ã€ŠThe Wraith of Fernbrook Hillã€‹


 Prologue

    The night was still young, and the crowd was fresh into the evening''s activities. This intersection of three large roads in the southern part of the Asa Imperial capital was the site of a popular and famous soju stand. Small bulbs set a foot apart floated above them, emitting an array of different colors. Each type of fairy gave off a different glow; earth shone deep oranges and yellow, fire a brilliant red, wind and waters brilliant blues and turquoise. The whole rainbow was on display, giving a fun and festive vibe despite the small creatures trapped in their glass prisons, weeping at their fate. Boisterous laughter, idle chatter and attention seeking brags could be heard spilling out from the crowd. A number of makeshift tables, little more than crates or barrels, had been pushed out into the streets with the dying down of daily road traffic. Empty mugs, glasses and bottles littered the tables, the odd plate having held roasted green peas or squid tempura mixed into the mess.

    Many were too drunk to notice the giant of a figure wandering up from the gloom, slowly making his way through the crowd with no attempt to sidestep the merry-makers. He towered above all in attendance, nearly having to duck to avoid hitting his head on the lights above. Despite his size, he made no noise, many of the guests letting out small yelps of surprise as he passed by without warning. His stride was long and determined, set on bringing him to the serving window of the Night Fairy. A random thuggish brute of a man backstepped his dancing friend, directly into the path of the Giant. As the thug bumped into him, the Giant gave an annoyed grunt, and half pushed, half punched the man away from him, sending the other flying headfirst into the onlooking crowd. But not a soul made to intervene, or to call out in anger. They all looked down at the ground, going quiet until he had passed.

    They knew better than to get involved with him. Those that were too new to the establishment to know the Giant simply fell in line as they felt the fearful atmosphere. It was only after he had walked several paces further from each group that they returned to their conversations, albeit less jovially. An old timer, a patron of many a decade, was too busy watching his freshly poured cup, fearful of spilling the overflowing content, and found himself directly in front of the Giant. He looked up, thick eyebrows raised, and blinked several times rapidly.

    ¡°M¡¯bad boss. Did¡¯n think ya was comin round a¡¯gun fer I died,¡± he gruffly stated, a small smile spreading on his face.

    ¡°Mmmmm¡­¡± the Giant grumbled, looking down at the white haired man. He couldn¡¯t remember the man''s name, he rarely remembered human names, but he recognized his aura as a man that had been around for many years, and had perhaps helped the owner on occasion. He huffed again, and rested his massive hand on the shoulder of the little figure.

    A small gift for a man with no fear the Giant thought, gently flooding the old man''s body with energy. It wasn¡¯t enough to extend his life, or make him a fit young fighter. But it would ease many of his aches and pains for a few months at least. The Giant could never explain why he did or did not like any of these feeble creatures, but at times there were ones that he saw in a sympathetic light.

    The old man let out a soft sigh, and stood a little straighter, perhaps more so than he had in many years. He smiled up at the Giant, a new light in his eyes, and stepped out of the way.

    ¡°Have a goo¡¯un boss,¡± he said. The weariness in his voice was still evident, but he sounded grateful, even if he was unsure why he felt better. The Giant continued the last stretch to the window, where he set his hand on the sill, perhaps a bit too heavily for it let out a loud thump, followed by the sound of the metal holding it in place straining under his weight.

    ¡°Yes, yes, one second please!¡± came a bright, cheerful female voice from the interior.

    Haven¡¯t heard that one before the Giant thought to himself. A few moments later he could hear footsteps heading to the window and the wooden shutters were lifted.

    ¡°Thank you for waiting, how may I help...you¡­¡± her voice trailed off as the Giant lowered his head into view from the top of the half oval window. The young girl couldn¡¯t be more than thirteen or perhaps fourteen years old. Old enough to be married off, but too young to be an adult. Overall, she was rather cute, a short bob cut with side swept bangs revealing brilliant green eyes, button nose and thick lips. The traditional serving gown was a bright baby blue, and the apron she wore was a light pink.

    The Giant could pick out her good looks despite the fear that mired them. She had quickly gone pale and her eyes were wide as she looked up at him through the window. She was visibly shaken, and the Giant could hear her heartbeat double it¡¯s tempo even as he made to calm her down. But there would be no need for him to do so.

    ¡°Myyy, my. Look what stumbled upon my humble little shop,¡± the voice came from behind the young girl that stood at the window. The voice alone was seductive, perhaps even provocative, but it had nothing on the woman that produced it. Her jet black hair sat done up in a beautiful display on her head, four kanzashi hairpins protruding from the sides, each with a small string of precious stones from their tips. The hair spilled out of the back and continued on, nearly touching her waist. Her deep, purple eyes sparkled coyly, her long lashes giving them a suggestive look. A thin stripe of red adorned the middle of her bottom lip, further exacerbating the tiny appearance of her already small mouth. Her overall face was both small and thin, and her chin seemed to come to an almost too perfect point. Her traditional kimono rested on her arms, exposing her neck, shoulders, and the top of her exceptionally voluptuous bosom to the world.

    The kimono itself was an awe inspiring affair. A rich, royal purple with an extravagantly dyed goshodoki motif. The woman had matched this with a deep red obi, adorned with ornate geometric shapes of bright orange and white. Had it been anyone but her, they would have surely been arrested for wearing such colors outside the royal palace. Her age was not easy to pin down; she could have easily been in her late twenties to mid thirties, which only served to add another layer of mystical allure to her. Despite all of this, the Giant had never once found the woman attractive.

    ¡°The usual, I take it?¡± she inquired, holding her kiseru to her lips and inhaling. Even the way she carried her arms was alluring, her left laying across her body, holding her chest up, the hand coming to rest inside her right elbow. Her right hand held the pipe aloft, the tube laying down the center of her palm, the bowl extending out along her pointer finger. The Giant, unphased by the air she gave off, simply nodded. The coy smile that played at her lips as she gave a single huffing chuckle would undoubtedly have pierced the heart of any mortal man.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about this one Aoi, he¡¯s a real conversationalist if you look past his appearance,¡± she winked at the young girl before turning and setting her pipe down across the top of her smoking tray.

    ¡°O-of course Mistress,¡± Aoi responded, placing her hand on her chest and taking a quick breath. The Mistress pulled out a short, wide glass and filled it about a sixth of the way with water. She then whispered something as she reached above herself for a large, dark bottle. The water in the glass froze from the center out in a flash. As she brought the bottle down to counter level she huffed disappointedly at the ice.

    ¡°Oh, I never get it off center enough to look pretty,¡± she muttered, uncorking the bottle and pouring a small amount of the clear liquid into the glass. Handing the bottle to Aoi, she took a sip, her eyes closing appreciatively. Aoi took the large bottle in both hands and looked at her Mistress quizzically. For her part, the Mistress raised an eyebrow before motioning at the window.

    Aoi hefted the heavy bottle onto the windows counter and slid it forward. The Giant placed a single Asa Imperial gold coin on the table and wrapped his hand around his newly acquired drink. The bottle, that had been so massive in the teens hands, appeared no more than a toy in the grip of this hulking man. He stood straight, and walked right out of view, past the door that led to the rarely opened sitting room on the other side of the interior bar.

    ¡°Whew,¡± Aoi sighed in relief, only just becoming aware how on edge she had been at the gaze of such a huge creature.

    ¡°No need to fear him my dear, he would never harm a beautiful young woman,¡± the Mistress smiled at Aoi, picking up her kiseru and taking another long draw.

    ¡°Who is he?¡± Aoi asked as casually as she could. The Mistress rarely shared information about her clients, which left Aoi¡¯s quizzical nature in a constant state of unrest. If she was too obvious in her curiosity, the Mistress would simply tease her. If she wasn¡¯t interested enough she would get nothing more than a ¡°no one of concern¡±. This man was unlike any of the other customers Aoi had met in the few months she had been working at the Night Fairy. Despite the fear he had first caused her, the curiosity far outstripped anything before it. The Mistress, however, was not giving up anything tonight.

    ¡°Just¡­an old acquaintance.¡±

    Just beyond the edge of the light surrounding the Night Fairy, a small alley cut off the main road, weaving between two story buildings on either side. The Giant had come to rest against the stone wall that lined the main road next to this alley. He crossed his arms and hunkered his head down into the high collar of his traveling coat. He took swigs intermittently as he waited, on occasion scratching at his chin. After a few minutes a short figure in a loose cloak with a deep cowl stepped up next to the giant, as if the shadows of the alley themselves had coalesced into the new arrival.

    They flipped their middle and forefinger up out of the cloak, a small piece of paper between them. The two sat there, one with his bottle, the other with their paper, for a minute more before the Giant grunted. He lifted his weight off the wall, extending his free hand forward, a small, crystalline stone between his thumb and forefinger. The figure''s head twitched back, as if looking at the Giant momentarily, and snatched the crystal faster than the human eye could track. Simply moving his hand over a few inches, the Giant grabbed the paper.

    As soon as the paper was in his grasp, the shadow seemed to evaporate, melding back with the shadow. The Giant tracked their position for several seconds before unfolding the laughably small scrap of paper in his hand. He looked it over multiple times before snapping his fist closed around it. His fist shook as he stood there, smoke eventually rising out of his hand as he incinerated the message. He let his breath out in the slow, deliberate pace of one calming themself. He then made his way back to the Night Fairy, and knocked on the door to the sitting area.

    Aoi, who had been directed by her Mistress to sweep around the tables, looked up at the door and then at the Mistress. The woman nodded once, and Aoi was shocked to find a grave look on the Mistress¡¯s face. As she pulled the door open, Aoi greeted the Giant.

    ¡°Welcome in sir.¡±

    The Giant was hunched nearly double to fit through the low door. Once inside, he removed his cloak, placed it on a rack and made towards the Mistress. She gave a half smile and pushed a large wooden box of potatoes out past the bar with her foot. Aoi frowned. How had her Mistress managed to push such a heavy box with one foot in single, large, sweeping motion? But there was no time to think on it, she opened her ears as the Mistress spoke quietly.

    ¡°Have you been well?¡± she asked, resting her lower back against the counter behind the bar, glass and kiseru still in hand. The Giant sat gingerly on the crate and let out a small sigh, likely because he had to keep his head cocked to the side to avoid the ceiling while standing. He took a swig from the bottle, sighed again, then motioned towards the Mistress. She examined her glass, shrugged and held her arm out. He poured out some of the clear liquid, then gently clinked her and his drink together.

    ¡°I¡¯m...good,¡± he responded slowly, his voice deep and gentle. Aoi felt a wave of calm, a warm weariness, wash over her. His voice reminded her of her father all those years ago. She smiled, almost drunkenly, and looked at his figure again. His skin was an almost pasty white, like he hadn¡¯t seen the sun much, if at all, in the last year. He was completely bald, with a thick beard covering his face. He had deep wrinkles around his sparkling gray eyes, and his brows were on the thicker side. He even looked like a father, albeit two or three times the size of a normal one.

    ¡°Just good? Surely you can give a beauty such as myself more than that?¡± the Mistress responded, a small amount of her usual enchanting speech imbuing her words. Aoi was snapped out of the trance the Giants words had put her in. She grabbed the side of her head and closed her eyes. It was like she had been ripped out of a dream suddenly, everything coming back into sharp detail.

    ¡°Please try not to put my employees to sleep, hmm?¡±

    ¡°Mmm...apologies,¡± the Giant responded after a few seconds of thought. The wave of calm washed over Aoi again, but this time the warmth did not follow. It was more of a security this time, like the feeling of knowing a parent was there to protect you. The Mistress smiled at him, a smile most would have killed to receive from such a woman. It was a happy, warm, loving and melancholic smile. One that spoke of a history. Of a desire to see someone happy, but knowing you can¡¯t help to create it for them. She looked down, sadness playing momentarily in her eyes. When she looked up, it was gone.

    ¡°Surely you¡¯re not here to just chat though. You never were one to take me up on that offer. And for you to come inside...¡±

    ¡°I had heard...stirrings,¡± the Giant responded, bypassing any comment. He took another swig of the drink. He looked at the bottle for a long moment. When he finally looked up at her standing to his left, his face appeared heavy; the lines more pronounced.

