The forest was darker and colder than Liang had left it but now she had the light of a stolen torch from Yachi’s camp to guide her way and warm her cheeks. There had been a stable where she took the torchwood and there were healthy horses. She could have easily taken one as well to ride. Her eyes already picked a bronze mare whose coat glistened like satin sheets but she did not succumb to temptation. She couldn’t possibly rob Yachi more after what she had taken from him—a torch and all his hope in nurturing all those godkissed children into becoming exorcists.

The era of man isn’t dying—it’s already dead and hundreds of years from now, humans would only exist in songs and scripts taught to aristocratic spawns of the Guren. It was just so tragic that Liang had to be one of the unlucky people to live her life in misery. All the rage, all the helplessness latching on to her and she couldn’t do anything about it but flee.

Along her way, there trotted a white horse reined by a young woman. The hooves of the horse were ablaze in blue flame and it galloped aboveground, untouched by the snow. In front of the rider were two children wrapped in blankets and behind her was another woman in a kimono. She had loose, silky hair, dark as ebony, flailing behind her and luminescent orange eyes that locked with Liang’s as they passed. She had many a tail behind her, white like morning snow and on their trail were two young fox-spirits accompanied by wisps of blue flame. Each had more than one tail of their own.

Liang dared not turn her head. They were only passing, she thought and minded her own business. She continued her walk to the woods, clueless as ever but more alert now that she’s seen fox-spirits dwelling in Fukamori. If the creatures native to Yofuchi were in Fukamori, it’s safe to assume that more of them might be here…but why?

Liang explored the option of evacuating to Ma’alon but the southeastern country was too hot and too wild for her. Haeguk was the next closest option should anything ever happen here but where was she headed now anyway? She didn’t go back the way she came with Yachi. Back at the camp, she diverged behind the stables after taking the torch and her intention to be elsewhere had been nothing but to get away from the encampment. Now she was back where she was, not in place, but in state of mind—constantly lost and fleeing.

She trudged the woods deeper, wrapping her cloak taut around her body for extra warmth. Despite the torch providing light for her, it served to blind her more of what lied ahead. She didn’t see the pair of glinting eyes surge toward her in a swift pounce.

The strength of the clash knocked the air out of Liang’s lungs as the torch she held went careening into the snow, its flames dying as quickly as it had landed. Liang’s eyes hadn’t focused yet from the sudden tackle but she squirmed on the snow laden ground, pushing with her hands and kicking with her feet.

Bared fangs were at eye level with Liang. A heavy foot-claw pressed against her thighs, pinning its weight to keep her from moving. There was something sharp punching against the layers of clothes Liang wore, through the skin of her forearms which were on either side of her head—the claws, the claws of this fang-bearing creature with ashen fur and charcoal blotches.

Liang muttered a curse under her breath before presenting her plea. “I am a humble traveler and I broke no law,” Liang said. “Well at least not here anyway. Which lord do you serve? I might know him.”

The snow leopard’s nose touched Liang below her lip and quickly, it began to twitch like a racing heart, pressing against her neck and her hair. Wide-eyed, the humanoid leopard got up and with a single hand clutching the collar of Liang’s tunic, he lifted her up in the air. Liang had to grab the leopard by the forearms just to assist her weight and prevent the unwanted damage to her clothes.

“What were you doing in Masu’s Grove?” the leopard snarled.

Liang’s eyes were still fixed on the leopard’s fangs which looked like they were about to find their way around her neck. Liang struggled midair but the leopard did not waver.

“I know nothing what you speak of,” Liang lied.

“I smell it on you,” the leopard said and brought Liang close enough so that they’d meet face to face. “A thief?” The leopard dictated, “Your breath stinks of the wine I keep in my stash.” The leopard sniffed. “Was it easy stealing from an old man and a bunch of children?”

“I stole nothing!” Liang muttered. Then she gripped the leopard’s arm. “But you seem to be growing weary.”

At the sound of Liang’s voice, the leopard began to falter. He dropped Liang on the snow as a sudden wave of exhaustion hit him. He shook his head, trying to expel whatever he was feeling but his mind was foggy and his vision, unclear.

Liang fell on the ground but did not break her spiritual grasp. From her knees, she got up, fixed the ruffles of her tunic and turned her eyes toward the leopard.

