“Do you hear? The canyon is safe now.”

“A man with tiger stripes eats the monkeys and the Gudiao.”

“We should build him a temple. What was his name again?”

“Marek.”

Nikola walked through Danyang and listened in as best he could. Marek should have kept to the shadows and yet his presence was known. At least he was doing his job now. Although this talk of worshiping him didn’t sound good. Belief was a powerful weapon and something told Nikola that the demon knew how to wield it. He made it back to the inn at noon to see his children and the crowd gathered around them.

“What happened here?” He asked a woman who beamed at him.

“These tree young Masters are helping Han Shanyuan present his essay to us all.” Nikola looked at the stage and found Han Shanyuan frowning and hidden behind Wei Zhaohui. Helping? They were stealing his idea. He elbowed his way to the stage and once he reached his sons he gave each one of them a tug of the ear.

“Whose idea was it to pester Han Shanyuan like this?” He asked and Wei Zhaohui and Ryota pointed at Nathaniel.

“I only wanted to make sure everyone knew of his essay.” Said the boy, blue eyes cast down to the ground.

“You three will let him speak. And if I hear you are stealing again you will all be grounded.”

Nikola knew the real reason why they wanted to speak to the public. They were testing the potion. And seeing as the crowd grumbled when they stepped down from the stage it must have worked. But soon the crowd was happily listening to Han Shanyuan presenting his essay to them. He had drunk the potion too and had the advantage of being the creator of the essay.

Nikola waited for the presentation to be over and then he ushered the four boys inside. They needed to pack. The snow has stopped falling and so they needed to make use of the slightly better weather.

They travelled and the driver looked worried. He kept looking further up the path.

“Gege, you’re really strong, right?” Asked the driver and Nikola lifted himself slightly in the wagon so that he could see him.

“Some say so.”

“This is not the time to be humble here, Gege. I am panicking.” Said the driver and Nikola took a closer look at him. He was pale and his eyes looked around wildly. The manticores were swimming and talking in the river, but it seemed that this wasn’t what unnerved the driver.

“Something is plaguing this stretch of the road too, is it not?” Nikola made a sign for the manticores to move closer.

“It’s an Aoyin! When I found out there was one on the way to Yuzhang I didn’t want to drive you farther. But the other drivers said: Gege will protect us. He has a demon for an underling and the lions will be with us. But an Aoyin is bigger than one of these.” Said the driver, pointing at the manticores. “I don’t want my brain to be eaten, Gege! You have to promise to protect me!”

“Calm down, good man.” Said Nikola as the manticores fell into step with the wagon. “What is an Aoyin?”

“It’s an ox. But as big as five oxen. And with sharp fangs and it’s hooves are sharp too. It eats human brains and attacks travelers on the road.” Nikola hummed and took out a sheet of paper. He wondered briefly what he could create and then decided on a Hydra. One with three heads and about as tall as this Aoyin. A good helper for the manticores with it’s agility and venom.

Once he dropped it on the road it grew and came to life. That spooked the horses but the drivers got them under control.

“Walk in front of us and kill anything that looks like a giant ox.” Said Nikola to the Hydra. He made the manticores walk behind the baggage wagon in case the Aoyin was going to attack them from the back. Then he turned towards Penemue.

“Do you mind making some protective charms for the drivers? It seems that their job is full of perils.” The angel nodded and she pulled out a bag and got out some thread.

“Wei Caihong, it would be good if you learn how to make them too. In a pinch they can heal your wounds slightly and stop the bleeding.” Nikola relaxed in the wagon as Penemue began to instruct Wei Caihong on how to make complicated braids and knots. They won’t put any of their magic inside, that would be Nikola’s task.

“The ladies are mages too?” Asked the driver, calmer now that he could see the Hydra’s back in front of him.

“No, but they have nimble fingers. Look, you seem like a good person. Don’t tell anyone about what I can do, ok? If you keep silent then I will help you once you are in need.”

“Can you make something that will help me always find my way, Gege? It is just that when there is a fog I can easily get lost. And with all those creatures roaming the land it is not safe.”

Nikola pulled up a carving knife and began to make a protective symbol on the wagon.

“Just don’t switch wagons and you will be fine.”

“Oh, many blessings on you…” Whatever the driver might have said was stopped by a giant ox rushing the Hydra. The snake bucked up and extended it’s heads to try and bite the animal. Soon, the manticores rushed to help. Nikola stared at the Aoyin which was now surrounded and he jumped down from the wagon.

“We need to get to the children.” He screamed over the noise of the battle of the giants before him. The driver all but ran to the middle wagon, which left Nikola to help Penemue and Wei Caihong down.

“You are not fighting this thing!” Snapped Wei Caihong as he tugged Nikola’s sleeve in the direction of the children’s wagon.