    ¡°The catastrophe...is¡­awake¡­¡± he finally managed. He looked back at the bottle and lifted it again, as the Mistress blinked rapidly in stunned surprise. Her face flashed with anger. Not the anger Aoi had seen directed at the odd customer that became too intoxicated and invited unwelcome hostilities. This was true anger. And fear. She quickly downed the rest of her drink, slammed the glass on the counter, and stomped away. Incoherent mutterings drifted back as she disappeared into the rear of the building.

    The Giant finished the bottle, and twisted around to set it amongst the other empties in a crate behind him. He clearly knew the layout of this place if he hadn¡¯t had to look or ask where to put it. He sighed deeply, slouching to rest his elbows on his knees. He shook his head slowly. Clearly what he had just said was taking its toll on him as well.

    As Aoi was watching quietly from the sideline, Fuyuko wandered up to him slowly. When had she gotten there? Her thick black hair, straighter than an arrow, hung over her eyes in straight cut bangs. Her deep blue Kimono was gathered up in her hands as she stepped up to him, eyes downcast. She made a few indistinct noises, and the Giant turned his gaze upon her. He smiled gently at her, not unlike the one the Mistress had directed at him just minutes before.

    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

    ¡°Hello Fuyu...I would...appreciate that,¡± he said, his voice even more kind and gentle than before. She looked up at him, gray eyes welling with tears, and nodded excitedly. She quickly shuffled into the back room, and returned a moment later carrying another bottle. As she handed it over, the Giant laid his hand on her head. Fuyuko came to life, giggling quietly under the larger man''s attention, and grabbing the cloth of his shirt in one hand. Her smile was almost infectious; Aoi couldn¡¯t help but wonder at their relationship.

    ¡°Found it!¡± the Mistress exclaimed from the back. Fuyuko jumped, and looked down again. She took the coin the Giant offered and quickly returned behind the bar. Regardless of how kindly one might treat Fuyuko, she always came off as scared of everyone. The Mistress returned to the front with two scrolls while Aoi was gazing questioningly at the other youth. One of these was large enough to require both arms to support.

    ¡°Are...you sure?¡± the Giant asked, eyeing the scrolls.

    ¡°Yes, now take them. This is not a matter we can afford to play slowly, as you of all people would, or should, know,¡± she said gruffly. He simply nodded. Taking both scrolls in one hand and, setting his bottle on the ground, undid the latch over a tube strapped to the back of his waist. He slid the scrolls inside.

    ¡°And...if these...aren¡¯t¡­¡±

    ¡°Then the last of the old guard will be no more.¡±

    The laboratory hummed, fizzled and popped endlessly. Every form of magical, alchemic and botanical study was conducted here, and half of the experiments seemed to have a life of their own. Some, in fact, did. Faint blue light infused the whole of the workshop with an unearthly glow, and shadows distorted gruesomely as bioluminescent plants flared to life, before going dark.

    A thin figure sat hunched at a large desk strewn with papers, a scholarly white and blue trimmed robe hanging loosely from his shoulder. His snow white hair stuck out at odd angles from under the beret embroidered with his country''s insignia; a book before a large oak tree. He scratched at his head as he scribbled on one of the papers. As he worked into the night, a large black bird flew through a window and landed on one of the worktops behind him.

    ¡°Kaaww you have mail! Kaaww!¡± the sounds formed from its open mouth, it¡¯s beak unmoving despite the distinct words it spoke.

    ¡°Yes, sure, sure, yes. Leave it there,¡± the white haired man spoke without looking up from his work. The bird cocked it¡¯s head, bringing the two red eyes on one side of it¡¯s head to rest on the man.

    ¡°Kaaww you have mail! Kaaww!¡± it crowed again. The man sighed, and put his free hand over his ear.

    ¡°Just leave it there, it''s fine.¡±

    ¡°KAAWW YOU HAVE MAIL! KAAAWWW!¡± the messenger screeched this time, the sound reverberating around the high ceilinged room.

    ¡°GAH! Alright, alright! No need to get your feathers in a twi...st,¡± the man suddenly became alert as he saw his guest. This was not the usual messenger bird. These large, four eyed ravens were reserved for only the most important or urgent of messages. He stepped forward and pulled a small, tightly wound piece of paper from the tube on the its leg. Unrolling it, he read the contents.

    The youngest moves.

    The message was short. It required no detail. Quickly turning around he picked up his quill, scribbled a short response on the other side, and jammed it back into the tube. He lifted his arm and the bird jumped up, head jerking from side to side. Weaving through the assortment of gadgets and plants, the man approached the large window at the back of the room.

    ¡°Return,¡± he muttered close to the bird¡¯s ear. It cocked its head one last time, eyes flashing, and set off into the night. He watched after it for several minutes, long after it had disappeared into the gloom. He was deep in thought; this situation required the utmost care. He could not approach the coming events without caution.

    Turning from the window, he wound his way past all manner of tests and experiments; past tomes of and scrolls stiff with age; past clay pots and tablets at differing stages of rebuild; past all the various records he wished to keep safe from the destruction of time, only finally coming to a stop before a desk on a dias near the back, piled so high with paperwork and books its occupant could not be seen. He shook his head and pinched the bridge of his nose, his glasses giving a slight rattling as they were moved aside.

    ¡°Hubert!¡± he called. A slight rustling could be heard from beyond the wall of paper. ¡°Hubert, we have important matters to discuss.¡± Whoever was on the other side gave a deep, regretful sigh.

    ¡°I would ave¡¯ t¡¯ought that coming ¡®ere would be a betta option than teh slavery you found me in,¡± a heavy, baritone voice reached out in reply. ¡°Little did I know, you are teh inspiration behind every slave drivers actions.¡±

    The man that scooted his chair out from behind the desk was taller than average, well muscled, and had the complexion of the dark chocolate his continent was known for. His head was cleanly shaved, and his well trimmed goatee gave him a sharp and well mannered appearance. His eyes were coal black and sparkled with a knowing intelligence. The white scar that wrapped from behind his left ear to his right collar bone was the only sign he had once been a proud warrior.

    ¡°I still ave not finished teh work given me day before las. What manna of fuckery ave¡¯ you brought me today?¡± Hubert questioned, eyes narrowing angrily.

    ¡°Yes yes, I¡¯m such a horrible boss, having you work same as the others. How many times will you give me the same speech before you are satisfied?¡±

    ¡°I will be satisfied when you ave¡¯ realized that you ova work me far more than teh othas, old man.¡± Hubert crossed his arms. ¡°What is eet ya want, ya hack schola?¡±

    The Scholar struggled to keep the slight smile he was feeling from showing. There had never been a man he more trusted and relied upon than this man. Despite his lowly stature as a slave when they met, the Scholar had recognized the man''s intelligence at a glance and had known immediately he wanted him amongst the ranks of his Librarians. He had made the right decision when he bought the man''s freedom. Now they were inseparable, and the Scholar wouldn¡¯t trade all the knowledge in the world for his best mate.

    But now was not the time for joking. He had to catch Hubert up on the situation, and make arrangements for whatever was to unfold. They could discuss his overworked situation at a later date.

    ¡°We are going into a state of emergency. Summon the council, I don¡¯t care what they are doing, their presence is needed in the Hall of the Enlightened at once,¡± the Scholar responded, pushing the urgent nature of the situation into his voice. Hubert gazed at him for a moment, his frown changing from playful anger to worry. Nodding, he grabbed a set of keys from his desk, and made his way down from the platform.

    ¡°I take it now is teh time to trust your ancient nature? Save teh questions for later?¡±

    ¡°I would ask you to trust that we do not have time for idle chit chat. Rouse the seekers, we need them to set out as quickly as they can.¡± Hubert raised a brow at that. It was unusual to see the normally lazy and calm natured Scholar acting so gravely.

    ¡°What are we dealing with?¡± the darker man asked.

    ¡°A long forgotten evil has awoken.¡±

    Massive oil paintings of posh looking aristocrats hung from the walls of the castle; flickering torch light and flashing lightning lent an almost demented life to their eyes as they scanned the ground before them. Suits of armor stood silently along the corridors, covered in layers of dust with cobwebs linking them to the walls. Fine rugs of silk, embroidered with precious metals, padded the floors, and an assortment of display tables loaded with a wild assortment of odds and ends interspersed the military arms on display. The high vaulted ceilings gave an overwhelming, yet oppressive, feel to the narrow corridors, which felt claustrophobic in the sections that lacked any of the highly decorated stained glass windows you would find in others. In all, the whole of the once proud military stronghold would have felt dead, if not for the strange giggling and moaning that echoed quietly through its halls.

    On the top floor, situated in the back of the keep, two massive mahogany doors guarded against unwelcome intruders. Enormous metal hinges, nearly as large as a man, held the doors up. The ornately decorated brass handles looked comically small on the massive slabs of wood they were meant to open. Polished to a golden sheen, and lacking the dust that covered the rest of the internals, they were the first sign of life inside the castle. On the other side, the sounds of women in pleasure became more pronounced.

    It was for this reason, because of these noises, that the thin, unhealthy man stood hesitantly. His skin was pale, nearly matching the color of a full moon, and seemed to have been pulled taut against his skull after first sagging down his face. His bloodshot eyes were ready to pop from their sockets; his thin greasy hair was slicked back along his scalp; his butler''s attire was disheveled, if not clean and of fine making. Fidgeting with his bony fingers in front of his chest, he took several breaths to ready himself. The master hated interruptions during his meal.

    ¡°M-my¡­my lord,¡± he called out in a high, reedy voice as he pushed a door open and stepped inside. The large room was cast in deep shadows, the walls lighting only briefly as another bolt of lighting struck the surrounding mountains. The massive, circular stained glass window opposite the doors depicted a scene from the creation myth of the land in which the castle was situated. The only furniture was a truly massive canopy bed, thin burgundy curtains left tied to their posts. On the bed lay three beautiful young women, stark naked and panting heavily. One sat upright, holding the sheets to her chest, hiding her modesty. Their giggling had ceased and they looked both fearfully, and longingly, at the sickly man as he entered.

    No, not at him.

    ¡°May I¡­help you, Silvester?¡± the cold, flat voice came from behind. Silvester swallowed hard, sweat breaking out on his forehead. His eyes bulged, straining against their bindings as his body quivered. He felt his heart skip a beat as the sudden cold threatened to suffocate him. The power in that voice, the pure, unfiltered hate that it carried, threatened to snuff out his mind as easily as a man swatting a gnat.

    ¡°I¡­sorry¡­my lord¡­you w-would, h-have have¡­he¡¯s gone¡­please!¡± Silvester begged, unable to force his message out under the crushing presence of the man behind him. It took all of his will just to stay upright. The silence was maddening, slowly building the fear in the thin man''s mind. He knew he was to never come in here at this time of day. But he had been instructed to inform his master in the case of a specific few emergencies, regardless of the situation.

    ¡°Speak up, Silvester. Your interruption has me impatient.¡±

    ¡°My, my lord. I¡­I am truly sorry, I am here at your own directive,¡± Silvester announced, dredging up every last ounce of mental fortitude he had left. He waited a moment for a response before continuing. ¡°The blasphemous child has gone missing my lord.¡±

    Silence, pure devastating silence, permeated the air. Anger, unfiltered rage and hate filtered off the figure behind Silvester. And a bloodlust, so pronounced it could surely be felt for miles. The frail man begged whatever gods might be watching to protect him. He had only done his job. Why should he be the one to suffer?

    ¡°Repeat that,¡± the icy voice demanded.

    ¡°My lord¡­the blasphemous child¡­¡±

    ¡°How?¡±

    ¡°I¡­I do not know, my lord. The report stated he simply¡­vanished,¡± Silvester was now shaking uncontrollably. He no longer cared what the message meant, he wanted only to crawl under a rock and hide. Hide from the monster that loomed behind him.

    ¡°You rang, my lord?¡± the calm, gruff, deep voice split the air, shattering the tension that had been building until now. Silvester thanked the heavens, the hells, all the magical beings or whoever it was that might have just saved his life. But he would not turn around. He would try to shrink down, and stay out of sight until he was dismissed.

    ¡°Tell him,¡± the master of the house again demanded.

    ¡°Master Benedict, I received an urgent notice from our watchers. The¡­¡± Silvester whispered, only to be cut off by his lord.

