“You could end up in any of the six realms,” Kagu-hana was back to being smug. “Including Jigoku.”
“Since Jigoku is where I want to go, that doesn't bother me in the least.” Amy smiled viciously.
“It bothers me,” Ira said. “I have no intention of gallivanting through Buddhist Hell—not any of them.”
“It may be the only way for us to get out of here,” Amy said. “Meido is made like a one-way street; unless you're a god here, you can only move forward.”
“I have an idea,” Odin said as he grabbed the smirking Kagu-hana. “Anyone have a rope?”
“Put me down, beast!” Kagu-hana shouted.
“Sure, let me just pull a rope out of my ass,” Ira huffed.
“Well, you pull your sword out of the air,” Odin reasoned. “Why not a rope?”
“Fair point,” Ira conceded grudgingly. “But our weapons are bound to us, and I don't use rope as a weapon.”
“Yeah, we're angels, not cowboys.” Sam chuckled.
“But he can make a rope.” Amy pointed to the head. “He's a god of this territory; he can transmutate objects here.”
“Me?” Kagu-hana gaped at her. “Why would I want to help you?”
“Because we're going to toss you through those gates, and if we don't have a rope tied to you, we won't be able to pull you back,” Odin said calmly.
“What?!” Kagu-hana shrieked. “You cannot! I could roll through any number of perils!”
“Or we could reel you in like a yo-yo,” I said smugly. “Your choice.”
“The gate won't let me return once I've passed through, you idiots!” Kagu-hana shouted.
“It will if you're tethered to someone here,” Amaterasu said with a smile at Odin. “Good thinking, Allfather.”
Odin nodded his thanks.
“Is the rest of your body just magically gone?” I asked as I angled my head beneath Kagu-hana. “Whoa, I can see all of your bones and blood vessels.”
“Really?” Odin asked as he lifted the head high enough to peer under it. “That's fascinating.”
“All right; I'll do it!” Kagu-hana screamed. “Just stop peering up my neck, you deviants!”
A rock at our feet transformed into a length of rope.
“Good choice,” Amy said as she collected the rope.
Odin put Kagu-hana down, and Amy knotted the rope with Kagu-hana's long braid of hair. Then she swung the head over her shoulder and started heading further into Meido.
“Oh, the indignity,” Kagu-hana lamented as he swung upside-down across Amy's back.
“What comes next?” Odin asked as we followed after Amy.
“King Henjou.” Amy waved a hand at another empty throne. “He gives the sixth trial, but it seems that Kagu-hana spoke the truth, and the other kings have fled with Enma.”
“Of course I spoke the truth,” Kagu-hana sputtered. “My honor is all I have.”
“Sad,” Ira muttered.
“Now we must cross that.” Sakuya pointed toward a dark land beyond the empty throne.
“We can fly over it,” Azrael suggested. “We don't mind carrying you ladies.”
“Thank you, but we'd best stick to the ground,” Amy said. “There are giant birds who rule those dark skies, and they breathe fire.”
Amy pointed to a streak of firelight flashing through the darkness.
“And they'll peck our eyes out!” Kagu-hana cried. “You'd best turn back!”
Amy stuffed the other end of the rope into Kagu-hana's mouth.
“Eww,” I said. “I'm not holding the end of the rope when we throw him through the gates.”
“You threatened to eat Enma's dick but you won't touch a saliva-saturated rope?” Ira lifted a brow at me.
“Do I have to shove some rope in your mouth too, Ira?” I growled.
“Just pointing out the irony.” Ira chuckled.
“It might be best if you two shifted back to human,” Sakuya said to Odin and me. “We want to draw as little attention to ourselves as possible.”
Odin and I looked at each other and shrugged. I transformed into my weredragon form, and Odin mimicked me; covering his human body with scales.
“Not quite human, but it will do,” Amy said with a smirk.
“I like this body.” Odin tapped his fireproof scales. “The agility of a human with the armor of a dragon.”
“I like your horns,” I teased him as I stroked the ebony horns sweeping back from his temple. “You look good as a dragon shifter; dangerous.”
“Thank you, sweetheart.” Odin drew me over to kiss me.
“If you're finished admiring yourselves and canoodling, perhaps we could start our journey through that sinister landscape filled with fire-breathing birds,” Ira said dryly.
“It's like having Horus with us,” Odin whispered to me, and I giggled.
“I thought the Fire Cock was in Jigoku?” Ted asked with a grin.
“The Japanese like fire-birds as much as the Egyptians like fire-snakes.” Amy shrugged. “Now, everyone walk warily and keep one eye on the sky.”
We stepped into the eerie lands and the light faded slowly around us. Soon, we couldn't see the sky above us or the birds that flew there. But we could hear them. Terrible shrieks sliced through the oppressive dark, and the flapping of enormous wings echoed down to us. Occasionally, fire would light the landscape; illuminating strange creatures with thick hides and bulbous eyes that hissed at us before they scurried away. The terrain was flat and empty; very little could stand the constant bombardment of the fire-birds. Only a few charred boulders and the hard carapaces of the land creatures survived.
Suddenly—with a great whoosh of air—something large swept down and snatched up Sakuya. The goddess cried out in terror as she disappeared into the shadowy sky. Before anyone else could react, Sam launched himself upward and vanished into the darkness after her. An avian shrieking pierced the black, but it quickly shifted from an aggressive sound to a wounded cry, and then it stopped altogether. A few feet away from us, a
