The drudge floated above Wei Shi Seisha’s head as she put the binding into the weapon.

Her chains clinked on the ground as she shifted her feet, her limbs getting tired. She had expected the chains to be halfsilver, but the school needed the prisoners to be able to use their madra.

Guards walked the perimeter of the dark room, watching over the captives. Seisha continued her work as one of the guards walked past her, his head covered in red bandages.

She had been working for three years in the Heaven’s Glory School Soulsmith foundry, chained to the table. Making weapons for the school.

All around, other Soulsmith prisoners worked in the foundry.

Almost a million people lived in Sacred Valley, with the Wei clan having over a hundred thousand of the people there. Some of the prisoners here were from the Wei clan, others from the Li and Kazan clan. Most were individuals who belonged to no major clans.

Unlike many in Wei clan, her hair was brown, matching the Kazan clan. It was now short and tied back, looking like frayed string. She had bags under her eyes, a cut snaked up her chin from an attempted escape, and her frail fingers were slightly bruised.

Seisha made sure to shed no tears. She was a hardened woman, never allowing herself to give her guards the satisfaction of knowing they had gotten to her. It was harder on some days, especially when she thought about her family. Wei Shi Jaran had been blinded for her as they had resisted arrest by the Heaven’s Glory School officials. They had coming to the Wei clan, claiming they were looking for a girl whom they referred to as the Sword Sage’s disciple. Apparently, she had killed many of the school Elders. They had said that the Unsouled Lindon had taken the Sword Sage’s disciple home.

It had been a lie.

Her son, Lindon, was dead. She was sure of it.

They just wanted to take their revenge on the rest of his family. Ire made Seisha’s fingers quiver as she worked on the Soulsmith weapon. The memories brought back a fire that burned in her heart, but she controlled it. She had to if she didn’t want to be killed. One day, she had to escape. One day, she would reunite with her husband and her daughter Kelsa again.

As Seisha worked she accidentally cut her finger. She watched her blood well up, remembering how bloody Jaran’s face had been after having his eyes removed. When the officials had come to the Wei clan, the Patriarch Sairus had given up Jaran, Seisha, and Kelsa without hesitation.

She hoped her family was doing well. She knew in her heart they were alive. Jaran would never give up. And Kelsa was a good girl. Strong and fierce. The two of them were both survivors. They were fine.

“Hurry up.”

A guard sneered at her as he walked past.

Kelsa ignored him, biting her tongue. As she attempted to finish Forging the weapon, she communicated with her drudge. It was a rusty brown mechanical fish, a construct made of Forged madra that helped her in Soulsmithing. It whistled as antennas waved from its head, measuring the madra she was working with.

The lights flickered.

Mother.

Seisha jerked around, hitting the table and making a loud noise as she looked for the source of the voice. Some of the guards looked over at her.

Mother, don’t freak out. It’s me, Kelsa.

Seisha’s eyes widened, and she slowly pretended everything was normal, not wanting to draw attention to herself. Some of the guards laughed, but they turned away from her.

Kelsa, what is this?

It’s a long story. Look, I’m going to help break you out. I brought some friends along to help me.

What? No Kelsa, this is suicide! You aren’t even Jade! Stay far away and forget about me! Kelsa, I’m serious. Kelsa, I swear if you proceed with this, I will alert the school! Do not throw your life away for me!

In five minutes, a young man is going to pass by your table, continued Kelsa as if her mother hadn’t spoken. He ‘s the fellow with red bandages covering his face. That one with the long spear.

Seisha looked around, noticing the guard immediately. He was a new guard, today being his first day.

His name is Jai Long. He’s sneaking in as a Heaven’s Glory guard. In five minutes, I’ll be making a distraction. He will help break you out. I don’t want to hear any excuses from you.

Seisha closed her eyes, struggling to compose herself.

You are crazy, you know that.

I love you.

Seisha smiled, tears slipping down, the lights flickering again. It caused some of the guards to look up in confusion.

Crazy girl….Tell me, how’s your father?

Kelsa hesitated. He doesn’t know about this. But we can talk about the smile that’s about to crack open his face when we’re back.

The flickering lights began to grow in intensity.

Seisha looked up, frowning. Everyone else stopped what they were doing and looked up at the ceiling, their drudges glancing up as well.

