Junu heard the swift steps of the tiger behind him. And he shifted to face the creature as it bore down on him. He’d only get one chance at this. It took everything in Junu not to dart away. Not to dive out of the tiger’s path too soon. He knew that if he did, then the giant cat would have too much time to course correct.
So he waited as the tiger raced toward him. Fangs bared. Claws sharp. And when all he could see was fur and teeth, he jumped to the side. The tiger sailed past him. Its roar a fading echo as it fell. Junu scrambled toward the edge, glancing over. He could see the tiger tumbling along the steep decline.
“Somin! Hurry!” Miyoung’s voice called. A distant plea.
Junu raced back to them, praying he’d find them in one piece. Praying the sansin hadn’t gotten ahold of them.
Miyoung strained as she fought to hold on to the sansin, who writhed and twisted, trying to break free. He’d begun to chant, an old language that sounded like it came from before the time of the three kingdoms.
Somin finally reached Miyoung, dragging Jihoon’s limp body behind her.
Miyoung took hold of Jihoon’s hand. And the energy that had been wafting around her like smoke began to circle Jihoon, too. The energy pulled at the lines of his body, making him blur, pulling at him until another shape emerged from his back. A ghostly figure with long hair and pale skin. Sinhye.
“It’s working,” Somin said.
But as Sinhye’s soul was pulled from Jihoon’s body, smoky figures wafted through the forest. Spirits drawn to this place. Attracted to the approaching death.
Junu thought he saw a face he recognized. A white, gaping expression forming on one of the spirits moving through the forest. “Eomma?” he whispered. He almost faltered at the sight of her.
The sun was almost done setting, and the trees were illuminated in oranges and reds. The light seemed to dance. Like flames. Junu felt his skin heat. Felt his body burn.
“Eomma? Are you really here?” he whispered. But she faded away, sifting back into the shadows.
Junu started toward her, but he wasn’t sure if he wanted to follow her or chase her away. He felt his entire being burning, and he stumbled, falling onto his hands and knees. The brush under his hands caught fire. Junu jumped up, letting out a yelp of surprise.
Sinhye’s form was almost completely free from Jihoon’s body, but Miyoung glanced over at Junu’s shout and her concentration was momentarily broken. The sansin let out a guttural shout, and the mountain began to shake. The ground beneath them started to crack and break. Trees falling around them as their roots were yanked from the earth.
And Miyoung was flung back, losing her grip on both the sansin and Jihoon as she was slammed into the ground.
“Miyoung,” Somin called a second before the sansin’s hand swiped out at her. She danced back and lifted the knife in her other hand. Teeth bared, she crouched.
“Don’t,” Junu yelled, but it was too late. Somin had launched herself onto the sansin’s back. She brought the knife down in an angry arc and lodged it between the sansin’s shoulders. He let out a bellow.
“It’s not enough. You can’t kill a sansin with a human weapon,” Junu yelled, but before he could reach them, the sansin dislodged Somin.
Miyoung stumbled onto her feet in time for Somin to crash into her. And both girls went tumbling across the field.
“You would dare to attack a god?” the sansin boomed. “You will be punished for your insolence.”
He lifted his hands, and rocks rained down from the cliffs around the girls.
Miyoung cried out as a stone glanced across her temple. Blood seeped from a gash in her forehead.
Another volley fell, and Somin twisted in pain as one hit her in the arm. She fell beside Miyoung, bleeding.
“No!” Junu launched himself at the god, ready to use anything he could, his fists, his teeth.
But the old man turned, his eyes bright as the sun as he plucked Junu up by his neck.
Junu’s feet kicked at air as he struggled.
“You have crossed me for the last time. I should have let you die a millennium ago. I turned you for my amusement, but you’ve become a menace.”
Junu’s vision blurred. Ringing filled his ears.
The shadows of the forest swam. It made the foliage turn to hazy green smoke. And he saw figures seeping out of the darkness.