Chapter 13. BLIGHT


    <hr>


    I woke up in time to pile more branches onto the fires. It was dark. And after ensuring the fire would last, I checked my status.


    STATUS:


    Name: Ember [Doctrine Dealer]


    Tier: 1 [Iron] Rank 4


    Faction: Ninja [Field]


    Zii: 4/100


    Cards: 16/36


    Deck Upgrades: -


    Meta: -


    Attack: -


    Defense: -


    Buff: -


    Special: -


    The effects of low Zii hit me hard now that the adrenaline had worn off—like a sudden drop in blood sugar. My head spun, and my vision blurred. As shadows flickered on the burrow walls, I drifted to childhood memories, along with the trauma.


    I was five, maybe six when the other children at the Tokyo orphanage whispered about the possibility of being adopted. I had no such hope. The older kids told me it was my red hair and foreign features—an oddity in the sea of dark-haired, brown-eyed children. It made me an outcast among the outcasts.


    Back then, my name was Lynn. When my biological father left me at a police station in Tokyo, the only identification was a tag on the blanket wrapped around me. I still have that blanket stored away somewhere.


    The orphanage staff did what they could, but with limited resources and even less patience, I learned love and attention were fleeting, conditional things. As my therapist often explained, that harsh reality shaped how I interacted with the world.


    Whenever a potential family visited the orphanage, hope and dread gripped me. I’d put on my best behavior, wearing a mask of what I thought they wanted—quiet, obedient, eager to please. But time and again, they chose someone else, usually younger. I was unworthy of love, destined to be alone.


    The foster homes treated us as burdens or, worse, as cheap labor—the kind of temporary parents who didn’t think the state checks were adequate to tolerate us.


    Schools were an escape but also another battlefield. I quickly learned being different made me a target. Bullies teased and tormented, while teachers often turned a blind eye. I fought back when able, earning a reputation that isolated me further and branded me as a pariah.


    Friends were few and far between, and even those I made were lost in the next move—or I pushed them away first, according to my therapist.


    The trauma of those years was a weight I carried into adulthood, even after a kind Japanese family adopted me. It made me fiercely independent but also guarded. Connections, especially romantic ones, meant letting people in. I envied those who spoke of any relationship with warmth and love.


    Family was a foreign concept, an ideal I saw in others but never believed I’d ever experience. Looking at Hiro, he was a painful reflection of my vulnerability at his age. I reached out and brushed a strand of hair from his forehead.


    “I got you, little buddy. We’re going to get through this.”


    The night grew colder as I sat by the three small fires, grappling with my past. Hiro slept fitfully, his breathing shallow but steady. I stared past the entrance toward the forest outside, bathed in moonlight.


    The ground trembled, and a low, rhythmic thudding grew louder. I held my breath, peering out into the darkness. Three massive figures emerged from the dense forest, their forms silhouetted against the moon.


    This close, tree Golems were unlike anything I’d ever seen. They stood at least twenty feet tall, their bodies composed of twisted branches, gnarled roots, and dense, bark-covered limbs. Their eyes glowed a deep orange piercing the night. As they moved, the ground shook with each step, snapping wood and crunching leaves.


    The first Golem towered as a mass of intertwined trunks, its arms ending in jagged branches. Moss and vines draped over its shoulders, swaying with each movement.


    The second Golem stood slightly smaller but no less intimidating. More compact, it resembled a heavily armored knight of living wood. Thick bark plates covered its chest and limbs, and its hands were shaped into massive wooden fists.


    The third Golem, the most unusual, was slender and elongated, resembling a willowy tree. Its entire body was freckled with glowing blue mushrooms. Long, thin branches extended from its back, almost like wings. Its orange-glowing eyes scanned the surroundings until gazing right into the burrow entrance.


    I continued to hold my breath, tense and ready. The Golems lumbered closer, their hulking forms blotting out the starry sky. Their wooden bodies creaked and groaned with the rustling of leaves.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.


    As they approached the mouth of the burrow, the first Golem paused, its eyes fixated on our three fires. It tilted its head as if contemplating the meaning of the flames. The tension was unbearable. Hiro fidgeted beside me but thankfully remained silent.


    The second Golem joined the first, its wooden fists clenching and unclenching as it observed the fires. They stood there for what felt like an eternity, the forest silent except for the occasional creak of their limbs. I dared not move, afraid any sound or motion would draw their attention further.


    With its willowy blue form, the third Golem drifted closer. Its eyes glowed brighter as it examined the flickering flames. Extending a thin branch-like limb towards the fire, it stopped short of touching them.


    The Golems reached some silent understanding. The first turned away, followed by the second, and then the third. They moved past the burrow, retreating into the forest. The ground continued to tremble behind them.


    I let out a long, shaky breath.


    * * *


    Day [13/40]


    I woke to the first light of dawn and squeezed in a quick session of Zii-Kata, which provided a slight boost. Checking Hiro''s wound, the bleeding had stopped, but we couldn''t stay here. We had to find the others and get help.


    I tipped a water skin to his lips, letting a trickle into his mouth. I tied Hiro to my back, securing him beneath my kimono by knotting the sleeves. His body felt so fragile pressed against mine.


    Still no sign of Kitty.


    We left the shelter, stepping into the silence of the forest. A light fog had settled in. With the memory of the tree Golems still fresh, I couldn’t shake the feeling we were being watched. Every rustle of leaves and snap of a twig set my nerves on edge.


