ã€ŠBONESONG - Ash and Petalsã€‹


 Prologue - A Song in the Dark

    Emilia knelt before the row of candles in the small shrine. The soft amber light barely illuminated the small space within the stone building, but she found the glow comforting and warm. It always was, even when she lit only one of the several candles that lined this room, but every once in a while, she would bring enough to do this- to light one entire row, right beneath the fresco that covered this entire wall, enough to see the entire image.

    It was one that she had seen countless times- usually with her mother next to her, helping her through the awkward, rhythmic litanies that were expected of them, but she was old enough now, and had been here frequently enough, that she didn¡¯t need her mother¡¯s help to recite the songs of her great-great grandfather. But still, she took a moment to admire the painting. It was of a woman- one with long, dark hair like all of theirs, though it was wavy and thick - like the hair in Emilia¡¯s family. Her face was decorated with paint, to resemble a skull- but not in a scary way- in a way that used petals, gems, and bits of brilliant color to create a kind face that looked out from among the white and black paints. A long red dress trailed down to the floor in the painting, and she bore a massive hat- not like the cone-shaped hats that they all wore in the rice paddies, a strange thing with a flat brim and a small domed section in the middle, but with painted candles lining the entire rim, lining the floor, and the dress.

    Supposedly, she protected their little village. Had for close to a century and a half, according to the stories that her mother passed down to her.

    She knelt before the candles, knees together, feet tucked underneath her bottom, and touched her head to the flagstones of the shrine before the simple altar, before rising, pressing her palms together before her pale forehead in respect.

    ¡°I - I know that usually, I play for you, here, as Mother told me, but, Mother needs the Pipa today- she said she would have guests over."

    Emilia shifted, uncomfortably. Chu-hua and Hui-ying had started taking lessons from her mother, but Emilia had heard them making fun of the lessons- making fun of this shrine that their ancestors had built and worshipped at, making fun of the fact that Emilia always had candles in her work-bag, had learned to write both scripts - her great-great-grandfather¡¯s writing - the strange language from which her father had taken her name - and the writing of Yosae, her country, but both girls had started taking music lessons from her mother as well. No one could deny that Jia Yun was the best in the village- better than many from Goka, or Lingshen. At least, that¡¯s what some of the travelers, adventurers, or merchants said whenever they heard her sing, heard her play the Pipa or any of the other dozen instruments that her mother could play as if they were part of her.

    Emilia was only ten. She was still young, and could only play the Pipa, she didn''t dare take any of mother¡¯s more expensive instruments that had come from across the seas, not when she could not even play them properly to respect the goddess, to pay respects to La-Catrina.

    ¡°I - I hope you don¡¯t mind. I - I don¡¯t need to tell you why, I guess. Mother says that you watch everything that happens here, in Q¨²a.¡± She paused, glancing back up at the fresco, at the woman¡¯s face, so carefully illustrated.

    ¡°I - I hope a song is good enough, for today.¡±

    She stood, slowly, as her mother had taught her, and opened her mouth, beginning the first few notes of the song. It was strange- she didn¡¯t understand the words, although her mother had told her again and again what they meant- but the language was...unusual. More like something from Avistan, although it didn¡¯t match any of those strange languages either. The words and notes still echoed in the small stone room, only about ten feet wide in any direction, reverberating in a way that made them seem almost angelic. Emilia couldn¡¯t help but smile, as her eyes drifted closed, as she let herself get lost in the music.

    The song was not long- but she knew that it was a story- about a man, who loved a woman. A man who loved her too much to leave until she loved him in return. It was his story - her great-great-grandfather¡¯s. And then, it was over, the last note echoing in the small shrine, the candles burned down a little bit lower, but the flames seemingly brighter than ever, as Emilia looked up at the kind face of La-Catrina.

    ¡°I- father is sick. I don¡¯t know, if you do that- Mother says you keep the dead safe, in Ji¨¦r¨¬ zh¨© d¨¬, your halls- but¡­ please, I just want you to help him.¡±

    She stepped up to the altar, to blow out the candles, when a wind seemed to whip around her, the decorative cherry blossoms that the people of the village laid on the floor during springtime scattering, whipping about her hair, dancing before her for a moment. She yelped, and froze when she heard it - a whisper, quiet, almost imperceptible, but undeniable just for an instant.

    Do not blow them out

    The light is all that keeps you safe, in my hall.

    Then she heard it- the screams.

    Her head whipped around, as she rushed up to the clear glass panes of the small windows that lined the Shrine and stared in horror. Her village was burning. She saw people running back and forth, using shovels, pitchforks, anything they could get their hands on, fighting...something. People?

    A rotting hand slapped against the window, and Emilia screamed, falling back and knocking over a candelabra, the stand toppling and sending unlit candles rolling across the flagstones.

    A shambling...thing, lifted it¡¯s head to look through the window, face fetid and decomposing, It tried to look through the window, before shrieking, in a grunt, as if something had burned it, or blinded it.

    She could hear more. Shuffling, moaning, more screams and sounds of fighting. She heard a yell- a voice that sounded like M?ng¡¯Lo, the farmer who owned the western rice paddies. He was calling for help.

    There was a crunch, and then he wasn''t.

    She fell down onto the floor of the shrine in a panic, heart pounding, tears pouring down her face as the sounds intensified. More fighting, more screams. More dying. She clamped her hands over her ears, humming the songs once again, eyes squeezed shut against the horrors outside.

    She heard something- like a spark. She opened her eyes to watch one candle flicker to life, next to the row that she had lit. Then another, then another. One by one all the candles still upright in the room flickered to life, blazing with a brilliance that Emilia had never seen before, practically blinding the girl as the light raged inside the small room. Emilia stared in shock, voice faltering in amazement as it gathered, building like a storm on the horizon within the small space, before it seemed to flare- brilliant arcs of light snapping from the windows, striking things outside, sparking out into the air like a sunburst. Emilia was knocked back against the altar, knocking over a few of the candles, as the doors to the shrine suddenly ripped themselves open- and for the briefest of moments, Emilia could have sworn that she saw a shape in the doorway for an instant- the briefest glimpse of a long, floor-length dress, and a femenine form, before the light seemed to rush out into Q¨²a, like a whirlwind.

    Emilia ran to the window, staring in shock as the brilliant light seemed to sweep over the town - coursing through the cemetery, through the streets. Figures seemed to simply...drop, to stop moving and collapse to the ground in a heap of fetid bones.

    She ran out then, perhaps agaisnt her better judgement, into the rain that was pouring down this night, into the muck, mud, and horror. She stared in shock- Farmer M?ng-Lo lay on the ground just inside the gates to the cemetery, one hand outstretched towards the stone shrine, his face a mask of pain and agony - his entrails scattered about him, as his abdomen had been torn open. A corpse- long dead, from the look of things, lay on the ground next to him, mouth bloodied and agape, lifeless and dead. Emilia gagged, pulling her scarf to cover her mouth as she ran through the streets. Dead and dying littered the space, all sign of the light that had swept the town for that briefest of instances gone, replaced by moans, of pain and mourning both. She saw Nana Loa clutching the dead body of her husband, his face staring blankly to the sky, throat marred by a mass of red, and saw many others weeping- but the worst part were the fires. Smoldering torches now smoked in the muck and the mud, barely embers, clearly having been carried by the shambling corpses that had somehow come into the town. Many buildings burned- the winery, as well as the tavern owned by Chu-Hua¡¯s father. She darted through the middle of the burning street, ignoring the line of people passing buckets from the small river that ran by the village, darting past weeping people, slaughtered corpses, almost running into the blacksmith¡¯s apprentice as he directed the effort to douse the fire, still bearing a dirtied but elegant blade, as if he had participated in the fighting himself, passing instead through the outer gate of the village, out past the fields that they had planted with Aestevanian vegetables, all the way to the small stone wall that separated the village from the rice paddies.This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    She saw the glow of orange, and nearly screamed in panic as she raced up the muddied lane to the wall of dark stone, her pale hands slapping against the rocks as she leaned over, finally getting a clear view of her family¡¯s cottage.

    Flames reached for the sky- the straw roof long gone, the rafters all but falling in on themselves. She screamed, and raced forwards, running around the small home in a panic, trying desperately to find some gap in the stone. The windows were shattered, but Emilia knew in a moment that they were too small for anyone to escape through.

    She screamed for ther mother, calling her name again and again, calling for her father, for Chu-Hua and Hui-ying, but was met with the roaring snaps of burning wood and the raging fire before her. She watched as it tried to light one of the trees, but failed to catch as the rain seemed to intensify for the briefest of moments.

    She fell to her knees, in the mud, and wept, screaming into the burning light before her for hours, watching until the flames finally died away, as the rafters finally collapsed into the home.

    She stood in a daze, in the waning light of the moon. Voices still called from the village itself, and she could hear the wailing of mourning families. None of it mattered though, as she pushed aside what was left of the ironwood door, it falling off of it¡¯s hinges, throwing up ash in the room beyond.

    She stared at the ashes of her life.

    There was where the dining table had once stood- there the plants that she had so carefully coaxed to grow. Ashes. There was what remained of her mother¡¯s sitting chair- recognisable only for a tiny piece of the back that bore her father¡¯s delicate woodcarvings. She lifted the chunk numbly, feeling the ash sear her skin as she shuffled into the second room- her mother¡¯s sitting room.

    She sank to her knees again, met with three skulls, charred and burned.

    She stared, not saying a word, as the rain settled down onto her shoulders, soaking her even as it hissed off of the smoldering remains of her home.

    She didn¡¯t notice the footsteps until they were shuffling through the ash behind her. Emilia wheeled around in a panic, crawling back from the figure against a remaining wall of stone.

    A woman stood there, staring sadly at the three bodies in the ash. She wore black, a floor-length dress disturbing the ashes ever so slightly, a large black hat obscuring her face.

    She crouched, fingers hovering a few inches from the bones with a sadness that seemed deeper than the lake up in the mountains, before she turned to Emilia.

    The girl¡¯s breath caught in her chest as those dark eyes met hers.

    Wavy hair spilled around the woman¡¯s face, falling nearly to her waist, but what caused Emilia¡¯s heart to skip was the white paint that covered the smooth skin, imitating the look of a skull.

    ¡°Emilia Yun - I am so sorry that I could not come sooner.¡±

    Emilia couldn¡¯t speak, as those melodious words seemed to chime into the ruins of her home.

    The woman did not stand, did not move, but opened her mouth again.

    ¡°I could not act- not until M?ng-Lo called for me on that hallowed ground- that ground that your ancestor dedicated to me.¡±

    She looked sadly at the figures on the ground. ¡°Even here, I am still bound by the ancient rules of my kind, I can only act when...when the situation allows.¡±

    Emilia watched as the woman sifted through the ashes, pulling out a charred hunk or rounded wood, a few tattered remnants of the wire strings still noticeable.

    ¡°Beauty, however fleeting, life, however potent, still must pass one day.¡±

    Emilia stood then, taking a step towards the woman.

    ¡°Are- are you-¡±

    The woman raised a finger to her lips.

    ¡°Shhh- Now now, Emilia, you know that I cannot tell you that- or what is the point of faith?¡±

    She looked down at the destroyed remnants of the Pipa in her hands, before smiling softly, a ring of painted flower petals lining the dark eyes seeming to glow for the briefest of moments, before she breathed out a single clear, sharp note into the damp air.

    Emilia watched on in awe, eyes widening as cinders and ashes lifted from the ground, gathering and binding together, attaching to the charred remnants of the instrument. Before her eyes, it seemed to rebuild itself, speck of dust by speck of dust, until it shone a polished black, covered in decorative patterns, like ebony reflecting the light of the moon, the last glows of the embers.

    The petals dimmed, and the woman extended the instrument to Emilia.

    ¡°This, however, I can give you. But, as with everything, there is a cost.¡±

    Emilia hesitated. ¡°A- a cost?¡±

    The woman nodded, turning back to the orange glow of the burning village of Q¨²a.

    ¡°You will understand the cost, Emilia, in time. Menawhile, While you live, you will spread word of my protection - of the chance for repentance and change that I offer. Can you do that, Emilia, of the Yun family?¡±

    Emilia¡¯s hands trembled as she stared at the instrument. It was all that she had left, the last scattered shred of her family. Could she really serve this woman? Who she thought this woman to be?

