Ward of Storms

CHAPTER NINE

A gold sheer enveloped Rui, and suspended her from falling before taking control and lifting her to the sky. The light radiated a halo that pierced the night. With her eyes glowing she turned to Fenglei with a look of anger and spit. It was as if Rui was watching from another perspective without any control of what was happening, but—"Fenglei!" Xinrui cried through her voice, taking her body back. A golden spear materialized from the air, and Xinrui sliced the nearest shade in two. With a shriek, it dissipated into nothingness and Xinrui seethed with anger.

Fenglei froze, his face twitching, his heart caught in his throat. "Xinrui! Don't!"

"How dare you!" she shouted. "You will stop this at once and surrender yourself for judgment!"

"I can't do that," he replied. Quickly, he snapped his fingers and the shades shrieked around them. "Secure her! If she disrupts the ceremony her soul will be shattered!"

"I cannot let you do this!" she retorted, lunging at him with a downward thrust. The spear clashed against the blackened sword, which caught and deflected the spear's force. In the swift readjust, Fenglei captured the hilt and aimed it at her. The black blade shimmered with an oil that leaked and radiated the same evil that escaped him in waves.

"Be still," he retorted. Lashing out, his violent movement matched by her graceful moves. As if echoing each other techniques, the spear and blade met each time with a crack. Fenglei did not fight to hurt her, though he attempted to capture and restrain her in a way that delayed and staggered his reactions. Every strike calculated, every riposte maneuvered with elegance and ferocity, sending the two into an array of fluid movements. Their dance was one of fear and catching blades, as loud as thunder and resonating sparks that tickled the skin on her forearm.

A crash of lightning raged, and Xinrui glanced briefly to see the qilin stampeding towards her through the air, light striking at the shades that'd escaped. The static in his hair billowed in the wind as he charged in the storms around him, a harbinger of power that buzzed through her entire being.

Xinrui smiled, catching another blade. "Surrender Fenglei!" she ordered, prideful at every thrash of her spear. Fenglei took a hit, his arm sliced, and a splatter of red that did not reach Xinrui's golden gown. Holding her spear down, she settled on a formation suspended from the ground as Fenglei rolled across the grass.

He stilled. A sudden fear clutched at her chest. "Idiot," she thought, rushing towards him and grabbing his shoulder. "Fenglei!" she called to him, and he attacked as she rolled him to his back, casting a spell that threw a jet javelin at her chest. She recoiled in time for it to miss, flying backward away from him. Taking advantage of her distraction, a shade wrapped around her neck from her blind spot, latching itself and shrieking in dismay.

Fenglei panicked, "Do not let her disrupt the summon!"

Xinrui struggled with the fiend, dragged down to the earth by the creature. Out of nowhere, a spark of light incinerated the shadow, and Xinrui found her arms free once again. Only one person she knew could cast such a perfect formation, her father. He flew above the battlefield of shades alongside the others from San Pujian. A numb sensation shot up to her elbow in a pain that seized her movements, but she pivoted to destroy two more spirits that came from behind her.

Her father and his student launched a synchronized assault on the evil shades, their formations perfectly timed to the pulsing rhythms of the darkness. Suddenly, Master Jianyu ascended, his hands fluttering so rapidly they left blurs in their wake, conjuring an immense cube of shimmering energy. Chains of brilliant red and pure white burst from the cube's edges, ensnaring and immobilizing all the shades within. Each link glinted like a fiery comet trail, locking into place with a series of sharp clinks that echoed through the air. As she looked up, Xinrui couldn't help but smile at the dazzling spectacle unfolding above her—a maelstrom of glimmering lights and vibrant colors, far surpassing any display of fireworks, each movement leaving behind trails of stars in the night sky.