The wolves were clad in silver armor. Long, emerald capes flailed behind them as they pulled over their horses to a canter and stopped at the center of the village before the gigantic panther statue. They rode in ten; two of which carried Shinsou’s banner and one that carried Zhaohu’s sigil—a print of a tiger head in side view, fangs bared to a roar. Behind them, they pulled a wooden carriage nested with a pile of ragged sacks and straws.
Liang and Bao circled back to the entrance shortly after the wolves have dismounted, hoping to elude them while they were occupied.
“Be prepared,” said Bao.
Liang slightly looked over her shoulder. “If they do not question us, there’s no point in stopping.”
“These wolves are proud,” Bao paused and decided to erase his euphemism. “They see themselves as nobility. Twenty years of oppressing the helpless and lavishing in manses made them that way. They will engage us and when the situation demands it, we will fight.”
Liang pulled a deep breath and let it out. The odds were not in their favor. It was ten warriors against the two of them. Bao was not armed and he was still injured from Liang’s previous attack. Liang herself barely used any magic the past twenty years. Should a fight occur, it would be the end for both of them.
Bao reined the horse to walk inside the village. The wolves were dispersed around the area, rounding off the Akako-folk from their makeshift houses. Women shrieked and children cried. The silence was plunged into anguish and panic as the wolves separated the children from their parents. There was no regard for age. Old men were hauled by their limbs and infants left on the snowy dirt to squirm.
Liang knew of the treachery brought upon Zhaohu’s conquest twenty years ago. Yet she never did witness so close how her kind was treated like animals. Once, she had seen what Zhaohu did to the exorcists and that was enough to send her running away in fear. She covered her ears to the downfall of the great kingdoms and she closed her eyes to the tyranny of Zhaohu’s rule. Now, however, she found herself not looking away but looking for more.
Bao urged Liang to keep her eyes forward and it should have been easy enough yet her neck craned back at the helpless villagers as they were dragged in three herds: men, women and children.
“The villagers are barely resisting,” Liang whispered to Bao, “Why must these wolves treat them so harshly?”
Bao scoffed which came out like a disgruntled growl. “If this passes as harsh to you, then you clearly have not seen what they do to the godkissed once they have them sorted.”
Liang was offended. Of course she was aware of what gruesome fate befell the godkissed and Bao knew that which only meant that the snow leopard was branding Liang a craven. For she had no right sympathizing the people she long abandoned.
“Are you bothered, exorcist?” Bao was right behind Liang’s ear. Liang could feel the leopard’s whiskers brush the skin of her neck and his breath warm her cheek.
“Ask yourself, Bao,” Liang muttered the leopard’s name mockingly, “Would this be a good time provoking me?”
Bao leaned back. Liang felt the weight withdraw from her but Bao was far from over.
“I do not know how you survived,” he said. “Nor do I know where you have been or what you have been doing the past twenty years. It does not matter. What matters is that you crossed paths with mine.”
“I have told you many times that I want no part in the war you’re planning. What is not clear to you?” Liang looked over her shoulder, slightly pushing herself back against Bao.
“You,” Bao answered her so simply that it made Liang confused even more. “You are not clear to me,” Bao continued, “I see that you are not as indifferent as you seem. You show concern over the oppression of your kind but at the same time you refuse to do anything about it.”
Liang’s breathing turned heavy and her cheeks, red. The cold dissipated from the heat that arose her neck. “You’re right in every possible way. I refused to fight back but has it ever crossed your mind that I would only be killing myself if I revealed what I am?”
The horse nickered and Bao gently pulled its rein taut.
Liang’s voice grew, overtaken by the pain and the anger of her memories. “I was forgotten to rot in the tunnels of Shan Liang. Rats fed on my wounds and flies nested inside the cuts of my skin. I awakened amid piles of corpses…corpses whose faces were familiar and dear to me. I survived because they thought I was dead. And I knew what it was like to die…the agony, the darkness…I tasted death and did not want it again.”
Bao became silent. His heart was calm despite it all. Liang could feel it against her back and she realized that she might have drawn the attention of one of the collectors.
“Halt, travelers!” commanded one of the wolves. He marched toward them, lance gripped taught in his knuckles. His armor creaked and rustled as he came near. “The market is opposite where you came from. You’ll find nothing of value where you’re headed.”
