Prelude
This time of the year was always troublesome for Kumo. The old hunter could feel all of his 60 years in the winters. The snow reduced his vision, the wind deafened him to his surroundings, and the inevitable cold and cough prevented him from smelling his surroundings. At least, in warmer climates, he could identify where he stood by the irregular rocks under his feet. But the snow made it impossible for him to feel them. His joints also ached, reminding him that he was not the spry young hunter he once was.
But today was his monthly trek up the sacred mountain of the Sun temple. The head priestess would pay for the food he was bringing with precious woven silk. The silk would fetch him enough money to feed his family for the winter. Once the snow thawed, he could resume his hunting and not have to deal with the temple again for a year.
"Just as well," he thought to himself, "if I had to deal with the priestess and her creepy family for more than once a year, I'd probably go insane." He wasn't particularly fond of the Sun god's followers or their weird traditions. They claimed to be strict vegetarians, but every winter, they needed 2 kid goats to sacrifice to their god. And the priestess's grandchildren were even weirder. Twins they might be, but as different as the sun and the moon. The boy was a bombastic one, making friends with everyone, even the children down in the village. His unruly white hair highlighted his flashy clothes and flamboyant manner. He could charm anyone and everyone with his smooth-talking skills. There were rumors that he was not gifted in the magical aspects his grandmother was famous for and frequently skipped his lessons to sleep in the barn. No one cared though, since he was disqualified from priesthood simply by his gender anyway.
So it was for the best that the sister was studious and disciplined, supposedly gifted with mystic arts and an eidetic memory. All the teachers whom her grandmother summoned from the Fire god's temple in the central plain were awestruck by her talent and hard work and usually left in one or two seasons, having run out of things they could teach her. The only thing that seemed to have stopped her from taking over the temple already was the fearsome capability of her grandmother. But Kumo had heard rumors that the old lady had stopped her from taking over for other reasons. The girl had a vicious streak and had little to no patience with anyone she deemed beneath her. This, considering her intellect and prowess, meant almost everyone in the entire region. The head priestess was meant to provide warmth and succor for anyone who entered the portals of the temple. She had to shine as a beacon of hope, stand as a pillar of faith and act as a symbol of love.
Kumo's reverie was interrupted as he realized he had just reached the middle of the route, where the shrine of the cloud deity stood. A structure made of wood and stone, it was the venue of the summer solstice festival. The festival was one of the few times when people of all faiths came together at the cloud deity's temple and celebrated together. The festival had contests of strength, courage, and intelligence, and winners were given magical items as trophies. Kumo himself had won some precious artifacts in his youth. He had won his magic toe ring (with which he could leap across a river) and his unbreakable dagger (which could extend up to 10 times its length) in trials of courage. He couldn't use them as he could in his youth though, since they consumed the user's energy. Still, the sight of the temple always made him nostalgic. He stood there for a minute to catch his breath. From here, the path would diverge. The route straight ahead would pass through the Cloud shrine and lead to the Sun temple. The path to the left lead to the peak of the mountain. The magic there was supposedly so high that mages and saints from far-off places came to visit it in summer to draw on it and increase their powers.
As he walked past the entrance pillars, he suddenly felt a grip on his throat. His hands reached for the medallion his son had sent from the eastern swamps and felt it getting tighter and tighter. This was strange. The medallion was only supposed to tighten when there was a foe of immense strength right ahead of its wearer. He stopped in his tracks and put the pack containing the two goat kids he was bringing to the priestess. He closed his eyes and began his breathing ritual. 4 counts in, 4 counts hold, 8 counts out. He repeated the pattern till he could feel his entire body enveloped in his energy. He moved his eyes in circles under closed lids. He filled his mouth with air and blew it without opening his mouth. Then he slowly opened his eyes. Slowly he surveyed the area around him and saw things he had previously missed. The pillars at the entrance, made of enchanted stone, had cracks and seemed to slant outward. This was bad. Those pillars had stood straight since times immemorial. Also missing were the 4 small wooden shrines that were meant to stand before the central shrine. The smaller shrines were supposed to be dedicated to the cloud deity's wives: Rain, Snow, Hail, and Sleet. The giant doors to the central shrine made of stone were cracked open. Kumo could see the statue of the cloud god from where he stood. The idol was undamaged. His right hand held his lightning spear and his left hand held the shield with which he was supposed to cover the moon little by little every day, causing it to disappear once a month. And then Kumo froze.