“But…” A manticore was pushed in their wagon, speared on the Aoyin’s horns. The Hydra bit the ox and began to drag it towards itself. The beast dug it’s hooves in the road and turned around, the Hydra still logged in it’s skin, and slammed it in the manticore.

“Come on, we have to protect the children.” Said Wei Caihong, dragging Nikola and Penemue to the middle wagon and away from the wreckage of their own.

Together, they huddled near the middle wagon and watched as the beasts tore at each other. Every time the Hydra would sink it’s fangs into the Aoyin the monstrous ox would use the connection to flung it in the air and then slam it in the ground. The manticores roared and stung the ox with their tails, tore at it’s flesh with their claws. And yet, they were bloodied. Wei Caihong reached out into Nikola’s inner robe and took a sheet of paper.

“This has to work!” Once he was finished with making a strange humanoid wolf-like figurine he dropped it down and gave it life. The white thing was a werewolf, as far as Nikola could tell. It bowed and went into the fray. It was slightly smaller than the Aoyin but that seemed to work to it’s advantage because it latched at it’s throat and began to tear the flesh below.

“The Wukong! Lady, you summoned the Wukong!” Screamed the driver. He seemed to be more scared of the werewolf than of the ox. Which made Nikola think.

“You refer to this thing as if it is not a separate species but rather a unique being.” Said Nikola to the driver and he nodded.

“The great wolf, Wukong, is a demon. He used to be a man but he was bitten by a wolf on the full moon.” Nikola took out another sheet of paper and began to quickly make a dragon.

“Wei Caihong, never make things that are one of a kind. That is a summoning spell. Now we will have to kill this Wukong.” The Aoyin threw the Wukong in the water and jumped in after it. Nikola’s fingers moved quicker.

“You can’t kill it!” Said the driver, looking even more horrified. “This is the emperor’s brother!” Nikola stopped folding the paper in his hands and turned to stare at Wei Caihong.

“Did you know?” If the emperor found out they had killed his cursed brother, then China would be too small for them by far. They wouldn’t even make it to the border.

“That is just a rumor.” Said Wei Caihong. “Han Wukong is dead, everyone knows it.”

“Lady, if this wolf dies you better pray that the Yangtze washes his corpse to a faraway place. The emperor will kill us all.”

Nikola took out his sword and rushed towards the battle. He could hear the wolf giving out yelps.

“Granny, get the wolf to safety.” He called to the female manticore who grabbed Wukong between the fangs of her lion’s head and began to drag him to the shore. The Aoyin jumped in place and then it stood ready to charge, tension oozing out of it’s body. Nikola took off his outer robe, red because it was one of Wei Caihong’s old ones. Worn since the noble had forced it over his head before they left. The Aoyin hit the water with it’s left hoof and charged. Nikola waved the robe in front of it’s face like he had seen performers do in arenas back in Europe and just as the Aoyin was about to spear him with it’s horns he jumped up, did a forward flip in the air, and pierced the Aoyin’s back with his sword.

Nikola splashed into a deeper patch of the river. This was a major problem for him but it didn’t seem to bother the Aoyin. It charged again as if it was on dry land and Nikola dived under the water, leaving his robe on the surface.

The robe was speared and held up. But when the Aoyin realized it hadn’t caught it’s owner it began to search in the water. Nikola was fighting against the current. The water was muddy and the visibility was slim. He felt a hoof and he slashed at it with his sword. Using wind magic to sever through skin, muscle and bone until the Aoyin dipped in the water.

It mooed in distress. As it was trying to keep the balance it’s other leg neared Nikola and he repeated the action. Then, just as the ox slumped down in the water, Nikola angled his sword up so that he could tear at it’s soft belly. Guts spilled in the water and the Aoyin fell down on top of Nikola.

He couldn’t breathe. His eyes were closed so the blood and shit of the Aoyin wouldn’t get into them. His mouth was shut too, for the same reason. He couldn’t move. Just as he was beginning to accept that he was going to drown, or as much as one who ate a phoenix could drown, strong claws dug in the Aoyin’s flesh, lifting it up.

Nikola emerged from the water covered in gore. He gasped for air and padded towards the banks of the river. He chanced a look back to see the Wukong. It’s maul was over the Aoyin’s snout, suffocating it. The Aoyin let it’s final moo as Nikola got out of the water and the Wukong dragged it to dry land. Nikola watched as the werewolf tore into the ox, snarling at the Hydra and the two manticores as they neared it.

“Prince Han Wukong?” Asked Nikola the beast. It stopped it’s feast and bared it’s fangs at him.

“No longer.” It rasped. That was all Nikola needed to know that there was still a human in this beast. And so it was his duty to cure him.