The ghoul stopped mid-stride. A head of wispy hair and a missing ear tilted the other way, but then its half-decomposed face snapped to look at Kichi, and a tongue moved in a worm-filled mouth. It took a step toward her on a fleshless leg.
Another creature behind laughed. It was a fresh ghoul that looked too alive, a broad man with no nose. “Come to me, pumpkin.”
Kichi stepped away and kept an eye on both creatures. “I’m too fast, you won’t catch me.”
“No, we aren’t fast, but we will catch you.”
Kichi had heard of a ghoul or two wandering a graveyard, but she saw movement among the headstones as a dozen more meandered closer. She whipped around and saw that they formed a perimeter around her. “What happened when Hach came here? What did he do?”
It laughed again and then, to her surprise, answered. “He came here yelling that he was cursed like his grandfather, and his sadness disturbed the Wight.”
Kichi glanced at the rope around the bough. Why would Hach do such a thing here? Surely, he knew the danger.
She raced along a row of headstones and stumbled on loose earth. A corpse had risen here, she knew. Pushing herself up, she noticed a fresh rose lying on the adjacent grave.
The ghouls closed around her. Every direction was tattered clothes and festering skin or bone. She had no idea what to do. It was a fate worse than death. Her soul would be confined here after they tortured her and feasted on her flesh.
The first to reach her had a skeletal hand whose tendons puppet-stringed the grasping fingers. It caught hold of her collar and yanked.
Bin leaped from a tomb and sailed in to fight for her, but a ghoul batted the squirrel cat away.
Thanks for trying.
Kichi couldn’t let fear paralyze her. She searched for a gap in their numbers, but she saw none. She backed into the headstone. Of course, she’d forgotten about her lava spirit. Her hands found the cold slate, and she concentrated on heating it. How much of the energy rings had she used?
As far as she knew, ghouls usually feared fire because it purified them and released their souls. A memory of her mother telling her never to be too attached to the material world or one couldn’t let go after death surfaced, but like many of her memories, it seemed like it happened to someone else.
These poor souls couldn’t let go, and they needed help.
The slate melted in her hand, and she flung handfuls at them. It hissed as it plastered faces and torsos, and they stepped back.
A few even turned away and retreated. One’s eyes went wide, and it covered its face. “I don’t want to die.”
Kichi felt like she was throwing snowballs, but they were glowing red. “You don’t want to die, even if you hunger for living flesh?” She tossed a molten heap into the back of one’s head and it dropped as stiff as a statue.
Bin crouched on the curve of a tomb and watched her. The ghouls wandered away into the night.
She looked down at the ruined headstone. “I’m sorry I messed up your grave.”
A moment of panic hit her, and she pattered herself down until she lifted the key and let out a breath. Now, she could free the knight. She whipped the moist dirt from her clothes and left the graveyard.
A chill breeze hushed in the trees and froze her wet, muddy legs. Kichi hugged herself and kept to the side of the road. She still had no idea how corrupted the city was by the Wight, but she was beginning to assume the difference in appearance of the eyes was real, so instead of freezing herself in the water again, she sprinted over the bridge.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
Masahide still sat in the iron cage in the pool of lamplight. Hach’s followers carried buckets of water from the well and balanced them on poles over their shoulders.
She waited, and after they carried bucket after bucket, they left, but before she could run over and unlock the cage, a girl ran and knelt by the cage.
The way they talked gave Kichi hope that she was an ally. She wore a dress and lengths of red hair fell to the middle of her back.
Kichi got closer and heard a snippet of words.
Masahide held the girl's hand. “Even if I were free, Ema, my duty prevents me from settling down. I serve Mount Templar, which means I roam all the lands of the realm and serve as a protector of the mountain spirits.”
The girl, Ema, looked into his eyes. “Still, I have to get you out. I’ve been pretending to drink the water for too long. They’ll notice me soon.”
“I don’t want you risking yourself. Flee and forget about me.”
Kichi stepped forward. “Masahide, I have a key to try.” She fitted the key into the lock, and it clinked open.
He crawled out of the door and hobbled into the shadow. He wasn’t able to straighten himself until they reached the trees. He sat and stretched his legs. “Thank you.”
Ema hugged her, and they made a round of introductions and a summary of the prior events. Ema was the serving girl from the Lion Cave. As far as Masahide knew, Hach was still at the Dragon Scale Inn.
“Perhaps,” Masahide said, “the two of us can defeat them if we work together.”
Ema tried patting down his unruly blond hair, but the cowlick wouldn’t budge. “The three of us. I’m not going anywhere.”
Kichi thought maybe Ema could be of use. “We need to draw them from the inn’s common room. Ema, you could set a fire at the well. Gather whatever you can to burn. Masahide can loose the stabled horses near the inn. I’ll climb to the second story of the inn and get our pure swords.”
He nodded. “A fire at the well can be easily put out and won’t unduly threaten the city. It’s a good plan.”
Ema fretted with her hands. “Okay, I can do that. I’ll gather things in a cart and set it alight.”
Kichi caught Bin and stood. “Let’s do this. I’ll see you two at the inn.”
They scattered to complete their various tasks.
Kichi ran inside the forest until she reached the inn, walked out under the moonlight to the west face, and looked up at the window she’d leaped from earlier that night. It was too high up to climb. The overhang of the second floor just made it impossible.
The tree beside the inn almost reached the building, but there was a terrifying gap between it and the inn. But what other choice did Kichi have? The evergreen’s boughs started low to the ground. She ascended like climbing a ladder, but the branches above the tile roof bowed under her weight. It felt worse than it looked from below.
She leapt.
The branch dipped further than she’d expected. The ground appeared to be a league below, even if it were less than ten fathoms. It wasn’t enough. Her feet caught nothing but air. Her fingers hooked onto the roof. Perhaps it was good she’d gone without food, for her weight and momentum slammed her into the wall, and she struggled to hold herself.
She climbed to the roof's ridge and waited for the chaos to begin. Nothing was happening. It was taking too long. Had the plan fallen apart? She pictured Ema and Masahide in cages after having failed their tasks. She began to feel like morning would dawn, though she had no way to know the time.
Then, an orange light painted the whitewashed walls beyond the well. Soon, flames licked into view. Then whinnies pierced the night.
Her heart raced. This was it.
She scooted down the tile and dropped to the window. The shutter ripped off its hinge and pitched askew, and she almost plummeted, but her fingers held tight, and her foot found the sill. Inside, the room was empty. She darted out the door and to the stairway. She heard voices below and shouts of fire repeated.
It sounded like they were filing out of the door, leaving the inn. She descended and saw the backs of the last out of the doorway.
Where would they keep the pure swords?
There was Whitebeard. He still sat face down on the table, eyes staring. The sword was still hovering an inch above his back.
She felt tears welling but couldn’t deal with that now. The archway to the kitchen caught her eye, and she jogged over to look. The two sword girdles lay in a heap on a chopping block. The swords were in their scabbards.
She began belting hers on.
A menacing voice said, “I thought you’d return for it.”
Kichi
Level: 4
Focus: Prescience
Secondary focus: Lava
Weapons: pure sword - 3% pure