Fall of the Blue Spirit - pt.7

VII.  Of Demon and Maiden: River Journey

“Demon and maiden drifted down the river.  The maiden, with dancer’s grace, guided the fragile-seeming craft skillfully through water calm and rough, manipulating the river so that nary a drop strayed over it.  

“Their voyage was not long commenced ere Yǎn-sui, ever-watchful for the presence of the demons that his new master had demanded he destroy to dissolve the bonds of his debt, espied the signs of devastation that marked the passage of demons.

“‘Upon that shore,” he pronounced, “Where there are but skeletons of dwellings; demons have laid waste and spilt the blood of many.”

“The maiden, tears of grief raining from her luminous eyes, told him perforce of the foul massacre wrought by those of his race not one moon’s phase past, and how she, unaware until she had seen the smoke rising from the valley, had been unable to prevent it.

“Yǎn-sui listened to her sorrows in grim silence.  The maiden, unnerved by anguish and dismay, moved them apace from the baleful sight, keening soft lament for the children with whom she had once played and laughed:

“‘Children, children of river belove’d!
Whither hast thou gone away, leaving me
Disconsolate, bereft, calling for thee?
Oh stolen lives, to river entrusted!

Now, dolorous stillness, benighted calm,
Upon sacred valley hath descended:
My heart’s tranquil contentment hath ended.
Empty waters with moonlit weepings thrum.

Oh children, my children, I have failed thee!”

“With the scene of desolation concealed by a bend in the river, Yǎn-sui again spoke: ‘The demons have no fear of your goddess at all, then, if they would so boldly defile the waters with the blood of innocents.’
“The maiden, angered by this insult to her mistress, protested that the river sought not to take life, but to preserve and protect it.

“Realizing that she was herself an innocent and thus unaware of the nature of the warrior’s way, Yǎn-sui answered his master’s remonstration with care: ‘The way of the healer is strange to me - I do not understand that you, who serves a goddess, would stoop to serve lesser beings who merit little more than prey.  You would also take into your care a wounded warrior, an enemy and a demon, in order to defend such worthless creatures against my kind.

“‘The way of the healer is unfathomable – if you do indeed seek to protect the weak, you must be stronger than those who seek to harm them.  If that requires the ability to take a life and you lack this ability, then you fail at being even a healer who supposedly protects life.’”

“The maiden lapsed into silence, pondering his words, until they reached the cliff upon which Yǎn-sui had fought and defeated Kujira…”

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Part VIII: Of Yǎn-sui and Jiān: Searching - Read on!