to give them to you,” Miru-me whimpered. “Nor is he going to allow you out of Meido. I'm sorry, Lady Amaterasu, but you and your friends are trapped here.”
“There is more than one way out of Meido,” Amaterasu declared as she strode away.
“The other kings have gone with Enma,” Kagu-hana said smugly. “You can't force anyone to trace you out.”
“There are still the gates,” Amy snarled at the male head, and he paled.
“You
