by Mark Swaine
“I would have words with him, both your father and the demon occupying his mortal shell,” says Yu-Huang.
Kao Lu gestures Yu-Huang forward to the bone crafted platform. As he walks closer to the semi-conscious troll he elevates, floating level with Yeman Ren's heavily scarred head. The merciful Emperor cannot help but pity the shamed leader, reduced to play puppet for a dirty foreign host robbing the proud beast of his dignity. Although Yu-Huang and Yeman Ren have always been enemies, a mutual respect as warriors has always existed between the two leaders.
“Yeman Ren, name this demon that corrupts your soul so I may call it out,” commands Yu-Huang.
Yeman Ren's fingers twitch as he slowly wakes and one eyelid opens and tries to focus on his bald-headed nemesis.
“Yu-Huang, my old enemy, kill me I beg of you. It claws within me, I cannot contain it much longer, kill me. I made a mistake, I made a terrible mistake. It lied to me, it wants…” says Yeman Ren, grunting and stuttering.
The tortured troll struggles against the demon's influence as he attempts to convey valuable information to the Emperor.
“It fears the one named Kamui Li, as only he can… My Emperor, you must not allow Hisako-Hisa or her apprentice Wing Sh…. aghhhhhhh! Yu-Huang, the Darkness must not be allowed passage through the portals!” screams Yeman Ren.
“Portals? Yeman Ren, Yeman Ren, of what portals do you speak?” asks Yu-Huang, urgently.
“The one inside of you. ‘Tis the gateway, the only gateway. The demon must not enter the portal. It knows, Yu-Huang, it knows!” bellows Yeman Ren.
“The trees, the Bonsai trees, portals to where?” asks Yu-Huang, in urgent confusion.
The troll screams an unearthly groaning and his eyes turn white as he stares into Yu-Huang's face.
“It knows what, what does it know?” asks Yu-Huang.
“You unworthy dead vessel, you have said too much,” says a second voice from within the troll.
“Demon, why not leave this weak and tired vessel? There is no escape for you encased in this giant piece of old, decaying flesh,” says Yu-Huang, reasoning with the entity.
“You stare into the eyes of that which will bring the Universe of light crashing around your loved ones. The failed experiments of the travellers of the great beyond will never find peace,” says the deep and muffled voice.
“Of what travellers do you speak, entity of darkness?” asks Yu-Huang.
“I am the flaw of the mortal creation, perfect in the absence of light. There is no sanctuary within this domain, descendant of the first traveller. Those who violate the laws of the soul will answer to the darkness within them, and its punishment is just, and the corrupted are many,” says the entity, proudly.
“Many are the saved and pure of heart,” says Yu-Huang earnestly.,
“I know your weakness,” says the dark voice, “they will suffer a pain greater than any other unless you relinquish the Shikyo blade, or... kill the leader of the Samurai, Kamui Li,” says the Darkness.
“Or? Why must I carry out one of the two wicked deeds you place before me?” asks Yu-Huang, interestingly.
The voice squeals inside Yeman Ren as if to curse its own tongue for revealing too much, then growls and roars like an undead lion.
“Leave this vessel demon or face my wrath,” warns Yu-Huang.
“Your threats are empty, you are alone Yu-Huang, you have no one. Your people trust your rule no longer. Your Priests despise you. Your General tires of your goodly presence and your army are nothing but ants scurrying beneath our pounding feet,” says the demon, in a low voice of warning.
“We shall see, demon,” replies Yu-Huang.
Yeman Ren struggles to gain control of his body and senses multiple claws streaking across his chest and face from within.
“Yu-Huang, I beg of you, kill me,” grunts Yeman Ren, begging for mercy.
Yu-Huang instructs the crowd of onlooking trolls to stand back as he prepares to free Yeman Ren from his bonds.
“Yu-Huang, what are doing?” bellows King Kao Lu,
“I cannot release him this way. Whatever happens, do not interfere,” warns Yu-Huang.
