Royal Pride

by Zelda Knight

  The way his thick black eyebrows furrowed, and his mouth twisted made Lillian second-guess herself. If even Jong-hyun was that worried about an impending attack, maybe she really was being oblivious?

  She lowered her head, feeling like a brat. She dragged how many bodyguards and her best friend around just because she was bored for what? When their lives could really be in danger? Maybe it was the number of dramas she’d been watching as of late starring her all-star idol, but Lillian was feeling bad about herself more and more. She wouldn’t have thought about it before, but now she was worried all of them would catch a cold and potentially a bullet because she was being stubborn.

  “... Alright already! Stop glaring at me like that. Let’s go home. But can you at least pick me something up to eat before we go? Pretty please?” she begged, stepping forward, clutching the ends of his shirt and nearly pulling it from his black slacks.

  Lillian didn’t notice the way his eyes darkened, or how he tilted his face to hide his blushing. She simply smiled as he nodded, murmured some harsh words to her bodyguards, and took off to grab her favorite meal.

  Lillian waited and waited and waited some more until she got worried. The sun had long since set, but it shouldn’t have taken so long for an order of some inauthentic Kung Pao chicken.

  “Hey?” she ordered the guard closest to her, his face hidden behind a magical bright red and gold tiger mask. “Go check on Jong-hyun.”

  He turned her way but didn’t move. She looked at the other guard with a matching mask, who also remained silent. Confused and a little afraid, Lillian backed up and away, then she took off running toward Uncle Bao’s restaurant. Her bodyguards remained rooted in place, staring at her, motionless, devoid of emotion if their glazed eyes were any indication.

  Now terrified, Lillian ran harder than she had ever run in her life under the pouring rain, ruining her aunt’s expensive fur coat and designer clothing. When she finally made it to the restaurant, however, she was shocked to find a dozen or so bodyguards waiting for her, all wearing the same mask with robotic eyes.

  She stopped hard, panicking, brushing back her wet hair from her eyes and face. The sea of men parted, and she was surprised to find a tiny white rabbit balled up on the ground, its blood mixing with the water, what looked like a stab wound in its belly.

  “What the he—” she didn’t have time to finish, as Jong-hyun burst from the restaurant through the glass, his body slamming against trash cans as he slid from the opposite wall. Lillian watched in horror as a shadow decapitated the bodyguards one by one, their blood raining down like some macabre fountain.

  When the shadow paused, landing on the ground, Sarah recognized it to be a crow shifter. The man had the typical wings of one and bent feet. However, his spiky black hair, muscular torso with a thin, tattered cloth tied around his waist, blood-red eyes, and grim expression made him appear to be a god of Death, rather than a shifter spirit. He opened his mouth and screamed, a sonic boom causing the raindrops to pause mid-air.

  Lillian watched it hurdle her way, unable to move, when suddenly Jong-hyun appeared beside her, lifted her into his arms, and they both went flying against the wall. She clutched his neck and wrapped her legs around his waist, terrified. It was only then that she felt trembling between them. She thought it was her heart at first, and then his, until she opened her eyes long enough to see the rabbit that lay on the ground between them.

  “That’s not an ordinary crow!” she shouted the obvious, smashing the rabbit in between their chests as she clutched her best friend again.

  “I know. He ain’t working for Dal Tokki Bujog, either,” he groaned between strained breaths, wheezing for air. “We have to run away!”

  He took off full speed without another word, cutting through damp, narrow corners, and smashing into various shopkeepers, scaling street food stalls and walls, only to have his hands and feet pecked to death so that they always tumbled back down to Earth. Lillian watched it all unfold as the crow shifter trailed them from the clouds, its enormous shadow like a low-flying plane. Various crows came after them, and other birds, pecking anybody and anything it saw to death. It was an infestation, a call to war.

  “Ugh!” Jong-hyun screamed in pain as one crow spiraled towards his back so fast his beak acted as a knife. He tumbled forward with Lillian in tow.

