Northern Forest of Moutan

Autumn 1461

Mine...the hungry rasping voice whispered in Pul's head, it's laughter echoing crazily.

Finally! You're mine! Mine!

All around him, voices cried and jeered, as shadowy figures circled him in the darkness.

Master! It's come! It's here!

Look at it! Snow white and beautiful...such a fine skin for our Lord!

A fine human skiiinnnnn!

The vessel is awakening! It's here! the voices crowed and shrieked with excitement.

"Shut up! Shut up!" Pul screamed, covering his ears frantically, but he could not block out the sound.

"Pul..." whispered a hoarse voice in the distance, jerking him out of the black fog. The shadow voices instantly retracted into silence.

When he finally opened his eyes, looking around him, the world had become an explosion of red.

Pul gasped, clawing his fingers against his throat and realizing with horror that his fingernails had formed into sharpened black points and that he was cutting his own skin into shreds. Yet as fast as he was creating them, the gouges healed over, sealing over the searing pain he felt as he clutched at his neck. His throat burned, hot and dry, and his tongue felt thick in his mouth as if he would die from thirst.

What...what is this feeling? he wondered, feeling a scream bubble up inside him. He stared at his bloodstained hands and at a world around him that no longer made sense. Alone in an area of flattened trees, he found himself curled up in a pool of blood and severed limbs. He was soaked in so much blood that it had encrusted his eyelashes and he could taste its iron bitterness in his mouth.

He hauled himself up onto his knees and stared at the carnage, feeling terror rise up inside.

"I..."

Arms, legs...h-heads...What happened...Brother...where?

He opened his mouth to cry out for his brother, but he only heard himself croak in pain.

"Pul..."

Pul's head snapped in the direction of the voice and before he realized it his body was already moving, running swifter than the wind. As he ran, he became aware that he was crashing through the forest on all fours with such force that trees snapped, bushes were flattened and the crows that had been feeding on the stinking, rotting body parts around him screamed in outrage, the cacophony of sound too loud for his newly sensitive ears. He clutched them and then screamed realizing that they were elongated into a shape he didn't recognize.

He stopped dead in the middle of the forest and wildly touched his ears and face and then stopped when his trembling hands fell upon something long and hard protruding upward from his forehead through his blood matted hair.

Horns.

Crash. Bang. Thump. Thump. Thump.

The cacophony was intolerable.

From the thudding of the blood through the veins in his body, to the crazy thump of his heart, everything was too bright, too loud. And the smells of blood, cracked wood, dirt...his senses were overwhelmed as if he was being tumbled in a giant ocean of noise and colour, barely making sense of it. Enraged by the chaotic jumble, he wanted to claw his eyes out and rip his ears from his head. But someone had called for him...Who?

"Pul..." the voice tugged at him, and he stopped, sniffing the air, smelling a familiar scent just ahead.

Brother...that's right...we were ambushed.

"Pul..." the voice gasped, desperately calling him.

Brother!

Thundering through the forest, he climbed on top of a huge tree root that had formed over an animal path. Underneath, lying in the dirt, surrounded by a dozen bodies, was Seiren. Pul saw that his brother still held his short sword. The long sword had been snapped in two, jammed in the armour of one of his assailants who was dead a few feet away. Seiren's armour and clothes were dark with stains, soaked with black blood. A sword slash had gone across his handsome face and put out one of his beautiful, jewelled eyes, but seeing Pul, the remaining bloodshot eye lit with recognition and joy.

Pul crouched over him, feeling curiously detached as he looked at the gaping hole in his brother's side. He pressed a hand there, but it was already much too late. Seiren was lying in a giant pool of blood and his skin was as white as new snow.

"Pul..." Seiren whispered, faltering a bit as he took in his brother's appearance. "W-what happened to you?"

It was only then that Pul saw himself, reflected in his brother's single blue eye. He could not see the image clearly, but the creature reflected there was pale, and two horns grew out of its forehead. Slitted pupils blinked back at him as his throat suddenly burned with a ferocious thirst. His mouth opened of its own accord as his nose filled with the delicious scent of Seiren's blood. Jerking away, he slammed backwards into a tree, holding his throat in horror, gulping as he realized what he'd just been about to do.

"Pul...it's alright..." whispered Seiren, trying to smile. "It's alright. Don't be afraid..."

"Brother!" Pul wailed, sliding down to the ground, shaking. "Brother!"

"Pul, Pul listen. I-I don't have much time...you must...guard against...Father..." Seiren wheezed.

Pul's clutched himself and howled as pain splintered through his head.

Father? Father did this?! Why?!

"...Sakurako..."

Ah...

"Pul...you must...run away. Father...mustn't catch you...." Seiren muttered, his voice growing more and more faint, as the light in his single eye slowly clouded.

Realising that Seiren was still trying to say something else, Pul moved close again, holding his ear over his brother's lips.

"...girl...prince..."

And then there was silence.

"Seiren...?"

Seiren...

***

Lord Mu's mouth tasted bitter as he contemplated the guard in front of him.

"That's everything that happened? You've not left anything out?" demanded Lord Mu sharply. His tone was exceptionally grim. He'd been sleeping soundly in Moon's arms when the servants had roused him from his bed with urgent news from the Shadows who had been assigned to monitor Prince Seiren's progress to the border.

