Silence cursed the lips of both Rina and Hua as they continued through the deserted plains of Jia Guo. In the time since they encountered the Beast of Hate, their hearts were oversaturated with the pure feeling of despair. They had met plenty of other monsters as they continued through, with each one being more dreadful than the last. Perhaps, at this point, they were just imagining these catastrophes, for their minds had been melted into an incoherent stew of darkness. Like the rest of humanity, they were on their last legs of hope.

Refugees: one who is forced to escape from the inhospitable place the once called home. At this point, the secret that was the cataclysm had changed from mysterious rumor to common truth. Waves of refugees sprawled about as displaces villagers found themselves among their ranks, each of them hoping for a place of rest and, most of all, a new home.

They covered the hill like ants searching for a home. Holding barely any supplies and dressed in rags, they huddled like a mosh. Rina and Hua looked at them with a sense of opportunity. These people looked to have some food to spare. Walking over, Rina found that they were serving food. Well, if that’s what you wanted to call it.

It was a porridge that stank of rotten rice. Rina and Hua silently grabbed their rations as they looked at the dreadful faces of these survivors. There were nothing but despondent frowns and vanished smiles. They sat themselves away from the general crowd, relishing the rest they finally received.

They sat on the dead grass, their backs finally relieved from all the action and running they had been doing. Rina was lucky that Hua’s blood had regenerative abilities. Without that, she would’ve been covered in dirty bandages. But, for now, they remained silent as Rina worked on cleaning her gun and Hua cleaning her clothes.

However, after a long and awkward moment of silence, Hua finally asked something. “Rina, do you ever think about what happened to Xiaojun?” Still cleaning her weapon, Rina took a second to answer. “I don’t pay attention to things not in my immediate periphery,” she said, “but I will admit that a few thoughts about him cross my mind.”

“Like what?” Hua asked. “That he’s strong? That he’s still fighting hard on his journey? That he’s gonna eventually get so strong, that he’ll knock the Beasts back into hell?” Rina stopped for a moment, just as her rod clicked into the barrel.

“I think that he’s in over his head,” she finally said. “It’s true that he’s strong, but we’ve both seen things that are stronger. In the end, he’s powerful, but still a human. He can bleed, and he can die. I don’t think any of us will make it. You’ve seen the things we’ve fought. We’ll all die.”

Hua groaned in disbelief. “Where’s your faith? Humans can make it! Xiaojun will make it too! Maybe your head is a little fuzzy, but I remember seeing you bow and beg him to let you join! So don’t act like all of a sudden things are different!”

Rina sighed, still picking out the dusty powder. “Hatred. In my eyes, he’s the strongest of the Four Beasts, especially since it’s the strongest sin mankind has inflicted against itself. Even Xiaojun can’t resist his allure. You remember what happened in Guancheng. Where he bit from your shoulder like a starving animal.”

Hua stumbled back a little, looking at the spot where Xiaojun had masticated. Though it had long healed, the mental scar was still there. “He… he was just trying to heal himself. And he didn’t mean anything by that.” Rina scoffed at the childish answer. “He’s eating at himself. When he runs out of his own flesh, he’ll eat at others instead.”

Hua said nothing else, and for a moment, there was only silence. Rina had finished cleaning her weapon, and Hua was stuck in despondence. The cold wind blew with the dark clouds that hovered above. “Rina,” Hua finally asked, “why did you become a mercenary?”

Rina slung her musket to her back and closed her eyes. “The money.” A terse and basic answer, but Hua didn’t accept that. “No. You act like a heartless soldier, but that’s not completely true. There’s something more, and something far less simple.”

Rina scoffed as she opened her eyes. “Do you really want to know?” Hua enthusiastically nodded in response. “Yes! Of course I want to know!” So, Rina started by taking a deep yawn, smiling at the girl with a gentle grin. “You told me about your life,” she said. “Something about a Sir Zheng Qiang and a castle. Well, I actually grew up in a castle.”

Rina, the soldier with scars and a toned body to match, was once a smooth skinned princess. “At this rate, a husband will surely choose you. As long as they look past your unbinded feet, that is.” That thought made her want to vomit: the vile act of foot binding.

To bind someone’s feet to force them to remain small would be the best step to prevent freedom. If you do not have the ability to walk without severe pain, then you do not have the ability to wander the world for the beautiful plane that it was. To bind your own feet would be the first step to relinquish your freedom.

“No! I’ll never do it!” Rina threw the servant’s mirror the ground, letting the gentle glass shatter into trillions of fragments as the women could only gasp in surprise. “How could you do that? Did you know your father purchased it from the Vesterland kingdoms? Such a thing is expensive!”

