It was a cold, dark night. Darker than most, as the elusive moon danced between unseasonal clouds. Seo Na Eun, a young girl, placed a slightly wide straw hat atop her head. She picked her lantern and a long wooden stick, which she used as a staff.

"Na Eun-ah, don't stay out too late, uh? We need the money, but don't run too many errands at night... You're a girl, so you should think about your reputation."

"Ye, Omma." The girl replied impatiently, hurrying off. She briefly pondered what her mother had just said, as she left, but she discarded it almost at once... It just wasn't possible!

The Head of the family had died the previous year, so Na Eun, his first daughter, had to find ways to feed the family. There was no son in their household, her mother was sick and her younger sister had to tend her mother...

Everything from picking herbs and selling, to cleaning, to serving customers at the local inns and food stalls... She did everything she could find.

And on the side, she had spent the last year earning the trust of people as an efficient errand girl, and she was not about to jeopardize that, even if it meant being out a little late...

And yet...

Numerous nights of running errands, and Na Eun had not quite felt like this before...

She had run far from home, and was close to the outskirts of the Capital. Again, she had been here before, even later than today, and yet...

She stopped suddenly, as she came to a copse of trees she had to pass. Old Man Ma was just on the other side of those trees... She felt for the small pouch dangling from her belt. A pouch filled with medical herbs for Old Man Ma.

If she delivered this, they would have enough for almost two weeks!

But what was this uneasy feeling?

She listened to the sounds of the night. They were the same... There was the scurry here and there of rats and other night creatures. There were the crickets, ever present, and there was even the buzz of insects... Nothing out of the ordinary.

She took a tentative step and then another.

"There's nothing to fear here!" She convinced herself and ran full on into the shaded path she knew so well. But she hadn't gone far when she noticed it.

The silence.

There was suddenly no scurrying, or cricket song, or buzzing.

Just silence!

She stopped suddenly, slowing to a cautious walk. She heard a rustle to her left and she turned in that direction, but it was all silent again.

Another rustle came from behind her and swiveled sharply, holding her staff out in defence.

"Who's there?!" She whispered harshly into the silence. No response. No sounds.

She had passed the halfway point, so she began to cautiously move forward, toward her destination. There was no thought of the profit this errand would make. All she could think about was getting to Old Man Ma, because that would be a safer place than here!

But she had barely taken three steps when she heard it.

A soft beautiful song... Rusty and a bit sad...

It was a man singing, or a boy, she couldn't tell, but it was hauntingly beautiful... Beautiful and eerie.

Na Eun felt the hairs on her neck raise and a rush of goosebumps filled her arms, despite her long, padded sleeves.

She took off running! Whoever it was, she was getting a really bad feeling... Worse even than how she had felt, when her Father's Platoon Head had arrived at their doorstep to deliver what could only be bad news...

Na Eun was running for her life now, and she breathed a sigh of relief as she saw the opening of the trees in the distance. Just a little more and she would be-!

Thunk!

Na Eun fell to the ground as something heavy hit her head. Her lantern went flying, and then clattered to the ground, a few feet from where she lay confused, as an unbelievable pain seared across her forehead...

Her breathing was fast, shallow and ragged, as she tried to understand what had happened. It felt like she had run into something really heavy. She put her hand to her aching head, and managed to rise to her knees after a few moments of struggle, but...

Thunk!

Something heavy had hit the back of her head...

Na Eun slumped face down, back to the floor, all her energy leaving her, and at the back of her mind was the sad realization that she would not survive this.

She would never see her mother or her sister again...

The last thing she heard...

That beautiful song... Still rusty and sad...

Na Eun used her last bit of energy to turn her head in that direction...

The last thing she saw...

A pair of elegant boots walked, gently crushing the leaves beneath them... They stopped right infront of her face, then a dark figure leaned down as she out...

.