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    Insignia: Asian Fantasy Stories: The Insignia Series, #4
    Insignia: Asian Fantasy Stories: The Insignia Series, #4
    Insignia: Asian Fantasy Stories: The Insignia Series, #4
    Ebook128 pages1 hour

    Insignia: Asian Fantasy Stories: The Insignia Series, #4

    By Kelly Matsuura, Allison Thai, Joyce Chng and

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    About this ebook

    INSIGNIA Vol.4 includes 9 Asian fantasy stories with a mix of literary, contemporary, myth-based, and historical fantasy pieces. Countries included are Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Japan, China, India, and Nepal.

    PART I: Adventure / Folktales

    'Four Claws' by Allison Thai
    'I Found Love in an Urn Full of Ashes' by Joyce Chng
    'Jentayu's Tear' by Anna Tan
    'Ribbons & Bones' by Kelly Matsuura

    PART II: Adult / Literary Tales

    'The Fireflies of Todaiji' by Russell Hemmell
    'Birds of Heaven' by EK Gonzales
    'Last Train to Begunkodor' by Nidhi Singh
    'Untouchable' by Sheenah Freitas
    'White Lady' by Tina Isaacs

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBWWP Publishing
    Release dateMar 26, 2017
    ISBN9781386856665
    Insignia: Asian Fantasy Stories: The Insignia Series, #4
    Author

    Kelly Matsuura

    Kelly Matsuura grew up in Victoria, Australia, but always dreamed she would live abroad.  She has lived in northern China, Michigan in the US, and over ten years in Nagoya, Japan, where she now lives permanently. Kelly has published numerous short stories online; in group anthologies; and in several self-published anthologies. Her stories have been published by Visibility Fiction, Crushing Hearts & Black Butterfly Publishing, A Murder of Storytellers, and Ink and Locket Press. She majored in Asian Studies at university, and (sometimes) studies Japanese, Chinese and German. Her other hobbies include cooking, knitting, sewing, and traveling. As the creator and editor for The Insignia Series, Kelly uses her knowledge of Asian cultures to help other indie authors produce great diverse stories and to share the group's work with a new audience.

    Read more from Kelly Matsuura

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      Book preview

      Insignia - Kelly Matsuura

      Edited by Kelly Matsuura

      Cover Design by Kelly Matsuura

      Compilation Copyright© Kelly Matsuura 2016

      This book was created in Japan

      First electronic release: March 2017

      Published by BWWP Publishing

      'Four Claws' Copyright© Allison Thai

      'I Found Love in an Urn Full of Ashes' Copyright© Joyce Chng

      'Jentayu's Tear' Copyright© Anna Tan

      'Ribbons & Bones' Copyright© Kelly Matsuura

      'The Fireflies of Todaiji' Copyright© Russell Hemmell

      'Birds of Heaven' Copyright© EK Gonzales

      'Last Train to Begunkodor' Copyright© Nidhi Singh

      'Untouchable' Copyright© Sheenah Freitas

      'White Lady' Copyright© Tina Isaacs

      ‘Ribbons & Bones’ was first published in Lurking in the Deep, CHBB Publishing, 2015

      ‘White Lady’ was first published at Eastlit.com, March 2016

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This e-book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of these authors.

      Stories are the authors’ original work and are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to real persons (living or dead) or real situations is coincidental.

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without permission from the authors. Short extracts for reviews are allowed.

      Other Books in The Insignia Series:

      ‘Insignia: Japanese Stories’ (October, 2013)

      ‘Insignia: Chinese Stories’ (April, 2014)

      ‘Insignia: Southeast Asian Fantasy’ (March 2016)

      ‘Insignia: Asian Science Fiction’ (July 2018)

      ‘Insignia: Asian Birds & Beasts’ (Aug 2018)

      PART I

      Adventure/Folktales

      'Four Claws' by Allison Thai

      'I Found Love in an Urn Full of Ashes' by Joyce Chng

      'Jentayu's Tear' by Anna Tan

      'Ribbons & Bones' by Kelly Matsuura

      FOUR CLAWS

      Allison Thai

      ––––––––

      She soared, leaving a trail of blood and tears in her wake. Quan Yifei did not turn her head as she fled, even after the soldiers no longer gave chase. She needed to be certain, however, that the hoof beats and shouts had truly died away. She ventured a peek over her shoulder, and was soon sorry that she did. She smacked right into a boulder, the blow knocking the breath from her chest and sending her sprawling into the mud.

      She was human again. Looking at her bleeding, mangled hands, she couldn’t decide what was worse: the throbbing pain of each wound, or the ugly stumps where her two thumbs should have been. Forcing herself to her feet, Yifei bit back a cry of pain as she took flight as a dragon again. She flew, on and on, as far as her serpentine body could take her.

      Yifei had never left the palace before. Had no good reason to do so, until now. And she hadn’t the slightest clue where she was headed. All she knew was that she had to get as far away from home as she could. Stopping, or turning back would kill her. Yifei flew past the outermost village to reach the mountain range, and only then did she slow down. Blood still dripped from her wounds, and she tried her hardest not to look down at them.

