"Are we actually out here for a reason or are ye doing this to feck with me?"

"Yes."

"Ugh."

They were climbing through foothills now, heading for the reported location of the missing kei-leon nest. Located on the edge of the Huáng and Zhàng Kingdoms, a soaring mountain range rose above them, jagged limestone peaks trailing lush green foliage. Sou Yuet calmly trekked upwards, their pace steady. The necromancer trailed behind, raising the occasional small dead animal she found, and sending them to scamper up to Sou Yuet and around their feet. These little ghosts were extremely reluctant to actually touch the monk though, likely due to the latter's extreme healing powers, so the most they could do was feint at tripping them up. Sou Yuet simply smiled and kept moving.

"Why are we walking when we could fly around on yer plant-thing?"

"The journey is the most important, before the destination."

The necromancer pretended to throw up.

"Walking is good for you."

"Who are ye, me mam?"

"Is that the kind of thing she would say?"

"All the freaking time. Bloody nuisance." She fell into a contemplative silence. "I wonder how she's doing."

"Does she know where you are?"

"If not yet, she will. I wouldn't put it past that bastard Spideóg to send her some half-cooked story about me, now that we've had a run-in."

"He's done it before?"

"Why do ye think I got arrested in the first place?" the witch sneered. "He's always sniffing around like a dog, got wind of where I was, spun some tale, making up what I was doing, and sicced the Aiteann feckers on me."

"He seems to have an unusual interest in you," Sou Yuet observed evenly, eyes on the increasingly steep trail before them.

"He thinks he's going to save the world from me."

"How noble."

The necromancer gave them an unamused look. "Seriously, when are we stopping for the night?"

"Soon. I'm told there's a mountain spring ahead. It will be good to get some water."

"Yes! I can have a bath too." She suddenly sped up, running past Sou Yuet and disappearing around a bend.

With the smallest of smiles, Sou Yuet tapped off the ground and followed at a glide, sleeves and pale hair flowing behind them. They found the necromancer only a hundred bou along the trail, panting, the pale skin on her face flushed a soft pink.

"Can ye... please... just... fly us... there?"

"You're not very fit, are you?"

"I don't need to be," she grumbled, pushing loose strands of dark hair away from her sweaty face. "I'm plenty strong, and if I needed to get anywhere, there were always flying spirits who were could help me."

"So you can make spirits do things for you?" Sou Yuet asked with bland curiosity, once more picking up their steady walking pace.

The necromancer glared, a breeze threateningly catching her hair and making it drift a little around her. "I never force them to do anything! I always ask, never order. Even the raising them from their deaths is with their consent!"

Sou Yuet had stopped and turned to face her. They bowed apologetically. "I'm sorry for offending you. I didn't understand."

The necromancer scoffed, crossing her arms to hide her surprise at the apology. "Ye wouldn't be the first."

She was even more surprised to see a hand being held out to her.

"Let's go." Sou Yuet had summoned their ginseng leaf and was settled on one of the leaflets. The necromancer almost took their hand, but stopped. With a snort, she attempted to climb onto the leaf herself, but the gaps between the leaflets made it awkward, and she raised herself up with a distinct lack of elegance.

Sou Yuet waited patiently until she had settled and composed herself on another leaflet, then directed the leaf upwards. The necromancer closed her eyes, enjoying the cool breeze on her clammy skin, the scent of the damp forest around them, the calls of birds as they settled in for the night. She jumped when Sou Yuet's voice met her ears.

"It's here."

Below them, between the trees, a fresh mountain pool gleamed like a giant polished jade, stained icy blue with dissolved limestone. Sou Yuet brought the leaf low, and without any shame, the necromancer jumped down and began to strip. Completely nude, she leapt into the pool, diving below the cold water. She broke the surface with a whoop to find that Sou Yuet had also entered the water, although they had opted to keep their under-robe on. The monk met her gaze. "Are you curious?"

"About?"

"My biological sex."

"Hm... No, not really."

Sou Yuet's mouth twitched into a small smile. "I see."

"Really, it doesn't matter to me," the necromancer swam over, and pressed the monk against the limestone edge of the pool behind them. "Yer face is my type no matter what."

"Really?" Sou Yuet's smile widened and they cocked their head with interest.

"Argh! Ye're supposed to be a monk! Why aren't ye embarrassed when I tease ye?"

"You're teasing me?"

With a wordless growl of frustration, the necromancer dived back under the water to cool her face. When she resurfaced, she found Sou Yuet looking at her thoughtfully. As their eyes moved, she realised they were looking at her tattoos. "Curious?"