“I am grateful for your guidance,” Bao tipped his conical hat lower to cover his eyes. “But I believe this is the way to the dungeon.”
“Indeed it is, and what business you have going to the dungeon?” asked the wolf.
Bao pulled down Liang’s hood, revealing her face. He grabbed Liang by the neck and turned her head to look at the wolf.
“Theft,” Bao said.
The wolf eyed Liang for a moment. “There haven’t been any humans in Lord Shinsou’s village for years. I’m curious how she managed to get past the gates.”
“She is not from here.” Bao released his grip on Liang. “I brought her from Yofuchi.”
“Awfully far distance to be carrying a lowlife. She must have exhausted your food and water coming here. Why not turn her over to the dungeons there?”
“Theft is rampant in Yofuchi. Thieves are turned in by the hundreds every week. Wardens cannot put a high price on them with so many bounty hunters to pay. I figured here in Fukamori where theft is rare, she’d fetch me a fine price. And with this one, so young, I could negotiate a finer price.”
“You sure you’re a bounty hunter and not a merchant?” The wolf chuckled, a vile display of yellow fangs unfurling. “I know a slaver in Haeguk. You’d get along with him just fine. Would you like me to send him your regards?”
“Generous but I prefer to work alone.”
“You won’t have a chance like this again. Work with him for a month and you’d be drowning in wine and your heart’s desires.”
“I’ll take my chances.” Bao stretched the corner of his mouth to a smile and turned his horse away.
Liang only realized she had been holding her breath the moment the wolf turned away from them during which she released the air from her lungs in an icy ghost.
“You make a fine liar,” Liang remarked. “Your kind treats you so well.”
“Only because they think I’m one of them.”
“Are you not?” Liang asked.
“You know I am not,” Bao returned, a mild annoyance in his voice.
“Forgive me. I must have forgotten that you had to devour the soul of my kind to exist in this realm.”
Bao pulled the horse to a stop so hard it whickered. “You’ve no right to judge the choices I've made, exorcist. Especially when you have done nothing to save your own kind. Aye, I devoured a godkissed soul to exist in your realm. Aye, I sacrificed my immortality so that I could die fighting in your war. And what would I gain in doing so? Nothing. Yet here I am.”
“Perhaps there would be something to gain,” Liang said plaintively. “We never act without reason. Whatever yours is, it must be worth a whole lot more than immortal life. Joining the reincarnation cycle is the dream of eldritch shadows. Were you a shadow before this life, Bao?”
Bao did not answer.
“You think me vicious, don’t you?” Liang said. “Selfish and cowardly. I might as well have doomed humanity itself. But there is one thing you must understand. I do not justify my actions. Even with the power I carry, it is not enough to outweigh the Yin in my soul. I am only of value because of the knowledge inside me. I am a mere relic the world wants to destroy.”
“So you believe the world wants you gone.” Bao’s voice was soft. The building ire vanished and he was calm again like the first time he and Liang had spoken to each other by the pond. “From what I see, Zhaohu wants you gone. The world is begging for your help.”
Liang was silent. An epiphany dawned to her—brought upon by Bao’s words. She was yet to know if it was reassuring or not. She spent so long being afraid that she had forgotten what it was like to feel anything else. The strange sensation in her chest—her heart beating fast—was exactly like fear except that she was not afraid. However, all good things must come to an end.
They were barely out of the wolves’ vicinity when the collection was almost over. The wolves were about to begin their divination. Bao whipped the reins of the horse to move them forward but Liang urged him back. The exorcist was surprised by her own actions as well and as she contemplated whatever she was doing, her body was already acting on its own.
“Liang, we cannot linger here for long. Remember our purpose here…” Bao told her. “Makaskas cannot fight those fox spirits alone. He needs our help.”
“These people need our help as well…” Liang muttered under her breath. And as though being overtaken by an unknown force, she jumped off the horse and ran back to where the villagers were herded. She hid behind the panther god’s statue, out of the wolves’ sight.
Bao leaded his horse to a nearby ramshackle frame and dismounted, following after Liang. They crouched on the snow, listening.
