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ACT ONE

A WORLD IN DARKNESS

CHAPTER 1

REN

'East of the Haebaek Mountains'

THE DRUM BEAT faster and faster as Ren tumbled into the center of the circle, cartwheeled into a handstand, and walked with her feet lifted toward the sky. Sensing her mask slipping from her chin, she quickly slid it back into place, careful to maintain the illusion that she wasn't a girl but a pink-faced demon.

Gales of laughter erupted from across the circle, where Little Uncle was sashaying his hips for the crowd, his chest bare beneath his short jacket. Like Ren, he wore a mask, though his was painted white with blue dots on the cheeks. With a flick of his wrist, he flipped open his paper fan, fluttering it coyly. A few older women yelled out bawdy comments while some of the young men blushed and jostled among themselves for a better view.

Ren began to make her way toward Little Uncle, hopping on one hand, then the other, swaying her legs to keep her balance.

The crowd was smaller than it had been the year before, but they made up for it in enthusiasm. Some of the villagers had rolled barrels to the edge of the circle and were smacking their palms against the sides, adding texture to the rhythm set by Big Uncle's drumming.

Her troupe had been performing for the past half hour; Ren would have kept on for longer, but the caravan had to depart at noon if they wanted to make it to Gorye Village by week's end. Big Uncle beat both sides of his hourglass drum in quick succession, a signal to hurry up and conclude the performance.

Ren sprang back to her feet, her gaze sweeping the crowd. She caught sight of a young girl, perhaps seven or eight, sitting cross-legged in front of a group of older boys. The girl paid them no mind though they bumped her from behind, staring at Ren with awestruck eyes.

Ren's heart stirred with recognition—she'd been the same way at that age. When Auntie performed, she didn't want to blink, for fear of missing a single flick of her wrist or tilt of her head. With just her body, Auntie conveyed entire worlds and characters. She was a deer, racing swiftly through a moonlit forest. She was a sailor lost at sea, pulled beneath the waves. Ren would laugh when Auntie was a wily fox, outmaneuvered, running with her tail between her legs, and she would weep when Auntie was a widow on a mountain, crying out for a lover that would never return.

Through Auntie's storytelling, she lived a thousand lives, fought demons, and outwitted gods.

The girl looked at Ren as if she was capable of the same wonders.

Ren and Little Uncle were supposed to be pantomiming a story about a demon who tries to trick a nobleman, only to be thwarted, but they had lost the threads of the plot some time ago. They would need to regain it if they wanted to end the performance, but not before one final trick.

Running across the circle, Ren leaped onto the closest barrel. She turned to Big Uncle, but he was already waiting to see what she'd do next. He thwacked the left side of his drum twice with his mallet, letting out a staccato, thudding sound, then the right side once with his open palm.

A leap and turn in the air would be enough to impress the crowd, and yet...

Ren closed her eyes. She could feel it—the Light that always lived there, like a perpetual flame that grew and diminished with the racing of her heart. She drew on it now, but only a spark, the heat of it spreading outward from her core, up her arms, before releasing from her fingertips.

It was a windless day, but the Light stirred the air. A strong breeze swirled beneath her, sweeping up the barrel and billowing her pants. She leaped backward, letting it lift her into the sky. She had a moment of panic— she was high, 'too high'—but then she twisted her body in midair, somersaulting before landing on the packed earth.

A beat of silence passed, then the crowd burst into raucous applause.

Little Uncle rushed to her side. "You've really done it now," he said, but she could hear the grin in his voice.

"Do you think Auntie was watching?" Ren asked. The adrenaline had worn off, and now she felt anxious. Auntie warned her not to use her magic, and never in front of strangers. Ren could argue that she'd done it to invigorate the crowd—a happy audience was a generous one—but she knew deep down that wasn't the truth.

"Let's hope not," Little Uncle said cheerfully. "Here we go!"