Episode 8. An Unknown Presence

Branches lashed Neukgu’s face, but he did not slow down. Wind rose beneath his paws and hurled him forward until the forest stretched into a blur. Once, he would have boasted to Lulu about how fast he had run. Now there was no one behind him to hear it.

The air turned bitterly cold among blackened trees. Neukgu skidded to a stop, claws carving long tracks through the dirt. Darkness hung above him, a towering tangle of twisted shadows. A few words from Grakos had brought him this far. Face to face with the creature, he could hardly make his legs move.

He braced the hind paws that wanted to flee and raised his head, staring directly up at the violet fissure at its center.

NeukguGive me power. I want to be stronger.

DarknessWhat is this pathetic little creature?

It hardly sounded like an answer. Darkness surveyed him as though he were a pebble blocking its path. Before Neukgu could speak again, the shadows around them began to gather.

Darkness tilted as if brushing away a nuisance. A colossal blade of shadow rose and crashed downward. Neukgu threw himself sideways before he had time to think. Wind burst beneath his paws and shot him across the ground just as the place where he had stood collapsed with a thunderous roar.

Boulders shattered. Thick roots tore free. Dust erupted from a deep wound in the earth. One instant slower, and he would have been at its center. Neukgu raced low between flying fragments and finally stopped well clear of the impact, panting but untouched.

Darkness went still. This time, the violet glow followed the curved trail of wind with unmistakable interest.

DarknessOh? You might be useful after all.

Neukgu looked back up, struggling for breath. He did not yet know what those words would mean for him.

The tunnel Granto had opened still smelled of freshly broken stone. Junho and his friends followed the light of Ruby’s tail. Long claw marks scored the walls, and each footstep traveled into the darkness ahead before returning in a string of echoes.

Something else was entering through the passage. Thin black smoke seeped along the seam between wall and floor. It faded when the firelight reached it, then filled the cracks again after the travelers passed.

Ruby stopped, ears pricked. A tiny rat slipped behind a rock while a bat-shaped shadow folded its wings above it. They did not simply look black because the tunnel was dark. Their edges seemed to ripple with the surrounding shadows whenever they moved.

RubyJunho, look. That rat and bat… something’s wrong.

JunhoWhere? Behind that rock?

Junho crouched for a closer look, but the shapes retreated deeper into the cracks. Ruby kept staring at the place where they had disappeared.

Ruby called the others back and explained the dark haze around the creatures. They had not seemed like ordinary little animals passing through. Minjeong searched the wall, but there was nothing left to see.

MinjeongA rat and a bat that tiny could have elemental powers?

RubyI don’t know. But they weren’t ordinary animals.

ChiruI’ve never seen anything like that either… Could it have been the firelight?

None of them had ever seen such small creatures wield an element. Namjeong pointed to his own shadow stretched across the rocks. The other pets glanced around, puzzled. They were not trying to tease Ruby, but no one seemed convinced.

Ruby had no proof. All he had seen were those wavering dark outlines and a brief glimpse of eyes. The more he tried to explain the feeling, the less certain his words sounded. At last he fell silent and took the lead again, though his ears kept turning toward the darkness behind them.

It was impossible to tell how far they had walked. The same stone walls went on and on, and Namjeong’s steps kept slowing. Minjeong stopped adjusting the pack slipping off her shoulder and suggested a rest. They settled into a shallow recess in the wall.

Junho had noticed Ruby looking back, but assumed tiredness had made him jumpy. He gave the fox’s back a gentle stroke. Ruby inspected the passage once more, then curled up beside Chiru. The voices faded one by one as deep darkness settled between the rocks.

When their breathing had become slow and even, a wing quietly unfolded overhead. Beneath Bambre’s dim outline, Mochir’s round ears shifted through the gloom. They passed the other sleepers and approached Ruby. His eyes were still closed as Mochir raised a forepaw and Bambre lowered himself to strike.

Then a piercing shout cut through the depths of Ruby’s mind.

Unknown voiceThis is no time to sleep!

There was no fire and no flash of light. Only two shapes lunging toward him in the dark, and a voice tearing through his sleep.

Ruby woke with a sharp gasp. It was the voice from his dream. Before he could search for its source, heat surged through his chest and fire burst around his paws, flooding the tunnel with light.

The two attackers were suddenly clear. Mochir twisted away mid-lunge, eyes wide, while Bambre pulled back his outstretched wings in shock. The blaze lit every fold of his wings and every strand of dark fur. This was nothing like the little flame they had expected from Ruby’s tail.

MochirWhat?!

BambreGet back!

Ruby stumbled backward too, staring at the fire around him. He had not chosen a skill or even been angry. Yet the flames were already standing between him and the creatures that had come to kill him.

Minjeong caught the startled Namjeong by the shoulder and pulled him close. Moa, Pori, Duri and Shiru scrambled up. Chiru rubbed his sleepy eyes, then froze at the sight beyond the fire. The rat and bat were no longer vague little shadows. Every unnatural detail was visible.

ChiruThose were the creatures Ruby saw…?

MoaThey’re getting away!

Mochir scraped his claws against the floor, unable to come closer. A lick of flame brushed Bambre’s wingtip. Both turned at once. Mochir slipped into a narrow crack, while Bambre shot toward the ceiling and vanished into the dark.

No one called them ordinary animals now. A black haze lingered where they had fled. Ruby lowered his tail and the fire gradually settled, but the smoke creeping across the walls did not disappear.

Junho grabbed his pack. Smoke that had hugged the floor was now leaking from cracks as high as his knees. This was the risk Dangun had accepted when he opened their route. Darkness was already entering the tunnel.

JunhoWe can’t rest here any longer. Everyone, get your things.

They hurried back into the passage. This time, whenever Ruby glanced toward a crevice, the others looked too. Listening for wings behind them, he puffed out his cheeks.

