Page 5 of Between Ghosts and Gods

Because she planned on marinating him in his own blood first? Arun knew better than to trust anybody from the under-realm, especially someone who looked so innocent and unthreatening. Who knew if that was even her real face? Her real voice? Arun had heard that some ghosts and demons could shapeshift to take on appearances that people found the most attractive in order to trick them. He glanced at the gentle slope of the girl’s nose, the sharp corners of her eyes and the curve of her mouth before quickly looking away.

That was a demon’s trap if ever he saw one.

Well, he wasn’t about to wait around while they negotiated over who got which body part. Reaching into his pocket, Arun’s fingers curled around the ball of star silk he had brought with him.

He hesitated. His mother had given him the silken ball – a gift bestowed by a messenger from the heavens on the day she left to serve the gods. It had been meant for her, but his mother had insisted that Arun hold onto it instead. Some said that the fabric was made of actual starlight woven by the moon goddess herself. The threads shone with a comforting luminescence that made for a helpful source of light in the darkness of the under-realm.

As much as it pained Arun to part with his mother’s gift, he had come here for a reason. Now was not the time to cling to mementos like a spoilt child.

The cat and the girl were still bickering when he lobbed the ball of silk over their heads. As if compelled by some supernatural force, the cat raced after the ball, pouncing and sinking its fangs into the silk. While the beast was distracted, Arun jumped from the rock and swung his blade at it.

“Stop, both of you!” The girl threw herself between them just as the cat dodged out of the way.

Arun should have attacked her too. He should have let his sword cleave through her body the way the heroes in legends cut down the demons that stood in their way.

He should have – yet something stayed his hand.

“Don’t mind Ruo. They don’t really want to hurt you,” the girl assured him. A claim that was immediately undermined by the cat’s disgruntled: “Yes, I do.” The girl turned her back to Arun, unaware of how close he had come to cutting her in two. “Ruo, if you don’t eat the human, I’ll buy you all the snacks you want from the meat market.”

“Eyeballs?” The cat perked up.

“As many eyeballs as you want. Sure, the human is delicious, but once you’ve eaten him, that’s it. You’ll only get one meal out of him at best. If you spare him, I’ll feed you for a whole year.”

Arun watched as the cat’s tails twitched with interest.

“I want the ball too.”

“Don’t be greedy, Ruo.”

“Done.” Arun lowered his sword. If you wanted something done, sometimes you had to grease a few palms. Just like in his father’s court.

The cat purred with pleasure. “Very well! You have a deal – naps, snacks and balls of silk for life!”

That had very much not been the deal, but Arun thought it better not to argue. He just wanted to leave while he still had all his limbs intact.

But it seemed neither the girl nor the monstrous cat was done with Arun quite yet.

“Well,” the girl said as her demonic companion continued to stare at Arun with an unnerving grin. “Why don’t you tell me how you managed to get into Ghost City?”

“None of your business.”

The girl narrowed her eyes. “But why would you want to come to the under-realm? Every ghost and demon who lays eyes on you will try to rip out your guts and suck the marrow from your bones!”

Arun knew that. It wasn’t like he had entered the under-realm expecting flowers and rainbows. Finding his way down here had been difficult enough. He thought with a grimace of the money he’d spent paying shady men to show him the way into the demon bazaar, so that he could purchase a map of the so-called “Mouths of Hell”. Not to mention the time wasted investigating which of these mouths were nothing more than eerie caves that led nowhere and which were genuine tunnels to the under-realm.

The girl stared at him, still waiting for an answer.

“I came here to find my mother. I’m not going back without her.” He would give the girl that much.

To his surprise, the girl’s expression softened. Arun had the uncomfortable feeling he was being pitied.

Demons and ghosts will take different forms to trick you, he had to remind himself.

“I understand how you must feel, but you really should let the dead be—”

“She’s not dead!” Arun snapped. The sound of his pounding blood roared through his ears. His hand trembled against the hilt of his sword. She isn’t dead. She can’t be. It’s impossible. “My mother didn’t die, and she certainly isn’t a ghost or a demon! She was a good woman and a devoted follower of the Heavenly Principles. A year ago, one of the guardian gods called on her to work for him as a scribe. She left. Then, not long after, the heavens sent us word that she had been kicked out – banished from the heavenly realm – though no one would tell us why. We thought she might return to us…” To her home. To her family. To him. “But she never did. I looked everywhere for her, and now my search has brought me here, to Ghost City.”

His mother had always taught him to trust the will of the heavens. The royal monks who pottered around the palace every day said that a good ruler obeyed the gods. The heavens were virtuous. The heavens were just. The heavens protected them from the demons and ghosts that sometimes crawled out from the under-realm to terrorize the people of the mortal world.