The Chase
"We need to hurry now!" Joshua exclaimed as he tried to drag his sister, but she wouldn't move. It had been a long night, and they had been running for hours from those who wanted to kill them. "Please."
But his sister couldn't move. She had used all her strength and lay there gasping for breath. She had given up on escaping, made up her mind to die there — either from their pursuers or from exhaustion — there was nothing more she could give, because she had nothing left. The night was cold, colder than she had ever felt in all her eighteen years of life. It was like the devil was mocking her, making it difficult for them to escape — after all, it was he who was after them. Many people said the devil liked to have fun in the chase, and yet she hadn't seen anyone who had survived when the Devil's Marshall visited. Her brother's voice brought her out of her thoughts.
"Come on, Hilary! We need to hurry or we will be done for, please." She could hear his voice pleading.
---
No More Strength
"Go on without me," she gasped, wheezing from the cold and thirst. "You need to save yourself and think of avenging me if they kill me."
"Don't be a fool, we can still make it to the border of the White Fang," he said, and that snapped her out of her weakness. She raised her head and looked at him with wild eyes. She had heard rumours about the border of the White Fang — everyone who lived in the villages around the Red Mountain knew about it. It was said that a long time ago, a demi-god had rebelled against his father, the god of eternal suffering. He had tried to take over from his father after raising a legion of demons and all manner of scary beasts. He had even promised the blood suckers a stake in his kingdom if they would join in his fight, and it had been a war never heard of — the death toll was out of proportion, so much suffering. Then the blood suckers had betrayed him. They had been the ones to weaken him after striking another deal with his father. He had been captured and tortured for a thousand years. His father had starved him and banished him to the White Fang border, where he could never leave. So said the legend. That place had been his prison ever since, and whoever ventured there was as good as dead.
"We can't go there," she wheezed. "That is a death sentence too."
"That is the only way. It is either we die here or over the border," her brother said, tugging at her hand.
"But father said—" Her brother cut her off with a snarl.
"Father is a fool."
"Don't," she said, trying to slap him, but he batted her hand away casually.
"Then leave me. I'm tired."
---
What Father Did
"Father insulted the Devil's Marshall and that led them to us, because now, to appease the devil, they need our lives as a sacrifice." At this, her eyes grew wide. Seeing her reaction, he nodded. "Of course you don't know."
"But I thought they were after our whole family?" she asked.
Her brother scoffed. "The Devil's Marshall goes only for the children of those who insult them."
"But father was fighting for the people," she defended him.
Her brother bent down, carried her in his arms, and started walking. While they talked, he had heard a rustle a short distance away, and he knew those who were after them were getting nearer. "Father was a fool. The people don't care about how they are being treated — all they care about is food, a warm bed, and their lives. They don't care about working until their backs break."
"But that is not fair," she said.
He shook his head. *How naive are you, Hilary,* he said inwardly. *You have been cuddled and protected from the world and so you know nothing about suffering.* "Don't think about it," he said aloud. "The world is not fair, and besides, no one knew how we came to be under the Devil's Marshall."
---
Into the Thicket
He kept walking, and when he grew tired, he found a thick grove and snuggled inside, using the leaves to cover them both and putting his hand over his sister's mouth to stop her from making a sound. At that moment, three hefty men burst through the trees, eyes roaming about. It was a dark night — not even the stars peeked out — and coupled with the cold, it was a bad night for both hunter and prey.
"Where did they go?" asked a rough voice.
There was a sharp sound of palm hitting flesh and a muffled yelp. "Shut it, Monkey. How would we know where they went?"
"Don't mind the fool," Black Teeth, one of the thugs, said, looking at the one they called Monkey with beady eyes.
"You're right, Bad Breath," said Black Teeth. "He jumps at his own shadow. I wonder how he became a Devil's Marshall in the first place."
The one called Monkey looked at them with a sullen expression. He hated when they looked down on him, and he had been itching to kill them both for the insults. He looked at Black Teeth and snickered — he had been given that name because all his teeth were black. The man was just big with no brain, a brute who enjoyed beating the weak. "Anything funny?" Black Teeth asked.
"No, boss," Monkey said, shaking his head.
"So why are you standing there?"
"We stop here," Monkey said. He had been given his own name because no one could jump from a tree the way he could — he had the ability to mimic those tree-jumpers, and now everyone called him a damn Monkey.
"Get busy and sniff them out. They could be around here," Bad Breath said, yawning. It had been a bad night for a chase and he wondered why the commander wouldn't wait until morning. He did not notice Black Teeth wrinkle his nose at the yawn, but Monkey saw it and muttered, "Why not just use Bad Breath's mouth to flush them out?"
