The air was an unforgiving gray of fog or smoke; he could not tell. The small seaside village had been burnt right down to cinders.
Liao remembered what the village used to be; a small settlement where the drowned mountains met the sea; where the people were kind to strangers and generous of food. Liao remembered the sound of seabirds as he struggled to brush golden sand locked deep in his son's jet hair, the smell of salt in the air as his daughter and played a game of seashells on the beach, the orange sunlight shining down on his wife and the beautiful flower necklace she wore around her neck. He was ready to be done with this gray waste, ready to return home to his family.
The only souls that occupied the village now were those of the men that caused this dread thing. They have the look of priests if priests were evil murderous bastards. They wore long black hooded robes with pale white masks; the look of them put Liao on edge.
It was an interesting place she chose to meet up, the ruins of a once beautiful community. I suppose she did spare me the grief of bringing my family here again to have my kids see this. It was a morbid kind of gratitude that he felt.
She better have something good. I wonder what I'm even looking for; tall? short? ugly? Beautiful? A 'woman with a big dog' is not exactly descriptive, thank you for that, Han. It'll be dark soon, that won't help.
He had been watching these priests from atop a hill covered by jungle thicket. Not a one had seen him and he would make sure to keep it that way.
The sound of a gentle pat on dirt caught his attention. He turned to see her; she who he could only assume to be his contact. She stepped forward from the shadow, her kinky hair tied into a bun.
"They say Aran's flame burned bright," she said in his tongue, the tongue of Guiying.
"So bright that even the blind gained sight," Liao replied, in the old tongue with a bow of his head. "Very few of my own can speak the old tongue, dead as it is, never have I ever heard an outsider, especially an Alorian speak it so well."
Her hand reached to the side, low and slow as if she was becoming something to her. "Every person I have ever met has assumed I hail from those dire lands of the south, Aloria. They all speak with such assurance and yet I have never set foot there. It is true yes my family line traces there but do not claim it as my own."
"It's a shame to see a beautiful girl such as yourself take no pride in her motherland. Here we-" Liao stopped as his eyes met the beast for which she beckoned.
The golden eyes were what he saw first but he was soon met with the snarl of a wolf lager than any that roamed Thacia. Its shoulder sat at her breast, easily four feet tall. It's gray-black fur seemed to rise and sway as it growled low at him, long white fangs shining in the low light.
"Calm Micco," she said in the tongue of Thacia and just like that the beast tamed. "What do you have for me?" She rubbed the beasts head, her deep ebony skin drinking up the last light.
"Rather, what do you have for me?"
"Ha," she said, turning to walk away.
"Wait, promise me you haven't set my clan up here. You will deliver, yes?"
"Do you take me for a liar?"
"I take all for liars, it is why I am so good at my job, it's foolish to trust given our line of work but this is important enough for me to make an exception..."
"You're right, it is foolish to trust. Look here," she said, moving next to him and pointing down to the gray.
The metal sewn into her leather armor felt cool against Liao's skin. I should have worn better armor, she has metal on her leathers.
"They spread it," she said.
"How do you mean?"
"The corruption, somehow they spread it. They take it to new villages and infect the population, after the madness sets in they burn the village to the ground, round up the infected and slaughter those they don't bring."
"Surely the Mother would see an end to this. Even Shichar Khan would not stand for this barbarism."
"How is it barbarism? They're simply purging the infected to spare the healthy."
"I see."
"They have the perfect excuse and they seem to be growing in number. Now, what do you have for me?"
"Villages in eastern Sylacia have been vanishing as well though very few. With the information you've given me I suspect these are the culprits."
The wolf gave a low growl as if he could sense the frustration that grew across the girl's face. "I knew this months ago, many know this. It isn't them, the patterns are too dissimilar. Where the villages here go up in flame by the tens only a handful of Sylacian villages have gone missing. They've disappeared with no trace but most importantly with their homes intact; food on the table, plows in the field, doors wide open; it's as if some force simply came and took them without a struggle."
"That's foreboding."
"It is. Though now I'm curious, curious for good information; the kind that you're going to be giving to that lovely Jyhrian woman that you report to, what was her name? Kelana? Kelitah?"
Fear and confusion washed over him. How could she possibly know this?
The beast bore fang once again and took a step toward him. The girl's eyes remained steadfast on Liao as if challenging him.
"Perhaps we can start this over, there is no need for animosity. My name is...Lee, you are?"
"Overah."
"Like the goddess?"