Seisha’s drudge began to fly around like a toy fish, detecting a build up of a strange madra in the ceiling.

It wasn’t White Fox madra.

Is that you, Kelsa?

The man known as Jai Long had his spear out, looking up at the ceiling. He turned to Kelsa, his hold on his spear tightening.

What?! No, that isn’t me…..

Well something is coming, and its coming in quick—

The ceiling exploded as two sacred artists burst through.

In that second, Jai Long acted.

He appeared next to Seisha, his spear flashing out with a strange white madra as he slashed her chains off. Seisha gasped as he picked her up on his shoulder, her drudge making whistling noises as it protested.

“Sorry about that.”

He dashed out of the room just as the chains that had been cuffing her ankles clanged against the floor, running before the debris had finished breaking away from the ceiling.

As Seisha looked up from his shoulder, she caught sight of the two culprits who had crashed through the ceiling.

They landed in the middle of the room, debris raining down. A thin beam of moonlight surrounded them in a pillar, their expression haughty. Many of the prisoners all around were unable to Enforce themselves, and they were killed by the heavy rocks dropping.

When the smoke lifted, the Remnants of the dead floated in the air. In the dark, their ethereal light revealed the two armored figures clearly.

The boy wore what look like Forged gray madra.

The girl held a long scythe, glowing green at the tip.

***

Five Minutes Earlier

The Heaven’s Glory School had a room where their Jade Elders would meet and discuss with their leader, the Grand Elder.

The meeting room had reed mats on the floor with walls made of orus woods. Cushions were laid out the room, where each Heaven’s Glory elder would be able to sit and sip their tea.

Currently, the Jade Elders were not sitting but were all laying on the ground, their blood spreading into the wood. Their Remnants had already been taken care of.

The only Elder still alive was Rahm, who writhed on the floor, holding his bleeding neck.

The Grand Elder, the most powerful Jade and leader of the Heaven’s Glory School, shoved his hand forward as the Striker technique shot out: the Heaven’s Lance technique.

The Heaven’s Glory madra splashed harmless against the boy’s armor as he walked forward like a tank. His thin armor looked to be of Soulsmith work, layered with dark gray madra. Flashes of bright silver and dull yellow shone beneath the seams of each layer. In his hands he held two swords that dripped with blood. As the boy came closer, he dismissed his helmet, revealing his face. It shown with an eager flushed face.

The boy had introduced himself as Prince Seishen Daji, having crashed into their meeting and dismembering limbs without wasting any time.

His partner was behind him, a girl with a green scythe, making sure everyone was dead.

Daji’s swords crackled with lightning, making the blood on his blades sputter and pop. The iron smell hit the Grand Elder, making him feel sick.

Behind the Grand Elder, a Jade from the Wei clan cowered behind. He was an elderly man who was visiting the school asking for supplies. He should not have been here.

Daji pushed the Grand Elder away, who hit the wall and slid to the ground.

“Wei clan,” smiled Daji.

The elderly man held up his hands. “Wait, wait! Don’t do this to me!”

Daji stared at him. He lifted one blade.

Daji turned the blade away from the old man, pointing to the right.

The sword flashed out, elongating.

The old man appeared out of thin air, screaming as he held his missing hand. He had been using the Fox Mirror technique to create a clone of himself while he had hidden away.

Daji turned to the old man and pushed him into the wall, sneering in the old man’s face.

“Tell me now. Where. Is. Wei. Shi. Lindon.” Every time he spoke, he gripped a different limb, cracking the bone. It ended when Daji smashed his foot into the man’s ankle, snapping it.

The old man cried out.

“STOP, PLEASE. PLEASE!”

“ANSWER THE QUESTION!” Daji roared, spit flying from his mouth. “If you don’t know, think! Use that brain of yours, you filthy scum.”

The old man groaned as he thought for his life. “The Unsouled? He’s dead. I swear, I know nothing!”

Daji lifted his sword, shaking his head.

“So weak. This is just pitiful.”

“Please don’t kill me,” he began to beg. “Please.”

Daji shoved him away. “Don’t touch me.”

With a slash of his sword, the old man spoke no more.

“This is a member of the Wei clan? You’ve got to be joking!”

The Grand Elder began to shake as he watched, his eyes wide.

This boy had just destroyed a group of the most powerful Jades in all of Sacred Valley.

