CHAPTER 9 – Den Invasion
An Erkling had appeared outside the cave. Its short and slim frame, as well as its naked green skin, made it easily recognizable. It screeched, just as shocked as the intruders inside its home.
Suzaku grabbed her wielder’s hand and entered her Ghost Mansion. “We’re in an Erkling cave!”
The Erkling ran past the two, ducking as the boy swung its blade at it. It ran deep into the dim cave.
Yushia chased after the little beast. He knew if he let it get away, it would call its friends to hunt them down. Even among his people, it was a general rule to eliminate one whenever you could. It maneuvered fluidly between the tight rock halls, all while maintaining its speed. Once Yushia had reached stabbing distance, it dropped into a hole. He was forced to stop, almost falling in himself.
“Watch it, idiot!” Suzaku scolded.
“Sorry,” Yushia apologized, wiping the sweat off his forehead. He laid himself on his stomach and peered over the large cavity in the ground. The smell emitting from it made him gag. An Erkling looked up at the hole but Yushia moved back just in time to avoid its line of sight.
“We leave,” Suzaku suggested. “My greatness is in no condition to fight such large hordes of spiteful crea-.
Yushia rose. “No. I want to go down.”
It took a moment for Suzaku to process what her wielder said. When her greatness saw him take a step forward, she reverted to her human form and pulled him back. “Erklings in large groups are capable of easily taking down a mother Taipede. The fact that we nearly died because of one last night shows my greatness that we would not survive down there.”
Yushia looked away and hesitated after hearing her words. She was right. If their journey ended now, his goal of changing the image of Ceruleans and reuniting with his wife would end, and so would Suzaku’s goal of regaining her glory.
A sudden cry for help came from the hole. Yushia’s ears perked up, and he laid back down to listen.
Suzaku raised an eyebrow, her voice austere. “Enough of this already! If we run far enough, they will not track us!”
Yushia hushed her, his index finger against his lips as he listened intently. Several seconds later, he heard another cry. A child’s cry. He looked back at Suzaku with a fierce expression. “We are not leaving. Not yet.” He then pointed at the ground. “There are children down there.”
Suzaku couldn’t hear a thing. Still, what her wielder said stunned her and left a bewildered look on her face. “Are you sure?” She laid on her stomach beside her wielder and brought her ear to the ground, concentrating. She could hear crying, though it was faint.
The thought of children in distress compelled them both. Yushia felt it was his duty to redeem himself for what he couldn’t save back then. The Vermillion Bird on the other hand, simply felt obligated to help those in need. Before being sealed away, it was one of her responsibilities as the ruler of Kratia. It helped that she had a soft spot for children anway, too.
Yushia offered his hand, prompting Suzaku to hold it as she wrapped crimson ether around herself, transfiguring into a beautiful blade.
“You ready?” Yushia said as he looked over the hole. His grip around Suzaku’s hilt was as strong as ever.
“Do not act careless,” Suzaku said. “If my greatness sees anything that constitutes our death, you will follow every instruction she says. Abandoning the children is no exception to these conditions.”
Yushia nodded. “Understood.”
“Then, whenever you are ready.”
After checking inside the hole one last time, he jumped and landed gracefully inside a smaller section of the cave splattered in blood. The inside of the den smelled of rotten forest beasts, with every corner containing a mound of carcasses. Thick fluorescent moss took advantage of the death, allowing a dim light.
Though Suzaku couldn’t smell the air, her greatness could feel the nasty air touching her blade. “Promise not to dirty my greatness too much.”
“You know I can’t make a promise like that,” Yushia said, plugging his nose with two fingers.
They faced a tunnel before them. Erklings weren’t smart creatures at all. They had strategy, but their ability to perform complex tasks was subpar. Because of this, the layout of their dens was simple. The tunnel in front of them was sure to lead to their main chambers. Yushia walked with caution down the tunnel and emerged out on a high balcony.
Nobody but an Erkling could have found a cave as spacious as this. The ceiling was high and cleared of stalactites, and there was enough room on the ground to start a village, though the Erklings weren’t capable of doing such. Instead, they built their homes within the cave's walls. The entrance Yushia and Suzaku had come through now must have been their exit.
“You see them, don’t you?” Suzaku said.
“Down there,” Yushia replied. He felt his breath become heavy and his face hot with sweat beading down his face. Atop a mountain of animal carcasses were seven kids: two girls and five boys tied up together against poles, surrounded by hundreds of Erklings. The children had ears that were long and pointed, their hair an unusual green.