Xunsu scrambles in-between the legs of one of the trolls as she attempts to aid her master and Yu-Huang informs her to stay back. Xunsu ignores his command and dashes forward. King Kao Lu quickly scoops her up into his arms before nodding to the Emperor. The evil force controlling Yeman Ren smiles at Yu-Huang as it prepares to be released. Yu-Huang drops to the footbridge below him and backflips over the cesspool onto the wide dusty waste ground. As Yu-Huang lands softly among the carcass-littered waste ground, he casts a spell releasing the troll from his restraints. The possessed troll wastes no time in pursuing his enemy and bounds over the cesspool to deliver a flat kick to Yu-Huang's chest. The force of the blow sends Yu-Huang crashing through a scavenger dragon's skeletal rib cage at high speed. The construct of heavy curved bones collapses on top of Yu-Huang and there’s no sign of life under the giant reptile's carcass. The troll strolls toward the dragon's remains and the pile of bones suddenly explodes sending ribs and broken pieces of spinal cord into the air. The Emperor lands from a rolling somersault and stands poised in an attack position, awaiting the oncoming beast. As the dragon bones descend from above, Yu-Huang rapidly kicks each of the sharp-ended bones towards the huge feral beast. One by one they pierce Yeman Ren's giant body, but only deep enough to cause incapacitating wounds in the solid mass of his limbs and chest.
Surprised by the attack and unable to regain his footing, Yeman Ren trips face first onto the floor and rolls on to his back. The massive brute rises to his feet and angrily snaps, pulls and yanks out the sharp edged bones. The furious and determined troll charges yet again, with his pale possessed eyes wide and open and mouth frothing and wheezing with poisonous breathes. Sunrise breaks upon the feud and the two beings continue to lay waste to the courtyard throughout the long and hard day. The Emperor eventually realises that his attempts to wear down the troll's defences are ineffective and so resorts to harsher tactics. Yu-Huang spaces his legs and bends his knees whilst forming a forward stance of attack. His jaw and fists shake as he constricts every muscle in his body and the dusty ground cracks beneath his feet, as if his mass had increased to that of the heaviest mountain. Yu-Huang's feet shimmer with a metallic shine as his feet drop an inch into the ground and the two warriors charge toward one another whilst locked in a dead eyed combat stare.
Tearing up a trail of dust and square chunks of earth, the Emperor thrusts an iron foot forward and allows the force of push to thrust his body forward. He remains poised with his raised foot rushing forward as his other drags a trail of concrete and fire behind him. As Yu-Huang's foot impacts upon Yeman Ren's sternum he's knocked into a backward mid-air backward roll. Yeman Ren lands roughly and wounded, coughing bouts of blood as he rises to his feet in gasps of wheezy breath. Yu-Huang, forbidding him to recover, leaps high and delivers a flying roundhouse kick to his face knocking a gloopy stream of blood from the corner of his mouth. As Yeman Ren staggers backwards, Yu-Huang leaps toward his chest and punches various points with the tips of his fingers. In his moment of vulnerability, Yeman Ren faces the wrath of divine fists as his eyes, nose and ears begin to bleed. Yu-Huang bellows a loud grunt as he delivers one final blow to the troll's face and as the battered and barely recognisable brute attempts to open his swollen eyes, the tips of a green liquid finally peers from his ears and mouth. Yeman Ren drops to his grazed knee before struggling back to his feet. The Emperor appears from the corner of his eye as he walks toward him with a face of murder. Yeman Ren had seen that expression before, and it was only through sheer mercy that Yu-Huang had allowed him to live that day. Yeman Ren, looking through the windows of his own eyes at the savage expression of the man before him, wonders how much mercy he will grant him this day. The Master of Wushu rapidly continues his attack on Yeman Ren's chest, pressing and manipulating thousands of pressure points around his torso, immobilising his motor functions
. The demon within Yeman Ren struggles against the will of its host's muscles and finally it loses its grip upon the grunting giant as a giant streaming mass of green liquid flows from his mouth. Yu-Huang beckons the liquescent gravity-defying stuff around him as he recites an old spell. Gently curling the vapour and fluid around his wrist, with a single savage pull he yanks out the essence of the screaming demon. Yu-Huang binds the writhing stream of liquid with bolts of lightning from his wrist whilst raising the trapped green spectre above his head. As he exposes it to the last ray of fading sunlight. The demon shrieks violently in-between promises and bribes, desperately pleading to be spared as it evaporates into smoke. Yu-Huang mutters a spell under his breath whilst hammering it with his divine energy, exorcising it in a gold and green explosion of smoke and light. Panting heavily, he staggers over to Yeman Ren and tiredly prods various pressure points, allowing him use of his bodily functions once again.
