Page 31 of Gumiho Kiss
Hyun Soo leaned back as it flew past him, but a second fireball struck him in the leg.He collapsed to the ground, groaning as pain shot through his body.
The spirit hovered over him, victory gleaming in his dark eyes.“Now, for my prize.”
Lady Lee leaped into view, plunging her dagger into the ghost’s side.
The spirit wheezed, then threw her off with a burst of fire.She landed hard on her back with a loud grunt.“You just don’t know when to give up, do you?”The ghost raised both hands, summoning a whirlwind of blue fire.
Hyun Soo staggered to his feet, then threw himself over Lady Lee just before the world exploded.
* * *
Warmth encompassed Chin Sun’s body, along with an unknown scent that reminded her of four-footed walks in the forest.Memories passed through her mind like prancing deer, flowing from one to the next.She hadn’t realized how much she missed those times, when she could shed her human skin and all its expectations, free to wander and hunt among the trees.
Those times would come again, if she could just figure out how to get her fox bead back from Mr.Park.
Mr.Park!Chin Sun opened her eyes, only to discover a body lying on top of her.Heat flooded her cheeks as she realized the source of the warmth surrounding her was none other than her bodyguard, who’d gone completely limp.Pain ricocheted through her torso.Had she reopened her wound?
She craned her neck back, gaze landing on the figure floating just above them, hand outstretched.Chin Sun rolled Mr.Park off her and grabbed his sword, which was lying a few inches away in the dirt.She lifted it just as the goblin’s hand came forward, his fingers colliding with the cool metal.
Liquid silver dripped from the fresh cuts in his forefinger and thumb, landing on Chin Sun’s cheek.The goblin howled in pain, cradling his injured hand to his chest.He peered at her in disbelief.“How did you ...?That blast should have taken you out.”
Chin Sun rose on shaky legs.Fighting took a lot more energy without her gumiho powers, but she was holding her own better than she’d expected.Maybe she could keep going long enough for the police to arrive.
“I’m not as helpless as you think, goblin.”
The monster’s eyes widened, then he let out a dry laugh.“I suppose it was silly of me to think a gumiho wouldn’t see through my disguise.”
It hadbeen a clever trick, posing as a ghost.Chin Sun had nearly been fooled, were it not for the signature blue flames emanating from his body.No wonder that student had come out of the library crying “Gwishin.”
“I don’t appreciate you confusing the humans.Now, tell me what your purpose is for coming here.Is it just to spread havoc?”She raised her sword to remind him it was in his best interest to answer her.Unlike her last goblin encounter, she wasn’t so incapacitated that she couldn’t fight back.And this goblin didn’t seem nearly as dangerous as the one from before.
“You think you can scare me because you drew blood?”He shook his head, the humor in his expression shifting to outrage.He clapped his hands together, and when they parted, a stream of blue fire stretched between his palms.“See if you can handle this without your little human shield to save you.”
“That’s enough,” bellowed an agitated voice.
Gumiho and goblin turned in sync to a handsome young man at the edge of the courtyard.He stood as still as death, clad in black hanbok and a wide-brimmed hat.When combined with his pale complexion, steely eyes, and lack of fear in the face of the supernatural, this newcomer’s identity was almost certain.
“A grim reaper?”Chin Sun stammered.
Stories claimed these frightening figures, whose name literally meant “afterworld messenger,” were tasked with guiding the departed to Jeoseung, the land of spirits.Seeing a grim reaper was an omen of imminent death, and if you were foolish enough to look one in the eye, that death would most certainly be your own.
The goblin gasped and then raced off toward the school gate.
The grim reaper sighed and shook his head.He disappeared in a puff of black smoke, then re-formed directly in front of the goblin.“Did you really think you could get away?Since when has your kind escaped mine?”
The goblin dissolved into pathetic sobs, pleading that he hadn’t done anything wrong, that all of this was simply a misunderstanding.
Chin Sun watched the interaction as if it were some children’s tale being performed and she was only a simple bystander, safe and far removed from the dangerous characters standing before her.Being a gumiho may have made her wonder if there were other magical creatures in the world, but in her heart of hearts, she hadn’t truly believed it.Even the goblin attack in the woods had been something she’d almost written off as a dream, an anomaly she would never encounter again.
But seeing this new goblin groveling at a grim reaper’s feet made her realize just how naive she’d been.A whole other world existed, one where beings like herself lived and fought and loved and died.A place with rules and history and, by the looks of it, a social hierarchy.
Questions burst in Chin Sun’s mind.Where did gumiho fit into the social order?What was life like for them?How many different creatures were out there?
The grim reaper wrinkled his nose at the goblin, then turned his hand palm up.A red rope materialized, and he wrapped it around the sobbing goblin’s wrists.“Save your excuses for the trial.”
He tapped the goblin’s shoulder, sending his captive off in a plume of smoke.
Chin Sun waited for him to vanish, too, but instead he walked over to her and bowed.
