A Fox's Alliance (American Kitsune Book 10) Read online

  AMERICAN KITSUNE: VOLUME 10

  BRANDON VARNELL

  Illustrated by Kirsten Moody

  Edited by Crystal Holdefer

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  A Fox’s Alliance

  Copyright © 2019 Brandon Varnell

  Illustrations © Kirsten Moody

  Ebook formatting: Lia at Free Your Words

  All rights reserved

  Brandon Varnell and Kitsune Incorporated supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce creative works that enrich our culture.

  The uploading and distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use the material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact the publisher. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

  To see Brandon Varnell’s other works, or to ask for permission to use his works, visit him at www.varnell-brandon.com, facebook at www.facebook.com/AmericanKitsune, twitter at www.twitter.com/BrandonbVarnell, Patreon at www.patreon.com/BrandonVarnell, and instagram at www.instagram.com/brandonbvarnell.

  Want to know when my next book is out? Sign up for my mailing list at www.varnell-brandon.com/mailing-list.

  WORDS YOU SHOULD KNOW

  Kijo: Kijo are female demons. They resemble human women in most ways, although they are usually hideously ugly to behold. Most kijo were, in fact, once human women, but hatred, or jealously, a curse, or a wicked crime corrupted their souls their bodies into monstrous forms. Some have red or yellow eyes, blue skin, sharp horns, long claws, or other supernatural features. Usually they dress in rags and wear their hair long and unkempt, living like savages far from civilization.

  Kyūbi: A powerful nine-tailed Kitsune, or fox yōkai, derived from the legend of the Bijuu. Kyūbi no Yokou was said to be the most powerful of the nine due to his unlimited power, which earned him the title King of Bijuu. The legend goes that it fought the Yamata no Orochi for 100 years before emerging victorious. There are other legends of nine-tailed Kitsune, such as the story of the Japanese courtesan Tamamo no Mae. Weeaboos will also recognize her as the number 1 foxy waifu from Fate Grand Order.

  Nuraihyon: Nurarihyon is a mysterious and powerful yōkai encountered all across Japan. Appearances can be deceiving, and nurarihyon is the perfect illustration of that saying. Overall, he is rather benign-looking, his head elongated and gourd-shaped. His face is wizened and wrinkled, resembling a cross between and old man and a catfish. He wears elegant clothing – often a splendid silk kimono or the rich robes of a Buddhist abbot – and carries himself in the quiet manner of a sophisticated gentleman.

  Hyakki Yagyō: The hyakki yagyō is the dreaded night parade of one hundred demons – the night when all of the yōkai, oni, ghosts, tsukumogami, and other supernatural creatures leave their homes and parade through the streets of Japan in one massive spectacle of utter pandemonium. Those foolish enough to go outside on these nights, or to peek out of their windows in hopes to catch a glimpse of the supernatural are either killed by the monsters, or spirited away by the monsters. The parade is said to be led by nurarihyon, nozuchi, and otoroshi.

  Shuten-dōji: There are three monsters who are considered the greatest and most evil yōkai in all of Japanese folklore: the ghost of Emperor Sutoku, the nine-tailed kitsune Tamamo no Mae, and the dreaded king of the oni, Shuten dōji.

  Shuten dōji was not born an oni. There are many stories about how he came to be, but most of them say that he was originally a human boy who was born over a thousand years ago either in present-day Shiga or Toyama. His mother was a human woman and his father was the great dragon Yamata-no-Orochi. How he changed from boy to demon varies greatly from story to story, but the one popular version goes like this: There was a young boy who was supernaturally strong and abnormally intelligent for his age. Everyone around him constantly called him a demon child due to his incredible strength and wit, and he gradually became terribly anti-social and resentful of others. At age six, even his own mother abandoned him. Orphaned, he became an apprentice priest at Mt. Hiei in Kyoto. Naturally, he was the strongest and smartest of the young acolytes, and he grew resentful of them as well. He slacked off on his studies as a result and got into fights. He also fell into drinking, which was forbidden to monks; however he could out-drink anyone and everyone who was willing to sit down and drink against him. Because of his fondness for alcohol, he became known as Shuten dōji, “the little drunkard.”

  Oni: Oni are one the greatest icons of Japanese folklore. They are large and scary, standing taller than the tallest man, and sometimes many times that. They come in many varieties, but are most commonly depicted with red or blue skin, wild hair, two or more horns, and fang-like tusks. Other variations exist in different colors and with different numbers of horns, eyes, or fingers and toes. They wear loincloths made of the pelts of great beasts. All oni possess extreme strength and constitution, and many of them are also accomplished sorcerers. They are ferocious demons, bringers of disaster, spreaders of disease, and punishers of the damned in Hell.

  Nekomata: One particularly monstrous breed of bakeneko is a two-tailed variety known as nekomata. Nekomata are found in cities and villages, transformed from ordinary cats. They are born in the same way as other bakeneko, though only the oldest, largest cats with the longest tails (and thus more power and intelligence) become this powerful variety. When these cats transform from ordinary animals into yōkai, their tale splits down the center into two identical tails. These are the monster cats most likely to be seen walking about on their hind legs and speaking human languages.

