Tales of the Spirit World: The Demon Prince in Exile
Part II: Of an Oath
The trees murmured furtively, anxiously as she sped down the slope, each imparting a concerned voice as they faded through her body.
'Someone! Someone! Someone!'
'A stranger! A stranger!'
'The river! The river!'
'We are afraid!'
The spirit gathered herself and dove into the ground, moving through it as a fish moves through water, or a bird through the sky. The dirt and stones trembled, not from her passage, but with the shuddering echoes of fear from the trees above. Animals burrowed into their dens or took to flight, clambering up the shoulders of cliffs and the mountain where her father waited for word of the intruder.
As the island's guardian, Oh would face the intruder alone. Grim pride (and excitement at the opportunity to prove her worth) urged her on toward the river.
'Here! Here! Here!'
Alerted by stones and trees alike, she sprang from the earth, manifesting in her most ferocious form: a second pair of eyes sprouted above her snout, her fangs and claws elongated into terrifying weapons, her tail lashed the air like a whip.
"STAND AND DECLARE THYSELF, TRESSPASSER!" she roared, glaring down at the stranger who dared violate the sanctity of her father's land.
Eyes like twin embers in pools of pitch glinted in the dying daylight as the creature froze in its tracks and fixated on her. There was a flash of blood-tinged gold; it had drawn a weapon, a crude, heavy dagger around which hung the miasma of many deaths. Rage and bloodlust smote her, a crushing wave of killing intent contained in a single glance.
Suddenly, the terror ceased. Instead of anger, it looked at her with a mixture of surprise and disdain. Oh shuddered; now she understood the trees panic. 'Demon! A demon!' Slaves of the gods, but looking at this one, she could not believe it had ever bowed its head, heavy as its horns might be, to grovel in servitude.
The demon, having apparently dismissed her as beneath its notice, resumed its journey, loping along the riverbank with an easy stride as though it owned the ground beneath his feet.
The conceit stung her, and she cursed her moment of weakness. Oh galloped along the ever-climbing ridge that paralleled the bank, until she was ahead of the demon. With a howl that was as much warning as battle-cry, she leapt clear, intent on smashing the arrogant creature upon the rocks.
The howl became an undignified yelp as impossibly strong paws grabbed her forelegs in mid-air and flung her into the river in a single movement, her form dissolving as it touched the water. Her consciousness sought the river-bottom, the rocks embracing her as Oh collected herself. Rage and humiliation pounded through her as she flew back to the riverbank. This had gone far enough. She would tear the demon limb from limb for its audacity!
She hurled herself up at it from below, but somehow, it had anticipated her. The red-gold light flashed in her eyes, blinding her, and something smote the exact center of her forehead like the blow from a falling boulder. Stunned, she fell back on her haunches, gaping dumbly at her opponent.
The demon held up the golden dagger its left paw, the edges of its blade pointing to sky and earth. With the palm of its other paw, it touched the rounded pommel of the hilt, wordlessly indicating that it had felled her with that alone. The warning was clear:
'Attack me again, and I will not hold back.'
Again, fear surrounded her, deep, dark fear like roots of climbing vine burrowing, parasitic, into its host tree. She forced it back. She was the guardian of the island, and the intruder had proved itself even more dangerous than she had dared imagine. She must not let it reach her father!
"GO NO FURTHER, DEMON!" she snarled, stumbling onto her four legs as the demon turned away. The earth trembled, the rocks and trees responding to her summons. The demon cast an exasperated glance back over its shoulder, snorting disgustedly through its wide nostrils. Before she could respond, it stepped off the bank onto the water. The river turned black where its feet touched, but it paid this no heed, striding upstream on the face of the water as easily as it had on land.
"Halt!" Oh cried, shock, confusion, and a tumult of other emotions she dared not examine too closely causing her to lose control of her battle form. "Halt!" she demanded helplessly. The demon ignored her. She kept pace with it, running along the river bank as the sun sank behind her. The river twisted back and forth, wending over rapids the demon took in bounds that barely interrupted its pace.
