The Jinn's Ten-Year Oath

The forest creaked with unnatural tension.

The blood from the monkey ambush was already drawing scavengers, but worse things lurked here—things with intelligence, hunger, and territory.

"We'll be hunted soon," Corven said grimly, crouched by the fire sharpening his cracked blade. "This much blood… this many bodies… it'll draw something big."

The others said nothing.

Lina clutched her arm. Kallen sat with his back to a tree, bandaging his shoulder. Hessa still trembled quietly, casting weak healing pulses across her own bruised ribs.

Kale leaned Liora's body back against a mossy tree, her face expressionless. She looked like she was sleeping with her eyes open.

But inside, Liora curled her fingers against her chest, whispering to herself.

> I didn't ask for this.I didn't want this.

But Kale didn't respond.

Because he was in control.

And Liora didn't know if—or when—he'd give it back.

---

Someone opened a dark-stoppered vial. A sour-smelling black liquid sloshed inside, the same scent they had used before to mask their bodies from predators.

Corven passed it around.

Kale dipped Liora's fingers in it without comment.

Haris, wiping blood from his thigh, turned sharply. "You… ate the core of a spirit beast, didn't you?"

Everyone turned.

Even the injured forgot their pain for a moment.

"That's more valuable than the rest of the cores combined," he said slowly. "You devoured it without permission."

Kale didn't flinch. "I needed it."

Corven narrowed his eyes. "So you claim. But eating a spirit beast's core… most would've been corrupted."

Kale tilted Liora's head slightly. "My body is nearly broken from the inside. You saw how many arrows I loosed. A hundred in moments. Each pulled with injured fingers. I had no energy left. My hand… would've snapped soon."

Lina whispered, "But that core could've—"

"Could've killed me," Kale cut her off. "Yes. But it didn't."

They all fell silent.

Finally, Corven growled, "Don't tell me you have a storage space but you want to hide this from us? "

Kale smirked slightly. "I have storage space but it's very small.Also I've never been pregnant before. "

That confused everyone.

Kale stood.

"With your looks you don't know about bee potion.It develop by absorbing something from women body.When become pregnant they produce that something more and develop the space.Or girls need to absorb space energy outside from the planet.We move. Now. Blood will bring worse than monkeys."

They limped and shuffled along a narrow trail, sticking together.

Hessa whispered, "I'm useless."

"You're not useless," Corven said, without turning his head. "You cooked for us. Kept us safe at night. Without you, we wouldn't have made it this far. Heal yourself if you can—but don't give up."

Haris muttered, "We're not even in the Deep Forest yet. We got torn apart by monkeys. A pack of them."

Eventually, they found a cave.

A hollow beneath a leaning rock slab, wide enough to shield them for the night.

Kale raised a hand as they approached.

"Wait."

The others froze.

"Don't go in yet," Kale said.

He touched Liora's fingers to the forest floor. A pulse of shadow rippled out.

Then, quietly, twenty-six bats emerged from the trees. Their red eyes glimmered with ghost light. They swarmed the cave silently, slipping into darkness.

After a moment, Kale nodded. "It's clear now."

Inside, the air was cool and still. They used a dim magic lantern to illuminate the cavern walls. Moss and fungus lined the corners. Old bones littered one side.

Hessa passed out tiny vials of healing solution. Everyone drank.

But the mood remained cold.

Corven turned toward Liora. "You ate the spirit core. So let's be clear—you won't get a share of anything else."

"She killed the beasts," Kallen muttered. "But we stopped them. We took the hits."

Kale didn't argue.

"Fine.Just heal me."

.

Kale gave up control.

Liora gasped as her body returned to her. But before she could take a breath, pain tore through her chest. She screamed—loud, raw, and heart-wrenching—then collapsed, shaking and crying uncontrollably.

The others stepped forward, thinking she was losing control again.

"Stop!" the captain barked, holding out his arm. "Don't attack. Give her the healing potion—now."

The mage girl hesitated, then quickly uncorked a vial and brought it to Liora's lips. She tried to help her drink, but just as Liora took a sip, her eyes glazed over.

Kale took over again.

She snatched the remaining bottles, eyes cold and calm now, and drank them all in one go.

"What are you doing?" one shouted. "Why did you scream like that? Are you still in pain?"