  Shikigami: Shikigami are servant spirits used by onmyōji in rituals for various purposes. Some are used as charms for good fortune, some are used as amulets for protection, and some are used as curses. To call a shikigami means to call a god, a demon, a yōkai, or a ghost and to utilize its power for some deed or another.

  REMINDER

  Lilian

  This is just a friendly reminder to please consider leaving a review if you enjoy the author’s work!

  Iris

  The author is prone to crying when you don’t. He’s such a baby.

  Author

  I am not!

  Lilian & Iris

  You are too.

  Author

  Stop being mean to meeeeeee! T_T

  Contents

  Title Page

  Publishing Info

  Words You Should Know

  Reminder

  Chapter 1: It’s All In The Plan

  Chapter 2: We’re Going Where?

  Chapter 3: It’s A Tanuki Life

  Chapter 4: This Cannot Be A Maid!

  Chapter 5: Saint Byakko

  Chapter 6: The Girl Who Just Wanted To Help

  Chapter 7: Batter Up

  Chapter 8: Magical Girl Training

  Chapter 9: Battle At Manhattan Beach

  Chapter 10: The Yōkai Café of Healing

  Chapter 11: Is It Finally Time To Leave?

  Chapter 12: Seduction At Its Finest

  Chapter 13: A Battle Of Ideals

  Chapter 14: Meeting An Old Friend

  Afterword

  WIEDERGEBURT: Legend of the Reincarnated Warrior

  Chapter 1: The Final Battle

  Hey, Did You Know?

  Exclusively on Patreon...

  American Kitsune

  A Most Unli
kely Hero

  Arcadia’s Ignoble Knight

  The Executioner

  Social Media

  CHAPTER 1

  IT’S ALL IN THE PLAN

  Kevin ran through the streets, his feet pounding against the surface, his knees jarring from the impact, and his breathing coming out in heavy rasps.

  It was December 15th, and the chilly winter air caused his breath to come out in thick puffs of steam. While Phoenix, Arizona, rarely became cold enough for it to snow, that didn’t mean it never became cold. Even while wearing his black leather bodysuit, which protected his vitals from the chilly temperatures, Kevin still felt the cold seep into his lungs, creating a sharp ache in his chest.

  He wasn’t alone. Several other people ran alongside him. Lilian on his immediate right, Phoebe on his left, and a family of yōkai directly behind them. Polydora was also present, but she ran ahead of them all, acting as a scout.

  It was later in the day. The sky burned like fire, which Kevin felt was fitting—this place, after all, had become one of the many war zones that all civilians had been evacuated from. The urban warfare going on in this section of Phoenix was particularly fierce.

  That was actually why he and the others had come. A small family of yōkai had somehow gotten caught up in the fighting here, and Kotohime had called him to create a team, extract the family, and take them somewhere safe.

  Kevin didn’t really know what this small family of four had been doing in such a dangerous area, but he supposed it didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was getting them to safety.

  “The coast is clear!” Polydora called out, standing at the end of the alley.

  Kevin looked at the yōkai family. They were bakeneko, cat yōkai that were closely related to nekomata and kasha, their more powerful brothers. Having spent four months living within a mostly yōkai community, he recognized their species on sight, even though they didn’t look much different from the other two yōkai types.

  Bakeneko were the weakest of the cat yōkai species. However, they still had impressive control over fire. That being said, while many of them had an affinity for fire, if that ability was never exercised, never used, then they might as well have been human.

  These yōkai were like all the others who lived among humans—people who, in their effort to blend in, never practiced their abilities, never tried to gain the power that was theirs by right, which caused their latent potential to stagnate. In many ways, they were human, even if their species suggested otherwise.

  This is why I hate the Sons and Daughters of Humanity.

  “We’re going to make a break for it now. I want you four to stay right behind me, okay?”

  While two of the bakeneko, children who couldn’t have been older than five and six respectively, remained frozen within their parents’ grasp, the older two nodded affirmatively.

  Kevin breathed in deeply as he unholstered his guns. One of them was black, while the other shone a bright silver. They had been made for him by Kiara, who’d given them to him as a present last summer when he’d gone to the Pnevma Estate in Greece. Now they were his go-to weapons.

  He glanced at Lilian, who noticed his gaze and nodded, signaling that she was ready. Phoebe had her bo staff in hand and was gazing at Polydora, who was continuing to act in her capacity as their scout.

  “Are you four ready?” he asked. The two adults nodded. “Then let’s go!”

  They ran out onto the main street, which was mercifully empty. The ruined husks of buildings surrounded them on either side. Glass windows were busted in. Doors were broken down. They were in downtown Phoenix, so most of the buildings towered over them. That made him uncomfortable. The Sons and Daughters of Humanity’s favorite tactic was sniping them from a distance. After all, a round from a sniper rifle was enough to kill even an inu if it hit them in a vital point.

  The sound of gunfire and explosions rang out in the distance. It was coming from the general direction that he’d last seen Kotohime, which meant they must still be battling there. He wished he could help them, but the safety of the innocent was more important.