Suzaku took a deep breath. “Let us discuss a pla—”
In a hurry, Yushia jumped from the balcony and imprinted his feet within the floors of the Erkling’s den. He couldn’t bear watching any longer; intervening was a must. “I’m sorry, Suzaku. Let me be reckless this one time.”
The Erklings turned to look at him, confused and startled by the unwelcomed guest.
“As if!” Suzaku shouted. “If you do not stop this instant, my greatness shall withdraw from her Ghost Mansion!”
“That leaves us both vulnerable,” Yushia said, scouting the area. Even he was unsure how he’d take on so many Erklings. “I know you won’t turn back. Your powers need both of us cooperating.”
In the crowd of green, an Erkling screamed at the top of their lungs. It remembered seeing Yushia outside the cave not long ago and warned its brethren.
Lowering his knees, Yushia could feel the adrenaline pumping in his veins. A chance for redemption. I won’t freeze this time, he thought. Suzaku could feel her blade almost vibrating from her wielder’s excitement.
Yushia released a long exhale and bolted.
“Inanis damn you, idiot!” Suzaku yelled.
His ability to hold a blade had improved since leaving CM-22. One by one he cleaved the bowels and necks of Erkling, hacking the skulls of those who still lived somehow and kicking away the ones that managed to get close. Their bodies were set aflame, and their dark red Shijin orbs took their place.
Save them! Save them! Save them! Yushia told himself, dirtying Suzaku’s blade.
A lucky Erkling jumped and clung to Yushia’s back, making him stumble backward. It stabbed him with its small dagger and withdrew, but not without spitting inside the open wound it inflicted. A collective gasp slipped out of the remaining Erklings as they stopped fighting. The little green men ran back into their homes inside the walls.
Yushia’s eyes widened at the sharp pain. His vision blurred as he fell to his knees, reluctant to move at all because of the pain. He fell to his side. “I can’t feel anything, Suzaku... I ca... ca...”
Suzaku left her Ghost Mansion and held up her wielder to take a look at his backside. The Erkling’s purple spit bubbled like acid inside his gashed flesh. “My greatness knew something like this would happen!” In a hurry, she sat on her knees and laid her wielder down on his stomach. She hovered both hands over his wound and used her Well Mansion to amplify the effects of her healing flames.
“Help us!” A young boy atop the hill of carcasses cried.
Through lidded eyes, Yushia looked up at the mountain of carcasses. He couldn't tell from balcony, but now that he was this close, there was no way the children were above the age of twelve.
The young boy repeated his cries for help, snot running down his face. He looked to be the oldest out of the seven. “They’re going to bring out the big monster again! I don’t want to die! please!”
The children beside him cried too, begging for the strangers’ help.
Suzaku assisted her wielder as he regained his strength. She put his arm over her shoulder and held him up. “We are here to save you all! Please, just wait my children!”
Yushia put a hand to his head, still rattled by the situation. “The both of us... We will protect all of you!”
Suzaku whispered into her wielder’s ear. “Did you hear what the boy said?”
He coughed. “Hardly.”
“Something about a big monster coming out. Do you know anything of this?”
“Erklings aren’t supposed to be able to tame forest beasts. At least, that’s what I remember.”
The oldest boy shouted again. The facial features of the strangers were unfamiliar to him. “Are you two foreigners?!”
“Not exactly!” Yushia shouted back. Once he’d gathered his strength, he got off Suzaku and began climbing up the mountain.
“Get down from there, idiot!” Suzaku shouted at him, “Going up there may not be your best option, and such is true when we have been warned of an even greater threat!” Even after saying this, her wielder refused to listen, so she climbed as well.
Reaching the top, Yushia undid the ropes on each of the children’s wrists. As much as they wanted to say thanks, their voices had already grown hoarse from wailing. Their eyes—gray like a cloudy sky—refused to look at him. When Yushia arrived at the last child, a girl who kneeled and looked to be the youngest, he noticed she wouldn’t stand like the rest had.
“I’ll carry her,” the oldest boy said, carrying the girl on his back.
Upon closer inspection, Yushia saw dried blood that had come from her ankles, painting her feet red. They must have been slit by the Erklings to make sure she could no longer walk.
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He tore his gaze from the girl and looked back at the oldest boy. “How old are you?”
“I’m twelve,” he mumbled. He stole a glance at his savior’s eyes before stepping back. His anxiousness became clear. “Excuse me, are you a Cerulean?”
