Chapter 39: Chapter 37: Coagulation

The great walls of the city towered far above and behind them as they approached the clusters of ruined trees that dotted the land. The walls themselves were ancient, the lowest layers were consumed by the earth while further up reddish brown paint peeled away to show plain brown stone. Every few decades another few layers were added, until the city’s walls had come to resemble a hollow tower extending to the sky.

Liu Xie had noticed there were no watchtowers at the top, leaving the surrounding land open to whomever wanted to go out and do something that would possibly be considered illegal even by the standards of a Free City. There was a dark miasma radiating from the trees and land that could sicken a weak soul. The imbalance was one of the worst he had seen in many centuies and white flame had overwhelmed the other ambient flames in the area. The earth was dead, the trees looked not just dead but dried out, and despite the sun’s radiance the air felt strangely cool.

“Ugh,” Li Baobao covered his nose. “Something smells awful…”

Liu Xie sniffed at the air and felt something curdle in him. There was the scent of rot and animal feasting along with the soft mulchy scent of dying trees. There was something else, a strange stagnation as though the flame were pooling just beneath their feet. Heavy, sluggish, unresponsive to his presence.

Yet he felt no trace of Idony’s spirit. If she had been killed, then her soul would have lingered until the Empress of Hell likely came in to personally grab it. He would have been told. But the place was empty of any spirits. Even the old trees were simply shadows to his senses. There had been other spirits, he could still feel faint traces of them but it was like the rat from earlier, just a vestige of what was. He chewed his tongue as the equation became even less sensible.

As they got deeper into the forest, Liu Xie could see multiple altars scattered about under the eldest looking trees. Some were weeks old and were broken down to their uneven stone foundations, while others still stood with their stolen bones and red candles chewed upon by wildlife although he could see no living animals around.

All were big enough to put a person upon although none had bodies on them. The two walked into the scattering of trees with their foul altars leaned against them. Liu Xie leaned closely to the first tree to look at the shriveled bark. The coagulation of negative energy had killed it, it seemed.

“...It looks like a butcher’s shop exploded,” Li Baobao muttered as he held a sleeve over his nose and mouth. His eyes widened as he caught sight of one of the larger altars and pointed at it. Liu Xie turned to examine that one as well. It looked ‘fresh’, with less chewed upon bones and the scent of blood still managing to overpower the rot. There was a lump of torn hair that mingled into a dried mixture of blood and stomach contents on the altar.. Someone had carefully cleaned out sections of intestine to place on the top of the altar with disturbing looking writing etched in with ink partially covered by the body fluid mixture. Liu Xie clicked his tongue softly as he read over the words.

“It seems this one knew what they were doing, it specifically calls out for the demon in the city,” he said, “although there’s no name.” Without a name, any half-formed malicious thing lurking in the gutters of the city could come crawling over. He reached his hand over and a crackle of white arcing sparks connected his hand to the altar. He winced, quickly withdrawing his hand to look at his palm. The palm’s flesh had been torn open to reveal wood and red sap beneath. He hissed lightly, less in pain and more in frustration at the limitations given to the body he was using.

“I can’t look anymore…” Li Baobao whimpered before retching and stumbling away to lean against a tree.

“Then don’t look,” Liu Xie answered as he leaned down to continue observing the altar. He then looked up at the other altars. Something slowly came together in his head as he continued observing the scattered obscene things. “The bodies.”

“What?”

“At demonic altars, it’s ultimately the fresh life blood that will call the summoned demon forth. There is blood here, but it’s not fresh, and there’s no bodies.”

Li Baobao made a soft ‘ah’ sound, looking at the ground for a moment, “perhaps the demon took them away?”

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“That is possible but,” Liu Xie scratched his chin. The explanation just did not feel right. “If this has been going on for so long, the demon would have a name by now. Either one it told to its petitioners here or one the mortals gave it. There’s no name written on these intestines. It’s just a general call for dark forces to come and feed and...”

“And?”

Liu Xie looked around at all the dead shriveled trees, the miasma that oozed invisibly from the rot-choked ground, the vile feelings that radiated from the altars. The pooling stagnant unresponsive flame. He pulled his sword free from its sheath and the dead forest around them seemed to roar in fury as wood cracked open to let tendrils of white colored flame lash out as pale smoke and white embers fluttered from the ground. Li Baobao shrieked in terror and stumbled backwards. “Do not be afraid,” Liu Xie spoke as the demonic altars began to explode. He held his sword aloft in the air as the flames began to swirl around the blade.

“What are you doing Master Liu!?” Li Baobao screamed, eyes wide still as he crouched down to avoid the incendiary typhoon.

“It was a lie!” Liu Xie said, his blade glutting itself on the abundance of flame, the wicked energy flowing down into himself. “It was never about making an offering to demons!”

“Then what was it for?” Li Baobao’s voice could barely be heard.

“It’s for channeling white flame.”

An earsplitting shriek filled the air as the embers on the ground turned into lines of white fire that rapidly flowed towards the city, first starting as several different straight lines before merging into one that slammed into the city wall and vanished. The rest of the flames whipped and danced around but soon swirled into the hungry weapon.

Liu Xie brought the sword down and sheathed it while looking around at the forest. Almost everything looked the same. The trees were still dead, the ground still smelled like rot, but the altars were no more and the air and ambient energy felt much more clean. Yet within the earth were the visible gouges that the trail of flames had made. All curiously straight and heading in the same direction.

Liu Xie scuffed one up with his boot. “These connect to something.” Some part of him doubted it would lead him to Idony. Without a body or a trace of her blood it seemed she had not been in the area at all. He looked further down and saw polished grey stones in the lines.

“What does it mean though? Making people think there’s a demon killing people? Creating horrible altars to sacrifice innocent people at?” Li Baobao’s words were shaky and he was having trouble standing up, leaning against one of the withered trees. “I just don’t understand…”

“I don’t know either, but I don’t like this,” Liu Xie crossed his arms and began walking back to the city, following the lines on the ground. He felt like his chest was going to explode. He was still no closer to finding Idony or reuniting with Eona and now he had found himself caught up in some strange large scale ritual that was capable of twisting white flame.“I don’t like this one damn bit.”

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