“Leave her.” The voice boomed with authority as all eyes turned to see the tall and strong lord standing before them. The servants immediately bowed as he picked up one of the fragments. “Wait…” Rina muttered, “what are you—”

He cut himself with the fragment, making an artwork of blood on his own hand. “The only thing truly worth value in this world is blood. It is the symbol of life.” He tossed the shard away as the servants began to frantically clean it. “Leave it,” the lord ordered, “my daughter will clean it herself. In fact, leave me and my daughter immediately.”

The servants went away, leaving the powerful man with his daughter. “Why did you shatter the mirror?” he asked. The girl looked at the blood that trailed down his hand, partially paralyzed by the red stream. “I… I didn’t want to bind my feet.”

“Good. I never forced you to bind your feet. So what made you shatter the mirror?” It was a genuine question that Rina, at that time, couldn’t answer. Why did you shatter that mirror Rina? What on earth made you shatter that mirror? Now your father is bleeding because of you Rina. Why did you do that Rina? She exploded with emotion.

“You always wanted a son!” she blurted. “Instead, you got a daughter whose only purpose is to marry! I don’t want to live this kind of life! I want to be free! I want to be out of this cold stone castle!” When she was finally done with her words, her father looked at her with calm eyes.

“Do you want freedom?” he asked. “Then clean up the glass. If you want to make choices, you must expect the consequences. The same goes for the real world. If you want to be free, you must have the strength to support that freedom.”

“And what will happen if I don’t have this strength?” she asked. To this, her father gave the truth. “You will be raped and killed by the barbaric humans that reside outside of these castle walls. Your last moments will be full of terror and fear, as well as the regret for ever leaving your mother’s womb.” It was an answer that left Rina speechless.

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“So… do you expect me to just… sit in a castle and leech off of powerful men until I die?” She expected a nod, but instead, she got another honest answer. “I expect you to understand the consequences of your actions, as well as the consequences of freedom.” Soon afterwards, he showed her something strange. Something not from Jiaguo.

It was a long sleek tool that was too bulky to be a staff, yet too long to be a club. “I did not trade with the Vesterland Kingdoms for a fragile mirror. I traded with them for what they call a musket.” He handed it to her, the weight forcing her down as her fragile arms had held nothing but light parchments. “I will teach you how to shoot it, but I will only allow you to leave this castle if you prove yourself to be just as lethal as this weapon.” Rina smiled as she held the weapon, only to find another sentence from her father. “Don’t forget about cleaning the mirror though.” Rina groaned as she put the weapon down. “Understood…”

And now here she was: Rina the scarred mercenary. Whose arms had grown much stronger and darker. Whose skin had become marred with scars and burns. Whose throat had become coarsened from commands and battle cries. Whose own soul had become just as dark as the terrifying world around her.

“Was that why you froze when you saw the monsters?” Hua asked. “Because then, you saw something you couldn’t just blast away?” Rina snickered a little after she heard this. “For such a foolish monster, you make quite a good observation.”

“Don’t say that!” Hua whispered. She darted her head around, thankful that nobody overheard. “People might get me for that!” Rina chuckled as she sat up. “You’re thinking about the wrong crowd. Bandits and mercenaries might do such a thing, but refugees just want to find a home. They could care less if you bled gold and coughed jade.”

Suddenly, a scream echoed throughout the entire plain like how the piercing of thunder signals a storm. Everyone turned to look in horror as they watched a woman get torn apart by a creature that could only be described as a “man-spider.”

It was a being whose skin was covered in dark spike-like fur as well as four limbs that exited its back through bloody holes, as if they had emerged like large needles from inside. Its mouth was composed of thousands of teeth, like a shark that grinds every bit of meat with razor-like saws.

It tore the woman apart as the red blood splashed onto the grey grass. “Everyone! Run!” Rina called. She jumped to her feet and aimed her weapon at the monster. She watched it screech as she pulled the trigger. With the thunderous sound of the gun, the beast’s head was blown into pieces like a squashed blueberry. But before Rina could bless her shot, she saw something terrifying: more of the abominable creatures.

“They’re coming from the forest! Drop everything and run!” she immediately ordered to everyone around her. The refugees did as followed and began to clamor away. The old and the wounded were the first to fall behind as the storm of spiders swallowed them. The only thing left of them were their screams, and their inedible clothing which was tossed about, since the spiders fought for every bite of the precious human meat.

“Keep running! Don’t look back unless you like seeing your own legs get eaten off!” The entire group began to scamper away into another desolate forest, all of them hoping that they wouldn’t be devoured by another hiding creature. “Move! Don’t stop moving!”

Rina held onto Hua’s hand, remembering her promise to Xiaojun. “Xiaojun may be in over his head,” she thought to herself, “but I’d rather die than dishonor the duty he gave me.” She held onto the girl and ventured forth.