“I hope the lot of you have produced well. There’s going to be some changes in our collecting party from here on out,” one of the wolves said. “Twenty godkissed souls. That is your quota. Deliver us one head short and there will be retribution. Bring out the hound!” he commanded.
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The two wolves stationed by the carriage tugged on a chain until something thrashed violently. It shook the entire carriage, seeming like it did not want to come out until one of the wolf guards pulled its chain.
Liang peeked, curious about the wolves’ method of divining the godkissed villagers. She expected an animal of some sort, brought from the realm of shadows but instead, it was a human.
What the wolves called the ‘Hound’ was a lank, naked figure. Her skin was tight against her bones, each rib, a dune to her chest. Her hands and feet were bound in chains, forcing her to crawl on the ground. She was allowed no clothing but the iron that clamped her wrists and ankles. Her head was shaved and her eyes, clawed out. Various scars traced her body.
She crawled on the snowy dirt, toward the herded villagers, mouth drooling. The children were completely terrified of her, most of them crying in fear as she approached. The Hound looked barely human as she groaned and grunted, sniffing one child after the next. It was sensing its likeness. For a godkissed soul knew its own kind.
The Hound circled the group of children, procuring three godkissed souls before it began sniffing outside of the area. The wolf carrying her leash pulled it harshly back to the herded villagers but the Hound was sensing something far stronger than the natural essences of the villagers.
The Hound thrashed violently, pulling through the leash like an eager hunting dog.
“Follow it,” the commander of the wolves said.
Her handler eased the chain and followed where she was leading. She circled the carriage and then the panther god’s statue until they discovered Liang and Bao’s location.
Bao did not take a second to dally. Crouching from the snow, he immediately pounced on the wolf that carried the Hound’s leash. The wolf dropped the chain as he was violently slammed against the ground. His armor was dented from the force of Bao’s weight. The snow leopard drove his claw to the only vulnerable area of the wolf—his neck. The wolf spat out blood before its jaw lie opened, tongue sticking out.
The hiss of swords getting unsheathed filled the air and the herded villagers cowered in their areas. Bao got up, one claw red from the stain of the wolf’s blood.
“Do you realize what you have done?” exclaimed the commander of the wolves.
“I have cleansed the world of a filth,” Bao said, examining his claw soaked in blood. “Nine more to go.”
“Your luck ran out, snow kitty,” taunted one of the wolves. “You’re unarmed and outnumbered. We’ll be sure to make your death nice and slow.”
“And I’ll be sure to make your eternity full of pain and suffering.” Liang stepped out of her hiding place.
A buzz of laughter followed Liang’s statement. “And what could a thief like you do?” asked one of the wolves, the one that approached them from earlier. He was standing proud, lance idly resting on his shoulder and one foot crossed on the other.
“Obviously, I’m no thief.” Liang extended her hand to a chokehold.
The wolf’s body tensed, his snout pointing to the sky. He dropped his lance and used both hands to claw at his neck, trying to relieve the pressure that kept him from breathing.
The wolf’s comrades watched in confusion as their ally knelt on the snow, hands red from scratching his neck, trying to break free of the suffocation.
Liang lifted her hand toward the sky and the wolf was hoisted from the ground as if hanging by an invisible noose. The villagers gasped in awe as they watched the wolf tyrant get suspended in the air.
“I’m curious,” Liang said. “Would you enlighten me of what I can do to scum like you?” With one motion of her hand, Liang snapped the wolf’s neck, the crunch of bones was disturbing to hear. She dropped his corpse on the ground. Liang wiped her hand as if it was stained. “Twenty years, I’ve eluded your kind and I just now realized how…fun…it is to watch you die.”
“Exorcist!” One of the wolves yelled and at the sound of his voice, the wolves charged at Bao and Liang with swords and spears.
One of the lancers tossed his spear toward Liang. Bao was quick to react, tackling Liang to the ground. The spear flew right past them, piercing the ground erectly some distance away. The duo got up as quickly as they had landed but in that short amount of time, they were already surrounded.
“What were you thinking?” Bao gritted his teeth, eyes scanning for their first attacker.
“I wasn’t thinking,” Liang whispered.
“I was hoping you knew what you were doing,” Bao said.
“And I was hoping you’d have my back if ever it came to this,” Liang returned.