"Did you say something?" Bad Breath asked, cracking his knuckles.
"No."
---
Monkey's Reward
Joshua watched them and could feel Hilary shivering from the cold and fear. He pressed her more tightly to himself, hoping his body heat could help. The ground was cold and hard, and the dew on the leaves was making things worse. He kept his hand over Hilary's mouth and could feel her teeth chattering slowly, the trembling against his chest. He pressed her mouth gently to remind her they were not alone.
"This will take all night," Monkey suddenly said. He was tired, and his desperation to get back home to his love — who had promised him a big surprise that night — was getting at him.
"Keep sniffing, fool," Black Teeth said.
"Why not just ask Bad Breath to use his breath?"
"What!" Bad Breath exclaimed, and right then he was just a few metres from the thicket where Joshua and Hilary were hiding. Joshua could feel his sister stiffen. God — even he couldn't bear it. The stench was too much, like a hundred rotting corpses combined with a sewer. He felt his sister dry-heaving and pressed his hand harder to stop her.
Bad Breath was glaring death at Monkey. He looked at Black Teeth and was taken aback — he could see Black Teeth actually considering it. "What! Not you too?" he said.
"But he is right. Even from here I cannot hold my own bowels from the stench coming out of your mouth. We could work smarter, you know, if you could just blow air in a direction."
As he spoke, Bad Breath's hand clenched and his chest heaved. He knew the man hated when people reminded him of his breath, but what the hell — he needed results. It was an exhausting night and the cold had been doing a number on him. He missed his bed.
Bad Breath snarled as he rounded on Monkey. "IT WAS ALL YOUR DOING!" he bellowed. "YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS INSULT!"
As he roared, Joshua could see insects falling down dead, and he himself nearly jumped from his hiding place. Hilary sneezed — lucky the noise was swallowed by the shouting. He peeked through a small opening in the thicket and watched as Bad Breath attacked Monkey. He had seen Monkey deftly hiding something in his hand, and as Bad Breath swung his sword at close range — *what a mistake,* he thought — Monkey wasted no time dodging under the swing and in one smooth motion, plunged his dagger into the man's heart. He watched Monkey grin a satisfied grin as he yanked the dagger out.
"Been trying to do that for a while," he muttered.
"You killed my brother!" Black Teeth roared, dragging out his sword. "You will pay with your life!" he said, charging at Monkey, who casually went down on one knee and flicked his dagger. Black Teeth never saw it coming until he felt something sharp enter his eye. He made a few steps before his brain registered that he was dead.
Monkey was so happy he made a few dancing steps. He had been planning that move for a long time, and what a blessed moment this was — all because of two kids. "You can come out now," he said, raising his voice. "I can see you under the thicket. Don't worry, I will not harm you."
He waited a few minutes, and when they did not come out, he picked up a stick and threw it at where they were hiding. "I said come out. I will not harm you."
They came out slowly, and when he saw them, he just shook his head. "You two have earned me a reward," he said, nodding at the two corpses on the ground. "And as my reward, I will let you go."
"Just like that?" Joshua asked.
"Of course. But if you are heading to the White Fang border, you will need this," he said, tossing them a coin with a long fang carved on either side.
---
The Coin and the Border
"What is this for?" Joshua asked.
"That will get you through the border. It will also get you a job and shelter. Don't worry — the White Fang will be the safest place for you, as long as you have that coin."
"Why are you doing this?"
"Call it redemption. I have done bad things, and I hope a few good deeds can redeem my soul. But what can I expect — after all, I am a Devil's Marshall."
"Why not become something else?"
Toward a New Destiny
"Already sold my soul," he told them, as he turned his back and started walking toward the village of the Devil.
Joshua watched him go until the darkness swallowed him whole. He stood there for a moment, the coin cold and heavy in his palm, the fang carved into it catching what little light the night offered. He closed his fist around it.
He looked at Hilary. Her eyes were still red, her breathing still unsteady, her body still trembling from everything the night had taken from her. But she was standing. That counted for something.
"You ready?" he asked her quietly.
She looked back once — toward where they had come from, toward the Red Mountain, toward the village, toward their father and everything he had cost them. Then she turned her face forward.
"Let's go," she said.
They walked in silence, two shadows moving through the cold dark, carrying nothing but a coin and each other. Behind them, the world they knew. Ahead, the White Fang border — dangerous, unknown, and the only thing left that could be called hope.
Neither of them said it, but they both felt it — that something had ended tonight, and something else, something they had no name for yet,
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