Yushia’s sky-blue irises and yellow pupils had given him away. It’d been a while since he last had to worry about the fact that he was a Cerulean. “I am, but—”
The five kids gasped in unison, hiding behind the oldest boy. He seemed even more terrified now. “Is the one climbing up a Cerulean too?!”
“No, it’s only me,” Yushia stated, “I’m the only Cerulean.” He paused for a moment before speaking again, careful of his words. “Listen, I’m... I’m a good Cerulean...”
“Liar!” The boy shouted. “I know what you are!”
No, you don’t, Yushia thought. The words had hurt him, reminding him that who he was had led to the murder of his people. You don’t know a thing about me.
Suzaku finally made it up the mountain. She had trouble catching her breath because she didn’t want to inhale the stench of Erklings. Having heard the children’s commotion, she grabbed her wielder’s shoulder, reassuring him that she would take it from here as she stood in front of him. “Do you kids know how to leave?”
One of the younger boys peeked out and answered. “I remember where to go!”
Suzaku looked at him. “What’s your name?”
“Nyuei,” he replied.
“Then my greatness leaves it to you, Nyuei,” Suzaku said. She then turned her head to the oldest boy but was interrupted before she could speak.
“My name is Mrei!” the oldest boy interrupted, face flushed like a rash. The lady’s beauty captivated him like no other. “Please, tell me yours!”
“It is Suzaku, now leave!” She whispered with harshness. Thought of the creature that lay in wait had her paranoid.
Another boy behind Mrei came out, his gray eyes dead unlike the others. “Come with us too. The monster will get you.”
The laughter of Erklings echoed in the cave. As Suzaku climbed down the hill and sorted the kids, Yushia turned to the wall behind him, and there, three Erklings had pushed one of its own from the wall’s holes. The Erkling fought to get back inside, but the others blocked the entrance, cackling. Their laughs came to a stop when their stomachs were impaled by tree roots, splashing blood on the ground. All of them were slowly pulled back inside the hole.
“Suzaku!” Yushia shouted as he ran down the hill. The children made way for him, not out of urgency, but out of fear. He took her hand and motioned with his head where he’d seen the Erklings.
Suzaku clicked her tongue and put her trust in Nyuei before pushing them away. Once they’d run off, she activated her Ghost Mansion and entered her wielder’s grasp.
The ground shook. An Erkling wearing purple robes walked out from the shadows of the tunnels. It held a staff in its right hand and a beaded necklace in its left. A shaman. It stopped and pointed its staff at Yushia.
He dashed to his right knowing an attack was coming. The Erkling grinned as something wrapped itself around the Cerulean’s ankle, slamming him to the floor.
Yushia picked himself up and looked down. His ankle had been entangled in roots! The slam incurred more damage than he thought he’d take and his vision blurred. He reached over to cut the roots with Suzaku’s blade but was stopped when three more roots pushed out from the ground, wrapping themselves around his wrists. Another uprooted and strangled his neck like a snake.
“Heeelp...” he gasped. His eyes bulged out like squeezed fruit, turning red as tears streamed down his purple face.
How dare they do this to my greatness’ wielder! Suzaku left her Ghost Mansion and burned away the root choking her wielder. “Get up!” She instructed, her voice desperate. But despite her words, her wielder didn’t move. Her wielder's body remained still, eyes half open and red. “Please!” she begged.
The Erkling Shaman cackled wildly, beads rattling as it jumped with joy.
To be taunted by a being as insignificant as an Erkling angered Suzaku. She knew she wasn’t as strong as she once was after losing to Laplace, but even then, was she this weak? Her dignity was at risk. She activated her Ghost Mansion in her arm and charged at the Shaman. The hot ether exuding from her blade brushed against the foe, but more roots sprung from the ground, making her trip.
What was once an evil laugh turned into a nervous chuckle as the Erkling Shaman took a step back. It had nearly died just now.
“I’ll kill you!” Suzaku cried, flailing her bladed arm brashly. In her moment of desperation, she’d forgotten her honorifics. The other Erklings who had managed to escape Yushia’s previous brutish onslaught began peeking their heads from their homes in the walls. “You dare taint my greatness?! All of you, every single one of you hiding, you will die by my hands! Your last breaths will be repenting for your very own existence! Inanis shall not show you any mercy once she has seen the flames of her child smite you!”
