14 - Aihi
Violet mist curled around Aihi's feet when she stepped onto the garden path, following the trail of luminescent wisteria that generations of shugo spent their lives protecting. Hidekazu should have been one of the guardians, but he wasn't, yet he waited near the pond's edge anyway.
He turned at her approach, blazing red eyes piercing the fog. His rack of antlers extended far above his head, growing like the branches of a tree, lost in the haze and trees. Not Hidekazu.
Aihi stood, paralyzed, as the creature stepped toward her.
Another kawama grabbed her from behind, claws digging into her arms. A dozen more shouldered the leader, the one she mistook for Hidekazu, crowding in the shadows. The wisteria petals went out one by one as he moved, stripping away their protection, leav
