Till The Ryu Tree Blossoms

*** (Bulletproof)

Palace of Eternal Prosperity, Sansuri

THE DEMON MOVED ITS pincer to the front, and Ryu saw another coming from behind. She felt as if she was trapped between the blades of giant scissors, ready to be at any moment captured or sliced apart - or both.

Ryu didn't move. Taehyung looked like he might lunge forward, and she gave an almost imperceptible shake of her head.

No sudden moves now. No sudden moves.

Slowly crouching down, Ryu laid the prince on his side. He was really heavy, and it took a fair bit of effort to budge him into the correct position. Ryu fancied she heard him whisper "I'm sorry", but when she looked at him his eyes were still shut like he was unconscious.

She poised herself on the balls of her feet.

The pincers hovered, like a fisherman's bait dangling in water, and then it snapped shut. At the same time Ryu gritted her teeth and pushed, and the Crown Prince rolled unceremoniously across the hall floor. Only a few centimeters did he go, but it was enough for both Taehyung and Faye to leap forward and grab him, pulling him out of the demon's reach. As for Ryu, she tried to duck out of the way but couldn't avoid the pincers fast enough. A cry escaped her lips as pain flared in her back.

The pincers withdrew and so did the demons, their chattering like insectile laughter.

"They're toying with us," Faye remarked, grim.

Ryu placed a hand on her back, feeling stickiness under her tentative touch. Jaw clenched, she wiped her palm on her trousers with determination and said,

"Let's get out of here."

They resumed walking, and this time Ryu had her bow out and arrow on the string. She was taking no more chances. It was difficult, especially since she also had to help Faye carry the Crown Prince and keep an eye out for the staggering sixth prince, but the weight of the weapon in her hands gave her a measurement of assurance.

There were more wooden beams falling now - behind, in front, left and right, heavier and louder and larger and more frequent. Taehyung couldn't stop coughing. Faye was blinking fast and furious as smoke stung her eyes. The Crown Prince was out cold and the other two that still had their eyes open weren't looking any better. With every breath Ryu take, the oxygen seemed to lessen.

It was an excruciatingly slow process, but Ryu kept her eyes focused on the banquet hall main doors. Fifteen feet. The flames of the fire threw ghastly shadows on the wall. Fourteen feet. Something moved just out of sight. Thirteen feet. A beam hit the ground just beside her and she jumped. Twelve. They were closing in. They were getting out.

Then the chattering began again.

Come play with us, a child whispered right into her ear.

Ryu flinched, bow up and drawn within seconds as she whipped around in the direction of the voice. Taehyung let out a strangled curse even as the sixth prince swore.

A childish giggle floated out from somewhere within the burning hall.

"What the hell was that?" Ryu asked in a shaky tone.

"Sounded like a five-year-old girl," Faye replied.

"That's one kid I am not rescuing," Taehyung fiercely whispered.

"Probably a good idea."

They moved carefully around an overturned table and maneuvered their way through a mess of broken chairs.

Where are you going? came the voice again, right in Ryu's ear.

Taehyung jumped even as Ryu shuddered, rubbing her ear vigorously against her shoulder. Faye shook her head.

"Just keep moving," she whispered. "Ignore it."

The voice got louder, more persistent. Where are you going?

They stayed silent and kept moving, moving moving forward. The closer they got to the main entrance the louder the chattering became. Now they could see them, the creatures, just hovering in and out of sight like anxious bumblebees, their chattering like a thousand spiders clicking. Nearer and nearer they got to the doors, and nearer and nearer did the demons get, until the creatures were thrown completely in the firelight - tall, monstrous things with abnormally long and thin limbs, limbs that could flow like fluid around table legs as it followed them, but also snapped rigid as soon the situation demanded it.

A pincer stabbed into the hall floor mere inches away from Taehyung's shoe and he jumped. It withdrew.

Are you scared of me?

Are you scared of us?