Unexpectedly, a thin beam of pressurized water drilled itself between the shaman’s eyes. The Erkling froze momentarily before being shot at again, this time in the heart. It fell backward and twitched before dying.
What? Suzaku thought. The roots holding her ankle disappeared into the ground as she turned her head back.
A gray robed-figure holding a staff as tall as herself leaped off the high balcony Yushia and Suzaku had used. Before they hit the ground, they pointed their staff to the ground and chanted. “I beseech you, Voice of Wind: Cloud bearings.”
They landed on their butt several feet above the ground on a summoned cloud, bouncing as it reduced theri fall. They hopped off and sauntered toward Suzaku.
Under their hood, Suzaku could see their thin lips and fair skin. The robed person removed their hood, letting their bobbed green hair breathe. Their bangs cloaking their gray eyes stared at her, and their unusually long and pointed ears that blushed red near the tips. A girl? she thought.
“Thank you, Suzaku,” the girl said.
“Who are you?” Suzaku returned. “Does my greatness know of you?”
“I don’t. The children do.” She turned so her body would face Yushia’s, and she pointed her staff at him, “I beseech you, Voice of Mist: Brisk elixir.” Tiny orbs of yellow light emitted from the staff, smashing against each other as they reduced to dust. They drifted toward Yushia, falling on him. She then turned back to Suzaku. “I’m Lei-Lei.”
Suddenly, Suzaku reached out and grabbed her hand. She smiled. “Thank you, Lei-Lei!”
“Leave,” Lei-Lei said bluntly.
“What?” Suzaku said as she struggled to stand. The girl looked to be around the same age as her wielder. “My greatness will not just leave you here. She can fight too.”
With her staff, Lei-Lei pointed its tip at the ceiling. “Erklings hold grudges for life. If you value yours, leave.” Threads of icy-blue ether channeled above her.
The amount exerted far surpassed anything Suzaku had seen in her lifetime. For a girl her age, possessing such ether must’ve meant Inanis had a liking toward her.
“I beseech you, Voice of Ice: Glaciation.”
***
Yushia’s eyes lifted, waking up sore on a soft pelt, staring up at a straw roof. Where am I? He rubbed the crust building around his eyes and sat up. A blanket had covered his half-naked body. His neck, wrist, ankles, and torso were all covered in green bandages—leaves, perhaps? When he touched the covered wounds, they didn’t hurt. His bushy hair felt different too, and when he touched it, he found it tied up in a long tail.
The room he had rested in was fairly empty, with only a stack of crates on one side. The walls were made of wood, and there was a draped entrance.
It smells nice here... He thought as he stared at the draped doorway.
The floor creaked as Yushia rose from his bed, investigating the crates.
“He’s awake!” a little girl yelled suddenly. “The Cerulean is awake!”
Yushia’s head turned to the draped doorway. A girl peeked in with half her body inside. She was a small girl with long ears, a small face, and green hair done up in a bun. Something about her seemed awfully familiar. She wore a black top with blue cuffs embroidered with floral designs and a white skirt. A red apron wrapped around her waist.
She screamed the moment she met Yushia’s gaze and ran off. “Sister Lei-Lei, the Cerulean is awake! The Cerulean is awake!”
In a panic, Yushia dug through the crate, though it was mostly junk. He found a chipped dagger and held it like he would Suzaku: if danger came, he’d be prepared. The dagger was heavier than Suzaku. Where was she, anyway?
“This way, this way, sister Lei-Lei!” the little girl said outside the room. The drapes were lifted again and the same little girl came in, this time accompanied by an older girl wearing a robe. The older girl’s hair was in a bob, her bangs covering her silver eyes. “Look!”
Yushia’s back was against the wall. He hid behind his dagger, pointing it at the two. “Stay back!”
The tall girl known as Lei-Lei put her hands in the air and kept a cool face. She bumped her hip against the little girl beside her, and she too raised her hands.
Two types of silence were made clear in the standoff. The first silence came from Yushia’s racing heart, afraid of what might happen to him. The second silence came from a ringing in his ear, causing him disorientation. The third silence had come last when Lei-Lei came. Her barely visible eyes were almost lifeless as if constantly looking into an abyss. Not an ounce of fear swelled within her.
Lei-Lei walked toward him. The little girl beside her urged her not to go, but she shook her off.
“I’ll hurt you!” Yushia warned, his blade and hand quivering.
With one swish of her hand, Lei-Lei conjured a ball of water and shot it at Yushia’s blade, knocking it away. It stuck itself into the floor too far away for Yushia to grab. He was helpless now and braced for whatever was about to come.
