Night of the Dragon
(Series: Shadow of the Fox)
by Julie Kagawa
On Sale: Mar 31,
2020
Inkyard Press
Young Adult Legends,
Myths, Fables, Young Adult Paranormal, Occult & Supernatural, Young Adult
Fantasy
9781335146786; 1335146784
$19.99 USD
368 pages
About
the Book
All is
lost.
To save everyone she loves from imminent death, kitsune shapeshifter Yumeko gave up the final piece of the Scroll of a Thousand Prayers. Now she and her ragtag band of companions must make one desperate final effort to stop the Master of Demons from using the scroll to call the Great Kami Dragon and make the wish that will plunge the empire into chaos.
Shadow clan assassin Kage Tatsumi has regained control of his body and agreed to a true deal with the devil—the demon inside him, Hakaimono. They will share his body and work with Yumeko to stop a madman, and to separate Hakaimono from Tatsumi and the cursed sword that trapped the demon for nearly a millennium.
But even with their combined skills and powers, this unlikely team of heroes knows the forces of evil may be impossible to overcome. And there is another player in the battle for the scroll, a player who has been watching, waiting for the right moment to pull strings that no one even realized existed…until now.
To save everyone she loves from imminent death, kitsune shapeshifter Yumeko gave up the final piece of the Scroll of a Thousand Prayers. Now she and her ragtag band of companions must make one desperate final effort to stop the Master of Demons from using the scroll to call the Great Kami Dragon and make the wish that will plunge the empire into chaos.
Shadow clan assassin Kage Tatsumi has regained control of his body and agreed to a true deal with the devil—the demon inside him, Hakaimono. They will share his body and work with Yumeko to stop a madman, and to separate Hakaimono from Tatsumi and the cursed sword that trapped the demon for nearly a millennium.
But even with their combined skills and powers, this unlikely team of heroes knows the forces of evil may be impossible to overcome. And there is another player in the battle for the scroll, a player who has been watching, waiting for the right moment to pull strings that no one even realized existed…until now.
Excerpted from Night of the Dragon by Julie
Kagawa. © 2020 by Julie Kagawa, used with permission by Inkyard Press.
One thousand years
ago
In the long years of his existence, the number of times he
had been summoned from Jigoku could be counted on one claw.
Other demon lords had been summoned before. Yaburama. Akumu.
The oni lords were too powerful not to have some en-terprising blood mage
attempt a contract with them, though such rituals often ended badly for the
arrogant human who thought they could enslave an oni lord. The four of them
were, admit-tedly, a proud bunch, and did not take kindly to an insignificant
mortal attempting to bend them to their will. They humored the blood mage long
enough to hear what the human was offering, and if it did not interest them, or
if the mage foolishly tried to assert dominance, they would rip him apart and
do what they pleased in the mortal realm until they were sent back to Jigoku.
It had always amused Hakaimono when a mortal tried to summon
him. Especially that moment when they gazed upon him for the first time and
fully realized what they had done.
Narrowing his eyes, he gazed around, peering through smoke
and ignoring the brief feeling of vertigo that always accompanied being dragged
from Jigoku into the mortal realm. A growl of murderous annoyance rumbled in
his throat. Already, he was not in the best of moods. Akumu had been scheming
again, trying to weaken Hakaimono’s forces behind his back, and he had been on
his way to deal with the devious Third General when black fire had erupted over
his skin, words of blood magic echoing in his head as he abruptly found himself
in the mortal realm. Now he stood in the center of a ruin, broken walls and
shattered pillars surrounding him, the scent of death thick on the air, and
contemplated squeezing the head of the mage responsible until it popped like an
egg in his claws.
The stones under his feet were sticky and had a sweet,
coppery smell he recognized instantly. Lines of blood had been painted over the
ground in a familiar circle, with words and sigils of power woven in a complex
pattern. A summoning circle, and a powerful one at that. Whomever the blood
mage was, they had done their research. Though it wouldn’t save them in the
end.
“Hakaimono.”
The First Oni looked down. A woman stood at the edge of the
blood circle, black robes and long hair seeming to blend into the shadows. She
clutched a knife in slender fingers, her pale arm covered in red to the elbow.
A chuckle escaped him. “Well, don’t I feel important,” he
said, crouching down to better see the woman. She gazed coolly back. “Summoned
by the immortal shadow herself. I am curious, however.” He raised a talon,
watching the human over curved black claws the length of her arm. “If you rip
off an immortal’s head, do you think it will die?”