"Hell yeah," Taehyung muttered in low undertones. He took a step forward and the second prince's knees buckled, nearly hitting the ground. Grunting, Taehyung lifted him back up. Ryu watched, and saw how the second prince's eyes nearly rolled back into his head as Taehyung moved him, and how the strands of his hair was plastered with sweat to his skin.

The child's voice came again, sounding abnormally innocent. You cannot leave.

" . . . Why?"

For a moment Ryu thought it was the demon speaking. But this one was male and sounded weak. She looked at the second prince.

He was struggling to stay upright, and the hand that gripped Taehyung was so forceful the knuckles had turned white. But his eyes reflected the flames of the hall with a defiant intensity of his own, and his jaw was etched with the resolve of a man who was not ready to die just yet.

The chattering stopped, for a brief second. Then -

Because we're still hungry.

Faye caught Ryu's eye and that was the only incentive they needed. They broke into a run, hauling the Crown Prince between them as they made the final dash, the remaining ten feet, eyes locked with desperation on the door. The sixth prince ran beside them, and behind, Taehyung had the second prince on his back and was following close.

Ryu's fingers closed around the door handle and she hauled it open, triumphant, as the sixth prince ran through. Faye pushed the Crown Prince out and dove to safety herself. As she looked behind for Taehyung a pincer flashed like a black blur into her vision, and she jumped away before it could impale itself in her hand. The thicker girth of the upper limb rammed into the door and the door slammed shut.

Ryu saw the lock turned into place, all by itself.

She turned, aimed her bow and fire. It bounced uselessly off the exoskeleton of the demon, which whipped around in a hiss. She got her first proper look at its face.

She didn't like it.

Slipping the bow back into her quiver she began running toward Taehyung. Pincers slammed down into the floor beside her, brutal and fast like a torrential hailstorm, forcing her to dodge and jerk her body at angles. She caught her foot on something and tripped, just for half a second, and the pincer sliced a shallow cut down her cheek.

The moment Taehyung saw the main door close he'd taken refuge behind a large overturned table with the second prince. Now Ryu joined him, sliding in ungracefully as she struggled to catch her breath. She risked a glimpse and saw the demons slamming pincers into everything in sight.

Where are you?

Come out come out, wherever you are.

She inhaled sharply, chest heaving. "Crap."

"At least the Crown Prince is out." Taehyung glanced to his right. "Though there's still this dude."

Even in his state, the second prince still managed to sound condescending. "You - may call me Your Highness."

"Yea well, that might not be true any longer." Taehyung looked at Ryu. "What now? They're going to destroy this place till they find us."

Ryu inhaled once, and exhaled. "Good question."

"Damn it!" Taehyung cursed, slamming a fist into the ground. "If only I had my whip!"

"I don't know if that will work. Their exoskeleton looks impervious. My arrows bounced right off."

She stuck her head out again briefly, before withdrawing it back in.

"Maybe Faye will send help," she said hopefully, though she doubted it. Who would dare come back? And even if they did, could they get in? The door had locked itself.

A cough - and a slight gasp. The prince looked up at them through the smoke. His voice grated harshly in his throat.

"If the people designed to combat these kind of things . . . can't combat these kind of things . . . then what good will the help be?"

Silence. A pincer slammed into the wall only fifteen feet away from them and tore a huge chunk of wood and brick out.

"We really need to go," Ryu said urgently.

"But bloody how?" Taehyung retorted.

She looked down at her hands, which was now holding her hunting knife. Then she looked at Taehyung's bare ones, still stained from Key's blood, and saw how the prince winced as he pressed his side.

She took a deep breath.

"I'll distract them. You go."

"Are you freaking crazy? You'll get killed out there!"

"I'm the only one with a weapon. I stand the best chance."

"A weapon that's ineffective is no weapon, Ryu!"

"Then what?" Ryu snapped. "We hide here and wait till they skewer us for dinner? I think not."

She tucked her feet into a half-crouch. "I'm going out. And you can't stop me."

There was a metal goblet on the floor and she grabbed it.

"The hell, Ryu wait - "

She leaped out. As she ran she tossed the goblet, hard, and it clanged loudly against the marble bust.

