“Something like that really is nothing to ye.” The necromancer grabbed Spideóg's middle finger and shook it experimentally, staring at the now-healed wrist. “Feck, if I...” With a sound of annoyance, she flung Spideóg's hand away from her, almost dislocating his finger. “Well if ye really didn't lose any of me spikes-”
“I didn't! I swear I di-”
“- then I'll assume foxface has it. If that's the case, why didn't he say anything? He's had plenty of opportunities to try something.”
The monk and the necromancer contemplated the little pile of wooden slivers.
“Um...”
“What?” Sou Yuet and the necromancer stared at the bhard. “Got something else to say? What the hell are ye doing out here, anyway?”
“N... No reason. I mean, the same as usual, looking for information.”
“From a homicidal water spirit?”
“That was an accident.”
“Then how about ye 'accidentally' walk away from here until ye're in the next country? ”
“Wait,” Sou Yuet interjected. “If you're looking for information, does that mean there's a case of a legendary creature gone missing?”
“Well, that's just it. There isn't.”
“None?”
“Not in this country.”
“Hm... Very well, take care on your way, Bhard Spideóg,” Sou Yuet said cheerfully.
“... Yes.”
Spideóg shamefully gathered up his clothing and scuttled away.
“I can't sense anything wrong,” Sou Yuet said softly, sifting through the yew spikes with the tip of a finger. “No demonic energy, no rot or plant sickness.”
“I can't feel any curses on them either. They seem just the same as before.”
“Are you going to wear them again, then?”
“Can't see why not. This is the only way to find out what that fox is up to, anyway. That stupid bhard... I told him thinking with his dick would get him killed. He got tricked good by that fox.”
Sou Yuet held up a wood spike. “Want some help?”
“... Please.”
One by one, Sou Yuet threaded the yew spikes through the holes in the necromancer's ears. Their hands, that could hold silver acupuncture needles and jab them rapidly and accurately with tiny targets, were shaking. They almost stabbed the necromancer's flesh several times.
“Done.” Sou Yuet breathed out loudly.
“Were ye holding yer breath?”
“... Seems so.”
“So now what?”
“Well, I can't see why Spideóg would lie to us on this matter, but we should still ask around to see if there have been any incidents. If not, we'll just keep heading west.”
It seemed as though the bhard, untrustworthy as he was, was telling the truth. There was no talk of legendary creatures missing or being attacked within the country, only gossip about occurrences in other kingdoms.
“Hippalektryon1ἱππαλεκτρυών - hippalektryon. are becoming very hard to find,” a food merchant grumbled at a rest stop along the Jade Road. “Not that they were excessively common before, but now it's nearly impossible. I used to earn a lot of gold from making dishes from hippalektryon. I can only use ordinary chicken and horse now! I'm sure someone is capturing as many as they can find and driving us small operators out of business!”
“You'll forgive my ignorance,” Sou Yuet said politely, “but what is a... hippo... hippa...”
“Hippalektryon. Stupid-looking thing. And also just a plain stupid creature. Front half of a horse, back half of a rooster. Nice lean meat with lots of iron.”
“And is that... the size of a rooster? Or a horse?”
“Somewhere in-between, I suppose. Look, if you're not going to buy anything, stop taking up my time!”
Sou Yuet apologised and retreated from the rest stop to join the necromancer and Sunny who were playing outside. A group of merchant children were riding on the si dzi's back, and she patiently trotted up and down as they shrieked with delight.
“Anything?”
“Still nothing here. The proprietor believes that there may be some creatures being excessively hunted in a country west of here. Hippa... hippa... lek... ton?”
“What's that supposed to be?”
“He said it had the front half of a horse and the back part of a rooster.”
“Sounds dumb as feck. Is the back part the size of a normal rooster and the front the size of a normal horse? How's it supposed to reproduce if the back part's always a rooster? Shouldn't some of them be part hen, at least?”
“He said the whole thing is somewhere between the size of a normal horse and normal rooster, but no explanation for your last question.”
“Useless. Oi, Sunny, we're going. Drop those brats!”
“Gently.”
“... Gently.”
Sunny simply lay down and leaned to one side, and the children fell off, squealing. She stood and trotted away before they could jump back on her.
And so, westwards they went. Sunny was now large enough that Sou Yuet could have comfortably ridden her, but the monk refused to do so.
“If that's the case, I could carry her instead. Why should she have to carry me?” The small monk demonstrated by easily lifting the surprised si dzi in their arms and walking down the road with her, putting the necromancer almost into hysterics with laughter.
For days they followed the setting sun, mostly walking. Although nothing was said, Sou Yuet seemed tired. Not physically – they could have carried both Sunny and the necromancer on their back with ease, but their usual placid smiles were now coupled with an almost catatonic stare that took a moment to clear when the necromancer tried to speak to them.
“I'm just thinking,” the monk said.
“It's what ye're thinking about that gets me worried.”
“You're worried?”
“Ugh. Shouldn't have bothered.”
The necromancer woke one night when they had chosen to camp a little ways off the Jade Road to find Sou Yuet examining an unfamiliar piece of paper. There were pictures of plants drawn on it, but in a hand much heavier than the light lines that the monk usually sketched.
“Ah Yuet?”
The monk jumped, and the necromancer immediately felt uneasy.
“What is it, Pang Yau?”
“What are you reading?”
“Ah, a response from Si fu, finally. He's been busy with some matters...” The monk's voice dropped, and they moved to sit next to the necromancer so they could whisper in the witch's ear. It tickled.
“I can't say too much, since it involves some politics, but Si fu has been assisting my Senior Sister. Remember the one we met before?”
