Etsuyo's Sunrise: Part 1
By Milo Douglas
Sunrise This Morning
One cloudless morning, on the western coast of a forgotten land, a celestial spirit fox named Etsuyo sat atop a dune with her eight tails wrapped about her paws. She had just attempted to cross the tidal flats to her right where scores of monsters, heroes, and demigods battled in a riot of lightning bolts, claws and blades of every type.
To Etsuyo’s left and standing in the surf was the ancient dragon Tiamat— Fearsome Eternal Mother of the World. Tiamat gave Cthulhu’s limp body another vigorous shake before tossing it onto the beach near Hercules’s smoldering sandals.
Etsuyo looked from Tiamat to the tidal flats, then back to Tiamat. The dragon had begun feasting on Cthulhu.
“Yip!” she cried to Tiamat. “I am the spirit fox, Etsuyo! Trickster and benevolent tormentor of the village of Asagame. This murder and war making delays me! I must earn my ninth tail!”
Tiamat raised her great head, her teeth dripping with gore.
Etsuyo impulsively shape-shifted from a kitsune to a very puny-looking wyvern.
“You have arrived,” Tiamat explained. “You have answered my summons.”
Etsuyo shifted back to her spirit fox form.
“In fact, Most-Fearsome Creator of All the Earth Sea and Sky, I tried to bypass this madness by slinking through the flats and was nearly crushed by a Minotaur. What’s worse, is that to the north along this dune, a Cyclopes and a Werewolf's mortal combat blocks my way and to the south along this dune—from whence I’ve come—the battle throes of the Phoenix and a great Chimera have melted the entire beach. Fly me over this chaos, dragon. The miserable villagers of Amagase who love me are depending on me!”
Tiamat’s maw pulsed with flame. “Find your place in battle or meet your end with me.”
“I’ve only just met you!” protested Etsuyo.
“I know you well, shape-shifter. You and the myriad supernaturals here have failed your destinies. The world I created eons ago has slipped from us. We were once eternal creatures of great renown, respected and feared by the simple humans. Now, they mock you and have completely forgotten me, their very maker!”
“Well, people practically worship me in Amagase,” Etsuyo assured. She smacked her lips into a smile. “If you let me pass, I will give you some tips on how a dragon may be adored.”
“One village,” Tiamat scoffed. “My mistake was creating too many of you. This battle will bring things to order again: the last one of us to remain remain will shape a new world.”
Etsuyo sneezed at this. “A battle royale is your solution? You still lack imagination, Great Scorcher. Perhaps you should retire to the stars and let us sort this out.”
“You seek death by flame?” Tiamat threatened.
“Yip! I seek my ninth tail so I may join my kind. I am a kitsune!"
Tiamat narrowed her eyes. “Yet destiny has brought you here.”
“No, my luck brought me here on a promise to rescue the village of Amagase from the misery of this world.” Her tails twitched.
Tiamat’s scaly maw curled to a smile. “So we agree: you, too have come to prove your worth.”
Tiamat continued feasting as Etsuyo considered her conundrum.
The Previous Evening
Shorin Ja, the caretaker of Amagase village had just returned from a harrowing trek through the forest.
“Demons and demi-gods!” He shouted as he ran to the village square. His people were nowhere to be seen.
“I’m too late!” he lamented drawing his sword. “The monsters I warned the other villages about made their way here.”
But there was no blood on the ground, nor any signs of disturbance.
It was then that the villagers of Amagase sprang from their hiding places under tarps, behind trees and from the rooftops. “Hurrah!”
Shorin Ja’s fears were assuaged but he was also perplexed, for each villager was dressed in party regalia.
“What are you doing?” Shorin Ja demanded. “I’ve come from the other villages to tell you that something very strange is afoot! Where are your weapons?”
Ro-Pa, the blue-haired elder of the village adjusted a brightly painted palm leaf hat she wore. “What do you mean? An hour ago you returned from the forest and told us to meet you here for a party celebrating the end of chaos! Why would I need weapons when I need wine?”
The crowd cheered. Then they heard a chortle echoing from the forest.
Shorin Ja ground his teeth and squinted his eyes at the screen of trees. “Etsuyo….”
He again faced the villagers. “The person you saw before was not me. I’ve just now returned to tell you that as violent as this world has been in all our memories, the end of things has surly come.”
The villagers looked confused or skeptical.
Shoran Ja continued. “Look at my torn clothes! Barely escaped the shore, for I was chased by monsters I’d never seen the like of. The other villages have seen a great disturbance near the sea.”
Ro-Pa scratched her chin. “That is terrible news. Etsuyo disguised herself as you but why would she tell us to prepare for a party?”
“She is a selfish trickster!” Shorin Ja shouted into the forest.
Laughter echoed from the forest again.
Ro-Pa hissed through her teeth. “Etsuyo! When I was just a girl swinging from the trees, you were sent to us by the kitsune. You only had two tails. To earn the rest, were sworn to guide us through troubles and protect us from dangers. Today, you have broken our hearts.”
The villagers quietly slunk back to their homes and donned their makeshift armor.
Later, that evening, Etsuyo trotted from the forest and into the village square snickering to herself.
“Such complaining. That was my best lesson yet: even in the worst times, one can find joy in a surprise party! By my luck, I’ll earn my ninth tail!”
At the middle of the village square, a stone altar stood. Etsuyo approached and found it bereft of the usual offerings. No breads, no mice, no silver cups of sweet flower water. She sniffed out of pity for herself before noticing a message scrawled in chalk at the altar’s base:
Etsuto: You have blessed us enough. Please bless another village.
“Ungrateful! For years I’ve fulfilled my role as their guardian spirit, bringing what happiness was to be had to each villager in this wicked world. I have the eight tails to prove it.”
Etsuyo blinked furiously to hide the tears a kitsune never shares, then ran to the forest where she sulked.
“My ninth tail is sure to come tonight and I will ascend to be with the rest of my kind.” Etsuyo curled up on the forest floor and fell asleep snoring into her eight tails.
Continue reading: Etsuyo's Sunrise: Part 2
Large fox image by Christopher Green
All other images by Ben Bittner