Hm, let's have the update then.
***
A Parting with the Ashina
Against your own better judgement, you circle around behind the woman in black. She is strong enough to defeat Huluzi in a few moves. She should be much stronger than you are. Perhaps it would be too much to hope that she would hold back against a boy in combat.
You breathe in deeply.
Your vision narrows.
A mistake could mean the difference between life and death, but you feel strangely calm.
Your breathing is composed. Slow. Just like Huluzi taught you. Step by step, you move towards the woman’s back.
She is stretching her hand towards Yunzi. That obnoxious girl, on the other hand, is babbling loudly in Tujue and making a point not to look behind the woman. Yunzi has probably noticed your approach.
Three more steps.
The woman whirls around to face you, though you are sure that you have done nothing to give your presence away. It looks like your skill isn’t good enough after all. It’s do or die now - there’s no going back. You leap the last three steps, thrusting your short sword at your opponent.
Your burst of speed in that three steps is enough to catch her by surprise, as she cannot do much more than dodge. The point of your blade catches the cloth covering her face as she spins away. Her mask is torn off.
The woman underneath the mask does not seem that much older than you - she looks to be in her early twenties. Her features are beautiful but cold and cruel, marred only by a large red patch of skin that runs from under her right eye to her jaw. Her expression twists into one of hateful anger - you seem to be getting that a lot from females lately - as she jumps at you. You are not fast enough to escape her.
The woman’s palm smashes into your chest. The pain is intense, radiating from the point of impact like thorns digging their way into your body. Blood wells up in your throat and mouth, causing you to choke. You feel yourself, but the pain has been replaced by numbness throughout your body. Your fingers fumble and drop your sword. Through the paralyzing haze, you can see the woman standing over you. There is a puzzled expression on her exquisite face as she glances at her palm.
“Are you not the boy I killed when we came in?” she asks, but your tongue refuses to reply. “No matter. I will kill you before you can grow up to break a woman’s heart.” Frowning, she raises her hand to deliver the finishing strike.
Yunzi latches onto the woman’s raised arm and bites into it.
She screams, attempting to shake off the Ashina princess. The woman lands a few good blows on Yunzi, but none with that strange palm technique she used on you. Even when blood begins trickling down the girl’s face, she refuses to let go, continuously attempting to drag the woman down.
Well, you can’t let that shrew one up you. You are not losing to her again. The haze begins to clear as sensation returns to your body. Of course, the sensation is that of terrible, excruciating pain. You grit your teeth and bear with it.
You kick your foot out hard as the woman steps too close, catching her in the shin. At the same time, Yunzi lets go of her grip, taking advantage of the distraction to give a kick of her own. Her feet lodges solidly in the woman’s abdomen. Your enemy staggers backwards, black cloth trailing in front of her. Taking advantage of the respite, you clamber to your feet, grabbing your short sword as you do so. Your knees are shaking, feeling like they are about to give out at any moment.
“That is impossible!” cries the woman as she sees you back on your feet. “No man has ever survived a second consecutive strike from my palm!”
“He is no man!” retorts Yunzi, a bit too eagerly you think.
“I would like it if you didn’t impugn my manhood on my behalf,” you offer weakly, still too dizzy to be too indignant about her veiled insult.
“Is there anything there to impugn?” she shrugs.
Suddenly, the woman laughs loudly, a crude, unhinged sound that is at odds with her beautiful appearance. “I see! I see it clearly now! My dear sister in misfortune, you have already been taken in by this boy. Young as he may be, he has deceived you with his silvery tongue. This will only end in tears, I know the pattern all too well! All men betray. I will do you a favour and kill him right now. You will thank me for it when you realize what foul intents he had.”
Her eyes are wild and steeped in hate as she focuses on you, projecting some sort of misplaced anger about wrongs long past onto your innocent self. Yunzi has been taken in by you? Is the woman blind and deaf, or is she just mad? Mad or not, however, she is a formidable opponent. Even though you are standing more than ten paces away from her, the woman’s killing intent is unmistakable. You will not last a second against her in a straight fight, one on one. The sharpness of her intentions clears your head, however. That, at least, is a good thing.
“Huluzi taught you the Yinglang Step, didn’t he?” whispers Yunzi. “Follow my lead.”
“Is that an order?” you ask.
“No, just a suggestion,” she replies with a tone that implies she’ll happily watch me rot in the hells if I don’t accept her suggestion.