    She thought back to the experience in the shrine- the lights that repulsed the shambling, horrific things. The light that killed all of the undead creatures throughout the village.

    Protection. Her mother had told her of this.

    Emilia extended a pale, trembling hand, and gripped the neck of the pipa, running her fingers over the brassy strings, running a trembling finger over the familiar form- even if the color had changed, even if it wasn¡¯t painted with beautiful images of trees in summer, and ivory lining, it was familiar to her.

    ¡°I - I don¡¯t know much, but, I- I will try, Miss Catrina.¡±

    The woman smiled, a mischievous grin breaking through the sadness and sorrow that covered her face.

    ¡°Good. Play. Sing. Comfort the families of this village and bring them solace. My words will come to you from the shadows, on the whispers of the wind, and you will recognise it.¡±

    The woman drove a hand deep into the ashes in the corner and pulled from it a pristine copy of her family¡¯s history - everything that they had ever done, all the accomplishments, all the way back to the great-great-grandfather. There were even the drawings, there- the ones that her mother had dutifully placed on a simple altar once a year, on the day they remembered the dead.

    ¡°Can- can you bring them back?¡± Emilia didn¡¯t dare look at the bodies on the ground.

    ¡°Oh, my sweet child¡­¡± the woman whispered, even as the ashes seemed to swirl around her, obscuring her form ¡°some things a god cannot do, not without a mortal¡¯s hand to will it¡­¡±

    The ashes fell back to the floor of her ruined home, and Emilia was surprised to see through a ruined window that the woman was already at the stone wall that surrounded the simple stone cottage, walking with purpose into the trees- into the darkness beyond them.

    She hesitantly shouldered the pipa, feeling the sturdy canvas strap, the elegant but simple brass buckles holding everything in place. She fit it over her shoulders, and stumbled her way through the dissipating rain to her family¡¯s storehouse, grabbing a few bits of food, and stuffing them into her work-bag next to her candles.

    She stared at the ruins of her life, as the blossoms of the deihu trees bloomed around her.

    In the dark of the rain, she fell to her knees, and wept.

 Jutâ€™layi - Risk and Reward

    6 years Later

    LANGSHEN-LORD¡¯S KEEP

    It was, of course, raining, on the day that Emilia faced the Jut¡¯layi, the lord of the province of Langshen. It had taken her a full day of travel, on horseback, escorted by the lord is soldiers, through driving rains with barely any rest, to reach the city of Langshen. They had swapped mounts at a garrison at some point in the middle of the night, she had been given some simple rations and the barest amount of watered down rice-wine, and then upon arrival, she had been directed to dismount, ascend the steps to the lord¡¯s keep, and was ordered to await him here.

    So, here she was. She found herself kneeling on a cold stone floor, marble bases of wooden columns painted a vibrant and vivid red just visible at the edge of her vision. Carved archways-in the style favored currently by the nobles and samurai of Ryulong, stretched above her across the ceiling of the elegant space, and servants walked by on velvet carpets that muffled their sounds as they passed, completely disregarding the young woman prostrated before the throne of the warlord. Her knees hurt. Her back hurt. She¡¯d been kneeling like this- feet tucked underneath her, cloak and hair sopping wet, with next to no sleep or food, for five minutes now. With him just¡­ staring down at her waiting for his soldiers to take their positions in front of the scarlet columns that lined what was now his palace.

    Her legs were trembling as her feet started to go numb, and the cold from the fall rains was biting deep into her bones. Why couldn¡¯t he have summoned her earlier? When things were warmer, and the freezing rains didn¡¯t bite so hard as they surged up from the sea to the south?

    She mused, for a moment, that really hated dealing with the nobles of Yosae. In Q¨²a, she had rarely if ever had the ¡°priveledge¡±, and now, into her second year as a spirit guide, she was less than pleased with the experience. Of course, this was her first time facing a Jut¡¯layi leaders of provinces, warlords who deposed their predecessors through martial power. Before this, she¡¯d had to deal with appointed nobles, officials, tax collectors, and highborn families who wanted their land cleansed, or who wanted a restless spirit subdued.

    She, like anyone from Q¨²a, had hoped never to be in the exact position she found herself in now.

    As was required by custom when meeting the warlords, her pian¡¯dao lay on the ground beside her in it¡¯s sheathe, parallel to the lining of the carpet, her black pipa laid on the floor next to her equally parallel, shining in the light of the sconces that shone on the walls.

    She had lived under the domain of this particular lord for about five years, since he had arrived in Langshen and deposed the previous Jut¡¯layi, pronouncing himself the new ruler of the province. Surprisingly, after the initial bloodshed, things had been kept rather peaceful. Even he hadn¡¯t been able to quell the attacks though. Almost every month, some village in the valleys was attacked. Some attacks were laid by the Kursk, the she,led monsters coming in from the sea, but most¡­ in most villages, the reports stated that their own ancestors climbed from the tombs, and began to butcher all in sight.

    She was left to her thoughts for a few more moments.

    ¡°You may lift your gaze.¡±

    it took all of her self control not to wince or groan as she lifted her forehead from it¡¯s place atop her hands on the cold floor, as she straightened her back to meet the warlords gaze. In some places, such a move was unwise. However, in almost all places, it was recognized that offending one of the few people able to commune with the gods and lesser spirits was¡­ equally unwise. Even one as young and inexperienced as she was.

    ¡°You summoned me, Jut¡¯layi?¡±

    ¡°I did.¡±

    ¡°I assume that you have been having trouble with a local spirit? Or a lesser god? Some way I may be of service?¡±

    ¡°Such an assumption is natural. It is however, only somewhat correct.¡±

    Emilia hesitated. There were three kinds of magic in this world. Three realms for souls, three stages to life. Warlords only called upon those like her who relied upon Devine magic when they were dealing with problems associated to the divine. Mountain and river gods enraged or in petty squabbles, wraiths or restless dead who required subduing. Why else would she be there?

    He leaned back. Regarding her.

    ¡°Your name¡­ it comes from the west. It is not a name native to Yosae.¡±

    Emilia ducked her head again. Everywhere she went, her family name came back to bite her. Too foreign, too out of place.

    ¡°I was named for my grandmother.¡±

    ¡°Hm. Did she come from the west? From across the sea?¡±

    ¡°No- my-my great-grandfather came from the merchant nation of Avistan. My grandmother was named for his first wife. ¡°

    My scribes tell me you have been aiding in caring for the natural spirits of my lands for some time. Others tell me you are a vagabond, from a useless village in the mountains. One I confess I had not heard the name of before this very week.¡±

    ¡°My lord?¡±

    ¡°Tell me, is it true you work magic through that instrument at your side?¡±

    Emilia hesitated.

    ¡°yes, honored one.¡±

    ¡°You do not use the chants, oils, herbs, and prayer cloths which other spirit-guides favor?¡±

    Emilia lowered her head.

    ¡°I-I do not know how to, Jut¡¯layi. The goddess I serve has instructed me in other ways.¡±

    ¡°so you serve only one god? How unusual. Do you still offer prayers to the river-gods, the gods of forests, stones, and other such beings?¡±

    Emilia frowned. ¡°I venerate them as is customary. Many local gods are appeased by offerings, my lord.¡±

    ¡°And yet you serve yours directly. Few gods are worthy of priests or priestesses, Spirit-guide. The high-gods in their temples, and yet you serve yours, according to my scribes, with a fervent dedication.¡±

    Emilia was at a loss for words. Everyone in Q¨²a grew up knowing the importance of La-Catrina. Her halls were a way station on the road to judgement, a place where the remembered could stay, eat, drink, and celebrate life. She¡­ protected them. Until they were ready.

    she supposed her little town was stranger than she had assumed. La-Catrina wanted to help all, wanted all families to remember their departed, but she had met other smaller gods. Gods of mountains, gods of forests. Smaller spirits who called themselves the god of a specific tree, stream, grove, or valley. Was that more normal?¡±

    Her anxiety only rose as the Jut¡¯layi stood, rising from his wooden chair, and taking a single step down out of six from his dais, the golden embroidery on his silk robe shimmering in the magical light of the enchanted alabaster sconces that longed the room.

    ¡°Enough discussion on that topic, woman. I seek to know one thing: are your proclamations and admissions true, Emilia-Yun? Are the rumors that have reached my lands from my soldiers correct, that you have been summoning the spirits of the dead to commune with their living relatives?¡±

    Emilia froze. That wasn¡¯t illegal, was it? Sure, raising the bodies was forbidden across nearly all of Tian¡¯Xia, but there were no laws against letting a mother comfort her orphaned son were there? La-Catrina offered many blessings, and had very few requirements of those who made offerings to her. It was customary to offer prayers to the dead, was it so rare for them to answer? She knew that the darkest of arts- the animating of the corpses of the dead, was punishable by death, usually in a truly horrifying spectacle carried out by the Willshapers, but communing with the dead, that was an entirely different issue, wasn¡¯t it?

    She paused.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    ¡°My goddess allows me to connect the living to their ancestors for a brief moment, so long as the dead are provided with offerings to sustain them in the halls of the remembered.¡±

    The warlord took another step down. Emilia¡¯s heart began racing.

    ¡°And how long do these¡­ shades of the dead, remain here within the realm of the living, spirit-guide?¡±

    Emilia hesitated. There wasn¡¯t any point in lying, she still wasn¡¯t very good at that particular skill. Despite the countless times she heard the whispered voice of La-Catrina reminding her it could be a shield.

    ¡°Usually,¡± she hesitated, forcing herself not to cower or shrink back from the imposing presence of the Jut¡¯layi. ¡°They remain for only moments. Enough for a question or two, or a brief embrace if recently departed. The light of my godddess only allows them a brief window to speak, and I can only keep that window open as long as I can keep the music playing.¡±

    True. Mostly.

    The warlord paused, the jade ornaments adorning his boots and headpiece shifting slightly, the stones clinking against each other as he stopped before taking another step down from the dais, one hand still resting on the ceremonial sword he bore at his waist.

    ¡°A god of the dead? Aside from Xip¡¯oli? You lie. None can speak to the dead. Many spirit guides before you have tried, and their twisted machinations have left Wraiths scattered across the ruins of cities and towns far greater than your petty farming village, wrested from their peace in the eternal heavens, unable to find solace again. All others who try or promise this are met only with disappointment.¡±

    Emilia didn¡¯t know what to say.

    ¡°I swear, honored one, I speak no falsehood. The goddess I serve is kind, and gentle, she seeks only to protect the dead, that they may rest, and improve for a time. Seeing their descendants¡­ it brings them great peace.¡±

    The Jut¡¯layi proceeded down the remaining four steps, regal as the light caught the Lord¡¯s knot his black hair was kept in, and Emilia forced herself to maintain eye contact with him throughout his stately approach to her kneeling position.

    When he crouched in front of her, weight still on the balls of his feet, it took every ounce of will she had not to cower in fear. He would take that as a sign of her being caught in a lie. He would take that as weakness. She kept her chin down, even as her eyes followed his. If she raised her head further her sincerity would come across as defiance, and she would find that ceremonial blade buried in her chest before she could sing a single note, before she could summon a desperate shred of light to protect her.

    The warlord spoke quietly, barely louder than a whisper. Quiet enough that she knew the many armored guards, resplendent in their emerald green lacquered scale armor wouldn¡¯t be able to hear.

    ¡°You will prove to me that you do not lie. And then¡­ I may have need of you, if what you say is indeed true.¡±

    ¡°A test?¡± She asked, forcing herself to swallow.

    ¡°A test, and a service. You will prove to me first that you are what you say you are. Inheritor of a family god. A spirit-guide, and not a Will-shaper pretending to be one. You will then prove to me you have no connection to the attacks of the dead upon my domain. Lastly¡­¡± he tipped her chin up, and she could hear her pulse in her ears, could feel her heartbeat in her throat. ¡°You will prove to me that you can indeed call back the fallen, to speak one last time.¡±

    Emilia nodded, as much as she could with the warlord¡¯s hand forcing her gaze to meet his .

    The warlord stood then, facing the guards, as well as the two scribes that waited in the corner, their bamboo pens poised to record whatever the Warlord said next, the smoky lenses of their spectacles ground to reflect the light from the great hall.