'It will soon approach my totem,' she realized. An instant later, a plan occurred to her, one that made her bare her fangs in a feral smile.
Mere steps before the demon drew abreast of the island where her father had placed her totem, she dove back under the earth, her consciousness flying across the water to the totem at the same instant she urged stones to fling themselves at the demon from the place she had just left. As she emerged in the dank, dark cave, she heard the satisfying sound of a heavy body thudding against the rocks outside. The island was saturated with her consciousness; she did not even need to see it to know where the demon landed. She lunged through the rock, her jaws closing on the demon's left shoulder, immobilizing its dagger arm.
It hissed in pain, but did not get a chance to switch its grip on the dagger, for Oh dragged it up the steep shoulder of the island, scraping its back against the sharp stones. As they neared the top, Oh snapped her head up, flinging the demon into the air, so that it crashed down on the island among trees and bracken, sprawled on its back and winded. Immediately, she was on it, the full weight of her monstrous form pinning it to the ground.
"THOU ART BEATEN, DEMON," she pronounced, her fangs hovering scant inches from its throat.
The demon chuckled, its lips spreading in a wide smirk of devious glee. Oh stared down at it, mystified by its strange behavior yet again. It did not seem the least bit afraid of its defeat or impending death, but rather… amused.
The last vestiges of the sun vanished from the sky and the slivered crescent of the waxing moon was already ascending. The demon's eyes slid closed and it sank back against the earth, all muscles and sinew relaxing completely as it breathed out a deep sigh through its snout. The wound in its shoulder closed as the skin knit together.
"IF THOU WILLT SURRENDER…" she began doubtfully, not quite prepared to slay a completely helpless opponent in cold blood.
It nodded, its eyes sliding slightly open to look up at her with rueful acknowledgement.
"EXPLAIN WHY THOU SHOULDST COME TO THIS ISLAND," she decided.
It turned its head to one side, its shoulders twitching in something that might have been a shrug.
Oh narrowed her eyes, suspecting some form of trickery or mockery. "SPEAK, DEMON, THIS ONE'S PATIENCE GROWS THIN."
It sighed again, and slowly opened its maw. White like sea foam under starlight filled the space where its tongue should have been. Oh started back in shock, enough for the demon to get one arm free. Instead of attacking, it merely placed its paw to its mouth, then lowered it, cupped so that the white thing was held within.
"I wasn't being silent out of rudeness, Guardian," it… he said, in a voice deep like the rollers that boomed against the island's high, rocky coast, "but I'm sure you can understand why I couldn't explain myself earlier." He held up his paw for her scrutiny.
Oh sniffed at it, then blinked as it moved, twisting and lengthening like a grub when a rock has been overturned. Black hair appeared amidst the white, then two eyes of deep blue suffused with warm light similar to that which ever-more-rarely shone in her own father's eyes. Her jaw fell open in realization: the demon's aura overwhelmed it, but she recognized the divine presence of a God.
"By Mother Qi's womb!" Oh reverted to her manifest state and clambered off the demon so she could bow low. "This one wishes to be able to extend welcome to mine father's island, but this one hath neither right nor privilege," she said in a pained voice, eyes only for the godchild. The little female rolled on her stomach and cooed at her inquisitively, ash-colored tufts of eyebrows wrinkling beneath the golden crescent on her brow.
The demon was watching her bemusedly, his expression reminding Oh of earlier indignities. "Why shouldst thou carry thy master within thy mouth, demon?" she asked sternly, "Thou mayest have harmed her, and surely, the journey was most uncomfortable for the divine person."
"Well, well, well, that scroll-sniffer was right when he said the place was 'out of the way,'" the demon remarked, "You have no idea who I am, do you?"
The manner of the question made Oh bristle; it was bad enough to be teased by capricious wind spirits for her isolation and ignorance of the outside world, for this demon to do the same was too much! "This one does not deign to be familiar with the low slaves of the Gods," she rumbled.
