Page 33

The Prisoner

I do not know how long I run up those winding, twisting stairs, with the terrible knowledge that the Dalgyal Gwisin is giving chase somewhere below, the chatter of its teeth echoing through the dark stone stairwell. It may be hours or days. I might bet on the latter, yet I only know that I ran long enough that I reach a point beyond pain—beyond the stitch in my side, beyond the ache threatening to buckle my left leg—and find strength. Stamina of an impossible potency, my muscles waking up from months of inactivity, becoming stronger with each jolting step.

Rui bought me some time to outrun the Dalgyal Gwisin, yet there is no time to slow, especially since I know it draws closer and closer, the chattering of its teeth remaining behind me. Head down, I keep sprinting until I reach the very top…

And a soft gasp escapes my lips as my bare feet meet grass. Autumn stretches out before me. Hand flying to my mouth and breathing hard, I gaze at the familiar stretch of field of golden barley, where the bountiful harvest sways underneath a crisp, cool wind. In the middle of the field, there is a hut—a small chogajip with a thatched roof, a battered door, and tiny windows.

My home. Before the shipwreck that took my parents, before the Talons…this was my home .

Overhead, in a clear blue sky, crows dance on waves of wind, cawing loudly in delight. My long hair ripples in the breeze as I cautiously take a step forward into the field. This is not real, I know, only some hidden part of my mind…but gods, it feels real. It smells just like I remember it, too: damp earth, cold sky, and the salty tinge of the nearby Yongwangguk Sea. I move toward the chogajip in a daze, expecting to see my eomma moving through the small windows, and my appa cropping the barley, Eunbi laughing as her tiny feet patter against the hut’s earthen floor. Yet it is silent here. So very, very silent.

Fingers trembling, I push open the door. Perhaps it can shelter me from the demon on my heels, if not for long. The door creaks as it swings backward, allowing me entry. I blink back tears as I take in the mats where we slept, the small firepit, the little trunk that held all of our worldly possessions. It was never much, and I always longed for more. Yet standing here, at nineteen, in the middle of a war… I would give anything to have this again. A family. A mother and father’s love. A sister. A clean slate before me.

I am not sure why my mind brought me here. Nobody is home. My family is dead. Shakily, I sit down on the sleeping mat that was once mine, gulping down breaths of air. Now that I’ve stopped moving, my exhaustion threatens to crash down on me. Yet fatigue is something I can’t afford, not right now.

The bed is barely anything, just a scrap of fabric between myself and the floor. I remember how serpents used to slither into here in the dead of night and wrap around my ankles. I remember how they would bite me, and I would be sick for days, suffering through delirium and nightmares as I burned with fever.

At the thought of those nightmares, the small hut seems to darken. I think I hear a cruel, cruel laugh, but it is not the Dalgyal Gwisin: it is only the wind. Still, though, I cannot help but think of those old dreams, at the monster within them.

It was a child’s fear: some great, big, shadowed monster that was a torment to behold. Red glowers and a hungry maw. I would wake screaming, and Eunbi would start to cry, hastening to wrap chubby arms around me. I’d fall back asleep like that, with my baby sister held tight against me. Vision blurred, I scrub at my eyes, and…

…the monster emerges from the walls, just as it did during my nightmares.

I nearly scream as the giant, horned beast looms before me with a scarlet glare, spittle dripping. Yet no sound emerges as I scrabble backward and leap to my feet, ignoring the pain in my left leg at the sudden motion.

Is there no end to this? How many terrible beasts lurk within my mind?

The monster smiles and reaches for me with a clawed, hulking hand. Panicked, terror ricocheting in my mind, I dive past it, lurch through the door, and begin running through the field of barley. The sky is no longer blue. It is a deep gray, tinged with green. The golden barley sways in the wind, brushing against my face like a mother sweeping back my hair. My mouth tastes of salt, and I realize that I am crying in fear only when I raise a finger to my cheek and it comes away wet.

All of this, it is exactly like one of those long-ago nightmares.

Drawing my retracted firesword, I feel rancid, hot breath at the nape of my neck, and I know it is getting closer. The Dalgyal Gwisin probably isn’t far behind, either, likely nearing the top of those stairs. The sound of four paws pounding on the ground is awful, horrible. Soon, I know, I will stumble and fall as I always do, and the beast will descend upon me. Yet there will be no Eunbi to wake me up before the teeth reach my flesh. I do not know if I can die in here, but I don’t wish to find out—

Yet despite my wishes, I still fly to the ground as my ankle twists awkwardly. The monster snarls and leaps into the air, spittle flying as it descends…

Face scrunched in terror, I fling a hand up in protest. My sword flies from my grip. And the moment my fingers touch the dark fur, something happens. Something that never happened in the dreams.