      Pangs of hunger stopped her from going any farther. She needed something to eat. Despite frantic scanning, she saw nothing edible in sight. Only rocks and dirt. Yifei closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. She let it out in dismay. Even her dragon-enhanced sense of smell could not do much if she had no training at all.

      Something flitted overhead, catching her eye. Dark wings, still and outstretched, made wide, slow, sweeping rounds high in the air. Vultures. If vultures were around, that meant there had to be food nearby.

      Yifei’s ears perked, and she glided closer to the site. Upon further inspection, she realized that the vultures circled over a body. A human body.

      Her mouth watered, and the very act made her recoil with disgust. Was she really that hungry? Yifei squeezed her eyes shut. She could not stoop so low as to eat a human. She was an imperial dragon, a princess of the ruling Quan family—

      No, not anymore. The title was stripped from her, just as the toes on her feet were ripped off. Clinging to dignity was just an old habit. A habit she had to throw away if she wanted to survive.

      There really was nothing else around, and that body wasn’t going anywhere. Bile welled in the lump of her throat. Yifei swallowed it down and edged forward.

      Talons struck her from above. Yifei reeled back with a startled cry. Black wings continued to buffet her until she staggered back from the body. The vulture glared at her through narrow, beady eyes.

      Go away. This is mine.

      Thanks to her dragon ears, she could understand its throaty caws.

      She opted for the polite approach. Please, I need food. At least tell me where I can find some.

      The vulture did not reciprocate such manners. Go away, it cried again. Then it seemed to notice how she swayed on her marred feet, how she struggled to keep upright. Maybe you can come back soon. Eyes gleamed bright with fiendish glee. You don’t look like you’ll last another day. I’ve never tasted dragon before. You can be my dinner tomorrow.

      Even the swell of disgust could not give her the strength and heart to fight this vulture. Yifei slunk away in shame. She glided low along the rocks to keep from treading ground, but soon grew so tired that she had to walk. Every step sent spikes of pain through her legs, even as blood dried over her wounds. Yifei stumbled into a cave too small for her body, so she bunched up her coils the best she could to fit, then fell into an uneasy sleep.

      ––––––––

      She heard a flutter of wings. Yifei stirred awake, blinking sleep from her heavy eyes. Something dark settled right by her muzzle, and she pulled back with a gasp.

      It’s you.

      The vulture from yesterday. What did it want? She expected it to attack her again. Instead, it lowered its knobby pink head in deference.

      I was very hungry. And I was joking.

      She supposed that was its way of apology. Still, she did not appreciate its dark sense of humor.

      My name is Choejar. What’s yours?

      Yifei. Never mind that Choejar rudely asked for her name first. She thought it best not to mention her royal heritage.

      If you must know, I got my food from the monks, Choejar said. They’re very good to vultures like me. They give their dead to us.

      That’s cruel.

      Choejar brushed off her horror with a shrug. They’re just bodies. Meat with no souls. Besides, if you think the dead ought to be buried instead, you can’t do that around here. Not with this kind of ground. He tapped his talons against hard, packed stone, and he cocked his head at her. You shouldn’t be calling it cruel when you wanted to eat one yourself.

      His jibe made her ears burn, right up to the tasseled tips. I...I’m just so hungry, she murmured. I barely have the strength to move.

      I’ll show you the way to the monks. It’s not far.

      You...You’re helping me?

      I have nothing better to do.

      To Yifei’s relief, Choejar spoke the truth. Soon she caught sight of the monastery, one that perched on windswept crags so high that she had to crane her neck back to see it. Her heart sunk. It looked like a long climb. Choejar’s nudges of his beak at her neck willed her to press on with gritted teeth. She felt like her other toes would fall off. Yifei dragged herself up the cliffs, and collapsed when she could not go on.

      The thud of her body and groans of pain attracted several monks, who rushed up to her, calling out in surprise and concern. With a sharp turn of his wings, Choejar wheeled around and shot out of sight. Yifei panted so hard that she failed to muster any words, pleading instead with her eyes.

      A monk knelt down, stroking her scaled cheek and dabbing away her tears with the front of his robe. Then he motioned for his fellow acolytes to help him carry her inside. Cloying incense wafted into her nose, yet somehow the smell soothed her.

      Inside the monastery, Yifei reverted to her human form, but regretted the change as soon as dinner was served. Much to her embarrassment, she could not handle the chopsticks, let alone use them to grip food. Until now, she forgot how much she needed her thumbs. In the end, she had to settle for eating as a dragon, plucking food from the tray with her mouth like a common animal. Rice stuck to her nose and whiskers, and she used the back of her scaled paw to meekly wipe them away. As soon as she sated her appetite, Yifei apologized for her gross lack of manners, but the abbot waved it off with a kind smile.

      "You are tired and injured, and I believe it’ll only hurt more if I ask how you came to be here. Please, stay as

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