"I don't doubt it," replied the demon with a sardonic smirk. The godchild babbled drowsily to herself as she tucked her fist into her mouth and closed her eyes. The demon closed his paw gently over the sleeping godchild and held the fist to his chest. "The reason I carried her in my mouth is because that is the only way I have to paws free to fight those who would drag her into the Abyss if they found us."
"What?!"
The demon's shoulders drooped. "I'm quite tired," he admitted, "I crave a boon of thee, Guardian: take me to thy father, Lord Hái-dǎo, the God of this island. I will present him with the Truth of our coming to this place."
"Thou must forgive mine father," Oh pleaded several hours later, as the pre-dawn mists curled around them, grey and chill, "He hath spent many years alone and in deepening bitterness. This one imagines he wouldst soon allow himself to fade away entirely if not for the memory of his friends that binds him to this plane."
The demon, Zhāng-nán, the Firstborn of the Demon Race, glared at Oh and brusquely swept aside another innocent stand of bamboo as he stomped down the mountain. Oh cringed, but did not say anything; the bamboo would easily recover, and after her father's shameful behavior, she was inclined to allow Zhāng-nán to vent his rage.
"This one shall…"
"'This one' can't do Chaos-balls unless your father tells you to!" Zhāng-nán snarled rudely, "I have half a mind to shake this island's dirt off my feet and keep running, that way that pathetic lump kept on whining about…!" He kicked at a boulder half as tall as he was, reducing the bottom half to dust and sending the rest sailing off into the mists; Oh would not be surprised if it reached the second waterfall.
"This one does not believe thou wouldst: thou hast already sworn an oath to take upon thyself all death and despair the child will bring, in order to give her sanctuary here."
Zhāng-nán grunted, resigned. Oh slipped past him, into the clearing that was their final destination. The mists parted, as if aware that they intruded on the sacred place where the river's headwater murmured, deep and dark and senseless, a vacant face turned to the fog-shrouded sky.
"Oh…"
The spirit turned as he joined her beside the headwater. "I… My test of your strength and will earlier… I also tested your cunning. I know you'll find some way to help her when the time comes." It was as close to an apology as the demon would ever get, Oh knew. Having learned just who he was, she felt a certain gratification at having earned his acknowledgement as a warrior.
"Do thou proceed, demon," she said graciously.
Zhāng-nán glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "I have no idea what's going to happen when I put her in there," he admitted, the fist cradled to his chest twitching ever-so-slightly as he looked back down at the shimmering black pool, "Wan Shi Tong wasn't too specific. I got the feeling he didn't know for certain either."
Oh did not reply; it was not her place. It was up to Zhāng-nán to take the final step for the godchild's sake.
The demon knelt and slowly opened his fist, gazing at the little life he had borne over so many thousands of miles. She slept, sweetly unaware. "By La…" Oh heard him mutter. He lowered his paw to the rippling surface of the water, hesitated, then tipped his palm so that the godchild slid silently into the pool. The luminescence of the shroud winked out like a doused lantern as she descended with the speed of a stone.
Oh resisted the urge to lunge in after her. Zhāng-nán leaned so far forward, attempting to scry the depths, she was afraid he would fall in. "When will…?"
The black pool blossomed in silver and blue light that sent the mists scurrying. The surface rippled, bubbled, then began to turn on itself, a whirlpool in miniature. A powerful wave of chi washed over Oh, who trembled and backed away from the headwater. Zhāng-nán remained where he was, a massive crouching hulk silhouetted by the radiance.
'Child of La and child of Tui – what manner of power does she possess?' The divine presence was neither malevolent nor beneficent, merely a great being of power. Oh lowered her head between her paws and watched, torn between terror and fascination and awe.
A form of softly gleaming white rose from the pool, slender, female, draped with a long veil of midnight hair. The shroud clung to her, a half-sloughed skin or cocoon. Her wide dark eyes stared blankly into the distance.