It is as if the world slows down. I see red eyes widen, and the body shift sideways, as if it is no longer aiming for me. When it lands, it lands several feet away on all fours. Shakily, I clamber to my feet, hands still outstretched as the beast pants, head cocked.

Don’t , I plead frantically. Don’t hurt me.

The beast snorts, red eyes following my movements. Can it understand the Quiet Language? My mouth drops in shock as it replies, in a voice altogether inhuman, ringing with both baritones and falsettos: “You were always so afraid of me. Why?”

I swallow hard. You…wanted to eat me.

It snickers. “I don’t really exist. Part of you knew that. Why were you afraid of me?” It’s as if it is posing a riddle.

Despite myself, I’m offended by its laugh. Can it truly blame me for being afraid? I was a child. And you’re a monster.

“Hmmph,” says the monster. “That’s a shallow, nonspecific answer. Think again. Think deeper.”

What does it matter? Frustrated, I fight the urge to kick the ground. I am unable to understand any part of this strange interaction. Grabbing my fallen sword, I sheathe it. Apparently this monster just wants to…talk.

Which, somehow, is scarier.

Sitting on its hind legs, the creature begins to lick one of its front paws. Like a cat. I stare at it. “It matters everything, Lina. I know what you want to do. But before you reclaim your body, you need to be…Well. Healed. That’s the way of it.”

I shake my head, a deep frustration suddenly replacing my fear. So you’re standing in my way? I don’t have time for this. I point to the edge of the field, where the stairs ended. There’s a—a thing on my heels. And if I’m not fast enough, it’s going to catch me. And make good on its threats of sucking the marrow from my bones.

To my surprise, the monster’s eyes soften . “I know. But I cannot let you leave here, not yet. Your mind is trying to heal you. And it’s starting by asking you this question: Why were you afraid of me?”

Because your teeth are ginormous , I sign impatiently.

“No.”

Because you smell like a corpse. I’m shifting from foot to foot. Any moment now, the Dalgyal Gwisin will appear at the edge of the field, its maw open and ready for me…

“No. Be honest with yourself, Lina. Why were you afraid of me?”

I am utterly lost. Everything I told the beast was true.

I was a child, and it was a hungry monster with a gaping maw. I was small, and it was large. I was clumsy, slow, and it was so godsdamned fast. Yet I suspect it will find none of those answers acceptable. As it regards me with the red eyes that are somehow kind, I take a deep breath and try to do as it asks. No other stairwell is in sight. I suspect it will not appear until I uncover this truth. Why was I afraid of it?

It was composed of shadows, and I feared the dark.

It reminded me of the beasts prowling in the Wyusan Wilderness, beasts my young mind feared would somehow find their way into Sunpo.

It was unnatural.

The monster shakes its head to all of these. With one paw, it reaches out, grazing my forehead. And then I know.

The answer is such a fragile, vulnerable thing. It trembles within me. The beast looks at me expectantly as I gaze into those deep, scarlet eyes, seeing—compassion.

That compassion gives me the strength to begin moving my hands. If you were in my dreams, it meant you were created by me , I answer with small, hesitant motions. And it frightened me that I could create something so awful. I never wanted to be wicked.

Yet look what I became, in the end. The irony lances through me like a spear.

The monster bows its head. Presses it against me. Tears spilling down my face, I hesitantly stroke my fingers over the nightmare’s fur as the sea of barley begins to part. It reveals another staircase in the center, dark stone steps waiting for me. Just as the terrible sound of chittering teeth is carried upon the wind…growing closer.

“Go,” says the beast. “And hurry. I am only one of seven keys. Six more await.”

Keys?

“Goodbye, Lina,” whispers the monster, beginning to vanish into the air. “And good luck.”

And then it is gone.

Wiping the tears from my face, I stagger to the stairs, aware of the susurrations of the barley behind me: aware of the Dalgyal Gwisin on my trail, crawling after me on all fours. Part of me wants to stay and fight it. Kill it. Yet deep down I know it’s a chance I can’t risk. Better to try and stay ahead of it, to get as far as I can before I am faced with such danger.

As I lurch up the first step, something materializes around my neck. A chain of cold metal, connected to a small, silver key with a charm that looks suspiciously like the nightmare’s beast. Understanding blooms within my mind as I remember the seven keyholes on the padlock of my cell.

Seven keys.

Six more to go.