Ying Zhen stared blankly at this woman he had never seen before who nevertheless knelt on the ground and sobbed as if she had waited an eternity only for him. His heart thumped but he pushed the feeling back down.
He had come to the underworld to save his comrades and keep the demon folk from their demise. He couldn’t afford to be distracted. And even if he hadn’t been in the underworld, with the fight against the gods at the back of his head, he still wouldn’t have thought of trying. Love was something he didn’t have the luxury to experience in this life of his.
Ying Zhen waited but the woman didn’t calm down and just continued to sob to his feet. He sighed, bend down, and gripped her shoulders. Gently but resolutely, he pulled her to her feet. "Your name?"
"Lar … Laryana."
Her voice tugged at his heartstrings once again but he shoved the feeling aside once again and merely nodded. "Laryana, some time ago, a couple of souls from the demon tribes should have reached the underworld. I came to take them back." Ying Zhen expected resistance but Laryana nodded eagerly.
"Yes, master. Nilam shipped them down the river not too long ago."
"Show me the way." Seeing as she had willingly answered his question, he didn’t feel that it was wrong to ask this much of her.
Laryana indeed wanted to turn around and lead the way but then her thoughts caught up with her feelings and she furrowed her brow. The man in front of her looked like the person she had known all those years ago: Heidan, the high god, the underworld’s sovereign, and her creator. His night-black hair, the dark eyes, the slender brows above, the high cheekbones, and the thin lips … all that was familiar from the many years she had known Heidan. The only difference was that her creator had always gifted her a smile while the man in front of her seemed much too serious in comparison.
But even if not for that, she should have known. Heidan had left a long time ago and never come back. And the one time she had dared to venture out of the underworld to search for him, she had found out the reason already: Heidan had long died, not even his soul spared from demise, and he would never return.
Laryana knew but she couldn’t accept it. She still hoped that the familiar figure would float down the Alessian and land on her isle, gifting her that same smile and telling her that she didn’t need to wait any longer, that he had finally returned after all.
For a few precious moments, she had truly believed that this wish of hers had finally been fulfilled today. But if she stopped to think for a moment, she knew that this couldn’t be true.
The man in front of her had even asked for her name. That name had been given by Heidan himself. Why would he need to inquire about it? Also, this man now requested to be shown the way. This, as well, was something Heidan would never need to ask. He wouldn’t need her help. He was the lord of the underworld, he had created this world and ruled over it for millennia. Which way didn’t he know?
Thinking of all that, Laryana hesitated.
Ying Zhen raised his brows. He couldn’t understand what was going through her mind. He just felt that her reactions seemed … odd. First, she wanted to gladly help him, then she decided otherwise at the last possible moment. What was he to make of that? "Is there a problem?"
Laryana hesitated for a moment longer. Finally, she tiptoed and leaned forward, looking directly at his face. His eyes are different, she noticed. Her forehead smoothed out while disappointment tinged her face. "You aren’t Heidan." She should have known but she had still stupidly hoped to be wrong.
Ying Zhen narrowed his eyes. "Are you mocking me?" Heidan was the high god of the underworld, father to Chaayin, the first demon. No demon would dare to try and compare themselves to him, much less impersonate him.
Laryana drew back and looked at the ground. She didn’t know any longer what to think of the man before her, she didn’t understand his remark though. "I don’t know what you are talking about."
Ying Zhen suppressed a sigh and decided not to bother anymore. In any case, he hadn’t come for this. "You wanted to show me the way to the underworld."
Laryana looked up again and shook her head, all hesitation gone from her face. "You’re not Heidan. How could I just show you the way?"
Ying Zhen stared at her. What happened to the woman who greeted me as if I was her long-lost lover? She couldn’t have really mistaken me for Heidan? She could hardly believe it but that seemed to be the case. Otherwise, there really was no explanation for what had just happened. He didn’t understand though. The high god had died ages ago and his death hadn’t been kept quiet. Why would she even consider that he might be that person? Could it be … she wasn’t quite sane?
Silently, the two of them gazed at each other. On the Alessian, the boat of the ferryman returned and vanished toward the dock. That hooded man paid no heed to the two of them as if the sight of a stranger in the underworld wasn’t abnormal at all.
Ying Zhen averted his gaze, feeling that maybe he couldn’t judge the people of the underworld the same way he would a demon or god. Still, even if she didn’t want to help him, he wouldn’t give up. To force his way into the underworld and locate the souls of his comrades was his only way to save them. And he had to save them. His defeating their last enemy of that battle wouldn’t suffice to defend the demons against the gods for long. He didn’t have a choice.