The mage girl frowned. "I'm injured too. My hand and leg are broken. But I'm not screaming like you."

Kale turned toward her slowly. Her voice was soft, but heavy with emotion.

"That's because you were born in a broken place.

You never knew happiness—so you never knew what it was like to lose it.

You were born in pain, so you grew numb to it."

She looked down at her shaking hands.

"I was born a princess.

Wherever I went, people tried to make me smile.

I was protected… precious. I thought I was safe.

I let myself relax. I trusted you all."

Her eyes hardened.

"And the moment I did…

You tried to attack me."

Silence fell. No one could meet her eyes.

"Now I have two selves inside me," she whispered. "One is a kind-hearted warrior…

The other, a cold-blooded murderer."

Her voice broke slightly because of liora's emotion.

"And you wonder why I scream?"

They lowered their heads, shame burning on their faces.

The group exchanged uneasy glances. All eyes landed on Lina.

She hesitated.

Then she stepped forward and bowed her head. "It'll sound cruel, but… can you give us some distance?"

Kale raised an eyebrow.

"You absorbed something dangerous," she said softly. "If you go mad… we can't stop you."

Kale said nothing.

But turned—and walked out of the cave, silently.

---

Outside, the air was thick with mist.

Inside her mind, Liora roared.

> This is all your fault! They think I'm corrupted!

> You used my body like a tool! You ate that core without asking!

Kale's voice, now strained, replied.

> "It was life or death. Do you think arrows appear from nothing? I used every ounce of our spiritual energy. Every shot was laced with killing intent. You think a monkey can be killed with ordinary magic arrows? No. I had to coat every bolt with will. Rage. Precision. Blood and soul."

Liora trembled in the hollow of her mind.

> But you didn't let me choose.

> You made me… something they fear.

Kale sighed.

> "If I didn't eat that core, we would've died. Together."

> "And now, we don't have much time."

He turned Liora's head toward the east.

The wind shifted.

Two enormous spiritual pressures pressed down on the clearing. Cold. Hungry. One smelled like wet fur and copper. The other like metal and blood.

Kale whispered:

> "A werewolf. And a wild cat. Both evolved."

> "They're coming for the corpse. The spirit beast we left behind."

> "They'll fight over it… but whoever wins, will come for us next."

Liora shuddered inside.

> Can we win?

> "It will be dangerous," Kale said softly. "But if you want to escape the forest in less than fifty years… we fight."

> "You know your kingdom sent armies into this place. Strong people. But no one ever returned. Because the deeper layers… are alive."

Liora swallowed hard.

Then said aloud: "I'll do it."

"But give me back my body."

Kale hesitated.

> "You can't control your killing intent. Not yet. The moment you glare at them, they'll feel your fear—or your hatred. You'll give yourself away."

> "I need to charge an arrow with real will. Killing will. I need blood. And soul. Let me handle it."

Liora didn't answer.

But she stopped resisting.

Kale stepped forward, carefully.

He took out a small blade, pricked Liora's finger, and let her blood drip onto the shaft of a heavy rune arrow.

Then he placed his palm over her heart, and pulled a sliver of her soul.

It burned.

Even within her mind, Liora screamed.

The arrow glowed.

Red and silver—charged with fate.

---

Far beyond the trees, the two beasts clashed.

The werewolf—a monstrous thing with silver fur and glowing eyes—howled, lunging for the wild cat's throat.

The wild cat—sleek, massive, with a coat of iron-like fur—dodged, slashing its claws like scimitars.

They tore into each other like thunder.

Kale crouched among the trees, bow raised, arrow ready.

He didn't shoot.

Not yet.

He waited. Observed. Let the beasts weaken each other.

Liora, inside, bit her spiritual lip.

> This is wrong…

> The wearwolf is human. Just lost control of his body.

But she didn't stop him.

She couldn't.

Because she knew: if they didn't kill these monsters, those monster will kill human one day.

Kale stepped forward.

The bow glowed. The arrow shimmered.The moment one kill other beast, he will shoot the arrow. If one arrow doesn't kill the beast they will die.

Liora hooping that corrupted human die in fight. So that kale doesn't need to kill the man with her body. If she was in capital doctor can still heal the man.