  Just before they hit the ground, he thrust her away, spun around, and obliterated the crow with a written spell. It screeched in terror as the piece of paper caught fire and engulfed it.

  “Jong-hyun!” she cried out to him, still clutching the rabbit. That’s when, to her utter shock, a miracle occurred.

  Lillian watched in amazement as the injured white rabbit transformed, body quadrupling in size in minutes, but still in the form of a rabbit. She pushed it away as it got too big. But then, slowly but surely, human features emerged as it shed its damp white fur covered in ruby red blood.

  Its ears folded and vanished, and its skin glistened, turning pale pink and then sun-kissed brown. Thick black wavy hair flowed down the rabbit’s back to the balls of its feet, now tucked into its chest. Slowly, they stood much taller and older than Lillian expected. It was only then that Lillian realized the injured rabbit, the now-injured man, was butt naked! She held her hands over her mouth to keep from screaming. Before she knew it, she was tugging her aunt’s stolen fur jacket off and throwing it at the stranger’s lithe body covered in wounds from the birds.

  “Did you save me?” His accent was strange to Lillian’s ears, and untraceable, obsidian eyes so dark they resemble deep space. When she glanced at Jong-hyun for help, he looked equally lost, swatting away more crows and birds with successive spells.

  She frowned, “Y-yes. Well, he did. I just held you, is all. I’m glad you’re alive! Can you help us? Are you a god? Gods are supposed to help those who help them, right? My family is rich. They can give you anything you’ve—”

  “I am Yuèguāng. He will be my groom, and you will be my bride. That is your reward for saving my life.” The name sounded vaguely familiar, despite his over-dramatic delivery short-circuiting the girl’s head.

  Lillian, Jong-hyun whispered into her mind via magic. We need to run! Master isn’t a minor spirit… He’s the Lunar Rabbit Clan’s god! That's why these damn birds are attacking us. They don’t want you or me. They want him!

  Lillian gasped, but was still too deep in a state of shock to act. She didn’t even catch the insertion of “master” on Jong-hyun’s part. Jong-hyun rose to his feet and charged forward, but was caught in a headlock before he could reach her side. Yuèguāng, as her friend had called the newcomer, lifted his paw into the air. And it was a paw, similar to a human’s but covered in fur with elongated black claws. As the largest of the crow deities swept low, he uttered an incantation. In seconds, it burst into cosmic flames and crashed through the roof of an apartment complex.

  Struggling to stand, all Lillian could do was stare at the devastation the battle had left in their wake, unable to process what was going on and what she should do to save Jong-hyun and herself. But she didn’t have long to be confused. In the blink of an eye, he was by her side.

  “I will make you both mine. Now come. I need time to heal.” Before she could even respond, Yuèguāng pulled her towards his chest, letting go just long enough to pull Jong-hyun in as well. In an instant, they disappeared, only leaving behind rippling puddles pounded by falling rain, and the dizzying scent of sunflowers in their wake.

  Chapter Seven

  TOSHIYUKI

  We're too late!

  Toshiyuki’s fox paws pounded the ground as he raced towards Ju-long Towers. The imitation of a human skyscraper looked out of place in the magical realm it was in, and all of it had gone up in holy flames. Below, various shifters and spirits, gods and demons looked upon the inferno in awe. But all Toshi could think of was Bijoux, and the way their string of fate was nearly severed.

  “Sarah!” Bo Chang, his eldest co-fated, screamed as a section of the
tower melted away completely, leaving nothingness in its wake.

  Nothing could withstand the power of the Nine-Tailed Goddess, not even an immortal. They would be forced into reincarnation as lesser beings, while mortals would be no more.

  It didn't have to be like this. Sarah had been so foolish. They had tried to rescue her from her fate, sent into a panic by their dissolving strings, but it was no use. Some spell had captured them as they reached Ju-long's golden door, and when they came to, it was chaos. Each time they tried to open it, the fox gods were rebuffed, as if fate demanded them to give in and watch their mate die.

