Midsummer Rain

Jin- seon inhaled sharply, groped weakly at the long spear pinning her to the ground, blood spilling from underneath her iron chestplate, shirt already soaked with blood. The demon stood over her, face blurred and just out of range of her jikdo, not that she was strong enough to hold up the four-feet length of sharp metal in this state anyway.

With a leering grin, the rakshasa stomped on her chest, making her gasp painfully. Slowly, torturously, the demon began to pull the spear from her stomach painfully, having the audacity to laugh as it did so. Her vision filled with black spots as it began harder and harder to breathe. “Mph…” Her eyes fluttered shut as she surrendered to the darkness.

In a cold sweat, Jin sat up immediately, her worn blanket twisted around her. Nightmares weren’t uncommon, being one of the many foot soldiers fighting the recent uprise of demons. But still, this dream was recurring so many times, she began wondering if that was what was truly going to happen to her. Honorable death was one thing, but killed by a simple demon on the battlefield, left bleeding in the open for vultures to pick at? That was not something that was going to happen to her. Surely, her great skills would protect her.

Shaking her head to clear her worries, Jin- seon began getting ready for the day, pulling her straight brown hair in a long ponytail, and efficiently pulling her jeogori over her head, then slipping into her baji, the pant’s coarse fabric rubbing against her skin uncomfortably. But who was she to complain? She was no stranger, after all, to cheap cloth. Money for the army was spent on food and resources, not clothes!

Jin nodded her head in satisfaction, content with her explanation. The other soldiers had never shown much interest in her logic, preferring to roll their eyes and grumble at the offending clothes.

The young woman strode out of her tent to the mess hall, lost in thought. The villagers simply ignored her. To them, she was just another face in the collection of soldiers stationed here. Jin- seon scowled and walked faster. After all that hard work to get into the army, surely she deserved at least a little credit?

Jumping slightly and turning around with a ferocious expression, face softening when she saw who had grabbed her. “Hello, Ha- sun.”

Her friend shook her head at her, her shoulder-length hair bouncing with her movements. Squeezing her waist tighter, she spoke up pouting playfully. “I was waiting at our usual seat in the mess hall. Where were you? You’re not one to oversleep.”

JIn- seong rolled her eyes. “I know, I know, let’s go eat already.”

Jin and Ha- sun picked at their guk, the watery soup thin and tasteless. Ha- sun sneered in distaste. “Would you look at this stew? It might as well be water!”

Seung- ae shrugged. “Try putting some bap in it.” She handed her friend some rice, who made a disgusted face.

“I am not putting rice in soup.”

Jin- seon shrugged again, secretly delighted. “More for me, I suppose.”

Ha- sun harrumphed, stretching. “Your taste in food is so weird.”

“Just like your taste in men.” Jin- seon muttered behind her spoon, which she had brought to her face for a sip, face twisted into a slight grimace.

“What? I assure you-” Ha- sun suddenly blushed. “Quiet, Min- joon’s coming over here!”

Jin- seon leaned back in her chair, putting down her wooden utensil. “I don’t know what you see in him.”

“Hello, girls.” Min- joon’s snobbish voice reached them.

Ha- sun tittered, blushing lightly. “Hi there, Min!”

He leaned towards her, hands behind his back. “How are my two favorite dears?”

“I am not your dear.” Jin gritted through her teeth.

“Oh, don’t be such a spoil-sport!” Min-joong jested, his pig-like face contorting into the hideous grin that he thought was attractive.

Jin- seon rolled her eyes, picking up and reaching out with her chopsticks to the bowl of white, stick rice. “Oh, my apologies.”

“You know… you really are pretty, I wouldn’t mind dating you…” He leaned closer.

Jin- seon drew away. “Leave me alone!”

Ha- sun fixed her hair briefly, then spoke up. “What about me? Am I pretty, too?”

As Min-joong opened his mouth to answer, the sound of someone clearing their throat behind them interrupted him. “No flirting at the table at mealtimes. And especially not with my daughter.”

Min- joong sweatdropped. “Oh, I was only speaking with these two girls over here . Right, Jin? Tell your father that we were just talking.”

Jin- seon snorted. “Get out of my sight already.”

Casting a terrified glance at the frowning man, Min- joon adjusted his sword belt nervously, bowing several times and scuttling away like a frightened crab . “W-well, Major Jun, I suppose I'll be going now…”

Yong- jun smiled grimly. “Good. You’ll take the night watch today.” His words were directed specifically at Min-joon’s rapidly disappearing back, sharp and purposeful.

Ha- sun frowned, but Jin- seon knew she wasn’t serious. “Jin! I wanted to talk to him for a bit longer!” She slumped in her chair dramatically, pushing away her breakfast. “Now he’ll never get a crush on me!”

Jin nearly choked on her third mouthful of rice. “C-Crush? Never mind. Father,” she said, turning to Yong- jun. “Thank you for helping me get rid of him. How was your breakfast?”

Yong looked over his adopted daughter appraisingly. “Good, thank you. Now, I should go. I have business, and so do you. Don’t you and your friend have that patrol after breakfast?”

