In the time we’d taken to deliberate and prepare, things had gotten worse in the city. I’d expected that, although the extent of it took me aback. From up close, I could see the damage the city had taken better.

It was arguably not that much for a city in the middle of a war. But this one hadn’t come under siege, and it fared even worse than many of the cities we had actually conquered. Smoke rose up from several fires, debris was strewn in a dark spot, and the snow hadn’t been cleared from some of the streets, making for icy slush and slippery footing for low-tier citizens. Few people were out, but I could sense them huddling together in several buildings and what might have been underground bunkers.

Our soldiers were suitably careful as they advanced into the city. We’d managed to bring down the outer walls pretty easily, but I didn’t have any illusions about that being the hard part. The city was built in several terraces, and the outer walls had clearly not been expected to stand up to much in the last few centuries before the war. There were a few huts outside, though their inhabitants appeared to have fled, but most of the city’s poor quarters were actually inside them, from what I could tell. A qi shield still covered the inner walls. If we had to, we’d send out planes and elites to take that down.

“My lady, let’s move,” Aston spoke up.

I nodded and started walking, resisting the urge to complain at how closely he and the other guards crowded me. I’d resolved to follow his instructions here, so I let him chivvy me up the street and further into the city in the route he thought best. The rear guard of soldiers followed behind us, with Elia and the others forming a second clump surrounded by guards that loosely intermingled with Aston’s main detail.

It didn’t take us long to encounter the first signs of resistance. I narrowed my eyes and cycled some qi to them, trying to pierce the haze hanging over the city, as I saw the telltale flashes of qi in use. A few people were fighting some streets up ahead, around what looked like an old compound built of stone. They were maybe in the fourth or fifth stages, not too powerful, and it didn’t seem like an organized battle. Street fighting? In these conditions? Great. That’s just what we need, several factions all thrown together and trying to beat each other.

A squad of Imperial soldiers advanced on them. Most of the fighters turned to flee, though a few tried to take shots at the soldiers. An Imperial in the later part of the fifth stage put an end to that with a fireball just contained enough to spare the surrounding buildings. I frowned to myself. Now they were dead, hard to get information from. But I didn’t say anything. My own soldiers’ safety took priority, and especially with cultivators, putting someone down without killing them was always risky, even if you weren’t in an inherently precarious situation.

Yarani slid into place beside me. I noticed her tense bearing and the way she kept one hand always hovering close to where she had a blade sheathed. I gave her a small smile, but didn’t say anything. We continued walking, while I stretched my senses to try to get a better idea of what was going on around us.

“Aston, how are things looking?” I asked after a few minutes. We were still close to the outskirts, moving carefully and far more slowly than we could have.

“Our forces have advanced along all planned routes, my lady,” he answered promptly. “Resistance encountered has only been sporadic so far. However, there seems to be a higher concentration of fighters to the north, so the going might become harder there. We are here also coming up on what might be a base for one faction. We don’t have a close-up view of the temple yet, and so far the situation around it seems unchanged.”

I nodded. “Thanks. Let’s get a move on, then.”

The soldiers pressed more closely together as we moved farther into the city, into a part full of byzantine little crossroads and curving streets. It was pretty clean and the houses seemed to be in good repair, or had been before the recent unrest, anyway. Like the rest of the city, they were mostly deserted. A few of our soldiers rose higher into the air on their flying swords in order to get a good view of everything, though they stayed low enough that they didn’t present much of a target.

Then I started to sense other people, and what seemed like far too suddenly, we came upon them. Aston raised his hand, I halted, and I stared for a moment. They wore no armor, but clothing expensive enough that I wouldn’t want to take it into a fight where it could get damaged. A few of them had stayed almost unnaturally clean, but most of their fancy clothing was decorated with dust, rips and tears, and a bit of blood.

“Halt,” one of them cried, gripping his sword more tightly. None of them were above the sixth stage, obviously no match for us. By the way they held themselves, they knew that.

“Identify yourselves,” Aston called.

They hesitated, then the same man spoke up again. “We serve the Liado. And you - you’re Imperials, aren’t you?”

I frowned slightly. According to our most recent information, House Liado was loosely allied with House Siranum, whose growing faction we wanted to win. More or less. Killing these people here would be a little counterproductive, not to mention wasting some of our strength.

“We are,” I answered. “If you surrender and let us pass without issue, we don’t need to fight.”

