I don’t know whether to be impressed or afraid.
“Eat them!” the boar demon bellows as he charges toward me.
My sisters always used to tell me that the best defense is not fighting at all, but I’m without choice. I shake my head free of distraction and get ready, ripping off my mask to reveal my true, hideous self.
I leap. Aim for the throat. The boar demon’s thick neck is too hard to bite through. There’s nothing exemplary about demon flesh. It’s tougher, harder to chew, like gnawing through a thick piece of tree bark knowing the fiber will at least fill your belly. After decades of tearing arms from shoulders and heads from necks, brutality is perfectly perfunctory, though I’ll admit that it’s strange to be fighting alongside humans instead of against them.
With a sweep of his arm, Bao knocks me away and I land with a yelp. My ribs are bruised, but mercifully unbroken. He wipesa hand over his skin, laughing at the tiny rivulets of black blood smeared against his palm.
“Stupid fox,” he says with a deep laugh. “Weakling can never kill Bao.”
I get back up on all fours, digging my claws into the dirt beneath my feet. I try again, circling around to attack at a different angle, but the boar once again throws me away.
Curses. He’s too strong an opponent.
The boar demon lifts his axe-wielding arm and brings his weapon down. I jump out of the way, a narrow miss. He swings at me again and again, a flurry of manic attacks. There’s nowhere to go, nowhere to escape.
“Fox!”
I hear him before I see him. The quick rumble of rushed footsteps, a grunt as he leaps, his hastily retrieved sword whistling as it slices through air. The wetthunkof Sonam’s blade hits the back of the boar’s neck, driving through hide and bone. It’s not a clean cut, stopping only halfway through, the demon too hefty and Sonam without enough speed. The captain hangs there, jerking his legs forward to encourage tearing, but to no avail.
I get up hastily, running around while giving the demon a wide berth. Once I’ve put enough distance between us, I sprint forward, throwing all of my weight behind me as I come up from behind, snatch up the other side of Sonam’s blade, clamping it tight between my teeth, and use my weight to drive us forward. We’ve turned his sword into a saw.
The boar’s head falls to the ground, rolling a few feet before coming to a halt.
Quiet surrounds us, the stench of death filling my nose. I rise slowly, quickly replacing my mask as I sheepishly glance in Sonam’s direction. I don’t want anybody to look at me when I’m likethis. Thankfully, he’s distracted as he wipes his blade clean on a corner of his robes.
The Demon Hunter of Jian just saved my life, and I frankly don’t know how to feel. A minutia of gratitude, certainly, but mostly bewilderment. Good manners dictate I should thank him, but my pride won’t allow it.
“Idiots!” Lin wails, stomping her little feet as she approaches Bao’s quickly cooling body. She kicks his head away. “Useless, all of you! Do you have any idea how long it’s been since we’ve had fresh meat?”
I snatch Lin up by the scruff and rip the mask off her face. The magic falls away in the same manner it does when I remove my own. Standing before us isn’t the innocent child she pretends to be, but a vicious, snarling, red-eyed boar demon. Smaller than Bao, but infinitely more clever.
“Tell me about the Jade Palace,” I demand.
“I’m not telling you anything—”
I grab her up by the throat, applying just enough pressure to break skin with my nails. “Speak, or you’ll end up like your friends. How do we get out of here?”
Shemustanswer. “Ten courts,” Lin huffs. “Each with its own trial. Only souls worthy of redemption can make their way through to the gate within.”
“What’s this nonesense about the stars?”
“The star gods. They serve as the judges of Hell. Pass their tests, and you’ll be set free.”
Sonam sheaths his sword. “But how do we get past the Sleeping City?”
Lin cackles. “You don’t.”
I frown steeply. “Speak plainly, swine. What do you mean?”
“You don’t get past. You have to gothrough.” The boar demon doesn’t stop laughing. It’s chilling, the sound echoing all aroundus as she grows more and more hysterical. The time for helpful answers has come and gone, but maybe I can pry one more truth from her wart-covered lips.
“The Maskmaker,” I say harshly. “Where can I find him?”
“If I tell you, will you let me go free?”
This conniving brat, countering a question with a question. I weigh my options. I suppose it’s a small price to pay. “That depends entirely on your answer.”
