The Demon Within

Chapter Seventeen

It was a five days later before Kazuma showed himself by the gates of the palace again. Kalik and the others were running out of patience, wondering why Kazuma wanted to take his precious time with rescuing Mei. Kalik knew Kazuma had preparations to make, but it shouldn't have taken this long. Their plan was perfect; the samurai would act as a decoy for the elites on the outside of the walls while holding Sakura and Masaru 'hostage'. Meanwhile, Kazuma would lead the other demons into the courtyard and clear it of all elites before opening the gates for the samurai. All Soushi and the others had to do was stall the guards outside; otherwise, they would sound the alarm and Osamu would know they were there. When Kalik saw Kazuma walking down the path with his gang of demons, he had a certain twinkle in his eye, as if he knew something Kalik didn't, which irritated him. He hated knowing Kazuma was better than him. Kazuma stopped down the path, looking sideways at Kalik.

"Yo, Kalik! Where you guys at?" Kalik looked up at the sound of Sakura's voice, and saw them making their way through Kazuma's ranks. He waved at them and watched as they broke into a run until they made it to their own ranks. Once Kazuma made sure of the exchange, he and the other demons vanished, gone to infiltrate the capital. The plan had officially been set into motion. Takashi, after Kazuma departed, narrowed his eyes at Sakura and Masaru venomously.

"I hate waiting. What took you guys so damn long?" Takashi scowled. Sakura placed her hand on the hilt of her sword and narrowed her eyes at Takashi.

"Better watch it human," Sakura growled. "I'll rip your tongue out and shove it down your throat."

"Bite me, bitch," Takashi retorted.

Masaru held Sakura's shoulder as she started forward and narrowed his eyes at Takashi. "It would be in your best interest not to piss us off," Masaru said calmly. Takashi smiled at them and said nothing more, shrugging his shoulders as if the threat meant nothing to him.

"We have the ropes to tie you guys up with," Kalik said gesturing to Kaito to bring the materials over to them. Reluctantly, Sakura and Masaru were tied; their hands were behind their back and they had a rope tightened around their neck. Soushi walked up, respectfully bowed, and then turned towards the main gates of the capital.

"Now the real fun begins," Takashi said excitedly as they headed down the main road to the palace gates. Finally coming up to the gates, Soushi went up and gently knocked on the giant, thick metal doors. Kalik watched as an elites head appeared over the side, his sword in his hand. Kalik narrowed his eyes slightly. Even the sight of an elite made his blood boil.

"What business do you have for coming to the capital?" the elite called out.

"We've come to deliver some demons in league with the Pureblood recently captured," Soushi shouted back. They watched as the elite turned to whisper to another elite up on the wall, and Kalik was beginning to get antsy. Finally, the elite looked back over the wall.

"Demons are no longer a concern to the Emperor. Haven't you heard we are no longer hunting demons since we have captured the girl?" Kalik glanced over at Soushi and saw he was holding his composure.

"No we haven't and that's why we are here. Since when was the order issued out?"

"About a couple days ago. Might I ask whose clan you are from?"

"We are not from a specific clan," Soushi answered calmly. "We are wandering samurai and happened to come across these two defiling the Emperor's good name, so we thought it was natural to deliver them."

The elite burst into laughter and Kalik tightened his hands into fists. He knew the elite was laughing at them. "Hoping to get on the good side of the Emperor, eh? Quite bold for wandering samurai. Unfortunately we are not in need of your service, so you can get away from the gates. Kill the demons yourself."