Nine Paths of Asura-Original Wuxia

Bonus Chapter

So this originally was supposed to be a prologue to Book 2, but I've since decided to not follow it and just have it exist as a non canon bonus chapter.

Book Two: Homecoming

Prologue:Lord Light

Some time after homecoming in Brackenrock City ...

"There are strange tales on these westerly winds. They say Lightholme was conquered. That the people have taken flight. A whole city gone from sight. They swear came the dark night. That their souls were saved by Lord Light. This, I tell you I saw with my own eyes! The Lord Light saving us in the night!" A hooded man, one of many whispered in the corner. The Dragon's Tail, a favorite inn of Brackenrock City was packed to the rafters with men and more than one curious serving maid. Each peered carefully at this hooded man as he explained the findings of the outside world. Within these walls, Brackenrock City was so far removed that any passerby could easily find curious listeners at every turn. However, as he quietly peered at his empty glass, and the inn keeper sighed and prepared to fetch him another on the house, a terrifying shudder ran through the struts of inn. The four pillars of the inn quivered and shook, as if the Hell's themselves were below, grabbing hold with teeth and claws to drag their way into the land of the living!

"And so I tell you...." The hooded man looked around at the shaking pillars and paused. Uneasily, the entire inn was forced to listen to the eerie quiet of his pause. There was a strange silence which drifted dead down upon all the inhabitants of this inn.

Awuuuuuuuuuuu! Sra! Sra! SraaaaaAAAHH!!

The terrifying wind seemed to carry the screams of the damned with it. Several serving maids uneasily looked around, and more than a few men. This was no longer storytime... The shrieks so soon coming after the tale of Lightholme was enough to give anyone pause and a cold shiver along the spine. Several crossed themselves though they knew Lightholme had been far more devout than their little backwater Brackenrock City. The hooded man began to shiver violently and uncontrollably. Clenching his refilled glass, slopped beer stained the hardened ash wood of the table.

"And so...so... I tell you that this land is no longer so safe. They say the undead will be back. There is no stopping them, our cities will be taken, our cultivators culled, and our children stolen. They say that demons walk with men these cold nights. That only by believing in Lord Light will you at least escape this nightmare!"

BAM! THUD!

The thick inn door which had held for generations was forced open and slammed into the wall as the hooded man swilled what hadn't been spilled from his glass. Half the inn turned at the crash, and the other half hunched below their glasses. Staring through the distorted light, they saw a dark man enter. His face swaddled in ragged robes, they sighed in relief as they saw that it was just a man. No undead, no undead, just a man. His hands were empty of sword or spear, he was just a man. No a youth even. Their ragged breaths subsiding, they began to laugh heartily as they stared into each other's shocked faces. However, a gut clenching scream soon filled the inn from the open doorway. The entire inn shook from its hideous entrance.

"Don't... don't... wake me up! This wasn't worth it! Wake up... wake up wake up wake up wake up!!!!!!" The scream was punctuated by the sound of breaking glass, though it was hard to tell if that was predominantly from the glasses which cracked at the piercing scream, or those dropped as their owners mashed their hands to their ears.

"Ahhhhhhhhh! Ahhhhhhhhh! Ahhhhhhhhh! Is this a nightmare? Will I wake up ever? Don't wake me up! Pleaaaaaseee!!!!!"The haunting scream prompted several of the more compassionate inngoers to sigh. They stared at each other knowingly. One, a kind hearted serving maid shook her head and put on a brave smile. She pointed to the man's eyes. Several others cracked a smile. The eyes were closed. This man had clearly had too much to drink. Just a man, albeit a loud one. Soon, a few more chuckles came and the maid crept up and hesitantly waved her hands in front of the man's tightly shut eyes. Besides his screaming, he had not even entered the threshold of the inn.

"Sir? It's cold out, and you're scaring the customers, you're sleepwalking, quickly wake up and see!" She called. However, the man seemed to pay her no heed and kept standing at the open door, unseeing. Undeterred, the maid tried to pull on the man's arm and yank him in.

"No! I won't wake up! Don't wake me up! I don't want to wake up! Don't wake me...." As his arm was tugged he shrieked again and the patrons winced. The man's feet didn't budge no matter how the maid tugged. Finally, the hooded man in the corner stood and sighed. He strode across the room in front of an inn full of watching eyes and took the maid's other arm and pulled, heaving her and the young man outside across the divider. A penetrating shriek grinded across the inn, and wood splintered. The young man's eyes snapped open as he crossed the border.

"No! Don't wake me! You'd take her from me! Sssssaaaave me! You're all against me! The price is too high! No! Have you ever had a nightmare you can't wake from? Why won't I wake? This nightmare how long has it been... don't wake me.... " As his voice trailed off, the open eyes flashed into a deep bloody red, nightmarish orbs which bespoke but one ending in the night. Cries rang out.

"Demon!!!!"

But the most poignant voice was the man who had crossed the rooms. The man who had told tales. He simply whispered in a shuddering shaking breath, which matched the shaking pillars of the inn.

"Lord.... "

Two scythes of bone swept out to cut off that sentence. In an empty hand, a sword of midnight and lightning appeared, and the inn was swept apart by a storm of screams. At the end, there was no light in sight, just puddles of dripping dead silence, and a demon in the night.