Until Then

Darkness clung to the air of the Town of Mist. Winds bellowed through its mountainous passes. It was quiet tonight save for those ethereal howls. Combat had long since passed.

At the moment people were more preoccupied with recovering from the demon's excursions from along the border. Healers and soldiers were spread thin but still holding out. Yet for some, the night air was hard to breathe, as if it was made of water, suffocating instead of its life-giving purpose.

It was there within a lone cottage sheltered among boughs of mulberry that stagnancy choked. It overlooked the town's heart from its perch atop the hill. Within it, another breeze drafted in from the window, filling a small room with a cold that drained all warmth.

A woman's hair stirred around her like strands of black silk in the disturbance, wavering in the air before settling again.

Her name was Tianyi—alchemist and wife of their town's hero.

She let out a breath as the wood creaked around where she sat.

It'd been three days since the night everything had changed for them. Yet still she remained by his side, ever vigilant.

Her gaze lowered down toward the bed that supported Jin. He was beautiful in the moonlight despite his stillness and the talisman on his forehead. His hair was tousled, and his skin resembled pallid ivory.

He hadn't moved a single bit since the town's last attack, though he would hopefully begin to stir soon.

Tianyi had to fight her own hands from trembling as she continued tending to him, spoon-feeding him yet another bowl of broth. His lips resisted the attempt as the liquid dribbled into him, drop by drop. She sponged off the remainder once done; her heart clenched in her chest.

"The priest from the Eastlands will arrive by tomorrow, my dear. Then you can finally wake."

She took his hand in hers by instinct, stiffer than usual but still comforting to hold. It was like the hundreds of times she'd done so before, just a little different.

"You will be fine, Jin. I promise."

Memories of various battles returned to her mind, as if reassuring her of her own words.

Every time that he'd gotten injured or maimed in combat, he would recover soon after. Sometimes it might take hours or even days, but his regeneration would always work. His wounds would heal, and any sign of damage would be gone. He would laugh it off and hug her warmly to his chest.

She would always be by his side in the meantime, tending to him until he woke and that moment came.

"…" She could already imagine his warm eyes opening with a smile when she gazed at him.

'Sorry for keeping you waiting.' That'd would probably be what he'd say once he woke.

Tianyi's lips trembled as she felt a brief wave of comfort at the thought. However, before it could linger more, another breath of wind entered the room. It came in greater force than last time, raising her hair upward like a banner. It rattled the frame of the window and their abode while leaves rustled outside.

The butterfly talisman suddenly came loose again in the gust, torn away from his skin. It fluttered off his forehead and down to the floorboards.

"No!"

Tianyi's hand jerked for it without another thought, desperate to reapply it again to Jin as soon as possible.

The lone silk could be the deciding factor between recovery and oblivion. She would not let another careless mistake of hers steal her husband away while she still lived.

"I apologize, my love," she whispered as she fumbled for the salts at the bedside. It sprinkled the talisman as her mind raced, replaying her folly.

A demonic incursion. A blundered dodge. Corrupted claws. A shove as Tianyi was pushed to safety. A wound that had raked across Jin's exhausted chest and heart. Then, his body collapsing to the ground.

The echo of that encounter sent a shiver through her. Her eyes drifted back to Jin's wound, unchanged since the bandages had been applied as his words rang in her head.

'Thank you for loving me.' That'd been the last thing from his mouth.

Her hand gripped as her emotions flared.

No. He would be fine. She knew it.

Her heart only calmed once she'd reapplied the talisman to her husband. She took a deep breath as she chased away the memory with the sensation beneath her touch.

Her fingers ran over the threads that slowly glowed in the moonlight.

"That should be enough, my Jin."

The slightest of smiles returned to her face as the enchantment went to work.

It was a magical sigil that was capable of many things: amplifying healing, staving off corruption, and preventing decay. It'd been one of the first things she'd learnt to make when she'd been little—something that took advantage of the lifeblood within her veins.

Unfortunately, it'd been detaching itself with increasing frequency. It was almost like the talisman had a mind of its own despite her attempts.

She muttered a quick prayer hoping that their gods would listen and aid their struggle. Once he was awake again, there would still be much to do. They'd promised too much.

They still had to live.

"…" Warmth caressed her as she gazed at her husband's face. The first time they'd met fluttered within her mind.

She'd been a sickly girl then with barely a leg to stand on. Cripple, weak, and alone in this world. The only thing that'd kept her alive were the skills from her late mother.

"I can still remember the rain that drenched you when you stepped inside," she whispered. "You were bleeding and wounded, yet your eyes were so bright."

Her hands trailed down to his arms still lined with scars. He'd just been boy that'd fancied himself a sellsword, traveling the country with nothing but his skills and his name.

At least until they'd locked eyes beneath the storm and she'd tended to his wounds.

