Brave Story - Miyuki Miyabe [378]
Demon’s Bane in her hand, the Goddess stepped forward, sweeping back the hem of her white dress. She thrust an arm straight before her, holding the blade directly above the image of the mirror. “Traveler Wataru. Here is your answer, from the Tower of Destiny given to the land below.” The point of the blade lowered, and the Goddess quietly released her grasp on the hilt. The sword began to fall, falling through the dais, into Vision, toward the Mirror of Eternal Shadow.
Down in Vision, everyone turned their eyes toward the sky.
A single beam of light came down from the heavens. It was the sword of light and it split the sky in two.
Then the piercing light sank into the Mirror of Eternal Shadow.
The great dark wings supporting the mirror flapped twice as if they were desperately clawing at the sky. After that, they began to fade. Without their support, the mirror tilted to its side. And just when it seemed as though the darkness brimming in the mirror might spill out, a bolt of lightning cracked the mirror to pieces.
The residents of Solebria witnessed the Mirror of Eternal Shadow splinter. First into two, then four, then eight, each crack spawning new fissures of its own, until it had broken into a thousand pieces.
The mirror now destroyed, the demonkin hordes were pulled back into the Dark from whence they came—their bodies reduced to black ash falling from the sky.
Everyone saw the source of their terror disappear in the blink of an eye. And before they could react in any way, the dusty remains quickly vanished.
People turned to each other.
They’re gone. They’ve left. The demonkin are no more.
It wasn’t long before the cheering began.
Just at that moment in Gasara, Kee Keema was standing on the roof of the branch office swinging his axe. One foul demonkin clawed at his head, another went for his throat, and a third clung to his back. The waterkin thrashed, trying to throw his assailants off, while Meena joined the fray, wielding a frying pan she had taken from the lodge kitchen.
“Off him! Fiend! Hang in there, Kee Keema!”
“Won’t these guys ever give up?” he roared. He was covered with wounds, but still fought on, snapping at a demonkin’s claws with his bared teeth. “You won’t take me down that easy!”
Kee Keema threw a demonkin aside, and Meena smacked it on the head with her frying pan.
And it disappeared.
They all disappeared. The countless demonkin swarming in the skies over Gasara faded away. Kee Keema and Meena stood, covered in black ash, dumbfounded.
“What was that?”
Kee Keema turned, spitting out a black clod of soot that had been a demonkin claw.
Their eyes met, and both of them looked up. Then they looked higher, toward the tower they knew stood there in the vault of the sky.
“It’s Wataru.”
By the gates of the town of Gasara, the Knights of Stengel fought for all they were worth. There were elderly and children to protect, and many more demonkin to kill. The gates must be defended to the death.
Looking to the left, a Knight could be seen throwing down his sword and picking up a flaming torch in its stead. To the right, a Knight lay prone, his life slowly ebbing from his body. Everywhere discarded greaves and helms were scattered on the ground.
“Don’t give them an inch! Push them back!” the captain yelled to his men. None among them were unscathed. The demonkin were strong and not easily felled. One after another the Knights were crushed by the black wings of death.
“Captain, look out!”
After cutting down several of the demonkin, Captain Ronmel had lifted a hand to wipe the streaming sweat from his eyes, and in that moment, a demonkin had launched at him. Caught off-guard, the captain stumbled. One of his Knights charged, but he was caught by a dive-bombing demonkin