Daji moseyed over to the Grand Elder, kicking one of the dead elders out of his way. The Grand Elder moaned, recognizing his friend Anses.

“If you don’t want to end up like the old timer, tell us what we want to know.”

Daji brought his sword to the Grand Elder’s chest, his eyes shining in delight.

“I don’t know anything about where the Unsouled is.”

Daji made a noise of annoyance as he moved the head to the side, his face contorting in anger.

Crack!

The noise came from behind Daji.

The Grand Elder looked over, noticing Elder Rahm had stood up and tried to attack the girl that was with Daji.

Meira causally backhanded Elder Rahm into the wall, and the wall began to collapse.

She carelessly waved her green scythe in Rahm’s direction without looking over.

“Wait, wait!”

Rahm’s voice died out as her scythe passed through his neck. It had a long wooden shaft, the blade made of green life-fire. As it passed through his neck, the life died from his eyes. His head remained connected, but his life aura was snuffed out.

He fell to the ground, dead. He left no Remnant.

As Meira completed the movement, her armor glinted in the candlelight. Her armor was smooth, having sleek polished wooden plates that shone green underneath. A chestnut-colored helmet covered her hair, the inside of the helmet glowing green. When she turned to the Grand Elder, her eyes held no life.

“Kill him, Daji. He knows nothing.”

Her dead words filled the Grand Elder with fear. This girl scared him more than the boy.

Daji sighed. “These brutes are more stupid than I thought. Guess we’ll have to do this the hard way and beat the truth out of everyone we meet.”

“Wait, wait! Wei Shi Lindon, right?”

The Grand Elder sat up, licking his lips.

“Yes, I recognize that name. He joined our school almost three years ago. But he betrayed us and left with the Sword Sage’s disciple, killing my men. I want him just as dead as you do.”

The girl’s face turned angry.

“Is Yerin here too?”

Her eyes caused the Grand Elder to whimper silently.

“They both escaped from what I know, leaving Sacred Valley. But I have his mother imprisoned! Wei Shi Seisha is working in our Soulsmith foundry!”

He bowed his head, swallowing his pride. “Please don’t kill me. I can show you where the foundry is. Please. We have been searching for Lindon’s family, trying to capture those traitors. His father Jaran and his sister Kelsa is in hiding. I can help you find them!”

The boy picked up the Grand Elder by his neck, his nose inches from him.

“Show me.”

***

Present Time

Jai Long felt the power of the two Underlords as he ran out of the Soulsmith foundry.

They looked like royalty, their armor looking like it cost a fortune.

The boy held the Grand Elder by the neck, his body bleeding and broken from crashing through the ceiling.

The Grand Elder pointed at them, looking at Seisha. “There! That woman!”

The girl smiled coldly. “They’re mine, Daji.”

Her voice was calm and emotionless, having no life to it.

Jai Long cursed. Having been at Sacred Valley, he was now reduced to the power of a Jade. He would be not match for these Underlords, who must have just arrived here.

He had barely made it to the steps of the door when the girl landed in front of him. She seemed to float through the air, landing silent as a ghost. Her scythe rested on her shoulder, the green bonfire blade hanging over her head like a crescent moon.

“Stop.”

Jai Long called upon his Stellar Spear madra. He began his Forger technique: the Serpent’s Shadow. It trailed ribbons of white light. The snakes were brought to life as he swung his spear, of wave of snakes shooting out. They bit into the girl’s skin, but they did not penetrate her skin.

At the same time, he shot a Star Lance through the roof, causing a piece of the ceiling to begin to fall in chunks. He began to cycle the Flowing Starlight: his Enforcer technique. Lines of white light began to cover his skin in loops, preparing his body for intense speeds.

Jai Long moved to the side to dodge the girl’s lazy swing of her scythe, holding onto Seisha and sprinting onto the debris of the ceiling as he climbed up to the hole in the ceiling.

“KELSA!” He roared.

He had barely started running up the debris when the armored boy appeared in front of him, glowering like a bad-tempered wolf.

“I believe Meira told you to stop.”

Jai Long tried to raise his spear, but the armored boy calmly caught the spear. He broke it in in his armored hand, the spearhead flipping in the air. The boy snatched the spearhead out of the air, his movements looking like he was doing this while he was sleeping. He stabbed the steel head through each of Jai Long’s limbs, ending with a stab through the heart.

