Chapter 8 - Courage

Yin woke up bright and early after being forced to bed by Ji Eun that night. She couldn’t help but let her thoughts wander about what the sages assigned her to do. She kept looking at her arm and clenching her fist. Now that she remembered how she lost her real arm, she tried to search through her limited memories on how the Origin Arm attached to her and where she discovered the weapon.

After getting dressed in her usual black attire, she equipped a shoulder armor she crafted with the help of the armor smith in the village. She strapped it to her right shoulder so that the flesh of her remaining arm would be shielded. She also equipped some shin and arm guards made of leather that Ji Eun helped her stitch together. She took her sword and quietly left her hut, trying not to wake the missionary up.

She arrived at the top of the mountain but stopped to see Tao sitting cross-legged, meditating like he usually did. She maneuvered her steps so that they were hardly audible. When she got close enough, Tao abruptly leapt and blocked her incoming kick. Their wordless sparring went on for only a few moments until both warriors finally had their fists are each other’s chins. Tao broke the silence. “You’re late.”

She stood properly after he bluntly stating the obvious. “I apologize.”

“No need.” He said, while getting up from his sitting position. When he spotted Yin’s shoulder armor and limb guards, his lips hitched upward into a smile. He patted the metal and said, “Very thoughtful, although it looks a little uncomfortable.”

She shook her head and replied, “I have been training with this armor during my own time. It will be useful to me.”

Tao nodded and trusted her word. “Follow me, Yin.”

"Yes, Master," she obeyed.

He led her down the mountain and up another until they stopped at a cave. Ji Eun was already there with a canteen of water and some bandages for emergency. 

“Ji Eun?” Yin wondered.

“I asked her to come today, just in case.”

Tao motioned Yin to come to the entrance of the cave. She stood by his side as she listened to him. “Answer me this, Yin. What does it mean to fight?”

“To fight is not to protect yourself but to have loyalty of my comrades.” Yin answered.

“You noticed, haven’t you? Your answers kept changing.” Tao inquired. Yin grew insecure for a moment.

“You are doing the right thing, Yin. Naturally you learn something new each day and the answer to the same question would change. But I will tell you honestly - today’s answer is the most sincere I’ve ever heard during our time together and I am proud of you.” Yin straightened her posture and breathed in deeply andsilently exhaled.

“There is a mysterious source of power coming from this cave. Although I wouldn’t mind searching through it myself, it seems to repel me and my abilities. I’ve actually come here for a while and kept trying but the force inside is absolute. Listen carefully: Your final assignment is to find that source, but I must ask you. Is this energy the same as your first Rune?”

Yin felt her pouch with her hand and felt its energy. “Yes, it is the same.”

“Then, you have your first steps to your journey. Will you accept this task, Yin?”

Yin took a few moments to herself and firmly nodded. “Yes, Master Tao. I will.” She gripped on the hilt of her sword and walked in. When she was finally shrouded into the darkness, Ji Eun spoke up for the first time. “Will she come back out?”

“Believe in her, Ji Eun. She has something that we Argents rarely have.” Tao benignly smirked.

“What is it?”

“Courage, Ji Eun. She has courage.”

Tao also kept another discovery to himself. Yin was so close to achieving something impossible, especially in her state of her Argentic status.

Yin kept walking deeper in to the cave and felt nothing but the resonation of the rune in her pouch. The intensity barely changed. She couldn’t figure out how long she has been in the cave for, or how far was she from the entrance. Her chest seemed to ache and feel tighter than usual, but she assumed that it was only the tension of her mind.

She stopped in her tracks to a dead end in front of her. A large boulder was blocking her passage. She touched it with her hands and felt the sturdiness of the earth. She engaged her strength and steered it to her side. 

A sharp pain shot her head as she suddenly regained a new memory. She saw the sky wheeling in front of her as she heard wings flapping. The world was upside down from her view. She then felt someone hold her hand in an unfamiliar room. 

The images ended and Yin lightly panted. Her head started to hurt again. She remembered that she needed to find the Rune inside. She couldn’t give up yet. 

She took careful steps so that she wouldn’t fall into another memory shock. She took in her surroundings. It was a fairly large chamber. She stopped in front of a small lake. There was a small piece of land on the other side. Strange, she thought, how could a lake form inside the mountain? She wondered what was on the other side, and what could be waiting for her here.

The ground shook beneath her feet and the Rune started to resonate faster. She glanced below her and all the small pieces of earth were dancing up and down. She looked at the surface of the lake bubbling. A shadow was seen in the water and a monstrous creature venomously emerged from the lake. It had the shape of a white sea serpent with violet beads for eyes. The serpent’s mouth was open and she could see the venomous fangs protruding. It had arms and legs of a dragon with ivory claws. The body was as long as the circumference of the body of water, making it at least twenty feet long excluding the head.

The serpent locked eyes with her and momentarily attacked her. She instinctively leapt out of the way, only to be collided with its wet tail. She was knocked into the rough wall and let out a grunt. Yin drew her sword and went into battle position, but before she began to think of a tactic, the serpent drew in a deep breath and fired steaming acid. She rolled to her left, before her eyes widened at the melted earth where she stood seconds ago. 

