And so, before us loomed those blackened spires, with red lanterns like wisps dancing in the fog. A cold wind blew ethereal chills down our spines as we stepped forward through the very gates of hell. - A passage from the Mado Akura, one of the sacred texts common to several cults practicing demonic cultivation.

* * *

As Lin supported me into the forest, I cycled the qi from my core. I was so drained, there was very little left, but even the simple act of drawing it out and spreading its invigorating power to my limbs soothed the weariness.

“Do you think this is the way home?” Xinya asked. “The trees have gotten thicker. I can’t see the sky.”

I spotted a frown growing on Lin’s face as he looked at the trees around us. When ten threads of voidlight qi streaked past, I began to share in his concern. Surely, we must have been east of the Hunting Lodge, but that didn’t narrow it down much. Without a road to follow, how would we know we weren’t walking into a spider nest? Or worse?

For nearly a full hour, we continued walking. The trees got thicker, and fog began to cling to the shrubbery beneath our feet. Without any further warning, a chilling breeze bit deep into my bones, making me shudder. Xinya latched onto my leg, and Lin’s grip on my hand grew tighter.

Void qi enveloped us like a blanket that caressed my Void-touched skin like a gentle blanket. Immediately, I began to feel better, physically, even as worry filled my heart with fear.

“Just keep going,” Lin insisted. A path began to form under our feet, leading to an old and gnarled lamp post. It stretched into the canopy, casting its spooky light over every leaf and branch and sending their shadows dancing into the darkness.

“Uncle Yoru?” Xinya whispered. “I’m scared.” I pulled free of Lin’s grasp, standing on my own feet so I could take Xinya’s hand in my own. I squeezed it, giving her comfort.

“Which way do we go?” I asked. One path would lead us home…the other would lead us somewhere far more sinister.

Before anyone could answer, two threads of voidlight danced through the underbrush. They darted down the path to the right before disappearing in the fog.

If the Voidlight represents misfortune, then we should go the other way, I thought quietly. It was the most likely possibility.

I stepped forward, leading Xinya and Lin to the left. Xinya never let go of my hand, and Lin was so close behind me that I worried he’d step on my trailing chain by accident.

By the time I noticed the void qi growing stronger, a soft glow began to emanate from the fog. The air shifted, and an enormous gate of gray wood rose before us. Four more such gates were just behind, each one with a pair of red paper lanterns dangling from the sides. The gates thrummed with power as qi surged around them…and I couldn’t help but feel like it was a familiar sound.

I didn’t have time to contemplate it further, however. No sooner had we stepped beyond the gates than we were met by the worst of misfortunes my powers could summon. Six yokai loitered near the fifth gate. One was an enormous oni with splotchy blue skin. Next to him, a one-eyed monster the size of a large child chased a shade wearing a smoldering raincoat while three adult kappas, humanoid river yokai with sharp teeth and green scales, jeered at the two.

“Get ‘em!” shouted one of the scaley kappas. “Maybe we’ll sell ‘em to the boss. Not like we have anything else. Better him than us!”

Another one swatted at the water bowl on the first one’s head. “You fool! Maybe we’ll sell you!”

I stopped, whispering quietly to Lin. “This is the Black City, isn’t it?” He nodded.

“This is the last place we want to be. We need to get out of here.”

“But where would we go?” Xinya asked. I pulled her and Lin closer to one of the gates, hoping that the yokai wouldn’t see us before we got a chance to flee.

If the rumors were true, then the Black City could be accessed from anywhere, and could send you to the place most significant to you. A hometown or center of power would be the most likely choices. Xinya and Lin were almost certainly both attuned to Saikan. If one of them opened the gates, we’d be inviting the Governor’s wrath upon the innocent mortals there. But, if we went somewhere else entirely…even if only for a short while...we could disappear.

I placed my hand on the gate. The spell here must have been similar to the ones that had guarded Half-Moon Hearth from danger during my reign. Even the design of these gates seemed to be modelled after the same blackened wood of my capital. In theory, accessing their power would work the same way, and we could be gone before the yokai even knew we were here.

My qi swirled into the wood, fusing with it perfectly. The lanterns pulsed with power…but nothing happened.

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“Lin, isn’t there supposed to be a change to get back?” I hissed.

“It did when I was last here. The lanterns flashed and the fog turned blue like the trees in Saikan,” he explained. I put my hand back on the thick wood, trying again to trigger the change. Again, nothing happened.

“I don’t understand, this should take us to the Pearlescent Valley, or to the ruins of Half-Moon Hearth,” I said. “How could they just…”

A sinking feeling of unease and loss filled my heart as a tragic possibility crept into my mind. Just as a door could not connect twice to the same room, the gates could not connect to themselves.

Just then, the shouting from the yokai reached a fever pitch of squealing and whining from the kappas and one-eyed monster.

“Enough!” boomed the oni. “Over there. Look what the cat dragged in.” he gestured to the three of us hiding behind the innermost gate.

“Yoru, what are they saying?” Lin asked in a hushed whisper. I didn’t answer him, instead stepping out of hiding to face the yokai.