RubyI told you something was wrong. None of you believed me.

MinjeongI’m sorry, Ruby. We should have listened.

JunhoI’m sorry too. Tell me if you see anything else. We’ll check together this time.

Chiru drew closer and nodded. Ruby still looked hurt, but he no longer had to watch their backs alone. At last, a breeze reached them from the far end of the passage. His flame leaned toward it, and they quickened their pace.

Fresh air filled their lungs as they emerged from the tunnel. The roofs of Electric Village spread below the mountain. Trees lined the paths, their branches hung with luminous fruit. The travelers finally slowed, relieved to have arrived. But the farther they walked into the village, the stranger it looked.

One tree poured out golden light. The next had only one or two fruits left. Empty stalks showed where the rest had been picked, and the few remaining fruits could not light the shadows beneath the branches. No fallen fruit lay on the ground. Across the road and around the square, nearly half the trees had grown this dim.

NamjeongWhy are those trees barely glowing?

MinjeongI don’t know. I heard this village was always dazzling…

Chiru stood beneath a bright tree, then approached a dark one. His quills lifted slightly, as though he could feel the difference in the air. Junho decided to find someone who could explain what had happened.

A yellow cat raised his head beneath a tree that still shone. Electric fruit warmed his small face and a patch of stone path. The very next tree, however, had been stripped bare, and the streets grew darker the farther they stretched from this little pool of light.

Minjeong stopped when she noticed the blue markings beside his round eyes. A tiny spark danced at the tip of his curled tail, and her face lit up in recognition.

MinjeongWow! The mysterious cat I’ve heard so much about!

She pointed toward him and leaned down a little. The cat pricked his ears and looked up, but his expression grew serious again as his gaze returned to the empty branches. This was Shingo, and he had something more urgent to share than a friendly introduction.

Standing beneath the bright tree, Junho looked along the darkened streets. When they had first left the tunnel, he had thought his eyes were still adjusting. Up close, though, the neighboring trees were just as dark. He looked down at Shingo beside his boots.

JunhoI heard Electric Village was bright 24 hours a day. This isn’t what I expected.

ShingoLately, someone we’ve never seen before has been stealing the fruit.

By the time anyone noticed shaking branches and hurried over, the figure was already at another tree. Even spotting them in plain sight was not enough to catch them. More streets grew dark every day, and trees that had shone brightly yesterday now stood bare.

Junho studied the places where the fruit had hung. The light was not fading on its own. Someone was taking it away, one fruit at a time.

Shingo looked toward the rocky ridges beyond the village.

ShingoIt often turns up near Jirex’s habitat.

The scene slipped back to an earlier moment in that wild terrain. Jirex stood among jagged boulders, his blue back plates and tail tip sharply visible. Far behind him, a somewhat large, wolf-like shape crossed the ridge. Pointed ears, a long muzzle and four running legs could be made out, but its face and coat were lost in shadow. Whoever was visiting Jirex’s territory remained unrecognizable.

Junho’s hand stopped moving at the name. He remembered Neukgu weeping because he had been unable to protect Lulu, and Ruby’s ears rose too. But visiting that place did not reveal the fruit thief’s identity or purpose.

JunhoAre they taking the fruit there?

ShingoI don’t know yet. I’ve only confirmed that they often turn up nearby.

Shingo would not claim more than he knew. Rather than guess who that distant shape might be, Junho let him finish.

Shingo stepped closer and raised one forepaw. His voice was more urgent now than it had been while he described the stripped trees.

ShingoPlease stop them from stealing any more fruit.

Every time he had tried to follow alone, he had lost them. He looked up, waiting for an answer. Junho could not nod right away. He thought of Duri searching for his father, and of Dangun opening a road through the mountain so they could continue.

Junho lowered himself a little to meet Shingo’s eyes. Turning down such a desperate request was difficult, but he could not simply put the search for Duri’s father aside.

JunhoI’m sorry. We need to find Darkness if we’re going to find Durgan.

Even Dangun had sensed only Darkness around Durgan, without discovering where he was. Junho had meant to gather a lead here and set off again. Shingo fell silent for a moment, then pointed toward the surviving electric tree before Junho could turn away.

Junho followed the little paw. Fine threads of electricity linked the branches where fruit still hung, and the lit stones beneath them formed a sharp boundary with the darkened streets.

ShingoThe electricity from these trees keeps Darkness out.

ShingoIf it runs out, Darkness will take over this village too.

Shingo explained that they were protecting more than a light for people to walk by. Every stolen fruit weakened the electricity surrounding the village. Remembering the black smoke creeping through the tunnel, Junho looked at the bare branches again.

Shingo understood why Junho wanted to find Durgan. That was precisely why he could not simply walk past this danger. While Electric Village held, Darkness could not spread freely. If it fell, that would change.

ShingoIf Electric Village falls, the other villages will be in danger too.

ShingoThat’s why we have to protect the electric fruit first.

Junho thought of the villages that had already been attacked. If Darkness kept spreading while they searched, they might lose every place they could return to. Finding Durgan and protecting this village were not separate problems after all. He considered that for a moment, then looked back at Shingo.

Junho nodded. He was not abandoning the search for Darkness. There was simply something they needed to do here first, before more villages were put in danger.

JunhoAll right. We’ll help you.

Only then did Shingo bring out a small black receiver and set it on the ledge. He explained that he had hidden trackers in a few electric fruits. The device showed where the person carrying them was moving. A dot seemed to pause on the screen, then darted away again.

ShingoThank you. You can use this to track their location.

Shingo passed the receiver into Junho’s outstretched hand. Now Junho understood why knowing the location had not been enough for the cat to catch the thief alone. He looked from the screen to the dark streets and closed his fingers firmly around the device.