Jin- seon's eyes widened as she stood up, grabbing her two bowls, and getting ready to carry them to the washing station. “I almost forgot! Thank you, father! Come on, Ha- sun, time to go.” Nodding to her father, she pulled her companion with her.

Ha- sun hastily nodded to Yong- jun, the general already turning to leave. “I don’t exactly have a choice to stay if you’re tugging on my arm, Jin.”

“I know, I know, but we have to go on patrol now. Let’s hurry.”

Ha- sun shrugged, not resisting when Jin- seon dragged her to the armoury for their pigap, simple cotton coats with numerous leather scales layered on top. Rolling their shoulders to settle the leather armour onto their body, and fixing their swords to their belts, they headed off into the bright sunshine outside, ready for the patrol.

As they strolled in the scorching sun through the village, a light rain began pattering about them, forming small puddles underneath their marching feet. Still bright, the sun peeked from behind a cloud.

In a flush of lightning, thunder rolled out, the rain increasing. Ha- sun grabbed Jin’s arm, hurrying to a nearby house to shelter from the rain, her voice trembling. “Jing… let’s go find shelter. I have a bad feeling about this.”

Jin- seon hesitated, her face doubtful, but trusting her friend, she nodded. “Alright.”

Before they could move from their spot, thunder boomed in the distance again as a villager turned to them, grinning maliciously. “Girls… won’t you come into my house?” He tilted his bamboo hat lower. “After all, a storm is brewing…”

Jin’s eyes narrowed as she reached for her sword. “We’ll find someplace else, thank you.”

His odd smile faltering slightly, the villager nodded, but made no attempt to leave. “I see…”

Ha- sun gasped suddenly. “Jin! Don’t trust him! That’s a rakshasa, a shapeshifter demon! Look at his forehead!”

Jin- seon drew her sword instantly, indeed seeing a horn, albeit small protruding through the villager’s forehead. “How did you get through here, scum!?”

His cover blown, the demon went back to his mottled blue-and-brown skin, three large horns now sprouting from his head, tail lashing. “Ah, that was easy. Not compared to killing you!” In a flurry of appendages, he threw himself at them, piggish eyes squinted in malice.

Jin’s sword flashed, severing his head in an instant. With a disturbed expression on her face, she silently gestured for Ha- sun to follow her back to the base.

General Yong- jun rushed towards the village, seeing the ground open up, giant cracks spreading across the streets as rakshasa spilled through the openings. “Soldiers! To arms!”

The grim men and women stood in formation, holding their swords, ready for the preparing onslaught. Ha- sun and Jin- seon reached them just as the first wave of demons washed over their ranks, engulfing the usually peaceful village in a battle, Yong- jun’s careful strategies for protection now useless as they were surrounded.

Fighting back-to-back with her adopted father, Jing looked around for Ha- sun, but she was nowhere to be found. Abandoning Yong- jun, she pushed and shoved through the tight- knit group of foot soldiers, mercilessly slashing through the occasional demon thrown in the mix.

Finally, she spotted her dear childhood friend standing near Min- joong, trying to protect her crush from the fierce demons. Unsurprisingly, he was no help, flinching and screaming as soon as a demon came near them.

Jing fought her way to their direction, looking on in horror as a rakshasa stabbed Min- joong in the arm with a rough knife, watching with satisfaction as he yelped in pain, clapping a hand over his wound with his hand. Ha- sun turned to him, crying out at his injury. While her guard was down, the demon jumped forward, slashing her down without as much as batting an eyelash.

Without even processing what she was doing, Jing shouted, mowing down the demon that had dared to kill her best friend. ”No!”

As bright red liquid dripped from her blade, she stood over the body of the demon, panting slightly. As the battle raged on around her, she grabbed onto her friend's still- warm body, Min- joong standing still in shock, blood pooling around his white fingers.

Shouting her despair to the dark sky, Jing’s eyes began tearing up, not that anyone would notice in the pouring rain. She stood up, letting Ha- sun’s corpse tumble carelessly to the ground.

Casting a dark look at Min- joong, she stalked off deeper into the battle, killing demons left and right. A demon with a long spear grinned at her, making her still. The rakshasa from her nightmare.

Gritting her teeth, she charged forward with her outstretched longsword, pouring all her draining energy into a stumbling run. Smoothly deflecting her blows with his spear, the demon pierced through her chest, pinning her down to the ground.

As Jin- seon quickly felt the adrenaline fading, she closed her eyes, not wanting her final view of the world to be of a battle. Strangely, she felt an odd sense of peace.Deep inside, she knew this would happen eventually. At least now she would see Ha- sun now.

Her final breaths whooshed out of her rough and chapped lips as she opened her eyes, dimly seeing the outline of the demon raising up her sword. A smile found its way onto her lips as she felt the sharp point slide neatly into her stomach. As everything seemed to slow, the raindrops continued coming from the sky in spiraling, hypnotising patterns. Still smiling, she closed her eyes, the warm droplets of water mixing with her precious crimson blood, the unmistakable scent of iron filling the air.

The oh-so familiar darkness spread over her vision as she faded away, roaring thunder announcing her death to the world.