Willow arrived home out of breath and extremely nervous. Her father Rowan, who was currently sitting down with his back to Bough gazing out at his field, took notice of his youngest’s disheveled state. Relaxation no longer possible, he got up and moved over to the girl and knelt down in front of her with his hands on her shoulders.

  “You all right, sprout? You look spooked.”

  Willow took a deep breath. Then the floodgates were opened.

  “IhavetwospiritsIdidn’ttellyouaboutandtheyarehavingmefindmorespiritsandwhileIwaslookingformorespiritsIfoundouttheEmeraldBloomisrottennowandisdoingbadthingstoOldPingpleasedon’tbemadatmeandhelpher!”

  She closed her eyes after she was done, not wanting to see her dad get upset with her. She also took several breaths to replace the lungful she just used up.

  Rowan blinked. It took a moment to process the flood of words uttered by his daughter, but when he did a storm started brewing on his face.

  “What do you mean the Emerald Bloom is rotten? And what kind of bad things?”

  “You’re not mad about the spirit thing?”

  “Daughter, I knew about those other spirits of yours on the day you got them. I’m a little hurt you never opened up about them before now, but after the Eos incident it’s understandable. But right now we have more important things to talk about.” Rowan gave Willow a pointed look.

  “Right! So Old Ping’s core has been filled with rotten qi for a while now. I didn’t bring it up cuz everyone kept telling me it was rude to talk about other people's cores. And I kept finding rotten qi in the woods around here, but I thought that was just normal forest stuff.”

  “Willow, please get to the point.” Her father said patiently.

  The girl puffed up indignantly “I was getting to it, it’s all part of the point.” She went back to explanation mode. “So today I went over to the Emerald Bloom, cuz I thought some small spirits would hang around a powerful one like them. While I was going that way I checked in Old Ping’s hut and she wasn’t there. And when I got to the clearing with the Emerald Bloom it looked and felt all rotten, but not like it was dying. It was also doing something Change called forced dual cultivation to Old Ping. Change is one of my spirits by the way.” Her voice trailed off with the last sentence, due to the look of pure rage she saw on her fathers face.

  “Sol’s shit! I knew that deal of hers was too good to be true…” Willow was shocked at both the language her father used and the direction his anger seemed to be taking. Wasn’t he going to help Old Ping?

  Rowan came back to his senses and looked to his daughter. “Get inside and stay with your sister.” He looked out to the homes of his friends.

  “I need to call a meeting.”

  ***

  Silence reigned in the central building after Rowan explained the situation. It had taken some work to gather them all here and impress on them the urgency of the situation, without also causing panic among the children.

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  Jieun was the first to break the silence, a scowl marring her beautiful features. “I knew that stipulation of hers was suspicious from the get go. It’s why I didn’t fight as much when you pushed your eldest to be next in line, but I didn’t think it was this bad. A beast king going fully demonic…”

  Ever the skeptic, Lucius quietly rumbled. “Not that I doubt your word Rowan, but can we trust the validity of a child’s senses? You’d think one of us would have noticed our guardian’s nature shifting from growth to rot.”

  Rowan’s hackles rose. “We all know my girl is more perceptive than most. Besides, there were signs that she talked about that Lin can verify.”

  They all looked to him.

  Lin, who looked to be in deep thought, spoke up. “I have noticed small patches of rot like the girl spoke of on my hunts, and those patches have been increasing in number the past few years.

  “You didn’t think to tell us?” Cried Sarah. Clearly worried about them living next to a powerful demonic beast.

  Lin’s eyebrow twitched. “I had thought they were caused by Ping’s advancing age and the Bloom’s grief at that fact. Also if you will recall, I did note it during my hunting reports. Which goes to show that not everyone values my efforts.” His wife placed a hand on his arm to calm his growing agitation.

  Joaquin looked to have swallowed a whole lemon. “Just our luck I suppose. Escape from the clans and wind up as sacrifices for a demon.”

  The room fell into morose silence as everyone thought back to past struggles.

  Jieun looked to Rowan. “What do we do? We both know Lexie wouldn’t let that thing keep doing what it’s doing.”

  The large man looked so tired. “If she were still with us, I’d say we fight. But I’m not sure how much fight we have left in us.”

  “A part of her is still with us, you know.” The woman reminded him.

  Rowan shook his head. “I promised her I’d give them to Willow when she was older.” He tilted his head as a thought occurred to him. “However, now that the Emerald Bloom isn’t an option, I suppose Maple is in need of a spirit…” He started to stroke his beard, a plan forming in his mind.

  Sarah objected. “You can’t expect the girl to fight! She hasn’t been trained!”

  Rowan shook his head. “Not fight, run. With Meteoros’ help she’d be able to get to Darabaile faster than anyone else to petition the wanderers for help. Days of travel rather than weeks. To be safe she’d need someone to guide her though.” The last part was said while looking at Lin.

  The man sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, but relented after a moment. “Fine.” He gave his bearded friend a pointed look. “I’ll be taking Bai with us, and I’m not budging on that. This way, if the worst happens, there won’t be any easy targets for the demon.”

  Rowan nodded at his friend's declaration. He would have insisted more of the group's children go with them, but he didn’t want to slow them down or invite speculation from Ping or their corrupted guardian.

  Lucius, after thinking for most of the discussion, decided to speak up. “I agree with the plan we’ve laid out here, but there’s something I feel we should consider. Are we sure Ping was acting with intentional malice when she first offered the deal to us? For all we know the Emerald Bloom was a genuine friend and companion to her in the years they were out here all alone, and it’s only recently that it turned dark.” Everyone was staring at him, most with thoughtful expressions. “Just thought I’d share, since most seemed to have uncharitable views on the woman's motives.”

  Jieun spoke up again. “Whether she’s innocent or not doesn’t change what needs to be done. The demon must die.” Her expression grew uncomfortable. “If your theory is true, then she’d probably view it as a mercy.”

  Rowan started to bring the meeting to a close with a forced smile. “And on that happy note, it’s time we all get ready for the coming days.” With that they all began to say their goodbyes and finalize some last minute details. Eventually they all went back to their individual homes with the large and bearded man dragging his feet.

  It was time for a conversation with his daughters that he was not looking forward to.

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