    ¡°That walking apocalypse dropped off the face of the world, apparently with no warning,¡± the master''s tone was completely different when speaking with Benedict. More akin to comrades, despite their difference in stature.

    ¡°I see¡­if there was nothing else in the message, you may go Silvester,¡± Benedict said, his voice still calm and collected despite the anger evident in their lords.

    ¡°Thank you sir. My lord,¡± Silvester quickly turned and bowed, keeping his eyes averted. He shuffled out, bent double, turning slowly so his head was always facing his superiors. He closed the door behind him, releasing the breath he had been holding. If not for the magic that bound him to the fort, he would run. Far from the castle, far from his lord, far from the lands that his kind inhabited. This was his first time meeting the master up close, and he hoped it was his last.

    ¡°It is most unfor¡­I WILL NOT ALLOW HIM TO LIVE!...if they go at each other¡­¡± Silvester could hear only a few bits of the conversation as he quickly walked down the hall. He was so out of sorts, he did not notice the large, muscled man that appeared before him.

    ¡°What is going on servant?¡± The man had silver hair that stood on end in strange clumps. His teeth were noticeably sharp, and his pale blue, wolf like eyes scanned him like a predator sizing up its prey. He wore a long, thick, black cloth jacket that cut off above his elbows. Fur lined the top edge, and the garment was open revealing a bare chest. Simple gray pants and dark, clean traveling boots completed his attire. The leader of those mongrels the master kept around.

    ¡°Nothing the likes of you has any right to know!¡± Silvester snapped back, incensed that this mangy mutt had chosen to ignore his name. He hated their kind. All the others hated his kind. They, too, would be outraged by the lack of etiquette on display. Didn¡¯t this bastard know he was a lesser species? ¡°If you feel so inclined, you can try asking them yourself.¡±

    ¡°Perhaps I will,¡± the silver man cooly responded, eyeing the shriveled man sharply. He gave a small snarl and walked past, heading for the massive doors. Silvester clicked his tongue in disgust, and continued walking down the hall to any place that put him as far from his lord as possible.

    ¡°What happened?¡± the doors boomed open, and in walked Darick, silver hair glowing as the light from the hall illuminated him from behind. Benedict sighed inwardly. A poorer time he could not have chosen.

    ¡°Darick, please. Our lord and I were discussing matters of the utmost importance. Could you come back another time, or wait for me to finish here? I will hear your gripes then,¡± the head butler tried to urge the other man to leave. Keeping the lord¡¯s rage in check was hard enough already, without this wild man adding fuel to the flames.

    ¡°No¡­no this is perfect,¡± Aakesh interrupted. Benedict shifted his attention back to his master. To any mortal, he was stunning. Long, rich and supple hair kept tied behind his back; broad shoulders, with well defined muscles; deep, wine red eyes; a handsome, rugged face. The embodiment of a gorgeous man. His appearance was not too hard, or sharp. But neither was it soft. His stance spoke of confidence, power and authority. It was exactly how he caught his toys so unaware.

    ¡°You two shall go,¡± Aakesh continued, ¡°You will have access to all the supplies you need. Take no more than four others, they may be whomever you choose. Stay out of sight. Do not do anything¡­unsavory. If we are lucky, this problem will take care of itself.¡±

    Darick¡¯s lip pulled up in disgust as he eyed his unwanted master angrily. He would have loved to kill the man, if only the curse wasn¡¯t in place. He clenched his fists, his pointed nails biting into his palms.

    ¡°As you wish, my lord,¡± he spat at Aakesh.

    ¡°I cannot afford to lose you Darick, I will not allow failure,¡± he warned, the unspoken threat clear as day to the three men. Darick spun on his heel and stomped out of the room, his rage barely contained. Benedict closed his eyes and sighed again. He would have to calm the other man down before preparations could be made.

    ¡°Anything else, my lord?¡±

    ¡°No, just take care of it. You will have no limits, you have free reign should the need arise,¡± the master of the castle spoke, looking his right hand man in the eye. He would normally never allow such a thing; far too often it invited unwanted attention. But he would not risk losing his most important pawn.

    ¡°As you wish, my lord,¡± Benedict placed his arm over his chest and bowed deeply. His resolve set, he made his way from the room.

    Aakesh stood staring at the door for several minutes, his anger slowly building into a fury. How had this happened? Were those mutts completely inept? Was there something larger at play? Had his enemies found a way to control that monstrosity? Or had it finally used up its life? He worked his jaw as his gut twisted in a painful knot.

    ¡°DAMN!¡± he bellowed, his anger getting the better of him. He turned and glided across the floor to the bed, the long robe he had been wearing dissipating as he set upon the three human girls he had collected.

    Their moans and screams could be heard deep into the night, before all going deathly silent.

 Chapter 1 - Of Open Fields, Redwoods and Ruins

    It took several moments before I realized something was off. Cars, shuffling feet, trains, shouting, the ever present musical notes of convenience store doors, the high wind that day and the cold of mid winter. The sounds and sensations of the city were gone. The screaming and screeching tires of those last moments before I had slammed my eyes shut echoed in my ears.  All had been replaced by a stillness I had never experienced. A quiet deeper than anything I thought possible before that moment. A comfortable, mild warmth with the lightest breeze gently tussled my hair as a musky earth tone, the kind you read about in light novels of far off lands, wafted through the air.

    In stark contrast to my surroundings, my heart was still pounding as blood swam madly through my head leaving me slightly dizzy. My arm and leg muscles twitched and spasmed as I lay stock still. I could feel my chest heaving great breaths of air, the panicked feeling lingering in my chest like a vice tightening on my core. Yet it was so calm and peaceful around me.

    Ahh so this is the afterlife? I thought. The realization didn¡¯t have quite the effect I would have previously thought. I felt the fear leaving both my mind and body even as I came to that conclusion.

    If this is what awaits me, perhaps it¡¯s not so bad. This mild weather wasn¡¯t something to  fear; in fact I¡¯d say it was comforting. The gentle breeze lulled me to peaceful thoughts as I felt the tension bleed from my body. My muscles quieted down, my heart gradually returning to normal and my head found its footing. Instead, a half awake, dreamlike state came over me.

    I thought of my mother and father; lingering momentarily on my younger brother and sister. They were such wonderful little siblings, always smiling up at me to play with them. Perhaps it would be easier on them than my parents. They had only just turned six last month. Too young to have more than a few dim memories of their lost older sister. I wouldn¡¯t get to see them anymore. I hoped they wouldn¡¯t cry, though I knew they would. I wouldn¡¯t get to see my school, the small yakiniku shop I worked at, or the ocean in all its massive glory again. I never got to go to the aquarium on a date like I had wanted, or to an onsen with a group of friends.

    My friends...Yui. Kaede. I hope you¡¯re alright. I hoped they had avoided the worst of the hit. Maybe they lucked out and would only be hospitalized. If not, perhaps they were in the same place I was. It would be nice if they were taking it as well as myself. I let out a small internal sigh. Nothing can be done about it now. I rubbed my hand on the soft grass covering the ground. It was so comfortable here, and yet...something was digging into my shoulder now that I thought about it.

    Wait, can one even feel comfort or pain if they¡¯re dead? Surely that¡¯s not how it works right? In Western society, they commonly believe in Heaven and Hell. In one you experience everlasting peace; in the other...well, Hell I guess. Would I experience both in one of those places? I¡¯m not the religious type so I wouldn¡¯t say I know best, but everything I¡¯ve been led to believe would indicate one or the other. If that¡¯s the case¡­

    I heard a groan to my right followed by rustling as someone or something moved. I wrenched my mind back to earth, my eyes flying open. A massive expanse of stars filled the skies; more dotted the heavens before me than every star I had seen in my entire life before combined. After a moment I made out a fog that was partially obscuring my view and some small part of me wondered at the sight of the stars if it were removed. Ripping my eyes away from the beauty above, I turned my head towards the sound. Gently, quietly, I lifted myself up, inch by inch, barely daring to breathe.

    The fear was back. My hands trembled and my mind raced as it envisioned all sorts of morbid monstrosities that could be awaiting me. No more than a few feet from me a small, dark mass lifted itself to a sitting position, a strange triangular shape protruding from what should have been the right side of its head.

    ¡°Tch tch tch¡± it cooed as the shape wobbled up and down.

    What is that?! What horrible thing is that!! Is that it¡¯s mouth? A beak? Maybe it has some sort of fleshblade on its head, like that one anime with the parasitic creatures! No no no, let''s stay calm and think rationally now. Rhino horn, that¡¯s more realistic. If I let my imagination get to me, there¡¯s no doubt I would lose my cool. I needed to remain level.

    The creature pulled the top part of it¡¯s horn away from its head...or is that just an arm? That¡¯s definitely a hand on the end of it. Wait, I recognize that high side ponytail. I felt my face flush with embarrassment momentarily. How silly to immediately jump to such crazy thoughts. This was part of why my mother was so worried about my future.

    ¡°Yui?¡± I whispered.

    ¡°Hinata! Is that you?¡±

    ¡°Yeah it¡¯s me. Are you alright? Did the truck hit you?¡±

    ¡°Ugh, my head hurts,¡± Kaede¡¯s groan reached me from somewhere below my feet.

    ¡°Kaede? Are you alright? I don¡¯t think it hit me but I don¡¯t really remember...where are we anyways?¡± Yui asked as she got on all fours and crawled towards me. I lifted myself into a sitting position and found Kaede laying, facedown, almost touching the soles of my shoes. She turned her head, her usual vacant look replaced by a somewhat anguished face speaking to her discomfort.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, I think. How come I¡¯m face down in the grass instead of my bed? Or better yet Yui¡¯s lap?¡± she mumbled.

    ¡°Kaedeeee! Now is not the time for that! Look around you, this isn¡¯t Tokyo!¡± Yui hissed, exasperation filling her voice.

    Now that Kaede had drawn my attention to it, I realized we weren¡¯t in an open field exactly. Behind me were the ruins of what appeared to be some sort of town or settlement. Or at least I believe that¡¯s what you would call this. None of the structures were big enough for a city like Tokyo. Or any of the provinces I had been to before. Even when my father had been stationed stateside, the buildings took up far more land than any of the ruins around seemed to indicate. More than that, the materials were off. Solid stones, not the cinder blocks I was accustomed to, appeared to be the primary building blocks. The remains of thick wooden beams were still clinging to the walls at the height of a second story or roof. Perhaps if I were to wander inside I¡¯d see planks for flooring. What I would have expected to see, but saw none of, were the metal construction materials all buildings in both the states and Japan had.

    No rebar, no screws. No wires, pipes, or beams. I didn¡¯t see a single lighting fixture, or electrical socket. No insulation materials, nothing looked like solid concrete or drywall. These were not buildings made in the twenty first, or even the twentieth century. These had an appearance closer to that of a Medieval European castle.

    ¡°Oh...look at how big those trees are.¡± Kaede pointed opposite the ruins, to the edge of a forest a hundred yards or so away. The trees seemed to tower into the sky, the trunks easily as big around as a semi truck.

    ¡°They¡¯re HUGE! Hey, hey, Hinata! Look at those! They¡¯re like the trees from the pictures with your dad!¡± Some of Yui¡¯s lighthearted nature came back to her as she bounced excitedly where she sat.

    If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    ¡°Mmm, the Redwoods you mean?¡±

    ¡°I remember somethin about that¡­'''' Kaede murmured. Her initial surprise having passed, she had already made note of the tree¡¯s appearance and was scooting around to look past me at the town.

    ¡°Yes yes! I wanted to go see those at some point! Like look at ¡®em! How can you not be inspired?¡± Yui seemed to glow as she beamed up at the trees, her neck cranked back to look at their tops.

    ¡°Inspired?¡± I asked skeptically.

    ¡°Yeah! Like, you know, if those trees can become soooo hugely massive, if they can put in that much effort, what could I achieve if I tried?¡± Yui asked, though I suspected it was a question she was asking herself. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to put it, but I would love to ask them how they managed to keep going through so much to obtain such a status.¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re trees, they don¡¯t put in effort. They just grow Yui. They don¡¯t think like you and me,¡± Kaede stated bluntly, looking at the other girl with a mixture of humored sympathy.