  Toshi had heard about it before, in bits and pieces, when his elders were drunk. He knew a time would come if Sarah kept rejecting them, she would die. He'd foolishly believed she would accept them soon enough, unable to deny all three. He couldn't have imagined her soul obliterated, never to return.

  "Damn it!" Min-joon groaned, half-transformed, his twin tails, black claws, and pointed ears present. "We can't stop this. This is the goddess' will."

  "Bullshit!" Bo Chang sneered, his expression feral, bones cracking as he too transformed into a fox larger than all three in his natural state, "We must do something!"

  Toshi was at a loss for words, standing on his hind legs as he and the others gathered, watched the blue flames turn bright white, the fire claiming all in its wake. The trio stood a safe distance away, across a crystal-clear river by a towering tree that spiraled to the heavens. The home of many paranormal beings.

  For all their awesome power, and years of cultivation, what could they do in the face of such destruction? They were immortal, but even if they ran headfirst into the flames, they'd be little use to Sarah.

  She's probably already dead.

  The morbid thought hit him like a meteorite, shattering his resolve. Toshi folded, curling into a ball, glad that he was in his natural state, for his co-fated couldn't see his tears. Devastation couldn't even begin to describe his tumultuous feelings.

  But then, like a bolt of lightning, something stirred him to his feet. He gazed upward with the crowd as a tiny ball of light shot from the tower like a shooting star. He didn't know why, but he knew in his heart of hearts that it was her.

  "Help me, please!" he pleaded, transforming back into his human shape. Bo Chang and Min-joon flew down from their perches on the tree and rushed towards him.

  "Do you think–" Bo Chang cut Min-joon off in an instant.

  "It's her, isn't it? What should we do? How can we save her?" he pleaded as if Toshi had all the answers.

  Toshi looked between them, suddenly appearing much older than they usually did. He thought of how many lifetimes they'd watched her die, waiting for the moment she'd be reborn. But Sarah was the only version of Sarah he'd ever know. And if he was the only version of Toshi, she loved in this world, it would be enough for him.

  He reached for them, pulling his elders into a loose hug. They grabbed him back tightly, sobs dying in their throats, attempting to hold it all together.

  "Goodbye. It's been... Well, shit, it's been an honor to meet my other lovesick partners." He attempted to smile, pushing away before they could question what he meant.

  Toshi transformed once more, twin-tails ablaze. He bounded up the ancient tree trunk, claws digging into the bark as he reached a point where he stood above where the Ju-long Towers used to be. Then he leaped, on a literal wing and a prayer, surfing the mystic winds towards the blazing ball of light he knew contained Sarah's weakened soul.

  When had they first met? Maybe a year or two before he rocketed to fame. He'd been enraptured by her beauty and then amazed by her brain. She was always scheming, but always generous, too. She shared little of her heart, so guarded and afraid of being hurt, but shared her wealth like it was endless. And it seemed that way at first.

  Betting on Bijoux always seemed that way at first. But under her armor and legend, she was just a woman, just like he was just a man. Maybe not like a mortal man, but with a heart and will akin.

  What greater love could he show her than to sacrifice his most precious gift in exchange for her soul?

  "Sarah!" he wailed as his eternal body collided with the shooting star. He expected pain, flinching hard, but was shocked to find himself feeling nothing at all. No pain, no fear, not even anger at Ju-long, who had surely perished in the foxfire and started the whole awful chain of events leading to that moment.

  And then, rapidly, emotions filled him until Toshi thought he would shatter. But they were not his own. Confusion, fear, anguish, sorrow, longing...

  These were his mate's emotions, her hopes and terrors all fused into one free-flowing chain. He searched the blinding light for her soul, to grab onto it and infuse his power into her long enough for her to survive. The fox flames began to lick at his flesh, searing him even though he was of the Goddess. Her power was just that intense.

  Toshiyuki didn't have long before he'd be no more.

  He had to fight. He would fight for her. He would give his immorality if he must. For this Sarah was the only Sarah he had ever known and loved. What greater gift could one give the greatest thief of both realms?

