by Ellen Oh
“But I want my parents back!” As the princess began to cry, namushin came scurrying into the room to soothe her. Their soft murmuring voices lulled the princess to sleep as they tucked themselves all around her.
Aeria gestured for Jiho and his father to step outside.
“Aeria,” Ranger Park said. “I sense more trouble is coming.”
“I do too,” Aeria replied. “It would make me feel better if both of you were to stay near the princess at all times.”
“Of course,” Ranger Park said with a deep bow.
Jiho bowed also.
“What kind of trouble are you worried about?” Jiho asked when they were alone.
His father tapped his staff on the ground before leaning on it. “The nightwalkers were the first omen. They only ever come out when dark days are coming. It means there is a disturbance in our worlds. If we are not careful, we will enter a time when nightwalkers will roam free and humans will live in hiding.”
A vision of the horrific nightwalkers flashed before Jiho’s eyes and he shuddered.
“What are we supposed to do?” he asked his father.
Ranger Park stood staring at his wooden staff for a long moment.
“Jiho, you are a Park. By blood that makes you a ranger of the Kidahara. If anyone knows the forest, it is you. The namushin already trust you. But if something ever happens to me, you must promise me to protect the princess. And you must promise me that you will claim my staff and not let anyone take it from you.”
His father’s gaze was so intense that Jiho backed away nervously.
“Promise me, Jiho.”
“Yeah, okay. I promise,” Jiho agreed.
Only then did his father’s gaze lighten.
“We should both stay here and keep watch,” he said.
Jiho nodded. For the first time, he was starting to understand why his father had left his family. It wasn’t just the Kidahara that was in danger. It was their entire world.
Later that evening, Jiho sat staring at the mating dance of glowing rhino beetles as his father slept beside him. He’d spent the night carving a large tree branch into his own version of his father’s staff. Jiho had never liked the sword his friends had given him and didn’t know how to wield it. But after seeing the violence on the streets of Jinju, he felt the need to have a weapon. He’d been lucky enough to run into Master Remauld, who’d magicked a piece of black ironwood for him. It was the hardest and strongest wood in the Kidahara. Jiho had carved it into a formidable staff with a heavy knobbed head, and polished it until it shone. He was proud of his staff.
“You should still carry a sword with you also,” Remauld had said.
Jiho thought that was a bad idea. He would rather carry his slingshot instead. He had better control with his little slingshot than with a big heavy sword that could be used against him.
Suddenly, he heard the distressed murmuring of the namushin from within Koko’s tent before she appeared before him.
“Koko, what are you doing up?” Jiho asked in surprise.
But she did not respond. Her eyes were wide-open and unblinking as they stared sightlessly ahead. The namushin rushed over to Jiho, and he caught the urgency of their concern as the princess began to walk away from them.
“Koko!” Jiho tried to stop her, when his father pushed him away.
“Don’t touch her, Jiho,” his father said. “She has been enchanted. We don’t know what sort of spell or curse she is under.”
“But won’t we nullify the spell?” Jiho asked.
“Yes, but we don’t know at what cost,” his father replied. His eyebrows furrowed with worry. “We could cancel the magic and trap her in a coma forever or it could kill her. We can’t risk it.”
They quickly followed beside her.
“What do we do?”
“The only thing we can do. Follow her and keep her safe.”
Ranger Park leaned down to address the distressed namushin. “Go and tell all the masters what is happening. We will stay with her.”
The little namushin scurried away as Jiho stayed by Koko’s side. She walked steadily but purposefully through the great cavern. The first to arrive was Master Remauld. He immediately created a solid concrete wall that he placed in her path. The princess stopped upon reaching it. She put her hands against the wall, and magic flew out of her, disintegrating the wall into rubble. Koko stepped over the rubble and kept walking.
“She’s heading for Jinju. Why can’t we magic her back to Mir, where she’ll be safe?” Jiho asked.
“Any attempt of magic on her is dangerous,” Aeria said as she appeared by his side. “It could kill her. There is no safe way to stop her. We must go along.”
