“It’s been at least a while since anyone’s passed my test,” he says, “but all four of you! I am most impressed.”
“Spare me your speech,” Sonam snaps. “We’ve conquered your trial. Now let us pass.”
With an almost dismissive sigh, the star god waves his hand. The earth rumbles beneath our feet as the courtyard walls slide apart, revealing the next ring of small pavilions and gardens within the Jade Palace like the circles within the bark of a tree. A small temple lies ahead. A lone stone lantern sits before the arrival steps, though its light is no match for the constant green glow of the main building at its core.
“A pity,” the star god says. “You would have made lovely additions to my garden. When you see my brother in the Court of Wrath, do give him my love.”
I grind my teeth so hard that my molars squeak. My hands won’t stop shaking. I can’t seem to scream no matter how hard I try to find my voice. To witness my sisters die a second time… I’m used to being treated cruelly, but this is too much. Rage boils within my blood, threatening to consume me. God or no, he can’t get away with this. I refuse to let anyone dishonor my sisters the way he’s done.
I pounce, attacking with my bare fists, kicking and screaming and scratching with all my might. With the star god pinned beneath me, I pull at his hair and claw at his face. I want to hurt him the way he’s hurt me.
“You bastard!”
Sonam grabs my shoulder. I nearly bite his arm off, surprisedat the contact. He holds me with a stern look, pulling me onto my feet.
“Don’t. There are consequences for killing a god.”
“Curse the consequences!” I shriek. “He killed my sisters!”
“They weren’t real, Fox.” There’s something close to pity in his tone. I hate it. I hatehim. “You said it yourself, they’re not real. Don’t let him deceive you.”
I force myself to breathe. Damn his calm head and cold logic. What am I supposed to do with all this anger? If I don’t lash out, it may well destroy me. How dare Sonam look me in the eye and tell me to let things be?
I shove the captain away, utterly disgusted. “Don’t touch me, human. Don’t you ever fucking touch me!”
The star god rises with a chuckle, wiping a hand over his face. Seeing him now, I haven’t left a mark on him. He’s as radiant as he was before, not a cut on his cheeks or a wrinkle to sully his robes. The power of divinity flows through him with such force that it rendered my efforts wasted.
“You’re full of surprises, little fox,” the star god taunts. “Would you like to try again?”
To my surprise, it’s Sooah who steps in between myself and the god, her imposing size casting a shadow over me. Her shoulders tremble ever so slightly, the hard edge to her expression ringing loud and clear—warning not to do anything foolish. She doesn’t strike me as irritated or upset, merely uneasy. Her brow is covered in a light sheen of sweat. Sooah seems eager to move on from this place, eager to leave her memories behind. It’s no small comfort to know I’m not the only one reeling from this horrid experience. If this is what we faced in the first Court of Hell, I shudder to think what awaits us.
I clench my fists. My nails dig into my palms hard enough tobreak skin, streaks of black dripping over my fingers. Taking a deep breath, I turn on my heels and trudge on, attempting to rid my mind of the faces of my sisters. Their ghosts are seared into my mind, haunting me even as we leave the first Court of Hell behind us.
16
The youngest star god clawed his way back up to the mortal coil, shocked to find the world above transformed into a paradise.
Luscious green trees grew ever taller. Sparkling blue rivers danced and curved across the lands to meet the oceans. Humans had crawled out of their mountain dwellings and begun to carve the earth to their will, breathing life into the soil in the form of golden wheat, vibrant rice paddies, and thriving bamboo forests.
He might have been able to appreciate the splendor, were he not burning with such terrible envy.
“Brother!” he called out to the Sun. “Brother, I beg of you, please help us!”
But the Sun did not heed his cries, unabashedly enjoying the attention and love of the world. As he was the sole solar deity, people prayed to him and him alone. They built shrines and temples in his name, bestowing upon him offerings of incense, ripe fruits, and mountains of gold. The Sun did not want to share in his newfound glory, and instead turned his back when his youngest brother called out his name.
Enraged, the ninth star cried out to the Heavens next. “Let me in!” he demanded. “I am a god as you all are! I belong neither in Hell, nor toiling away on this plane.”
The Heavens, too, ignored his pleas. They looked upon him with disdain. A god felled by something as crude as a mortal arrow wished to rejoin their ranks? And now he was throwing a fit for all to see. How wholly undignified!
The only person to take pity was his mother, the goddess Xihe. She descended from the Kingdom of Heaven to meet with her youngest son in secret.
“I cannot bring you back with me,” she said sorrowfully. “The best I can do is offer you a gift.”
His mother produced a paintbrush with a quick flourish of her hand. Even though it was simply made—hollowed bamboo and a tip of coarse horsehair—and easily mistaken for any commoner’s calligraphy brush, the magic within made the surrounding air spark and crackle. The sun mother plucked a large leaf from a nearby tree and demonstrated, painting a crude face upon its surface.
She pressed it to her face and was transformed. Once breathtaking, now she appeared a shriveled old woman.
“Use this to hide from Death,” she said, raising a hand to cast a spell upon her son. “It is enchanted so that only those with a god’s blessing may wield its power. Use it wisely, my child.”