Jai Long coughed blood from his mouth and stained his bandages, Seisha falling from his shoulder. Meira jumped up from underneath to catch Seisha.

Daji grabbed Jai Long’s face, his metal glove expanding to the size of a shield. With his enlarged fingers, he crushed Jai Long’s face into a bloody pulp.

Jai Long and Seisha vanished in White Fox madra. The blood on Daji’s glove evaporated into purple and white light, the illusion fading away.

The boy and girl landed on the ground, looking around.

“Dream and light madra,” said Meira. “Path of the White Fox. It’s the signature of the Wei clan.”

The boy gave a malicious sneer. “Figures Lindon comes from a family of cowards. C’mon Meira, let’s go hunting.”

***

Samara’s Ring shone in the night, providing light for all of Sacred Valley.

It crowned Mount Samara, disappearing at sunrise and appearing at sundown. Its light aura allowed the Heaven’s Glory School practitioners to power their techniques. Legends said it was built by an expert centuries ago, and that one of the Heaven’s Glory School founders was a sacred beast who had achieved Gold. The dragon was said to have golden scales and breathe light and heat. The legends continued to say that the founder was still buried beneath Mount Samara, ready to defend the school in its hour of need.

The Ancestor Tomb rested underneath Samara’s Ring, on the edge of a snowy cliff. It was a big square building with huge columns and a stone mural of four beasts. It had previously been destroyed in the fight between Yerin and the Sword Sage Remnant three years ago. But, mysteriously, the tomb had rebuilt itself without explanation. Some said it had something to do with the mysterious labyrinth it was connected to.

According to the Heaven’s Glory school, the Grand Patriarch of their school was entombed there.

It was there on the steps of the Ancestor’s Tomb that Jai Long met up with Orthos.

“What happened,” growled the dragon-turtle. He stood on the steps, his shell glowing red.

He had wanted to help rescue Seisha, but Jai Long had agreed to go only if Orthos stayed behind with his sister.

Jai Long lowered Seisha on the snow. She was shaking, but she composed herself

She bowed her head. “This one thanks you for rescuing me.”

Orthos snorted. “This one? Not again. No need to be so formal with us.”

“Underlords arrived. Looking for Lindon.” Jai Long reported to Orthos.

“What!” Orthos stomped his feet in distress, the ground shaking slightly. “Speak! Tell me everything!”

Jai Long turned to Seisha. “Kelsa can explain when she gets here. We need to get moving now. We have Underlords…. We have some powerful sacred artists right behind us. Most likely the strongest sacred artists in all of Sacred Valley.”

Seisha frowned, her drudge flying in circles around her. “Are they Gold?”

“Not exactly. Higher than Gold.”

Seisha shook her head. “There is nothing higher than Gold. I don’t know how you know my daughter, but I believe you when you say we’re in danger.”

“We must head into the labyrinth,” said Jai Long. “It’s our only chance at defeating the Underlords.”

“Hey don’t ignore me,” said Orthos. He let out smoke from his shell. He bent down to take a bite of the stone steps in agitation, but the stone was too hard for him to break.

“Gah, I hate being Jade.”

“Oh, what happened!”

The doors of the Ancestor’s Tomb opened as a young girl stepped out. She was a small and pale, soft black hair tumbling past her shoulders. In her arms she held a white furry animal, which was currently curled up and sleeping.

She ran to Jai Long, hugging him.

“Thank goodness you’re safe.”

She then turned to Kelsa, smiling. “It’s a pleasure to meet Lindon and Kelsa’s mother.”

Seisha paled. “Lindon… you know my son as well? Is he still alive?!”

The girl looked flustered. “Oh, as far as I’m aware!”

As Seisha took the news, the girl turned to her brother.

“What about Lindon? Did you say Underlords were looking for him?”

The girl wore a power-blue robe that was cut longer and was looser than traditional sacred artist robes. Her sleeves hid her hands.

Jai Chen, his sister.

In her arms, her animal woke up. It let out a yawn, its tails wiggling as it looked around with jet-black eyes sleepily. It climbed onto Jai Chen’s shoulder.

It was a small furry snowfox with five tails.

A miniature baby Elder Whisper, a living Forged creation that mewed and clawed at her hair, its little tails wagging as it played.

