The purple talisman went up in a puff of blue and orange flames. The flames rose and surrounded the ball of dark smoke floating in the bucket. And instead of burning the smoke up and neutralizing it, they turned into six long dancing snake-like ropes that wrapped around the ball made of smoke at the center. Just when the ropes completely circled the ball of smoke, they dimmed down. After a short moment, all that was left on the ball of smoke were glowing words and symbols, not unlike the symbols one would draw on talismans.
“You’re trying to trap something?” Gloria recognized some of the patterns, and immediately asked Gyuu Park.
“Yes. And I apologize in advance, but this is probably the only time to do it. Otherwise we would have no chance.” Gyuu Park slowly walked around the bucket, staring at the ball of smoke and symbols. Then he raised his right hand up, with his fingers tracing in the air along a very thin, barely visible semi-transparent gray line: “I - I don’t know if this is it. But it’s definitely a mark of some kind. Just as I worried, you were marked. ”
“Do you know what or who could have done that?” Gloria walked up to Gyuu Park’s side and looked up at the thin line: “And what does this tell you?”
“Nothing more than what you just heard.” Gyuu Park sighed as he turned and ran to the closet, from which he pulled out a sword made of peachwood and some more incense sticks: “Now all I need is to hopefully trap whatever that was put the mark on you, or at least the medium through which the mark brings you harm. Even if nothing comes of it, we’d still - ”
Before Gyuu Park could finish, a gush of strong wind blew open the main door of the temple, making all the tiny candles in the stone lamps flicker, even completely blowing out three of them.
“It’s here. Get ready.” Gyuu Park threw some more talismans to Gloria while holding the peachwood sword.
“What are we waiting for? What are we fighting?” Gloria asked, while trying to activate the last bit of her Qi.
“We don’t know, but we’re in an actual temple, standing on blessed ground. ” Gyuu Park pointed at the parts of the building around them: “And this building is warded, with runes and symbols carved into the pillars and beams. We’d be fine.”
A faint, dark green shadow burst into the inner sanctum following a high-pitched shriek. Neither Gloria nor Gyuu Park was able to get a good look at what it was at first. When the shadow shrieked again, and the flames around the wooden bucket burned brighter and higher, forming a cage that prevented the creature from getting out.
As the creature bounced around in the cage of fire struggling to break free, Gloria and Gyuu Park finally saw what it looked like: an obese infant with a bald, swollen head, crooked teeth and no lower body, with three long slender arms holding a scythe made of a material that looked like human shin bones.
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“Fuck.” Gyuu Park’s face turned pale and he stumbled backwards, with his eyes fixed on the creature.
“What is it?” Gloria immediately held onto Gyuu Park’s shoulders to prevent him from falling down: “You know what this is. What is it?”
“Deliverer. A special kind of Shiki-Kami. Or mini gods, if you will, they are ancient and unique supernatural spirits. ” Gyuu Park collected himself, then answered after a deep breath, frowning: “This is not good. ”
“Ancient spirit?” Gloria looked the screeching and fuzzing spirit up and down. This creature appeared to be simultaneously obese and boney: its head was almost the shape of a mushroom, yet its torso was very slim; out of its left chest grew an additional left arm, the slender fingers from which wrapped around the handle of the scythe. Root and spider web-like veins were crawling all over its pale skin. “Sure doesn’t look like it. What should we do?”
“Not many have seen them. It’s not exactly human spirit or cupid.” Gyuu Park walked to the side of that bucket that was facing the door and had his eyes on the thin, dark red tube that connected to the stomach of the Deliverer and something outside: “I - let me think for a bit. We really need to be careful with this.”
“Why not just kill it?” Gloria readied the talismans infused with her Qi: “Just say the word and I’m ready.”
“No! Nonono.” Gyuu Park immediately raised his voice: “Don’t. We can’t. Or else you’ll doom us both. It is said that Deliverers have direct connection to the flow of Karma, they are the literal embodiment of omens and blessings. If we kill it, there’s no telling what would happen to us.”
“How long can your trap last?” Gloria asked, her eyes following the Deliverer as it rushed in the air up and down, left and right. The flames from the red symbols on the ground created an invisible energy prison that locked the creature inside. Everytime it tried to fly away, a translucent orange energy wall appeared in front of it and pushed it back. The energy wall itself seemed to be hurting the creature as well, for each time its escape attempt was thwarted, there were more cracks and wounds revealed on its body.
“A couple of minutes. Ten tops.” Gyuu Park shook and scratched his head, frustrated: “And I’m afraid we won’t be able to hold it for long. ”
“Okay, tell me what to do.” Gloria rushed to Gyuu Park’s side.
“I’m thinking.”
“We don’t have time.”
“Dammit! I know!” Gyuu Park couldn’t help but yell. He looked up at the ceiling, then at some of the pillars and beams in the room. After a short moment of anxious silence, he rushed to the closet and grabbed some red threads: “Fuck! Scapegoat doll it is! You know how to make one right?”
“Yes!” Gloria immediately cut some hair then rushed to the closet and tried to find some straws and hay, but there weren’t any. “Where the fuck are your hay and straws?”
“We don’t have it! Just use your sleeves!” Gyuu Park yelled as he tore up Glorias left sleeve, took the hair from Gloria and started rolling it into the shape of a doll: “Now, I know this hurts, but I need you to draw some blood from the tip of your tongue, and your left middle finger.”
“Yeah.” Gloria did not hesitate, she just used her finger to slice a small cut on her tongue as Gyuu Park asked. Then when the doll was almost finished, she spit the blood on the doll, then dripped her blood on the doll’s chest.
When the doll was done, Gyuu Park rushed to the paint bucket, dipped his fingers in it and started drawing on the ground. Before long, the rag doll made of Gloria’s sleeve was laid into a circle of symbols drawn with red paint.
“What about you?” Gloria let out a sigh of relief, then asked Gyuu Park: “You should make one as well, just in case…”
“Look!” Gyuu Park cut her off, pointing at the Deliverer.
This grotesque creature stopped moving and just froze in mid air, its eyes were twitching, its arms were trembling, and the thin tube connected to its body was flashing in increasingly bright light.
“What is - ” Gloria did not even get to finish her question, for she was interrupted by the bright flames and powerful shockwaves that originated from the center of the Deliverer’s body. Her back crashed into the wall behind her, the dull pain almost made her black out.