Yin stretched his paws out in front of him, extending and retracting his sharp claws. In the clouds around him, his brothers and sisters still napped peacefully. He twitched his tail in agitation. His spirit was being tugged on by a rather persistent summoner. Yin looked up to the stars in search of the year. He had only managed to fall asleep about three hundred years ago. Humans were notoriously disrespectful of beauty sleep, but this was absurd. Yin gave in to the summons and allowed his spirit to be pulled in by the summoner.

Yin materialized in what had to be the poorest excuse for a summoner’s circle he had ever seen. It was fairly basic, simply meant to hold the spirit long enough for the summoner to strike a deal. It wasn’t easy to mess up, but every novice mistake that could have been made was. The lines of the runes were misshapen, and the circle was uneven and broken in one spot. That drew Yin’s eye immediately. It was a miracle this circle had even worked, it certainly wouldn’t be able to hold him if he decided to turn on his summoner. Yin considered killing the summoner so that he could resume his nap, but curiosity stopped him. What in the world could make a summoner behave so recklessly?

A little boy in robes that were about three times his size stepped out of the shadows. He was sniffling and covered in dried tears and snot. The hair on Yin’s back stood on end. He hated children, they always tried to pull his tail. Still, at least now he knew why the summoner had acted so idiotically reckless. He was simply horribly inexperienced.

Yin sighed deeply. He was thousands of years old and knew himself well enough to realize that he wouldn’t be able to kill a child without feeling remorseful about it for days. Still, maybe he could scare the thing to its senses.

He maneuvered through the break in the circle easily enough and stalked towards the child gracefully, letting his spirit swell with every step until he towered over the boy. “Aren’t you a little young to be summoning your death?” He purred at the child threateningly.
“Y-you have life magick, not death magick.” Much to Yin’s satisfaction, the boy only barely managed to choke out his retort.
“It’s true that my magick breathes the gift of life, but what do you imagine my claws do?” Yin flexed his paws and pierced the ground beneath him to emphasize his point. “It isn’t wise to play with forces beyond your control little one. Particularly those that you clearly do not understand.”
“I had to! I need your help!” Yin frowned. The child didn’t sound frightened anymore. Whatever he was after was lending him a great deal of resolve. That piqued Yin’s interest. Resolve in humans left them open to all sorts of interesting trades. Maybe this deal would be worth being woken up for after all.
“And if I offer you my help, little morsel, what is it you will offer in return?” Yin leaned in closely to the human, eager for his anwer.

But instead of answering, the human threw something at him that he had been hiding in the sleeve of his over-sized robes. The ring expanded to fly over Yin’s head, and then retracted to fit perfectly around his neck, faster than even a feral spirit could dodge. Yin yowled in anger. He had thought the last of the spirit binding collars had been found and destroyed a millennia ago. How had this simpering runt gotten ahold of one? Yin’s tail flicked back and forth, his back arched and his claws extended. “That was extremely foolish. I am not a mere mewling house cat. I will not be bound by the likes of you!” He hovered over the child menacingly.
“You can’t hurt me! Not with that on.”
“I’m very aware of that fact you insolent pest. Make your request. As per the magic cast over this collar, I can’t refuse. But the collar will relinquish its hold after I fulfill your menial demand, and I’m afraid we both already know that your pathetic attempt at a summoner’s circle can’t hold me. You’ve offered yourself up to serve as a violent reminder to humans. When summoning a feral spirit, you make deals not demands.” Yin expected the boy to cower, cry, show some sign that he understood the gravity of his crime. Instead, he squared his shoulders and jutted out his chin defiantly.
“None of that matters! I only need you to do one thing, and then I don’t care what you do to me. You have to save my mother!”

Yin followed the boy through the woods to a modest cottage. Walking was entirely too time consuming for his taste, he wondered how the humans managed. He compressed the size of his spirit so that he could fit inside comfortably. There was a woman on the bed, obviously very near death. Humans were such predictable little creatures. It wasn’t uncommon for feral spirits to get this kind of request. Humans claimed to love life, but they had very little respect for the fact that it ultimately ended. Yin regarded the boy coldly. Humans had such a pitiably simple understanding of life and death. Most saw life as good and death as bad, but that wasn't true. Both had their place. But humans, in their selfishness, were always trying to cheat death.

Yin closed his eyes and inspected the threads of fate attached to this woman. Some humans could be saved from death without it truly causing any harm. One thread of fate was severed, and so their life simply followed a different one. But this woman had only one thread left. She was meant to die today. Yin opened his mouth to explain as much to the boy, but was cut off. “I know about the threads of fate already. The elders warned me. That’s why I summoned you and used that collar. so you couldn’t say no.” Tears ran down the boy’s face. Yin's fur stood on end. He had to tread carefully. This boy’s foolishness had the potential to cause great harm to more than just himself. Yin tried to steady his voice.
“You don’t know. You haven't lived through reality splitting apart so that fate can rewrite itself. But I have, many times. Every time the universe gets darker, more unbalanced. Your mother would be the center of that chaos. Don’t ask this of me.”
“It’s you that doesn’t know!" The boy yelled back "I can’t live without her. I’m sorry. Really and truly, I am.” The boy looked at Yin sadly for a moment before casting his spell. “Feral Spirit Yin! By the power of the binding collar, I command you! Save my mother!”

Yin stood over the woman. He touched his forehead to hers and let life flow out of his spirit and into her dying body. Color returned to her cheeks and her breathing calmed. Her eyes slowly fluttered open, but Yin couldn’t bring himself to meet them. His magick would undoubtedly cause nothing but pain for this woman in the end. The collar broke apart and fell to the ground. Yin let his spirit fade out of the small cottage and float back to his cloud. He decided to leave the boy alive. Whatever dark new future formed because of his demand, that would be punishment enough.

Front of the card:

Feral Spirits harness the breath of life. But be wary in your dealings with these reclusive beings. Remember, always request, never demand.

This is my entry for the Steem Monsters contest found here:
https://steemit.com/contest/@steemmonsters/steem-monsters-common-card-fantasy-story-contest-week-4