When the two Yamato soldiers saw the empty pit, they began to point and yell in excited tones. The demon soldier seemed to snap. He drew out his sword and killed both soldiers with one movement. As the bodies fell, two black pools of ooze formed out of the ground. In an instant, the soldiers were covered with undulating black masses that were slowly beginning to transform.
Kira had never witnessed an actual possession occur. She watched as one of the black figures latched itself onto the neck of the soldier. At first, she didn’t realize what was happening and then comprehension struck her. It was liquefying the internal organs and skeletal mass of the body and consuming it, like a spider. The black ooze was bulking up and materializing as the human body flattened. When there was nothing left but skin, the now fully materialized black figure let itself slither into the skin. The demon was now fully formed into a human.
Kira sprang into action. She reached for her bow and nodded grimly at Jaewon. They both released their arrows at the same time, taking out the newly formed demons as they rose to their feet. The remaining demon bolted. Suddenly, the tiger surged forward. Even with an injured leg, it was faster than the demon. In three bounds, the tiger leaped onto the demon’s back and mauled it brutally with its claws. With one swipe of its paw, the tiger ripped the demon’s throat out, releasing the black form within from the human skin.
Stepping out into the clearing, Kira and Jaewon approached the deflating bodies, black ooze disappearing into the earth. The tiger limped over to Kira’s side. There was no blood or other matter on its muzzle or claws. Kira scratched its head, admiring the cleanness of its kill.
“You know, a tiger would be a great companion to have during a demon attack,” Jaewon mused.
Kira had already walked over to the human remains and began to drag one over to the tiger pit. She threw it in the pit and then repeated the action with the other two bodies. When she was done, she looked down in distaste.
“We need to fill this in,” she stated. Pulling out her sword, she hacked at the nearby trees, cutting down large leafy branches. Over an hour later, the pit was more than halfway filled with woodland debris. The tiger had been lying in the shade of a nearby tree, watching them through its large yellow eyes.
“That should do it,” Kira said. “Hopefully it will stop another tiger from being injured.”
“Great, but is it OK if we don’t make camp here?” Jaewon asked. “I’m still a little freaked out by what we saw.”
“Me too,” Kira said. “It was disgusting.”
“That goes down on my list of things I wish I’d never seen,” Jaewon said.
As if understanding them, the tiger limped forward, leading them away from the horrors of the pit. After a short hike, it brought them into a beautiful meadow with a small but fast-running creek of clear, fresh water. It collapsed by a large rock and stretched out.
“Much better,” Jaewon declared.
“No fire,” Kira said. “Just in case.”
They ate a cold meal of the leftovers Jaewon had saved. Kira shared her food with the tiger, who licked her hand gratefully.
“We’ll have to leave early to make up for lost time,” Jaewon said.
“No, not until she’s better,” Kira replied.
“It’s a girl?” Jaewon asked in surprise. “I won’t ask how you found that out.”
Kira slept by the tiger’s side and woke in the early hours of the morning to a stunning sight. All around them there lay at least a hundred tigers. She sat up and rubbed her eyes, then caught sight of Jaewon, standing guard nearby, his face filled with wary awe.
“When did this happen?” she asked.
“They’ve been coming all through the night,” he replied. “First one would appear, then another.”
“Why didn’t you wake me?” she asked.
“You looked so peaceful. As soon as I realized that they had no intention of eating me, I figured I was safe, as long as I stayed close to you. They’ve just been lying there, patiently waiting.”
“Waiting for what?” she asked. She rose to her feet. At that moment all the tigers stood up and roared.
Jaewon looked at her with such a harried expression that Kira had to laugh. She felt euphoric. Here she stood before an army of tigers, and she was unafraid.
The injured tiger pawed at her side. Kira turned and checked the tiger’s wounds. They looked better. The tiger would be fine.
Kira caressed the tiger’s head, laughing at the rough texture of her tongue as she licked Kira’s hand.
“You are going to wash up now, right?” Jaewon said with a disgusted snort.
“Will it keep you from kissing me?”
“No,” he replied immediately.
“Then I might as well wash up.”
The tiger let out a loud purr and then sauntered away. One by one, the other tigers all vanished into the morning mist.
Jaewon shivered. “That was eerily strange and scary.”
“You were never in danger,” Kira replied.
“Tell that to my heart,” he retorted, clutching his chest. “I’ve never been so stressed out in my life!”
Kira studied him with a slight smile. “Are you sure you don’t have some actor’s blood in you? You’re quite good at being overdramatic.”