I open my mouth and let Róng fall into the lake. He breaches the surface with a wheeze and a cough, flailing about chaotically. He thrashes like a drowning pig, weighed down by his ostentatious robes, which are now soaked through and heavy.
“What do you plan to do to me?” he rasps. “Drown me? Eat me? Whatever it is, just get it over with.”
Ignoring him, I carefully lay Jyn’s body down on a bed of soft grass before transforming back into my human form. With carefulfingers, I brush her hair away from her face, now at peace in eternal sleep. Bending down, I press a tender kiss to her forehead—a farewell, as much as it is a promise.
I rise once more and turn to the emperor, wholly unimpressed when he attempts to charge me. All it takes is a step to the side and a hard strike across his cheek to send him tumbling to the ground.
Dazed, he sits up and looks around; then Róng swallows hard. Behind us, the beasts of the forest gather, watching with hungry curiosity. How many years has it been since a human wandered into their home? What a rare, lovely treat he might make.
I step forward and snatch him up by the chin, digging my nails into his pale cheeks. He whimpers when I pierce his skin, angry red beads forming at my fingertips. I allow his blood to coat my palm, and drip down my wrist.
“You will not receive the mercy of a quick death,” I say. “You killed my wife. My son. My parting gift to you is one final hunt, to commemorate the millennia you have hunted us.”
He looks over at the hungry beasts, eyes widening at the sight of their bared teeth and pronounced rib cages. “You—you would set them on me?”
“A rather fitting end, wouldn’t you agree?”
“Wait, I beg of you—”
“Go on, then,” I say, glaring at him down the length of my nose. “On your knees,boy.”
A shaky breath escapes the man as he struggles onto his hands and knees, his eyes keeping a wary watch on the forest beasts. Humiliation scorches his face, a bright crimson. Slowly, he lowers his head to the ground in a full kowtow, his entire body trembling with fear and perhaps fury. I wish I could say it’s satisfying, but I find no pleasure in the cowering of a useless rat.
“Run, then,” I tell him. “I’ll give you the courtesy of a head start.”
Róng rises onto shaky legs and stumbles back one step at a time. The beasts of the forest growl and hiss, prompting him to spin on his heel and break into a sprint. He runs deeper into the bamboo forest with a pathetic whimper.
I let out an exhausted, heavy breath. I silently count backward from ten before flinging the blood upon my hand to the forest floor. The beasts sniff at it, drool dripping from their lips. I’ve marked Róng for death.
I step out of the way, cautious of their snarling fangs, and whisper,“Eat.”
The beasts lurch forward in one giant horde, growling and barking and snarling as they track Róng’s scent. It’s not long before the sounds of the hunt fade in the distance. They will find him sooner or later, I’m sure. I won’t give him the honor of a dignified death by my own hand.
He once hunted me and Jyn like dogs, and now he will die knowing the same terror.
I set to work instead, carrying Jyn to a neighboring hillside near a large field of soft grass. Blanking my mind, I begin to dig into the soft earth with my bare hands. Sweat drips from my brow, and my knees are stained brown from the damp soil. It’s pleasantly warm, a nice reprieve from the bitter winters back home. This place has a clear view of the sunset over the ocean, surrounded by fields of blue wildflowers.
She would like it, I think, if she were here.
I bury Jyn with great care, resigned as I return her to the earth. I carefully remove her hairpin and smooth out her locks so that she may rest in comfort. Grief bears down on my shoulders, sorrow squeezes my throat tight. As I lay flowers over her resting place, I can’t stop rubbing the closed black loop around my little finger. It’s terrifying, not being able to sense her on the other end of the line. I’m missing a part of myself now that she’s gone.
I sit beside her for what feels like hours until the sun sets and the moon rises. A part of me feels guilty for the lack of tears, but despite my overwhelming sadness, they do not flow. She promised she would be back, and I have no choice now but to take her word for it.
Somewhere in the distance, perhaps on the other side of our island paradise, I hear Róng’s scream. It’s a bloodcurdling sound, desperate and raw and pitiful. It cuts short.
The deed is done. Róng and his insatiable greed are no more.
And with it, I swear I feel the ocean sigh. The wind whispers past me. My son’s soul has finally been released, free to slip back into the natural cycle of reincarnation. I pray he’ll come back to us one day, too.
“Rest, my heart,” I whisper, one hand on the gravestone I placed here for Jyn. “I’ll wait for your return.”
43
It’s strange coming home againafter a whole moon away. Everything’s the same, and yet it’s all so different. The run-down shanties, the dirt roads, the bustling marketplace. People go about their business, some haggling with vendors while others gather in groups to share idle gossip and news from the war front. MaybeIam the one who’s changed.
A-Ba’s teahouse is exactly how I left it, though it feels like decades ago. I was a different man then, so full of hope and quips and energy. Now I can barely find the will to breathe. When I slide the front door open and step inside, I find a few customers enjoying pots of tea. Our cheapest blend, judging by the mild scent. It’s a relief to see the place is still afloat, although I’m concerned at my mother’s absence.
She’s nowhere in sight.
