A Deal Made in the Fire

As she neared her uncle's estate, she wanted to burst into tears, but Li Feng was still in her arms. She needed to push it back and look for her uncle, mother, and grandfather.

'Where are they? Please, any gods that exist, please allow me to see them again. King Yama, I beg you, don't take them away... Please.' she frantically thought as she found a hiding place beneath the roots of a century old tree nearby for Li Feng and instructed him to not move until she physically came to get him. Li Feng obviously wanted to go with her. Unbeknownst to anyone, he had a fear of being abandoned and not being found ever, but he saw the urgent look on his elder sister's face so he obeyed. 'It's not as if I could be of much help.' he furiously thought while watching his sister's back becoming smaller and smaller as she ran into the estate crumbling within the fire's embrace.

...

Ruan Mu Chou felt the flames lick her feet and she knew she would have blisters and burns that would be excruciating later, but right now her guardians could possibly be buried underneath the burning rubble forever, so she pushed on.

"MOM! UNCLE! GRANDPA!" she repeatedly shouted until she felt her throat become raw and even then, she kept yelling for them. She desperately sprinted from room to room in search of her family even when the roof was no longer there. Tears began to freely flow furiously down her cheeks before being evaporated by the heat surrounding her. At some point, a beam fell and just when she had thought that she had just escaped it, a searing pain overtook her entire back and it was then that she thought she was so wrong. 'If I don't live, if they're dead... Who will take Feng'er away?' she steeled herself and left through a hole of fire in one of the walls and jumped into the lake next to the house. She could see the smoke rising from the surface of the water for a couple of seconds until no more arose.

The dip made her clear-headed again and she made sure no part of her was dry as she ran back into the crumbling incinerator. She only had one more string of hope left and that was the courtyard furthest from the center of the estate.

It was burning, the flames reaching to the sky as if trying to escape into the arms of the evening moon. When she crossed the entrance into the servants' courtyard, due to it being smaller in size she could see the entire place standing in one spot. That was why she could see the second her mother went ablaze reaching out to two charred corpses in front of her, with an expression of absolute despair and sorrow.

"NOO!!!" screeched Ruan Mu Chou as she quickly took off her damp clothes in a last bit of hope Ruan Fei could still be saved.

"No!... Stay back!" shouted Ruan Fei with great effort as she burned. She knew she would die here. They had finally found her. 'I have to be assured that Chou'er and Feng'er will survive. They have to.' At this moment, she remembered the gods of her tribe back then. They were her last hope.

"Chou'er, take your brother and flee! Don't stop running. Run as far away as possible and don't let them catch you. Don't let anyone catch you and your brother."

"No! I can still save you, you can still be saved" Ruan Mu Chou said as she frantically went back to taking off her clothes. She remembered that her mother had a charm that protected her from fire for five minutes and two minutes had already slipped by like water.

"NO! Stay away! You know I can no longer be saved, but I can still save you. Now do as I say!" she ordered.

"I'm sorry mom!" she replied as she ran towards her in only her inner robes wielding the part of her clothes that was still soaking wet. How could she have known that when she was so near to saving her mom, her mom lifted her now blistered hands and aimed them at Ruan Mu Chou as a jet of air pushed her away and out of the courtyard to a place that the fire had yet to reach. In her panic and desperation, Ruan Mu Chou completely overlooked the fact that from her mother, her easy-going and loving mother, sprang a jet of air that should not have been possible for a normal human.

"NO!!!!" she yelled out for the umpteenth time as she reached her hand out in a futile attempt to reach for her mother.

"Run, child!" Ruan Fei replied.

After pushing her daughter away, a tranquil, yet sorrowful expression fell on her face. The charm would only last another minute before wearing off. She had just enough time to carry out what she had decided on when she saw her daughter run through the entrance of the courtyard. She proceeded to cast a Sound Disperser spell.

"Lord Time! I give you half the soul of a Revered One! Duchess Death, I give you the other half! In exchange, I want the guarantee that both my children will be safe for one month! Will you take it?!" she bellowed as loud as possible, as if afraid that she would not be heard.

At first, there was no response and just as she began to feel the lick of the flames, two mystical voices in sync responded.

"Deal accepted!"

As soon as she heard those two words the fire was put out and she felt her very being, being pulled apart in two directions. The pain was so great, excruciating would be an understatement, but she did not groan. Despite the pain, she allowed a truly serene smile to grace her face while her eyes took on a reminiscing gaze as she slowly lowered herself to lay on the unexpectedly cold floor and looked at the starry sky.

'The last day of fall. Soon winter will begin again.' she thought.

Now, she only hoped that the winter snow could cover her children's tracks and hide them under its blanket while guiding the two in discovering the truth she herself had hid from them in an effort to save both them and her newfound life. Though, in retrospect, Ruan Fei might've caused her own doom along with that of her father and brother and misfortune to fall on her children. It was too late to regret now though. There was no medicine for regret in this world or the other.

'The moon seems so bright and so hopeful. Just like an innocent child.' and she slowly closed her eyes for the last time surrounded by the descending snowflakes.