Beware your heart, young one. Do not slaughter. Do not indulge. Do not give yourself cause for regret. Because even the sturdiest of paths may fall to your heart demons and they do not fight fairly. -Wandering Cultivator Jin Sheng

* * *

Tenri and I were both silent for a long moment. In that time, I stood up straight and composed myself, only to be struck with the blinding headache that always came with my transformation back into a human. My chains vanished along with the horns and claws, leaving me perfectly normal, which was a relief after Lian’s trap.

“Wait, so Tsuyuki isn’t the Chain-Bound Fury?” Tenri asked. “In his void form, he matches every description we have for it, but it hasn’t been seen in the area since I was a boy.”

“If I’m not him, then who is he?” If legend and rumor were to be believed, the Fury was a subordinate of the Darkened Moon, but I had no such subordinate.

“That’s…complicated,” Chouko began. “Better to see for yourselves.”

Without another word, she set off towards the north. Her pace was brisk and she was unhindered by the branches and raised roots that slowed us. Every few minutes, Chouko would stop and wait for us to catch up, but she never showed any frustration or irritation. Instead, she only looked sad, maybe a bit wistful as she watched us brush aside the plants.

It would have been unkind to ask how she felt. She was dead, after all. In fact, it was quite possible that, depending on when she’d returned to the world of the living, that she’d spent more of her existence dead than she had alive.

Though many shades had continued their afterlives in my dominion, living right alongside yokai and spirit beasts alike, I knew very little about them by comparison. It was generally taboo to ask a shade anything about their death, and only a handful were willing to answer any questions about their existence after. All I knew is that their senses were generally dulled compared to a living being, as they had no skin with which to touch. Instead, they navigated the world with qi, but somehow I didn’t think that would be quite the same. Did she long for the feeling of the branches against her skin? Or to feel another’s skin beneath her fingers?

“Chou-chou,” I called. She paused and turned. I reached into my bag and pulled out a box we’d been saving especially for her. I opened it and offered her the long skewer of candied melon seeds Hanako had given us for the journey. We had two flavors: one that was a simple sugar glaze, and another with hardened honey from Queen Pollen’s hive. Both were infused with qi from different sources, and would make a good treat, even for a shade.

Her eyes went wide at the sight of the treats, but she didn’t rush for them immediately.

“What are these for?”

“Does a brother need a reason to dote on his baby sister?” I grinned at her. It was like we were kids all over again. She hopped and skipped over before picking one of the seeds from the box and eating it gingerly. She smiled.

“You don’t need one, but I know you. You’re angling for a favor, and you know it.” She pulled another seed from the box. “But, the qi is really quite delicious, so I guess I can forgive you.”

“Good, because, in this case, you’ve already done us a favor,” I said.

“Oh?”

“Your attacks on cultivators between Saikan and its neighbors,” Tenri explained. “It’s kept the Lunar Hunt off our back since the siege.”

Chouko shrugged. “That was just some friends of mine doing me a favor. I’ve been busy trying to keep the Fury distracted. If it weren’t for the fact that you asked the kitsune to meet, I might not have come at all.”

“I had no idea that you prioritized him that way,” Tenri noted as he ducked under a branch. Chouko grabbed a handful of honeyed melon seeds from the box and began to eat them.

“He’s the reason I’m even active this late in the season,” she admitted. “I tend to sleep the cold months away, which allows my spirit to regenerate for spring so I can watch the flowers bloom. I’m at my weakest, right now.”

I bit my lip to hide a smile. “At her weakest,” Chouko still was more than a match for the Sword Saint’s disciple and had a reputation so grand that not even the Governor dared send a force against her and the other spirits. Even in death, my sister was a force to be reckoned with.

Perhaps, if given the chance, I would have to make a point to invite Aya and Chouko for a visit in the spring. In life, Aya never reached the same heights as Chouko did, but she clearly had done well for herself in death to be considered in the same bracket as Chouko and the Hated One. It would be nice to see her again, too.

“Just there ahead.” Chouko pointed to a tree with four slashes like claw marks in the bark. The wood sizzled with void mist and I could feel void qi, more potent and pure than any I’d encountered since my emergence.

That tree wasn’t the only one. Looking around, I spotted a dozen trees that had missing branches, holes in the canopy, or vicious scars across their trunks. Those plants who lacked the stature of the trees had it even worse, with whole swaths of ground cover reduced to a blackened pile of dissolved matter and churning void mist.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

“He went that way,” I said, pointing to where the void presence was strongest. We followed the path of destruction, and it was as if we were stepping into a fog. However, instead of harmless mist, this fog was made of pure void qi. At first, it was light, only tingling against the skin, but the further we went, the thicker it became until Chouko stopped.

“I can’t go any farther,” she said. “This is the Fury’s aura. It will only get worse.”

“How do you normally fight him?” I asked. She looked away.

“I don’t. I only distract him, give him something to chase,” she answered. “Every 25 years or so, his power surges enough to manifest. It will only get stronger the longer he is left unchecked. “

“Every 25 years,” I muttered to myself. “That would make him several years early.”