The serpent attacked with its fangs but she blocked it with her sword. The blade was lodged into its teeth as she resisted against its brute force. From the corner of her eye, the tail was about to strike, but she clenched her metal fist and threw it. The enemy hissed in pain and withdrew itself back. She looked at her fist and wondered, ‘I feel stronger... but why does this always happen after I see those images?’

The creature hissed loudly and slithered out of the lake. When the serpent started to attack her from all sorts of angles, she saw something glow on the other side of the chamber. Another light from her pouch was blinding her for a moment when she realized her discovery. Before she could escape from her opponent, she was caught off guard when the serpent’s acid brushed her flesh arm. She yelped at the burning sensation and her sword slipped from her hands. As she was still in mid-air, the serpent managed to bind her with it’s long body.

The strength of the constriction was choking her from her diaphragm. She struggled and gritted her teeth. The friction between her burnt hand and the serpent’s skin wasn’t making the situation any better. She began to grow dizzy and see black spots in her vision. Another vision started to flash before her; it was another memory.

She saw herself being beaten by different creatures while she was tied to a pole. She tried to look beside her because she could have sworn she heard another person. She only saw a silhouette. She heard voices.

“Do you really think she’s still alive?”

“Don’t be afraid.”

“You’re still an Argent, like me.”

The grip on her body grew tighter and she regained her senses. She tried to call what the voice from her lost memories said. ‘Don’t be afraid,’ was the only thing she remembered. She kept repeating it in her mind and with all the willpower she still had contained within her, she resisted. As the constriction grew stronger, Yin’s strength increased until she let a scream rip in fury. Like a miracle, she broke free from its grasp and pounded the beast with her fists. While it was still on the ground, she quickly retrieved her sword but a feverish and unrestrained ache was overtaking her senses.

Yin clutched onto her chest over her heart as a turqoise magical circle on the stone ground glowed around her. In the middle of the circle was a symbol of a feather. She let out a loud excruciating grunt as something emerged from herself and into the air above.

She looked up to see a winged horse in the purest white she had ever seen with a beautiful gold mane and clad in golden armor and turqoise jewels. It let out a majestic neigh, and galloped in mid-air before stopping in front of her. It lowered its head as if it was bowing before her.

She couldn't utter anything to fathom what just happened. She looked at the left side of her chest and saw a symbol of a feather etched onto her skin. Yin stood up on her feet and reached out a hand to touch the winged horse's muzzle. As soon as her calloused and burnt fingers grazed her Crux, she finally called its name, "Pegasus." Coming back to her resolved senses, she mounted on her Crux behind its wings and raised her sword.

"Let's go!"

Pegasus neighed in response, galloped for a few steps and then spreading its wings to take flight around the serpent, which was too slow to trap them in mid-air.

"Now!" she said and leapt off her Crux and plunged her steel blade into its snout, nailing it to the ground. The serpent jerked uncontrollably and the violet eyes widened and turned white. She jumped away from her enemy as it slowly disintegrated into ash. Her sword was still dug into the earth and the remaining ash was imprinted around it.

After panting and wheezing, she stumbled and pulled out her trusted weapon. Pegasus trotted to its master, nudging on the side of her head, happy to be victorious. Yin wearily smiled and let it seal itself back into her mark on her chest.

"Well done, and thank you."

She felt another earthquake but she saw a bridge forming from the water. It was leading her to the purple light on the wall. She cautiously walked towards it and took one step on the walkway. She took another step, and another... and another until she was walking properly. 

She let her damaged fingers feel the cool surface of the Origin Rune. She switched hands and gripped on the stone. Suddenly, the overflowing power overwhelmed her but she couldn’t let go. The light was burning her eyes, although she had her eyes closed. The gaps in her Origin Arm began to glow the same color as the Rune and the resistance began to fade. When she had the chance, she successful pulled the violet Rune off.

When the luster faded, she took the opportunity to look at it carefully. She saw the hourglass symbol and began to recall the same symbol Tao had. The Origin Rune of Time, she marveled. She tenderly took out her Origin Rune of Healing from her pouch. With curiosity, she placed the Rune of Time in her pouch and looked at the gap on the back of her android palm. The shape of the crease and the Rune looked identical. With nothing to lose, she placed the Rune of Healing into the arm and felt a new sensation into her body. The lines of the arm glowed a gentle white. She sheathed her sword and accidentally brushed her left hand against her metal one. A mysterious stream of power flowed to her burnt hand and her’s eyes widened in astonishment that the burn marks were visibly getting smaller and smaller until they were completely gone.

She held her Rune-embedded palm in front of her. Was this the power that Xiah gave to her? Was she destined for this artificial ability? She remembered what the Sages told her the day before and felt a psychological burden on her heart. There were still so many questions and few answers. She wanted to find out more. She didn’t want her journey to be short. With a sigh, she retraced her steps back to the entrance, where Tao and Ji Eun were waiting.