Find them and deal with the problem as quickly as possible! That was what occupied Mulan's mind. The Otherworld was extraordinarily dangerous even for him, especially while he still had no effective way to resolve the trouble dogging him. Of course, he did have a few contingency plans.
"Balu, don't fall behind. If you get lost here, you won't be able to get back."
"Yes, sir!"
With Fang in hand, Mulan kept picking up speed. An Otherworld storm lay ahead, and high in the sky, something filthy seemed to be moving beyond a thin membrane.
Whoosh!
Fang shone as it traced an arc before Mulan. The arc of light swept onward, cleaving the storm and cutting a path through it.
"Caw... caw... caw..."
Out of the corners of his eyes, Mulan could vaguely make out crows flapping their wings in the storms on either side.
Mulan reminded himself that this was an illusion caused by mental interference. The Raven Queen was very far away. Although distances in the Otherworld were chaotic, the distance from here to the forest near Basman had to be staggering, perhaps even spanning numerous separate alien spaces.
Yes, the Otherworld was not necessarily continuous either. Demons had their own patterns and ranges of activity. These alien spaces could, of course, be breached; they were more like individual regions within the Otherworld influenced by particular powers.
Still, the appearance of the crows made Mulan even less willing to let his guard down.
"Caw..."
A crow suddenly burst from the storm and shot past Mulan like a sword. With a tearing hiss, it sliced open a patch of shadow within the storm.
"Aaagh!"
A piercing scream came from that corner, followed by a series of eruptions, like cold water poured into boiling oil.
Mulan paid no attention to