    ¡°Ehhhh!? Are you laughing at me?¡± Yui asked, puffing her cheeks childishly. Kaede grinned and quickly covered her mouth with a hand, turning her head away slightly. Though it was hidden by the darkness, I was sure she was blushing at the sight of Yui¡¯s cuteness.

    ¡°What about you Hinata? You agree with me right?¡± Yui pleaded with me, holding her curled hands in front of her face, almost like she was peeking over them at me sheepishly. The effect was immediate; I couldn¡¯t help wanting to hold her close and pat her head. She does this on purpose right?

    ¡°Well...I don¡¯t know about being inspired...but they leave me in awe of their stature...I...I guess?¡± I managed to fumble out, trying my best to express that I sort of understood what she meant without stepping on the more grounded views brought by Kaede.  Yui¡¯s eyes became moist, though I couldn¡¯t tell if she was happy or sad. Before she could respond, Kaede stood up.

    ¡°This is all well and good, but I¡¯m more interested in discovering where we are,¡± she grumbled loudly, patting off her uniform. Her pragmatic outlook was tiring at times, and certainly left no room for magical moments. She was reliable, however, and she had helped me through stressful times, separating emotion from fact in a way I never could.

    ¡°How do we do that?¡± I asked, looking up at her from where I sat, timidly patting a still misty eyed Yui on the head. ¡°It seems to be the middle of the night currently. Even if the moon is full, it¡¯s rather dark, and I don¡¯t see the telltale glow of city lights anywhere on the horizon.¡±

    ¡°True, which is why I want to take a more detailed look around,¡± Kaede responded, holding her chin in one hand. I could tell she was deep in thought as she began biting her lower lip. ¡°Perhaps one of these buildings will be just intact enough for us to climb up, or maybe a hill somewhere on the other side of the ruins. Anything that could give us a vantage point.¡±

    ¡°Are we going exploring? Oh! Is this like one of those adventures in webnovels? We have to sign up at a guild right? Get a rank like copper or porcelain, accept quests and make our way through the world on the path to becoming the great heroins¡­¡±

    ¡°And what, pray tell, makes you think we¡¯re in an isekai?¡± Kaede cut across Yui¡¯s bubbly ramblings. I snorted gently in a half failed attempt to cover my laughter. Kaede shot me a derisive glance, but continued to glower down at Yui, arms on her hips.

    ¡°Well...I...the air smells too clean?¡± Yui stuttered out, bringing her hands back in front of her face. The thick sleeves of her winter uniform sweater were gripped in her palms, ready to be pressed over her eyes. I felt my heart skip a beat again. She¡¯s too good at this moe act I thought. I instinctively wanted to reach out and wrap her tiny frame in a protective hug.

    ¡°Of all...so the hundred meter trees, the infinite stars above us and the thousand year old buildings aren¡¯t the reasons you¡¯d think we are no longer in Japan? It¡¯s the air?¡±

    ¡°You noticed that about the buildings too?¡± I posed the question to a flabbergasted Kaede. She turned to me and spluttered. Clearly her train of thought was not prepared for a serious question. She straightened up and cleared her throat.

    ¡°Mmm...well yes I did. The rubble from the buildings are all missing the materials you¡¯d expect from anything built in the last hundred or so years,¡± she stated matter of factly. Her hand went back to her lip. ¡°Normally I would disregard what Yui said without a second thought. However¡­¡± she trailed off, continuing to work her lip.

    ¡°You can¡¯t be serious?¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m always serious. One big problem is the stone used in these buildings,¡± she went on, walking towards a collapsed wall. I quickly stood up, pulling on Yui¡¯s hand to bring her along. Following behind Kaede, I felt a distinct unease in my chest.

    ¡°It appears to be some sort of limestone. Or perhaps sandstone...either way, this sort of rock is not used in block form as a primary building material in this way except for a few regions of the world where it is easily accessible, since transporting large quantities like this would probably be a nightmare,¡± she stated, squeezing the bridge of her nose. Her eyes were shut tight, as if she was trying to remember a distant memory.

    ¡°What does that have to do with these?¡± Yui nudged a stone with her toe as she spoke.

    ¡°Well the areas of the world that would have access to limestone of this quality, that could be used in masonry without needing to be ground down and used in cement are heavily populated first world countries. Like Germany, Britain or the U.S. I don¡¯t know how many areas in those countries would have terrain this flat, weather this mild, abundant limestone close enough to be a logistically plausible building material, but not have some form of light pollution,¡± Kaede continued unabated.

    How does she remember this type of stuff? She¡¯s always been a bookworm. Studies too hard, top scores in our year, intrigued by what most people would consider trivial information. A real history buff, obsessed with physics and chemistry, a math whizz, and fascinated by sociology and psychology. Not much of a runner I mused to myself.

    ¡°Light pollution?¡± Yui sounded confused. ¡°How does light cause pollution? Does it hurt the environment? Is it like oil? Are we not going to have sushi cuz of the lights?¡± Had this been anyone else it would have come across as mocking.

    ¡°No Yui, it just means the glow you can see in the air from all the lights in a city like Tokyo,¡± I said calmly, squeezing her hand. She blushed as the silliness of her own question hit her.

    ¡°R...right. Of course. I knew that hehe,¡± she gave a small smile, poking her tongue out ever so slightly. Kaede gave an oddly deep, almost hungry sounding chuckle. I looked over in time to see her recovering from her obvious show of love for Yui. How could anyone hate our little genki girl? She never meant harm, she just let her thoughts run wild without stopping to think if they made sense at times.

    ¡°Anyways,¡± Kaede said, eyeing Yui skeptically, ¡°this towns¡¯ situation just doesn¡¯t make sense¡­¡±

    ¡°Unless we¡¯re in another world?¡± I finished for her, disbelief and scorn underpinning the words. This sounded ridiculous. However active my imagination could be, that was just not a reality I would buy easily.

    ¡°Yes...well...I want to take a look around for that reason. It already doesn¡¯t make sense that we¡¯re in such an odd place when minutes ago we were about to get run over by truck-kun, as I believe the Americans call it.¡± I giggled at that. She wasn¡¯t even all that interested in anime, but leave it to Kaede to know how another country views our products.

    Kaede was not the type to give in to the hype train, or let herself get worked up about something without reason. She had already thought through how unlikely the buildings around us were. Thinking about it now, while Yui and I were still gawking at the redwoods, she had made note of their existence and proceeded to view the rest of the world around us. Knowing her, she had been running it all through her head, looking for any plausible explanation to our surroundings. I hated to admit it, but if she was unsure and had begun contemplating if we¡¯d been isekai¡¯d...I simply nodded and steeled my resolve against the coming events.

 Chapter 2 - A Town in Ruin

    ¡°I¡¯ve already checked, there¡¯s no reception.¡± I had been reaching for my phone when Yui made the simple statement from behind. Looking back, Yui was holding her own above her head, waving it back and forth as if the sweeping motion would somehow connect her to a network. She¡¯s taking that better than I expected. Yui was always on her phone, always messaging hordes of friends and reading about the latest trends on message boards. The saying ¡°glued to their phone¡± might be putting it lightly for her.

    ¡°I was thinking we could use the light to help us see,¡± I gave her hand a slight squeeze. Of the three of us, she was the one I was most worried about. She was the happiest person you¡¯d likely ever meet, but I knew she was easily frightened. She tended to lock up when unexpected events unfolded.

    My father had taught me to keep a level head, assess my circumstances, and continue to the best of my abilities. I may not be as good at handling the unexpected as Kaede, but I was confident that I would not break down. For her part, Kaede would continue forward into the unknown, allowing her knowledge and pragmatism to guide her through any situation that might arise.

    Yui on the other hand...she was delicate. I dare anyone to talk with her and not want to protect her. To not feel that overwhelming fear that she would snap from the slightest touch. I looked at her for a long moment. Her tiny frame stood barely more than four and a half feet, and even soaking wet only seventy five pounds. I¡¯ve been told she was a preterm, and it¡¯s well known she is anemic at times. She easily ran out of breath, had never been allowed to partake in P.E. classes, and struggled to lift stacks of papers given to her by our teachers. Despite all this, she could never be kept down, and would never let on any pain she might be in. I loved her with all my heart. As I¡¯m sure everyone did.

    She looked up from the screen, and smiled lightly at me. Now that I took a closer look, I realized she appeared tired. Or perhaps it was the light from her phone distorting her appearance. I couldn¡¯t say for certain, but it proved to push me to worry.

    ¡°Are you...don¡¯t push yourself too hard Yui,¡± I said, trying my best to sound unphased.

    ¡°I¡¯m fine, I¡¯m fine! I¡¯m stronger than I look, you know!¡± She put as big a grin on her face as she could.

    That¡¯s right. I thought. This is Yui, she won¡¯t give up that easily. I tried to push my fears aside. Not just my fear for Yui, but for our whole situation. Just where exactly were we?

    We wandered about the Ruins in silence. My earlier assessment held true; there was not a single bit of the usual construction materials used in modern buildings to be found. Just more of the stone and lumber we found at the edge. We did discover several foundations of what appeared to be fully wooden buildings, and even what appeared to be mud.

    ¡°Some type of Adobe...top of the original stone...old, it crumbles when touched,¡± I overheard some of Kaede¡¯s mutterings as she examined one of the mud buildings.

    None of the buildings had enough still intact to be much more than rubble, save the random wall or corner that still stood one or perhaps two stories high. I had noticed that moss and vines had begun to gather on most, if not all, of the stones. Weeds and grass had begun to poke through the wooden floors of the interiors. A few of the structures had as much grass on the inside as the ground surrounding them. In one case a small tree had found a safe spot nearly dead center of the crumbling walls. Nature was reclaiming the land.

    How long has it been since this place fell to ruin? It seemed strange that the place was so undisturbed despite it¡¯s obvious age. Perhaps it was different in European countries, but I felt that this would be a heritage site normally. Yet there were no signs of anyone having walked these grounds in years. Why has this place been completely abandoned? Something¡¯s not right here.

    The further into the ruined city we traveled, the more that something felt off. I couldn¡¯t quite put my finger on it, but I knew some aspect of this place was...wrong. The more I saw, the more I came to question why this place lay in complete disarray; why no one would have made any attempt to reclaim it. Yui gripped my hand tightly. Had she, too, felt something was off? Or was she sensing my hesitation?

    ¡°There¡¯s a hill over there,¡± Kaede suddenly said. After the extended silence we had been walking in, her voice seemed to ring out unusually loud, causing both Yui and I to jump. Yui immediately gave a half-hearted giggle to cover up her embarrassment. I felt no such need. I felt no shame in admitting I was unnerved.

    Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

    It was only after Kaede had broken the silence that I realized part of what had thrown me off. It was the silence itself. An unnatural silence I¡¯ve never experienced in the real world. The kind only found in horror movies. Not a sound had been made outside our own tromping feet and quiet breathing. No singing birds, no hooting owls. No squeaks from mice, nor humming cicadas or chirping crickets. Not even the breeze had seemed to make a sound as it tussled my hair, ever so gently.

    This is wrong, I thought. This place, this atmosphere. Everything about it is wrong. What happened here? I was easily put on edge, always ready for the unexpected. But I wouldn¡¯t consider myself someone who scares easily. Scary movies had never gotten to me at least. This place had done just that however. It had me unnerved right down to my core. I could feel my heart beating faster by the minute, my breathing becoming quicker and more shallow.

    ¡°Hinata?¡± I looked back at Yui, who now wore a worried look on her face.

    Do I reassure her? Or would that be the same as lying to her?

    ¡°I...I don¡¯t know...something just feels...wrong,¡± I said slowly. Ahhh what¡¯s wrong with me, why can¡¯t I get my thoughts straight? I might not be as pragmatic as Kaede, but I was level headed enough to point out what was bothering me usually.

    ¡°I agree,¡± Kaede¡¯s response threw me for a loop, and I quickly turned around to look her in the face. She had her brow scrunched up, chin resting between her thumb and forefinger, and her eyes cast on the ground. ¡°Everything about this place is counterintuitive. Perhaps¡­¡± she trailed off. For several moments she stood staring at the ground, before looking at our surroundings again. She worked her lip furiously, her frown intensifying. So I wasn¡¯t wrong to be worried.