Jai Long put his hand on her back, lightly pushing her back into the Ancestor’s Tomb.

“I don’t know they’re looking for Lindon. I just caught their first names. There’s a girl named Meira and a boy names Daji. Looked like royalty. The girl seems to practice some sort of life path from what I sensed of her. The boy has some sort of earth and force aspect, I am not sure. He was well armored.”

The night sky flashed with a small green light.

Seisha looked back, her breath hanging in a mist in the wind. “What was that?”

“Questions later. Run now.”

Orthos reached the Ancestor’s Tomb’s door, pushing it open.

“The labyrinth entrance is open.” Jai Long continued. “We can hide in there once they arrive.”

Jai Long knew they would not survive there without help. He needed Kelsa to be here now. As he opened the doors, he looked out the snow, knowing danger was close.

“Chen, you need to tell Kelsa to hurry—”

Meira appeared next to Orthos in a spray of wind and snow.

Seisha’s hair rustled back as she turned around.

“WATCH OUT!”

The Underlady tapped Seisha behind the neck, knocking Seisha out.

As she fell, Meira caught the unconscious woman on her shoulder. Meira turned and her left foot smashed into Jai Long’s chest, firing him backwards through the snowflakes. A green scythe slashed into Orthos’s side.

Orthos’s spirt had been reinforced by the Spirit Well in Ghostwater, and her life madra was unable to hack through his lifeline.

As the air lit up with green embers and blowing snow, he turned to the Underlady, biting down on Meira’s armored arm. She flicked her arm up so that her hand grabbed his top jaw and her elbow caught his bottom jaw. She began to shove her arm in, opening his mouth more. She opened his mouth with her strength, cracking it open with a spray of blood until Orthos cried out in pain.

Dragon’s breath shot out.

She kicked him back, slashing at his underbelly with her scythe. She bent backwards to avoid the Blackflame Striker technique.

Jai Long shot a Star Lance, but she blocked with the wooden shaft of her scythe. The Star Lance bounding off and hit the Ancestor’s Tomb, the stone cracking. The building had deteriorated ever since being rebuilt, no longer impenetrable.

Orthos sprung with Burning Cloak as he skidded backwards, his eyes closed from the pain of Meira’s attack. He turned around as Meira ran forward, his tail swinging for her. Meira jumped over his tail, landing next to him as the snow shifted away from her in a wave.

She kicked the side of his shell and he slid into a mound of snow. Before he finished sliding, Meira appeared next to him again and slashed upwards as if to cut his head off.

Orthos withdrew his head inside the shell as the scythe-blade missed his head, launching a dragon’s breath from inside his shell.

Meira caught the stream with the flat of her scythe, swinging the bottom of her scythe up. The shaft of her scythe hit Orthos under his shell and flipped him up into the air like a coin. She jumped up to slash his soft underbelly, but Jai Chen dashed into the snow.

Orthos, move to your left!

Orthos shot a burst of Blackflame, the force of it shooting him to the left as Meira’s scythe missed him.

Meira landed on the snow, looking at Jai Chen.

The girl looked back fearlessly as she formed a technique in her hands. It was a finger-sized worm of pink-white light. It was like a tiny dragon, looking like a painting come to life.

A tiny Remnant.

Ever since absorbing the blend of madra with the Archstone when she had killed Jai Daishou, she had gained Eithan’s bloodline ability, having to expend madra to use it.

The Remnant dragons allowed her to see with Eithan’s ability. Elder Whisper had Forged her a baby copy of himself so that she could communicate with people in their minds while she predicted the actions of their opponents.

The Forged baby fox hissed on her shoulder, swiping at Meira as if it could reach her from its position on Jai Chen’s shoulder.

Jai Long and Orthos landed in front of Jai Chen, ready to defend her.

“Don’t touch her,” Jai Long said in a cold voice.

A flash of silver glinted in the moonlight above the Underlady, and an armored Underlord landed next to her, sending a wave of snow blasting into the air in a ring.

Daji smiled, wearing no helmet. He smashed his swords together.

“You are all so dead.”

Jai Long’s spear began to glow with Stellar Spear madra. He was just a Jade, but no matter what, he would not let his sister be hurt.

Meira took off her helmet, shaking out her hair. Seisha remained on her shoulder hanging limply.