Only one of the original six had returned, and he stood in Lord Mu's study sporting various injuries, looking pale under his mask. Moon stood at Lord Mu's shoulder, his arms folded across his broad chest. His expression was unreadable, but his eyes had narrowed to slits after hearing what the survivor had to say.

A moment later there was a quiet knock at the door.

"My Lord, it's Haruka. I've brought Xing and Xia," the girl said from outside.

Lord Mu pressed his fingers into his eyelids before readjusting his mask.

"Come in," he sighed.

Haruka entered and then slid the door closed behind her after the others had come in, each looking solemn.

"Speak. Tell them what you told me," Lord Mu commanded.

"Yes, my Lord," said the Shadow, bowing.

"We followed the Shoban Prince into the Northern forest, but before they could cross the border, they were ambushed. We tried to extract the Prince, but we were unable to as they had a sorcerer...and not a weak one..."

Xing sucked in a breath and Haruka covered her mouth.

"Ambushed in Moutan..." whispered Xia, stunned by the implications.

Lord Mu nodded.

"That's not all. It seemed that some members of the Prince's contingent were aware of the attack and cooperated with them...and then..." the Shadow hesitated, looking to Lord Mu.

"That will do," interrupted Lord Mu.

Moon grunted, but he also thought it was best that the children didn't hear that the Prince's page had turned into a demon. Without distinguishing between friend or foe, the boy had fallen into a fit of madness and slaughtered every living creature within reach. Of course that wasn't the most important point.

"Do you have any questions?" Lord Mu asked Haruka, Xing and Xia.

The young ones shook their heads, still trying to digest what they'd been told.

"You've done well. Go see to your wounds," Lord Mu said to the surviving guard. The man nodded and left hastily.

When the door was shut again, Lord Mu said:

"With the Shoban Crown Prince dead on our soil, we won't be able to avoid a war. I thought I had done enough to prevent it, but I see that I underestimated the Shoban King. I had hoped that Seigen wasn't so cruel as to sacrifice his Crown Prince, but it's clear that he meant to use him since the beginning."

"What about the marriage alliance?" asked Haruka. "Was it just a set up?"

"It was a ploy...probably to buy time," said Moon. "We've miscalculated how soon they'd be ready."

Haruka's gaze flicked between the Captain and the Lord. Neither of them looked surprised by the news.

They knew this was coming.

"None of that matters now," Lord Mu repeated. "The most important thing is to prepare everyone. Moon, go to the Palace to make the report to his Majesty. Xing, you must arrange to leave with Feiyan. We need to send the Crown Prince to the summer palace in the south to ensure that he doesn't fall into the hands of the Shobans. The other issue is Keungang. I don't want to be fighting on two fronts. Although Keungang's succession is creating too much of a mess right now for them to attack us, the situation will have to be monitored. Xia, I need you to watch the southern border."

Xia opened his mouth and then shut it. He hadn't yet said a word, but he had taken everything in.

"You're sending us away?" Xing asked, surprised. He looked uneasily for Moon's confirmation, and then his eyes slid to Haruka.

"You aren't the only ones going. We are sending the young ones with you as well," answered Moon. "Except for Haruka, Hajoon and Gen, you're all going."

Xing clenched his jaw, but before he could open his mouth to protest, Haruka lightly touched his arm and shook her head in warning. He looked anxious, but then his expression became carefully blank.

"We'll see to the preparations immediately, Lord Mu," said Haruka, bowing. She flipped a hand at Xing and Xia. They quickly bowed and followed her out.

When they had gone, Moon came around to confront his Lord.

"You're not confident that we will win, Mu Shan?" he asked, searching his lover's face.

"Don't curse us yet...Sending the children away is just a precaution," the other responded calmly, with a hint of a smile. "As you know, war is unpredictable...until the end, who knows who will win or who will lose. We each have our worries, and we must carry out our duties as we see fit."

"Is there anything you're not telling me?" Moon pressed.

"My dear Moon, I am the Grand Chancellor of Moutan and the king's strategist. It's better that you don't know too much because then you can't be blamed for it later," said Mu Shan, lips tipping up teasingly.

He titled his head and for a moment his stormy blue grey eyes sparkled.

"Be serious, Mu Shan!" Moon snapped.

"I am being serious. If I cannot protect my wife or the children, then what kind of man does that make me?"

Moon's face reddened.

"Who the hell is your wife?" he muttered under his breath.

"Go to the palace. Xiao Jing Feng won't be surprised by the report. We already knew something was going on a half year ago..."

"Are you saying it was that early?" demanded Moon, eyes widening. "Then why have we not been preparing the army?"

"Even earlier, and we have been. What kind of moves do you think we could make out in the open? Preparations were made in secret. We stockpiled weapons and food stuffs, but I still held out hope with Prince Seiren's arrival that we could avoid it."

Moon sighed as Mu Shan continued.

"War is always the last resort. I had Xia Jing Feng make as many concessions as we could with trade to try to stave it off, but Seigen is greedy and impatient. He doesn't want better trade conditions...he wants to be the emperor of the three Eastern kingdoms. That kind of ambition can never be resolved peacefully...but that's enough talk. Go now and go swiftly. The King will be waiting for you."

Moon nodded and bowed himself out.

Moving to the window, Mu Shan stared out into the night, looking at the blood red mist that covered the moon.

It won't be long. Akuma is stirring and the things that were meant to come, have finally come.