Chương 1: "Even Destiny Wants You Dead"

CH 1 "Even Destiny Wants You Dead"

"Wood. Move. Before you get hurt." Amber Fang spoke from under the brim of a wide hat. She had simple hemp clothes with dark green cloth tied around her limb pieces, like a true martial artist. A midnight green cloak hung over her small frame, with a travel sack on her back.

"As if a mere cabbage demon could move me!" a slightly older boy barked out, dressed in simple fabrics with torn off sleeves and wild hair.

"If you're talking about me, we both know that I can." the girl spoke again. A menacing gleam from her golden eyes escaped the wide brim of her black travel hat.

"What other demon would I be talkin' about? Now that your damn mother is dead!" He pointed at her with such intensity, it was as if he believed gestures could kill. The two stood just inside of the humble gate that marked the entrance of Green Wood village. The wood was old and a bit rotten. It seemed to match the modest village, a bit worn and broken, but still standing. The buildings had all the signs of wear from years of habitation. There were also newer scars.

Broken sections of earthen and mud walls, covered up with thatch. Villagers with gaunt faces, bandaged limbs, and walking sticks. A general miasma of grief seemed to hover in the air. Heads began to turn from their mundane tasks and the humble noises of village life became replaced by murmurs.

"Wood, watch your words! I'm leaving today. I'm about done holding back," Amber growled as her fist clenched underneath her cloak.

"Can a demon hold back? Was your mother holding back when she killed my parents?" Wood jerked his arms out in the air as a vein bulged in his face.

"If you or anybody else saw it happen, then they haven't said it!"

"Does it need to be said out loud for it to be true? Does the wind blow because we say so? Your demon of a mother nearly got us all killed! Everybody knows that!"

"How would they know that?" the girl glared at him, "Can a rat see outside of its hole? You all scurried away while we risked our lives!" More and more villagers appeared from inside of thatched buildings. Clouds of dust formed on the dirt roads as children came running to see what was going on.

"Wood 'n the demonspawn are havin' a fight!" One villager whispered to another." Again?" another whispered back.

"When will he learn not to fight with demons? What if he ends up like his parents?"

"Good!" An older man said angrily, and not as hushed.

"Someone needs to chase this demon out, 'fore she brings another wave of demons here, just like her mother!"

"How did they bring the monsters here?" a little girl asked, tilting her innocent face.

"They shown' up years ago and never once said where they came from. This village was peaceful 'till then. Then, a demon wave nearly wiped us all out! How could two strange things under heaven be unrelated?" the old man said, crossing his arms. The little girl tilted her head in thought as the villagers around him nodded.

"How dare you stand there and gossip!" Amber Fang snapped her head towards the crowd. Every person there jolted and nearly stepped back in fear.

"My mother said you were good people, she believed in you! We kept to ourselves and our little farm, yet you treated us like trash and ate our cabbages! Refusing to even pay full price! Now you're blaming us for a wave of demons? How can you say what happened while you were shaking underneath your bedsheets? My mother is the reason your bones are still inside of your body! She died for you scum! You're all mad! You ungrateful cowards!"

"There wern' no demons killin' folk here before y'all cursed people done shown' up!" A woman's voice cried out in anguish from the crowd of villagers. Several other harsh voices began to ring out in agreement. They were all silenced at once with a single glare from Amber Fang as something feral glinted in her golden eyes, like a tiger stalking amongst grass. She couldn't wait to leave this Heaven forsaken place.

"Enough excuses!" The boy held his fists up and spread his feet apart.

"Today, I'm avenging the lives of my parents!" The emboldened villagers rallied behind his fighting spirit and once again raised their harsh voices.

"Begone demon!"

"Bring peace to Green Wood Village!"

"Slay the demon!" The girl inhaled deeply as she fixed her eyes on Wood, the hot wind breezing through her black hair.

"I was going to leave today. There's nothing here for me anymore…" her bag hit the ground with a thud.

"But you just had to push me. Now, I'm going to beat your ass first."

"You think you can still leave leave with your life? Heaven gave me the chance to take revenge. Even destiny wants you dead!" The boy expanded his posture as his wild hair began to subtly drift. His muscles and veins began to engorge as he let out a steaming exhalation. Amber Fang realized what was happening. It was internal energy circulation. The boy was using Qi! How did someone like him know how to stir his internal energy, much less open his energy channels?

