Till The Ryu Tree Blossoms

*** (Run)

Hunter's Residence, Sansuri

THE FIRST THOUGHT THAT had entered Ryu's head was - well crap.

Was the prince here to sell her out? If Yoon-ki had given her double training just because she'd left the courtyard, she couldn't bear to think what punishment was next if he'd found out that she had taken a sword and dueled with a nobleman. Not that the duel had been her fault - despite her refusal to accept the duel Shi Jun had attacked anyway - but still.

She bit her lip and glanced at the door. Ten minutes ago, she'd burst into the house to find Faye and Taehyung gathered around the long table, waiting. The second prince had only wanted to speak with Yoon-ki, so the two men had ventured outside into the garden. Ryu would have liked nothing more than to eavesdrop, but with Faye around that decision would be cut down immediately.

"Stop pacing," Taehyung complained. "You're making me dizzy."

Faye eyed her. "Done another thing Yoon-ki shouldn't know?"

Ryu froze. "N-no. Of course not. Why would you say that?" She pulled up a chair meekly. "I'll sit down now."

The door opened and she jumped right back up. Taehyung uncrossed his legs.

"What did His Highness want?" Faye asked.

Yoon-ki rubbed the edge of his temples. He looked tired still from the hunting last morning.

"The King invited us over for a royal banquet."

No-mu choked on his water and Faye's eyes widened.

"Us? The royal hunting party? At a royal event?"

"It would seem so."

Taehyung stretched, like a lazy feline. "I thought they had so much fun making us do all the hard work and pretending we didn't exist."

"You know the King has reasons for that."

"Oh sure. Of course I do. Hey, Sansuri has demons! Let's make a labor force to take care of it and also not acknowledge or recognize them in any way. Because if the truth gets out, if people knew demons still existed after so many centuries, there'll be mass panic. So let's not give them any resources, or the Military will wonder where their equipment went; let's also not give them too much gold, or Finance will began to question; instead, let us just make them work their asses off and remind them that they should be honored they're trusted by the King."

Taehyung got up. "Go knock yourselves out. I'll be in my room sleeping."

He began to walk off.

"It's a personal invitation by the King! You can't just reject it!" Faye called.

"No, it's a disguised attempt to make us do something else they want," Taehyung shot back. "And I just did."

He disappeared into his room. Yoon-ki sighed, and gestured.

"Get ready. We leave in an hour."

The three of them nodded and began to move off. Yoon-ki looked at Ryu.

"Not you."

She blinked. " . . . I'm sorry?"

"You're not going. You'll stay here with Taehyung."

Ryu stared, not quite believing her ears. But the look on Yoon-ki's face was cold and determined, and showed no sign of humor.

No-mu winced. "Ah, Yoon-ki, don't you think that's a bit harsh - "

"She disobeyed my orders today. She's grounded."

"You never said anything about that." A slight edge crept into Ryu's voice. "You said double training but never anything about being grounded."

"Well I'm adding it now."

The anger that flared was sudden and fierce in Ryu's chest. A part of her whispered that maybe she did deserve it, and that it was not unjust, since she also did duel with a nobleman. Which was exactly the opposite of what Yoon-ki had said about them staying low. But Yoon-ki doesn't know that. He didn't knew, which meant all the punishment he was giving her right now was based solely on her running out of the courtyard, and it was extreme. It was too extreme.

She took a step forward.

"I don't understand why you're doing this." She struggled not to let her anger show. "Yes, I made a mistake. I left the courtyard when I wasn't supposed to. That was my fault, I admit it. But don't you think you're being a bit too overboard? Taehyung and No-mu both broke your rules before, but you've never punished them in this way!"

Something in Yoon-ki's eyes glittered. "Are you accusing me of favoritism?"

"All I know," Ryu seethed, "is that when they broke your rules, you gave them chores. Cooking, cleaning, market duty. But when I did it? You gave me double training, and a hundred push-ups."

"You shouldn't have disobeyed me," Yoon-ki snapped, moving forward.

"And the punishment should match the crime!" Ryu raised her voice, and now they were standing nose to nose, faces mere inches apart.

"Enough! Stop!"