    ¡°I still think we should get the high ground,¡± she said, once again turning in the direction of the hill. Foregoing an explanation to her agreement, she set out at a slightly brisker pace. Perhaps she did not feel comfortable sharing what she was thinking, or wanted more information before she finished making her assessment. Either way, I knew she would not easily give out a half baked idea. I began to follow.

    Yui, however, made no attempt to move, and her hand slipped from mine. Turning back, I could see fear working its way into her features. Her eyes were moist, the corner of her lips were quivering and slowly being pulled down. The hand I had just been holding met the other, pulled in close to her chest and chin. She looked ready to cry.

    ¡°I don¡¯t like this,¡± she managed, her voice wavering. ¡°This place is giving me the creeps, and you guys are saying something is wrong. What if something comes after us?¡± suddenly dropping to the ground, her shoulders began to shake. Before I could even make a move to comfort her, Kaede swooped in from behind me and wrapped the tiny figure in her arms.

    ¡°There there¡­shhhh,¡± she cooed softly at the crying girl. Gently, Kaede began to pat Yui¡¯s head. ¡°I¡¯m sorry I made you worry Yui,¡± she continued to whisper at the other girl, rocking her shoulders ever so slightly. I slowly made my way to the other side of Yui, where I crouched down to place a hand on her back.

    ¡°No animals are gonna get you Yui, I¡¯m here with you remember?¡± I said reassuringly. After a moment''s hesitation, she nodded, but kept her face buried in Kaede¡¯s sweater.

    In truth, I don¡¯t know how well I could live up to what I said. I was large by Japanese standards. Nearly five and a half feet tall, my shoulders were a touch wider than what an average beauty would have while my frame was ¡°well toned¡± as Yui liked to put it. My hair was rather long, reaching halfway down my back, but I rarely messed with it. I tended to keep it out of the way with some amount of braiding in the last few inches, or in a tight ponytail while exercising. To make matters worse, I had my fathers eyes with my mothers traditional Japanese face. I was distinctly less feminine than the average highschooler, though it was not something that ate at my heart quite so much as my peers might expect.

    My father had been in the U.S. Navy Special Forces when he met my mother. He was big on physical fitness, and had taken me training every morning that he was in port for as long as I could remember. I had always loved those times with him. It let me bond with my dad in a way none of the other girls I knew had gotten to with their own fathers. Running, body weight exercises, swimming. All forms of physical exercise were par for the course with him. He had trained me in his militaries¡¯ hand to hand combat, and we went to the firing range every time we visited grandma and grandpa in the states. He was hard and strict in his training, never letting up for even a day. I think it was his way of showing he loved me, for he never berated me when I couldn¡¯t keep up.

    He was also, embarrassingly enough for me, a massive nerd. He loved Japanese anime, and obsessed over popular fantasy games. As such when I had shown even the slightest interest in learning kendo as a child, he had immediately signed me up. I¡¯m not all that proficient at it, even after all these years, but it was another aspect that let me connect with him.

    ¡°Never give up. Never look down on yourself. Whether you succeed or fail, win or lose, I am more proud of you and the effort you put in than I can ever hope to make you understand,¡± he had always said. In my mind I could see his broad shoulders; short G.I. Joe buzzcut; brilliant, sharp and intense ocean blue eyes; and the small, soft smile he always put on when around myself or my siblings. I took a deep breath, slowly letting it out through my mouth. I focused on my heart and the idea of its rhythm slowing. After a moment I felt my shoulders release some of their tension.

    Thank you dad.

 Chapter 3 - The Hillside Crypt

    After a few minutes, Yui had calmed down enough for us to continue on. She now held on to the back of my sweater, both hands and half her face almost buried in the thick cloth. As we neared the hill, Yui let out a small gasp. The clouds that had been mostly covering the moon for the last several minutes had shifted out of the way, allowing the brilliant orb to cascade it¡¯s soft light on the land around us once again, giving way to a startling discovery.

    The hill was a graveyard. Hundreds, perhaps a couple thousand western style tombstones dotted it¡¯s surface. How had we not noticed until that moment? Perhaps the light from our phones had limited how far we could see. Or perhaps they hadn¡¯t been visible from a distance when that cloud had rolled in. Either way, my sense of foreboding grew. Kaede looked over her shoulder.

    ¡°No reason to get worked up over a cemetery. They are quite common, you know.¡± Trying to calm our nerves, or perhaps her own, she simply pointed out that, in and of itself, a graveyard was just that; a yard filled with graves. ¡°The dead are...well dead. Considering how old this place must be, who knows if there¡¯s even anything left of the bodies down there.¡±

    But that¡¯s exactly what¡¯s so terrifying. There might be bodies underground on this hill. Too many zombie movies. That would be my guess as to why I was so worked up. Yui gripped my sweater tighter. Without thinking I reached up and under my arm to cover one of her hands. I have to stay calm for Yui.

    Despite the unphased air she was putting on, Kaede slowed a considerable amount on the final approach to the rotting wooden fence that encircled the hill. Two head high, metal gates blocked our way. They were rather simple in design, something you¡¯d expect to see on a ranch, no more than a few vertical bars. The left gate was hanging from it¡¯s lower hinge, the top one long gone. Kaede gingerly grabbed the other, giving it a tug.

    It let out a horrible wail, rusty hinges screeching shrilly into the night. She managed to get it open just enough for us to squeeze through before it locked up, coming to an eerily still halt. Kaede frowned. I could see from the way her weight shifted back and forth that she was attempting to move it again, but it made no signs of budging. Not so much as a single, wobbly motion came from it.

    ¡°Shhhhhh...¡± The hair on the back of my neck stood up, and a chill ran down my spine. What was that? Had I actually heard it? I quickly looked down at Yui, but she gave no sign of having heard or made the noise. Her lips were sealed. In fact, she looked too terrified to make any noise at all. No no, I¡¯m just freaking myself out because it¡¯s a graveyard. That was all. If I put too much thought into it, I would just feed the fear.

    Kaede let go of the gate after a few more moments of tugging on it, unaware of my discomfort. Glancing back at us, she squared her shoulders and set about squeezing through the opening. Once through, she motioned for us to follow.

    ¡°Come on, let''s get on with it,¡± the sharpness of her words let slip that she too was rattled by our situation. I turned towards Yui, placing my hands on her thin shoulders.

    ¡°You go through first,¡± she opened her mouth to protest. ¡°No buts, Kaede is already through, and I am on the outside. I won¡¯t have you standing on the other side of a fence I have to squeeze through with no one to support you.¡±

    Her eyes darted between the gate, Kaede and myself. Rocking on the balls of her heels, she closed her mouth, looked down from my gaze, and finally nodded.

    ¡°Good.¡± I gently led Yui to the gate. She walked straight through, with room to spare on both sides. Well THAT¡¯S not going to help my self image. Kaede pulled Yui¡¯s back up against herself, wrapping her arms around the little frame, before looking up at me expectantly. I knew it was my turn, but that noise had set me on high alert and my fear was building, locking me in place. I checked my surroundings; left, right and behind. I stepped towards the gate, paused, and glanced up.

    ¡°No one ever looks up,¡± dad had always said. Feeling certain I was safe, I angled my shoulders and began to squeeze myself through the opening. Even as my foot crossed the threshold into the graveyard, my arms lit up with goosebumps, all my senses flaring to life on high alert.

    ¡°Be¡­wa¡­¡± the whisper seemed to come just inches away from my trailing shoulder, and I felt the gate sway. Heart in my throat, I struggled desperately to pull myself through the opening. My imagination screamed of danger, conjuring all manner of terrifying creatures that might be standing behind me. Every part of my mind reeling, I fell through at last, landing on all fours. My fathers training kicked in, and I quickly rolled to the side bringing the gate to my front. But there was nothing to see. Only the gate and a frightened looking Yui standing in Kaede¡¯s arms, who frowned deeply at me.

    ¡°Hinata! What¡¯s wrong? Are you alright?¡± Yui squeaked out, fear pushing her already high voice several octaves higher. She had her hands held in their usual position with one turned towards me, partially in the act of reaching out. I continued to stare at the gates, unwilling to accept nothing was there. I had heard something. There wasn¡¯t a doubt in my mind something, or someone, had whispered in my ear.

    ¡°I...I don¡¯t know...I thought I he¡­¡±

    ¡°Hinata, perhaps the situation has gotten to you more than you initially thought?¡± Kaede cut across my response before I could finish. She had an intense look on her face, as if to warn me against finishing that thought. I saw her pull Yui in tighter, causing the smaller girl to look up. Understanding her meaning I simply nodded.

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    I stood, brushing off my hands and uniform, still looking warily at the gate. That off putting sensation I had been feeling until now had morphed to full blown fear. I had sensed something was off about this town from the get go; this experience was doing nothing to alleviate that. I felt the sudden urge to look over my shoulder. I only just managed to check my fear.

    Keep a level head. Keep a level head. I repeated these words to myself several times to try and calm my frayed nerves. It was times like these that rationality must win out. If I were to get worked into a frenzy without a tangible reason, then I would be too far gone to handle an actual emergency. Despite myself, I glanced over my shoulder, though I managed to do so at a measured pace rather than a frantic one.

    ¡°Shall we?¡± Kaede walked Yui over to me, passing the baton. I enveloped my precious friend in a quick hug, took her hand and looked up towards the top of the hill.

    ¡°Mmm¡± was all the response I gave.

    As we worked our way up the hill, following the remnants of a rough stone path, Kaede meandered from side to side, examining gravestones, flowers, rocks and even, seemingly, the ground. I caught random snippets of her mutterings from time to time ¡°Marble?...no animals...never seen this flower...weathering on this¡­¡± To some it might sound or appear as though she was simply enjoying the novelty. I knew her well enough to figure otherwise.

    The hill was a gradual incline, almost flat, for the first fifty or so yards after entering the gate. It was only after that point that the ground truly began to rise up. Just before that point, a large crypt sat a few feet to the side of the path. As I had expected, Kaede made an immediate beeline for it. I felt a slight resistance from Yui¡¯s hand, and I gently tightened my grip. I hoped it served to give her courage, for I was beginning to question my own.

    Stairs led down some two or three feet from ground level to the base of a door facing out towards the town. The door itself was a solid, dark metal affair with what appeared to be the moon over a crossed warscythe and battleaxe. The part of the door frame that lay above ground had robed figures holding what appeared to be a bar on their shoulders carved into the stone. Above the center of the doorway, a raised plaque had been sculpted from the stone. Strange, harshly angled symbols adorned it, carved deeply into the face of the material.

    The corners of the structure had been shaped into Greco-Roman pillars, supporting a flat roof. Along the edges of the overhang above these pillars, the different phases of the moon had been painstakingly etched into the white stone. I peered more closely at these moons.

    ¡°Eew, that¡¯s disturbing,¡± I muttered, noticing the strange, skeletal faces that seemed to adorne the moons.

    ¡°Yes, it almost looks like the symbol of some deity,¡± Kaede responded, squinting at the door. ¡°Or perhaps deities,¡± she amended, looking up at the assortment of moons above her. Her response drew my attention back to the door. It was only upon closer inspection that I saw a chain, also carved into the stone, led from the bar above the door, and continued onto the metal where it seemed to be ¡°holding¡± the moon aloft.

    I jerked back a bit as I noticed the twisted, tormented face that decorated the doors¡¯ moon. It held the visage of a skull, like the ones above, except the eyes were far too small for the sockets, giving an extremely sunken appearance. A heavily arced smile of large, unevenly lined teeth made up the lower half. It gave the air of a half mad, sadistic demon.

    ¡°Oh my god, that is sooo creepy!¡± Yui exclaimed. I was surprised to find her leaning forward with her mouth open, examining the moon closely. ¡°I really really like that thing, whoever made it did a really good job blending the eyes and teeth into the overall shape, it almost comes off as a normal moon if you don¡¯t pay enough attention.¡±

    ¡°I thought you were scared of this place?¡± Kaede smirked. Yui blushed, pulling back behind me. She glanced around the graveyard.

    ¡°I am! But that doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t be surprised by a good piece of art when I see it¡­¡± she trailed off as she continued to study the structure before us, now from the safety of my back.