There were no other cultivators in the village that she knew of. Could it be a natural awakening? Or was he born with a special physique? She had heard of such things from her mother. But Wood had never seemed so special before. Something seemed… off. Swirls of Qi thick enough to become visible gathered around the boy. The weary faces of the onlooking villagers had suddenly become bright with hope and joy that had been absent since the demon attack.

"A miracle! Heaven's helpin' us!"

"Get her! Kill the cabbage demon! Avenge our families!"

"Wing! You're amazing! Heaven's chosen!" Hateful hollers came from the villagers, emboldened by Wood's sudden display of strength. There had not been a cultivator born from their village for years. It was as if Heaven had turned its face to save their village.

"Mother, Father, everyone, watch as I slay the demon!" his voice roared over the cheers of the crowd. The boy moved first, dashing towards the girl with an inhuman speed. His fist drew backwards, glowing with the soft hum of Qi. It was almost certainly some sort of technique, the kind you had to be taught, Amber thought. It was too strange. Amber Fang effortlessly sidestepped and let his punch sail past her face, missing by a hair's breadth.

She gave a quick sharp blow to the inside of his shoulder that gave an audible pop. Wood stumbled backward with a pained moan as the crowd gasped in shock and terror.

"That's it? Aren't you going to kill the demon?" Amber asked coldly. If they kept calling her a demon, why shouldn't she be one?

"D…. Don't you look down on me!" he forcefully grunted through clenched teeth as he grasped at his shoulder. He roared and charged again, throwing a wild combination of punches. Each one was powerful, but wide and frenzied. Amber weaved between each with minimal effort, her golden eyes tracking every movement with predatory precision.

"It's impressive that you've awakened your Qi," she said, "but it's wasted on an idiot like you."

"Shut up!" Wood raged as he unleashed a fierce hooking kick, only to strike air.

"Kill her before she grows like her mother!"

"Die, demonspawn!" The crowd of irate villagers continued to spit venomous words.

"Everyone, I won't let you down!" Wood shouted as he grabbed his wrist and exhaled. This time his hand glowed with vibrant energy as he charged it with Qi. Faint symbols even made ghostly appearances in the air around his fist, though she could not make them out. He definitely learned this technique from someone. It looks dangerous! Amber thought. It still made no sense. Could someone be trying to use him as a borrowed knife? She wasn't sure what to think.

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"Demon! You don't deserve an honorable death by a heavenly technique like this," he growled.

"But it's a sin to let you live any longer!"

"Wood! Wood! Wood!" The crowd chanted with hope and desperation.

"Die!" Wood dashed forward, swinging his charged fist towards the girl. Amber Fang looked completely unfazed as the roaring boy closed in on her. She casually caught his wrist with an iron grip. The boy's eyes widened as he was stopped dead by the tremendous grip of this barely grown girl.

"My turn." Amber twisted his arm and swept his legs out from under him in a motion so smooth it looked slow despite the swiftness. Wood crashed to the ground and let out a cry as dirt exploded around him. The surrounding villagers cried out and gasped.

"Get up," she commanded. Wood scrambled to his feet, humiliation burning in his face under a new layer of dust. The crowd had gone silent, watching with dread. He circled her warily now, the bravado draining from his posture.

"You called my mother names," the girl said, her voice low and quiet.

"You called her a demon. She saved your useless life." Each word seemed to darken the air around her. A primal fear sprouted in Wood's heart and grew across his face.

"Shut up!" the boy yelled, almost as if his words were directed at his own thoughts. He roared as Qi surged from within him and cloaked his form. He lunged towards Amber with rage in his eyes. She seemed to briefly float into the air, as if she were hovering for a short moment. Her foot connected with his face mid-charge, and blood sprayed from his nose as he crashed back down into the dust.

The girl landed gracefully and looked down upon him as several villagers covered their face, some cried, and others choked on their pain.

"Get up." Wood got up slower and shakier this time, his posture and breathing visibly haggard.

"Tell me what my mother did. What I did." the girl demanded.

"She-She killed-" Before Wood could finish, her fist drove into his kidney with a hard hook. He collapsed with a strangled cry.

"Killed? Killed? She saved!" Her voice filled with anger that reached the wafting trees around the village.

