The king pats his son on the shoulder. “We shall discuss things further once we have dealt with this beast.”
Reminded of my plight, I struggle within the confines of my cage, my hackles rising. The self-righteousness in their tone infuriates me. I’m nothing but an object to them, something to discard if they so choose. And they will. Even with the muzzle pulled tight over my face, I scream and growl with every ounce of fury burning in my chest. The more I lash out, the more the talismans sear my flesh. The heat is excruciating. Hotter, even, than the fire that maimed me all those years ago.
With a quick wave of his hand, the king summons the palace shamans.
They emerge from the shade of a nearby building, apparently awaiting their cue. They smell unnatural, so sickeningly bitter it makes me gag. Humans have no magic of their own, but they’ve learned to harness it for themselves through potions and incantations and the manipulation of qi; teachings passed down through the generations from a time when the gods still walked the earth.
“Wait,” Captain Sonam interrupts. “I wish to speak to it.”
“Speak to it?” one of the princes scoffs. “Whatever for?”
“Hurry up and get rid of the thing. It smells horrible,” grumbles another, pinching his nose with a sneer.
Curse him.
Despite the captain’s protestations, the shamans approach the cage, wearing their necklaces of bird skulls and dried herbs, their irises a milky white. Their bodies may be of the mortal realm, but I can tell by their distant gazes that their minds are worlds away. They chant in unison, a spell recited in a dead tongue, their low murmurs equal parts haunting and threatening. There’s static in the air, a rising charge causes my muscles to tighten and clench. An invisible force chokes me, scorching the air in my lungs and boiling my blood.
The sky darkens, a sudden storm manifesting overhead. It brings with it a wind strong enough to whip the entire palace aside. Dark clouds swirl as the jade beneath my cage begins to warp. I’m sinking, the ground beneath my feet transforming into quicksand. This is what they meant by banishing me to Hell. They’ve opened a gateway, and now they intend to throw me down and the key along with it.
Darkness engulfs me, claiming my body as I’m dragged beneath ground. It would be easy to give up, to let these monsters do what they want. But I haven’t survived all these years by literally tucking my tails between my legs.
I force an arm through the bars. The talismans’ magic is so intense it feels as though it singes through my fur, my flesh, my muscles, and all the way down to the bone, but I fight. I fight with every ounce of my being, and with one last desperate swipe, I dig my claws into the captain’s shoulder. It all happens so quickly that the king and Sonam’s mob of brothers can only blink as I drag him down.
The ground swallows us up, the banishment now complete.
At least I can die knowing I brought this insufferable human with me.
6Yue
Hunting Log #370:
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.
Ithink about death often, asmorbid 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 tocease. 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. Ihatethis 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.