“You have traveled far and long,” she continued, never breaking her focus. “Kneel,” she commanded.

The leopard knelt on the snow as he heard Liang’s command. Resistive growls vibrated from his chest as he wobbled on the ground, trying to keep his balance.

From Liang’s harness, she pulled a carved dagger from its sheath and started praying in the Northern tongue:

“The wards of Shiyan, I call; weigh his Yin and Yang.”

She held the dagger high with both hands and plunged the dagger swift and strong but it did not hit where she meant it to hit. The leopard managed to tackle Liang weakly and the dagger instead was pushed through his back. The leopard roared in pain as he and Liang both stumbled against the snow.

“You’re an exorcist.” The leopard hissed as he looked at Liang with wide, cerulean eyes.

The terrified woman reached with both hands for whatever she could grab nearby and her hand caught the extinguished torch. Liang began hitting the blunt torch on the leopard’s head as she crawled away from him.

The leopard turned sideways, letting Liang crawl away as he endured the multiple bashes. The snow beneath him turned red as he eyed the young exorcist who cornered herself on the trunk of a tree. He reached in for the dagger deep on his back and pulled it with his depleting strength. He tried getting up, calling for Liang but no more words came after, “Grove…Yachi…”

Liang watched as the leopard reach one of his hands toward her before falling limp on the snow. He fainted, Liang thought. And that gave her the chance to kill him but after hearing the leopard’s last words before fainting, she knew it wasn’t an option anymore. And she hated that a responsibility just dumped itself in front of her.

She wanted to leave the leopard out in the cold but after realizing something—that this leopard was probably the head Yachi mentioned—Liang knew that she had just interfered in the very affair she was running away from and she was too involved to simply run away.

She crawled toward the leopard, poking him with a finger. The pool of blood kept on expanding. Liang took her dagger and cut the sleeve of the leopard’s tunic which then she used to stop the bleeding and bind the wound. Once she secured the leopard’s state, she pulled him toward a tree and pressed his back against the trunk as she planned to return to the grove to retrieve some horses and probably confess to Yachi to what she had done. But before Liang could step any further, a rider was fast approaching. This time, Liang was ready.

The rider was another cat, like the unconscious leopard. In fact, he was another leopard—just of different species or race rather in this case. If the unconscious one had ashen fur and charcoal blots, this one had a golden coat with umber blotches. His build was much smaller compared to the first one but he had much fiercer eyes that glinted under the moonlight.

He pulled his horse to a stop yards away from Liang as he witnessed the scenario in front of him—a human traveler before a frozen puddle of blood with an unconscious leopard slumped on a tree.

Liang looked at him carefully and spotted a dismounted horse whose reins were secured to the leopard’s and she realized that this one might have been a companion of the one she just stabbed.

“Your friend is unconscious, we need to take him back to the grove,” Liang said.

The leopard was idle and unresponsive. When Liang tried to speak again, there was a distinctive clink in the chill silence and no sooner when she heard that sound, had the leopard pounced from his horse toward her with a long dagger.

Liang evaded the attack by sidestepping but the enraged leopard moved fast and kicked her on the back before she could orient herself toward him. He slashed and Liang jumped back but did not reach far enough to fully save herself from the attack. The dagger grazed the skin on her shoulder and blood soon began soaking her sleeve.

Liang tried to focus but the clouded leopard moved swiftly and unpredictably that she could not lock on his mind.

“Your friend needs immediate medical attention!” Liang said.

“And he shall receive it right after you’re slain,” the leopard replied.

Liang ran behind a tree, hoping to get enough time to focus but the leopard met her there with another slash which Liang dodged by ducking.

“He attacked first!” Liang yelled. “I only defended.”

“Lies!” the leopard snarled. “If he attacked first, you would have been dead by now. You ambushed him!”

The leopard circled and was about to strike again but Liang tackled him and they both fell against the snow. They squirmed and clawed at each other much to Liang’s disadvantage having no natural claws but all she needed was to touch the leopard’s head and she was able to put him to sleep.

Now she had to return two unconscious leopards. She sat on the snow, catching her breath as she cursed and cursed into the shrill silence of the wretched winter night.