“You will not kill me, First Oni.” The woman’s voice was
neither amused nor afraid, though the certainty in it made him smirk. “I am not
so foolish as to attempt a binding, nor will I ask much of you. I have but a
single request, and after that, you are free to do what you like.”
“Oh?” Hakaimono chuckled, but admittedly, he was curi-ous.
Only the very desperate, foolish or powerful called on one of the four oni
generals, and only for the most ambitious of re-quests. Like destroying a
castle, or wiping out an entire gen-eration. The risk was too great for
anything less. “Let’s hear it then, human,” he prompted. “What is this one task
you would have me undertake?”
“I need you to bring me the Dragon scroll.”
Hakaimono sighed. Of course. He had forgotten it was that
time again in the mortal world. When the great scaly one him-self would rise to
grant a wish to an insignificant, short-lived human. “You disappoint me,
mortal,” he growled. “I am not a hound that fetches upon command. You could
have gotten the amanjaku to retrieve the scroll for you, or one of your own
human warrior pets. I have been called on to slaughter armies and tear
strongholds to dust. Fetching the Dragon’s Prayer is not worth my time.”
“This is different.” The woman’s voice was as unruffled as
ever. If she knew she was in danger of being ripped apart and devoured by an
annoyed First Oni, she did not show it. “I have already sent my strongest
champion to retrieve the scroll, but I fear he has betrayed me. He wants the
power of the Dragon scroll for himself, and I cannot let the Wish slip away
now. You must find him and take back the scroll.”
“One human?” Hakaimono curled a lip. “Not much of a
challenge.”
“You do not know Kage Hirotaka,” the woman said quietly. “He
is the greatest warrior the Empire of Iwagoto has seen in a thousand years. He
is kami-touched, but also trained in the way of the samurai. His talents with
both blade and magic are so great, the emperor himself praised his achievements.
He has killed men, yokai and demons in waves, and will be perhaps the single
greatest opponent you have ever faced, Hakaimono.” “I very seriously doubt
that.” The First Oni felt a smirk cross his face as he breathed in the
blood-scented air. “But now, I’m intrigued. Let’s see if this champion of
shadow is as good as you say. Where can I find this demonslaying human?”
“Hirotaka’s estate lies outside a village called Koyama, ten miles from the
eastern border of Kage territory,” the woman re-plied. “It’s not hard to find,
but it is rather isolated. Aside from Hirotaka’s men and servants, you won’t be
opposed. Find Hi-rotaka, kill him and bring the scroll to me. Oh, and one more
thing.” She raised the knife, observing the bloody, glittering edge. “I cannot
have anyone suspecting me of blood magic. Not now, when the night of the Wish
is so close.” Her black eyes rose to his, narrowing sharply. “There can be no
witnesses, Hakaimono. No survivors. Kill everyone there.”
“I can do that.” A slow grin spread across the oni’s face,
and his eyes gleamed red with bloodlust. “This will be fun.”
About
the author
Julie Kagawa,
the New York Times bestselling author of the Iron Fey, Blood of Eden, Talon,
and Shadow of the Fox series was born in Sacramento, California. But nothing
exciting really happened to her there. So, at the age of nine she and her
family moved to Hawaii, which she soon discovered was inhabited by large
carnivorous insects, colonies of house geckos, and frequent hurricanes. She
spent much of her time in the ocean, when she wasn’t getting chased out of it
by reef sharks, jellyfish, and the odd eel.
When not
swimming for her life, Julie immersed herself in books, often to the chagrin of
her schoolteachers, who would find she hid novels behind her Math textbooks
during class. Her love of reading led her to pen some very dark and gruesome
stories, complete with colored illustrations, to shock her hapless teachers.
The gory tales faded with time, but the passion for writing remained, long
after she graduated and was supposed to get a real job.
To pay the
rent, Julie worked in different bookstores over the years, but discovered the
managers frowned upon her reading the books she was supposed to be shelving. So
she turned to her other passion: training animals. She worked as a professional
dogtrainer for several years, dodging Chihuahua bites and overly enthusiastic
Labradors, until her first book sold and she stopped training to write full
time.
Julie now
lives in North Carolina with her husband, two obnoxious cats, and a pair of
Australian Shepherds that have more Instagram followers than she does.
Social Links:
Twitter: @jkagawa
Instagram: @juliekagawaauthor
Buy Links:
Books-A-Million: https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Night-Dragon/Julie-Kagawa/9781335146786?id=7833509719461
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