Lei-Lei pinched both cheeks of the Cerulean, squeezing and pulling them. She ran her fingers across his forehead and moved down, touching his eyes, nose, lips, and chin. “You have innocent features,” she whispered. “Much like my sister Fei.”
“Where’s Suzaku?!” Yushia asked, pushing her away.
Lei-Lei caught herself and turned to the little girl, nodding. The little girl sighed and rushed out. Once gone, she sat on her knees in front of Yushia and stared blankly.
Her eyes were as still as rocks. Yushia leaned forward and waved his hands in front of her face, to which Lei-Lei didn’t respond. Is she blind? He slowly and quietly stood up, tiptoeing as he walked past her. He’d find Suzaku and leave before anything could happen to them.
“Please sit,” Lei-Lei said quietly. Her voice had a hint of anxiousness to it.
A rictus smile grew on Yushia’s face, as he sat back down with unease. How did she know he was about to leave?
The silence had become unbearable, but it was broken by the immediate scream of a certain bird shouting. A stomping sprint infused with fury shook the floor, growing in intensity as it drew closer. “That idiot! How dare he rest peacefully during such difficult times!” Lifting the drapes that covered the door and entering was a crimson-haired girl. Her long twin tails had been undone and fell straight down to her hips. It was Suzaku. Instead of the mining attire from the slave camp, she was now wearing a black top, a white skirt, and a red apron around her waist.
Yushia’s jaw dropped. He couldn’t ignore the Vermillion Bird’s beauty. She looked cleaner now, with clothing that fit her size
“Risen at last, have you!?” she scowled, her face stern with an unrelenting glare. She calmed herself. “My greatness apologizes. How are you holding up?”
Yushia raised an eyebrow at the sudden change in tone. “I’m doing better, I suppose,” he said skeptically. Suzaku would never apologize for the way she acted or spoke, so it was strange, to say the least. He continued. “Where are we?”
“The Jiuli Clan’s village,” A young boy blurted, holding a steaming clay cup as he lifted the drapes. He was shirtless, wearing only a pair of baggy black pants. He had familiar green and bushy hair, his body wrapped in green bandages. “Now, it’s time you leave—”
“Just go in there already, Mrei!” a girl a few years older than the boy said, pushing him into the room and almost causing him to spill whatever was in the cup. She looked just like Lei-Lei and wore the same thing Suzaku did. Following her into the room was the girl Yushia had met when he first awoke and a boy even younger than her. “Sister Lei-Lei told you all to apologize and give your thanks for being saved, so quit being a baby!”
What is all this...? Yushia questioned. Having still been unfamiliar with crowds that weren’t slaves or family, he stayed silent.
Fei sighed and gathered the kids together. In an orderly fashion, they lined up in order—Fei included—from oldest to youngest. Lei-Lei's lips formed a small smile; it had been a long time since the kids acted this way.
It finally clicked in Yushia’s head, seeing the kids together. The two boys and girl who came with Fei were the ones he and Suzaku had saved. For some reason, the others were missing.
Mrei interrupted. “He didn’t save us, Suzaku di—”
Fei put a hand over his mouth. “I will start. My name is Fei Jiuli, and my sister is the one sitting in front of you. Her name is Lei-Lei. She’s sixteen, I’m thirteen. Jukon.”
When her turn was over, she lowered her hand from Mrei’s mouth and nudged him. He was reluctant, that is until Fei nudged him harder, almost knocking him over. “My name is Mrei Jiuli...” he said begrudgingly. “I’m eleven.”
Next was the girl Yushia first met when he woke up. “I’m Yoyei Jiuli!” she said. “I like archery, I’m nine, and...” She didn’t say anything after that and looked around the room, awkwardly smiling.
“Jukon, my name is Nyuei Jiuli,” the final child said. He was a bit chubby and had curly green hair. He wore baggy pants just like Mrei but wore a black shirt with large armholes and blue cuffs. “I’m nine too, and I like to run in the forest.”
Mrei chuckled when he heard that Nyuei liked to run.
“Mrei!” Fei said, pinching his cheek. “That’s not nice at all!”
“I’ sowwy!” he pleaded as his cheeks were pulled like dough.
Yushia’s silence remained, but he couldn’t deny the pleasant feeling in his heart. A part of him envied them. A childhood like this had been robbed of him, and he had taken it upon himself to bear the weight of his people on his shoulders.