    ¡°Hear my words, all of Langshen.¡± Emilia wanted to roll her eyes. There were a total of seven people in the room. ¡°She speaks with conviction, and according to the accounts of the last three towns this Spirit-talker has passed through, she has not yet broken our law, and forced the body of a departed or crawl up from it¡¯s grave. As such, she will be given a chance to prove herself to me, and to our city. Emilia-Yun and her family¡¯s god will be given three tests. If she passes, she shall henceforth bear my personal seal, and trust. She will be given freedom to go where she wishes, to travel as she wishes, to accomplish these tests, and my seal will be placed upon her.¡±

    An honor-a dangerous one. While she bore his seal, her words would be treated as his, and her demands as his. However, if anything she did while she possessed it reflected poorly upon him¡­ she blocked out the images of the last execution she had seen. A local Jiak- a rank capable of owning land and with authority to enforce their own laws, had given someone a similar priveledge. And been displeased. A honeyed trap.

    ¡°These tests will begin on the morrow, as the sun rises. I have spoken.¡±

    He turned, and moved back to ascend the steps up to his seat.

    Emilia bowed her as relief flooded her, forcing out one question.

    ¡°And if I fail, my lord?¡±

    The warlord paused at the foot of the steps to his Dais, turning back to look at her. The emerald green of his eyes caught the light of the lanterns, illuminating then flickering spark of golden ki beyond.

    ¡°If you fail, Spirit-Guide, then I shall execute you myself.¡±

    He held up a book of bound bamboo sheets, covered in writing.

    ¡°And I will ensure that there are none alive to remember you. Or your goddess.¡±

    Emilia could do nothing but nod.

    She was led to the servant¡¯s quarters of the castle by a young maid in a blue over-shirt, folded and layered much like Emilia¡¯s own, who led the girl deftly through the mess of steam, laughter, chaos, laundry, and everything else as they traversed the servants corridors behind the main guest spaces.

    The space was full of energy, and Emilia caught many young women staring up at her with wide eyes.

    she leaned to the servant girl who had been assigned as her lady-in waiting during her trials.

    ¡°Why are they staring at me?¡± Emilia asked.

    The girl glanced at her, annoyed.

    ¡°You touch the divine. How many people have you met capable of speaking with the spirits?¡±

    Emilia hesitated. Now that she considered it¡­ the only example she could think of was a stuffy man in layers upon layers of robes, who had offered to cleanse the fields of Q¨²a of foul spirits at the cost of nearly a third of their harvest. They¡¯d driven him off without a second thought, and had just made sure to place more offerings of wine, bread, and favored foods at the graves of their relatives, and within the shrine of their goddess.

    ¡°no?¡± She offered hesitantly.

    ¡°Well there you go. They¡¯re meeting one, and one who is a peasant like the rest of us.¡±

    ¡°what do you mean?¡±

    ¡°What, your villaige has a local lord right? Even if they¡¯re a list Ronin from Ryulong, someone always takes charge.¡±

    Emilia hesitated, pressing herself flat against a wall, piandao clitched in her hand as she tried to get out of the way of a hulking woman with what appeared to be freshly washed bedding.

    ¡°Well, Gen-Hua runs the brewery with his son, Chu-Hua, so they¡¯re pretty respected. Theas-Loa trains the boys to fight, after the restless came through six years ago and killed half the village, and everyone listens to Nana Loa, just because she¡¯s the oldest.¡±

    The girl actually paused to regard her. Her expression soured.

    ¡°You¡¯re lucky then. The court of Langshen, and the greater court of Yosae have their fingers in every other town across this spirits-damned countryside. All other spirit guides-¡° Emilia ducked as a broom nearly slammed into her face. ¡°Are highborn. Nobles who took their third or fourth sons and daughters, the ones they don¡¯t need to run wars, inherit the estate, or marry off to other greedy nobles, to whatever temple they could afford, and had them learn to be spirit-guides. Most are useless. Those that actually connect to the divine¡­¡± she shrugged. ¡°Immediately snapped up by people like our Jut¡¯layi and sworn into loyalty. They never leave the big cities after that, keep those areas nice and well fed for the noble¡¯s feasting.¡±

    It would have been nearly impossible to miss the bitterness dripping from the girl¡¯s voice.

    Emilia did not miss it. It also did not surprise her.

    ¡°The nobles seem weirdly fond of making people kneel.¡± Emilia offered, hoping to connect to the girl somehow.

    The girl scoffed.

    ¡°They live showing everyone how much better they are based off of who will bend the lowest.¡±

    ¡°There are different kinds of bows?¡±

    The servant girl waved her hand dismissively. ¡°Not for us commoners. Although, if his lordship Hyunjae-Langshen decides you are what you say you are, I suppose you won¡¯t have to bow as low as we do ever again.¡±

    Emilia blinked rapidly as they walked at a brisk pace through clean hallways, paper windows letting in dimmed light from outside as the rain continued to fall, giving a gentle sound to everything as they moved through the castle of Langshen.

    she glanced down at the other woman¡¯s feet. She took insanely dainty steps , her feet moving so quickly in mostly-tight servants dress that she seemed to glide forward. Emilia opted that almost all of the women of Langshen seemed to walk this way, and considered it foolish. If one of the restless fell upon them while working, they wouldn¡¯t be able to run, or fight. Her own red dress seemed to be of an entirely different style too, compared to the city. Women here wore so many extra layers- not like the relatively simple garments she wore while traveling.

    ¡°This will be your room, while the Jut¡¯layi deems you worthy of his attention and observation. Is there any assistance you need?¡±

    The room was sparse, with only a window that led - not to the exterior, but to an inner layer of the castle to preserve warmth while allowing some light from the enchanted sconces that lined the hallways.

    it was roughly the size of the main room of her famlily¡¯s cottage in Q¨²a.

    ¡°I- thank you. What do I call you?¡±

    The girl hesitated. ¡°I am Nai-Bo. And I am nobody.¡±

    The servant backed out of the room, leaving Emilia to her thoughts.

    she thought of taking the mat and blankets off off her pack and lying down, but she knew she needed to do one thing first.

    she set her traveling bag on the ground, unslinging it from her shoulder, setting her mother¡¯s pipa in the corner as she pulled a few prized possessions from the pack.

    Three pictures.

    Her mother, Jia-Yun.

    Her father, Julio-Yun.

    Lastly, a small drawing. Painted by her mother, a corner singed, a reminder of what had happened.

    A smiling baby, dressed in tiny men¡¯s clothes.

    Doongmin-Yun.

    She pulled three candles from her bag with practice, setting one before each of the images, as she knelt in respect, pulling a leather cord from around her neck. These bore names. Most were written in the decorative script of Yosae. One was written in the strange glyphs of Ryulong. Her mother¡¯s father.

    Two were written in that strange Avistani language, written from right to left, flowing, and fluid, the names seemed to flow like water across the carved tablets.

    She whistled a single clear note, bringing a tiny little golden flame to her fingers, and she carefully lit each of the candles, waiting untill they burned evenly, illuminating the pictures and the tablets draped across them.

    She knelt, setting her hands in her lap, and sighed.

    ¡°Well¡­ I suppose I should tell you all about my day.¡±

 Departure

    Nai-Bo walked briskly though the hallways behind the many rooms, passing through two of the seven kitchens, disregarding the Willshaper driving the flames that heated the water for the pipes, the steam-baths, the ovens and furnaces of the palace of Langshen. She had places to be, and she needed to be there quickly.

    Everyone was preparing for the beginning of the day. Morning meals- for nobles, officials, and servants alike, being laid out, while cleaning staff furiously ensured any place lord Hyunjae wa slikely to traverse was pure of imperfection. Already, the warlord was in the training halls, and Nai knew from experience he would remain therefor at least the next two hours, training, grinding through training dummy after training dummy, before his phoenix guard took their positions, and did their best to challenge him.

    The training served multiple purposes. The Jut¡¯layi got a workout. His elite guard received the most brutal training imaginable, while being forced to understand they had no hope of taking his place. All others in the palace were cowed into subservience, intimately aware of the fact that to him, they could pose no threat whatsoever. His orders were to be obeyed- and she had every intention of doing so.

    The last star still hung stubbornly in the sky when she glanced out the window at the stubbornly bright speck. Nai approached the end of the servants quarters, pausing at a narrow window to take in the bright shard of light shining in the pre-Dawn glow. She imagined that the girl didn¡¯t even notice the insult the warlord had given her by assigning her here- didn¡¯t even have the dignity to be humiliated by the fact that she- one of the spirit-guides - had not been assigned one of the many lavish rooms, with luxurious beds, silk bedsheets imported from Xo¡¯Han, and opal ornaments with which to accommodate one¡¯s self. The girl had stared wide eyed, as if even the servants¡¯s hallways, and the single unfurnished room lacking even a mirror with which to ensure one¡¯s hair properly communicated the appropriate role and social status, were luxurious.

    She paused, before opening the door to leave the slim servant¡¯s hallway. It didn¡¯t matter, really. Her job was to watch the girl. To report back to the honored Jut¡¯layi and ensure that this woman was a spirit guide. Spirits didn¡¯t always follow the rules of mortals. This backwater, muddy girl from the foot of the mountains may well have been chosen as one of their voices. She would have to keep that in mind, regardless of the girl¡¯s blatant lack of decorum.

    Nai straightened her back, shook herself into proper form, and exited the servant¡¯s passway.

    To hear¡­ music.

    A cascade of quick notes, leaning into and supporting each other, bright, and¡­ cheery?

    She hesitated, stepping closer to the door in the middle of this hallway. Yes- it was music. She could see through the paper that lined the girl¡¯s room that lights flickered inside the space, as the melody danced and swirled around itself. The maidservant paused. She¡¯d never heard this melody before- or anything quite like it. She coughed, and rapped on the frame of the doorway.

    The music slowed to a stop.

    ¡°Yes?¡±

    Nai forced herself to maintain her bearing, as she tried to push down memories that she had trained many years to forget.

    ¡°The dawn is approaching- I have come to apply Lord Langshen¡¯s seal, and to present your first test.¡±

    She heard some light rustling from inside the room, before the door opened. The girl stood in the doorway, glancing behind her. Nai noted that a simple woven mat had been laid in the floor, covered in an equally simple cloth of woven resin and white patterns. What she found most appalling was the girl¡¯s hair. For one, it was not the proper sleek, straight locks of all women of Yosae. It curled in on itself at the tips, and along the length, possessing a volume that screamed foreign blood to the servant. To make things worse, the girl did not bear the traditional flared disk styling of the spirit guides. She had pulled her hair up behind her head, tied it off, and pinned it in place with nothing but two brass needles.

    It was, quite frankly, scandalous in the extreme.

    ¡°Is it alright if I leave my bedroll here? I assume I will be using this room again tonight?¡±

    ¡°Yes. This space is to be yours while you attempt the three trials presented by Lord Langshen.¡±

    Nai was thus far not impressed with the girl. Her mother had clearly failed her in educating the young woman in the ways of society.

    ¡°Excelent.¡± The woman turned, lifting her black liuqin and slinging the stringed instrument over her shoulder with a practiced ease, that left it easily accessible. Then, with a faint puff of light, Nai watched as the wavy curls and voluminous undulations of the girl¡¯s hair relaxed, straightening to match the texture of all the women of Yosae. ¡°What is the nature of this first test?¡±

    Nai glanced down at the girl¡¯s clothes as she stepped closer, producing a wax plate and a round seal of carved stone. Her clothes were decent enough-they would do. The dress was clean, the clothes were clearly chosen for ease of travel. That, at least, would be a boon on their journey. Nai pressed the seal to the shoulder of the village girl¡¯s overshirt, focusing on the seal, willing it to heat.

    Emilia¡¯s eyes widened as the front of the stone began to steam, Nai pressing the stamp to the ax disk and pressing the seal into the clothing. Emilia winced.

    ¡°You will need to have this visible through the course of your trials, Emilia-Yun. Am I understood?¡±

    ¡±Yes miss Bo.¡±

    ¡°Very well¡­ follow me. We¡¯ll talk on the way. Can you ride?¡±

    ¡°Horses?¡±

    ¡°Yes.¡±

    ¡°I can when needed.¡±

    ¡°Good.¡±

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª

    All signs of the yesterday¡¯s storm had passed, as Emilia sat on the simple round saddle, loosely gripping the reigns as she followed Nai on the road that led out from Langshen to the north. She glanced down occasionally at the intricate pattern now marked onto her shoulders. The leaves here were already changing color, adopting the bright yellows and oranges of the season, and Emilia was fairly certain that the Ha¨¹e flowers would be blooming soon, pushing their amber heads up just in time for the first snows.Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    She was grateful it was warm today- Yosae was not a small country, and she wasn¡¯t sure exactly how far they needed to go.

