A new prince was born today. They say his heritage makes him the true heir, but that doesn’t matter to me. My Hikaru is twice the beauty, thrice the cultivator, and ten times the man that the infant fish lizard will ever be. I’ll make them see. I’ll make them all see that my prince will be the Emperor. No one else is worthy but him, and I’ll kill anyone who says otherwise…even the Emperor himself. -from the confiscated diaries of Kozue Rui after her execution.

  Lihua’s heart pounded in her ears in a way she didn’t even realize her stitched and butchered body could. The arrow clattered to the ground, the only sound in an otherwise silent street. Then, Tsuyuki turned. He saw her.

  A flurry of emotions seemed to flash through his eyes. Recognition turned to confusion which turned to wariness.

  That…that wasn’t right. He shouldn’t be wary of her! She just saved his life! She just wanted to spend her life with him…a beautiful princess and her faithful knight. That was how it was meant to be, how all the stories played out when she watched them enacted by the human children.

  As reality caught up with Lihua, tears began to well up in her eyes. Though she’d just saved Tsuyuki’s life, he wasn’t rushing to sweep her off her feet. And now, revealed as she was, she was in violation of Master’s orders. He said to stay hidden, to watch careful and never interfere unless he told her to.

  But, she couldn’t just let her prize be killed by anyone but her! Only she knew the means that would keep his body intact! If his face was ruined by a passing arrow, then everything she’d worked towards would be for nothing.

  “It’s you,” Tsuyuki breathed, and Lihua felt her spirit soar. Even just hearing those words, even if they were more guarded than she had hoped, shone a silver ray of hope down upon her soul. He must have just been surprised. That must be it.

  “You know this woman?” asked that other man, Tenri Lin, the one who always clung to the hem of Tsuyuki’s robes.

  Lihua didn’t know why her knight kept him around. He was useless, only good for growing flowers and signing paperwork. In fact, when her Master said he would burn the man’s home to the ground, she had desperately hoped he’d burn with it. A shame that the flames only took his wife. At least if she’d been alive, Lihua could have threatened her as a way of keeping Tenri Lin away from her beloved…not that her Master would ever have taken such inelegant methods.

  “She’s from Heimian,” Tsuyuki answered. “She’s actually a spirit spider. Pharyx and I fought her.”

  “Does it matter?” Flame ignited in the young oni’s hair. “How many women in this city have orange hair like that? She must be the one who stole the power core to the Forgotten’s array!” Instantly, the metallic ring of swords being drawn filled the air, matched by the sound of bowstrings being pulled taught.

  More tears filled Lihua’s eyes, and she squeezed them shut. This whole thing was such a mess. She just needed to get back to her Master. Then, everything would be fine. Tsuyuki wouldn’t be hurt. He was too skilled for that.

  I’ll just…try again later… she assured herself. He’ll see…one day he’ll see…

  Her qi surged alongside her sorrow, and she waved a hand.

  Above all, I was confused. The Witch of Heimian had been trying to kill me for nearly a year, yet, this time, she saved me. Why? Was it still a part of her dark fantasy to kill me herself and raise my corpse to fight alongside her?

  That was probably it.

  Yet…as she stood there, weapons drawn and pointed at her, I couldn’t help but feel a little bad for her. However she’d come to be here in the Black City, I knew she had no clan left back in the Shore. Pharyx, Pollen, and I had killed them all as one of our first adventures together. Some spiders survived, of that I was sure, but I had no idea how many of them would have been spirit beasts like her. How many of her kin could even speak? Or communicate in any meaningful fashion?

  My eyes met hers. They were a crystalline blue, as exotic as her hair, both having originated from the Summoned Isle, if my information was accurate. Filled with tears, they almost seemed to shimmer like ocean waves.

  “Miss, would you-”

  Before I could finish the thought, she squeezed her eyes shut. A dark miasma of qi began to surge around her feet, reacting to the turmoil that clearly raged within her heart. She waved a hand, and three motes of qi leapt to two corpses on the ground, as well as one of the shades.

  The oni corpses growled as they twitched and began pushing themselves to their feet, but the more immediate threat was the shade. Its qi began to warp and twist, rapidly aging the image of the spirit until it better resembled a rotten corpse instead of the young soldier it had been before. It swung its bow in a wide arc, fusing the end with metallic silver and sickening death qi.

  “Back away! He’s infectious!” shouted Crescent, as she lunged forward.

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  “Infectious? How?” Lin wondered.

  “The one she infected back at the camp tainted anyone he attacked with a spiritual rot,” one of the other soldiers explained. “It unravels a shade until they are feral, not unlike void corruption.”

  If that was true, then the shade before us was already lost. Crescent swung her sword. Qi followed in the wake of the blade in a crescent of brilliant silver. It sliced into the infected shade, but that only served to slow it down.

  In an instant, Lin was at her side. His sword cut deep into the shade’s arm, but his blade wasn’t infused with potent qi. It slid through the shade, providing little more than a distraction. But, a distraction was enough for Lin. He lunged forward, slamming his qi-infused fist into the shade’s jaw. There was a sickening crack that echoed with spiritual power as Lin’s qi fought against the Witch’s.

  “Uncle Yoru! She’s getting away!” Xinya shouted, pointing to where the Witch was fleeing.