"I will admit I am not as good a person as you are."

"Who's good? If ye want a look, just tell me." She swam to the edge of the pool and climbed out, twisting and lifting her long hair so that Sou Yuet could clearly see the black ink all over her. "They're pretty cool, right?"

She performed a slow twirl, throwing a wink over her shoulder. Sou Yuet didn't seem to notice. Their dark eyes traced the black designs.

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Scalloped lines like claws or teeth around her ankles and wrists. Jagged marks up and down the muscles of her legs. Swirls over her stomach, stars along the length of her spine, flames like wings on her shoulder blades. A giant starburst or sun in the centre of her chest, its rays stretched to her shoulders, which were capped by snarling wolves, a rope pattern encircling her entire neck, curved slashes at her throat. There was almost no part of her body that did not have tattoos. Even the edges of her temples showed signs of swirls creeping out from under her hair, and having been in the water, some of the dark dye on her eyelids had washed away, revealing marks on there too. The tattoos were raised, as if they had been carved into her pale skin and healed over as scars rather than ink inserted below the surface.

"Well?" She struck a seductive pose and batted her eyelashes.

Sou Yuet, uncharacteristically, seemed unable to speak.

"Are ye that mesmerised by my beauty?" the necromancer cooed, fluffing her hair.

The monk shook their head. "They're..."

The tattoos seemed to seethe with demonic energy, as if the necromancer were continuously being consumed alive. Sou Yuet moved towards her unconsciously, but seemed to catch themselves.

"They're...?"

"...unusual. Do they... hurt?"

The necromancer laughed. "How cute. Tattoos hurt."

The words she was avoiding hung between them.

"Can I... ease your suffering?"

"They're a part of me now." The witch released her hair and traced the lines on her arms. "I've accepted that. Now I use them to my advantage." A moment later, she sneezed and shivered. "Whoops, have ye had a good look at this hot body yet? I might need to get some clothes on."

She had barely finished speaking when her outer robe was wrapped around her. In a flash, Sou Yuet had gathered her clothes and bundled her up, crystalline water dripping from their long pale hair, robes clinging to their slim framed body. They were so close, she could almost count the droplets on their lips.

"Ye're kind of small," she blurted out.

"Like I said before, that's because you're just very big," Sou Yuet replied smilingly.

With a sigh, the necromancer dropped her forehead to Sou Yuet's wet shoulder. "I'm too tired to flirt with ye right now, monk."

"Then you must be very tired. Dry off, I'll look for a good place to sleep." They released the necromancer and with a little push, soared away from the pool into the gathering dark. The witch clicked her tongue with annoyance. "That bastard, they can just go flying off like that. Why is life so unfair?"

She dried herself with her outer robe, redonned her clothing, and followed behind the monk at a considerably slower pace.

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It took another day's walking at the necromancer's pace, in male form now, to reach the edge of the kei-leon territory. Despite his complaints, Sou Yuet would not bring out their ginseng leaf again, so the witch had to content himself with throwing insults at the monk's insensible back.

When Sou Yuet finally called camp for the night, the necromancer dropped dramatically to the ground. "Ugh, I'm dead."

"How does that work, exactly?" Sou Yuet asked with curiosity, as they gathered firewood.

"It doesn't," the necromancer replied flatly, sprawled on his back, an arm over his eyes. "I suppose I'm technically immortal? Couldn't die if I wanted to."

Sou Yuet's eyes flickered towards him for the briefest of seconds, but the monk said nothing, simply lit the fire, although they singed their fingers in the process.

"So are we almost there?"

"Almost. We shouldn't get too close, just in case. Are you hungry?"

"Are ye seriously asking me that?"

Sou Yuet disappeared into the surrounding landscape. The necromancer dragged himself pitifully over to the fire and began to painstakingly take off his boots. He had just finished when Sou Yuet returned with two freshly dead rabbits. The monk laid them carefully down, silently reciting a prayer over the still bodies, before they began to prepare them for eating.

Cross-legged, the necromancer watched through narrowed eyes. "What do ye say to them?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Can't ye ever answer a question properly?"

"Why should I?"

"ARGH! The... even at the temple, the spirits of all the animals you ate... It wasn't that they were all going peacefully, mind you, but... they never raged... not like all the other animal spirits I've seen, killed by humans. Instead there's... confusion? And... anticipation?"

The fire crackled. Sou Yuet placed the rabbits on a stick over the flames. "Thank you."

"What?"

"And may you have the best of fortune on the next stage of your journey."

At that point, the necromancer realised that the monk was finally answering his question.

