An Ember Among Shadows

Chapter Sixteen

"Beware the darkness, for shadows consume hope, and hope repels wickedness."

- Sacred Scripture, verse nine of The Darkness.

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He couldn't keep track of how long he had been imprisoned. How many hours, or days, had passed since he was locked inside the stinking hole. There was nothing else apart from the sound of his ragged breathing to accompany him, as well as the flush of water above. The swells and blisters had disappeared but the pricking pain in his stomach remained. Given how susceptible he was to sickness, and how cold it was in here, a fever had settled in as well. Food came only every now and then. They hadn't bothered to search him so his charms survived. Maybe they were confident he wasn't of any threat.

The charms. He thought his exorcist abilities would make him superior to most things, even spirits, but his journey so far had only proven him otherwise. There was a lot he didn't know than what he thought he knew. Resting his head on the wall, he let this thought play in his mind, comforting him with every possibility it presented, but it all came down to one thing.

What now? He had come this far to put an end to the plague infesting his new home, only to be held chained in a dark prison. He must do something. That was when he heard her shriek. So piercing he had to cover his ears. The sound came from somewhere outside. The gap below the door showed a rushing of footsteps and smoke.

Was the shrine burning? There sounded to be a commotion out there. He could use this opportunity to run. But the door was locked. The padlock was outside. Breaking the door down was impossible, more so given his weakened state. Digging the ground below it to pass through the gap would take time. There was one other thing he could think of. He would scorn himself for this later, but self-preservation prevailed. If he didn't escape this instant, the world would meet its end.

He channelled his mind to the waters above him, cultivating the energy of the moving water and directed it towards the padlock on the other side of the door. The Loosening, Nezha had termed it. He didn't know how to do it exactly. It was all intuitive. Nezha had said to foster the energy around him so he imagined himself doing just that. Slowly, and much to his utter surprise, he heard the mechanism begin to click and move, disintegrating itself until the door swung loose. He waited until the sound of the footsteps died out before tiptoeing out and rushed to another cell door. "Yu, are you in there?" he called out.

"Took you so long. Get me out!"

"I'm trying." He repeated the spell, keeping his mind directed on the water above, now sounding louder. The lock gave way and Yu quickly appeared, rubbing his shoulders. He was in his boy state. "We must find Nezha."

"No, we need to flee. You're sick and even with all these powers I'm feeling from the mountains, your sickness is overwhelmingly affecting me," Yu grumbled like a child. A rather scared child.

Should he? If he fled now he could well avoid the detection of the Orakuri. But Nezha...she had been by his side without deflecting even once. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he wasn't the type of person to ignore that sort of good behaviour from others. Taking a deep breath, Ruqa turned sternly to Yu. "We cannot leave her."

"We can, and we will. From now on, we're looking out for number one."

"I–I can't. Not when we're facing whoever those people in black are."

Yu regarded him, then rolled his eyes. "Fine. You're going to regret this." He nodded up. "They're all gathering at the centre. The sorceress included. At least, that is what my nose tells me."

"The courtyard? Oh no." Ruqa knew what was shortly to commence. He dashed out of the prison section. Navigating the shrine wasn't difficult. The layout pretty much resembled those of temples. What was difficult was knowing you might not get out alive.

They wound their way around until they reached a well located facing the courtyard, but hidden well enough within the mountain shadows. It was night. The Orakuri members filled the courtyard. The moon was visible, round and complete.

And shining blood red. Ruqa remembered what people said about the other side of the moon being shrouded in mystery. But this red moon was shrouded in nothing but menace. Like an ancient force so vile and wicked threatening to emerge out of this whole ordeal.

From where he and Yu were crouched, they could see the luan tree, looming ominously against the reddening sky. The bark of the tree was almost black. At the base of the tree, an altar had been set. Two rods were spiked respectively on both sides of the altar. A length of red and black ribbons trailed from the top of the spike down towards the centre of the altar, where Nezha sat with her head low. Ruqa almost didn't recognize her. Her face was gaunt, bearing only resignation. They had donned her in a red silk gown and left her long black hair untied and free from accessories. Her lips were tainted a deep red and her skin was coated in ivory powder, but she bared her burn scar. She raised her head and noticed him behind the well. He looked at her reassuringly. We'll get out of here.

"The time has come, my lieges." Thenyu addressed the followers. "Our order has survived decades of trials. We have tried, and tried and tried again. But every effort proved futile. Gamu could not be summoned."

Gamu? The spirit king? Ruqa's blood boiled.

"Until we found our precious Yue Nezha. She has done her duty for us. Assassinated those temple dwellers, killed those who dare hinder our path."

The assassination up north, thought Ruqa, the one Pahko mentioned what seemed like ages ago. Had that been all their doing?

"She is our prophetess," Thenyu continued. "Our liberator, our saviour and, above all, our Red Priestess."

Hold up. Ruqa had heard of that title before. Jiro had mentioned a Red Priest, a person used to host Gamu on earth. There it was. The last piece of the picture, unravelled before his very eyes. He held his gaze on her, but she had averted her eyes away from him.

"Tonight, the red moon shines for us. We will succeed this time, I am certain of it. Let us begin the ritual."

Nezha knelt helplessly as the Orakuri surrounded her. Her gown was the only flash of colour, crimson against the sea of black cloak, like an ember among shadows. The Orakuri members had their hands held in front of them, palms up towards the red moon, and began singing an ancient tune.

As the song grew louder, and the air was stiff with stuff of nightmares, Ruqa was about to throw up. Above him, clouds swirled around the moon which seemed to glow redder by the minute. The mountain shook, reverberating the ground beneath his soles.

Nezha convulsed, twitching in an inhuman snap. Obsidian smoke seeped out from below the tree, stalking sinuously on the ground, engulfing her in midnight. The smoke was darker than the sky. The ambience illuminated by the redness of the moon made everything considerably creepier. The shadow streamed out, like a river, spread out to loom over them from all directions.

To his horror, the stream of smoke pierced her spine. She remained breathing and unflinching, but the smoke grew thicker and taller. The edges began to form a sort of lumpy figure, curving its way to form a head, shoulders and arms. Two orbs appeared at the top of the figure, looking very much like a pair of red eyes.

Thenyu knelt, and so did the others around her.

"It's him," Yu said suddenly. Ruqa didn't have to wait for him to explain. Part of him knew what he was seeing.

The spirit king had finally appeared.