“Then you can follow my lead.” You compose yourself and run towards the woman first, ignoring the complaints of your creaking body. You can hear Yunzi cursing behind you. The woman’s face twists gleefully as she prepares to strike at the silly boy coming straight at her.
You recall what Huluzi attempted earlier.
Crouching down low, you dart to the right at the very last moment. As the woman turns to follow you, Yunzi dashes to the left, having shadowed your steps closely. She immediately begins unleashing a flurry of attacks. The woman blocks her strikes expertly - Yunzi’s Langya Fist is nowhere near Huluzi’s level in strength and speed, and she dealt with that easily - but in that brief instant she is forced to take her eyes off you.
Your sword flashes in a deadly arc. Unfortunately, the woman retracts her left arm at the moment she sees your swing begin - that is the only thing that prevents you from taking that limb off at the shoulder. You draw blood, the tip of your blade opening a gash in her upper arm. Grimacing, she bends her elbow and strikes at your sword hand like a snake - her fingers jab into the back of your palm. This causes your hand to open reflexively, dropping the sword.
At the same time, the woman’s right arm breaks past the princess’s attacks and reaches out for her throat. You react instantly and pivot on one foot, swivelling around so that you can grab Yunzi’s waist-sash. “Watch your guard, you idiot girl!” you yell as you pull her towards you, out of harm’s way. “You watch yourself, you stupid boy!” Shouting at you in a decidedly unladylike manner, Yunzi pushes you down as the woman’s palm narrowly misses your head while your back is still facing the enemy.
You feel Yunzi step onto the palm of your hand uninvited; with a push, you help her soar above the woman’s head. The woman instinctively reaches up to pull Yunzi down, but you grab her rising hand and pull, using your shoulder as leverage. As the woman’s feet lift off the ground, Yunzi lands with an acrobatic backflip and throws a rising kick that lands solidly in the small of the woman’s back, pushing her even further upwards.
You finish the combination by hurling the woman over your shoulder with all your might. Helped along by Yunzi’s kick, you should slam her into the ground with considerable force, enough to leave her dazed.
You feel the woman’s arm twist as she dislocates her own shoulder. She lands on her feet, with her limp arm still in your grasp. With a murderous smile, the woman strikes you. You feel a third palm hit you where the previous two had. This time the pain is even more intense than the last. You fly backwards, knocking Yunzi down as she gives out a short yelp. Your internal organs feel thoroughly shaken by the force of her attack - you cannot find it in you to even blink your eyelids. Yunzi tries frantically to get out from under you, but she doesn’t have any strength left to lift you up.
You cannot hear anything but a ringing in your ears. You can only watch as the woman calmly resets her dislocated arm without any change in her happy expression.
A light shower begins to fall over the camp, hissing wherever it strikes fire. You feel a vague coldness chilling you to the bone.
The woman shouts something gleefully, though she appears to be breathing rather heavily. Her posture isn’t as powerful and threatening as it was. Of course, she is still strong enough to end your life with a single blow.
You try to shift yourself again. If you’re going to die, you don’t want to die on top of that stupid scrawny girl scrabbling pointlessly under you. That would be humiliating.
Again, her palm rises.
Again, someone interferes.
Li Shun barrels into the woman shoulder first, knocking her to the ground. Your worst fears begin to materialize.
This is not good.
She grabs hold of his wrist and twists it - you see his arm bend at an unnatural angle.
This is not good at all.
Your life is meant to be burnt away to make Shun’s journey brighter. If he dies, you will be devoid of meaning in the eyes of the Emperor. If he dies, all that is left for you would be to get yourself fitted for a coffin to accompany Shun to the underworld.
If that is the case, you might as well die trying to save him. One last good deed, as it were.
Your limbs twitch as you force your body back up, straining against limits that you have never noticed. Every tendon in your body convulses in agony, every nerve screaming in pain, as you push the muscles in your body to work for your own selfish desires.
For the third time, you rise from the woman’s attack.
She sees you standing and freezes up, disbelief and uncertainty in her eyes. Then, her gaze flickers, pointing somewhere behind you. You hear faint shouts and the sound of bowstrings drawn taut. Giving you a hateful glare, the woman jumps backwards and disappears into the darkness.
You try to take a step towards Shun, who is kneeling in the mud, but your legs refuse to move.
Is he alive?
Your question is answered a brief second later as he looks up at you and smiles, just as cheerfully as ever. Cradling his broken arm, he gets up unsteadily. Your knees give way as you sink to the cold ground in relief. You are given a start when you feel a warm but skinny back push up against your own.
