Free Budding Star by Annie Dalton Page A

began hurling peach stones at the demon.
    Zoom, zoom, zoom ! They didn’t sound like normal peach stones, as they zipped through the air, but then they didn’t behave like them either.
    Did you know that peach stones have a magical property that makes them ideal for fending off minor Japanese demons? If someone bombarded you and me with fruit pits, we’d just get peppered with teeny bruises. When a peach stone comes into contact with a demon, though, it’s a bit more dramatic, more like sprinkling salt on a huge slug.
    Picture a demon-sized slug, staggering around the riverbed, howling in agony, as flying peach stones ( zoom , zoom , zoom ) made peach-stone sized holes in various unspeakable parts of its anatomy. Then picture all the demon’s insides spurting out of the holes ( euw !) and the demon toppling in agonising slow motion like a tree, and finally landing with a resounding thud (WHUMP!).
    A stunned silence followed. Then all the kids went bananas, cheering, hugging each other and jumping up and down.
    “Ding, dong, the evil demon is dead,” I whispered. The kids seemed to be taking it in their stride, but I was completely baffled. “How did we know ?” I hissed to Reuben. “How did we know what to do?”
    My buddy stared down at the dead demon with interest, as it slowly dissolved into icky demon jam. “How did you know to take the bag?” he inquired, sounding surprisingly matter-of-fact.
    “True.” I felt a flicker of interest. “Wonder what else I know in Limbo!”
    But before Reuben could answer, the children grabbed our hands and dragged us into their mad dance of celebration.
    We were meant to be tracking Tsubomi through Limbo, but Reubs and I both agreed that it would be v. insensitive of us to just breeze off, like, “ Byee !” So we chilled with the dead kids for a while. We lit a fire in the riverbed, and Reubs gave them some tips on tower building, and when no one was looking we beamed a ton of uplifting vibes.
    After a while, though, the kids started looking uneasy.
    “I don’t mean to be rude, but isn’t it time for you to go?” asked the oldest boy.
    A girl rolled her eyes at him. “They’re worried, stupid,” she explained. “They don’t like to think of us being out here on our own.”
    He looked surprised. “We’re not alone. Jizo looks after us, when he can.”
    The little boy had mentioned someone called ‘Jizo’, I remembered.
    “He doesn’t have three eyes does he?” I asked doubtfully.
    “He’s the god of all dead children,” one of the older girls explained. “He should be living in the Pure Land, but he won’t go until we’re all safely inside.”
    “Sounds like a cool god,” Reuben said. “Say hi to him, from us.”
    The oldest boy jumped up. “Take the demon’s torch with you. It’s still burning.” He tried to lift it but it was too heavy. Reuben stopped him, breaking it in two, in one smooth swift movement. Woo , I thought, but my buddy didn’t seem to think he’d done anything unusual. Calmly lighting a second torch from the first, he handed it to me.
    The boy gave us a sheepish grin. “I forgot! We’re supposed to give you this.”
    He reached inside his tattered shirt and handed me a strange little dagger.
    I thought daggers had to be made of metal, but this one was carved out of jet-black stone. Tiny Japanese characters were written on it in gold.
    “Its name is Heart Seeker,” the boy told us solemnly. “You stick it in the Dark lord’s heart,” he explained helpfully, in case the name wasn’t enough of a clue.
    The dagger gave off THE most disturbing vibe, so I quickly passed it to Reuben. He tested the blade with the edge of his finger.
    “Thanks for this,” he told the boy. “And good luck with that tower tomorrow. Remember, you want the flat stones at the bottom. Keep the bumpy ones for the top.”
    Walking carefully around the pool of demon jelly, we crossed the riverbed, holding our torches high. We looked back at the