    ¡°You¡¯re tastes are so strange Yui,¡± I giggled. ¡°Odd how grim, evil, twisted depictions are what you love most, while looking and acting like the neighborhood loli. Even stranger still, you didn¡¯t seem to want to walk through the gate into a real graveyard, instead of just looking at pictures on your phone at lunch.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but tease her a little. Her reaction to the crypt and Kaede¡¯s quip had lightened the air a bit, and with the release of that tension I felt the need to laugh.

    ¡°Gehhhh! Don¡¯t call me that, I can¡¯t help how small I am!¡± Yui huffed at me, thumping my side a few times. That strange, hungry chuckle came from Kaede again, though she immediately turned away. ¡°And there¡¯s a difference between the vibe of these areas in pictures, and actually being here. You guys said it yourself, some things just aren¡¯t right here.¡±

    ¡°Well I think our closeted loligoth is adorable,¡± Kaede muttered as she stepped along up to the wall, bending over to look at the plaque above the door. A small amount of dirt crumbled from the edge onto the stairs. The air grew cold. I felt a pair of eyes upon me. Again my nerves were set on edge, and I quickly looked up. A dark figure appeared to be standing on the other side of the crypt, staring at me. It happened so quickly I hadn¡¯t had time to register that something was there before it was gone.

    I never spoke of it, or liked to share it with anyone, but I had always been sensitive to the paranormal. My mother told me it ran in the family. She, her mother, and her mothers mother, had all been able to see and hear that which others could not. Apparently when I was five years old, shortly after my Japanese grandma had passed away, my mother overheard me talking with someone in my room. When she had opened the door to investigate, I had been sitting on my zabuton looking at my bed. She had questioned me about the conversation and I had responded that grandma was saying her goodbyes ¡°to her precious little granddaughter¡±.

    I never thought of it, in part, because my dad had thought it all a bit rubbish. He admitted he couldn¡¯t prove or disprove the supernatural, but he had always said it did the living no good to heed their existence. Why fear or give energy to that which can no longer touch you? I had agreed and pushed the idea away. I do not remember when, but I had stopped sensing the ¡°others¡±, as I referred to them, quite as much as when I was a child.

    This was different from any similar experience I had been through before. It was far more tangible; I was more certain I had heard and seen them. And there was...emotion. Not my emotions. No. These felt external, and were at odds with what I would expect to be feeling in the situation. There was a sense of anger, hatred, sadness and a truly bone chilling fear that seemed to come from outside my own body. As if it hung in the air. As if the fog were the manifestation of those emotions.

    Now, as I kept my eyes riveted to the spot the shadow had just inhabited, thoughts of my sensitivity came to mind. How long had it been since I had heard or seen anything? At least as long as we had been back in Japan. But here, tonight, in this place, I had heard something twice already. And now I would willingly bet everything I owned, something was watching us from the other side.

 Chapter 4 - A Hill of Graves

    Yui must have sensed the change in the air as well, as she pressed closer to my side, looking around us nervously. I could feel her hands trembling as she tugged on the cloth of my sweater.

    ¡°Hinata...somethings wrong...wrong wrong...I don¡¯t know...I feel like we shouldn¡¯t be here,¡± she whispered up at me frantically. Her eyes were wide, darting from side to side even as she attempted to look into my own. She was right, I felt unwelcome as well. As though the very land we stood on wanted us gone. And the emotions, those that were not mine, seemed to be growing, almost palpable in their intensity.

    ¡°Kaede,¡± I hissed, ¡°we should continue moving.¡±

    ¡°Yes yes, hold on. There¡¯s something strange about these patterns¡­¡± her mumbled response faded as she rubbed a finger across the moons decorating the overhang. I didn¡¯t care what she might be seeing, that sense of anger and hate that surrounded us was still growing, even more rapidly, drowning out everything else. It seemed to hum and buzz, almost like it was hissing silently into the night.

    Yui¡¯s breathing was becoming rapid, the raggedness of her bad health quickly startling me. We needed to get away from here for her safety. Even if we wrote off what I was feeling as simple graveyard fear, we could not ignore that we were far away from anything we knew and Yui¡¯s health took precedence. I was not sure if there was a hospital or clinic nearby. By this point I was no longer sure if we were in a place that would have one.

    ¡°Kaede,¡± I managed to steady my voice, and drop it down enough to force her to turn. ¡°We need to walk away. Now.¡±

    Kaede looked at me, confusion overlapping with her disappointment at being interrupted in her studies again. She opened her mouth as if to retort, but I quickly raised my hand.

    ¡°You are usually so good at this, but I know how excited you must be seeing something so foriegn and intriguing. So I will point it out this time,¡± I turned to reveal a whimpering Yui, out of breath with tears building in her eyes. Kaede¡¯s face twisted up in despair, and she quickly walked over.

    ¡°Oh no no no no. Yui...I¡­¡± her words caught in her throat and I saw her eyes moisten as well. She and Yui had been neighbors since birth, and their parents were close. Kaede had always been put in charge of ensuring her safety when they traveled to and from school, and Yui had never once let the act go without some form of thanks. They had formed a bond only sisters usually knew, with Kaede always trampling any threat to her precious cargo.

    To be the cause of Yui¡¯s fears and worries, not once, but twice in the same night must have weighed very heavily on Kaede¡¯s mind. I quickly grabbed her shoulder and gave it a little shake. As Kaede ripped her eyes away from her shaking little sister, I gestured with my head to lead the way up the hill again. I, too, wanted to be away from the crypt. But I wanted to de-escalate the emotions of my two friends, and avoid another breakdown as best I could.

    For her part, Kaede accepted her blunder and the need to show change. She gave a stiff nod, quickly wiped her eyes with her sweater, turned back to the path and moved ahead. Being allowed to take charge of supporting Yui like this was something that had only happened in the last year or two. Kaede would have never trusted me enough before with what she saw as such an immense responsibility. What had changed I did not know, but I would see that Yui was taken care of as best I could. And that meant guiding her away from the crypt now.

    ¡°Yui,¡± I whispered gently, turning around pulling her into my chest. ¡°We must remain strong. If we break down now, how will we continue forward? Life is a series of adversities that we have to overcome to the best of our abilities.¡± She gave a small nod of her head as I stroked her hair.

    ¡°Kaede is just trying to overcome this with her own strengths. She¡¯s interested in all this, but it¡¯s born from the desire to pro¡­¡±

    ¡°Run...awa...y¡­¡± the whispered voice of a child. My blood froze. I felt my eyes widen and my breath catch. Yui tensed and let out a small squeak. I jerked my head up in time to see the shadow of a small child standing over a tombstone, arm raised towards me. The shadow seemed to dissolve, like smoke carried away by the wind.

    I kept my eyes locked to the spot I had seen the other. It had told me to run away, but it seemed to be pleading rather than threatening. There had been no malice in the words, no feeling of danger. It sounded similar to my little sister begging me to do her hair before school. This, more than hearing the voice itself, was what worried me.

    Yui began shaking like a leaf, and her legs gave out on her. Arms still around my waist, I felt the full weight of her tiny frame hang from me even as her arms seemed to slowly lose their grip. I quickly knelt down, tearing my eyes away from the tombstone the child had appeared over. Yui¡¯s eyes were half closed,her breathing rapid and shallow. My nervous energy quickly turned to worry as I picked my closest friend up.

    Light I thought. It really drove home how fragile Yui was, that I could pick her up princess style without any struggle. I glanced up, checking for the other one more time, and quickly chased after Kaede. She was still rubbing at her face when I caught up with her some thirty yards up the hill. She faced us as we approached, eyes immediately bulging at the sight of Yui in my arms.

    Yui¡¯s breathing had regained a more normal rhythm, and her face had regained some of its color, but her eyes remained screwed shut, her head turned so the world outside my arms was behind her. She gripped me once again, hands quivering as she fought her own fears. I sat down, feeling exhausted by the events of the night. Kaede sat similarly in front of me, her own tired face wrought with worry.

    ¡°Yui¡­¡± Kaede reached one hand for her shoulder, the other to release Yui¡¯s grip on me.

    ¡°NO!¡± she screamed, pushing her face into the cloth over my chest. This startled both of us, as Yui typically went to Kaede whenever she was upset.

    ¡°Yui...what¡¯s wrong. What happened to you guys?¡± Kaede had a pained appearance as she asked the question. I can¡¯t imagine how hard this was all becoming for her.

    ¡°I heard a¡­a voice. A child''s voice telling me to run. When I looked up a...a shadow stood there. But then it just...vanished on the wind I guess,¡± I finished, confused about the events myself. I didn¡¯t know how else to verbalise it. Kaede gazed into my eyes for a long moment, scrutinizing my face. She simply nodded slowly, an unexpected movement.

    ¡°I don¡¯t doubt you saw or heard something, but¡­¡±she trailed off, not wanting to question my sanity. Of course she didn¡¯t believe me, ghosts were impossible in her eyes. There was no scholarly literature to back them up; scientifically implausible. I knew, in the back of my mind, it wasn¡¯t me she doubted. It was the very idea of ghosts. However, that did nothing to quell the venom I felt rising up.

    Does she really think I would make something up? I don¡¯t want to admit I randomly see this shit either! I could feel my emotions boiling in my gut. Perhaps this was simply the final straw, all the emotions of the last few hours reaching their pinnacle.

    ¡°But maybe I¡¯m just some crazy hafu, is that it?¡± I snapped viciously at her. The regret I felt was immediate, and overwhelming. Her face screwed up in horror, and her eyes became uncharacteristically wet. She had never said anything so terrible to me, and I had even witnessed times where she admonished others for referring to me as such. The anger I had felt dissipated as disgust twisted my stomach in a heavy knot. Self-loathing suffocated me, my throat tightening as I felt tears in my own eyes.

    ¡°I¡¯m¡­¡± I had to set this right immediately. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Kaede, I shouldn¡¯t have...put that on you.¡± She was one of the only people I had any trust in; one of the only ones who looked past my appearance. She had never used my genetics as an explanation for why I was or wasn¡¯t able to accomplish. She accepted I had differences from the average Japanese, and had even told me she enjoyed many of those differences. ¡°You¡¯re like a breath of fresh air at times.¡±

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    I¡¯m sure part of my frustration was the constant questioning about my looks I received. An aspect of myself I couldn¡¯t control, that brought me struggles I didn¡¯t want. But it was unfair to push those onto someone who never once judged me based on those differences. And I¡¯m sure the situation had stressed me far more than my own mind was willing to let on.

    ¡°I heard it too,¡± Yui cut in. Kaede and I both gave a small start of surprise. We looked down at our friend curled in my arms, face still turned away from the outside world. Kaede jumped on the opportunity to turn the conversation away from the unpleasant curveball I had thrown out.

    ¡°You heard it? What exactly did you hear, Yui?¡± she asked quickly, a slight, desperate, strain in her voice. I felt another pang of guilt. I would have to bring this up again; to properly fix what I had just broken.

    ¡°A child...tell us to...run,¡± Yui whispered, made all the harder to hear by my clothing blocking her mouth. Despite knowing what I had heard, Yui¡¯s confirmation of it added an unexpected weight. It hadn¡¯t just been me, I hadn¡¯t been crazy. If another was experiencing the same, then it had to be true, right? Kaede took her thinking stance, working her lower lip furiously. She glanced at the sky, over my shoulder at the town behind us, the crypt below, and finally her eyes came to rest on Yui.

    ¡°This just isn¡¯t possible. The more I think about it, the less sense it makes,¡± she said after almost a minute. ¡°I don¡¯t recognize a single star in the sky. At first I thought, perhaps, I was just getting lost in all the extras you can¡¯t see in Japan. But then, the moon seems to be moving in a rather odd manner. It¡¯s still far too low in the sky considering how long we¡¯ve been wandering around.¡± She paused as if debating whether to continue.

    ¡°Then on that crypt,¡± Yui gave a small flinch in my arms, ¡°there appeared to be writing on it, however it was unlike anything I¡¯ve ever seen. I noticed what looked like similar...runes I guess you could call them, on a few of the tombstones and on some of the stones in the town. I wasn¡¯t sure if I was seeing something or not, since the weathering on them all is so extreme.¡± She lapsed into silence. Was she actually giving thought to what we had said? I had expected her to continue dismissing us outright, even if Yui and I both expressed a similar experience. Further, what was this talk about stars and moons and writing?