“This is obviously a trap for us,” Diana said as she and Master Zaki and his namushin arrived by Aeria’s side.
“Yes, no doubt,” Aeria said. “Wait for my signal and be prepared for a battle.”
The three other masters bowed and disappeared. Koko had reached the tunnel’s end and was now out in the dark woods. The evening sky lit up with the bright light of the moon and the myriad of stars that sparkled above them. Koko’s eyes never strayed from the path before her. She didn’t trip or misstep. She walked as surely as if she were completely aware of where she was going. And yet, the vacant expression on her face made clear that she was not there.
Jiho tried talking to her, entreating her to stop. But nothing worked. She kept her steady pace toward the city walls. Once at the east gate, Koko pushed open the heavy oak doors with a single-arm motion. There was no one stationed there. The streets were completely empty and eerily quiet.
The steady steps of the princess echoed loudly as she walked. Aeria turned to Ranger Park. “I will go ahead to see where the danger lies,” she said.
Jiho’s father nodded, and Aeria vanished.
“Do you get the feeling we are being watched, son?”
Jiho nodded. Since the moment they entered the gate into Jinju, he’d felt the creepy sensation of hundreds of eyes watching him. And the intensity of the feeling grew stronger as they followed Koko down the darkened streets of Jinju. Every block, Jiho jumped upon seeing a shadow, until they were halfway to the castle and a large shadow moved across the street before them.
As the princess kept walking, the light of a single moonbeam fell across a large, massive bulk. Jiho almost screamed, but his father covered his mouth with his hand.
“Don’t show your fear,” he whispered to Jiho.
“But that thing is going to eat us!” Jiho loudly whispered back.
Trying to swallow his panic, Jiho bit his lips as the monster lurched into full view. It was a massive praying mantis, which reared up on its powerful back legs. As it towered over them, it lowered its head so they could see its huge, bulging compound eyes and razor-sharp mandibles.
“How did Master Aeria not see this thing?” Jiho asked.
Koko had stopped walking when the creature appeared, but then proceeded right into the giant monster’s path. Jiho raced forward and whacked the praying mantis hard on the face as it lunged at Koko. It let out a piercing shriek and tried to stab him with its many sharp front legs. As Jiho danced backward, leading the gigantic insect away from the princess, his father climbed on top of its back and began to smash it hard on its head. The monster bucked fiercely, trying to throw its tormentor off, but Ranger Park held fast.
“Jiho, we need to rip its antennae off!”
With no time to waste, Jiho seized his slingshot and several sharp rocks from his pocket and sent off a dozen shots into the massive compound eye. The creature let out an ear-piercing scream of pain and lunged at Jiho, stabbing its legs into the ground so hard it became stuck. Racing forward, Jiho caught hold of a flailing antenna and heaved with all his might, ripping it out of the creature’s head. Before it could move, Ranger Park had climbed all the way to its head and, seizing the other antenna, jumped off, flipping it onto its back.
The giant praying mantis squirmed on the ground, gn
ashing its mandibles vainly at them. It turned its antenna-less head around and around, but it could not right itself.
“The princess!” Ranger Park raced after Koko while Jiho ran on shakier legs. He was relieved to see that she was fine, but still under the enchantment. They were now getting close to the castle.
“Where is Master Aeria?” Jiho asked.
“Hopefully she’s not hurt,” his father said.
“I’d like not to be hurt either,” Jiho said. “I wonder what is coming next.”
And soon, his answer came flying down from the roofs above them. Stone gargoyles. A dozen of them. They were small and mean, gray with grotesque faces and bat-like wings.
The first two tried to grab the princess, but Ranger Park stepped forward and grabbed the gargoyles by the wings, immediately turning them into stone and letting them smash to the ground.
“Be careful, son,” Ranger Park warned. “They’re really fast and vicious!”
