them back for that. There had been three of them. Leila had not

been alone. He had not known until only a short while ago that the

avatars had killed two of the Dark Ones who had been with Leila in

Paris. She had never told him about that before. He had believed

the Dark Ones were invincible, but he realized now that Leila

feared the runestones, the enchanted gems that contained the life

essence of her ancient enemies. These mortals who had bonded with

the runestones possessed the same powers as the immortal Dark

Ones. Leila feared them and her fear had played right into Kanno’s

hands.

She meant for him to kill them, or at least distract them long

enough for her to complete her spell. Kanno knew that Leila did not

care if he lived or died. She only meant for him to serve his

purpose, and if he survived, she would reward him. Kanno intended

to survive. Not because he wanted a reward from her, not because

he sought to please her, but because he wanted to destroy her. He

would kill the avatars, absorb their life force and become as strong

as they were. As strong as Leila. Even stronger. The one chance he

had was the element of surprise, which Shiro Kobayashi had

unwittingly given him.

The power struggle between the leaders of the Yakuza played

right into his hands. The moment Don Nishikawa’s assassins

struck, Kanno would make his move. And, at the same time, Leila

would make hers. At this very moment, she would be preparing her

spell. She had teleported to a location approximately sixty miles

west of Tokyo, to the cloud-shrouded summit of Mt. Fuji.

With an elevation of 12, 388 feet, Fuji was a majestic, almost

perfectly proportioned volcanic cone, capped with snow. Its name

meant “to burst forth. ” The last five thousand feet to the summit

was an immense cone of cinders, completely bare of any vegetation.

It had been formed some twenty thousand years ago in a week-long

eruption of fire and lava. Revered as sacred since ancient times,

“Fuji-san” was quiet now. There were several well-worn trails

leading to the top, divided into ten different stages. Approximately

four hundred thousand people climbed Mt. Fuji every year. It was a

very popular thing to do in Japan. There were souvenir shops,

restaurant, and shrines located at each stage, as well as at the