Forcibly, No-mu inserted himself between them, hands held up. Faye pulled Ryu away, even as No-mu did the same with Yoon-ki.

"Let's discuss this properly without getting into a fight. Come on, guys."

Ryu was burning. What is his problem? He'd never been so outrageously unfair before. Yoon-ki was a magistrate after all, his life centered around justice. Everything he did, every reward he gave, every punishment he dealt, was befitting of whatever circumstances that had caused it. Though he might be strict, he was always fair. And now this! Was leaving the courtyard such a crime? Was the royal hunting party really such a black mark in the books of the King, and had to be hidden and hushed at all costs?

"Come on, Yoon-ki," No-mu was saying. "The King invited all of us. She has every right to go; she's part of us, which mean she deserves to sit at the royal banquet. You can punish her for what she did, but you shouldn't take away the reward she earned."

"Who said the King invited all of us?" Yoon-ki's tone were brusque. "And even if he did, I reserve the right on who to bring along. Ryu is not going, and that - is final."

He whirled around, marching for the door even as No-mu protested and made a grab at his sleeve.

"Yoon-ki - "

"Do not teach me how to discipline my men."

The magistrate's eyes were blazing with a fury Ryu had never seen before. The force of his gaze was enough to make her take a physical step backward, and whatever No-mu had wanted to say died at his lips. Yoon-ki shot Ryu a look of iron-clad steel, and when he spoke again his words were clipped with resolve.

"You, will not, enter the palace again."

The front door of the house opened, then slammed with a force that almost knocked it off its hinges.

☯

"I said stop pacing."

"I don't get it," Ryu burst out. "Why is he doing this? Is it really that bad? Is it really such a crime? I just left the courtyard for a little bit. I don't understand him!"

The colored ball of yarn went up down and under Taehyung's fingers. "I'm sure Yoon-ki has his reasons."

"Well do enlighten me please, because I'd really like to know them."

Almost an hour had passed since the rest of the hunting party had left for the banquet. Pride meant Ryu had refused to continue begging for Yoon-ki to let her go, despite how much she'd wanted to. Just before they left the threshold she had caught No-mu's eyes, sending him a pleading gaze. No-mu just shook his head.

"He won't talk to me," he whispered, as Yoon-ki put on his magistrate boots. "He won't even look at me."

No-mu paused. "He's really angry right now."

"But why? " Ryu exclaimed. "Was what I did really that bad? Bad enough for him to be mad about it for more than a day? That doesn't seem like him!"

No-mu gave her a look of pity. "I really can't help you out here. Hopefully it'll pass."

She grabbed his arm. "What do you think then? Was what I did really that bad? Bad enough to warrant such a reaction from him?"

No-mu hesitated. "No. I mean, I've done it before. Left the courtyard to find the uh, court lady. And he didn't flip out this way."

"See? " Ryu cried in triumph. "So why me?"

"Wouldn't we all like to know that." No-mu cast a glance outside, where the horses were ready and waiting. "I have to go. Give him time."

And he had left. Now Ryu fumed and flopped down in the chair.

The injustice of it all.

Taehyung let out a whistle. "I wonder what they're having. Roast rabbit and lamb? Perhaps a slice of venison with cherry wine on top? Or maybe even abalone stewed in wild mushrooms?"

Ryu's stomach let out a low growl and she pressed her lips together, tight.

"Oysters. Grilled meat. Sweet rice with ginseng roots and chestnuts."

She inhaled sharply and half got out of her chair. "Why you - "

Taehyung laughed, merry, and waltzed out of his seat before Ryu could catch him. She heard him let out a sharp whistle, and then the barking replies of his dogs. With a sigh, she landed heavily back in her chair.

"Was what I did . . . really that bad?" she muttered to herself.

☯

Ryu must have fallen asleep somewhere along the line, because when the hammering began at the door, she jolted awake. The sound was loud and urgent, like an aggressive woodpecker going full force.

Groaning, she mumbled, "Taehyung, there's someone at the door."

No answer. The hammering went on.

"Taehyung, can you get the door?"