"Do you know how many more would have died? She fought, while you all hid! She gave everything she had for you ungrateful cowards! Now get up." Wood tried to crawl to his feet, moving slowly through the pain and embarrassment.

"I said get up!" Amber grabbed his collar and hauled him up effortlessly in stark contrast to her small frame. She clenched her other hand into a fist and connected it with his jaw, ribs, and stomach in rapid succession. She dropped the boy again into the dirt with a hard thud as he moaned. Amber Fang walked over and sat on top of the crumpled boy as he looked up at her in both fear and anger.

"I tried to help!" Another blow rocked the boy.

"I tried to be good!" Another.

"And all anyone does is tell lies!" Another strike splattered blood across the ground.

"And me? I did nothing but exist!" The horrified crowd made no noise.

"Keep. My. Mother's. Name. Out. Of. Your. Mouth!" Every word was punctuated by a small hard fist to the boy's darkening face.

"That's my grand baby! Somebody save my baby! Get offa him now you devil!" A woman with harsh lines across her face cried hysterically as several villagers held her back from storming the fight.

"Thistle, don't go! The demon is already rampagin', you'll die!" One of the men shouted, struggling to restrain the mother in crisis mode.

"My Wood! My Wood! My baby Wood!" The forlorn grandmother cried out in anguish.

"I can't lose you too!" Amber's fist halted mid air at the woman's words. She clenched her teeth and looked down at the groaning boy. Rocks started pelting the girl as the crowd began to shout again and hurl stones.

"Leave us! Heaven help us! Drive the demon away!" Amber's head snapped around towards the crowd with a fierce glare. All shouting and rock throwing immediately ceased as fear squeezed their hearts.

"Demon!" Several men broke into the front of the crowd.

"We've burnt your home. There's no place here for you!" Her golden eyes swayed upwards and examined the rising pillars of black smoke drifting above the line of trees and into the cloudy sky. She slowly stood up from the unmoving boy's chest and turned towards the crowd. The men in front took an instinctive step back as if they were faced with a wild tiger.

"My mother insisted you aren't all twisted in your hearts," she spoke to the tense crowd as she pulled the brim of her hat down.

"You people don't deserve her. You didn't deserve her grace. I'll be back to move her grave. If anything happens to it, you're all dead." Her words lingered in the air like the ringing deafness of silence after a landslide. She turned and slung her travel sack onto her back. Amber Fang crouched by Wood's limp bloody body and spoke quietly.

"I'm going to take the Great Clan Trials. I know you probably want to as well, since you've somehow awakened your Qi. But if I see you there, I will break your fucking legs." There was a small whimper from the battered boy.

"I'm glad you understand," she said, giving him a couple of light slaps on his cheek. The girl stood up and continued on her way. The crowd watched nervously as she exited the dilapidated gate of Green Wood Village and disappeared into the distance. When the girl was far enough, she heard the sounds of cheering and celebration from the village. Worse than demons, s he thought. Amber Fang had just one more stop to make before officially leaving.

Just outside of town a cluster of upright stones came into view as she walked between trees. The girl slowly walked among the graves until she arrived at her destination. She lowered herself down to her knees and put a hand on the ground.

"Mom," she spoke softly. A moment of silence passed as wetness gathered on the corners of her eyes.

"Was it really worth it? Dying for them? Them?" She whispered angrily.

"I-" The words became stuck in her throat as she clenched her eyes shut. She took a steady breath. The black haired girl didn't want to blame her mother anymore. Images started to flood her mind as memories of the demon attack on Green Wood Village came streaming back to her. People getting eaten alive. A son trampling a father to get away. Doors sealed while others cried to be let in. Demons tearing through the structures like paper. Worst of all were the memories of her mother. She had fought so hard.

To slay evil. To protect her daughter. To do what she thought was right. Her always quiet and reserved mother had suddenly become a war goddess who tore through the battlefield, powerful and unstoppable. But there were too many demons. Amber Fang opened her eyes and felt the ground underneath her fingers as a bead of water fell to the earth from her face. She couldn't stand to look at the memories.

"I want you to know I'm going to be fine. You taught me so much. I'll become so strong that you won't ever need to worry about me again!" She again halted her speech to breath slowly while salty droplets of remorse began to roll slowly off of her cheeks.

"I'm sure dad would've been proud of what you did." Silence fell over her for another few minutes.