Her fingers intertwined with his as wetness began to build.

For a moment, she was back there.

***

Tianyi's lifeblood went to work as she weaved around the strange boy's body, letting out her coughs to the side to not disturb him. Rain pattered as her fingers glowed, and warmth pulsed through him.

His wounds went deep into his form. It was a miracle he could even stand, let alone breathe.

"I already said I cannot pay you much, Miss Tianyi." He winced as his wounds closed over. "You deserve much more than my meagre change, so please do not waste—"

"Coin is of no concern to me," she snapped, not letting him protest. "You're sick, and you're here. That's all that matters. And stop calling me 'miss', you're the same age as me."

She continued to work and applied salves to his body as a glow filled the air.

"V-very well, Tianyi. But are you not sick as well?" he stuttered out. "And in need of coin no less?"

"…" She tried to ignore him as she finished the dressing, but he only insisted further with earnest.

"Like I said, I can regenerate, so I only need a little treatment for this gash. I really insist that I find some way to repay you for your service."

Her lips pursed.

"I already said it is none of your concern." She coughed again, this time a little wet. "A-and it's clear that you have little to your name."

"But like I said—"

"Hush. Save your strength."

Tianyi paid him little heed as she limped toward her kitchen and left him baffled on top of the cot. If what he said was true, he would still need the energy to do so.

It didn't take too long until she'd returned with what would've been her lunch. Steam wafted from the bowl as she presented it to him.

"Here, drink this."

"Broth? I already said—"

"Just shut up and drink before I force it down your throat."

His eyes widened as he stared but relented when she turned away, embarrassed by the outburst.

Pink flushed both of their cheeks while he drank deeply, and the wind howled, tousling their hair. The bowl was eventually returned to her empty and with an odd shyness and a hint of a smile. He spoke again after wiping his mouth.

"…How much do I owe you for such a delicious lunch and beautiful company?"

Her heart skipped a beat as she forced herself to look away at the outlandish comment.

"L-like I said, coin is of no concern to—"

"!" A solid thud cut her off.

He'd suddenly prostrated himself before her on the floor, butt sticking up into the air.

"W-what are you doing?!" she blurted, mortified. "G-get up, the ground is filthy!"

Despite the command she'd given though, his body didn't move one bit. His head stayed lowered to the floor as the rain hardened.

"I am Jin of the Wind Clan, forever at your service."

Tianyi felt heat rise in her cheeks at his sincerity. It soaked through his words like blood through silk. He continued on as his face rose slightly to meet hers.

"I swear to do everything in my power to take care of you—that you'll never have to wake alone."

Their eyes locked on with each other.

"My life and name are now yours, Tianyi."

***

She softly chuckled as the wetness broke the tension. Tears rolled down her cheek and onto his body. Its brine reflected the night sky outside like ponds of white.

Even after all these years, she still remembered it all so vividly.

"…You were always so dramatic, Jin."

His promise, his care, sweeping her off her feet, carrying her on his back to the town's festival year after year. He was the last thing she would see before sleep, and the first thing she would see when waking.

And that was why she couldn't give up on him. Not now. Not ever. Not while there was still hope. Not while there was still—

*rattle*

Another gust of wind howled outside and tossed the mulberry leaves, cutting off her line of thought.

Tianyi's head perked as shadows danced and moonlight dimmed along the walls.

"!" Something felt off.

The air inside the room had grown heavy. Panic began to rise in her as she outstretched her hand toward the talisman. It had begun to shift and ripple erratically as if alive.

"Laek gi ebemac!"

Light poured from her hands and into the sigil like a host of fireflies. For a moment the room was illuminated in gold.

Despite her actions though, it still shifted.

Cracks began to appear within the silk as its soft glow turned to something else. Something ugly, repugnant, unbelonging to this world.

Then in a surge it vanished to ash, blown into the void without its wings.

Silence settled over the room, and her heart dropped like iron.

The last barrier protecting him was gone. It was if the very essence of her lifeblood had been rejected.

She felt short of breath as her mind raced for answers. There had to be a way to keep him alive. If only he could hold out until the priest could arrive, then perhaps he could help!

But as she reached out her hand to try and channel some of her lifeblood directly into him, her fingers met a texture that felt wrong.

His cold cheek was not the familiar one she'd grown to love. It was spongy, half-sunken, and hollow. There was no warmth at all.

Tears resumed as she ran her hands across his arms and torso. They were unmoving now, as if a wrong move could cause them to shatter. When she reached his chest, it only worsened. Nothing met her ears or greeted her touch.

"Please open your eyes, at least one more time, my dear. Wake so that I may say I love you once more."

There was no response though, only the howling of wind.

Everything went blurry as she wept over Jin's resting form.

No. Without the talisman, there was no more denying it.

It was not Jin anymore.

Only his corpse.