Avolar Nami felt like she was afloat in the air. The cold winter night froze her cheeks—hardened her eyes but for some reason she could not blink or move a muscle. She saw the dormant trees pass them by, some even scratching her tunic with its gnarly branches. She was awake but not in control. She was forced to stare ahead to the path that would lead to Kumokage but they diverged long before that to somewhere dark and pathless.

It wasn’t completely dark. In Nami’s peripheral vision there was a blue light that glowed from either side of her and there was the light of the horse’s blazing hooves. The two children wrapped in blankets in front of her were sobbing controllably, afraid of the situation that might arise if they became disobedient.

Nami didn’t see the fox spirit ambush her. All she remembered was that she was angry with Bao and then the scent of miasma immediately took hold of her. She didn’t even notice herself rein the horse to the forest side where the manifested nine tailed fox fully enchanted her.

At that time, she couldn’t yell for help or act the way she wanted to. She was awake but not in control of her body. Since then, they travelled the forest trying to avoid something. Nami didn’t know what but time and time again, she heard the younger fox spirits report to their mother about the places they scouted.

On the first night, they hid in an empty cave. The children were fed by the fox spirits. Nami wasn’t so fortunate. They slept the remaining few of the dark hours and completely stayed hidden during the day. On the second night, they were up on the horse once again—Nami, an idle puppet controlled by the nine tailed fox.

The horse galloped mid-air, sustained by the fox spirit’s magic. They did so to avoid leaving tracks that could be used to trace them and the two fox kits scouted the route for safe passage. Nami realized once they were past dried brambles that the fox spirits were back in Akako. It was then had the horse stepped its hooves on snowy ground.

The nine tailed fox behind Nami took her cloak and wore it for herself before they proceeded to walk around the ruins of Akako’s village. They were many a people that watched them but Nami could not even yell for help. They walked past the panther statue, past the tavern and tarp tents to the crumbling stone steps of Emperor Dai’s castle.

Seated at a hill, the castle used to gaze upon the village with all its glory. Now, like the great keep, it stands as a hollow shell—an ugly one with faded paint and torn emblems swaying in the harsh, cold wind. They climbed the steps on horseback. The two fox kits manifested in a wisp of blue flame that playfully circled each other in front of them much to the slight annoyance, or concern, of their mother.

“Settle down, my children,” the nine tailed fox said. “We cannot draw attention toward us. We cannot let the humans or the wolves know that we are here.”

The wisps of blue flame then dimmed until it looked nothing more than cinders and in its place, were now two children physically the same age as the ones with Nami. They looked alike and were only distinct in nuances. Both had long, ebony hair tied to a ponytail and wore the same robes with different colours. The fox kits had four tails each, and ears, of fox, protruding out of their hair.

“Mama, are we safe now?” asked one of the two, the one on Nami’s left.

“Will papa come after us?” asked the one on the right.

“Hush, my children,” the nine tailed fox whispered. “We will be safe soon. No one will threaten us again once you have fully crossed.”

They arrived at a giant bolted door that was missing its half. The wooden bar that barred it was broken, half of it gone and the other half sticking out sharply. The nine tailed fox got off the horse and carefully inspected the entrance. She placed her hand on the torn lock mottled with dust and webs, and bent down to enter half of her body.

The great hall stood proud in its ruins. Pillars that were torn down held roofs that were no longer there. Hills of snow piled on areas most vulnerable to the sky. The nine tailed fox conjured a flame in her left hand then sent it inside the ruins. The blue fireball broke into six pieces and stationed on dark corners, illuminating the place like sentient wisps assigned to be their watchers.

Once she was sure that no shadows lurked, she reined the horse inside and took shelter. Her two children frolicked in the ruins as their mother prepared the godkissed children. Nami was powerless and what’s worse was that she was forced to watch as the nine tailed fox dragged the children away from her.

On a high stone window, there perched a raven as black as the night. It cawed, alarming the fox spirits but they were barely fazed. They ignored the raven that watched them and it was gone as quickly as it had come.