The Illusion Realm of Ushitora

Present: Late Spring, 1472

“Feiyan! The boar is here!” Hajoon shouted, waking her.

Disoriented from her wild nightmare, Feiyan rolled straight up into a crouch, fan in hand. Every nerve in her body was strung taut as she poised for a fight, heart still hammering from her nightmare.

Hajoon put a hand on her shoulder, reassuring her.

Ah…this is real…

She adjusted her breath, reaching inside for calm.

Stepping forward with Hajoon at her side, she rushed towards the sounds of weapons and squealing. As they got nearer, her stomach flipped at the sheer size of the creature they were dealing with. Even with her fate bound to that of a greater demon, Feiyan had never considered herself particularly unlucky, but Ushitora was definitely challenging her bottom line. 

Yama Kujira…the beast is truly deserving of that name…she thought.

Taller than a grown man and twice as long, the boar stood before them, brandishing tusks the size of spears.  The red-eyed beast was covered in spiky bristles that were sharp enough to pierce human skin. With such a tough hide, even their wickedly sharp throwing knives were being turned aside. Feiyan skidded to a halt at the edge of the clearing, taking stock of the situation, as the boar squealed and huffed its rage.

Boars are the most vicious when cornered…

“Back it up!” Feiyan shouted at her people just as the boar swung its deadly tusks, narrowly missing Eunhae. Glancing to the left, she noted the Shobans were huddled together on the side.  

Not good…if they don’t spread out, they're just asking to be charged…

“What good timing, your Highness!” Eunhae huffed, nimbly skipping out of range. She planted her back foot, stopping her skid, and then wiped the back of her hand across mouth. “So glad you could join us…That thing is huge!” she grinned before charging back in. 

Feiyan puffed in exasperation at Eunhae’s devil-may-care attitude, but couldn’t dispute the observation. Her fingers tightened on her fan.

Her father’s words whispered in her head, reminding her:“...The fan can change its form to suit your needs…but only if it recognizes you as its true master.”

The boar flared its nostrils, pawing at the earth while its beady eyes flickered from one side to the other. It was now or never…

“Spear,” Feiyan murmured to the fan, slowly infusing her inner force into the closed metal blades, willing it to obey her. As she did so, she felt resistance slide up her wrist. “Nnnh…”

Hajoon noticed the swirling around her wrist and frowned.

“I’ll buy you some time…” he said, realizing what she was doing. She nodded as he tapped his foot, gracefully launching himself into the fray.

She ignored the sounds of fighting all around her and focused all her attention on the spiritual object gripped in her fist.

In answer to the soft tendril of her power, the aura of the fan sang sharply, cold and metallic. Full of resistance, it’s voice reminded her of cool dark water, the swirling storm-blue of her father’s eyes, morning frost, and shards of deep winter ice. Seemingly tempered by the wind of a thousand lonely peaks, the fan’s song ricocheted off her internal senses.

Urk…

She had forgotten that her father’s spiritual core was steeped in yin…whereas her aura was unusually yang focused, but power was power. The only requirement was that the spiritual object obey her will. Gritting her teeth, she foced her power into the fan with more determination.

“Spear!” Feiyan commanded. She was buffeted by a swirl of wind as the fan’s energy grappled with hers. The air around her became electric as both powers fought for supremacy, and then she felt more than heard the metal blades whine in acquiescence. Rising from the ground around her, red and blue light, one swirling with fire and the other with wind and water vapour, circled each other until they became a single torrent, separate but synced in their dance around her.

The fan had submitted to her command and with each pulse of power, it changed its shape, pushing out on either end until it had elongated into a long, black spear. As tall as an adult man and made of an unknown metal, it should have weighed a hundred jin, but having acknowledged her as its master it was perfectly weighted for her strength. 

She flipped it in her grip, checking its balance. The spear hummed and whined at her, itching to find its home in flesh.

“Steady,” she whispered soothingly. 

The spear’s whine softened as she took aim.

“You! How dare you hurt my child!” roared a voice behind her. Turning sharply, Feiyan shifted backwards with the spear tight in her fist, narrowly avoiding the swing of a sickle axe as a huge man barreled into the clearing. 

Tch…why is everyone seven or eight feet tall in this place? she thought, eyeing the newcomer who was clad in leather armour covered in steel spikes. Except for a ridge of hair going straight down his head, he was bald. His beady golden eyes glowered at them.

“Father! Father, help me!” sobbed a child’s voice.

With a start, Feiyan realized it was coming from the boar they’d backed into a corner.

Dammit…!

“Not good…if that’s the child…then the Father must be huge in his original form,” panted Hajoon, wiping blood from a cut just above his eyebrow.

Well…misfortunes never come alone*…Fei thought to herself.

The man advanced on them, but she blocked the way with the spear. Everyone, including the Shobans, backed up behind her.

“Stop right there,” she said. “We can let the child go, but you must let us pass through the torii.”

“Let him go, little mortal? How generous!” the man sneered. “What makes you think that’s sufficient for me to let you go?”

“If someone charged into your camp without provocation, would you not defend yourself?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.

The spear whined angrily in agreement.

The younger boar squealed.

“Father!”

“Hmph! You trespass into my realm and expect to leave just like that? Who says that you can come and go as you please? In this place, I call the shots!” he shouted, pounding his chest his fist.

Feiyan thumped the butt of the spear on the ground.

“What qualifies you to call the shots?” she challenged.

The man roared with laughter.

“I’m the strongest of my tribe. What about you?” he scoffed.

“Ahhhh, if that makes you the boss, then how about we compete? Until one yields. If I win, you let us go.”

“Fei!” Hajoon cautioned. A muscle in his jaw ticked.