The first wolf lunged at Bao, swinging with his sword. Bao quickly dodged. Two more attackers slashed and while Liang fairly eluded the attacks on her own, Bao had to occasionally push and pull her out of harm’s way. Liang felt slightly fazed at the strength and speed Bao maneuvered her.
“I need distance away from them,” Liang said, “I cannot concentrate while dodging their attacks.”
“Is that all?” Bao ducked from a swing. “Then consider it done.” At the next attack, Bao slid underneath the gap of Liang’s legs and jumped to the air, carrying the surprised exorcist with him.
Liang did not expect Bao’s action and she almost fell had she not instinctively grabbed hold around Bao’s shoulders. They landed outside the area from which they were cornered and Bao gestured Liang to run away as he tried to keep the wolves at bay. Liang spared no second putting some distance between her and the wolves. Bao picked up the lance pierced on the ground.
The leopard spun the weapon so hard the air whistled at its motion. The wolves stopped just before Bao, cautious of the spearhead that poked at them like a viper.
Three of the wolves carrying broad swords slowly surrounded Bao. The snow leopard watched keenly, shifting his grip on the spear along with his stance. The first wolf faked an attack, stomping his leg forward which made Bao step back and the wolf behind him slashed with the sword.
Bao eluded the attack and jabbed the back of the spear to the attacker’s midrib which sent him falling to the ground. His heavy armor squeaked and crunched as it landed on the snow. As quickly as he had fallen, Bao pressed his foot on the wolf’s chest and drove the spearhead through the wolf’s neck. Blood gushed out from the wolf’s corpse, tainting the spear and the snow.
Bao pulled the spear out and examined its sharp end before tossing it up in the air, catching it with his hand and throwing it at the next wolf. The armor they wore with pride did not protect them from the leopard’s brutal strength. Through armor, flesh and ground, the lance pierced all the way through. The last wolf stared at Bao in fear, his sword-hand shaking.
“You best believe that dying by my hands is the easy way out,” Bao said as he cracked his neck and crouched. “Exorcists have a way of tormenting you beyond the physical realm.”
Before the wolf could react, Bao was already high in the air, claws and fangs glinting under the tint of the full moon. There was an unearthly growl that accompanied his lunge, one that was feral. Bao landed on top of the wolf, crushing his bones under the lavish armor. The wolf gave out one last wheeze as he died on the snow.
Five wolves remained and it seemed like they did not have the intention of continuing the fight. They were mounted on horses watching Bao with uncertainty.
“Emperor Zhaohu will hear about this,” said their commander. As they were about to make their escape, a violent force dismounted them from their horses.
The wolves whimpered as they were dragged on the snow by something unseen. Bao looked behind him and saw Liang standing inside a circular pattern drawn on the snow. The exorcist’s hand was raised above her head. A swirl of air danced around her.
She dragged the wolves, dead and alive, toward her. Then she passed her judgment.
Bao watched curiously and in his mind he tried to guess the kind of rite Liang was about to perform. The northern exorcists were known for their spirit magic and bond with forces in the afterlife. They were regarded as the fiercest of the four temples. Even deities were wary of their power. It was believed that their discipline of magic was taught firsthand by the primordial god, Shiyan. And that rendered them the most powerful beings in the spiritual realm.
Liang gathered the wolves around her. Five living and five dead.
“What do you plan to do with us?” Asked one of the wolves but Liang did not answer his question.
Instead, she commanded the dead wolves to arise and as they did, they were in agony of their mortal wounds. They cried and pleaded for the exorcist to grant them rest but there was no mercy in Liang’s heart…not after she had seen what was done to her kind.
Bao’s eyes widened at the sight but he dared not interrupt.
“For the crimes you have done to my people, I deem your spirits impure. You are not worthy of your mortal vessels.”
Liang chanted in her native dialect, calling upon the wards of Shiyan. She expended an enormous amount of energy conjuring the preternatural heralds that collected souls.
It was said that when a northern exorcist calls upon the heralds, the gates of the shadow realm could be heard opening. The sound was like unlatching castle doors but as it opens, a thousand voices could be heard screaming in the wind.
There was no such thing.
