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.
Buy Links:
IndieBound: https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781335146786
Books-A-Million: https://www.booksamillion.com/p/Night-Dragon/Julie-Kagawa/9781335146786?id=7833509719461
Google Play:
https://books.google.com/books/about/Night_of_the_Dragon.html?id=8yCzDwAAQBAJExcerpt
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.”
He would come to regret those words more
than any other in his existence.
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:
Author website: http://juliekagawa.com/
Twitter: @jkagawa
Instagram:
@juliekagawaauthor
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