Zhāng-nán reached out to her; on instinct, presumed Oh. The newborn goddess's eyes turned on him and he flinched, his paw still extended in mid-air. "Allow me to assist thee, Goddess," he intoned.
The goddess stared at him, no hint of recognition in her vacant eyes. Oh thought she saw Zhāng-nán shudder, but it might have been her imagination. "Forgive me this liberty," he said, taking hold of the shroud and drawing it off the goddess's body. She gave no sign of offense, merely continued to watch him as he used his dagger to cut the cloth, binding it into the form of a garment. A single white stone from among the boulders, whittled by the blade, tied it together. He stood, bowed, and ever-so-cautiously, dressed his charge.
Had Oh not been the guardian spirit of an island isolated from the world by her father's will, she would have been outraged at the audacity of his intimate touch; as it was, she saw only his deep sadness and longing in the tenderness by which he clad La's daughter in the converted shroud.
"And now I offer thee my own Oath, writ in my Blood." Zhāng-nán bowed and turned the dagger on himself, grunting as it pierced his heart. Deep crimson blood, nearly black in the glow that filled the clearing, trickled down the blade and hilt in slender runnels that collected at the pommel, dripping into his palm. He swayed, fell back on his heels, body curling in on itself as the dagger bit deeper.
"Stop!" Oh gasped, "Thou willt kill thyself!"
Zhāng-nán shot her an agonized grin and tore the dagger out of his chest. "Just… give me a second…!" he gasped, pressing his bloodstained paw over the wound.
Oh slunk forward, a high keen of worry trickling from her throat. Zhāng-nán chuckled, a raspy gurgle of self-mockery. "That hurt a little bit more than I thought it would," he admitted. He gulped several more shuddering breaths, then pulled himself upright, his attention on the goddess who had witnessed all with the impassivity of the oblivious.
"I Mark thee with the Signs of my Race, to Seal my Death with thee," he told her, crouching so that he could paint the blood on her face with a single claw, "In the name of La, to she who hath claim on my Life, I, Zhāng-nán the Firstborn, do swear to die the death of one who betrays Koh to protect thee from thine enemies." As he spoke, he inscribed the Signs of his promise: above her eyes, along her jaw, and twice on either side of her throat. The red stood out starkly against the goddess's pale skin like fresh wounds. Oh turned away, revolted, and ashamed for the revulsion. She might not understand the demon's method, but she could grasp the depth of his love and devotion.
"I suggest, once she fully awakes, that you have her make some sort of hat or veil to wear, or beings are going to talk." Oh turned back to Zhāng-nán, abashed. If he had noticed her repulsion, he gave no sign. "When I am dead, those Signs will fade, but I think it would be best to keep her face hidden from Agni's eye regardless. If my Father ever does find her, my horns and my blood will recall the Oath." He nodded to the goddess and rose, striding across the clearing, following the descent of the nascent river.
"Where will thou go now, Zhāng-nán?" Oh called after him, afraid to leave the goddess's side. "Shallt thou ever return?" she asked herself sorrowfully.
"I will keep the hunt as far as possible from here," Zhāng-nán replied, halting just as he reached the edge of clearing. He did not turn around. "I hope I never have to come back."
"May the road rise up before thee and confound thine enemies, demon."
"May thy spirit remain unshakeable before the storm, Guardian."
Zhāng-nán vanished into the ever-lightening mists.
A/N: Oh and Hai-dao's island was not the only location Wan Shi Tong told to Zhāng-nán, but it is the one he chose because he thought Oh would be the perfect guardian to replace him once he died. His methods might have been harsh, but in the end, Oh understood. (It also might explain why she took a dim view of Yan-sui when he showed up - her expectations were set pretty high by his daddy. :3)
This story should also explain what Jian meant in Part IV of Fall of the Blue Spirit about having met demons before, but not talked to them. Although not fully realized before Zhāng-nán left, she retained vague memories of the demon who protected her.