Feiyan decided a show of sincerity was required.  Turning to her companions, she said: “Let the child pass…”

Everyone reluctantly backed off, allowing the young boar to skitter well behind its father. It gnashed its teeth and squealed, still indignant, but Feiyan ignored this, watching the parent instead.

The man, who was obviously the boar demon king, contemplated her for a moment, taking her measure.

Her lips lifted slightly. From what she had learned from her father, boar demons were much more straightforward than other demons. If she could win against him, he would keep his word. She thought for a moment: on strength alone, she wasn’t confident she could beat him. Her mind raced as she tried to think of a way to avoid fighting him head on.

“Hmph! I’ve heard that you are a tricky mortal!” he grunted, looking unconvinced with her gesture of good will.

Feiyan flinched, wondering if he was more perceptive than he looked. It would not be good to underestimate him.

“If we fight there will only be strength against strength. No divine fire,” he said pointedly.

Ah…got him…he’s not dismissing it out of hand…

Feiyan’s lips twitched. She planted the spear upright in the ground. Reading her attitude, the fan whined at her, unhappy that it would not see action for the time being.

“I never said that we would fight,” she said. “Only that we would compete. If you take your true form, then these are not equal terms. Though I can wield a little divine fire, I am a mere human. Why don’t we choose something that uses our minds rather than our bodies…?” she smiled.

 “Only in that way can one of us truly say that we have won. If I win, you let us go. If I don’t, then you can do what you like with me.”

“Ha!” grunted the boar. “I can agree to those terms.” 

“Then it’s a deal,” Feiyan nodded. “Shall we play a game of Go?” she asked.

The boar shook his head, chuckling.

“Ha ha ha! You underestimate me! Though I have this appearance, I’m not an uncultured brute! I play Go very well,” he laughed, not offended. “But since you like games…why not a simple game of shells?”

Interesting…the one who shuffles first always has the advantage. What is he up to? But I can’t refuse him now because it’ll look like I’m backing out…and I need more time to get the others away…

She flicked her eyes at Hajoon in a meaningful way. He instantly understood her intention immediately, almost as if she’d said it out loud.

“That’s good too! Then please…” she bowed slightly to the boar demon king, gesturing towards a fallen tree that had been weathered smooth on one side.

Hajoon’s jaw tightened. Feiyan had always been this reckless, but he knew that she wouldn’t have taken this on if she didn’t have the confidence to win. Eunhae shot him a nervous glance, but then herded the others back. 

“What do we do, Vice-Captain?” she murmured out of the side of her mouth.

“She’s buying us time. Wait for an opportunity to get the others away…if we slip off one at a time, if may take a while for the younger boar to notice…” he whispered. “Wounded ones first.”

“Got it,” Eunhae nodded. Very slowly, making sure the boar child was not watching, she started to shift towards the edge of the clearing.

Hajoon turned his attention back to Feiyan and the boar demon king.

“Here,” he said, walking forward and producing a stack of six small wine cups from the spatial ring.

Feiyan’s lips twitched. Had her father supplied them believing they would have time to drink or because he thought they would need to drink with everything they were experiencing? She puffed a bit of air out her nose.

“Hmmm! That’s a rare thing you’ve got there…” grunted the boar. As he took the cups, he greedily eyed the ring on Hajoon’s index finger. “Haven’t seen one of those in a thousand years…”

Nor will you again when this is done…thought Feiyan as the boar picked up a pebble and slid it under one of the six cups. She watched as the cups moved, slowly at first, and then lightning fast. She smiled, listening more than watching. The pebble shifting inside the cup made a particular sound, but she could already tell that the boar had taken a moment to shift the pebble off the tree trunk and onto the ground. 

She laughed.

Such an old trick…

“Well,” he said, gesturing to the cups.

But Feiyan’s time had run out. Behind them there was an angry squeal of pain from the child boar, as Li Molan thrust a lit torch into its eyes, blinding it, moments after it had finally discovered their escape. It was too late now, but the screams alerted the boar demon king to the fact that Feiyan had deceived him. Gnashing his teeth, he smashed his hand down on the cups, shattering them into shards.

“You! You never intended to honour the agreement!” the boar shouted, rising.

“Humph!” she snorted, pulling the fallen pebble through the air and into her fist with just her spiritual power. She flung it at him and he countered it with the sickle axe, obliterating it into a puff of dust.

Neither did you…

He grinned. Keeping his yellow eyes on her, the boar demon slowly bent forward, and as he did, his form shifted. His size increased until he filled the clearing. The demon boar king in his true form was probably as large as a house. He charged, managing to catch Feiyan across the back with one of his tusks. She fell to the side.

CLANG!!!

“Yama Kujira! I am here!” yelled the old Shoban, spear thrusting upward to ward off another swing of the tusks. His jaw hardened and he stood over her protecting her back. “Go. I shall stay behind.”

All the others had made it out, leaving only Hajoon and the old Shoban who’d stayed behind to ensure that the others in his group escaped.

Feiyan hesitated.

“Go! My time ends here…” the old man shouted, kicking her with his boot.

Hajoon grabbed her by the elbow and pulled her up. Although she did not turn back to look, she though she heard the old man say:

“…I sing of an old hero and the boar of Hakone*…”

CHAPTER NOTE:

*祸不单行 – this is the Chinese version of Hamlet’s ‘sorrows come not singly…’ The full proverb actually starts with ‘福无双至’ meaning ‘Blessings don’t come in pairs’

*It’s interesting to note that the myths surrounding Hercules, Theseus, and Yamato include a story of a large and vicious boar terrorizing the countryside which is then slain by the hero.