"I'm going to enter the Great Clan trials. I know you told me not to." The girl tensed as if her mother would scold her from the grave. Her mother refused to tell Amber why they had to live in hiding, and whose fault it was. The woman would get angry and tell her daughter to not ask useless questions, especially when it came to the Great Clans. This time, the scolding never came.

"I know somebody did this to us, mom." The words came out shaky.

"If we never had to run, if we never had to hide, then we…. then you and dad…." The clouds grew darker as if it might rain, though stretches of blue still ran through the sky. The girl bit her lip as she fought off the feeling of tears.

"I know you wanted me to stay out of it… but I just can't leave it alone, mom! I'm sorry, I can't!" Her fingers clenched at the earth beneath them.

"I can't!"

"I'm going to get stronger! If I was stronger then…. then you wouldn't have…" she choked on her words.

"I swear upon our Fang family name I'll find out who's responsible, and I'll make them pay!" A crack of thunder sounded in the distance. Water began to drip down from the sky and down her face. She kneeled for another few breaths before she stood up. The girl gave a deep bow towards the grave.

"Mom! I'll always eat well and sleep well! I'll take care of myself and remember everything that you taught me! I'll train hard like you told me and become as strong as you! So there's no need for you to worry." The girl rose from her bow and wiped the wet streaks off of her face with her sleeve.

"I'll be back to move you someday mom. Please wait for me! I'll tell you everything that happened." She turned around and left. As the rain turned heavy, Amber grew annoyed. The skies had been perfectly clear that morning when she had decided today was the day she would begin her journey. Although it hadn't even been a day, she would have to stop walking early. Luckily, she was still inside the area that she knew.

Thick trees were abundant, and she didn't have to go more than an incense stick's walk away from the road. The girl stepped into a shallow dark cave, finally safe from the torrent of rain outside. It was an old hunting cave she had used with her father on her childhood hunting trips. Little Fang had been much too young to hunt at the time, but she was happy to accompany him and learn. The cave was spacious with a high ceiling and relatively flat with a few rocks, but more importantly, it was dry.

Memories of her father showing her how to make a hunting spear with a knife and long stick flooded back to her. Remembering even farther back, it was the first place she had made her own fire under his patient teachings. The darkened stone of fires past still lay black as ever on the cave floor. There was even some old wood that could be used! She still carried a piece of flint her father had given her. The stone had shrunk in size over the years of use and fit nicely in her palm.

She felt a pang of pain in her heart, but she was already out of tears for the day. Her mother had never told her clearly what had happened to her father, simply that he had gone on a dangerous trip and was probably dead. There was no grave stone to visit. Amber had once asked if he was even really dead. Her mother had gotten upset by the question, and made Amber run 500 laps around the farm. The woman had remained tight lipped about the details all the way until her death.

The rain grew and the night settled in, bringing chills and darkness. Amber quickly got a fire going and laid her cloak and shoes by the warmth to dry off the rain. She sat next to the comforting fire hugging her knees and eased her shivering. As her body warmed up, memories continued to surface. The girl wished she had more time with her father. She had much less time with him than her mother. She felt an incredible heaviness in her heart as the two faces she would never see again danced in her mind.

"Get it together! I'm an adult now!" The girl exclaimed, slapping her own cheeks.

"And I'm gonna find out who I have to make suffer so my parents can rest in peace! And get strong enough that no one can stop me!" Her declaration echoed off of the cave walls as she raised her arms. The girl jumped to her feet. She had to do something, take any step forward. Sorrow had turned to passionate fury as she couldn't bear the pain in her chest a moment longer. She opened up her knapsack and drew a gleaming vial from it.

It was a brilliant white jade container that glowed an ethereal orange from the fire's reflection. It felt icy cold in her small hand. Memories streamed through her mind of her mother telling her about the special blood inside the vial. Blood that could remake you, or destroy you. It was one of the only things she had told Amber of her inheritance, of her Fang family history, insisting that most of it was too dangerous for her to even know. What Amber Fang did know, was that she needed strength for her journey.

Strength to survive, and strength to find answers. Her mother had also said she wouldn't be ready to receive the blood for a long time. But… she had also taught her that "obstacles were often the path to overcome, and shouldn't be avoided," right? Her fingers tightly wrapped around the bottle as thunder clapped in the sky outside. She would do the blood baptism tonight.