    ¡°What can you tell me about this spirit the Jut¡¯layi wants me to subdue?¡±

    Nai glanced over at the younger woman, pursing her lips for a moment, her shoulder-length hair bobbing as their horses moved forward.

    ¡°It is a forest spirit. This much we know. According to the soldiers sent to investigate, it has been angered in some way. Livestock has been going missing, and any who go into the forest to collect takwal or firewood are found dead the next day.¡±

    Emilia hesitated.

    ¡°How do they die?¡±

    ¡°How should I know? I haven¡¯t been there, and the soldiers failed to present that detail in their reports.¡±

    ¡°Do you have their reports?¡±

    Nai reached into her dark blue overshirt, pulling a slat of thin pressed bamboo from a pocket within. She tossed it casually to Emilia, who barely managed to catch it and pin it to her chest.

    Emilia lifted the palm sized piece of bamboo, and started skimming what was clearly a compiled summary made by a scribe from multiple sources.

    Nai smiled, glancing back.

    Good-she can at least read official¡¯s script. That is going to be important. Impressive, really, considering her upbringing.

    Emilia, for her part, frowned. The report had frustratingly few details. Rough dates when things started to go wrong. The names of the missing people, a summary on the location.

    it was the last part that worried Emilia. There were many places in the world where magic ran rampant- usually with disastrous effects. The most common of these were marked by holy sites, standing stones, or flourishing life even in the winter months when almost no water came in from the sea to the south. Almost always, such sites of wild, untamed magic were found in forests, beautiful canyons, or other such places.

    there was always a downside to such wild magic though. The monsters. Normal creatures warped, twisted, and usually maddened, that made traveling anywhere precarious. She could see, from the hastily sketched map scrawled in the back of the slat, that the village of Li¨²ng, their destination, sat at the edge of one of the more infamous regions of Yosae.

    ¡°The warlord wants me to solve a problem in the spirit-wood?¡± Emilia turned to Nai. ¡°I¡¯ve heard rumors about the place, most towns within the wood only exist due to bargains with the spirits!¡±

    Nai shrugged. ¡°Your meddling with the dead has Lord Langshen on edge. If you are to be worth keeping around, then the risk must promise greater reward.¡±

    Emilia licked her lips nervously. ¡°I don¡¯t know much about the spirit wood- it¡¯s a home to wild magic, strong spirits, many little gods, but¡­ that¡¯s all I know. How will I recognize the spirit we need to calm?¡±

    Nai thought for a moment, the only sound on their stretch of dusty road being the jingle of their mounts harnesses and saddles, the clanking of the few cooking supplies they had brought with them, and the rustle of wind through the autumn leaves.

    Finally, Nai responded.

    ¡°The spirit-wood, or, well, the towns built in it¡¯s periphery, source almost all lumber used for the War chariots of Langshen. That lumber is sold to the shipyards of Goka and Chikra. This town is one place where it is harvested. Are you aware of why the gods of the spirit-wood allow these towns to take from their boughs?¡±

    ¡±The elders of the villaige of Xi¡¯lo told me that many local gods require some kind of deal to exist peacefully. Offerings, or services, in exchange for that spirit¡¯s help or protection. I imagine that these villages have deals with the local gods and spirits?¡±

    ¡±Correct, Miss Yun. Lord Langshen needs Li¨²ng to resume production. Which means, that they must be able to enter the forest to fell trees, for his chariots, and harvest Takwal, for his soldier¡¯s spear-shafts. Your job is to discern the exact cause of their threat, and neutralize it.¡±

    ¡°If the guardian spirit of the town is enraged, and I destroy it, the town will be left defenseless won¡¯t it?¡±

    Nai regarded her for a moment. ¡°That will be their issue, should it come to that. Their task to bargain with a new god. However, you should not assume it is the guardian spirit who has turned against Li¨²ng. They may have done something to disrespect a local god, or perhaps angered a rival spirit to their guardian. Happens often.¡±

    Emilia nodded. She thought for some time in silence, reading the reports again.

    Seven people missing so far. Five confirmed dead. She grimaced. She¡¯d never had to deal with such a murderous spirit herself. She sighed, handing the report back to Nai, who returned it to the pocket inside her shirt.

    Emilia then slung her Liuqin off of her back, checking the tuning of her instrument. Nai¡¯s nose twitched, but Emilia shrugged it off. Her first string was too loose. She carefully adjusted the carved bone pin to tune the errant string, plucking a few more times until the note was correct.

    She hummed to herself as she began to pluck out a simple tune. Shang-Meiru had taught her this one. A walking song, he¡¯d said.

    She closed her eyes, and propped her left leg up in the saddle. Her horse was dutifully following Nai¡¯s anyway. Emilia didn¡¯t think she¡¯d need to guide the mount for a while.

    ¡°Why do you play that?¡± Nai eventually asked.

    Emilia turned.

    ¡°Sorry?¡± She kept the tune going.

    ¡°It is unbecoming for a spirit-guide to play as¡­. As any wandering minstrel would!¡±

    Emilia smiled- a small, sly smile.

    ¡°You do not favor wandering minstrels then?¡±

    Nai scowled, back stiff as a board, fists clutching the reigns.¡±of course not- they are vagabonds, wandering and begging from town to town, like leeches in a river taking the work of society.¡±

    ¡°Shame.¡± Emilia hummed. What tune might please or attract a forest spirit? She¡¯d need to draw and talk to at least one once they arrived to get more information.

    ¡°I beg your pardon? Shame?¡±

    ¡°Yes- it¡¯s a shame you don¡¯t like music.¡±

    ¡°I enjoy music in it¡¯s proper place. As entertainment while dining.¡±

    ¡°You never danced?¡±

    Emilia watched the maidservant¡¯s hackles raise as she turned to look back.

    ¡°No. The dances of the nobles are for them to enjoy.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t mean noble¡¯s dances. Those are stuffy, stiff, and lifeless as the frozen hells.¡±

    Nai spluttered.

    ¡°I mean a real dance!¡± Emilia grinned, driving life into her instrument the same way she did at the festivals, using her pick to strike the wood of the Liuqin on an even beat she had skipped her feet to many times.

    Nai¡¯s eyes widened as spectral leaves began to swirl around the young woman, ghostly afterimages peeling off of branches to spin and twirl, leaping up and diving down, while the spirit-guide simply rested one foot across her saddle. Emilia watched the dancing leaves with unmasked glee, breaking into a laugh as her plucking built in strength, driving the leaves to a swirling crescendo. Emilia continued smiling and swaying with the tune as more and more ghostly leaves gathered, before she ended the melody with a single, clear note that echoed off of the trees, the echoes of leaves around her fading to amber daylight as the girl raised a hand to Nai, as if that display explained everything.

    ¡°Dancing!¡±

    Nai turned her gaze back to the road.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t danced like that in a long time, Miss Yun.¡±

    Emilia¡¯s forehead creased with worry.

    ¡°Why not?¡±

    ¡°It is a long way to Li¨²ng. We should hurry.¡±

    The servant girl snapped her reigns, driving her horse into a gallop across the dusty road, and Emilia squeaked as she tried to get her limbs in order, slinging her Liuqin around her back, kicking her heels to drive her horse to follow as she set her feet in the stirrups.

    Nai glanced back. While she projected disgust at the unmasked emotion, the sincerity of the girl¡¯s love of music, she knew that in reality she was jealous of the village girl. Jealous of a life where an honest laugh and a sincere smile would not be used against you in the warlord¡¯s court. She wished such things were more common, but knew she would have to educate the girl, or the wolves of Langshen would eat her alive.

    Socially, at least.

    And, as Emilia¡¯s current maidservant, if Lord Hyungjae deigned to accept the spirit guide into his court, then she would have her reputation colored by this girl¡¯s actions. This temporary assignment would become somethung far more lasting.

    She glanced back, and winced in pain.

    The Yun girl rode her horse as a man would. Had she learned to ride from soldiers?

    She lamented- for the hundredth time, that she had been assigned to perhaps the least refined spirit-guide to have ever graced the halls of Langshen.

    It had only been a day.

    She sighed.

    She glanced back.

    Just focus on the road, get to Li¨²ng- I can do that much.

    She drive her horse forward.

 Safehouse

    The pair slowed as night fell. Nai practically launched herself up out of the saddle and landed lightly on her toes as they began to leave the road, crossing a field of wild grass towards a small copse of trees a small way off. She took the reins of her mount, brushing her short black hair away from her face as she slowed. Emilia glanced up at the moon, as it began to rise. Half-full. She glanced back towards Nai, noting that the dark blue over clothes the woman wore blended into the night almost perfectly. She really didn¡¯t think that she¡¯d be able to pick out the woman from the shadows if she weren¡¯t moving.

    ¡°We¡¯re stopping here for the night?¡± Emilia asked.

    Nai nodded.

    ¡°There¡¯s a way station maintained by Langshen within the grove to allow officials to travel the roads more safely.¡±

    Emilia managed to get off of her horse with considerably more difficulty, grumbling as she adjusted her skirt, and made sure her sword was properly seated in its place at her left hip. She pulled her cloak off of her saddlebags, wrapping it around her to ward against the chill as she patted her horse¡¯s flank. She grabbed the reigns, turning to follow Nai and frowned as she looked into the trees. She couldn¡¯t see any sign of a safe house. Or, any house, really. Not even a fire pit. Just¡­ grass. Plants. A boulder or two left behind by some geological process she didn¡¯t understand.

    ¡°What safe house?¡± She asked. ¡°This is just¡­trees?¡±

    Nai smiled, her grin dimly illuminated in the shifting light, and stopped next to a large boulder a tree had grown up against.

    ¡°There are many places like this scattered across Yosae for the nobles, and their officials. This is one such location. Three will-shapers over the course of three days wove special enchantments to ward it from¡­ wandering eyes.They are destroyed and reset every time the great seat of Langshen changes hands, so only those Hyungjae-Langshen has trusted with their location know of these safe houses. I doubt even a spirit-guide such as yourself would be able to find it without knowledge from someone like me.¡±

    Nai pulled a small gemstone from her pocket, and seemed to tap it against the air in front of her. Emilia would have thought that the maid-servant was tricking her, or testing her na?vet¨¦, were it not for the ripple she could see through the air a moment later.

    Nai pocketed the gem.

    ¡°Trust me Miss Yun, no one knows about these safe houses but the Jut¡¯layi and his officials. We will find no better place to rest between here and Liy¨²ng.¡±

    Nai stepped forward, and the air ripped for a moment, before she simply disappeared, the horse entering the space right behind her.

    Emilia gritted her teeth, and pulled her horse along to follow the woman in dark clothing.

    She shuddered, as she crossed the border, a sensation like water rippling over her skin unnerving her as she took a step forward in the dark. The sillouhette of her assigned maidservant came back into view, and Emilia blinked as she caught sight of a simple cabin, nestled in a clearing between the trees.

    Emilia also noticed the dark shape crumpled in the entrance to the cabin a moment later she saw the gouges in the doorframe, the deep rents in the soil from something large moving very fast.

    She drew her piandao with a sharp breath, the hiss of steel catching Nai¡¯s attention, as the woman had been facing away, towards the hitching post at the rear of the cabin. Nai followed the direction of Emilia¡¯s guard and her gaze landed on the dead body.

    ¡°Shit.¡± Nai hissed, reaching into her sleeves and pulling out two silvered daggers from inside her stiff sleeves.

    Emilia stepped up next to her, dropping the tip of her blade slightly as she kept her eyes locked on the tree line.

    ¡°It seems that your secret safe house is neither as secret, nor as safe, as you would have wanted.¡± She muttered.

    Nai grimaced.

    Emilia took a soft step forward, the toe of her boot pressing lightly into the ground as she began to walk towards the cabin. Nai seemed to dance around the girl, steps as dainty and deft as ever, protecting Emilia!s back as the girl approached the body. Emilia made a note to herself to ask her ¡®maidservant¡¯ about that later.

    Emilia paused above the body, and sang out a single warbling note, the starlight and fading sun gathering for a moment in front of her like rivers of light, before drifting forward above the body.

