Already it was deep summer on roadhouse roofs and in front of wayside gardens, where new red gas lamps sent out pools of light, and when I reached my estate at West End I ended my run next to the shed and sat for a while on an abandoned grass roller in the yard. The wind had blown off, leaving a loud bright night with wings beating in the trees and a persistent organ sound as the full bellows of the earth blew the frogs full of life. The Haunting hour, when the veil between realms thinned and evil spirits manifested across the world was at hand.

The silhouette of a moving cat wavered across the moonlight and turning my head to watch it I saw that I was not alone—fifty feet away a figure had emerged from the shadow of my neighbor's mansion and was standing with his hands in his pockets regarding the silver pepper of the stars. Something in his leisurely movements and the secure position of his feet upon the lawn suggested that it was Master Gatsu-be himself, come out to determine what share was his of our local heavens.

I decided to call to him so we could face the Haunting together. Miss Pan-ya had mentioned him at dinner, and that would do for an introduction. But I didn't call to him for he gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone—he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and far as I was from him I could have sworn he was trembling. Involuntarily I glanced seaward—and distinguished nothing except a single green light, minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock.

The light exploded like the emergence of the aurora borealis. Green waves of iridescent energy crashed into the surroundings. Gatsu-be stood upright against the borealis like a lighthouse breaking the tide. With nimble, chi-filled steps he ran forward onto the water toward the nexus of the disturbance. His feet left expanding circles on the surface of the water like an expertly hurled skipping stone. Half way to his destination the energy condensed back to its point of origin at double the speed it expanded. As it compressed over the water, it glowed brighter than it had ever done before.

From the light’s core burst an immense emerald dragon that swirled ferociously to the sky. It seemed that it would fly away but after a moment the dragon dropped back toward the water a distance away from Gatsu-be then turned and hurtled toward him with its maw wide. He did not hesitate a moment - he merely ran toward it, leaping into the air and over its head before the two forces clashed.

Gatsu-be flipped upside down with his legs splayed out in a V as he leapt. His arm reached down looking as if it was the bottom of a Y and it lightly grazed the head of the translucent green dragon. Where his hand struck a bright light shone, and after it passed through it left a trail of glowing red, the sign that he inflicted damage to the unnatural creature. The dragon roared in pain, looped up in a tight flip and came crashing down right where Gatsu-be landed upon the surface of the water and both went under in a mass of fighting limbs.

A moment passed with no motion under the surface and I was about to get up when the water began to bubble as if under a rolling boil. The bubbles continued to increase in size and the water started to glow green. I was just about to move to investigate the results of the clash. Suddenly, the dragon burst from the surface in a spray of water that coated the area in an impromptu shower. The monster climbed straight up to the sky. For a moment I worried about the fate of Gatsu-be but as the creature turned I could see that he was clinging to the side of the dragon. His status of holding onto the flank of an otherworldly creature as it flew into the heavens did not seem to perturb him much - his countenance was blank and he was even scrambling higher toward the monster’s head.

The dragon began to spin violently as it continued to climb. The force of the spin proved too much even for Gatsu-be. His legs quickly dislodged from the beast even though his hands clung on, eventually even those lost their ability to keep him on his mount and he was thrown free. I could see that Gatsu-be wasted no time even when tumbling through the air. His hands began to weave an intricate pattern to channel his chi. A fractal array of energy manifested further along his trajectory and just as he was about to impact the spell, his body spun once more and his feet landed squarely in the middle. Gatsu-be pushed off the construct to leap higher into the air. As he soared through the expanse his hands continued to weave complex patterns and more fractals appeared. Gatsu-be leaped from fractal to fractal climbing higher and higher back toward the dragon.

Once again, he latched on to the dragon and as soon as he did the beast stopped its vertical climb. They were so high and it was so dark that I was having trouble making out what was happening. It appeared that Gatsu-be had one arm wrapped around the monster while repeatedly striking it with his other fist. The dragon was thrashing around trying once again to throw Gatsu-be off yet he held tight. Unable to dislodge Gatsu-be by flailing around, the dragon’s tale snaked up and wrapped around his neck. With tremendous effort, the monster ripped Gatsu-be off then hurled him down to the earth.

Gatsu-be’s speed of descent did not allow him any time to initiate secondary measures. He struck the water like a runaway boulder falling off a cliff. The splash of his impact was like a runaway waterspout and I feared the worst. The dragon zoomed straight down from its spot in the sky with a murderous intent so palpable that I moved from my spot, finally released from the stupor that I had found myself at the incredible displays of power. I prepared my spirit to attack the monster before it struck the water and attempted to ensure the fight was over.

As the dragon neared the water and before I could lash out toward the beast, Gatsu-be surged from the depths. His fist glowed with the energy of a powerful strike as his body positioned in response to his leap out of the ocean. The dragon, whose mouth had been open wide as it descended with incredible speed found that it had been impaled from stem to stern by a Gatsu-be shaped arrow of vengeance.

Unlike the demon that I had dispatched some time before, the dragon did not burst into embers, but into millions of motes of green light. Some of the motes blasted away with alacrity while others lazily floated away. At the center of where the dragon once was, the thick conflagration of green similar to what Gatsu-be had been reaching for before the battle burned away slowly. I stood there mesmerized by the lights and left wondering how he knew that such a creature was poised to emerge from the veil.

When I looked once more for Gatsu-be he had vanished, and I was alone again in the unquiet darkness.