Kin, who had suddenly found himself in the middle of an inferno, watched in confusion. He could hear screams from all around. The village, which had seemed full of life when he first saw it, was now burning. Men were everywhere, killing every adult they found and taking the children and everything of value.
Kin glanced around, trying to find Su Yin. He looked around frantically, wondering what had happened to the girl, but no matter how hard he searched, he couldn't find her. He tried and tried, but still, no sign of her.
It was now daytime, and most of the attackers had gathered the children they had captured.
"Get ready to move them!" one of the men called. Various orders were shouted about what to do with the children and the spoils, but Kin didn't focus on that. He was still scanning the children, hoping to spot Su Yin.
But he didn't see her.
It was then that something moved among the burned rubble of the house right in front of him. Everyone turned toward it, curious about what could be there. And that was when Kin saw her. Su Yin walked out from under the rubble, covered in soot.
The girl walked toward the men, confused by what she was seeing and why she ached all over. She looked around, then asked, "Where is Mom?"
Her sudden question stunned everyone. It seemed she wasn't aware of the destruction and death that had occurred throughout the night. Kin couldn't understand how that was possible. For so much chaos to unfold and for her to not notice until everything had ended was beyond him.
The men didn't care, though. They quickly dragged Su Yin into the group of other children. To them, she was just another prize.
Minutes later, the children were all led out of the village in chains.
Kin, however, didn't follow. He was pulled to another scene. The children were lying on the ground, sleeping, while the men guarding them were off in the distance, laughing and drinking.
Kin decided to listen in on their conversation.
One of the men raised his cup and said, "To Lord Goro and King Jai. May their wars last forever!!"
The others laughed and began to drink.
Once they'd had their fill, another man spoke. "I can't believe he asked us to raid the villagers, just so he can blame the rebels. You know, I used to think we slavers were the only scum on this Earth. But nobles and politicians? They're a whole new breed of devious."
"You can say that again," another man replied.
"Well, to scum!" the first man toasted.
"And to wealth..." another added.
"And to whores," someone else chimed in.
Kin clenched his fist tighter as he heard their words. The rumors about the rebels attacking villagers seemed to be even farther from the truth than he had imagined. He had suspected something was wrong from the start, but this… This was beyond anything he could have expected.
"What kind of men would do this?" Kin thought bitterly.
He didn't care what happened to him anymore. Whether he succeeded in killing Jai and taking over Wize or not didn't matter. There was one thing he was definitely going to do: kill the Sulten of Dura first. Even before facing Jai.
The pull took Kin again to another place. This time, he was inside Dura. He looked around and saw that he was in a cage with other children like him. Although in his form, he could simply walk through the bars.
Not all the children were there, though. It seemed some had been taken elsewhere. In front of the cage, two men were talking.
"My client is someone who loves their toys beautiful and strong. You need to be careful with the merchandise you bring me. You know I don't complain about the prince. I simply want what's best," one of the men said.
The other man replied, "I know, and I promise you, they're stronger than they look."
"They'd better be," the first man said. "I don't want my client complaining that they break too soon."
"You have my word," the other man replied.
Once they were done, both men left the room, leaving the children alone.
Kin could guess what happened next. The children were taken from that place to the house where he was currently staying with Su Yin. It was there that the horrible events began to unfold. Each night, the couple would come and take two of the children. When they returned, they were shells of their former selves. The cycle continued every night.
The first week, those who had been taken came back alive, but the first corpse was returned shortly after. From that moment, their numbers began to dwindle. Each day, more children were taken, and fewer returned. By the time Su Yin was left, there was only one other child with her.
Then, one day, Su Yin and the other boy were led, as they all had been, to the room. They met the noble couple who had purchased them. Kin could hardly describe what he saw next. No one should have to endure such a fate. It was nothing but utter despair.
The boy was taken, just like the others had been, leaving Su Yin at the mercy of the monsters. It was then that something changed. Kin, though he wasn't in the mortal realm, could still witness it—the place of the birth of her curse.
Kin didn't recall how he had summoned his curse. He was barely conscious at that moment, much like Su Yin.
Suddenly, Kin found himself standing in the middle of something that resembled a forest, but the trees weren't ordinary. They looked as if they had been woven from the flesh of humans—each tree a strange creation with eyes, ears, nose and mouth, like the work of a craftsman with an unsettling sense of style.
As Kin took in his surroundings, a voice spoke.
"Welcome. It seems someone was finally able to come for the child."
Kin looked around, trying to locate the source of the voice.
"Su Yin?" he called, but the voice spoke again.
"She's safe, for now. She'll need help if she's going to escape the cage she has created for herself."
A figure suddenly appeared in front of Kin.
Kin stared at the being before him. It wasn't human.
The creature had grey, snake-like skin and no eyes, only two horns in place of where eyes should be.
"My name is Arsha," the being said. "I'm the demon of despair. It's a pleasure to meet you, champion of Lady Khdywvb."
"Lady what?" Kin asked, confused, not understanding the last part.
"Oh, it seems I misspoke," Arsha replied, realizing that Kin had no idea who the true user of his curse was.
Kin ignored Arsha's ramblings and asked, "Demon of Despair, are you the one who imprisoned her?"
"Quite the contrary," Arsha answered. "I'm actually the reason she's still alive."
"How do you expect me to believe that?" Kin asked.
"Believe whatever you want," Arsha said. "I can tell you how to free her—if you still want to free her."
"Why don't you do it yourself?" Kin asked.
"Like I said, I'm too busy trying to keep her alive. The things she's been through have broken her down. Her walls were nearly shattered before she summoned me. I gave her my curse to help her turn her despair into a weapon, but her walls were already too weak, and her mind was becoming corrupted. I used my curse to stop the walls from collapsing any further, but I can't protect her from what's already inside her mind. She has to dispel it herself."
Kin stared at the demon. "What do you want me to do?"
"Help her face her curse," Arsha replied. "Help her embrace it. It's the only way she can overcome the despair that's consuming her mind."
"That's going to be a challenge," Kin muttered. "I barely know her…"
"You know, child, despair is a curse all of us are plagued with. Even demons and gods are not spared from the arrows of pain, sorrows and wailing. It's one of the things that makes us who we are. I know it will be difficult for you when you see her, you will be tempted to either end her despair and let her die, or save her and possibly, doom her to a life of uncertainty. But' I'll tell you this, she's stronger than you think. You can believe it too, I didn't, until she summoned me". Arsha said
Kin was about to say something else when the entire place began to shake. The entire place began to fall and crumble.
"There's not much time left," Arsha said. "I've done my part. Now, you must do the rest. The child is within that tree."
Arsha pointed at the tallest tree, not far from where they stood.
Once she showed Kin the location, she vanished.