    Nai side-eyed the light, watching as Emilia knelt down, her free hand tipping the body to the side.

    ¡°By the gods¡­¡± Emilia whispered.

    ¡°What? What is is?¡± Nai asked through clenched teeth, bouncing slightly on the balls of her feet, head snapping to watch the grove around them as much as she could.

    Emilia swallowed. The man looked like he had been a tax collector from Langshen, judging by the clothes and the brass buttons on the collar. With her light floating gently in the doorway, Emilia could see that there had been one other person traveling with him, as the body of a second man was folded over the bed at the far end of the single room with a gaping hole in his chest, splintered ribs catching the summoned light. Emilia forced herself to look down at the man on the ground. His torso was shredded, deep gouges carved into his neck and shoulders.

    The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

    His head, conspicuously, was missing.

    Emilia pressed her hand to her mouth to force down any sounds of disgust. She looked for other clues. He had fallen onto his side. Firewood toppled out of his arms. The blood was dried, and the body had only just started to stink.

    ¡°The body has been here for about a day, I think, given the chilly weather and general lack of insects. He-his head was bitten off, It seems.¡±

    ¡°Bitten?¡± Nai asked without looking down, ¡°Not cut?¡±

    Emilia leaned closer, using the tip of her sword to move the cloth aside. The gashes were ragged. Messy. Deep, but only into the flesh. They were too messy to be sword cuts.

    ¡°Something with claws did this. He died quickly, it caught him by surprise when he had the door open.¡± Emilia whispered. ¡°Whatever killed this man then rushed in and killed the second.¡±

    Nai nodded curtly.

    ¡°Watch the trees.¡±

    Emilia turned to look out into the dark, the light drifting as it sensed her desires to float away from the cabin into the trees, bobbing erratically through the dark. She gripped her sword tighter, and gritted her teeth. She heard the occasional sound from inside the cabin, as Nai moved things. Each creak, groan, or footstep setting her further on edge. A moment later, the short-haired woman stood at Emilia¡¯s side. Eyes locked onto the tree line. Even though she had fought some monsters before, on her travels, this was still more than she felt she was ready for.

    ¡°I found footprints in the blood.¡±

    ¡°And?¡±

    ¡°Demon.¡±

    Emilia felt the blood leave her face.

    ¡°You¡¯re sure?¡±

    Nai nodded slowly. ¡°The monster¡¯s prints disappear in a mess farther in. It looks a lot like a spirit doscorpirating- so demon.¡±

    Emilia took a deep breath. ¡°Could you tell what it¡¯s beast form looked like?¡±

    Nai shook her head. ¡°No.¡±

    Emilia was silent for a while.

    ¡°I have a way to find out, but you¡¯re going to have to be ok with me trying something¡­unorthodox.¡±

    Nai said nothing, which Emilia took as acceptance.

    ¡°If this is a demon¡­¡± she hesitated, ¡°my magic is going to draw it¡¯s attention. Even if it was leaving, it will be coming here soon, we¡¯ll need to be ready.¡±

    ¡°Understood, spirit-guide.¡±

    Emilia ran back inside the cabin to the body on the bed, frantically bringing her liuquin from it¡¯s place on her back into her hands, grabbing her bone pick and beginning to play, a prayer on her lips.

    Lady Catrina, guide his soul to me, that we may speak.

    It felt like reaching into a barrel with her eyes closed, as she began to play, began to fill the music with life, feeling her spirit reaching out for the thread that had once been tethered to this body before her.

    Usually, when she tried something like this, she had connections. The person¡¯s family, things they loved in life, their favorite foods as offerings. Here she had nothing. Not even a name. Each moment she pushed her spirit through the Liuqin to reach along the dark paths that led past the realm of the remembered. Those dark roads her soul recoiled at, where she found most deceased outside of Q¨²a.

    she felt pressure, at the edge of her soul, and she reached out to it, spinning that thread into her music the way a seamstress spun thread for weaving.

    Ghostly amber light began to shine faintly from the instrument as Emilia played, shifting into the traditional songs from Langshen. Emilia felt the energy sing in her blood, felt the light bloom from the strings before she saw it, and the golden light swirled inside the cabin. In the fog of light, Emilia saw a figure, a man. She closed her eyes, focusing on that thread, that distant scrap of memory, offering her vitality - the only thing she had to give this spirit now, and the shadowy figure stepped forward, emerging clearly into the space.

    Exhaustion would not be far off. Emilia had little time. Even just to talk to this one spirit.

    The man before her was indeed the same as the man on the bed, down to the gaping hole in his chest. He looked tired, confused, and disoriented.

    ¡°Where am I?¡± His voice seemed far away, as if shouted from between trees.

    ¡°The cabin where you died.¡± Emilia replied as calmly as she could, straining through the effort and her divided attention. ¡°I apologize for interrupting your journey.¡±

    ¡°What do you -oh spirits of heaven!¡± Thr ghostly man covered his face as he fell to his knees. ¡°I remember! It moved so fast, leaping from the darkness-it-it ATE him! Then it rushed for me and-¡°

    Emilia let a sharp note in the melody reach out and pull the spirit¡¯s attention back to her.

    ¡°I know. What is your name?¡±

    ¡°Lan-Guan.¡±

    His shape solidified, his gaze cleared, and he seemed to actually be able to see her now.

    ¡°Lan-Guan, I offer you a deal, a bargain.¡±

    ¡°What could I want? I am already dead. It¡¯s over for me.¡±

    ¡°What came for you will come for us soon. If you tell us exactly what you saw, exactly how you died, and quickly, I can offer you a chance to redeem yourself, an extension on your probation before you must continue your path to the halls of the judges. My mistress will allow remain in her halls as long as a mortal remembers you in the land of the living, and you will have a chance to improve the balance of your scales, before you are judged for the heavens.¡±

    ¡°A chance to improve?¡±

    Emilia nodded.

    ¡°I accept.¡±

    Emilia gasped as a rush of energy left her, true exhaustion of the soul settling in and nearly causing her to falter.

    ¡°Be quick, I can¡¯t hold you here long.¡±

    ¡°We were returning from Li¨²ng, bearing the collections from the six villages out in that direction. We stopped for the night, joking about how we were able to force Li¨²ng to pay, even with their troubles.¡±

    ¡°Troubles?¡±

    The ghost of Lan-Guan waved a hand dismissively. He appeared more tired, as Emilia¡¯s energy ran thin. ¡°A spirit gone mad. It didn¡¯t matter to us, we had a job to do.¡±

    Emilia missed a note, a sharp twang biting against the melody, and the light faded slightly. Emilia gasped.

    ¡°When the creature came, what did it look like?¡±

    The ghost of the tax collector grew somber.

    ¡°I saw a man in a dark robe. He looked behind him when I called out. Then the THING charged from the trees. Legs like a wolf, with a deer¡¯s head, but twisted and broken. It ate Yuti¡¯s head in the blink of an eye. Then in two strides it was upon me, hand in my chest.¡±

    The ghost shuddered, fading faster.

    ¡°The last thing my mortal eyes saw was the creature stuffing my heart into its mouth as it cackled with glee.¡±

    Emilia collapsed, the light in the room fading almost immediatly, swear beading in her face as she panted, heart pounding as she heard the blood rushing in her ears. She collapsed, nearly falling against the cold, dead body bent over the bed before her.

    Nai stared at her.

    ¡°What was that?¡± Nai asked. ¡°I saw the light- it looked like a man, almost.¡±

    Emilia gestured to the dead body on the bed.

    ¡°Lan-Guan. Tax collector.¡±

    She forced herself to suck in a full breath as she leaned against the bedpost. Wincing as pain flared in her head as she tried to sit up. Nai backed into the room, eyes still trained on the forest, on the spectral light that danced in the trees.

    ¡°You spoke to him? I could hear your questions. I couldn¡¯t hear the spirit though.¡±

    ¡°He saw the creature before it killed him.¡±

    ¡°And?¡±

    ¡°Elk¡¯s head, twisted wolf-like body.¡± Emilia sat up fully, picking up her sword from its discarded location on the floor.

    When Emilia met Nai¡¯s eyes, she knew that what little hope of safety that night the servant might have held onto was gone.

    Nai cracked her neck and Emilia noticed the tending of the muscles in the woman¡¯s jaw.

    ¡°Shit.¡±

 Arrow for a Demon

    ¡°We make for Li¨²ng.¡± Nai declared.

    Emilia scrambled to her feet.

    ¡°I thought you said we were four hours away from the village? The demon is still out there, there¡¯s no guarantee it¡¯s not between us and the town right now.¡±

    Nai was already launching herself up into the saddle, back straight as she regarded the girl.

    ¡°How fast can you run on foot?¡±

    Emilia hesitated. ¡°Not as fast as a horse can-¡°

    ¡°This demon can directly affect the physical world. That means it was a powerful spirit before it went mad. If we want to have any hope of outrunning it, then we¡¯d better run into it on horseback.¡±

    Emilia bit her lip, but was already moving to mount her horse again, the animal complaining as she settled awkwardly on the saddle, pulling the reigns to line up behind Nai.

    ¡°Will the horses make it? My uncle told me horses can only run so far without giving up.¡±

    Nai shook her head.

    ¡°They¡¯ll have to. Hah!¡±

    Nai kicked her heels, driving her horse in a headlong charge out of the enchantment that surrounded the safe house. Emilia tightened her grip on the reigns as she kicked her own mount forward, the horse sluggishly driving along after its companion. Her heart was pounding. The images, of the headless man and of Lan¡¯s ruptured chest, terrified her by implication. His story indicated that if the demon caught up to them, there wouldn¡¯t be much that they would have time to do.

    Her heart pounded as the sound of hooves filled the night air, accompanied by the sounds of countless other night creatures prowling the dark. The wind picked up, biting and cold, and Emilia huddled into her cloak against the pressing chill, folding herself to he saddle, barely able to keep her eyes open.

    The half-moon thankfully allowed her to see Nai and her mount without too much difficulty, making their reckless charge through the dark at least possible. Emilia hoped that Nai knew how to reach the village ahead, as in the dark, each sign they passed was nothing but another shadow rushing by the side of the road. After what must have been at least a few hours, she was tempted to doze off. The moonlit fields around them were shaded, but silver grains and leaves illuminated by starlight made the light apear almost dreamlike.

    She slapped herself, reaching one hand back to grip her sword¡¯s handle.

    Behind you¡­.

    Emilia sat up as the winds gathered into words at the edge of her thoughts. She turned in the saddle as her horse charged forward-and the road errupted behind them.

    Emilia screamed as the demon burst out from the fields, long talons raking through the air where she had been a moment before as she ducked, her horse bucking and charging forward fanatically. She had only a moment to actually observe the thing, but she knew it was the same one that had attacked the safe house. It bore a canine¡¯s body, but its head was a horrifying mix of canine and cervid features, twisted and warped together, a mess of snarling fangs, tattered flesh, and wicked antlers that glistened in the silvered moonlight.

    Nai glanced back once, and Emilia watched the woman¡¯s eyes go wide as she reached back and drew a small hunting bow from it¡¯s place on her saddle, the woman turning almost effortlessly as she rose onto her toes in the stirrups. She knocked an arrow to the string with a practiced precision and loosed it, the small bolt shearing the air near Emilia¡¯s head to pierce the monster¡¯s eye.

    Nai glanced back once, and Emilia watched the woman¡¯s eyes go wide as she reached back and drew a small hunting bow from it¡¯s place on her saddle, the woman turning almost effortlessly as she rose onto her toes in the stirrups. She knocked an arrow to the string with a practiced precision and loosed it, the small bolt shearing the air near Emilia¡¯s head to pierce the monster¡¯s eye.

    It screamed as it tumbled to the dirt in a roll, a keeping cry that pierced into Emilia¡¯s ears and drew tears from her eyes as she felt the bones of her skull rattle.  The creature was hurt, but she didn¡¯t dare allow herself to think the thing was dead. She drew her sword, the steel singing from its sheathe as she glanced behind her again. Her mount was now abreast with Nai¡¯s, the women locking eyes for a moment. Nai immediately rose in the saddle again, loosing arrow after arrow into the dark behind them, as Emilia desperately tried to bring her Liuqin around to the front. Demons were, to a degree, spirits. That meant that her goddess¡¯s magic should be able to wound it. She flipped her sword to reverse grip so she could use her fingers to control the notes of her Liuq¨ªn, rapidly using the bracer on her wrist to strike up a frantic rhythm from the instrument.

