Chapter 6 Yue
There is little known about nine-tailed fox demons, as encounters with the beasts are rare…
No doubt because they consume any witnesses before records can be made.
I think about death often, as morbid as that may be. The permanence of it.
Unlike humans who have souls ready for reincarnation, a demon cannot boast such luck.
The first gods of creation did not craft us with souls in mind.
Whether this was their intent or due to forgetfulness, I cannot say.
What I do know is that if I die, my very existence will be wiped from the land, no soul of my own to rejoin the circle of death and rebirth.
We’re removed from karmic justice, destined to cease.
The onus of remembering my family lies solely on my shoulders, but it troubles me to know that there will be no one to remember me. It will be as if I never lived at all.
And that’s why, when I see the ground coming up to meet me, I scream bloody murder.
Landing isn’t so bad.
It’s everything that comes afterward.
It’s a uniquely chilling experience to listen to every single bone in my body break, the crushing of a bundle of twigs underfoot.
Black stars speckle my vision, threatening to fill the entire canvas of my view.
I spit out a mixture of blood and shattered teeth.
I’m certain that both of my knees are hinged in the wrong direction, but I’m in so much shock that I cannot feel anything. The smallest of blessings, that.
I’m dying. Afraid and alone. My heart twists knowing no one will mourn me.
And then I catch a whiff of something sweet. Crushed cinnamon, star anise, mangoes.
I know this scent. I hate this scent.
Captain Sonam has landed not five arms away, his eyes fluttering as he struggles to wake. The fall should have killed him, but I can hear his wretched, wet breathing. Barely holding on, but most definitely alive.
Good. I want the pleasure of killing him myself.
I’m unable to move, however. The cage has broken open as a result of the fall, but its bars have warped themselves around my limbs and rib cage, rendering me immobile beneath its punishing grip. Pulling against my restraints is useless. My fox form is simply too big to escape this confinement.
If only I were a little smaller. Human-sized.
Out of the corner of my eye, I spot my mask. The captain must have dropped it. It’s mercifully fallen to my side and appears to be intact, no doubt thanks to the magic within. If I put it on, my body will remain broken, but at least I’ll be able to wriggle free from this cage.
I reach for it, flexing with a claw and clipping the mask with a nail. It nearly rolls away, dragged down by the slope we’ve landed on. My broken bones scream with the effort, but I refuse to relent. No one’s going to help me, so I need to help myself.
My sisters were the last who tried, and look how well that ended.
When I finally manage to tip the mask toward me, I snatch it up. Pressing it to my face, my beastly form shrinks in an instant, the spell transforming me into a young woman, a tragic beauty since my body is but a mangled heap.
Now that the bars of the cage no longer have a hold on me, I drag myself over to inspect Sonam.
I must look horrifying, my sweat-soaked hair over my face, awkwardly using my forearms and elbows to shift me forward on my belly like a beetle whose hindlegs were plucked off.
I grit my teeth and fight through the pain.
The captain’s survival is nothing short of a miracle, though I might argue it a curse.
He’s in far better condition than I am, just the one arm dislocated and twisted beneath him.
Deep cuts mar his face, dark purple bruises around his eyes, his jaw, his nose.
I can hear his strained heart thumping, his pulse irregular and weak.
I hope he’s bleeding inside. I hope it hurts. Killing him may actually be a mercy.
I sink my fingers into the captain’s injured shoulder, determined to tear him open.
Sonam cries out, eyes flying open, his face crumpling as he tries to shove me away.
Now is as good a time as any to exact my revenge.
The easiest meals come when they’re injured and alone, and the captain happens to be both.
The only problem is this meal knows how to fight.
Where I targeted his weakness, Sonam does the same. He kicks at my ruined knees, sweeping an arm to grip my side and squeeze my sore ribs. I fall back, gasping for air. He is on top of me, pinning my back to the ground as I scratch and hiss, the wild animal that I am.
I hit him, he hits me back—an explosive conversation with our fists.
It’s not that he’s strong enough to overpower me, but that our injuries have rendered us both equally weak.
There’s a monstrous anger in his eyes, fiery and vicious.
Burning with righteous hate. It’s nothing new.
Mankind has looked upon me with disdain for so long that it would be shocking to see anything but.
He has the upper hand like this, but not for long.
I drive my thigh up and kick him in the groin, watching with exhausted satisfaction when Sonam crumples, giving me a chance to push him away.
I struggle to prop myself up on to my elbows.
He does the same, his lip curled up in a bloodied sneer.
He’s a vicious thing—even more vicious than I.
I’ve never been more terrified.
This man is going to be the death of me. All the more reason to finish him first.
But I don’t get the chance. Just as I gather the strength to pounce, Sonam pulls himself to his feet and scrambles away into the bleary dark.
“You bastard!” I scream, crawling after him. “Come back here and fight me, you coward!”
My voice breaks, shoulder-wracking sobs shoving their way out through my throat. Iron-hot tears race down my cheeks, and my heart twists violently in my chest. I don’t know what’s worse—to be left alone in the dark to die, or the fact that I wasn’t worth a killing blow.
Forcing air into my lungs, I will my nerves to steady.
This is no time to cry. If the human wants to run, then let him.
I will simply do what I do best. I push past the pain and drag myself forward on my stomach, my feet leaving bloody, dragging marks along the ground.
They could very well be the only evidence I leave behind to prove my existence here.
Once more, I set forth to stalk my prey.