Ying Zhen once again turned to Laryana but he merely gave her a glance before he walked away and made his way toward the gates of the underworld. He didn’t know whether it would be difficult to find the others but he hoped that the fact that they hadn’t left the world of the living for long would help. And even if that hope turned out to be wrong, he still had to persevere. There was no other choice.
Laryana followed him with her gaze and looked at the lights that buzzed around her. Transforming them into lanterns was the eternal task she had been given by Heidan after her creation and he had told her that this task was an important one and that every soul that arrived on this path needed a way to measure the time and be restricted at the same time. For a soul to follow this path without this might lead to a disaster.
Thinking of the day he had patiently explained this to her, Laryana panicked. "You …" She hurried after Ying Zhen and grabbed his arm, trying to hold him back. "You can’t simply enter the underworld!"
Ying Zhen stopped in his tracks and looked back at her, his eyes narrowing faintly. "Do you want to prevent me?"
Laryana pressed her lips together. Heidan had granted her immortal life but hardly any magical abilities. She could manufacture the lanterns with the scarce light of the underworld and weave some simple illusions but that was it. Even if she wanted to, she wouldn’t be able to hold back Ying Zhen. At most, she could try and trap him here for a bit of time and then see if Nilam, the ferryman, would be able to do something about this. She didn’t have much hope though.
It would be easier to try and convince this man to turn back by himself. After all, her illusions weren’t strong in the first place and only meant to gain her a few seconds if she was ever in danger and needed to save her life. But that had been under the assumption that Heidan would be there to hear her cry for help and be able to come to aid her. Now, she was alone and any attempt might just infuriate the man in front of her.
Finding herself in this dilemma, Laryana could only try to use her words. "Why did you come here?" She looked up at this face that resembled her creator so much, trying to discern the truth from his eyes.
"Will you show me the way if I tell you?"
Laryana froze. She had not expected this response. She had thought that he would tell her the answer for sure.
Ying Zhen snorted and shook off her fingers, walking away. Inwardly, he was furious. Why should I reveal to a stranger what I am doing here? What right does she have to learn of the problems of our people? Even if she was part of the realm of their ancestor, he still wasn’t about to divulge anything.
Laryana, however, really thought about his words after she got over the first shock. Would she help him? He had asked about some of the souls so most likely, he wanted to take them away. Was that something she could allow to happen?
Her thoughts traveled back to a time long past: Back when Heidan created her, the underworld had been nothing but darkness. An endless realm of shadows that he was all alone in. It had only been when the high god Kaashuang decided to banish the souls of the dead to this place that there was even a semblance of life. In other words, while they might be dead in the eyes of others, to Heidan, they had been alive. They had been the company that lit up his days. Could she really allow somebody to remove some of those souls? She didn’t think so. And yet …
Laryana looked at Ying Zhen who had already reached the edge of her small headland and now pushed off and into the air. It looked just like how Heidan had done it before he vanished forever. Her heart leaped painfully. No! That one word crossed her mind and she ran after him, jumped off, and barely grabbed onto Ying Zhen.
The demon staggered and they nearly plunged into the Alessian. Cursing, he grasped her arm, pulled her to his side, and continued forward. He didn’t drop her off. He also didn’t ask how she had decided. You followed me yourself. If you regret it later, it isn’t my fault.
At the same time, Laryana gazed at her small island that seemed to become smaller and smaller the further they flew. The darkness swallowed the faint light of the sparks and the lanterns she had prepared and soon, the two of them found themselves in complete darkness.
She couldn’t help but question herself: Did I do the right thing? Laryana knew that she hadn’t thought it through well enough. She had only suddenly feared that this man who resembled her creator so much, would never return just like Heidan had back then, and … she did not want to be left behind again.
She didn’t want to remain in this bleak place and fulfill her task of preparing the lanterns for the souls for all eternity. She did not want to be alone anymore. She dearly wished for the days to come back when Heidan had come to see her regularly and when Xingula had sneaked into the underworld every now and then.
But she knew that those days could never return. And since her master had already perished, what right did she have to stay alive? She should have left this world together with him, returning to the dark earth that she had been formed from but she had not been given the opportunity.
Laryana knew that the man in front of her wasn’t Heidan regardless of how similar they looked. But … her heart constricted at his sight and she couldn’t bring herself to let him go alone because it made her feel like she would lose Heidan a second time and that was something she could not accept.
She looked at Ying Zhen’s face and the words that Heidan had once spoken to her sounded once again in her mind: 'I hope, that one day you will leave the underworld and find the person that is destined for you just like I was able to meet Xingula.'
To leave the underworld … She had never thought about it. Even now she wouldn’t leave but at least she left her small headland at the bank of the Alessian for the first time after thousands of years. Had Heidan still been alive, he might have been happy if he knew.