  Chapter Eight

  SARAH

  Maybe fate has finally caught up with me, making a mockery of my end? Maybe this is the end? Dying alone, fleeing for my life, completely empty-handed. All my struggle, all for nothing. Only my broken body to drag back home as a failure. As a disgrace. What was it all for in the end?

  Those negative thoughts were the only way Sarah could unpack her strange predicament. She should be dead, but she still existed. Maybe not in the land of the living, but a land, nonetheless. A luminous full moon soaked her in its rays as she stumbled up and over a wooden bridge, translucent koi fish the size of small children swimming below. Lightning bugs, whose buds were lit up blue instead of their customary pale yellow, trailed after her as she stumbled towards a dark void.

  Her sides ached where Ju-long had rained down his bullets, and the ogres had beaten down with their fists, and all the injuries were blossoming into bruises all over her body. However, she was not burned in the least. Her skin still resembled skin, and her body was intact. She was hurt, but largely uninjured in any critical sense. It made no sense.

  The Holy Fox Flame, or whatever the ancient spell she had drawn on was really named, was meant to make Ju-long no more, erase his existence and destroy his soul. Only then could she have the Eternal Lunar Peal to herself. And only then could

  But she had just gone through all that abuse to miss out on the reason she’d come to Macau, and then Ju-long’s casino palace in the first place, the Eternal Lunar Pearl. On top of that, it felt like something had... broken inside of her.

  She felt violently ill in a way that disturbed her and shook her to the core of her being. It was like a piece of her was missing, falling away and falling apart, laying bare her vulnerability like a newborn baby without someone to nurture them in the cold. And she felt cold too, freezingly so, clutching her arms as her teeth clattered.

  I have to…

  run...

  I have to get…

  help...

  I have to…

  find my way…

  home.

  She kept stepping forward, stumbling and dragging herself back to her feet. Nothing seemed familiar, and it wouldn’t be. She was no longer home, trapped far away in another world altogether. But there had to be a way out.

  Sarah couldn’t be trapped in the strange world forever, or in the Realm of the Divine, if she'd crossed over from the paranormal buffer that divided mortals from gods.

  It was unnatural for a mortal to live among immortals for long. If she couldn’t figure out how to get out, she would be trapped there forever. She couldn’t let that happen. She had so much to live for. She wanted so much more out of her life.

  Not like this… Please… Gods… Goddess... Not like this…

  Sarah begged, knowing her prayers would go unanswered. Though she didn't know where sh
e was, she knew she wasn't supposed to be there. Maybe Sarah was never meant to exist at all?

  Kneeling before a cherry blossom tree that emerged from the void, Sarah knelt down and breathed deep. She was hyperventilating. Or was she suffocating? She turned back and saw the bridge she had crossed over, but when she looked forward, there was nothing but darkness.

  It was soothing, devoid of the terror the world beyond the bridge seemed to instill in her, forcing her to run away. Sarah considered her options, and sobbed, hair breaking free from her clip and falling past her shoulders.

  Was this the end? It had to be. She wasn't sure why the road to death looked ripped out of a historical Japanese movie, but it was the end all the same.

  And she would accept it willingly. What else could she do? How many times had Bo, Min-joon, and Toshi begged for her hand, and she'd refused? In her lifetime, three times. But how many lifetimes had been cut too short. Or had she run away from the thought of being with each of them?

  Maybe it would be better this way. She'd stop leading them on and stop lying to herself that she wanted to be with them and forget the troubles of the mortal world. Of her responsibilities to her clan, and the pressure of living up to her legend.

  Yes, maybe it was easier to give in to death. As if the gods could hear her resolve shatter and fall away, hands emerged from the inky darkness attached to beings that must have been spirits.

  And how frightening they were. Not because they resembled the image of demons that had carried over generations of human life. They frightened her because each of them looked like her, dragging their final iteration to an inky black oblivion.

  Sarah didn't resist them, the collection of her previous iterations as they latched onto her and dragged her forward, glassy eyes devoid of emotions, smiles resembling carved masks.