Title: Night Of The Dragon
Series: Shadow Of The Fox
Author: Julie Kagawa
Publisher: Inkyard Press
Genre: YA, Fantasy, Legends, Myths, Fables
Release Date: 31st March 2020
BLURB supplied by Harlequin
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.
PURCHASE LINKS
EXCERPT
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.”
He
would come to regret those words more than any other in his existence.
Excerpted
from Night of the Dragon by Julie Kagawa. © 2020 by Julie Kagawa, used with
permission by Inkyard Press.
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 dog trainer 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.
AUTHOR LINKS
Twitter @jkagawa
Instagram @juliekagawaauthor
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