“Finish it,” says Yeman Ren, unable to look his saviour in the eyes.
“No, no more,” says Yu-Huang.
“You must! We are enemies you and I!” shouts Yeman Ren.
“You, are your own worst enemy Yeman Ren, I am not the tyrant you once branded me,” whispers Yu-Huang coarsely.
“Why do you shame me by not claiming my life?” asks the disgraced troll.
“In honour of your son, King Kao Lu. He may prove himself to be a most loyal and wise ally," replies Yu-Huang.
Yeman Ren looks over to his Kao Lu with admiration, then turns away in shame and guilt as he recalls the actions that have caused the death of his beloved and son's mother.
“Yeman Ren, tell me, what do you remember of the possessing spirit? Do you remember anything?” asks Yu-Huang.
Yeman Ren shakes his head tiredly as he tries to remember any fragment of detail, but his last clear memory is of the cave and the red eyed demon's quest for the demise of Kamui Li. Drained of all energy, the weathered, dark-skinned and grey-haired troll collapses to the ground. Yu-Huang signals to bring him water and the exhausted troll knocks back a barrel of water then looks upon Yu-Huang once more.
“I am in your debt,” says Yeman Ren, shamefully.
“No, no debt. King Kao Lu is right, an alliance must be formed if China is to be spared the same fate of Japan,” says Yu-Huang, wisely.
“For my shame I will go into exile. I will journey atop the mountains to a place far from here. Kill me if you must, but I will not go back in the caves,” says Yeman Ren.
“You need not be exiled. Your King and I have reached an agreement,” says Yu-Huang.
“No, my place is here no longer,” says Yeman Ren, sorrowfully.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Yeman Ren walks past King Kao Lu and places a hand on his shoulder. His son returns the gesture but they're unable to look at one other as they part their short and distanced embrace. Yeman Ren, the former King of Trolls, begins his long journey into the mountains. A sombre audience watches him stamp through a distant, narrow, long winding mountain trail until he is gone from sight.
“What will you do now King Kao Lu? “ asks Xunsu, feeling sorry for the giant.
King Kao Lu sets Xunsu back onto the ground, releasing her from the hairy, gentle barrier of his forearm.
“Now my child, we eat and celebrate in honour of Emperor Yu-Huang's victory. But first, perhaps you would like to rest whilst we prepare the feast,” says Kao Lu observing the Emperor's tired state.
Xunsu and Yu-Huang are shown to the troll's barracks and Xunsu can hardly believe the sheer height of their suspended bunks. Levels of giant sparkling webs form suspended platforms of wooden walkways hundred feet of the ground. In the webbing, platforms allow access to rows of circular bowled hammocks. Xunsu climbs into the deep bowl of a strong, flexible, pink and white shell. Upon closer inspection Xunsu shoots Yu-Huang an extremely concerned look of fright. Yu-Huang can't help but laugh at her reaction as he climbs into the hollowed out abdomen of a “Pífū Línyù (skin shower) Spider”. Xunsu looks unsurely at the construct of web, and her eyes dart around as her imagination runs wild. Yu-Huang smiles tiredly and ensures Xunsu that the construct of webbed platforms are troll made. To put Xunsu's mind at ease he goes on to explain the very nature of the dangerous creatures of which the trolls like to hunt. Skin shower spiders are valuable amongst the trolls, for even after death, their bodies never stop producing silk, and their bodies provide perfect crafting materials. Due to their dangerous and clever nature, Pifu Linyu can only be taken down in a pack. Pifu Linyu reside deep in the mountains, far above the misty peaks and where ever forestry grows thick and far. Skin Spiders can grow to enormous sizes depending on their age and some of the largest can be found only a few days trek to the East of the Kunlun mountain range, making their location fairly convenient for the trolls. During the hot summer season, Pifu Linyu congregate in the trees to begin their mating ritual. After consuming their prey, the spider will keep the skin of their victim in their third gut and the spider that regurgitates the largest well-kept piece of skin attracts the best female hunter. The males, using their slim, double jointed front limbs, use the skin in a dancing ritual to win over the female. Of course the ritual does not work without the skin of a human, so they're hardwired from birth to hunt down humans at the beginning of the summer season. Once two spiders have mated, the skins are discarded from above.