"Like the goddess."
"Well, Overah, we have reports of a fleet of foreign ships moving in and out of Fyrcon Nysos."
"I knew that too, tell me why they move in and out."
Liao cleared his throat trying to mask his fear. "Some believe they have uncovered a beast of myth."
"A dragon you mean?"
"If you already knew what was the purpose of this?"
"Goodbye Liao," she said with a smirk running across her face.
"Wait I can make a better offer, please, I can't go back with so little," Liao said reaching into an empty pocket. "What the fuck?" He looked up, his eyes meeting hers. "Give it back!" Liao reached for the hilt of his sword.
The girl turned her back uncaring. "Micco, kill."
"Overah wait I-"
The first bite Liao didn't feel. The second bite cracked the bone in his arm. It was different, fighting a beast was not like fighting a man. Where Liao would kick he would be met with fang. Where he would punch he would be met again with fang. Fight was not the right word. In an instant, he found himself on his back with an angry wolf's mouth around his throat. He had screamed before he hit the ground, or had he? The world was a blur. He knew his throat was being torn from his neck but he felt no pain. All that filled his mind were his wife and children.
After some time the beast stopped thrashing. Liao found the strength to open his eyes to the canopy above. They closed again, the world spinning in his head, he could feel the streams of red running down his neck. When he opened his eyes again he was greeted by the sight of the black hoods and white masks surrounding him. Maybe these priests can save me, he thought as the world faded to black.
Egg drop soup, who knew the heavens would smell like egg drop soup, it smells just how Lei makes it.
The voice of his wife Lei rang out and woke him from the darkness. "....How can we ever repay you?"
Liao shot up in bed, he felt a slickness and foam filling his mouth. He looked around. He was home, the house seemed smaller than he remembered, it had only three rooms but he had never felt claustrophobic in it. The walls seemed warped, bending in ways that a wall couldn't. He felt sick but he knew he was home in his bed, safe.
"In time you'll come to find a way of repayment," the voice of a man he did not know filled his home.
Liao tied to call for his wife but found only gurgles and grunts escaped him. "Llleeah! LeeeIA! LEei!"
"Daddy is up! Look, mommy," the voice of his rang out as the boy ran up to him, his sister close behind.
Liao looked down at his son, his pride, the boy he hadn't seen in days, and bit into his face.
A million thoughts in one raced through him. No, no, this is not real. I can't move. Is this hell? He tried with all his might to stop himself from biting his son again as the boy screamed. Liao turned to his daughter who watched too petrified to move and bit her too. No, no, no, I can't. I'm not.
His daughter was small for her age but she somehow mustered the strength to shoved him backward and onto the bed. Liao tried to force himself to stay down but he had no control. When he sat up he saw his wife staring in horror as the man in the doorway closed the door to their home. His daughter grabbed her brother, the blood still running down her arm from where he bit her and began to close the door.
Run, please run, he screamed in his mind only to find a horribly twisted gurgle escaped him.
It took all three of them pushing on the door to contain him within the bedroom. What am I? He found himself howling and grunting, clawing and grabbing. This is my hell.
He could hear the struggling attempts of his wife trying to open the door, screaming for the neighbors to break through and save her and her children. They need saving. They need saving from me. Why Aran? I have been faithful, why make me harm my beloved? That's when he felt it, a primal rage forced him into the door but it did not budge, he knew he couldn't stop until he got to them.
He could hear new sounds from just past the door, sounds of screaming and slamming and begging sounds he needed to get to. I can't. Who am I?
Before long he found himself through the door. My wife. No bite.
Lei was on the floor, her children crouched over her, scratching and biting at her as she kicked and punched and screamed.
Love? No, bite, eat.
Liao crouched beside his children and bit into his wife.
Before long he no longer hungered for her. She was with them now. They were so hungry, they could hear the food outside shouting and running.
A voice outside yelled out "Why are you doing this to us!?"
"This village is infected, you all must be purged for the good of Thacia."
Their sounds and words made him angry, so angry and so hungry. He needed to get outside. They all tried to bash the door, then the walls. The more they moved the angrier they got.
Soon the house was hot, orange and red took up around them and danced. He didn't know where the food was but he was so hungry and so angry.
For a moment he could feel himself peek through. His home was on fire, his children and wife were burning, he was burning. Whatever took him didn't like fire.
Forgive me.
He thought about sandy beach hair, silly games, and flower necklaces as he gave himself up to the flames.
ns 15.158.61.48da2