  “We’ve got this! Go finish it!” said Lin. “Xinya, help the Chikara!”

  The little girl wasted no time and was soon running circles around one of the raised corpses. She and Shion took one, while several other Chikara took the other. It wouldn’t be much of a fight, given their overwhelming advantage, but it didn’t have to be. They were only meant as a diversion to cover her retreat.

  I sprinted after her.

  Lihua heard the beating of steps behind her, but she didn’t dare look. If it was anyone other than her knight, then she didn’t know what she’d do…and even if it was him, no doubt she’d see malice in his eyes. That might hurt her even more.

  Stupid fate! she cursed silently. Why couldn’t I have been born human like him!? Why did I have to be born a damned spider? Nobody likes spiders! Nobody likes stitched up corpses!

  It had been her only option. When she was a hatchling, a tiny thing barely bigger than a human hand, she had watched the humans at a farm not far from the Crevice. She watched their children play, reenacting stories of their youth, from the Legend of the Darkened Moon, to the Defeat of the Lunatic Dynasty, to the unnamed tale of a serpent who fell in love with a flower. All of them were filled with such life and vibrancy, she’d wanted nothing more than to join them.

  But, when she’d revealed herself, the children screamed. Their mother chased her away with a broom, all because she was a spider.

  That was when she resolved to grow stronger and become a humanoid spirit beast. Yet, unlike the insects of the forest with their high and mighty patrons and their benevolent queens, Lihua had no one to help her reach that point. Her mother was too consumed with her own bloodlust to care. Lihua took it upon herself to find another way.

  If I’d gone to the hornets, would their queen have helped me? she wondered. Could I have been liked by people rather than being forced to rule through fear? If I’d met Tsuyuki any other night than that one…would he have smiled at me?

  Lihua didn’t know anymore. All she knew was that she had to get away. If she was killed in this lawless place, none of her hard work would matter. All the hours she toiled under her Master, all the days they’d spent walking from one end of the Shore to the other for his schemes, all of it would be meaningless.

  Not…that it was worth much, if she really thought about it. Her Master had been distracted, ever since they’d watched Tsuyuki fight the Tide Serpent. It was like he cared more about tormenting her knight than capturing him, as was promised.

  So, she ran. Turning down a busy market street, her destination was in sight.

  “Get out of my way!” she shouted, shoving a young kappa aside. It fell, spinning on its shell as several other kappa barked and clacked their beaks in outrage. Whoever was chasing her, no doubt the kappas would join them. Soon, though, that wouldn’t matter.

  This street was the last in the district. Going further west would bring you beyond a Void Veil, one of the barriers between districts with functioning armillaries and those that had already fallen into darkness. That was where her Master had said to go if she was ever caught. He even gave her a medallion to keep her safe in those void-tainted lands.

  The steps were catching up. She was fast, but she wasn’t nearly fast enough. Casting a glance behind her, she learned why. Her heart ached as she saw Tsuyuki himself with streaks of dark void trailing from him as his motions seemed to shift and shimmer like a heat mirage. He warped space around him, shortening distances passively around him to speed his actions. Lihua knew the ability well. She’d seen it in action several times since he reached Silver.

  In a last-ditch effort to slow him down, Lihua shot a string of sticky thread from her hand to a nearby cart owned by a spirit rat. With a firm yank, the cart tumbled across the street, hitting several yokai and spilling produce all across the street.

  “Hey! Stop!” Tsuyuki shouted as she sped onward.

  She didn’t listen. His footsteps were slowed, but hers continued onward. She was only a few yards away, now. She could practically feel the density of the void’s qi rising around her as she approached the Veil. The crowd thinned, and soon, she was sprinting across open cobblestones.

  There, on the threshold between the fourteenth district and the twenty-first, she paused. Every instinct she still had from her years as a spider screamed that there was danger beyond this point. Her heart thudded. Very few things could survive in void that dense, and those that could…they would feed off the void as if it was water. Every ounce would empower them.

  But, that was where her Master said to go.

  Lihua had no other choice. She was scared. She was tired. She just wanted to curl up in a nice web and cry.

  “Wait!” Tsuyuki’s crystal clear voice rang through Lihua’s ears like a song.

  Ever so slowly, she turned. There was only a few yards between them. Yet, it could have been miles. It would have made no difference.

  “You shouldn’t step through there,” he warned. “It could kill you.”

  “I’ll be fine,” she insisted.

  He shook his head. “The void beyond that point is too dense. Unless you have a protection talisman.”

  “What makes you think I don’t?” she snapped. “I am perfectly capable of handling my own affairs, thank you.”

  He straightened slightly, closing his mouth and looking her up and down several times. Then, he bowed his head politely.

  “I apologize for my assumption. I meant no offense.”

  “You…didn’t?” Lihua blinked in surprise. He…he just apologized to her…just like any gentleman would. Why?

  “Look, I know we’ve had our differences, but I need the power core to fix things here,” he explained, holding out his hand. “Please, if you still have it…” He trailed off before finishing the sentence.

  Lihua looked down. Of course, that was why he was here. What other reason would he have to chase her? Only a fool would think otherwise.

  “Perhaps another time, my Knight,” she promised sadly. Then, without another word, she turned and stepped through the black and silver veil and was soon shrouded in darkness.