    Light leapt to the strings almost instantly, as she began to weave the notes together. Fast, hard pressed. She felt power surge through her soul, and she willed it forward, the light flaring at the tip of the arrow Nai was setting on the string.

    The beast lunged, leaping through the dark to pounce on Emilia, right as Nai loosed her arrow, the bolt slamming against the creatire¡¯s chest. Light flared in the dark as the creature was slammed back, dropping to the ground with a keening shriek, writhing behind them.

    Emilia could smell the charred flesh, and willed her blessing into the next two arrows that Nai loosed before the woman returned the bow to it¡¯s place and took the reigns again. Nai pushed forward, and Emilia determined not to discredit the woman by falling off of her horse now. She turned around. The monster stood rising to a full height that would have looked down on her even astride her mount.

    Emilia watched the thing rip the arrow from it¡¯s eye, dropping the shaft to the ground. It¡¯s eyes flared red, as its gaze met her own across the distance as they pulled away, before it bounded into the grasses that bordered the road.

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    The sound of hooves and the panting of breath were the only sounds aside from her heartbeat that Emilia could hear. Shadows warped and twisted, as the night grew more oppressive still. For a moment, she thought that perhaps they had outrun the enraged spirit, or monster, or whatever this thing was.

    Clearly, the gods decided it was amusing to prove her wrong.

    The demon leapt from the grasses, talons raking again towards Emilia¡¯s head as its padded paws drove into the soft earth. She locked eyes with it, the world slowing as its twisted form approached. Its head looked like a deer¡¯s skull, flesh and skin tattered and barely hanging to the face. Cruel antlers branched from the forehead, and a maw of serrated teeth was open wide to claim her.

    She screamed as she lashed out with her sword, the blade glowing faintly as she felt the briefest touch of La-Catrina guiding her desperate slash through the air, the blade cracking against the skull right before that mouth would have clamped down on her, batting the creature to the side.

    She cried in pain as a stray talon cut deep into her arm, falling against her horse as her mount screamed in terror, kicking into a frantic gallop.

    Emilia barely managed to keep a grip on her sword as blood ran down the woven linen of her shirt, making the leather handle slick, but she managed to keep the blade in her grasp.

    She turned to look behind her again. The monster was clutching its face. Emilia felt her blood run cold as shadows danced around the thing, a hatred pure and unyielding boiling off of it into the night.

    She shuddered, and turned to face forward again as she gripped the reigns. She pressed herself flat against the saddle, and do her best to ignore the wind driving her horse¡¯s mane into her face.

    Nai-

    All that mattered right now was that she keep up with Nai. The servqnt woman still stood in the stirrups, an arrow nocked to her bow, although she had at her drawn the string back for another shot. Emilia kicked her mount to speed up, praying she didn¡¯t look as terrified as she felt as once again she found herself abreast of her maidservant. Nai said nothing, as they crested a hill in the road, dropping into the saddle with a grace that spoke of practice as her bow was returned to it¡¯s place on her saddle, the nocked arrow to it¡¯s quiver

    They didn¡¯t slow their pace untill their horses refused to go any faster, the pair putting as much distance between themselves and the creature as they could. Even then, both women were nearly as skittish as their mounts. Twigs snapped, creatures called, and twice more they heard the keening cry of the horrific thing, although it seemed distant.

    Both of them knew better than to trust their senses in that regard.

    By the time the lights of Li¨²ng came into view before them as they crested a hill, Emilia could barely stay in the saddle. The moon was fully at it¡¯s zenith, as clouds obscured it¡¯s already dim light, making the bright warm glow of the town stand out in the thickening darkness that enveloped the trees around them. Emilia only noticed then, seeing the town, that her sword was still held in a white knuckle grip. She also became painfully aware of the pain burning through her legs, the sting of numbness in her feet, and the ache of exhaustion that settled into her bones as her eyes fought to close.

    ¡°We¡¯re almost there, Spirit-Guide.¡± Nai snapped. ¡°Hold yourself together until we pass the lights.¡±

    Emilia nodded, forcing herself to focus on the lanterns hung from carved standing stones at the edge of town. Most towns had similar rituals- standing stones, or fences, to ward off twisted spirits. To protect against demons. Each town approached the problem differently- but it was a clear goal Emilia understood. Cross the line- and the Demon would not be able to follow behind them.

    She forced herself to sit up in the saddle, nodding once to her assigned maid-servant, and kicked her mount once again.

    The beast was foaming at the mouth, panting as it barely managed to break into a canter. The horse under Nai wasn¡¯t doing much better, although Emilia noted it didn¡¯t fight the woman nearly as much. They dropped down into the valley, their horses picking up speed with the descent, and Emilia let out a breath she hadn¡¯t noticed she was holding as they passed the ring of dark stones. There was no sensation that accompanied their crossing that critical threshold, no tingle or pressure like their had been at the safe house.

    It didn¡¯t matter to Emilia- she knew the magic carved into those stones. She¡¯d been learning for two years the kinds of deals made with countless spirits to weave an unseen barrier around the town.

    No Demon would be able to pass through.

    Finally, they were safe.

    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª-

    There were cries and shouts from a few villagers who stood on towers that had been erected atop some of the rooftops of the town, and a few others rushed out of their homes, rushing up to the women.

    ¡°Newcomers! Travelers from the road!¡±

    A man who seemed to have some kind of authority in the town-judging by the ornamental staff he held in his hands, rushed up to Nai, taking her reigns as the woman sat straighter in the saddle.

    ¡°What happened?¡± The man asked.

    ¡°We come representing Lord Langshen.¡± Nai declared, causing some of the villagers to recoil. ¡°He has deemed your problem to be of enough importance to send a Sporit-Guide to aid you.¡± She gestured to Emilia, the girl trying not to look dead in the saddle as she put her Liuqin back in it¡¯s proper place.

    ¡°A spirit guide! Then you know about our problem?¡±

    Nai nodded.

    ¡°We had the misfortune of meeting your ¡®problem¡¯ on the road, roughly an hour¡¯s ride from here. It killed the two tax collectors who came through here yesterday.¡±

    Murmurs began among the the townsfolk. A group of women rushed up to Emilia with bundles of fresh linen, and through the fog of pain she could barely make out the scent of medicinal oils as well. In the fog of pain, Emilia heard one woman mutter to a man-likely husband- asking if that meant the collectors would be back again early.

    The leader lowered his head.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I was not aware Meil¡¯yeostli was able to leave our woods into the fields beyond, we have long believed the roads safe from her fangs. I do not know what penance the spirit guide will have us do to restore the spirit from it¡¯s madness, but we will do whatever we can for our goddess¡¯s return to sanity!¡±

    Emilia nearly fell out of the saddle, as she dismounted. Within moments a sturdy farmer rushed to hold her up as she clung to her saddle with one arm. She realized her sword was still drawn when the women of the village rushed up, pulling her damaged clothing away from the gash across her arm, and she finally released her grip on the blade, the sword falling into Nai¡¯s waiting palm.

    Emilia froze.

    ¡°Wait-Meil¡¯yeostli?¡±

    Nai looked at the girl puzzled. The villagers looked at each other confused.

    ¡°Yes- our village¡¯s guardian spirit. We have a bargain with her to have permission to cut the the north, she¡¯s become furious, has started to kill our tree-cutters!¡±

    Nai dismounted, gently taking Emilia¡¯s hand.

    ¡°What is the problem, miss Yun?¡±

    ¡°Yeost means fox.¡± Emilia said quietly. She turned to the chief. ¡°Is your guardian a fox-spirit?¡±

    He glanced at the other townsfolk, before nodding dumbly.

    ¡°Yes, spirit-guide. She is the god of this valley¡¯s trees, and lately has not allowed any of our menfolk to enter or leave. She won¡¯t speak to us, even in signs or omens, and the predators of the forest have begun to kill our livestock.¡±

    Nai turned to Emilia.

    It was the girl who spoke the realization they both shared.

    ¡°The demon we found on the road appeared to have been a deer-spirit before its madness.¡± Emilia said. Nai nodded, grimacing.

    ¡°It¡¯s not just one spirit.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s two.¡±

 Rest

    ¡°Strange, then,¡± Emilia began, rolling out her bedroll on the floor of the single room cottage they had been given near the center of town, ¡°that a servant girl of the palace should know the safe houses so intimately.¡± Emilia teased, ¡°Especially if only the warlord¡¯s most trusted servants are told of their locations.¡±

    Nai bent over and scooped up the girl¡¯s bedroll, not even bothering to explain as she rolled it up and set it behind the small round table at the far side of the room.

    ¡°I have run the occasional errand for Lord Langshen.¡±

    Emilia smiled as she unfolded a blanket onto a clean patch of floor, which Nai I¡¯mmediatley lifted and placed upon the single true bed in the cottage, rolling her own sleeping mat onto the floor instead. Emilia stared slack jawed, which Nai ignored as she set about preparing a small cookfire.

    She could hear the guards shuffling outside. The village was too small to have any soldiers assigned to it from Langshen at this time of year, most of those would be on the river protecting the actual lumber mills, but the town had stil assigned two if it¡¯s strongest men to stand guard outside their little cottage.

    ¡°Errands? How long have you served him?¡± Emilia finally asked.

    ¡°I assume you mean our Jut¡¯layi.¡±

    ¡°Well, yes.¡± Emilia said.

    ¡°I have served the current Lord Langshen for six years.¡±

    Emilia caught a cold tone to her words, and paused, glancing at the woman, debating whether to press or to connect.

    ¡°I became a spirit-guide six years ago.¡± She said softly. ¡°Strange how often dates coincide like that.¡±

    Nai hesitated. She set a mahogany log on the fire, hung a tea kettle over one corner of embers, before sitting back on her knees.

    ¡°Thst¡¯s a young age to be chosen by a god.¡±

    Emilia shrugged. ¡°I was the last who could fill the role.¡±

    ¡°The last?¡±

    ¡°My family has taken care of Lady Cagrina¡¯s shrine since my great-great-grandfather came to our town. No one else seems to be able to hear her. There are fewer members of my family with each generation, and¡­ I¡¯m the last.¡±

    ¡°Your goddess¡­ speaks?¡±

    Emilia nodded.

    ¡°I¡¯ve met her. Once. Not that you could forget meeting a goddess.¡±

    Nai noticed how tightly the girl hugged her Liuqin to her chest. She changed the topic of conversation.

    ¡°So now you travel to the impacted towns? According to the scout¡¯s reports, you¡¯ve traveled almost exclusively to places where the restless have struck.¡±

    Emilia nodded.

    ¡°That will likely turn to your favor in the trial to come.¡±

    Nai paused, but when she didn¡¯t say anything else, Emilia finally spoke up.

    ¡°Before this Lord Langshen, What did you do? I am fairly certain that mounted archery, tracking, and government secrets are not standard fields of training for a maidservant. I also don¡¯t expect most servant girls to have knives hidden in the sleeves of their travel uniforms.¡±

    ¡°You ask questions that you should not.¡± Nai snapped. ¡°Once a warlord becomes Jut¡¯layi, it¡¯s really of no significance what came before them, isn¡¯t it? Lord Hyungjae is the Jut¡¯layi. Everything that I did before his service doesn¡¯t matter. He has declared I am to be a servant of the house, so a servant of the house I am.¡±

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    Emilia slowly finished setting her things up on the small bed, sitting cross legged on the thinly padded surface.

    ¡°It does matter who you were before. The past is important.¡±

    Nai raised an eyebrow at her. ¡°All that matters is the decree of the current Jut¡¯layi. If anyone had strength to resist him, they would be sitting in his seat instead. His will is law- his word is law. I am your maidservant, I protect you during your trials.¡±

    ¡°Nothing is permanent, Nai. All things pass, all things are forgotten even without the warlords¡¯ constant efforts to erase history. It¡¯s a lesson they refuse to accept. We need to know the past to learn from it and avoid repeating mistakes.¡±

    Nai laughed. ¡°Lord Hyungjae is quite aware that the past can be forgotten, Miss Yun. He has worked very hard to ensure his predecessor is not remembered.¡±

    Emilia shifted awkwardly. She was used to sleeping on the cold ground, or dirt floors, or occasionally the bed of a wagon. A real bed¡­ she decided to enjoy the luxury, given she had the feeling Nai wouldn¡¯t let her take any other sleeping arangement. She hung her sheathe from the left bedpost, where she could draw the blade even while stirring from the fits of sleep. She pursed her lips as she sat down on the simple covers.