  A gunshot rang out. Kevin reacted in a split second, grabbing the nearest bakeneko—the woman—and pulling her and the child in her arms down. Lilian did the same, pulling the father and son down with her and covering them with her tails.

  Several feet away, Polydora stumbled, blood gushing from a wound in her side, leaking from between her fingers and staining her shirt. The yama uba fell to her knees and then onto her stomach.

  “Polydora!” Phoebe ran over to the other woman while yelling her name.

  “Lilian!” Kevin shouted.

  “Above us. To the right. The top of the building with the big sign on it.”

  Kevin rolled off the woman and her child, aiming his guns at the specified building, searching for the person who’d shot Polydora. Unlike Lilian, who could enhance her vision with youki, he was only human, and 20/20 vision could only do so much.

  It took him a moment to find them. They were just a small speck of black amidst a large billboard of blues and oranges. Kevin narrowed his eyes, swiveled his guns toward the figure kneeling on the building’s roof, and let loose.

  The chug-chug-chug-chug of his guns going off was similar to crackling thunder hitting the same spot several times. Black and white energy lanced from the barrels and slammed into the spot surrounding the figure on the roof. While many of his shots went wide, a good number of them hit, and the person who was peppered with youki bullets fell off the billboard and disappeared. This, oddly enough, brought him no satisfaction. He felt sick to his stomach.

  “Let’s keep going!” Kevin shouted. He stood back up and helped the woman to her feet. The children were crying, but he couldn’t let that get to him. Now that he’d been forced to use his guns, it would be easier for their enemies to pinpoint their location based on the sound.

  They moved on, Phoebe carrying Polydora over her shoulder. Kevin grimaced when he saw the damage done. The wound looked nasty, like someone had gouged a chunk of meat from her with a jagged ice cream scooper. Polydora was already unconscious, her arms and legs limply dangling within Phoebe’s grip.

  We’re not gonna make it to the extraction point in time to save Polydora.

  Kevin bit his lip, his mind racing a thousand miles per second. They needed to heal Polydora and fast—even if it was just enough to stop the bleeding. She wouldn’t last long with a wound like that.

  “Into the building, you guys!”

  Everyone followed his advice quickly, hurrying into the nearest building, a tall office building made up mostly of glass windows. Kevin pushed them all into a reception room of some sort, bypassing the reception desk and the couches and chairs that had been set up along the room’s perimeter. They entered a small hallway and Kevin opened the closest door, which led into a filing room.

  “Lilian, do what you can to heal her. Phoebe and I will stand guard.”

  “You got it, Beloved.”

  With his help, Phoebe set Polydora down on the ground and straightened her limbs. Crimson liquid quickly spread across the ground underneath her. The ragged wound on her side was more terrible now that he could see it without Phoebe’s arms in the way. Kneeling down, Lilian pulled up Polydora’s shirt, her nose curling when she saw how bad the wound truly was.

  “This… I don’t know if I can heal this level of damage yet.” She looked at him.

  “Just do what you can,” Kevin placed a hand on her shoulder. “If need be, focus only on stopping the bleeding. We can worry about repairing the actual damage once we’re safe, but we can’t let her die of blood loss.”

  At the very least, they needed to keep Polydora from bleeding out. She was in greater danger of dying from blood loss than anything else, though if they let the wound go unhealed for long, it would eventually get infected. However, so long as they reached the extraction point within the next fifteen minutes, they should be good.

  The building we’re in is on
the corner of Monroe and Second Avenue. Our extraction point is the Metro Valley Bus Station on Van Buren and First Avenue.

  That meant they were only one street away from pickup. The fighting in this area was light, so they should be able to reach the extraction point without any trouble.

  Just to be on the safe side, we’ll cut through the parking lot on the other side of the street. We can use the cars and parking roofs as cover.

  “Do you have a plan to reach the extraction point?” Phoebe asked, dispelling Kevin’s musing with her question.

  “I do. Just follow my lead, and we’ll all make it out of here quickly.”

  “Of course. I would follow you anywhere, Master.”

  “Don’t call me that, especially not while we’re on a mission!”

  “My apologies.” Phoebe bowed her head in deference. “You can punish me when we arrive home. I suggest taking those chains I got recently, using them to tie me up, and—”

  “We’re so done talking about this,” Kevin cut her off.

  Ever since she learned about what happened between him and Iris, Phoebe had renewed her efforts to have his children. He felt like he should have expected it. Honestly, Lilian’s words about how “Phoebe had to get her permission” could have only lasted for so long, but he’d been hoping they would have lasted a little longer than one month.

  Deciding to let Phoebe guard the entrance, Kevin wandered over to the yōkai family. They all looked frightened, with the youngsters huddling against their parents, who clung to their children as if they’d disappear should they let go, but at least they had stopped crying.

  “How are you guys doing?” he asked, crouching down so he could speak with them at eye level. “Are you holding up all right?”

  “We’re, well, we’re not fine, but we’re doing okay, I guess,” the father, a bakeneko with black hair and greenish-yellow eyes said.

  “If you don’t mind, could I ask how you guys got mixed up in the fighting here?” Kevin asked. “Far as I’m aware, there shouldn’t be anyone living in this part of the city anymore.”