No reply. Sighing, Ryu reluctantly opened an eye and jumped up. She'd been dreaming about roasted chestnuts and mulled wine, and it had been a good break from reality. So it was not with a very pleasant mood that she gripped the handle of the door and pulled it wide open.

"Who is there - "

"The king! The palace! It - it's under attack!"

All thoughts of sleep fled Ryu at that instant. "What?"

The boy who stood at the doorstep must have been a page of some sort, dressed as he was in servant clothing. He was an incoherent mess, and it took several sharp, well-aimed questions before Ryu could make heads or tails of what he was saying.

"What do you mean? What sort of attack?"

"The magistrate - the magistrate sent me to find you - to come immediately - "

"Yoon-ki? Come where? To the palace?"

"Y-y-yes. The - the banquet - the thing - it just came in out of nowhere - "

"What thing? "

The boy chose that moment to burst into tears. He looked barely ten, and was clearly terrified. Alarm began to seeped into Ryu's senses, but she refused to let it descend into panic. Instead, she crouched down and gripped the boy firmly by the shoulders, looking him square in the eyes.

"Speak slowly. What do you mean by 'the thing' ?"

The boy sobbed and whimpered, and sobbed a little more. Finally, he whispered -

"The demon."

And the alarm bells went off at full force.

Ryu got up, swift, already turning around to reach for the weapons cupboard. She flung it open, grabbing bow and arrows, before slipping two daggers into her belt. As she pulled on her combat boots she yelled,

"Taehyung! We have a situation!"

Running into the kitchen she grabbed the keys for the stable off the hook.

"Taehyung!" No response. Ryu swore.

The boy was still crying at the doorstep, and as Ryu neared him she once again got down on one knee. Voice gentle, she said,

"Listen to me. Do you have family? Outside the palace?"

The boy nodded. "Yes. An aunt."

"An aunt? Okay. Find your aunt. Stay with her. Don't leave her side. And do not, absolutely do not, tell her anything. Alright? We don't want to scare your aunt now, do we?"

The boy shook his head.

"You can say something happen, but that you don't know anything else. Can you do that? Can you be brave for me?"

"I can try," he whispered.

"That's all I need to hear."

Ryu ruffled his hair. The boy's lower lip wobbled. "It was really big. It - it was really scary."

She let out a smile. "It's my job to take care of scary things. Don't you worry. Now go!"

As the boy ran off, Ryu hurried outside. Taehyung's dogs were gone, and so were his shoes. Panic dropped like a steel ball in the depths of her gut. She bit her lip, shifting uneasily from foot to foot. Should she wait for him? Where had he gone? Was he just out for a walk or had something happened? Ryu stood on tiptoes, peeking anxiously at the gate the boy had just ran out of, hoping for a peek of Taehyung whistling as he walked up the road.

But no. The street beyond was empty.

Screw it. The palace first.

She ran to the stable, unlocking the padlock with the keys. Placing two fingers into her mouth she whistled. There was the clopping of hooves, and then a beautiful russet horse came trotting out. She smiled, patting it on the back.

Holding the reins, she led it out of the stable and nearly ran two of Taehyung's dogs over. They barked, incessant and loud and raucous, as its owner slowly moved into view under the cloudless night.

"Taehyung!" she exclaimed, relieved. "What - "

She stopped.

Something was wrong.

Slowly, painstakingly, Taehyung walked into the moonlight. He was carrying something in his arms.

Ryu caught a glimpse of a white-tipped nose.

She gasped, clutching her mouth in horror.

The young man staggered, eyes wild. The dogs that jumped around both their legs wouldn't stop howling. And the dog that lay dead in Taehyung's arms had had its stomach ripped out, its eyes gouged till all that was left were empty sockets.

"I found her near the stream," Taehyung whispered. His voice was a broken shell of its former. "She was already dead when I got there. I knew - I knew I shouldn't have let her out of the gardens - "

"Taehyung - " Ryu faltered. "Oh I don't - I don't know what to say. I - I'm so sorry."

"I need to bury her. I need - "

He took a step forward, and Ryu heard the tinkling of wind chimes.

". . . Stop."

"I need to bury her - "

"Taehyung, stop."

