Letters From Boriya

HHEEHEHEE HOO HOO HEHEHEHE

At the moment we're staying at a hotel until the signing off on the house.

I am explicitly NOT ALLOWED TO WRITE for two weeks. We are on a break!

I didn't realize how much inspiration I took in writing La Perdida from the Fade.

So, La Perdida is the dense rainforest in the mountainous parts of Boriya, inspired by El Yunque in Puerto Rico. The veil between the living and the dead thins there. It's a surreal, endless forest that changes and gets more trippy and distorted the deeper you travel.

art by Helen

The Boriyan Outpost of Yunqing sect, constructed in 1738 and led by Qin Yuelin of Yunqing sect.

Like what’s the point of story telling without a person to tell it to?

“I’ve ...never heard of anything like this,” Lu Zeyuan said honestly. “You’re certain this is not a Yao? There are few higher level beings that have the ability to shift between the planes.”

Even though the spiritual signature Lu Zeyuan felt on the goat’s corpse was completely different, a Yao was still the closest thing he could make sense of a creature like this with.

“The name doesn’t matter,” Rafael said, “Give me your talisman.” He held his cigar up to light it.

Lu Zeyuan gaped for a moment, “This isn’t the time to indulge in--”

“You said you wanted to observe our practices,” Rafael interrupted, narrowing his eyes. “Then don’t question the methods.”

Realizing that Rafael was serious, Lu Zeyuan, skeptically, held the talisman to him.

Rafael lit the end of it and inhaled deeply, then he turned and blew the tobacco smoke in the direction the bloodtrail ended.

Lu Zeyuan waited and watched.

The forest stirred and began to whisper, an unnatural breeze shifting the dense canopies overhead.

Tobacco smoke was oily and heavy, with a strong stench that seemed to reach every corner of the forest. Lu Zeyuan covered his nose with his sleeve. Before long, the smoke began to coalesce, taking the form of a large hound, gangly with limbs too long for its body and an almost skeletal frame. It was completely emaciated. It head hung unnaturally low with its mouth hanging open, heaving for breath as if pained.

Lu Zeyuan watched it amble forward in a random direction, occasionally sniffing the dirt, then mindlessly lurching forward.

They were watching an echo of it from moments in the past.

Now that Lu Zeyuan had gotten a look at the creature, even an echo of it, he couldn’t help but feel sorry for it.

It didn’t look like an purposeful, malicious monster. It looked like... a suffering animal.

This wasn’t a Yao.

Jacinta watched its movements closely. “Chupacabras are known for being difficult to to restrain. They fade in and out unpredictably as they walk, which makes them invisible to us when they enter the spirit world.”

Lu Zeyuan watched the creature for a moment. “My golden core should attract its attention. If we come across it, it will likely be drawn to me first.”

Now that he was growing accustomed to the spiritual atmosphere around him, he noted he could sense variations in the trail the chupacabra took.

“The creature feeds on yin energy. La Perdida is dense with it. But there’s an emptiness it leaves behind, similar to the wake behind a boat.”

Both Rafael and Jacinta looked back at him as he continued. “A typical spirit attraction array won’t be useful in a place like this. It would just cause instability and disturb the ambient spirits. But, a starved spirit like the chupacabra would be drawn to a golden core. Once it attacks, I can bind it to the physical realm, and you two can subdue it.”

“We can utilize our own methods without resorting to using you as bait,” Rafael said. “We don’t even know how the rest of the forest will respond to your golden core.”

“Our usual methods are often messy and have a chance to fail,” Jacinta said. “Lu says he can bind it. Baba Omotayo said the chupacabra is nearing its final stage. If we don’t catch it tonight, it will begin feeding on people.”

“If it gets a taste of human blood,” Rafael argued, “it will only hasten its corruption, and then we will have to explain to Yunqing sect how we used one of their disciples as bait and got him devoured by a ghost.”

“Even if the manner of creature is unfamiliar,” Lu Zeyuan said, “I assure you, I am experienced in handling restless dead. I won’t let it devour me.”

“You see?” Jacinta said. “Aren’t cultivators supposed to be strong? If he says he can bind it, I believe him.”

Lu Zeyuan nodded, “I can.”

“Do you have any idea how many spiritualists have fallen hunting spirits like this?” Rafael asked. “You think you’re better than they were?”

Lu Zeyuan’s brow furrowed. “I claimed no such thing. Only that you can trust me.”

Rafael watched closely for any flicker of doubt or mockery on Lu Zeyuan’s face.