“Wei Shi Lindon.”

She couldn’t be older than twenty-years-old. She had gray hair with pink flowers growing out. In her hand was a wooden shaft with her venomous green scythe of madra shining and causing the snow around her to melt and steam.

“Tell us where he is, and you may live.”

“Even if we did know, we aren’t telling you nothing,” growled Orthos.

Meira sighed as she rested her helmet on the snow. She swept her scythe out, the scythe-blade of green fire roaring in the wind, lighting up the snowflakes falling around her in a green tinge. It cast her smile in an emerald shadow.

“Good. I wanted to kill you all.”

Jai Long prepared his Star Lance. “Try me.”

Orthos laughed. He lowered his head as he prepared himself. “I’ve faced worse odds.”

Orthos opened his mouth, preparing a dragon’s breath. Jai Long prepared the Flowing Starlight as it slid across his body.

Daji banished his right sword as if saying he didn’t need it, conjuring his helmet.

“Meira, you’ve had your fun.” He spoke through his helmet, his voice muffled.

She looked disappointed, angling her green scythe down. “I’ll give you a minute with them. I’ll clean up after you.”

Orthos roared as he let out his dragon’s breath.

Daji appeared in front of Orthos, his fist punching inside of Orthos’s mouth. Orthos let out a muffled grunt as Daji’s fist blocked the dragon’s breath, and it exploded in Orthos’s mouth.

Orthos was blasted backwards, his eyes closed in pain as smoke blew from his mouth.

A mass of Forged snakes shot out from Jai Long’s spear, intermixed with Star Lances. They hit Daji in an avalanche. Snow shot into the air from the attack, covering the sky in a white blanket. Jai Long focused the Star Lance on his spear as the tip glowed white, stabbing into the bare ground below. The ground exploded out, chunks of rock and snow blasting upwards. Under cover, he dashed for Orthos.

Daji caught up to him, running alongside him. He had dismissed his helmet, showing his angry face.

“Is this really the best you got?”

Jai Long shouted out as Daji’s sword crackled with lightning and slashed into his side.

Jai Long rolled into the air, his left side blown out.

Daji jumped after him, punching him back into the air before he hit the snow. Jai Long flew in an arc in the air, catching sight of an owl flying past him. As gravity pulled him back down, Daji was waiting for him, readying his sword.

Jai Long grabbed his spear and stabbed it into the snow as he hit the ground, his body never touching the snow. He balanced on the spear as Daji’s blade was inches from his face. The Jai outcast swung around his spear with snake-like reflexes, sliding under the sword.

Jai Long’s mouth unhinged like a snake and tore through his red bandages, biting down on Daji’s face. Daji jumped back, his face twisting in disgust.

“You are one ugly freak.”

Jai Long landed, taking his spear out of the ground.

His bottom jaw sprouted glowing white fangs and his skin was pale blue. It was the Goldsign from the serpentine Remnant he had taken in to save his sister. It had twisted his face, reshaping his jaw, and when he opened his mouth he looked like a nightmare. Since being turned to Jade, he hoped his Goldsign would vanish. But it had remained permanent, never leaving. It was a small price to pay for his sister’s life.

“I owe Lindon a favor for saving my sister. Saving his home should fulfill it.”

Daji summoned his second sword and rested both his swords on his shoulders. “I’ll make sure to kill your sister… or better yet, how about I make you watch!”

He turned around, smiling as he looked at Jai Chen. She had been looking at her brother with hurt and worry, but when Daji turned she cried out, stepping backwards.

“NO!”

Jai Long screamed as he landed in front of Jai Chen.

Daji whooped as he smashed both his swords down, calling upon his Path of the Steel Guardian. Filled with Steel Guardian madra, Daji activated the Titan’s Blade. It was a versatile Forger technique that would enlarge any weapon. His swords flooded with madra, quadrupling the size of the weapon in condensed madra, extending its reach. It smashed down onto Jai Long and his sister.

“Take this!” Daji roared, spittle flying out.

The ground was blasted away, cracks shattering the ground with a howl that split the whistling wind. It reached the Ancestor’s Tomb, the building shaking. When the cracks reached Daji, he remained steady even as the ground shifted under him. He activated his Mountainroot Iron body, which increased his weight and kept him earth-bound. It always made him stable and heavy, but when he poured madra into it, he would be able to withstand even a team of rampaging horses trying to pull him off his feet.

