Count the Stars

Chapter 12 - Yaoguai

"So, you grew up in the palace?" I asked.

Rylan was walking leisurely next to me, whistling a merry little tune that reminded me of a small bird.

"Yep," he said cheerfully. "Just me and my sister."

Just as he said that, his face darkened with worry, and I felt a rush of sympathy for this boy next to me.

"What was it like?" I asked, quietly.

Rylan was silent for a moment before he answered. "I imagine that you of all people would know better than anyone."

He sighed, and his footsteps slowed. "It was quiet. And lonely. It's funny how some of the most important people in a kingdom can feel so invisible in their own castle."

I did not know what to say to that.

Movement to the corner of my eye stopped me in my tracks. A flash of silver white. A whiff of rotting flesh. A tuft of rough brown fur.

My arm shot out, catching Rylan's arm. "Did you see that?"

He looked at me, following my gaze to the edge of the bushes in the forest. "See what?"

I swallowed my uneasiness as nothing seemed to be anything out of the blue. "Nothing. Probably just a wild animal."

We continued on, but I found myself unable to let my guard down. Every step I took was carefully measured, ensuring that I would be in a position where I was able to defend and protect myself if need be. I had the most horrible feeling that we were being followed, and that a pair of empty eyes were boring into my back, surveying my every move.

The forest buzzed with the sounds of quiet wildlife, and Rylan's hand snuck ever closer to the dagger that hung on his side.

And suddenly, with a loud rumble and an ear-splitting roar, the ground jolted forward as if by some otherworldly forces. I spread my hands out to catch myself as I tumbled, turning my body to take in our mysterious opponent.

The sight that greeted me was gruesome to say the least.

It looked like a heavy cow or bull, with powerful hooves that allowed it to move about silently, and twisted horns spilling out the sides of its face, and on its back grew sharp daggers, small bits of trees and debris that had been sharpened to a point.

"Yaoguai," I breathed. A deadly and malevolent animal spirit with horrible powers.

Rylan shoved me forward, out of the yaoguai's way. "Hurry!" He yelled at me, running. "We have to move!"

My thoughts were scattered and I ran after him, as if in a daze. "Split up!" I gasped, "We have to split up!"

Without another word, Rylan took off in the opposite direction. "Meet me on the other side of the forest!" He shouted at me.

The yaoguai took off after Rylan, and I slowed to a stop, winded. I had to think of a way to help him, and fast.

I bolted, cutting straight across the large thickness of the trees, slapping away branches that obstructed my path, heading straight for Rylan. I did not want to put him or myself in danger, particularly myself, because what good was I to Rylan if I was dead and unable to help him?

Not for the first time, I cursed my lack of powers in the human world. If I had been back in the Upper Kingdom, I would be a true immortal unable to perish. In here, I would bet that I most probably would die if I didn't play my cards right.

Thinking hard, I grabbed a particularly long branch with a pointy end from a tree, bending it upwards until it cracked free and hoisting it over my shoulder as I ran. Amidst the dark denseness of the trees, I spotted movement on the other side.

My face tightened. Rylan, I thought. I'm coming for you.

The thing about the yaoguai was that nobody knew very much about them or how to defeat them, since normal people going about their daily lives did not often come across such demon spawnings from hell, or Diyu, as we called it. Occasionally, I would hear of news where yaoguai would emerge from the depths of Diyu to come terrorize several villages on the outskirts of a certain town, but apart from that, there was nothing much that was known about these malevolent creatures.

It had to have a weakness, however. All beings and creatures that roamed on this earth did, even the most powerful and malicious. Especially the most powerful and malicious.

They were the ones who fell the hardest once their weaknesses were found.

In the near distance, Rylan shouted at the creature to back off, and I hurried my pace, even though my breath was already coming in short raspy bursts, and my legs were starting to burn from exertion.

Creeping up behind a large tree, I took a deep breath, and pounced before I lost my nerve.

Coming up from behind the creature, I swung the branch at it with strength I did not know I possessed -- kind of like swinging a branch at the hardest, thickest, most durable piece of leather. The branch hit it squarely in the back, but it did not so much as flinch, and I gestured for Rylan to move away as it turned towards me.

Rooting my legs firmly on the ground, I lifted my branch again, bringing it down like a cane. Amidst the fear and panic that I felt, I must admit that at that moment I thought myself like a scarily strict mother disciplining a naughty child. I bit back a hysterical peal of laughter that threatened to bubble past my lips.

The creature roared, in annoyance probably, and charged at me, but before it could come close Rylan had swung in, tripping it with by hitting its legs with a much larger, much thicker branch that he must have pried free from a large tree.

It fell with a dull thud, but its spiked tail sliced through the air madly, catching Rylan in the thigh. A splash of blood flew, just as Rylan threw his dagger -- straight at the yaoguai's heart.

The yaoguai fell silent, just as Rylan collapsed.

I was moving towards him before I could even register what had happened, hands sliding around Rylan's torso before he could hit the ground. He landed heavily on me, hands gripping his bloodied leg, face scrunched up in pure, undulated agony.

And then the screams began.