Migong - Book 1

Chapter 23: War Demon (TV)

Shuto, Kingdom of Shobu

Early Summer, 1462

Pul passed his days in an unending nightmare.

Unable to speak or revert to his human form, he was held in a cage, trapped in the palace annex. The sounds of his howls drove away any servant who might have been attached to the annex, and the only people who came were the soldiers who tossed him rotten scraps or dead animals once a day. At first he starved himself, refusing to eat the filth they left him, but unable to control his hunger, he would fall into a blind frenzy and wake up to find that he'd ripped up whatever they'd given him and consumed it. His rational self would fill with disgust and he would vomit, but eventually, he gave in to the blank moments...allowing his consciousness to be taken over by the dark thing that held his mind and body captive.

Filled with despair, Pul could no longer tell day or night, waking or sleeping, and fell into a daze.

After what seemed like months, his confinement abruptly came to an end.

Unbeknownst to him, the war with Moutan had been going on for some time and one day he woke to find himself in a moving cart, cage rattling under the cover of a heavy tarp. The clank of weapons and heavy equipment, the sounds of shouted commands, all told him that he was moving with a contingent of soldiers, but he could not discern where they were headed, even though his sharpened senses overwhelmed him with information.

He had no idea how long he travelled, but it must have been many days later when the tarp was ripped off the cage and he squinted his ruby red eyes, wincing away from the glare of torchlight. Standing in front of him, arms folded, was the sorceress who had accompanied Furusawa from that time in the Northern Forest.

Pul hissed and growled in rage, reaching his claws out, and only jerked back when the talismans keeping him in the cage, burned him.

The woman did not react to his pitiful struggles, only surveying him with a dispassionate look.

"What kind of oni is it, Lady Kana?" asked the commander with distaste. He stood back a bit as if he could not stand the breathe the same air as Pul.

Ignoring the commander, the sorceress said:

"This one will be sent out first. Only once it has penetrated deep into the enemy lines will you follow. Do you understand? It's not yet been tamed, so it would be better to hold your men back for the second wave."

The commander shifted uneasily.

Even though the thing disgusted him, it still had the form of a young boy. To send this small creature as the first wave of the attack seemed questionable.

"Do you have a problem with the command of your King?" she asked, watching the man's expression.

His eyes immediately lowered.

"No my Lady. It shall be done as you see fit," he said, bowing.

"Good," she said curtly. Gesturing to two underlings beside her, she said: "Prepare it."

Yanked screaming and struggling from the cage, Pul was immediately suppressed by spells. Chanting under their breath, the underlings were obviously sorcerers, and red seal script climbed up his body as they tried to bind him. However, he resisted mightily, scratching at his body with his black tipped claws, breaking the seal script apart.

The Sorceress frowned and snapped her fingers. The seal script instantly flared up and wrapped around his throat choking him.

That brat! He's barely awakened, so I didn't expect that he could break the spells of lesser sorcerers...well...I guess that's expected of the Lord's vessel.