"Why - why is she dead this way - "

In the moonlight, the metal around the dog's neck reflected and gleamed.

"The boundary rope," Ryu whispered.

That caught Taehyung's attention. "What?"

Quivering, Ryu's index finger rose till it was pointed at the dead dog's neck. Entangled around the animal like a crude noose was a piece of red string, on which miscellaneous ornaments dangled. Ornaments like garlic and seashells and steel tubes.

"The boundary rope . . . it's broken," Ryu heard herself say.

Taehyung seemed dazed. "But - that can't be. She's trained not to go beyond. And I found her on the safe side of the stream."

"Then . . . why is the rope around her neck?"

The dogs around their legs suddenly stopped jumping. One of them whimpered, taking a step back, while the other sank down to its haunches, all hackles raised, and it began to growl. At the same time Ryu's horse reared up on all its legs, whinnying frantically, before tearing its leash out of her grasp and bolting out of sight. She watched it gallop away and opened her mouth to protest.

But the dog growled again, and it was growling very fiercely, keeping its eyes trained on something that seemed to be standing behind Ryu's back.

The hairs at the nape of Ryu's neck rose. Was it her imagination, or was she hearing a third person breathing?

Trembling, Ryu ignored the terrified fear that was gripping her heart like a vice, and forced herself to turn around. Her shoes scuffled agonizingly slow on the mud-packed ground.

She stopped when she was three-quarters into her turn and began to shake.

The demon that stood before her was very tall.

Taller than her and Taehyung. Taller than the stable and the house. Taller than the wood's tallest tree.

"Run," Taehyung whispered.

It shifted, and all its many legs clacked. Spindly they were, and sharp.

"Run."

It bore no similarity to the polar-bear like beast Ryu had only recently hunted. This one had an exoskeleton that looked fluid yet impenetrable, and it was so dark it seemed to suck the light from the moon.

Its head tilted, like Ryu was a curiosity.

"Run."

It grinned, sudden and wide, and the jagged saws of teeth in its mouth reached from ear to ear. A canine paw was still clamped between his incisors.

"RUN RYU, RUN!"

They fled, like sprinters in a 100-mile dash after the starting gunshot. The metallic chattering and clattering behind left no doubt as to what was sharp on their heels, and as they reached the gate Ryu felt a nail pierce through her shirt and draw blood. She let out a strangled scream and jerked, nearly stumbling over herself.

"What the hell is that?" Taehyung still had his dead dog in his arms and was holding onto the fur for dear life.

"How the hell would I know, you're the one with the ten years of demon-hunting experience!"

They ran till they could hear the busy hubbub of the port, and then Taehyung veered right. Ryu realized he was going into the slums, taking the back roads and not venturing into the village center.

"I've never seen such a monster in my life," Taehyung said, voice taut. "Did you see the size of that thing?"

Ryu not only did see, she could still feel the cut burning. Risking a glance backward, she half-expected to see the demon reach out with one of its spindly legs to slice her head right off her neck.

But the road behind was empty.

She slowed, eyes darting as they scouted the bushes, jumping from tree to house to tree. No demon in sight.

"Taehyung." Her feet grounded to a halt. "It's gone. The thing . . ."

Taehyung slowed to the stop. Ryu bent double, hands palming her kneecaps as her chest heaved for air. Sweat plastered the strands of Taehyung's purple hair to his cheeks, and as he knelt down his dogs nestled close. One of them licked Taehyung's forearm, then its dead partner's face, and whimpered. Seeming almost humane, the pleading look the dog gave Taehyung as it placed a paw on the dead dog's chest nearly broke Ryu's heart into two.

Taehyung shook his head, unsteady. "I'm sorry, Kira. Key - Key is gone."

Key. Kiefer, Kira and Key. Ryu remembered now. Kira and Key were siblings, and she could never differentiate between the two. None of the hunting party could. But Taehyung always did.

There was a loud muffled boom, and a bright glow began forming on the horizon. With each passing minute it blossom and grew, tainting the night sky a fiery orange.

Ryu looked at Taehyung. Taehyung looked at Ryu.

"The palace," they chorused, and then they ran.