My Ninja Girl 4 by Gideon Caldwell (latest novels to read .TXT) 📕

to slip away. It wasn’t a perfect solution, but Micah and Bunni had used blankets in the room and towels to bind Kami’s hands, her arms also tied around her body tightly. They gagged her mouth with one of the cloths and used a strip of fabric to blindfold her.

The kitsune awoke just as they stepped out of the massage parlor, and immediately started to struggle. All it took was a quick elbow to the back of her head from Bunni for the woman to stop again.

“What will people think?” Micah asked as they dragged her through the streets, keeping as far away from the center of the road as they could. He also held her two nunchucks with one hand, surprised at how heavy they were.

“Doesn’t matter. It’s not like we can call Bobi to come pick us up in one of his mechas.”

If any of the Plains Dwellers around them noticed, no one said anything, and it wasn’t long before Micah and Bunni had turned onto the lane that led back to the monastery. Soraya had sensed something, and was already waiting for them by the time they reached the courtyard, her sword at her side. No words were exchanged as the kitsune immediately moved into action, preparing a place for them to put Kami. This included turning a few of the lanterns so they cast a cone of light around the woman.

Yuri and Liza appeared on the scene, both in their sleep clothes, Liza’s hair slightly wet.

“What happened?” Liza asked, concern flitting across her face as Micah set Kami’s nunchucks on a stone bench. “Is that… How?”

“She attacked us while we were getting massages,” Micah told her quickly, going with the shortest answer possible. The truth was, Kami had attacked while they were having sex and for a moment, he had been battling Kami while naked with an erection. It was embarrassing, to say the least. And one thing was for sure: Micah hoped never to have to fight in the nude again. It made him feel way too vulnerable.

Kami jerked forward, awake again, and trying to break free of her constraints.

“Do what you need to do,” Yuri told Soraya, who approached Kami and crouched before the kitsune. Soraya focused her breath, and ignored Kami’s struggling as she began muttering the mantra.

“Layna roa regnah cordin cordin merlexnya… Layna roa regnah cordin cordin merlexnya…”

“Kami!” Milsung burst out of the back door, the robes she was sleeping in half-tied at the front of her body. Oblivious to what Soraya was doing, Milsung ended up shoving her out of the way as she reached them. She grabbed her friend and hugged her, a look of confusion coming across Kami’s face.

Soraya was just getting back to her feet when Kami pushed Milsung aside and reached for Soraya’s sword, yanking it out of her scabbard. She spun to her right, the tip of her blade connecting with Milsung’s neck.

It was that fast, that visceral.

Milsung’s head hit the ground, and rolled toward Yuri and Liza. Blood followed as her body fell to the side.

“Mil…” Yuri bent forward, as if she had just received a gut punch.

Kami paused for a moment, blinking rapidly as she came to understand what had happened. She brought Soraya’s weapon to the ready again only to be tackled by Yuri, who scrambled on top of the kitsune. They struggled over the sword; Kami managed to flip Yuri over so she could pin her to the ground.

Whoosh!

Kami shot off Yuri’s body, the leader of the Royal Star Ninjas relying on her power over industria to toss her upward. This had the effect of forcing Kami to drop the sword, which Yuri quickly grabbed. As Kami fell back to the ground, her arms flailing, Yuri drove the sword through her body, a trail of blood bursting out of her back. Yuri brought her down and then savagely pulled up on the blade, Yuri giving Kami a wound that she would not be able to heal from.

And as soon as it had started, it was over.

Micah looked at Liza, who had her arms crossed over her chest, a tear falling down her cheek. Bruised and still a little battered, Bunni had her glaive drawn now and was prepared to engage, while Soraya was still on the ground, clearly aware that she had just come inches away from losing her life. Kami could have just as easily decapitated her…

Yuri dropped to her knees; Soraya came to her immediately, where she gingerly took her sword from the bewildered woman. While Micah didn’t think that Yuri was going to do something like turn the blade on herself, the dark look on her face, and her hair hanging over her head told him otherwise.

Once he got movement of his legs again, Micah rushed toward Yuri, and pulled her into his arms, her head pressing against his chest as she turned away from what was left of Milsung.

Micah took one look at her decapitated body and clenched his eyes shut.

He had witnessed plenty of gruesome things over the course of the battles he had taken part in, death and dismemberment now a recurring theme of his life. But everything had been so peaceful over the last few days, and the shock of going from tranquility to the sudden loss of two lives, blood splattered across the courtyard, Milsung’s head resting somewhere near the grass line, her mouth agape, was a lot to take in.

Micah’s grandmother came out and Liza went to her immediately, ushering the woman back inside.

“I can see what happened,” his grandmother protested. “I’m not one to be sheltered!”

“It’s just not…” Liza excelled audibly. “Trust me, you don’t want to see this. Milsung is dead.”

“Milsung?” his grandmother asked, her tone of voice changing. “But I hardly knew her…”

“Please, let’s get inside. You want something to drink?