The Last Dahlia

038

She sighed loudly, earning a sideways glance from her companion.

"If you like, we can come back to these mountains and build a little sanctuary up at one of the peaks, like Horanjit," he said. "Spend the days admiring the scenery, enjoying the peace, maybe indulge in a little sparring from time to time."

Yuehwa smiled. It sounded wonderful, to be able to retreat to such a pocket of serenity and forget about all the troubles of reality. But she had enough sense to know that it was only a dream.

"Sure." Maybe in our next lifetimes. "Do you really think that the same forces of dark magic that had plagued the lands back during the rule of Wudi are making a resurgence?" she asked, changing the topic to one that was more befitting of their current identities, the identities that would keep them shackled away from the beautiful scene that Shoya had just described.

He fell silent for a moment, then said, "I think there is a possibility, yes. I don't know much about what happened back then, so I will need to check the royal archives once we leave, but if my memory serves me correctly, dark magic mysteriously disappeared in the early years of the founding of the five kingdoms, not long after the new rulers outlawed its practise. One possibility is that the authorities managed to eradicate all of them, but what is more likely is that the survivors went into hiding."

They went into hiding, waiting for the right moment to resurface and take their revenge against those who had sought to have them destroyed.

Yuehwa recalled the shadows that inhabited the suits of bronze armour and the blood red swirls in the crystal pendant that Shoya had placed against her brother's skin, evidence of of the sinister forces simmering beneath the surface. Her fingers clenched tightly by her side, the rage and grief of losing her closest kin once again overwhelming her mind.

Shoya placed his hand around hers, slowly prying her closed fist open.

"Don't worry. We'll get to the bottom of things and deliver the justice that your brother deserves," he said, entwining their fingers.

"You have your own battle to fight, Shoya. You don't have to fight mine as well."

It was odd, having Shoya talk about them as "we", as if they had always been this way. A pair. A unit. And that she had not merely been a convenient part of his plan to reclaim his birthright. She had tried forgetting that, but found that it was easier said than done. The thought still lingered at the back of her mind, emerging every now and then to remind her of their circumstances, of how she was never sure what his intentions were, and what was going on inside his mind.

Even if he was Hwang Nanzhe reborn, she was certain she was not his Wan Jue.

He said nothing in response, simply turning his gaze back towards the night sky. She took it to mean that he accepted what she had said, as he should. Theirs was an alliance of mutual benefit, not anything more.

A loud explosion suddenly rang out, shaking the peace and serenity of their surroundings. Yuehwa sat up, turning her head towards the direction of the sound. Black smoke had started issuing from one of the rock faces.

The duo exchanged a glance, then swiftly leapt back down to the ground and hid themselves behind a half-fallen wall.

A man emerged from the hole that had been blown through the rock, coughing loudly.

A soldier, dressed in Gi armour.

His scanned the area warily, then he turned back and pulled a second man out through the hole, struggling to bear the latter's weight.

Ru Fei had been right after all and Baixun had indeed sent his men through the Tangshan Pass, possibly with the intention of finding the lost treasure of the first king of Feng. However, something seemed off.