“You make a lousy partner,” Yunzi mutters tiredly.
“Do they teach the Ashina to dance like bulls?” you reply, your own voice cracking and weak. You are getting sleepy as the adrenaline drains from your body. Even the pain doesn’t seem like it can keep you awake.
“Ah, this must be your renowned silvery tongue that the madwoman spoke of.” Yunzi laughs lightly, the first time you have heard her do so. Her laughter is high and clear, unlike the bellowing guffaws of her father.
“It is an impressive tongue. Are you deceived yet?” You try to taunt her intellect with as much as you can muster.
“Only in your dreams,” she bites back, with real venom in her voice.
“Did I miss something?” asks Shun as he staggers over, looking down at you and Yunzi sitting back-to-back with open amusement.
“You missed plenty, but you won’t be missing my execution. You shouldn't have come back for me. It's just a waste of your arm.” You give Shun a guilty, apologetic grin as you make a weak gesture at his arm. Shun shakes his head, “It’ll be alright. You’ll be fine.” Of course, you know that he is lying. You have allowed his royal body to be harmed - that will not be taken lightly by the Emperor. The Duke of Xiliang arrives in full armour and an escort of a dozen soldiers, his expression seething with barely restrained anger. If Shun were not the Crown Prince and future Emperor of the Tang dynasty, you think the duke would probably have screamed a furious lecture at him on the merits of not being a reckless idiot. Surprisingly, he does not even spare you, the reckless idiot, a glance.
So, that is how it is, you think.
You close your weary eyes.
The rain continues to fall.
***
You can barely move the next morning - only enough to hobble painfully and slowly. Huluzi survived, regaining consciousness once the fight was over; there are fresh pink scars all over his burnt body, and his complexion is sickly and pale, but at least he is moving about more actively than you are.
“You will always be a welcome friend at our tribe,” says Bulun as he claps both of your shoulders with his big hands. You wince in pain, finding it in yourself to still bring out a smile. “I thought I would be as good as family,” you joke.
“Oh, that comes eventually,” he whispers conspiratorially. “Once you’ve married Yunzi. No need to rush things, eh?”
Your face drops into a frown. “I am sorry, great khan, but your daughter really has no interest in marrying me. It would not work out, and I fear you would only waste your valuable time on such fanciful notions.”
Bulun’s grin widens. “Funny. That sounds just like what she said to me earlier this morning. Yunzi told me very clearly that you are not interested in her.”
“She is absolutely right. That is the only point on which we will ever agree,” you offer, in hopes that the khan will finally listen.
Bulun stares at you and sighs heavily. He looks slightly dejected. “Very well, I won’t press the issue any further. Before we part ways, there is one last thing.” He beckons to Huluzi, who walks over calmly and holds out his hand. In his palm lies a single sharp fang hanging from a woven string. There is a single symbol carved on it in Tujue script.
“A wolf’s fang,” says Huluzi. “Engraved upon it is the word for ‘sky’, the symbol of the Ashina. Keep it with you and remember that you are an eternal friend to the descendants of the wolf. Should you call, we will answer.” You accept the rare amulet gratefully, bowing your head as you do so. "Will you be alright?" asks Huluzi, his piercing gaze focused upon you knowingly. You bow your head again. "I will be fine."
You know that you will not return here again.
***
The Duke of Xiliang stands aside, letting you hobble back into the carriage painfully. He no longer looks at you in an angry and contemptuous way; now, his gaze is that of a man looking dispassionately at a dying dog by the side of the street.
You understand that you fully deserve every last bit of that look. Shun’s arm was broken. The Crown Prince’s arm was broken in attempting to rescue his companion, the boy who was to serve as both his friend and protector. Mere lashes will not suffice to express the depths of your failure. There will be a reckoning.
Of course, you could run. You could even stay with the Ashina, who would be more than pleased to shelter you. The Imperial Court would not risk their new-found allies over a foolish, incompetent servant.
But that is not what your oath allows. That is not the full measure of your loyalty.
The Emperor bought you. Shun owns you. No matter what comes, that is a fundamental truth of your being that will never change.
Duty and punishment come hand in hand. To shirk one and expect to escape the other is something you can never allow for yourself.
That is the fate you have made with your own hands.
That is the price you pay to continue living.
---PROLOGUE END---
gentleman always keeps his promises.
is back, guys!
).
