Chapter 2

The man slowly stood up from his crossed legged sitting position. As he rose, warm and orange light began to peek out from the horizon, hitting the man from behind and illuminating him with an ethereal haze, making him appear as something from another world. His hair was long and free flowing past his shoulders. His long beard was well maintained and down to his chest. He reached down, wrapping his fingers around the hilt before pulling his sword up, the steel shaking and resonating with a heavenly tone as the sunlight reflected off and shined brightly in every direction. He spun it around before sliding it into a leather sheath tied around his waist. The man slowly stepped closer, the haze and glow disappearing as he moved.

“A fishing vessel was attacked. We aren’t sure what did it, but three of our people were violently murdered.”  The elder said with a deep bow.

The man lifted his hand up slightly.

“I will request that you never bow to me.” He said.

The elder looked confused but stood back up straight.

“My apologies. Now I know we agreed to never bother you, but…”

“All promises should be broken if it is to save others.” He replied.

Her eyes went wide.

“Yes. How did you know?” She asked.

“Why else would you have traveled this far?” He asked.

The elder stood in silence for a few seconds.

“However, I will not be helping you.”

He walked past her towards his small hut.

“But you are Hyobanshi.” She quickly tried to keep up with him, but he suddenly stopped and turned with so much force a gust of air knocked her back as dust kicked up into the air. He took a step forward before holding his hand up to help her.

“I am the man who holds that name, however I am no longer the legend that comes with it.” He said as the elder slowly grabbed his hand, being helped to her feet.

“We need you, whether that be legend or man.” She replied, brushing her clothing off.

“I no longer fight.” He responded as he was nearly at his hut now.

“The greatest warrior to ever live and you give it up? You give up protecting your people?” The elder said with a hint of poison.

He stopped once again.

“When I fought in the war, I fought blindly. I did whatever The Emperor asked me to do. Do you want me to tell you what I did?” He asked her.

The elder swallowed hard before starting to bow, but stopping. She held her hands together down by her waist.

“That is quite alright Hyobanshi. I give my sincerest apologies for bothering you. I shall make my return to my village empty handed.” She said.

Hyobanshi went into his hut without a word. She began to walk as the sun started to rise higher into the sky.

She passed by the hut and continued walking, but then heard something heavy hitting the ground behind her. She turned around and looked down at a large bag full of vegetables.

“Those are the freshest I have. Make sure you split them amongst your people.” Hyobanshi said before throwing another bag.

The elder swallowed hard before bowing down. Hyobanshi stared at her as she did so, a look of annoyance on his face.

“If you don’t stop bowing I’m taking the food away.”

The elder stood up and grabbed both bags. Despite being full to the brim of various vegetables, they felt quite light and manageable.

She made her way across the dry land, carrying a bag in each hand while her arms were stiff and strong. She began to breathe heavily, the dryness of her throat becoming more noticeable as her arms began to hang to her sides, the bags swinging around as she walked back and forth to the side, unable to maintain a straight path.

Farmers working on the crops looked up and saw her struggling to walk. They were wearing large circle shaped straw hats to keep the sun off of their heads and necks. Three of them ran over and tried to take the bags from the elder, but she pulled her weak arms away.

“No. I shall carry these to the village.” She replied.

The farmers backed away as the oldest one, the man who seemed to be in charge of the farms, walked next to her.

“What did he say?” He asked.

“He will not fight.” She replied through pained breaths.

“What will we do if there is an attack on the village?” The farmer asked.

“Our people are strong and determined. We will stand and fight to protect our homes.”

“Against something that we do not know.” The farmer replied.

The elder stopped speaking, walking into the village before dropping the bags to the ground. Other villagers ran over and grabbed the bags, quickly taking the vegetables out and handing them to other villagers. The elder limped her way to her small home, walking inside and flopping onto her bed. Her feet were burning and throbbing, her throat was as dry as sand, and her arms were pulsing and wanting to fall off and onto the ground.

While the elder was laying on the ground, she could feel her small hut beginning to shake. She lifted her exhausted head up off of her bed and looked around. The hut continued to shake as she slowly sat up, quickly limping over to her entrance. She looked outside onto her village, seeing that everything was shaking wildly.

“What’s happening?” A child screamed loudly as their parents ran to them.

The villagers were all running wildly and aimlessly around as the ground began to shake even more violently. The elder limped her way out and looked around, able to see the Earth beneath them beginning to shift and buckle. The farming fields split into multiple parts, creating an uneven land of hills and valleys all within the small area. The elder could hear screaming and limped her way to the center of the village. She looked towards the river, able to see the water shifting as small creatures began to crawl out, running towards the villagers.

Loud screaming filled the air as the small monsters oved faster than the human eye could keep up with. They were becoming blurs as splatters of blood would shoot out from villagers running around before they would drop down to the ground dead. Men, women, and even children were running and screaming before dropping dead with blood flowing out of them and onto the grass. The elder was still exhausted but ran back into her hut and looked for anything she could use as a weapon. She found a small knife she normally used to cut vegetables, running back out and seeing one of the small creatures running towards her. She stabbed the knife as hard as she could into the creature’s torso. It stopped, the creature coming more into focus to show its grotesque ugliness right in her face. The creature was bleeding, but it stepped back and screamed out. The knife seemed to have no effect.

The elder fell back and leaned against her hut, trying to crawl away. The creatures all let out a hellish scream when they began to hunt down the remaining villagers. The elder covered her face and could hear the one near her jumping for her, but suddenly she felt a large splatter of liquid cover her body.

She kept her face in her hands as she heard loud slashing and pained screams fill the air, but the screams were anything but human.

After the air went silent, she finally lifted her face from her hands.

She was covered in dark black blood, the creature laying at her feet in two halves. She looked around to see the creatures strewn all around, in two or more pieces with their black blood covering the buildings and grass.

Hyobanshi stood in the center of death and destruction. His sword was hanging low while sitting in his hand. The blade was covered in so much black blood the metal was impossible to see. Hyobanshi took his hand and ran it along the side of the blade, pushing all of the black blood off and leaving the blade looking brand new with how clean and shiny it was, the light bouncing off the metal beautifully.

“I thought you weren’t going to fight.” The elder said as she slowly got up to her feet.

Hyobanshi did not say anything, only sheathing his sword and turning to walk back to his small hut.

“That is all? You slay them and leave?” The elder asked angrily as she got to her feet.

Hyobanshi turned and stared at her with intense eyes.

“What if they return? This will not be a one time occurrence. You must stay to protect us.” She pleaded, but stood firm and crossed her arms.

“I have no loyalty to you or your village. You have no loyalty to me. Just because we are both human does not mean we must do everything for each other.” Hyobanshi replied, reaching down to pick up the biggest piece of one of the strange monsters, dragging it against the ground as he began to walk again.

“You are no great warrior! You are a man who lacks honor!” The elder shouted.

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