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"You, Hyun-Ki, will find one of these blades and bring it back. We must examine it before it can be used. The Zibong's power is mysterious. We know not what affects the blade may have." ChanWu, voice of the Elder Council, spoke. "Enough, I understand. Now let me go, we're wasting time." "Min-Dae will accompany you." He said. The elders in the chamber hall of the Palace nodded in unison. "Again? Well, whatever. Just don't get in my way, Min." Min-Dae stood at the doorway, watching vigilantly. She smirked coyly. We departed swiftly thence, mounted on horseback with some of the finest armor and weaponry available. "You're starting to lose your head to arrogance, Hyun-Ki." She always called me by my full name when she wanted my attention. "I don't know what you're talking about," I laughed, trotting ahead and raising my fist to my brow "It's still here - or are you losing your sight?" She smiled. Her long red hair took to the wind, and her hand took just as swiftly to her hair to keep it out of her eyes - a magnificent sea-blue. "Am I the one losing sight?" I saw her smirk, anticipating something beyond me. In my adoration of her, I had forgotten to watch the path before me and a branch nearly swept me from my horse. Her laugh was as sweet nectar. Soon enough, the scent of burning flesh flooded the air. Not far off in the distance, beyond the treetops golden with setting sunlight there burned in horrific contrast a once innocent farm village. The people's cries hung as thick in the air as the scent of their demise. We rode with haste, for a fire burning so bright can't have been burning for long. Min and I took up arms and dismounted. The ground beneath our feet gave way slightly, as if it had absorbed a bloodbath not long ago. The scent of death here was unbearable; the taste of it made us both instantly nauseous. "We shouldn't separate, I-" Min-Dae, though her will was as strong as her pride, fell to one knee despite herself. I went over to her, but I found it difficult to move. It was as though the souls of the villagers clung to the air, suffocating us both. "We've been through worse." I lied. As I tried to get closer to her, the ground caved in beneath me. I could not remember falling. The next I knew I was standing, sword in hand, before a woman in white robes. There was an evil aura about her. The air was cold. "Hyun-Ki," her voice reverberated throughout this mysterious area. All was black and violet. There were broken pillars and smashed tiles beneath us. An eerie chanting resounded, but its words were too faint to make out. "You are one of them!" And the knowledge came to me in an instant. The Zibong: a race birthed from time immemorial, who live between realms and thrive on the energy of the living. "Yes," She purred. I was not sure if she was responding to my words or my thoughts, but I cared not. I needed only defeat her. "And you will serve us." She said. "I will defeat you." I barked "Come if you dare." I thrust my weapon with blinding speed directly at her. As my blade entered her abdomen she let loose a resounding wail. Her form became opague for a moment, and I could see my blade engulfed in a red and black spectral flame. I removed my blade and raised it over her head. In the blink of an eye, our surroundings dissolved into the smoke and flame filled village that I was in but moments earlier. Before me now was not the dreaded specter, but a form so familiar that it would never again leave my mind. "Hyun..." Min-Dae's voice wavered, tears in her eyes. "Why..?" I staggered back and lowered my blade. 'How could this happen?' I thought. 'It was the Zibong I killed!' "Min..." I could not move. I watched her collapse to the ground, and watched as the life flowed from her sky-blue eyes. - - - The Zibong are creatures that feel no remorse. I cannot be one of them now, for it is all I feel. -/\- ((Author: Shinsu)) | |