She rocketed up, slamming into his forehead as she gagged. Jihoon fell back as something bulleted toward him. It hit him on the cheek before rolling away, and the girl crumpled into an unconscious heap again.
Jihoon, lying in a pile of leaves and dirt, turned his head to glance at the object. It was a bead, small and opalescent as a pearl. Sitting up, he reached for it—then almost dropped it as it pulsed against his palms. His hand trembled as he recognized the pattern of the steady thump, like the beat of a heart.
A silver line speared from the pearl, a thread connecting him to the girl’s heart.
Jihoon’s fingers became numb so quickly, it seemed as if the warmth had been leached from his skin. And the thread pulsed, growing brighter, thicker. A wave of fatigue overtook Jihoon. He almost fell back to the ground when the girl’s eyes flew open, zeroing in on the bead.
Jumping up, she snatched it away. A growl rumbled in her throat. A terrifying, beastly sound. The rage that twisted her face wiped away the clouds of fatigue from Jihoon’s brain and replaced them with fear.
She retreated so fast she was a blur. Leaves spun and branches cracked as she sprinted into the trees.
With nothing but the sounds of the forest for company, Jihoon was suddenly aware he was all alone again. And still lost.
A rustle pulled a yelp from him. Then he relaxed again as Dubu limped over and flopped into his arms with a whimper. Jihoon, hands shaking, pulled her close and buried his face in her fur.
HAVE YOU EVER wondered where the gumiho came from as you lay awake fearing the full moon?
Some say the first gumiho came from the land to the west, traveling down the peninsula to settle in the mountain forests they preferred. Some say the first true gumiho arose in Korea before the country claimed the name. That tale begins as Prince Jumong—the Light of the East—founded the Goguryeo Kingdom.
There lived a fox, already over five hundred years old, who watched the activities of humankind with curiosity. She was strong and sleek, and hunters coveted her beautiful pelt. No matter how fast their bows, they were never able to catch her. Even Prince Jumong, the grandson of the water god Habaek, renowned for his hunting skills, could not catch her. Out of one hundred arrows shot, he hit his target one hundred times, until he came up against the fox.
She wandered into Prince Jumong’s hunting grounds every day. Her reasons were not quite known. Some said she loved the prince. Others said she liked to mock him with her presence. But who can truly know the motivations of the ancients?
After she’d lived for a thousand years, the fox had gathered an exceptional amount of gi.
Through this energy she transformed herself into a human. A beautiful woman loved by any man she met, but never for long.
So she walked the earth alone, not quite human, but not quite beast.
A fox who loved the mortals she mimicked.
Until she could not love them anymore.
3
JIHOON WAS DREAMING. He knew this even though there was nothing to particularly signal this. It was just an overwhelming sense of knowing.
The forest was silent as he wove through trees made silver by the moonlight. Fog obscured the forest floor, so he couldn’t make out his own feet. For all he knew, he floated above the ground, as his steps made no sound. In fact, nothing did. No rustling of leaves from wind or birds. No snapping of twigs from scurrying creatures. No noise of any kind broke the complete stillness of the woods.
He’d never been aware while dreaming before, but it had been a strange night all around, so what was one more weird thing to add to the pile? He remembered hearing someone say that if you could lucid dream, you could make yourself do things, like breathe underwater, or fly. He mused over it a moment, then took two running steps before leaping into the air . . . and falling to the ground with a thump. Twigs and leaves dug into his cheek as he fell on his face.
“What are you doing?”
He jerked up to stare into the empty forest. Then he stood and looked down the path. Nothing. When he turned back, she stood there. Her eyes hooded by shadow. Her arms folded. Her tails fanned behind her.