"Do ye believe that?" The witch watched narrowly as Sou Yuet turned the rabbits on the stick. "That there's something else afterwards? Is that part of being a monk?"

"Do you not know?"

"Why would I ask you if I knew the answer?!"

"I'm just a monk. You're the necromancer."

"Exactly! Don't ye have a direct line to the gods?"

"I've never heard a word from a god. But you have the power to raise the dead."

"They won't tell me anything," the necromancer said sulkily. "They just give me this look and go on with their business." He looked up to catch Sou Yuet's glance just as the monk turned to take the rabbits off the fire. "LIKE THAT! WHAT WAS THAT ABOUT?"

"Eat."

The necromancer looked back at the cooked rabbit being offered to him. Sou Yuet held it out patiently. "I noticed that you seldom ate meat, back at the temple. Does this make you uncomfortable? I can find something else for you."

"This... is fine. The spirit's at peace." He cracked his neck in a nonchalant manner and casually took the rabbit, promptly burning his fingers in the process. Sou Yuet sighed and produced a salve from one of their sleeves as the necromancer juggled the hot rabbit.

"Leave me alone," the necromancer hissed, taking his rabbit and disappearing into the darkness beyond the firelight. Sou Yuet stared after him for a few breaths, finally deciding to place the salve beside them and eat their own rabbit. Then they wrapped themselves up in their outer robe by the fire, letting it slowly die down. They only opened an eye once. The necromancer had come back and also laid back down by the fire, although he had very deliberately turned his back on the monk. The salve had disappeared.

Sou Yuet blinked, the hint of a smile on their lips, then went back to sleep.

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"There's something here."

They stood at the mouth of a huge cave, glow worms winking across the cavernous interior. Sou Yuet's dark eyes swept the darkness, keenly picking up what little light was cast by the glow worms, but they saw nothing. The monk's eyes shone a little green in the glow worms' borrowed light.

But there was that smell...

So nothing alive, then.

"A kei-leon?"

"Antlers? Hooves? A beard? Impressive eyelashes? Thick eyebrows?"

"That sounds like a kei-leon."

"Then yes."

"How many?"

"Only the one."

"Only one..." The monk's eyebrows, unusually dark for their hair colour, knitted together. "How... How is it?"

"Hm... Not good. There's a lot of screaming. I don't know if it'll even hear me if I try to reach out to it."

"Then I'll go first. Can you direct me?"

The necromancer led them inside, immediately tripping over the uneven cave floor. Sou Yuet caught him before he fell completely, surprising the witch with their strength.

"Well thanks. Can ye actually see in here?"

"A little. Which way?"

"This way..." The necromancer's voice trailed off as he realised the monk had taken his left hand in their own, and their right hand was gently pressed against the small of his back. "What are ye doing?"

"Making sure you don't trip again."

"Do ye have to touch me?"

The monk looked mildly confused. "You don't like being touched? Why do you keep touching me all-"

"Okay, okay, let's go."

Guiding each other, they slowly made their way into the back of the cave, to a small alcove. The cave floor was strewn with trampled sweet grasses and flowers, that once would have formed a comfortable and fragrant bed for the kei-leon, but were now dry and torn. In the alcove, huddled pitifully, was a small, crumpled body.

Despite the smell, Sou Yuet knelt silently and bowed fully to the floor. The necromancer hesitantly listened once more to the kei-leon's ghost.

PLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASE

Sou Yuet was motionless, but a faint green glow seemed to be emanating from them.

What are they doing? A muscle twitched in the necromancer's jaw.

STOPSTOPSTOPPLEASEPLEASESTOPHELPHELPMOTHERMOTHERMOTHER

A foal. Gods damn it, a child.

I WANT... I want... Mother... MOTHER... MOTHERMOTHERMOTHER

The necromancer shut his ears, bringing himself back to the cave. He walked a tight circle and breathed deep before listening again.

Who... who...? H... help... Help me... Please... Please...

Can ye hear me, kid? The necromancer spoke as gently as he could. Can ye hear me?

Mother... Mother...

I can find her, if ye help me. Can ye help me?

A few moments of silence followed.

Then a shape unfurled in the darkness, rising out of the small, crumpled form before him. The necromancer could see it out of the corner of his eye, a wispy figure, head barely reaching his waist, with tiny broken antlers and patches of fur missing. Sou Yuet sat up, their hands still pressed together, the glow now clearly emanating from their chest. The necromancer knelt down to join them, gently holding his hand out, palm up and open. He offered it to the shaking ghost of the kei-leon foal, determined to ignore the insidious scent of rot creeping around him.

"Can ye tell us what happened?"