They ran through, hearing the sounds of panicked refugees and scampering spiders behind them. There was an extreme grayness to this forest, like a mist that couldn’t be breathed, seen, or felt. One that could only exist in imagination, for the terror of this place was beyond reason or words.

Rina and Hua continued to run through the woods. It was strange. As they continued moving, they noticed a silvery and soulless substance which had infected onto the trees. It was this that provided the strange grayness, for it casted a dreadful shade diminished of any sign of life. It was this moment that Rina realized something: the screams had stopped.

It was now silent. Only the light patters of their feet echoed in the stale air. Every shadow became its own terrifying illusion as they slowed their pace to a brisk walk. Any semblance of darkness could’ve been a dreadful creature just waiting for human meat to enter its reach.

“What happened?” Hua whispered. Rina placed her finger on her mouth. “Quiet,” she silently mouthed. The brisk walk had slowed to a crouched walk. They were not fleeing. They were hiding. They were deep in the territory of powers unknown to the plainness of man.

Rina looked above to see the silhouette of one of the man-spiders crawling onto the substance. Oh, it became obvious. These spiders had made this place into their home. This wasn’t a mere chase. This was a strategic plan to route the refugees into the forest so they could slaughter them like fat pigs.

She looked around, realizing that many of the fat lumps above were not branches, but people. Some were mummified as the spiders had husked all of the edible meat off of their body. Others were fresh and with skin that had barely been peeled. But there was one that was terrifying, for it was still alive. “Help me… Please help me…” It was a little boy, probably no older than the age of ten.

But before anyone could let out an extra word, a spider lept onto the boy’s back and sank its teeth into the child. The boy wailed in pain as he automatically cried “mama! Help me!” But his mother was in the next cocoon over: she was more than dead.

Rina used the opportunity to run as Hua tried to stay. “Move!” Rina sharply whispered. “The boy is already dead.” They sprinted through as the sound of greedy spiders resounded behind them. Then, once they made it a good many feet away, the screaming went to an abrupt halt once more.

Suddenly, there was the sound of branches breaking and of leaves shaking. The silhouettes were above them, saliva dripping from their hungry mouths. Rina calmly loaded her gun and pointed Hua to a specific direction. “We are going to run once I shoot.” The fox girl nodded as Rina finished up her reloading. She cocked her gun and took a deep breath. They could hear the spiders lightly breathing impatiently, like rats craving the meat of the dead.

“Now!” She fired her gun, forcing the spider to topple to the ground. The gunshot echoed throughout the entire forest as each and every one of their bastardish eyes darted in the direction. “Run!” Rina and Hua made their escape as they plunged through the webs, cutting through them with Rina’s bayonet. “Don’t look back! Just go!”

A spider jumped in front of them, blocking their path. “Agh!” Hua screamed. Suddenly, her fingernails became claws and she slashed at the being. A large laceration was formed as Hua blinked. “Wait, what just happened?” Rina slapped her awake and stabbed the spider in the head, killing it for good. “Let’s go! Don’t question anything!”

They stabbed and cut their way through the rest of the forest, praying for a reprieve as they continued forth. It was like a marathon: a battle of endurance where one stop for breath could mean absolute death. “Go! We’re almost there!” Truly, they could see the sunlight on the other side, like an angel’s wing which allured them closer and closer. “Go!”

They finally emerged only to find lines upon lines of soldiers. They were lined in plated armor and horsehair helmets as they held the same type of weapon that Rina wielded: guns. “Hold your fire! There are people!” a loud familiar voice ordered. But the screeching of spiders was still ever present. Quickly, Rina grabbed Hua and ducked to the ground. “Fire you dumb bastards!”

The commanding voice was enough to launch the order. Just as the man-spiders emerged from the forest, the guns fired and launched great volleys of hot lead into the beasts. They screeched and howled as most of them splattered about, with the few survivors returning to the woods like a group of cowards.

“You two!” the familiar voice ordered, “get away from the bloody forest before we blow it all!” Rina nodded and carried Hua away. Immediately, a second order was given by that familiar voice. “Fire!” But this wasn’t a command to the muskets. This was a command to the cannons.

The large guns fired powerful incinerate rounds which exploded into the forest like explosive meteors launched from the heavens. They pounded into the forest and set the place alight as fire burned along the webs like perfect kindling. The last remnants of the forest were heard in the screeches of the man-spiders that howled in their final breaths.

Rina approached the commander of the forces, the one with the familiar booming voice. Hua didn’t know what to expect. Reprimand? Praise? What she didn’t expect was a complete hug. “Ah, my daughter,” the lord said, “how wonderful it is that you have survived.” Hua was wide-eyed as she looked at the two. “What?”