    ¡°And you want your past to be forgotten? Before Hyungjae there was Ryoku-Langshen. Before Ryoku there was Taewo-Langshen. Before him there was Dikhi Langshen- she stands out as a woman because according to stories, she fought the Dragon-Emperor of Ryulong herself. Each ensured the deeds of their predecesors were smoothed over with their own greatness, their own accomplishments.¡±

    ¡°You realize you are merely supporting my point that it doesn¡¯t matter, don¡¯t you? It is forgotten, it will be forgotten, it is irrelevant.¡± Nai checked the tea, placing the lid more forcefully than was likely neccesary.

    Emilia frowned as she cocked her head to the side.

    ¡°On the contrary. Our lives are the only things that do matter. We love, we breathe, we struggle, we make new things and are loved. Each person with a story as deep and intertwined as all others, woven together in a tapestry. Who you were always informs who you are- which informs who you will choose to be.¡±

    ¡°I have no desire to discuss history or philosophy, spirit-guide.¡± Nai set a small black cauldron on the hook over the fire, adding some dried rations to it, and pouring water from a pot that had been drawn for them. She stirred the crude stew with a spoon that they had washed on entering the cottage.

    Emilia sighed. Her stomach rumbled. Only the thought of food kept her awake. She lifted her liuqin, beginning to play a soft tune.

    Nai forced herself to relax, back straightening in a way that seemed remarkably cold to Emilia. ¡°We will eat, and then you will rest.¡±

    ¡°Very well.¡± Emilia replied, ¡°I am sorry.¡±

    Emilia closed her eyes to focus on the music, tuning her instrument slowly as she used her bone pick to strike the strings. Nai regarded the girl in silence. The tea in the kettle began to steam, and the servant woman removed it from the fire, replacing the kettle with a small pan, pulling some cured meats from the beeswax wrapping she had brought them in, mixing the meat with some cut roots and other small items in the cauldron, while setting the rest of the meat on the pan.

    Nai then poured the tea into two simple earthenware cups, setting one in front of Emilia. The girl opened her eyes, startled, music stopping with a sharp twang as her pick struck the wrong string.

    ¡°Drink.¡± Nai poured some green liquid into the cup with more poise than Emilia had ever seen, every hair in place, with barely the rustle of cloth.

    ¡°Drink, girl. We are traveling companions. It is only polite to share a meal before rest.¡±

    Emilia hesitated, then took the offered cup, sipping it slowly.

    ¡°Thank you, Nai.¡±

    Nai nodded in response.

    ¡°Each day that goes by, I feel that society is far more complex than it should be.¡± Emilia declared.

    Nai nearly spit out her mouthful of tea.

    ¡°Excuse me? This after our greatest thought today was ¡®avoid being eaten by a demon¡¯?¡±

    Emilia took another sip. ¡°Since leaving home, I have encountered nothing but pointless rules and ego, like peacocks fighting for attention. Posturing, status, power.¡± She looked out the window, almost as if talking to herself. ¡°Even gestures have meaning, this far from the foot of the mountain. Snide words, backhanded comments disguised as sincerity, colors of clothing and cuts of cloth. So¡­ pointless.¡±

    Nai¡¯s eye twitched.

    ¡°Is it really so hard for people to just¡­ be kind to one another? Help each other?¡±

    Emilia signed, set the Tea down, and took Nai¡¯s silence as a signal that more conversation was no longer desired. They ate in silence, and Nai merely watched on curiously as Emilia pulled her three candles from their place in her satchel, lighting them with a snap of her fingers. Emilia prayed in her great-great-grandfather¡¯s language. She didn¡¯t want Nai hearing what she said, not knowing that everything she said would be reported back to the Warlord with eyes of jade and gold.

    Emilia kept it short. She was exhausted.

    Nai set a hand in the girl¡¯s shoulder.

    ¡°Rest, we begin your labor tomorrow.¡±

    Emilia nodded, and slid under the covers, twinging as she leaned on her arm more than she should have.

    ¡°See you in the morning.¡±

    Sleep came the moment Emilia closed her eyes.

 Widowâ€™s Reunion

    Morning came to the sound of Roosters.

    Emilia startled awake, gasping as she sat up in the bed she had taken for the night, heart pounding at the sound. Sunlight filtered through the curtained shutters of the cottage¡¯s single window, and to Emilia¡¯s surprise, she didn¡¯t feel the biting chill she expected from a fall morning.

    The reason soon became apparent, as her bleary eyes managed to focus long enough to see Nai tending to a fire, placing some of their dry provisions Kate a porridge with a small amount of honey.

    ¡°I see you¡¯re awake.¡± Nai commented, glancing once in her direction. ¡°I worry you have not gotten enough rest.¡±

    Emilia groaned as she sat up, clutching her injured arm to her chest. She rolled her neck, and whistled once, the note relaxing her hair to straightness with a puff of light.

    Emilia took some time to use the rag from the washbasin to clean her face and arms off somewhat from the chaos of the previous night, wincing as she gathered her Liuqin and her sword, affixing the, to her person before moving towards the door.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡±

    Emilia blinked.

    ¡°Going to look for Meil¡¯Yeostli.¡±

    ¡°Now?¡±

    Emilia shrugged. ¡°We need to figure out what upset her. The quickest way to do that is to ask.¡±

    Nai blanched, scrambling to prepare her own things.

    ¡°Alone?¡±

    Emilia shrugged.

    ¡°I¡¯ve been solving these problems alone for two years now. Should be fine.¡±

    ¡°Wait!¡±

    Emilia stepped through the door, taking a deep breath with a shiver as she stared at the dawn. Nai was¡­ a bit much. She found the two guards asleep, leaning against the wall of the stone building she had used to rest for the night, the thinner of the two startling awake as the door drifted shut.

    ¡°Gods below heaven!¡± He called out, falling right off of the bucket he had been using for a chair, his reaping scythe clattering to the ground next to him.

    Emilia laughed, extending a hand and lifting the man back onto his seat.

    ¡°Might want to wake up your friend before my companion leaves the building. I hazard to guess she is not as forgiving as I try to be.¡±

    Emilia winked at the bleary eyed man, before walking towards the center of town to get her bearings.

    The huts were all familiar to her. Timbered homes, with some simple decorations and thatched roofs. The town only had one trie street, although Emilia noted that several paths branched off between the buildings, some only wide enough for a person to squeeze through sideways. Almost all of them were shuttered, and the girl slowed her pace as she realized just how many doors bore white shrouds draped in front of them.

    ¡°One¡­¡± she counted to herself as she made her way to the center of town.

    ¡°Two¡­three, four¡­. Five¡­¡±

    She hadn¡¯t even gone off onto the side streets. She saw a couple doors deeper among the buildings still bore shrouds of their own.

    ¡°Twelve¡­thirteen¡­¡±

    She stopped standing next to a statue carved from a single tree trunk, the red wood sun-bleached and faded, but clearly cared for. Countless flowers, trinkets, and carved bits of shell were scattered around the base of the statue, but not any of them were what she would normally expect as offerings to a guardian spirit. No food, no drinks, no meals or precious things. Tools, Necklaces, a paintbrush. She brushed a hand against th statue.

    Pain flooded her mind. Pain and a piercing echo of betrayal that dropped her to her knees.

    Nai ran up to her, dragging her to her feet and siting her off, face flushed, eyebrows furrowed as she tidied her charge as much as she could.

    ¡°Nai! Just stop!¡±

    ¡°But- protocol states-¡°

    ¡°I don¡¯t care about protocol, Nai! I¡¯m not¡­ some noblewoman! Gods under heaven!¡±

    Emilia snapped her arm out of Nai¡¯s grip, leaving the maid servant staring at her, mouth agape.

    Emilia held her hands up, and took as deep a breath as she could hold.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Nai-Bo. That, was excessive. I just¡­¡± Emilia glanced back at the closest shroud. ¡°Whatever happened, the Guardian feels betrayed. It¡¯s in pain- although I don¡¯t know what caused it.¡±

    Nai took a moment to consider, folding her hands respectfully in front of her.

    ¡°I-I apologize. Emilia-Yun. I¡­ was not aware you had contacted the spirit.¡±

    Emilia hesitated.

    ¡°I haven¡¯t. Not directly at least. All spirits, all gods, they¡­. They need connection. Sacred places, people who venerate them, without them, they¡­¡± Emilia winced. ¡°Well, we saw what can happen on our way here I think. Meil¡¯Yeostli is still connected to this statue. It¡¯s not her main shrine, but it¡¯s here, in town, where the people are. Places like this let me get a feeling about whatever it is connected to.¡±

    Emilia gestured to the offerings.

    ¡°And it seems those people are pleading her to stop whatever rampage she¡¯s begun.¡±

    ¡°Ah.¡± Nai said softly, as Emilia walked around the statue. ¡°So that is the cause of your distress?¡±

    ¡°Well, it¡¯s not just that. I¡¯m not a noble, Nai. I¡¯ve been an orphan for six years.¡±

    Nai cocked her head to the side as Emilia turned to the trees, visible at the other end of the single street, leading into the true heart of the Spirit-Wood.

    ¡°I don¡¯t need someone¡­¡± she waived her hand vaguely as she tried to find the right word, ¡°doting on me at every turn. I¡¯ve starved, been beaten, bruised, chased by monsters¡­ you won¡¯t be helping me by making me ¡®perfect¡¯ by whatever customs are popular in Yosae today. You¡¯ll be most helpful with those knives and that bow, when trouble inevitably finds us.¡±

    Nai narrowed her eyes.

    ¡°Spirit guides are supposed to be above the normal folk. No one else can do what you do. People expect you to follow the customs, it gives them confidence.¡±

    Emilia looked back at her assigned maid servant and warden, and smiled sadly, before turning to walk towards one of the narrow passways deeper into the village.

    ¡°No, Nai. The people who follow those customs are seen as just more nobles, taking more than they should. These people don¡¯t need me walking in here like some kind of Goddess. They need me to fix the goddess they already have.¡±

    Nai said nothing, brushing her short hair back to duck under a new, that ran across the narrow space, following behind her charge as Emilia glanced around the passways.

    Around this time, a few people began to emerge from their doors. So,e saw the pair and helped, darting back inside their huts, cottages, or their shops, others simply gave them both deeper bows than Emilia would have liked, before carrying in their way.

    Along the way, Nai watched the girl, making a point not to intercede, not to get in her way. The girl swirled, practically dancing down the street. She took a chuld¡¯s hand, spinning the little boy once before letting go and carrying in her way. A man with an overloaded basket of dried reeds began to fall, and Nai raised an eyebrow as Emilia flowed over, red dress swirling in on itself as she supported the man for only the briefest of moments, before she continued down the path.

    To her chagrin, Nai could see the difference. She¡¯d gotten used to guarded words, to the careful precision and tone of speech favored by the Jutlayi¡¯s court. She watched Emilia laugh with a woman struggling to keep control of a child. The whole time, with each interaction, the girl asked a single question. Never the same question, Nai noticed, but always, it seemed to guide her deeper into the community.

    ¡°If I may, Spirit-Guide,¡± Nai asked, after several minutes of winding through the paths between buildings, ¡°where are we going?¡±

    ¡°To the house of Tilu-Hunan.¡±

    Nai blinked.

    ¡°Who?¡±

    ¡°Tilu-Hunan. She¡¯s the widow to one of the recently deceased tree cutters.¡±

    Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    ¡°Why this one? I have seen many burial shrouds, I am sure there will be no shortage of people we could interrogate for details. And you have a name? We¡¯ve been walking for only a little over an hour!¡±

    Emilia smiled. She¡¯d been expecting that question.

    ¡°Easy, my dear warden! Her husband, Kiro-Hunan, was the most honest and hardworking of those who died within the past week.¡±

    Emilia didn¡¯t explain the fact that from her observation, when she called those who didn¡¯t offer respects to La-Catrina, she only had nine days at most where she could call them back to speak. Each day untill then, the souls of the dead marched towards the obsidian palace of Xip¡¯oli. Nine whole days before they passed to their final judgement in the Godhome mountains, where their fate would be decided, and they would be beyond her reach.