“We don’t want any trouble. Go about your business, and we’ll leave you be,” I said in the strongest voice I could muster.

The oni loomed over us, examining us like a farmer studying a fine ox. “A Void-Blessed and his entourage. And when I thought our luck had turned sour.”

“Back off, oni,” I growled. “I’d hate to make that face of yours any uglier.”

The oni flinched, but didn’t back down. “Wuning will pay well for a pair of cultivators.”

“But, what about the Blessed?” one of the kappas asked.

“He looks Shi Clan. Maybe Xinglao. Doesn’t matter if they don’t find the body.”

“Run,” I whispered to Lin and Xinya. They didn’t need any further encouragement. We turned and fled, adrenaline adding speed to my steps where qi could not.

The kappas cackled and raced after us, eager for the hunt. Kappas were vicious. They started sweet as babies, but they quickly grew into flesh-eating monsters that were among the worst of yokai kind. They loved a good chase, but we had no choice.

Lin tried to reach for the last gate in an attempt to open it to Saikan, but there wasn’t time to open it properly. The yokai were already on top of us.

“The gate is closed, silly Void-Blessed!” shrieked the nearest Kappa as it lunged for Lin with its claws.

“Knock their caps off!” I shouted to Lin and Xinya. The critical weakness of the river spirits was the water on their heads. Without the bowl, they’d dry up and be immobilized.

I whipped Eclipse from its sheath, slicing the bowl of the nearest one cleanly in half. The Kappa shrieked in pain as its scales began to shrivel and darken. It curled up on the ground, unable to move. Lin tackled another, hurling a seed that shattered another bowl, sending its kappa into hysterics before it curled up next to its friend.

A long red tongue lashed out and wrapped around my wrist, entwining with my chains and pulling me off balance. It was attached to the one-eyed monster, which grinned wickedly.

It said…something, but with its tongue around my wrist, I couldn’t understand it. The intent was clear enough, though. He was holding me down while his friends could deal with me. The last kappa lunged, and I raised my chains to block.

A sharp pain cut through my chest, one I knew well. I looked down, only to see a ghostly blade sticking from between my ribs.

That’s not…good…I thought before the life left my limbs. As the sword was pulled violently out, I finally collapsed all the way to the ground, and my vision went dark. All I heard was Xinya’s voice screaming my name.

* * *

It must not have been long before I woke. The void qi in the air around me was restoring my strength at an even pace, seeping into my skin and filling my core bit by bit. It wasn’t much, but I was thankful to be conscious. If I was aware, then I could help my friends…

That hope quickly faded as I became aware enough to recognize the situation I was in. The yokai had tightened my chains, tying knots in them to bind me as the oni used the long sections as handles to carry me like a common knapsack. I struggled, trying to loosen them while trying not to remember the last time they’d been so tight.

“Oh, ho ho! The Blessed is awake!” the last Kappa shrieked. It reached up and flicked me. I snarled back and continued trying to break free, only to feel wetness gathering on my chest and back. I was bleeding still, even if my body was numbing the pain with shock.

“Good,” the oni said. “Then we won’t be lying when we say he was alive when we last saw him.”

“Psst. Yoru,” Lin whispered. I raised my head to see him and Xinya. Lin was covered in claw wounds that cut his clothes and oozed blood down his body. He clearly had not gone down without a fight. Though his hands were bound in ropes, he was still standing. “What’s going on? What are they saying?”

“Nothing good,” I admitted. “I don’t know what they want.”

“They took Eclipse and Chiho,” Xinya sobbed. “Yoru…what do we do?!”

My chest throbbed, and my eyes were struggling to stay focused. Every limb felt like it was weighed down with ten times the number of chains I was used to, and I was running out of solutions.

“Here is good enough,” the oni growled. He lifted me high to look into his gruesome face. “Well, Void-Blessed. Thanks for being convenient prey. You were our lucky break! As thanks, we’ll even let you live.”

The oni moved swiftly, hurling me to the side. I slammed into…water.

“No! Yoru!” Lin shouted. “He can’t swim! He’ll drown!” But, the yokai didn’t seem to speak the human tongue any more than Lin and Xinya could speak yokai. The oni just laughed, the sound warping and distorting as I sank.

“See, now we can say he was alive when he hit the water,” he finished. “Come on, let’s get these two back.”

Then, they were gone. I drifted downward, trying to break free before the little air in my lungs was gone. It was hopeless, and this time, there would be no handsome wood artist to save me from the cold and the dark. My chains would not break, and I could not swim.

From my lapel, a tiny silver and purple pin was freed. It twinkled in the light that filtered through the dark waters. It was Xinya’s birthday present. Her birthday…it was a few weeks ago…she spent it as a prisoner…

You failed her…you failed them both… I thought. Maybe…maybe in your next life, you’ll be able to help those you care about…maybe…maybe….

The air ran out. My lungs burned as water filled my chest. A shadow crossed over my face. A figure diving into the water…then it all went dark.