    As we neared the site of the attack, the smell hit me first—a sickly stench of death and decay mixed with the acrid scent of burning metal. It was like a slap in the face, almost making me wretch. But emerging from the trees, the sight before became more horrifying. The mechanical horses lay in twisted heaps, their bodies shattered and oozing molten gold. The scorched and torn ground, strewn with entrails and dismembered body parts, showed evidence of a slaughter.


    But the worst stood in the center of the clearing.


    It was a monument of twenty dead bodies, about fifteen feet tall. Wooden tentacles wrapped around the corpses of the Samurai and servants, propping up the pile. The Blight fed on them, merging into a grotesque monolith of death. Vines and slithering branches moved with menace. And those disgusting chewing noises…


    I searched for any sign of Ryuunosuke. The bodies trapped in the Blight were unrecognizable, their faces marred with vines and twisted in agony. Ryuunosuke was a Jingozi apprentice and Samurai warrior—he might have survived.


    “Hiro, I need you to hang in there a little longer.”


    I tiptoed around the clearing, keeping my distance from the feeding Golem.


    Along the edge of the carnage, a trail led away from the main site. Broken branches and disturbed underbrush suggested someone had fled that way—a bloody handprint on a tree trunk and another on a rock. The trail of blood thickened the further it went.


    I saw the status first.


    Name: Ryuunosuke [Divine Dealer]


    Tier: III [Steel] Rank 2


    Faction: Samurai [Warrior]


    A faint groan, barely audible over the pulse pounding in my ears, came from the brush.


    Pushing through a thicket, I found him. Ryuunosuke lay against a tree, his armor battered and bloodied. His sword was still in his hand, but his grip was weak. He looked up as I approached, his eyes clouded.


    “Ember,” he groaned, struggling to sit up.


    “Don’t move,” I said, rushing to his side. “You’re hurt.”


    “I’ve suffered worse. What about the others?”


    “They’re gone,” I shook my head. “The Blight... it’s feeding on them.”


    “Curse those monsters,” Ryuunosuke’s face darkened.


    “We need to get you out of here. Can you walk?”


    “Wait, did you say—” Ryuunosuke’s eyes widened, looking over my shoulder.


    Trampling noises and a ghostly bellow erupted behind me. I turned as a mass of tangled bodies stomped toward us, its tentacle-like vines stretching ahead. The Blight had followed the blood trail.


    I was torn. If I used my Jingozi cards, Ryuunosuke would discover my secret. But if I didn’t, it wouldn’t matter. My Zii was running low, but the thought of being absorbed into that abomination...


    “Ancient champion, I call upon you.”


    Holding up a card, Ryuunosuke was chanting.


    Billows of golden smoke and sparks of light poured from the card, forming a ten-foot figure before us. The smoke solidified into a giant Samurai champion. His armor was detailed with dragon motifs and mystical runes glowing with a golden light. His helmet was crowned with a gold dragon crest, its eyes burning with blue flames. A spectral aura rippled around us as he materialized, flickering with electric energy.


    The champion wielded a massive polearm, crackling with arcane lightning. With a thunderous roar, it charged the Blight. Each step left a trail of glowing footprints as it ran with raw magical power.


    My first time witnessing a Jingozi champion card in action did not disappoint.


    The clash was immediate and violent. The polearm’s blade cut through the Blight’s twisted form with a burst of light, sending Samurai bodies along with splinters of wood and dark ichor flying. The Blight recoiled, its wooden tentacles whipping to fend off the relentless assault. The champion moved with ferocious grace, its attacks a blur of motion, each strike accompanied by bursts of magical energy searing the Blight’s wooden flesh.


    The Samurai champion continued to battle, spinning the polearm in deadly arcs. Its armor glowed brighter with each strike, forcing its enemy back toward the forest’s edge. But the Golem fought back—vines stitched together over every opened wound, forming a rigid plate. Its tentacles wrapped the polearm, preventing a proper blow.


    Ryuunosuke’s champion shifted tactics, skewering its weapon into the Blight’s stomach and lifting it off the ground. The armor plates on its back flared open, releasing a burst of orange flames and crackling electricity like a jet engine. With the Blight off balance, the champion surged forward, plowing into the forest, toppling trees that burst into flames.


    “Ember, leave Hiro with me,” Ryuunosuke urged. “Escape while you can. The Golems will return, and we can’t hold them off forever.”


    I hesitated, feeling Hiro’s weight on my back.


    “I can’t just leave you here. We need to stay together.”


    “This is more important,” he pressed a scroll into my hand. “We didn’t travel to Yukiko’s village just for you. Take this scroll to the Shogun. It contains vital information that could turn the tide against the Jingozi.” He handed me his Samurai token. “This will provide you safe passage. Show it to anyone who questions you.”


    I wanted to insist we find another way, but the determination in Ryuunosuke’s eyes silenced me. With a whistle, Ryuunosuke called his six-legged steed from the brush.


    Kitty slipped out of the same bushes into my arms with a squeal. Covered in blood but unharmed, I was beyond relieved. She dropped and licked Ryuunosuke’s wounds.


    “You can do this, Ember,” he said. “You must. For all of us.”


    “Alright. I’ll do it. But promise me you’ll take care of Hiro.”


    “I will. You have my word. We’ll meet you at Raishoto. Now go before it’s too late.” He smiled with a faint, weary expression.


    NEW MISSION: SAMURAI SCROLL


    Deliver the scroll to the Shogun.


    Passing Hiro to Ryuunosuke, I put the scroll in my inventory and mounted the steed. The Samurai stood despite his injuries, clutching his sword with one hand while cradling Hiro in the other.


    “Ride fast and stay safe,” he called out.