    She¡¯s not seriously contemplating what Yui said is she? That¡¯s the realm of light novels and anime, not reality. Not for the first time that night, I stated the obvious to myself. In any case, if this was an Isekai, wouldn¡¯t we have stats and skills, or at least be in the ¡°town of beginnings¡±? If she was thinking about it however, then I had more worry to fear than I initially thought.

    The silence stretched on for several minutes, Kaede sighing and grumbling to herself intermittently. Yui had calmed again, her trembling hands slowly loosening their grip. I smiled to myself, gently patting her on the head. She looked up at me, her eyes massive for her petite frame. She had a worried, questioning look on her face. I tried my best to make my small smile warm and reassuring. She looked down and nodded gently. As she sat up from my arms, Kaede gave a huff of frustration and began rubbing her temples.

    ¡°We really need to get to the top, no more distractions or sidetracks,¡± she announced, standing rather suddenly. She looked at us for only a second before making for the crest of the hill, her gait filled with determination. I stood up, patted my skirt off, and reached a hand to Yui. Her hand felt so small, so much like a childs¡¯ in my own. I had to push the ever present fear for her health aside. After she brushed herself off, we made our way up the hill.

    By the time the crest was only some hundred feet away, the others had made their presence well and truly known to us. ¡°Run...escape...flee,¡± everything they threw at us seemed desperate, pleading and wrought with fear. Yui was out of breath and for the umpteenth time that night, and had her face pressed into my sweater. Kaede, for her part, was doing her best to act as though the voices were not there.

    ¡°It is just the wind,¡± she had said to the first one she could hear. Typical of extreme skeptics. Her actions betrayed her, however, as she had slowed significantly. She now marched up the hill, head locked forward, only a few feet in front of me. Several shadows had stood just outside my focus, always evaporating like steam from an onsen when I made to look.

    My own fear was maddening. I had experienced the ¡°others¡± before. One of the worst times had been in a small town called Jerome. It had been part of a family vacation to visit my grandparents in Arizona, when I was thirteen. The town was known as the most haunted place in the state, and the grand hotel we had stayed at had lived up to its reputation. But the small bangs, moans and the rocking chair that moved on its own paled in comparison to this. And they were growing louder.

    ¡°Turn...back...NOW!¡± a particularly loud voice yelled at us as we came to the edge of the last graves. A distinct shape of a tall, lean man coalesced from the mist on the ground directly in front of us. Kaede yelped, jumping back into me. I, too, let out a startled sound, and made to catch Kaede with one hand, wrapping the other behind me to hold Yui up as she squealed into my back.

    I stumbled a single step, jamming my foot into the ground to avoid falling onto my tiny friend. I looked at the shadow for a long moment. Every warning flag imaginable was going off in my head. My hair stood on end, heart suffocated me from where it beat in my throat, a true cold seeped into my limbs down to the very bones, and my head grew light as my breathing threatened hyperventilation.

    I could almost make out details on its face. But they were mired in darkness and the swirling nature of the shadow itself. There seemed to be no proper edge to its form, instead a strange decrease in the saturation of whatever formed its body. It was stock still, limbs seemingly pressed against its sides. It suddenly wavered, fading out from left to right, whispering as it went ¡°Must...leave...¡±

    All was quiet. The whispering, the moaning, the warnings all stopped. The others I had just barely been able to notice in the corners of my eyes vanished, and the world seemed to come to a sudden stop. Not so much as a breeze remained. I held my breath for a second longer, before letting it out as slowly and silently as I could. I looked at Kaede, leaned back against my shoulder, her hands over her face, fingers cracked just enough for her to see events unfold.

    Perhaps now she will believe in ghosts, I thought dryly. Then another thought occurred to me. If this were an Isekai, wouldn¡¯t it make sense for ghosts to be more¡­ My stomach dropped straight through the ground. No no no. Is this the type of thought Kaede had been having? ¡°When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.¡± I remembered the famous quote by the fictional detective. The only way to make all these impossibilities a reality, would be to accept the idea that we had been thrown into another world, however improbable that might be.

    ¡°Kaede...are we really in anoth...¡± I started, desperate to hear otherwise.

    ¡°We shall save that...as the final option,¡± she whispered back at me through her hands, the one eye I could see locking with mine. We were only perhaps thirty yards from the tree, it was right above us, and yet we stood frozen in place. I don¡¯t know how long we stood there with baited breath, ears straining for any sign of the others¡¯ return. It felt to me an hour or more, but it was perhaps only a few minutes. I was the first to move, gently nudging Kaede in the back.

    ¡°We need to move, standing here in fear will do us no good.¡± I whispered. I could hear my fathers voice instructing me ¡°Fear can be crippling, and the longer you give in to inaction, the deeper it sinks it¡¯s claws, until you can no longer bring yourself to move.¡± His words, as ever, were proving to be right. My legs were unwilling to move as if roots had sprung from my feet, anchoring them to the ground.

    ¡°Come on, get off,¡± I grumbled, nudging the other girl again. As she pulled her weight off me I stepped forward and around her, still holding onto Yui. My gut told me Kaede would take too and allow the fear to set back in. If I was to take the lead she would be forced to follow or be left to stand by herself. I felt a second pair of hands grab my sweater from behind, opposite to the side Yui was holding. I sighed internally, doing my best to trick myself into believing everything was fine.

    The moonlight shone from behind us, illuminating the old, weathered tree at the top of the hill as we approached. Despite how green the rest of the world seemed, not a single leaf or bud clung to the branches. It¡¯s bark must have been stripped off, as it¡¯s side looked almost flawlessly smooth. The grey wood was pockmarked by the odd hole or two, signs it had once been alive and perhaps the home to a few birds. The grass here was lush and long, enough to sway as the air pushed it around.

    We looked back out over the town. From our vantage point we could make out the outlines of more buildings spanning out from the center of the town. The place seemed to have been quite a bit larger than I initially thought. I could make out a river some distance from the hill to our left, more of the giant trees to our right. Nothing that made much of a difference in my own understanding of our whereabouts. I hoped Kaede was a different story.

    ¡°Maybe the other side?¡± Kaede asked, her voice wavering and uncertain.

    ¡°Mmm,¡± I responded after a moment, scanning this side of the hill one last time. Yui hadn¡¯t faced away from me, keeping her back to the graves. She was looking up at me with hopeful, puppy dog eyes. I could only manage a half hearted smile before I again faced the tree and began walking around it¡¯s large trunk. As I rounded it, I inhaled sharply.

    There, at the crest of the hill, the tree and moon to his back, stood a lone man, mist rising from the ground around him.

 Chapter 5 - The Wraith of the Hill

    The man was massive, even compared to my father. He had to be at least six-four or six-five, perhaps taller. His shoulders were nearly half his height, and due to his topless nature, it was apparent he was made only of muscle. These appeared grotesque, almost too perfect for life, made worse by the incredible scarring that painted the parts of his back and arms I could see. Long, jet black hair reached past his shoulder blades, reflecting an unnatural amount of the moonlight.

    His lower body was encased in some sort of armor, and cloth wrapped around his waist draped down the back of his legs, casting the fronts in shadow. An absolutely monstrous sword rested in his left hand, blade running out behind him, tip resting on the ground. It looked to be far taller than him, perhaps nearly eight feet in length. The crossguard was unlike anything I had seen. It only stuck out a handful of inches before both top and bottom turned up, adding a strange outwards flare. The bottom edge continued down nearly a foot along the handle, leaving enough room for a hand to grip without being obstructed. These led out to edges of their own, and appeared to be sharpened like the main blade.

    The blade itself was nearly eight inches wide, and lacked any tapering until the last few inches before the tip. Strange runes, far less angular than those on the crypt, had been etched along the center of the blade where the fuller should have been. These seemed to pulse with a deep purple light every few seconds. The hilt looked to be leather, but where the material must have started continued off the handle several inches. This strip held a small charm in the shape of a jawless, fanged skull. The pommel was a simple ball counterweight.

    As I slowly scanned the figure from head to toe, I became less and less wary. I couldn¡¯t explain why, but I felt as though I had nothing to fear from this being. Even as my eyes fell upon his feet and I let out a small, startled gasp. The thin mist that rose around him was coming from the lower half of his legs. Or were they becoming the mist? It was about the knee that the strange disruption began. Bits seemed to flicker in and out of existence, as if his body was trying to solidify itself, before billowing into steam and drifting away. The effect grew until his feet were completely lost from sight, leaving him hovering above the ground.

    It was a sight to behold. There was a strange, almost ethereal elegance to the figure as he stood unmoving, head downturned to look upon two graves before him. His stance spoke only of power and authority rather than humility before the dead. But there was a rigidity in the way he stood, as if he was holding back. As if part of him was stopping the reverence for those lost to time. In all, he had the air of one to avoid.

    And yet, I couldn¡¯t help but feel drawn to him. Despite a rigid Kaede and quacking Yui; despite knowing something about this man wasn¡¯t natural; despite all the warning signals my body was sending me, I stepped forward.

    ¡°Are you...alright?¡± it seemed odd to ask that, it was unlikely anything could harm such an imposing figure, yet deep in my core I felt it was right. The man tensed and lifted his head, turning it slightly as if to glance over his shoulder. He came just shy of actually facing me, however, and I could feel his awareness upon me,but his hair kept his face from sight. He held the position for several long, drawn out seconds. As if the duality of this man''s stance had birthed uncertainty in my own body, my heart pulsed slow, yet powerful waves. Even as parts of my body raged at me to run, my mind was calm. Why it was, I do not know.

    At length, I saw some tension leave him, his shoulders relaxing ever so slightly and his head returning to its original position. He looked...uncertain. Pained. That air of holding back was still in place, but it was less pronounced. I moved closer, drawn by both my curiosity and his beauty. I heard Kaede hiss something, but I gave it no attention. Again, I could sense his awareness upon me. I could not explain why, but I somehow knew he was feeling me out despite having not yet turned his gaze to me.

    The silence remained; no answer to my query. Just as I sensed he had turned his attention away, I stepped forward again. It took all my self control to resist leaning forward and stealing a glance at his face. I felt his awareness shift to me again, almost as though he was trying to decipher my intentions. A small involuntary shudder ran down my spine. Despite how harmless I felt he was, my body was deeply disturbed.

    I urged myself up to stand even with him at the foot of the graves. They were clean of weeds or moss, and their smooth surface gleamed in the moonlight. Unlike the many we had passed, someone had cared for them. Despite this, I could make out no markings upon them. No hint of who these people were. I felt a wave of sadness at the thought of their memory being erased from the world. Dropping down to my knees and placing my hands together, I paid my respects.

    This reminded me of visiting my grandmother''s grave every year. A pang tightened my chest; a yearning for that which is gone. I had always struggled with this sort of thing. It reminded me that at some point, I would speak to my father without receiving a response. I hated it. I feared the very idea of no longer having him there to support me, to give advice or push me to greater heights. I knew it would happen, but I wanted to avoid the thoughts at all costs. And so, to distract myself more than anything, I finally caved and looked up at the man next to me.

    He was gorgeous, almost disgustingly so, and I felt even more drawn to him. A strong, chiseled jaw; thin nose and lips; his hair gently cascaded down the sides of his face, framing his high cheekbones and long lashes. But by far his most defining feature was his intense, bright eyes. They each had wine red irises surrounded by sclera of deep gray, bordering on black. They seemed filled with sadness, anger, hate and disgust all at once. They gazed longingly and repugnantly at the graves, as if it was all he could do to keep himself from running away or collapsing on the spot.

    But now, viewing him from the front, I was confronted with another red flag. On the left side of his chest, a large and blotchy mass of scar tissue distorted his torso. There was no distinct end, as if large tendrils of flesh had reached out independently, coming to a stop at random. Some of these crawled under his arm, or as far as his right nipple, and I half expected some of them to pulsate as if independently breathing. At its center, just over the heart, was a fist sized indent, as if the flesh had been carved out by a large melon baller. This area was free of the undulating, veiny appearance of the surrounding scar; almost too smooth to be true.

    That was...odd. The scar seemed to carve far too deep in his chest for someone to live through. Both muscle and bone had been cleared out. In fact, it appeared to be a result of a puncture wound, but on a much larger scale than I would have thought possible. Could someone survive losing that much flesh and bone?