She nodded. “Exactly. Normally, a sect comes and performs a ritual that suppresses his spirit, but unless they know to come, they won’t be here in time. This close to Heimian, Saikan, and Lanxiao, he will reach a settlement, and they won’t stand a chance.”

“What is the actual Fury like?” I asked.

“He’s…” Chouko looked down. “In truth, he’s little more than a feral monster. He isn’t so much a person, as a manifestation of the Darkened Moon’s madness and frustration…your madness, Yoru.”

“Which makes him my responsibility to deal with, I guess,” I muttered. In my sleeves, I wrang my hands nervously. My madness was great. This would not be a simple fight.

Tenri put his hand on my shoulder. “You won’t go alone.”

“But, the aura,” I pointed out. Frankly, I wasn’t even sure how I would be getting through such a potent field.

“My adaptation techniques will help me withstand the aura,” he insisted.

“And, as Void-touched, you have a natural resistance to the powers of the void, especially pure ones like this,” Chouko said. “I remember Reili saying so.”

I snorted in disbelief. “I don’t remember Yaoxan’s techniques being any less effective against me than others.”

Chouko reached up and flicked my forehead, forcing me to stumble back a few steps. She scowled at me.

“If that’s true, then you’re denying part of your nature. Reili gave up everything for you to merge your cores together. The least you can do is try to understand the gift she gave you!”

I hung my head in shame. How could I explain that it wasn’t a gift? I’d relived the events of my past a thousand times in the Labyrinth. Reili had lied to me, I was sure of it. I’d agreed, but she didn’t tell me about the madness of the void which would consume my every waking thought for millennia. She didn’t tell me that the darkness beyond would twist me, cloud my judgement, and bring me to the very edge of madness before throwing me in headfirst.

All those years…all that time…when the Void came to whisper, it had always been her voice, her face, her words, that tormented me. Even the Labyrinth, which was created for the sole purpose of making my life a living hell, had never used her image. Even it would not be so awful as the Void itself was.

“You used to be able to shift between forms at will,” Chouko said, her voice softening. “What’s stopping you now?”

“Chouko, I’m only Iron in this body,” I pointed out, helplessly. What did she expect from me?

“That’s not it. Power isn’t the problem,” she answered. “You are the vainest person I’ve ever met. If you wanted to change your appearance, you’d find a way, no matter your level.”

“She does have a point there,” Tenri added. He reached over and shook my sleeve, jostling Chiho loose from its prison. In an instant, the pin was flitting around Chouko’s head, greeting her after so long apart.

“Chiho! My brother’s best keeper!” she greeted with a smile. “The only one keeping his fragile ego from being bruised by unruly hair.” I scoffed, but she just raised an eyebrow. “Like I said, vain. What’s stopping you from changing at will is you, not your power.” She held out a hand and stroked Chiho once it settled in. “I recommend figuring out what’s holding you back. Otherwise, you’ll never withstand the Fury’s aura.”

Chouko tossed the pin back into the air. It darted around happily several times before settling into my hair.

I sighed. My sister didn’t understand. She was still taken in by the Hated One’s lies…she was always closest with that one, even going so far as to becoming sworn sisters. Thus, the hated one was adopted into our family. However, as I turned to explain to her what had really happened after I’d become Void-touched, I found she was gone. She and her wisps had vanished without a trace, leaving Tenri and I alone in the forest.

“I guess we should get tracking,” he said, pulling off his glasses and wiping them clean.

“Don’t tell me you actually believe her.” I crossed my arms, unwilling to move, but his expression was more thoughtful than I expected.

“You have assumed the worst about everyone since the moment you arrived here,” he began. “You thought I’d turn you away after seeing your void form. You thought Xinya would fear you once she discovered you’re the Darkened Moon.” He paused and looked me right in the eye. “I won’t claim to know the relation between you, your sister, and this ‘Reili’ person, but is it even remotely possible that you have assumed the worst again?”

“There’s no assumption with Reili,” I countered.

“But what about an assumption about yourself?”

“I…” I didn’t know how to answer that. What kind of answer did he expect? How could I make assumptions about myself? I knew all the relevant details and came to a conclusion. How could that be an assumption?

Tenri turned and began walking in the direction of the dense void mist. A few paces in, his qi surged bright green in my qi vision as he began to probe at the aura around him.

I had no choice but to follow or lose him in the darkness. The void stung at my skin, and I was reminded of Chouko’s parting words. The Fury was my responsibility, but if I couldn’t defeat it…

Were Void-touched really supposed to be resistant to the void? It made sense. As Spirits, Void-touched were amalgamations of qi, first and foremost…at least in theory. The Hated One had been able to dissolve her form into pure mist, most often when she was frustrated, but I never had that power, probably because I was born human. A being that could turn itself into pure void qi would reasonably be resistant to that same kind of qi, but would I be? Could I be?

The groan of splintering wood followed by an ear-splitting CRASH indicated our arrival. A moment later, we heard an uneven gait, like a limping man…and the long strides were accompanied by a rattling chain.

Shhhhhink, step, shhhhink, step.

Then we caught sight of it through the trees, a glowing blue light through the dense black fog. My heart leapt into my throat as I recognized the tattered light blue robes and ratty dark hair.

The Fury was in my image, and it looked exactly as I had the day I was imprisoned.