They exchanged looks and spoke in low voices, with a bit of qi shielding their conversation. After less than a minute, they relaxed their stances and started to shuffle aside.

“We’ve heard there’s something shady going on at the temple,” I said. “What can you tell us about that? We’ll try to deal with it before it becomes a problem for the whole city.”

The leader glanced at one of the others, then turned back to me. “Yes, the priests have been acting strangely for a while. None of us were there, so we can’t tell you any details and I don’t know how accurate our information is, though. Though from the sounds of it, I suppose you want to head that way quickly.”

I nodded. “I understand. Then what can you tell me?”

“The temple has been walled off from the rest of the world somehow,” he said slowly. “No one is sure how, but it doesn’t seem like a lot of qi was used, so it has to be a very sophisticated technique. There have also been rumors about the Storm. Clouds are gathering over it. They say his qi is rising, building up to something.”

“I’ve heard this is happening in other temples,” another woman cut in. The leader shot her a look, but she ignored him.

I frowned. That didn’t sound good. “Alright. I see. Thank you for your cooperation.”

We started moving again. The soldiers pressed closer together and the guards put up shields of qi around me and my companions. But no one stopped to try to apprehend the Zarian fighters. Clearly, they all realized that we had bigger fish to fry right now.

I didn’t go so far as to contact the rest of our forces and arrange safe passage, though. Chances were they’d run into other Imperial strike teams, and they could try to deal with them then. Hopefully, the Zarian would be smart enough to surrender quickly. I didn’t think they posed much of a threat to the Imperial forces, at least, and I’d gotten what I needed from them.

We moved on from the district into another one leading right up to the inner walls. Here, the houses grew bigger, rising in large complexes dotted with windows, flower boxes hanging from the occasional balcony, while the streets seemed narrower than before. The street leading to the gate was designed to zigzag back and forth. We were just moving onto the last stretch when more presences popped up to my qi senses.

I tensed, but after a moment, I realized that Aston didn’t show any reaction. Frowning, I glanced around. Then the half-dozen people came into sight, crouched on the roof of one of the smallest buildings.

“Welcome,” one of them called down to us. They wore a hood and the voice was slightly muffled, so I couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman. “We’re glad to see you arrive.”

I glanced at Tenira, then Elia, raising an eyebrow, and received a slight nod, before I turned back to them. “We do our best,” I called. “How’s the situation?”

“Crazy,” the Zarian answered. After a moment, the hooded figure jumped down and landed on the street before the first guards, apparently unbothered by their vigilant postures and weapons. “House Siranum has established a stronghold further in, to the northeast. Several other families have pooled their resources and are clashing with them, with their biggest base to the northwest close to the docks. Then there’s the Temple. Lately, weaker spirits have taken to the streets outside it. They don’t go far, but they don’t like people getting too close to them. This has forced the fighting between the noble factions to detour to the north and south of the temple, and both sides are probing into the temple quarter, anyway. We’re keeping an eye on everything, but we don’t have nearly enough fighters to get involved in any of this. Then there’s the various other families and unaligned cultivators, doing the spirits know what, in most cases.”

I raised an eyebrow. I was glad the Basement had found us so quickly and could tell us this much, at least. “Thank you. What are these others after?”

The Basement representative shrugged. “Don’t know. Some are just using the opportunity to settle old grudges. Some might be trying to wait and throw their lot in with whoever wins. I think a few have ideas of fighting the Empire, or spying on it.”

“I see. Well, you’ve helped us a lot. I appreciate it.”

“Of course.” They inclined their head. “We’ll give you a few guides that should help you find your way. The rest of us will disperse and keep gathering information. I’m sending most of the low tiers out of the city, though. This is no good for them.”

“Naturally,” I agreed with a smile, pretending I didn’t see the hidden challenge in their eyes. I was pretty sure I was talking to a man by now, but who knew. “We’ll get them out through the routes we’ve already cleared. If your people agree, they’d be very helpful with evacuating other low tier people in the city, too.”

The Basement leader gave a short bow. “Of course, Princess.”

The leader quickly exchanged a few sentences with his companions, and then the group disbanded. Two of them joined us on the street, and one of them pointed the way up ahead to the city gate. The army had just taken the qi shield covering it down, and the door was broken open.

We moved more quickly now, in part because the streets widened and there was less damage visible. Still, I could sense various cultivators in the city, and I knew that while we were trying to stay unobtrusive, we couldn’t hide our presence completely, either. A few of the elites accompanying us spread out farther now. A few times I sensed them engaging with other cultivators. Lone fighters, clearly, the type the Basement member had talked about.