Jiho ran forward and punched a gargoyle in the nose. It grunted right before transforming into its statue form. Jiho whirled around and hit several more that tried to sneak up on him. One snatched him by his hair and tried to fly off with him. Jiho grabbed its legs and he had to quickly roll out of the way when the stone gargoyle crashed. But every time one gargoyle petrified, five more would appear.
“It’s no good!” Jiho yelled as they circled them. “There’re too many.”
He was getting exhausted, but he couldn’t let up, trying his best to match his father, who was a fighting machine. But even his father was overwhelmed. He was nearly buried in a pile of a dozen gargoyle statues that had attacked him, separating him from the princess.
One finally got a hold of the princess and began lifting her into the air.
“No!” Jiho shouted as he launched himself at the gargoyle, sending them crashing to the ground. Koko lay motionless by his side. More gargoyles were coming as Jiho positioned himself in front of the princess.
And then a blinding light shone down from the sky, sending the gargoyles shrieking. When Jiho opened his eyes, he saw many of the gargoyles frozen into statues, while the rest were scurrying into the shadows.
Master Aeria lowered her staff.
“My apologies for the delay,” she said.
“You came just in time,” Ranger Park said.
“Actually, a little earlier would have been more helpful,” Jiho corrected.
“And a little later would have been far worse,” Aeria retorted. “But it seems these diversions were just to get rid of the two of you.”
“It almost worked,” Jiho said.
“Well, they’ve lured us this far. Do you know how they will entrap us?” Ranger Park asked.
“No, I could not see into the castle,” Aeria said. “But we will find out shortly.”
Koko had reached the castle stairs and had begun to climb.
“But how can we blindly go in, knowing it’s a trap?” Jiho asked.
“I will not leave Princess Koko’s side,” Aeria said gently. “But remember, you and your father’s unique and secret talents may be our only chance to save her.”
Unable to argue against this, Jiho remained quiet. The climb to the castle felt excruciatingly long. At the castle entrance, the doors were open but unmanned. They stepped inside an empty hall and followed the princess to the throne room. The room was empty except for two large bejeweled thrones in the front of the room. Their reflections stared back at them from the mirrors covering every wall of the room. In the middle of the room, Koko finally stopped.
Master Aeria stood in front of the princess and spoke to the empty room.
“We are here, as you wanted,” she said. “Show yourself.”
A figure materialized, sitting on one of the thrones.
“That’s the fairy Samena,” Jiho said to Aeria.
“And you are the Grand Council Master Aeria, the greatest witch of all the Kidahara,” Samena said. “Welcome.”
“I am here to ask you to release the princess from your enchantment,” Aeria said.
“I would be happy to do so,” Samena said. “As soon as the other masters show themselves. I would like a proper introduction.”
The fairy smiled with such malice that Jiho could not ignore the gut-churning warnings that flooded his system.
“They will come only if you release the princess,” Aeria said.
“Then we are at an impasse,” Samena drawled. “What a pity. The longer the princess stays in this particular spell, the greater the chance that she will never be free.”
Frustrated, Aeria slammed her cane on the ground with a resounding thud that echoed throughout the hall. “You must give us some reassurance that you will release the princess.”
Jiho shifted nervously as a tense silence lengthened.
“Oh, very well,” Samena said. With a snap of her fingers, the doors behind her opened, and several people entered the room. Jiho recognized the bandit leader, the Omni Murtagh boss man, and Prince Roku. There was one other man who entered, but Jiho didn’t know who he was.
Samena pointed at Micah and the unknown man. “This is Micah and Kai Valon of the Botan clan. They are my loyal servants. You may hold them hostage.”
The two Botan clan members walked across the room to stand behind Aeria.
“What kind of trickery is this?” Ranger Park muttered.
Jiho agreed. But he knew there was not much they could do. He shot an evil glare at Micah, who avoided his gaze. Jiho would never trust her or any of her Botan clan members again.
“Now, bring the other masters here, before you lose the princess forever.”
The Grand Council Master called out in a ringing voice. “Masters of the Nackwon Council, come to me now!”
