cavern and washes over us.
The dust cloud speaks with a thousand howls and roars. The cloud thins and I’m able to see the hordes of kaiju stampeding toward us!
They are of every size and shape imaginable— grotesque parodies of animal life as we know it. There are giant spiders with snarling wolf heads. Enormous, saber-toothed rabbits with scaly, crocodile tails. Armored moles that could easily be mistaken for dump trucks. Worms the size of telephone poles. Hordes of insects equal in size to Kitsune and me. And last but certainly not least, Hebira’s slithering, viper children!
In short, they are monsters!
I stare at them, frozen with terror and disbelief.
“Can you halt them?” Kitsune asks from behind me, her voice full of desperation.
“Can I what? No! How could I possibly—?”
I feel something jerk my shirt collar and turn to see Kitsune hauling me to my feet!
“Then run, Raymond-sai!” she yells. “They flee Kumagor! So must we!”
I hop to my feet and sprint after Kitsune. I run as fast humanly possible, but the kaiju still overtake me.
I glance down, shocked and horrified to see several of the spider-wolves abreast of me. But my alarm is wasted. They pay me no head. Under different circumstances, I’m sure it would be open season on yours truly! But right now, they just want to get away from Kumagor as badly as I do.
They scamper ahead of me, crawling up the walls onto the ceiling, trying to reach a safe vantage higher above.
But when it comes to Kumagor, something tells me there’s no such thing!
I’m about to be trampled to death by a herd of hoping monster jackrabbits when Kitsune’s hands appear from the cavern wall to my right and yank me down into a hole.
“Crawl!” she shouts. “Crawl!”
We claw at the earth and with our hands and feet, dragging our bodies deeper into our less than ideal hiding place.
We’ve gone probably twenty yards when the racket from the kaiju silences.
“I think they have—!”
The earthen tunnel shudders as something outside pounds through the cavern with unquantifiable force, raining more dust onto our backs.
It happens again and Kitsune and I cover our heads with our hands. With the third impact, I realize what’s going on.
Kumagor is coming, one colossal step at a time.
My heart throbs uncontrollably. I whimper as tears begin streaming down my face.
“Stay quiet, Raymond-sai,” Kitsune whispers. “And still. Our lives depend on it!”
I nod, though Kitsune can’t see it. I try to forget about the pounding outside and concentrate on that of my heart, trying to slow it down through sheer force of will.
Breathe, I think.
Breathe.
In through the nose.
Out through the mouth.
In through the nose—
Outside the tunnel, Kumagor growls. It’s a sound like the last of the water draining from God’s bathtub.
I begin to tremble.
Out through the mouth.
In through the nose—
My trembling ceases. My heart slows.
Outside, Kumagor growls again, but this time the noise is almost a purr, only threatening because it’s coming from such a large beast.
Out through the mouth—
Kumagor begins stomping around outside again, nearly causing our hiding place to collapse and crush us to death.
But this time, his steps are retreating, and it’s not long before they quiet altogether.
Kitsune and I don’t speak or move for a long, long time.
Chapter 19
Mikoshi-nyuudo is one of the many monster-monks found in Japanese legend. It is said the more one looks upon Mikoshi, the taller the monk grows. To look too long meant certain death...
—Excerpt from Kaiju! by Shigeru Kayama and Takeo Murata (1954)
L ying on my belly deep in the earth of an island bursting with monsters, magic, and arcane, technological wonders, I take stock of my situation.
Pros:
I’m alive. That’s a biggie! I will put a mental gold star by that one.
I have a beautiful native girl as a friend and guide. Another biggie there.
I found a magic sword, my only
The dust cloud speaks with a thousand howls and roars. The cloud thins and I’m able to see the hordes of kaiju stampeding toward us!
They are of every size and shape imaginable— grotesque parodies of animal life as we know it. There are giant spiders with snarling wolf heads. Enormous, saber-toothed rabbits with scaly, crocodile tails. Armored moles that could easily be mistaken for dump trucks. Worms the size of telephone poles. Hordes of insects equal in size to Kitsune and me. And last but certainly not least, Hebira’s slithering, viper children!
In short, they are monsters!
I stare at them, frozen with terror and disbelief.
“Can you halt them?” Kitsune asks from behind me, her voice full of desperation.
“Can I what? No! How could I possibly—?”
I feel something jerk my shirt collar and turn to see Kitsune hauling me to my feet!
“Then run, Raymond-sai!” she yells. “They flee Kumagor! So must we!”
I hop to my feet and sprint after Kitsune. I run as fast humanly possible, but the kaiju still overtake me.
I glance down, shocked and horrified to see several of the spider-wolves abreast of me. But my alarm is wasted. They pay me no head. Under different circumstances, I’m sure it would be open season on yours truly! But right now, they just want to get away from Kumagor as badly as I do.
They scamper ahead of me, crawling up the walls onto the ceiling, trying to reach a safe vantage higher above.
But when it comes to Kumagor, something tells me there’s no such thing!
I’m about to be trampled to death by a herd of hoping monster jackrabbits when Kitsune’s hands appear from the cavern wall to my right and yank me down into a hole.
“Crawl!” she shouts. “Crawl!”
We claw at the earth and with our hands and feet, dragging our bodies deeper into our less than ideal hiding place.
We’ve gone probably twenty yards when the racket from the kaiju silences.
“I think they have—!”
The earthen tunnel shudders as something outside pounds through the cavern with unquantifiable force, raining more dust onto our backs.
It happens again and Kitsune and I cover our heads with our hands. With the third impact, I realize what’s going on.
Kumagor is coming, one colossal step at a time.
My heart throbs uncontrollably. I whimper as tears begin streaming down my face.
“Stay quiet, Raymond-sai,” Kitsune whispers. “And still. Our lives depend on it!”
I nod, though Kitsune can’t see it. I try to forget about the pounding outside and concentrate on that of my heart, trying to slow it down through sheer force of will.
Breathe, I think.
Breathe.
In through the nose.
Out through the mouth.
In through the nose—
Outside the tunnel, Kumagor growls. It’s a sound like the last of the water draining from God’s bathtub.
I begin to tremble.
Out through the mouth.
In through the nose—
My trembling ceases. My heart slows.
Outside, Kumagor growls again, but this time the noise is almost a purr, only threatening because it’s coming from such a large beast.
Out through the mouth—
Kumagor begins stomping around outside again, nearly causing our hiding place to collapse and crush us to death.
But this time, his steps are retreating, and it’s not long before they quiet altogether.
Kitsune and I don’t speak or move for a long, long time.
Chapter 19
Mikoshi-nyuudo is one of the many monster-monks found in Japanese legend. It is said the more one looks upon Mikoshi, the taller the monk grows. To look too long meant certain death...
—Excerpt from Kaiju! by Shigeru Kayama and Takeo Murata (1954)
L ying on my belly deep in the earth of an island bursting with monsters, magic, and arcane, technological wonders, I take stock of my situation.
Pros:
I’m alive. That’s a biggie! I will put a mental gold star by that one.
I have a beautiful native girl as a friend and guide. Another biggie there.
I found a magic sword, my only
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