Instead there was something that took over the exorcist’s physical form—a black, faceless enigma that stood in Liang’s place. The wolves were restless, trying to break free of Liang’s invisible grasp. And as though they were successful, they were able to reconquer their senses. The wolves scattered around the area, some bounding toward the exit and some trying to mount their horses. But it was as if Liang had merely played with them before passing the harsh retribution she promised at the beginning.
Sharp spines came out of the earth where the wolves stood, impaling them on their places. The wolves howled in agony, supposing to die but did not. The spines grew around their bodies, encasing them in a coffin-like fashion. Their bodies remained in pain, ever dying as they were lifted to the air and devoured by a pluming darkness that only vanished along with their body and soul.
Bao watched in awe and fear as the last wolf was lifted to the air and lost in the darkness. When he turned to where Liang was, the herald was pointing a spiny finger at him. The earth grumbled underneath Bao’s feet but before anything rash could happen, the herald vanished and in its place was Liang, faint and weak.
Bao opted to approach Liang but he was rooted in place…not by any magic but by his own fear. Nevertheless, he fought through it. He went to Liang’s side and offered his hand but the exorcist refused it. One step out of the circle and Liang stumbled but never met the ground. Bao caught her on time.
“That…just now…” Bao trailed off. “Was that one of the forbidden rites from the knowledge of old?”
“So you’re aware of it…” Liang panted. She tried to get away from Bao but she was too weak to stand on her own. Other than that, she felt guilty for almost sending Bao with the wolves. “You should get away from me for a while,” Liang said.
“You cannot manage on your own…at least let me mount you on the horse.”
Liang shook her head left and right. “Take me to her…”
Bao thought for a moment and realized what Liang meant. He looked around the area. The villagers were still rounded up despite getting freed from the wolves. And he found what Liang was looking for on the same carriage the wolves have brought.
Carefully, he assisted Liang to walk toward the carriage where the Hound was snuggling on a pile of old rugs and hay. At their approach, the Hound began thrashing and sniffing wildly in the air.
Liang cupped her harness and pulled out her dagger—the same dagger that drove through Bao’s back and when Bao saw it, he knew what Liang wanted to do.
“Could you hold her for me?” asked Liang, a childish lilt in her voice.
Bao slowly let go of Liang and climbed the carriage. The Hound snuffed Bao, grunting and growling and for each savage noise she made, Bao saw her severed tongue flick inside her mouth. She was made blind and unable to speak, all senses depraved save one that helped procure godkissed souls.
Bao knelt down and held the Hound down but at his touch, the Hound thrashed violently, resisting Bao despite its futility. Bao took a deep breath and shared some of his energy with the Hound. Slowly but surely, the Hound calmed down until she was no longer resisting.
“You’re a deity…” Liang’s eyes were wide at the realization.
“Was…” The corners of Bao’s mouth rose to a wry smile.
Liang averted her gaze, feeling even guiltier of her previous intention. Before drawing her dagger, she asked Bao. “Does she have a name?”
Bao searched the Hound’s memories but found nothing. She was never even anyone before becoming like this. Bao sighed heavily and nodded his head left and right.
Liang began praying in the northern dialect, “The soul I bear witness to, this one of no name, I offer part of my Yang for her passing in the reincarnation cycle…”
“And I offer part of my Yin for her balance,” Bao added.
Liang was surprised to hear Bao not only speak in her dialect but also know the prayer for lost souls. She kept her eyes on him as they finished the prayer.
“We ask in Masu’s name through Ba Ama’s breath of life. Shiyan’s will, be done.”
Liang ran the blade through the Hound’s heart, swift and deep. The Hound did not struggle and lied peacefully on the carriage.
“We’ll bury her in Masu’s grove,” Bao said and before Liang could reply, he added, “She deserves to be with the Great Mother until she is reborn.”
Liang nodded once to agree. There were many things she wanted to ask Bao but she remembered that there were other matters that needed their attention. Just as Bao got down from the carriage, a horse came galloping toward them and the rider was no other than Nami. She looked terribly weak. Her lips were peeling and the skin of her face was blistered. She was hysterical, mouth quivering as she tried to speak words.
Bao rushed to approach her and grabbed the horse by the reins.
“Nami…” Bao said and recognized Makaskas’s horse. “Where’s Makaskas?”
“We have to hurry, Bao,” Nami said, “Makaskas is in danger.”