Page 26 of Dragon 7

The Death Guardian's head snapped toward me. "Don't ask her anything while she is—"

"Bad!!!!" The Itako screamed so loud I jumped. "So bad!!!"

Every hooded figure went rigid.

The Itako’s voice began to screech as she screamed, "They strung the Dragon's dead body up beside his brother!!!"

Terror ran through me. "What?"

"And the Fox had his way with the Tiger." The glow in her eyes brightened. "Then, his men took her over and over for days!! All of them!! Until she bled and could not stop bleeding!"

“Oh my God.” Horror crawled up through my body and sat in my throat.

The Death Guardian placed her hand on the Itako’s shoulder. “That is enough. Come back.”

"The Fox discovered the Tiger carried a child!!” Blood spilled from the corners of the Itako’s glowing white eyes. “He kept her beside him after that, put a chain around her neck, and kept her naked at the foot of his bed—"

"Enough." The Death Guardian shook her shoulder and then began to rub slow circles. "Come back to us. Come back now."

"And the Little Tiger!" The Itako's voice climbed higher. "The things they did to the Little Tiger when she came into the world. The things they did to her after."

No. No.

"And she lived through all of it!" The Itako's white eyes found mine. "That was the worst part! They made sure she—"

"Enough now!!" The Death Guardian raised her hand, and two hooded figures broke from the circle. "Take her. Let her calm down."

“Bad!!” The Itako screamed, “So bad!”

The new figures closed around the Itako and drew her toward the trees.

“Why?!!” The Itako thrashed between her keepers as they pulled her into the dark. Her blood-streaked face turned toward me one last time, and her white eyes found mine across the clearing and held them. “So bad!!”

Then the trees swallowed her whole.

I came up off the stone as far as the hands would allow me. "What did they do to my daughter?!"

One hooded figure eased me back down against the slab. “Please, calm down, Tora. That was the old timeline.”

The Death Guardian let out a long breath. “I should have told you the rule.”

“What rule?”

“Never talk to the Itako while she is in the spirit world. Her control is. . .shaky at times.” The Death Guardian came to my side. “Do not worry. That timeline is gone—”

“But—”

“It was one thread among many. You should set it aside."

My whole body shook now. "What did they do to my daughter?"

"Set it aside." She laid a hand flat on my shoulder, and the heat of it surprised me through the thin robe. "You made your decision and Kenji travels toward us. Both actions erased that bad timeline. This is good.”

“But there are o-other bad timelines?”

“Yes, that is why the Itako is near. We will see how many other bad ones we can erase with the ritual. Which is why we must move quickly." She leaned her head to the side. “Are you ready, Tora?”

Am I?