    They reached the house a moment later, and Emilia stood on tiptoe to reach the knocker at the top of the door. Nai stood off to the side, after some hesitation, deciding to let Emilia try things her way.

    The door opened the smallest crack. A small child peered from the door, tears streaking down her face.

    ¡°Mama says you should go away. She says we already paid the cutters their money.¡±

    Emilia knelt, pulling a D¡¯karo bloom from her hair, extending it to the girl.

    ¡°We¡¯re not here for money, little one. I am Emilia-Yun. I serve the a goddess, and I¡¯ve come to help yours.¡±

    ¡°Because she¡¯s sick?¡±

    ¡°Yes. And my goddess told me I needed to speak to your father.¡±

    ¡°Papa¡¯s dead. He died in the trees. They say our goddess got mad at him, stopped protecting him.¡±

    Emilia frowned.

    ¡°I know. To speak with him, I need to talk to your mother first. Is lady Tilu-Hunan home?¡±

    The girl scrunched her nose.

    ¡°Lady? Tilu is just Mama, the only lady in town is the wife of the Jiak, Hea-Li¨²ng.¡±

    Emilia smiled.

    ¡°I know. But could you check for me? Tell your mama the Lady of Death needs her help to fix Meil¡¯Yeostli. Please.¡±

    Emilia knew that the child¡¯s mother could hear. This home was small. It oooked like it might have two rooms, but it could have been a single room for the family.

    A moment later, Emilia jumped to her feet, as a haggard woman, thin and sickly, finally creaked the door barely any wider.

    Emilia knew she had been crying. She knew that expression.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± The woman asked, her voice broken and tired.

    ¡°Emilia, of Q¨²a. I was sent to bring your goddess back to herself.¡±

    The woman choked back a laugh.

    ¡°Talk to the Jiak. He¡¯s already decided who¡¯s to blame for all this.¡±

    Emilia fought back her own tear.

    ¡°What did the Jiak say?¡± Emilia asked softly.

    Nai made herself smaller, crouching under the windowsill to stay out of sight if the woman for now.

    ¡°Our humble lord Li¨²ng declared that my husband brought the wrath of our guardian on himself. Same as all the others, that he must have sinned against the oath we made with her when we built the town four generations ago.¡± The woman laughed, and Emilia hesitated. The woman was only a thread away from snapping, from going mad with grief. She glanced beyond the woman to the girl cowering beyond inside the house. She needed to be careful about how she worded this.

    ¡°That¡¯s why I came to your home, Tilu-Hunan. In the town they say your husband was one of the best. I seek understanding.¡±

    Tilu relaxed a little, although not by as much as Emilia would have liked.

    ¡°You serve a goddess? Are you a spirit guide?¡±

    Emilia nodded.

    ¡°Unless you can bring my husband back, I have nothing to say to you.¡± The woman moved to close the door, but Emilia caught her arm.

    ¡°I can¡¯t- not for long. But would you like to speak with him one last time?¡±

    <hr>

    ¡°These are all of his things.¡± The woman said in a rush, putting a number of items before them. ¡°This was his favorite axe, what they were able to recover at least.¡± The woman placed a broken axe in front of her, only three inches of the handle remained under the bronze head.

    ¡°This mug was the only one he would drink out of, I think he liked the color, and this!¡± She carefully pulled a small statuette off of the mantle, ¡°he carved this for me.¡±

    Emilia didn¡¯t recognize the figure. It seemed to be a stylized wind spirit.

    ¡°Ok- do you have any food? Spirits - even of our departed ancestors, are easier to call with offering.¡±

    They sat in a circle around the central cooking fire in the middle of the large room. Tilu dashed around the place, gathering things as quickly as she could, and bringing them to Emilia. Nai was perched stiffly on the bed at the far side of the room, arms glued to her sides as she tried to avoid touching the distinctly dusty children on either side of her. The three children of the home were sat about as still as Emilia had ever seen in her life, eyes locked onto her.

    Nai and Tilu regarded each other cautiously. The woman had absolutely recognized the uniform of a servant of Langshen, and had been hesitant to talk until Emilia explained what she wanted to do. Even now, Emilia noticed just how carefully Tuli avoided looking right at the civil servant.

    Emilia pulled three of her candles from her bag, taking a moment to scratch Kiro-Hunan¡¯s name down the side of the candle with the Aveshtani script, and placed the candles in front of the small shrine she¡¯s assembled. The axe-head, mug, and Kiro¡¯s blanket were all folded up on a small table that seemed to have been made well enough, while a few pieces of bread were hastily placed in a bowl with the smallest amount of rice.

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure this is enough.¡± Tilu said softly, exhausted. ¡°We can¡¯t spare any more.¡±

    Nai frowned.

    ¡°Have you already spent the funeral allowance given by lord Liung?¡±

    ¡°He never gave it.¡± Tilu responded. ¡°When they found my husband torn to pieces, his axe shattered on the forest floor, they knew it was an angry spirit who had done it. I don¡¯t know how, but they knew. But instead of helping us, Lord Liung accused my husband of angering Meil¡¯Yeostli, and driving her farther against the town, and withheld the funeral money as our ¡®sentence¡¯,¡±

    A glance in Nai¡¯s direction led her to believe the woman was furious. Her expression never changed, but Emilia notice the tightening of her hands, noticed the slight clench of her jaw. So hot hat wasn¡¯t supposed to happen. Emilia took note.

    ¡°It will help. That¡¯s what matters. Could you describe him for me? Tell me about him.¡±

    Tiki smiled, her first true smile since Emilia had seen her.

    ¡°Tall, broad shoulders, he was sting enough he could lift me with one arm, and he did so as frequently as he wanted. He was so gentle with the children, and¡­ and¡­ Tuli began sobbing, Emilia patted her in the arm as she pulled her Liuqin from her back.

    ¡°That should be enough.¡±

    The girl began to play. Her nine pick struck the strings slowly, softly, as she reached out to that space spirits traveled.

    Come back¡­just for little¡­.

    The candles each flared to life one by one, the name scratched onto their sides glowing faintly. Emilia kept the sing going, gentle, slow, the kind of song couples would dance to.

    Tuli gasped.

    ¡°I-I can smell him!¡±

    Deeper.

    Using magic was¡­ strange, for Emilia. It ca,e from inside her, mostly. Like pulling a fishing line and spinning ut¡¯s threads from her own soul, before casting it. But she knew something far larger than her was moving as well, driving her music, willing power to the notes.

    Nai froze. She still heard her chwrge¡¯s Liuqin, but at the edges of her ears, she heard¡­ another? Deeper, stronger?

    She stared at the strings. It see,ed impossible.

    The candles flared, as spirit lights began to gather in the room, whisks of light drifting st the edge of the table. A hand stretched from the light, strong and gentle, brushing against the head of the axe. Another, as both hands cupped the mug in the table, before the ghostly image brushed the wooden carving.

    Emilia pushed harder. Compared to her desperate call in the safe house, this felt more normal. Family gathered offerings present, it felt like reaching a hand out to pull someone forward.

    And, spiritually, that¡¯s what she did.

    A man stepped fully into view, to the joyous sobs and weeping of Tuli. The kids leaps off the bed, even though Emilia warned them they wouldn¡¯t be able to though the spirit of their father, and they tried anyway, before dancing in a circle.

    He laughed, deep, from the gut.

    Nails mouth dropped open as she stared.

    Kirk, dead for four days now bent down, giving each of his children the ghost if a hug, before turning to his wife.

    ¡°What magic is this?¡± He asked softly. ¡°That I can see you again before I reach the halls of the dead?¡±

    Tuli gestured to Emilia.

    ¡°It¡¯s her Goddess- She brought you back to us.¡±

    Emilia began to feel the tug if exhaustion, but she had a little time still. She played in, gentle strikes and notes.

    Kiro¡¯s ghost turned to look at her.

    ¡°I can tell already I won¡¯t be able to stay.¡± He said matter of factly. ¡°I will be able to say goodbye, but why else have you called me?¡± He scooped up a ghostly echo of the bowl of rice and bread, and closed his eyes as he ate the spectral offering.

    Emilia struggled to focus through the notes, keeping the music moving while she spoke.

    ¡°I need to know how you died. I am sorry you have to tell this story here, but if I am to heal your guardian, I must know.¡±

    He nodded, sitting on a phantom chair next to his wife, who smiled widely, barely holding herself back from trying to embrace him.

    ¡°The attacks started three weeks ago. None of us knew why. Animals, creatures from the forest attacking us while we cut. Our shamans tried to divine they cause, they knew the guardian was upset, but not why. More people died, some in the day, some going out in the night, but soon, almost nine of us were willing to cut anymore.¡±

    Emilia nodded.

    ¡°I went out to cut trees, as I was tasked by our Jiak specifically that day, braving the woods in hopes that my previous favor with the goddess would spare me where it had not spared others. I kept every letter of our oath, and felled Trees that showed signs of needing removal.¡±

    He paused.

    ¡°I had scaled my last tree, I was tying the ropes to ensure it fell where I wanted-how I wanted. Imresdied my axe-¡° he gestured to the one on the table ¡°then I saw something strange.¡±

    ¡°What was it? Emilia asked.

    ¡°Two men.¡± He said. ¡°One wore a dark cloak, then it her looked.., Almost familiar. He had blue flowers embroidered onto his tunic, and had a strange staff with him. Both see,ed to be carrying a body wrapped in cloth. I heard the roars next, the cracking of trees. I saw what looked like orange flame barreling towards us, felt the rage directed at the two men, before the man in the dark robes just¡­ waved his hand. It was like he had struck the guardian. I began to leave the tree, to fight, to defend her, but halfway down I realized I lost sight of the i

    ther man.¡±

    ¡°What happened then?¡± Tuli asked.

    Kiro¡¯s sighed, sadly, setting his chin in transluscent glowing hands.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I felt something pierce me from behind. I could see black talons protruding from my chest, and then¡­ I felt pain, in my arm and neck. After that, I was on the road to the halls of Judgement.¡±

    Emilia grasped, as the rare she tired began to accelerate.

    ¡°I¡¯m sorry,¡± Emilia gasped. ¡°You¡¯ll have to say your goodbyes. I can¡¯t keep you here much longer.¡±

    Kiro¡¯s nodded. Turning and looking at each of his children.

    ¡°Listen to your mother. I am proud of you, and I will be waiting to hear of the good people you have become.¡±

    He turned to his wife, clearly barely holding himself together as much as she was.

    ¡°I love you.¡± He fj ally said.

    ¡°I love you too.¡±

    ¡°Keep them safe, please?¡± He asked softly. Emilia always felt like an intruder in these moments, even though she knew they couldn¡¯t happen without her there. ¡°I¡¯m sorry that¡¯s now your burden, I was supposed to protect them while you lived them.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll manage. Tuli said through the tears. This spirit guide will help us, and things will be easier then.¡±

    He nodded, turning to Emilia.

    ¡°Thank you.¡±

    The spell ended, and his form dissipated into motes of spectral dust, as Emilia,s hand cramped, and she fell against the wall, steadying herself with ine hand.

    She cleared her head, as Nai and Tuli both stood to look at her.

    Emilia met the mither¡¯s gaze. She held herself prouder, and while she would still mourne, Emilia knew she wouldn¡¯t be a ghost herself. The three kids would have a mother. Not a shell.

    ¡°Thank you.¡± Tuli said, after a while. ¡°Whatever payment you need, I¡¯ll pay.¡±

    Nai¡¯s nodded expectantly.

    ¡°My payment is received. I have a lead. Thank you for your and your husband¡¯s help.¡±

    Nai blinked as Emilia led them back outside.

    Emilia collapsed against the wall, and Nai rushed to her, lifting the spirit guide onto her shoulder.

    ¡°Sorry.¡± Emilia gasped with a chuckle. ¡°I put more effort into that than I probably needed to.¡±

    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you charge her? Such a service¡­ is priceless! Life debts have been a given for less.¡±

    ¡°I told her, I have my payment.¡±

    Emilia¡¯s eyes narrowed.

    ¡°We have some bastards to kill, a Jiak to offend, band some spirits to talk to.¡± She beamed up at her maidservant. ¡°Sounds like a fair trade to me!¡±