Upon her words, Masters Remauld, Diana, and Zaki appeared.
“Who are you?” Master Diana asked, her eyes narrowed on the fairy sitting on the throne. “You look familiar. How do I know you?”
“It’s a surprise,” Samena said with a teeth-baring smile.
“I have done as you have asked. Now release the princess,” Aeria commanded.
“Very well,” Samena said. She opened her hand and an object flew toward them. It floated in the air until it fell at their feet. It was a large purple flower with long black hairs wrapped tightly around it.
Jiho started to pick it up, but Master Aeria stopped him. “We have to release the hairs from the flower without damaging it.”
“Can’t you use magic?” he asked.
Aeria shook her head. “No, we cannot use magic on this enchantment. We must do it by hand. If we damage the flower, we risk trapping the princess forever.”
“Let me do it,” Zaki said. Carefully picking up the flower, the master slowly but nimbly unraveled Koko’s hairs from the petals until it was completely free. At that moment, Koko let out a loud gasp and stumbled forward.
“Where am I?”
As soon as Koko was free from the spell, the masters moved to attack Samena, yet nothing happened. There was no magic.
The fairy laughed as the mirrored walls of the room began to close in. The masters were stunned as servants entered the room and pushed away the mirrored walls, revealing iron bars.
“The room was the trap,” Diana spit out. “You’ve killed us all, Aeria!”
Soldiers marched in with iron chains that they placed on the Nackwon Council masters and Koko. Jiho caught Koko as she fell.
“Koko, I’ve got you,” he said. “Lean on me.”
But then he caught sight of his father fighting off the soldiers, refusing to give up his staff. Jiho saw a soldier readying his weapon to shoot.
“No, Papa!” Jiho shouted. “No!”
Everything happened in slow motion. He let go of Koko and started to run to his father. An explosive gunshot rang through Jiho’s ears, rocking him on his feet. He stumbled and saw the shock on his father’s face and then the large bright red flower blossoming on his chest.
“Papa!” Jiho was
sobbing as he fell to his knees, trying desperately to stop the blood that flowed steadily.
“My staff,” his father whispered. His shaking hand still tried to hold on as the soldiers wrenched it from his grasp.
“Papa, no!” Jiho couldn’t stop the bleeding. “Please someone help me!”
He looked wildly all around him. He could see Koko’s devastated face as she cried in Aeria’s arms. Master Remauld tried to approach but was jerked back onto his knees by the soldier holding his chains. Both Masters Zaki and Diana looked on helplessly as they were being pulled away, out of the room. It was the bandit leader who knelt down by his side and took a look at the wound.
“We have to see if there is an exit wound,” she said. Gently, she lifted Ranger Park up to look at his back. “There isn’t one, so we have to keep pressure on it. Press tightly.” She placed a cloth on top of the wound and pressed Jiho’s hands on top of the cloth. “I’ll go get some medicine to stop the bleeding.”
She jumped up to her feet as her brother grabbed her arm.
“Micah, what are you doing?” Kai asked.
“I can’t just let him die,” she said.
“They’re not our concern. You’re upsetting my lady.”
Micah looked back to see Samena gazing at her with a slight smile on her face. “She’s fine,” she answered curtly. “Her main goal was getting his staff, not killing him.”
And with that she left.
“Teacher,” Koko cried brokenly. She tried to cover her face but was pulled painfully to her feet by her guards.
“You promised to release the princess!” Aeria raged.
“No, no, no. I promised to release her from the dreamwalk,” Samena replied. “I never promised to release her completely. Why would I do that? I need her.”
Prince Roku, who had been silent next to Samena, now sat on the throne next to her. “I am the king,” he pronounced, as a manic smile spread across his face.
Samena ignored him and ordered the guards to take the prisoners to the dungeons. The masters were all badly affected by the iron, but Koko could hardly walk. Unrelenting, the guards dragged them out by the chains as Micah returned, holding a basket of bandages and jars.