    Then again, he doesn¡¯t seem to have feet either. What is he? Why is he standing here? Is he...one of the others? My head swam with questions, but I was now a little hesitant to ask. Sure, for some reason or other I felt no fear of him. Perhaps that was a result of having finally lost it after all the night''s events. Or maybe he really was just harmless. Either way, what I saw before me and how I felt were coming to a head. I would need to make a decision.

    How do I approach this? I need info on where I am, and he¡¯s the only person we¡¯ve come across. If I could get anything useful out of him, we¡¯d be in a better spot. That was the optimistic view.

    But what if he¡¯s violent? I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if he was. Looking at him objectively, he was an impossibility. He was missing the lower half of his legs, was floating above the ground, held a massive hunk of metal in the shape of a sword, wore more scars than an edgelord anime protagonist, and had enough flesh over his heart cut away that I wondered if his heart wasn¡¯t missing too. Everything about him screamed of a man who lived only for destruction.

    Then why am I not afraid of him? Despite it all I still couldn¡¯t deny that my fear seemed to come from my body, not my mind. My legs were twitching, desperate to pick me up and carry me far away from the man. The upstairs, however, was calm. Empathetic even. I don¡¯t have any kids of my own of course, but I figure the desire to protect and love my little brother and sister was close to the feelings a mother has for her own children. And some part of that was creeping into my mind now.

    I wanted to comfort this man. I felt as though he was on the cusp, teetering on the edge of falling into some horrible abyss. As if he was only just managing to keep his emotions from bursting forth, taking them out on the world around him. I wanted to hold him close, to stroke his long hair and tell him it would be alright. That he wasn¡¯t alone, that he didn¡¯t have to suffer in solitude. He hadn¡¯t even looked me in the eye, yet the urge to mother him was growing deep in my gut.

    ¡°Are these important?¡± No turning back now. I asked the question, genuinely worried about the surreal man that glared softly, angrily, at the ground before us. He flinched. His eyes bulged momentarily, and the emotions on display appeared to level out. A less raw look came over his face, gruff and tired almost, and he blinked several times. Those incredible eyes flitted between the graves, the sky, the surroundings, before finally coming to rest on me.

    I felt my breath catch. That gaze was so intense it was almost a tangible experience. So piercing that I swore for a moment he could see my very soul. As if everything I am was laid out to bear before him, from my simplest quirks to my deepest secrets. It lasted only a moment, before he returned his attention to the graves. He worked his jaw, as though he had forgotten how to move it. His thin lips parted a fraction of an inch before everything came back together tightly. I could see the muscles in his head clench several times before he slowly lifted his free arm to gesture at the grave before me.

    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    ¡°My...Lover.¡± Goosebumps raced up my arm. His voice was unlike anything I¡¯d heard before. It carried a sense of weight and power, so intense the air seemed to hum and I half expected electricity to crackle through it. It was distant and hollow, as thought spoken from the end of a long tunnel and through a metal can, yet it seemed to ring out from everywhere at once. My skin crawled and my jaw dropped. I inhaled a long, shaky gasp and felt my eyes widen in a mixture of horror and awe. A small ¡°eep¡± from behind told me the effect it had on my friends. At that moment I knew this man was anything but human.

    His face had a mixture of disgust and shamed sadness on it. His head tilted towards the grave and his face turned a fraction of a degree away from it. The eye closest squinted, and both shifted down as though looking at it brought him a pain he couldn¡¯t face. He seemingly couldn¡¯t bring himself to accept its existence. Like a child unable to look up as he was being bullied. He stayed there, eyes rapidly shifting about, as if he was desperate to get away. It pained me to watch.

    ¡°And the other?¡± He slowly pulled his attention away from the first grave, to the one that he stood directly in front of.

    ¡°Mother,¡± The tension bled from him immediately, like water from a balloon. His features softened to such an extreme it was hard to believe they had been etched with such pain just a moment before. His eyes relaxed and a small curve on his lips hinted at a wistful happiness. The air seemed to warm suddenly, and the obvious love he had held for this person helped to calm my fear stricken body. I thought of my father, and how he made me feel.

    ¡°Is this¡­did she used to live here?¡± I asked, quickly pulling myself from the thoughts of my dad. I couldn¡¯t afford to be distracted by emotions. Stay focused, we need information.

    ¡°Mmm,¡± was all the response he gave. Something akin to a yes? I decided to run with that. So if this is where she lived, then he must know something about this place right?

    ¡°What is this place? Or¡­well, where are we?¡± He continued to gaze at his mother¡¯s grave. I waited as patiently as I could. I could feel my heart thumping heavily in my chest from anticipation. If I could just get even a little bit out of him, then I was sure Kaede would be able to tell us exactly where we were. But he gave no response, no sign that he had even heard me. Some part of my mind, for unknown reasons, told me he was drifting away. I had to bring him back.

    ¡°What, uh, happened to her? To this place?¡± Maybe if it revolved around her he would answer? It was worth a shot.

    ¡°Me.¡±

    That tells me nothing. Which part is he answering? He happened to the town? Or his mom? Wait, isn''t that kinda bad either way? My imagination, tempted by his appearance and my thoughts, conjured up scenes of the town being destroyed by him. Swinging his massive weapon in arches that cleaved multiple people in two. But when my mind thought of him killing his mother, it was my own mom he stood over.

    Stay calm, stay calm. Lets not jump to conclusions I pushed the imagery off as best I could, but a lingering worm of fear slowly buried itself in my mind.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Please, please answer me, anything useful. I¡¯m begging you.

    ¡°They were scum! They deserved it! ALL OF THEM!¡± he bellowed suddenly. The very air around me seemed to crackle with energy. The pressure of his emotions bore down on me with a vicious ferocity, the world shaking under its weight. My heart finally understood why the rest of my body was fearful, as it began beating out a frantic pace. The hair on my arms and neck stood up, and my mind nearly went blank, save for one thought.

    RUN!

    ¡°THEY KILLED¡­they¡­¡± it vanished almost as soon as it appeared. All the anger, hate and bloodthirst that had permeated the air evaporated in an instant leaving behind only the pleasantly warm air that had surrounded me since I first woke in the field. His face fell again, back to the state it had been from the start.

    ¡°My mother¡­I was so angry¡­I didn¡¯t mean¡­I¡¯m sorry,¡± The last words were barely a whisper as he looked directly at the grave before me for the first time. The sorrow that bled off him was unfathomable. The regret and self loathing I felt in his aura led my eyes to well up.

    He can¡¯t be a horrible man I thought to myself. But, at the same time, had he implied that he was responsible for their deaths? Could a man who felt so strongly for the women in his life really do that? No, for now I would choose to believe he only places the blame on himself. He had fallen silent again, gazing down at his mothers grave unmoving, his eyes suddenly glossy.

    ¡°Can I ask you where we are? Where this place is?¡± I tried one more time. But I had a feeling it was too late. That he had slipped back into whatever place we had roused him from with our arrival, and nothing would pull him out again. Desperate to get anything out of him, I continued to stare at him long after he had fallen silent. Speaking to him had only raised more questions, and I received no answers to the ones I started with.

    I was frustrated and on the verge of tears. I¡¯m sure I would normally have been more angry than anything. But I was too exhausted, both emotionally and physically, for that now. The night had been a true rollercoaster of emotions; up and down; angry, sad, happy, scared and even terrified at points. I could feel the tension in my muscles, the knots forming in my shoulders, and each pulse from my heart echoed in my head. I wanted to know where I was; needed to know for Yui¡¯s sake.

    The emotional side of me was desperate, telling me to push him for answers. To keep searching in the hopes that I would discover that one bit of information I needed to reveal the truth of our situation. But the rational side of me knew otherwise. I was far too drained to truly accomplish anything. My tired state and the lack of daylight meant I could easily overlook important clues without realizing it. Stumbling around in the dark was not a solid use of my time.

    No, the better option would be to try and get some sleep; we could continue our search after the sun was up. Looking at a problem with fresh eyes often leads to new revelations my mom would often tell me when I hit snags in a task. Some rest and a change in the lighting would do me some good and I¡¯m sure the others were exhausted as well. With my mind made up, I sighed heavily and stood up. I glanced one last time at the man before I pushed the desperate feelings down. But there was nothing new to see. He only continued his thousand yard stare, unaware of the world around him.

    I turned to my friends, my heart heavy. I felt almost guilty, as if I hadn¡¯t met their expectations. But there was no way they could have expected more right? We were all in an unfamiliar situation together and, as of yet, none of us had come up with anything to explain it. I expected them to be standing there looking crestfallen as well, or upset nothing had been learned. Instead I was met with a troubling sight. Kaede was on the ground, pale as a ghost, resting Yui¡¯s head in her lap. Her eyes were riveted on the man behind me still.

    ¡°What happened?¡± My voice sounded drained. Had Kaede been more focused on Yui, I might have become more worked up. Kaede, however, seemed unwilling to look away. She turned her face up to me, but her eyes remained glued to the spot behind me. Her mouth opened ever so slightly, as if she was about to speak, but hung loosely for several seconds before it closed and she swallowed hard.

    ¡°Kaede? What¡¯s wrong? Is Yui ok?¡± I asked a bit forcefully. After several more moments I realized something was off. She had to be panicked by something. I knelt down before her to grab and shake her shoulder gently.

    ¡°Hey. Kaede, look at me.¡± She finally shifted her eyes towards me. ¡°What¡¯s got you so worked up?¡±

    ¡°What is¡­that¡­that thing?¡± Her voice was but the tiniest of whispers. What was she talking about? I looked over my shoulder but only saw the man standing behind me.

    ¡°What thing?¡±

    ¡°That thing you were just talking to. The¡­the¡­that dark blob that¡¯s swirling around behind you.¡± I was at a loss for words.

    ¡°Kaede, the only thing behind me are the two graves and that man.¡± I raised a single eyebrow at her. Had the whole of the night gotten to her this badly?

    ¡°What? Hinata, you were only talking to that thing. There¡¯s no¡­people around here.¡± She glanced over her shoulder, clearly unsure what to classify the other¡¯s we had encountered below.l

    ¡°You must be joking with me right?¡± I was well and truly bewildered now.

    ¡°What on earth would make you think I would joke in this situation?¡±

    ¡°You are saying you can¡¯t see this man?¡± I turned and pointed directly at him. ¡°He¡¯s taller than my dad and has a sword that big, yet you¡¯re going to claim you can¡¯t see him?¡±

    ¡°I would love to see another person!¡± The color began returning to her face, and her brows began to knit. ¡°That might actually help us figure something out! But we got up here and you just¡­I don¡¯t even know. You lost it and started talking to that thing over there. I thought you had cracked. And then it made that horrible noise and Yui collapsed, but you just kept talking at it!¡± Kaede seemed to have lifted whatever fear had settled across her, leading to her emotions boiling over. And I was caught in the crossfire.

    ¡°You were egging it on! It kept making those awful noises, and¡­and it was pulsating and shifting! I thought my heart was going to leap out of my throat each time, all the while I was trying to get your attention so we could run, and Yui had collapsed. I couldn¡¯t stand up, my legs were just so weak. Yui was¡­.she was..¡­and you¡­you just didn¡¯t care!¡± she finally finished, tears streaming down her cheeks.

    I was at a loss for words. Kaede had never reacted to anything like this before, at least not where I could see it. I felt my stomach churning as my anger threatened to burst forth. How was it my fault? I wanted to snap, wanted to fire back at her. But my earlier outburst came to mind. I grit my teeth to stay my tongue and took a long, deep breath. When I let it out I did my best to push my emotions from my mind.

    ¡°Look,¡± I started opening my eyes to look at her again. ¡°We¡¯re both at wits¡¯ end after everything that happened. Barking at each other will accomplish nothing. Perhaps it would be better if we get some rest and approach these problems from a new angle tomorrow?¡±

    Seemingly unhappy, the scowl she had on her face remained, but she made no comment. I slipped my arms under Yui and gingerly lifted her up. Looking down at Kaede, I hesitated only a moment before I put the man on the hill behind me, making my way slowly towards the dilapidated ruins below us.

    The others were unexpectedly silent, which itself was worse than the mutterings I had expected.