Right in front of the cloud god's statue lay the biggest white tiger he had ever seen. It was as big as 5 men. Its skin shone in the moonlight like marble. If he had not been to the temple before, he would have mistaken it for a statue. It seemed asleep for now, which was good. Kumo thanked the cloud god for the piece of good luck and promised he would put an offering of coconuts and milk on the next solstice and picked up his pouch. For now, he would get back to the village. Tomorrow he would think of how to send word to the priestess so she could handle this situation. He slowly walked backward until he reached the temple's entrance and then turned tail and ran as fast as his aged feet would carry him.
As he ran, he kept looking backward to see if the beast had awoken. After about 10 minutes of running, he slowed his pace and checked his pouch to see if the kid goats were still sleeping. Satisfied that they were, he pulled out the dagger to reassure himself. He turned around to get one last look. Just as he was about to turn back and continue, he saw something in the shadow of the entrance pillars. Something dark seemed to be moving in the shadows. Kumo started his breathing ritual and opened his eyes….. and screamed. It was a gigantic snake, dark as the night itself and slithering towards him in the snow. In all his years of hunting, Kumo had never felt fear. But in one night, he had seen two beasts that inspired terror in his heart, unlike anything he had ever experienced.
He used his toe ring and leaped down the slope. He turned around and nearly fainted. The snake had already reached the point he had jumped from. The giant snake was fast as lightning! He leaped twice more but the creature seemed to be fast approaching.
Kumo panicked and began to look around and saw some dead and dying sandalwood trees. An idea fell into place in his mind. He quickly elongated his dagger and slashed through the trees. He then arranged them to block the entire path. He took out from his coat the exploding onions his daughter had bought from a traveling mage the previous summer. They were not his first choice because the enchantment would probably have worn off from being in the cold mountains for so long. But right now, even a spark would be enough for his idea to work.
The first onion struck the wood but only gave out some sparks. The second one, however, ignited the branch it struck. Kumo blew on the fire to spread it. Soon, most of the felled trees caught fire. Good! Then he looked up again to see the beast. The beast seemed unfazed by the fire and was moving down the slope. Kumo was shocked. Even an enchanted beast should be frightened of fire. This creature must be some sort of abomination. He took a few steps back, pulled out all the onions in his pocket, and imbued them with his energy. As he hurled them into the fire, he hoped that the sound and fire from the explosion would finally stop the snake in its tracks. What happened next was beyond Kumo's expectations.
The first 2 onions had lost most of their magic over time, but the remaining had been stored well. Also, by imbuing his energy into them, Kumo had powered them to their full charge. Once thrown into the flames, the 5 onions he threw exploded with a huge bang and raised a wall of flame between Kumo and the snake. The snake stopped mid-slither and raised its head to look at the old hunter.
Kumo saw the snake and was filled with cold fear. In the light of the flames, he saw its large dark form clearly for the first time. It glistened with the snow that was melting off of its body. As his gaze traveled upwards, he first saw its open mouth that seemed as large as his head, its tongue flickering out as if to taste the stench of his fear in the cold winter breeze. Its hood swayed gently as if to an inaudible tune playing in the night's sky. Its eyes were like blue stones encompassed by lids that narrowed into slits as it gazed at him, almost appraisingly. For a moment, Kumo felt both hypnotized by its majesty and terrified by its deathly gaze. Then a primal instinct inside him wrenched his gaze away from the personification of death before him. He leaped using his toe ring till he could not breathe anymore and looked around him to see that he had reached the foot of the mountain. He raced towards his village, continuously looking behind him to see if the creature had followed. After what seemed like ages, he reached the entrance of his village. He ran to the alarm bell at the village gate and began ringing it like a man possessed. He had to warn the villagers. There would be no safety for them as long as those monsters stayed on the mountain. As he saw the guards running towards him from the nearby house, he let go of the bell, stepped forward, and fainted from exhaustion.