Those fights went well enough for my side. One time, it lasted long enough for two other elites to get there, and I could see and hear their clash even from several streets away. When that one was finished, one of the soldiers stumbled back with her left arm dangling limply and her side covered in blood. But one of the healers fixed her up quickly and she fell back to form part of the rear guard.

Off in the distance, I could sense what had to be Siranum’s forces. “Let’s go left here,” I said to Aston. “We can circle around with that street, then cut northward over there. That should help us avoid them.”

“As you say, my lady. Li, fall in!”

Aston vanished for a few moments to coordinate with the elites, then returned to lead the way down the street I had indicated. Pieces of rubble had fallen on it, but the way was still clear enough even a cart could have passed with little trouble. We pressed onward, waited for a few seconds to let a group of several powerful cultivators pass on flying swords further ahead, then continued. I kept focused on the concentration of cultivators I could sense to the northeast.

Those on the outskirts surged towards us in a subtle but unmistakable manner. For a moment, I thought that was it. But then the motion reversed and they withdrew farther towards their base. The rest of the group did, as well. I let out the breath I’d held, forcing my muscles to untense. Maybe they saw us and decided not to court a confrontation. I shook my head. When I see Vana again, I need to bring chocolates, or wine, or something.

By now, we were nearing the center of the city, and the temple. It was actually built on the southern side of the old town, which meant we had a pretty clear path towards it. Of course, I still led the strike force using side alleys and smaller streets, where we’d be less visible, at least. I didn’t focus much on which path to take, but I knew that wouldn’t be a concern. I could also tell that my father was vaguely paying attention, but not enough that he was sending me any messages.

Then we rounded a corner and there it was. I slowed down, focusing on the veil of qi hanging in front of us. It was invisible and indistinct, less of a clear border and more like someone had splashed something around and we were just coming up on the edges.

“Well, nothing for it,” I murmured. “Stay together and stay sharp.” Then I gathered myself and advanced.

Almost immediately, we met the first spirit. It was a weak one, probably not sapient, and shaped vaguely like a big cat. It puffed itself up and hissed at us. When we didn’t turn tail and run, it gathered itself and jumped.

Aston plucked it out of the air before it could reach anyone. I sensed the qi gathering in his hands, building up, before the qi making up the spirit’s form wavered and it dissipated. A last hiss resounded, then he threw the remains, now bleeding streamers of qi, aside.

We pressed onward. I could sense other spirits watching us, but these appeared to be more cautious. None of them challenged us until the next street over. Here, two other weak spirits attacked, but my guards dispatched them quickly.

Then we crossed another alley and came to one of the main streets of the city. There, just a few hundred meters away, the temple of the Storm loomed. It was indeed almost covered in thick black clouds and an even worse sense of qi, almost like the oppressive feeling when a really strong cultivator unleashed their aura. The white walls looked washed out, and the gate seemed to tilt inward.

A roar interrupted my inspection. Another spirit jumped down from a nearby rooftop, growling at us. This one was shaped as a wolf-like monster, but with human eyes.

It sprang forward at the closest guard. The soldier twisted out of the way, sweeping his sword around. But the weapon passed harmlessly through the indistinct shape of the spirit, and it shifted forward. The solider barely managed to dodge, then used a technique to retreat.

“Wait,” I said. “Let me.”

As if it could understand me - which was possible, I didn’t know if this spirit was sentient, and considering it attacked us, I didn’t care all that much - the spirit turned towards me. I didn’t wait for it to attack, but advanced forward myself.

I dodged a swipe of its claws, then raked my own quickly grown ones through the spirit’s coat. They actually tore rents into its shape. The spirit surged forward and clamped its teeth around my shoulder.

I hissed, then tore myself free, flowing under the next attack and coming up with the spirit’s neck in my hands. It tried to break free, but I only tightened my grip, quickly healing my small injury. I shouldn’t be able to physically hold such a creature like this, but physics didn’t have much to say here. So I only increased the pressure and closed my fist.

The spirit slowly dissolved, its qi losing its structure. I drew some of it in with my next breath without really noticing what I was doing until I’d done it. That did back some suspicions I had, though. I shook my head, then turned back to the guards.

“Let’s continue,” I said. “We shouldn’t dawdle here.”

As if on cue, the clouds around the temple rumbled, and a blinding flash of lightning shot down to meet its highest spire.