Should one make the unfortunate discovery of happening upon multiple piles of human skin, the odds are they have wondered onto the mating ground or a nest of Pifu Linyu. The intelligent creatures possess a unique lure of catching their prey, and for this reason, many raiders, hunters and stragglers have fallen foul to their traps. Like Scavenger dragons, Pifu Linyu are able diggers, and will conceal their limbs under the loose soil of the forest ground whilst keeping absolutely still. With their smooth grey abdomens and cephalothoraxes resting flat on the forest floor one might be forgiven for mistaking their grouped bodies for a formation of boulders. The vocal chords of a Pifu Linyu spider are able to mimic any sound, even voices, even if they are not able to fully understand their meanings. Pifu Linyu will arrange themselves in circles and protrude their slim and flexible, spiny front limbs into the arms, legs and heads into the skins of their meals. As a pack, they use human skin to create what they perceive to be a social gathering, luring others with hissing laughs and jovial beckons. They only practice this form of lure during cover of night, for when any approaching prey get close enough to see past the puppet show, that these people are actually empty sacks of propped up skin being manipulated by spider legs, it is often too late. Many caravans and passing traders have fallen foul to this trap, and the last thing they see is the soil rising from the circle of boulders. Those who fall victim to the hollow fangs of a Pifu Linyu are filled with steaming toxic fluids that melt down the toughest of bone as their organs liquefy, and then they are drank. In the mating season, a Pifu Linyu will swallow their prey whole to be consumed from within. The skin is then regurgitated as to present their fancy gift for their mate to be. Trolls are initiated into manhood by taming or defeating an adult female. Those who return successful earn the highest respect from their clan, and are considered as warriors from then on.
Yu-Huang finishes his interesting thesis on the breed of Pifu Linyu, and bids Xunsu goodnight and sweet dreams. Leaving her sat up in the hollow spider beside his, she uneasily goes about snuggling into the soft feathery interior of the shell. As her eyes begin to fall, her cares for the freaky nature of her bed subside. Xunsu eventually begins to snore the roof down, and she will later claim it was comfiest bed she has ever had slept in. Later, a female troll tip toes by to check on Xunsu and she drapes a quilt of cow skin over her. As the motherly troll stands gushing over the little girl she places her hands over her chest and smiles. Yu-Huang watches the maiden's loving affections for the human girl and begins wondering if has misjudged their kind. The maiden catches Yu-Huang watching her then gestures lovingly to the innocent sleeping girl still snoring like a bear. Y
u-Huang nods in agreement at her loveable presence and the troll maiden treads carefully away. Yu-Huang couldn't sleep, how could he? ‘Tis just like a demon to spread doubt and deceit, and he brands himself an idiot for even contemplating its false words. But how could he not heed the harsh words regarding his companions, especially since he had considered these possibilities before. One truth always rings true in Yu-Huang's mind, he is alone, and always will be. Even his young student and companion Xunsu, would one day grow old and perish. ‘Tis the curse of near immortality, but Yu-Huang had accepted this reality a long time ago as a child during his training. Yu-Huang's thoughts then drift on the mystery of the portals that he is able to manifest through sheer thought and reflex. What are these organic portals, what does the demon know of them that he doesn't? Meanwhile, in the kitchens of the palace, the trolls work hard on a feast fit for a King, and half mortal Emperor. Although their carving skills leave much to be desired the one thing the trolls excel at is preparing a feast. They even cook portions of cooked meat for their guests whilst laughing adorably at the strange human custom of charring their food.