"I came to play, bastards!" she yelled, even as her heart threatened to thump out of her chest.

The chattering, stopped, resumed, and then increased at a frightening rate her way. The first pincer came in from the left field, and as she ducked the second swiped at her legs. She barely avoided that one. As it retracted, she dragged the blade of her knife as hard and as much as she could along it.

Nothing. Not even a dent.

Then came the hailstorm again, pincers ramming down from above like lightning bolts from the gods. She didn't even had the time to breathe as she fought to keep her body clear. Through the mass of black legs around her she spotted Taehyung pulling the second prince to the door. She saw him struggle for a bit. Saw him open it.

She saw them left.

A wave of relief washed over her, dispelled as quickly as it came when another pincer almost punctured her shoe. Twisting herself away she stumbled, and as she righted herself she watched the two demons pulled themselves straight, up, up, up till their heads must have touched the ceiling, and heard them chatter as they looked down at her.

Come play with us, the little girl's voice whispered.

Come play.

Ryu's breathing was irregular, her every inhalation an interrupted gasp. Her palms were lined with sweat and she had trouble holding on to the knife. For the first time since she joined the hunting party she realized she had no idea what she was dealing with, and that scared her. It scared her more than the knowledge she couldn't hurt these creatures. It scared her more than the knowledge that no one was here to help her. It scared her more than the knowledge that all she could do now - was to run.

She ran.

The giggling rose into laughter, than the laughter grew into a maniacal cackling, and she felt pincers grabbed the back of her shirt. They lifted her up like she was nothing and swung her to the left, her legs trashing and all, before swinging her to the right. The pincers let go. Ryu slammed into the wall at a velocity that seemed to shatter every bone in her side, and crashed down to the floor. She choked down her scream as she cradled her right shoulder, which had hit the wall first.

The pain came in relentless waves, and only intensified as the demon picked her up - and dangled her full body weight on her right shoulder. Now she screamed, a raw guttural sound as the ligaments in her arm threatened to snap. More pincers grabbed her by her ankles and they pulled, her head heading one way and her toes another.

She was literally being ripped in half.

Then the pincers suddenly vanished. Once again she fell, landing on her back.

Ryu couldn't move. She knew she should, but her body had given up. Her back was shrieking, her cheek was bleeding and her shoulder had nearly been torn apart. It was too much. She couldn't take it. The pain - oh the pain - it wouldn't stop, it refused to stop, it was gnawing and clawing and scratching and demanding to be seen and felt in all its entirety . . . She squeezed her eyes shut as all her senses abandoned her save one - the pain receptors under her skin was on fire, agony running its fingers in wicked glee up and down her flesh and into her very bones.

There was the sound of scuffling, agitated insectile chatter, then a piercing shriek. At the same time Ryu felt the entire left side of her body warmed up, as if some beacon or beam was shining on her from that side. She coughed. She gasped. And slowly, painfully, she forced herself to open her eyes.

Pain dulled her mind. Her vision swam. Things blurred in and out of focus, as if she was watching the world through a watery sieve. Dimly she saw the demons flail in panic, their dozens of legs writhing as what looked like silver fire coursed around and in between them. No, not fire, it was too liquid for that, but it shone with the same refulgence. Whatever it was, it was keeping the demons occupied and far far away from her probably-dislocated shoulder and equally-damaged back - for the moment.

She wheezed, every deep breath sending sharp stabs of pain into her chest. No longer did she knew if her tears came from the smoke or the pain, and she wondered if she even cared. What was the point? She was dying anyway. This had to be it.

Something moved in the corners of her vision and for a moment she panicked, wondering if it was a demon. Clumsily she tried to move away, then cried out as fresh waves of pain ignited.

The dizziness hit, and she knew she was going to pass out. As the blackness edged in on her world she made a last attempt to see whatever it was that had moved. She turned her head.

Silver hair, flowing like a breeze against a landscape of fire red.

The last vestiges of consciousness left her and everything turned black.