“Ah, at-”
“Shh.” Sou Yuet's fingers were cold on the necromancer's lips.
“Why are yer hands so cold?”
“Hm? I must be tired.”
“Are ye not telling me because someone might be listening?”
“Ah, yes. Exactly.”
Exactly my arse.
“I should go to sleep.”
“Yeah, whatever.”
“Pang Yau?”
“Good night, monk.”
The Jade Road continued on and on. Here, it was formed of local black basalt, providing welcome radiated warmth in winter, but painfully hot in summer, the opposite of the stretch of pale grey granite that wound through the Four Kingdoms in the east. It narrowed as the land narrowed; two jewel blue seas converged on either side, and before them rose an enormous city. The Road ran directly through it.
Houses with red roofs and white walls clambered over each other, all the way down to the waterside. Great arched walls surrounded the city, and hundreds of people funnelled in and out, slowed by numbers. Sou Yuet had to admit defeat and sit on Sunny's back to avoid being swept away by the crowd. The monk's eyes were never still, taking in the whole scene.
“What an interesting place.”
The necromancer grunted.
“You must have come through here on your way to Yuen Mei, Pang Yau.”
Another grunt. And then a flinch of surprise. Sou Yuet had taken the necromancer's hand.
“Just so I don't get lost. Put your hood up, keep your sleeves rolled down.”
It took a hour to reach the city wall. People grumbled in a variety of different languages, although Xiǎng was not one of them. Sou Yuet occasionally spotted someone who might have some heritage from the Four Kingdoms, but there were more people who resembled more closely those they had seen at Vurdʑɕahar, and at Samant, as well as paler-skinned but still dark haired people who seemed to be gradually forming the majority as they travelled west.
More importantly, they all seemed to be human.
Sunny was drawing more attention than Sou Yuet had expected. People pointed, glared, stared. Some even turned away in fear. A woman in draped robes and a veil over her hair jumped in front of them and began to pinch and pull Sunny's face. The surprised si dzi tried to back up, but the press of people prevented it, so she could only whimper and snarl.
“What creature is this? How much? How much?”
“She's not for sale,” Sou Yuet said, placid smile on face, although their hand gripped the necromancer's warningly.
“Yes, sell. Two gold.”
“I give three.”
“Robber! I give five!”
“It's a demon! It will bring misfortune!”
The necromancer moved to pull the hood off, but Sou Yuet continued to stay her hand. The people around them were transforming into a thrashing mess, some trying to get closer, waving coins in the air, others trying to escape. The monk's eyes scanned the writhing crowd, mind racing. Sunny swayed as she fought to stand upright. Any moment now, someone was going to get crushed.
The monk's eyes flashed green.
The necromancer felt something move under her feet, but she couldn't see it. Still, within seconds, the air was filled with a sharp but pleasant scent. The struggling people paused, first in confusion, and then with growing looks of tranquillity.
“Don't breathe in too much,” Sou Yuet whispered in the necromancer's ear. “Get us out of here.”
The monk was clutching their nose tightly. A trickle of blood was escaping across their lips.
The necromancer pushed her way through the dazed people, pulling the dreaming Sunny with her. The people parted easily, and as they did, the necromancer could finally see that thousands upon thousands of delicate white and pink flowered plants2The flower that Sou Yuet forcibly grew was Valerian (Valeriana officinalis), a calming and sedative herb. were blooming in the cracks of the Jade Road and by its sides. The scent was rising from their broken stems and leaves as people had trampled them.
Within the city, vaulted bridges and pipes bent overhead to provide the inhabitants with ways of accessing each side of the city without having to battle their way across the human sea that travelled the Jade Road. One could follow the Road without entering the city proper, and that was exactly what the necromancer did, walking until they had reached the other end of the city, and the Road widened once more and the number of people had dropped to a more comfortable level. It was only here that the flowers began to peter out.
They left the road, clambering into the dry, mountainous terrain nearby until they were hidden from sight.
The necromancer lifted Sou Yuet from Sunny's back, and the three of them crouched down wearily.
“Let me see yer face.”
The monk looked dazed. When they let go of their nose, a steady stream of blood dripped out, seeping into their robes. The necromancer directed Sou Yuet's hand back to the nose immediately. She pulled the monk's herbal notebook from their pack, as well as the collection of herbs and medicines they had gathered, and for the next few minutes they conducted a game of charades as the necromancer pointed to various things and the monk shook or nodded their head, and then the necromancer would add or take away the objects. By the end of an hour, Sou Yuet had taken a pill and drunk a herbal concoction, and gone to sleep, and the bleeding had stopped.
“Damn it to all the gods, Sunny,” the necromancer muttered quietly, her back resting against the soft cushion of the si dzi's side. She looked at the monk, bloody but sleeping peacefully in her arms. “How many kilometres of flowers did this eejit create? I know it was the best way, but... Ye know what I want, Little Sun? Some day, I'd like for us to just... wake up, in a bed that belongs to us. Take our time making breakfast. Ye could play with the little monks, they'd love ye. And Ah Yuet could see their old master and mess around in their little garden and...”
They were a long, long way from Yuen Mei.
“Maybe Mam could come back with us? Ah, she probably wouldn't. I wouldn't go back if it weren't for her. I don't... really want to go back.”
A faint clucking noise roused her from her thoughts. Her stomach rumbled. She could feel the vibrations of Sunny's stomach through her back.
“Hungry?”
The clucking sound grew louder, as if the chicken was thankfully coming closer. The necromancer didn't really feel like moving right now, despite her hunger.
And then, a snort, like a horse.
Sunny looked up.
The necromancer looked up.
A bizarrely petite horse's face looked down at them. “Cluck!” it said distinctly.
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