Daji released his Forger technique, his swords returning to normal size. Where Jai Long and his sister had stood, there was only empty space.

“Yeah! How do you like that!” He screamed. “There’s more where that came fro—"

Orthos collided into him from the side, the Burning Cloak surrounding his body in a black and red flame.

Daji stayed still thanks to his Mountainroot Iron body, not moving as Orthos stopped and slid down to the ground as if Daji was a wall.

Daji rested on his foot on Orthos’s shell. He pressed his weight down, and Orthos roared out in pain as his shell began to crack.

“Don’t think you can touch me. I’m royalty you stupid turtle.”

Prince Daji brought his sword up, about to split the turtle in half.

“Your shell will make a fine collection for my armor.”

The air behind him flashed with purple light.

Daji turned around, expecting to see Jai Long.

Instead, he was met with two jet-black eyes and a white snarling face.

The giant snowfox roared, wind and foxfire frothing from its mouth as it slammed into him.

Daji formed a dome of force and earth around him, forming a slit all around the shield. It allowed him to swing his swords out in a circle and execute the Titan’s Blade. As the two giant Forged swords spun around, they hit the fox and crackled with blue lightning.

The fox dissolved away into madra. An illusion.

Daji released the shield, a circle of blue lightning still spinning around him. That too faded away as he looked back down to Orthos.

The turtle was gone.

Daji looked again for Jai Long and his sister. He only saw the destroyed ground that showed cracks leading to the deep dark depths of the earth.

“Where are you hiding!” He shouted in frustration. “Come out and die with honor!”

A snowball hit the back of his head.

He turned around slowly, his face bright red.

Meira appeared next to him, still holding onto Seisha. She pointed with her scythe. Daji turned to look at the Ancestor’s Tomb roof.

The full moon floated above in a giant orb, its craters visible.

There, outlined against the white full moon, she stood.

A girl in white robes with long black hair rested on top of the Ancestor’s tomb.

She stared down with visible anger, the cold wind matching her eyes. Her eyebrows were drawn tight, her nose crinkling as she glared. She rested one hand on the forehead of a large white snowfox next to her. The sacred white fox had five tails that swirled in the wind behind it, looking down gravely in a snarl.

Wei Shi Kelsa blazed with the power of a Truegold, matching her contracted partner: Elder Whisper.

“Get. Out. Of. My. Home.”

Kelsa glowered down at Daji, who smirked. He had no trouble seeing her face with his Underlord eyes.

“You must be Wei Shi Kelsa. We’ve heard about you. If you really are Lindon’s sister, I can’t wait for him to find out what remains of you after I kill you.”

Kelsa breathed deeply, able to stay Truegold due to her bond with Elder Whisper. She had advanced to Truegold in Elder’s Whisper tower, where the drainage effect of Sacred Valley could not reach. The sacred fox had secretly been Truegold this whole time, protected by his tower.

Now, outside of the tower’s protection, they only had a couple of hours before they were reduced to the power of a Jade.

“Come down here. Let me rip you apart.” Daji smiled evilly, clashing his swords together in sparks. ‘C’mon. LETS GO!”

Kelsa grabbed her white robes and tore it off. It glided above her, snatched by the wind. It revealed her second set of robes underneath, these ones slimmer and patterned with purple foxes. She cracked her knuckles, purple and white light starting to shine from her eyes.

Orthos stepped out behind Kelsa, having been rescued by her under cover of White Fox madra. “Kelsa, these are Underlords.”

Kelsa cocked her head. “How far are they above a Truegold in power?”

Orthos growled. “One stage…. But If Lindon survived against them, there is hope.”

Daji laughed. “Oh, I can’t wait to carve the truth into your body, you stupid turtle. I’ll deliver your head personally to Lindon. You’re all going to be screaming in pain when I’m done with you! I’ll rip and tear until nothing is—”

Kelsa threw another snowball, this one hitting his mouth.

As Daji sputtered, Meira smiled. “You will suffer for what Lindon did to Kiro. Your whole village will burn to the ground. I will not rest until everyone here is dead.”

Kelsa turned to Meira, her eyes widening in anger and glowing purple and white under her swirling black hair. “Try that, and I swear I’ll kill you.”

Meira cracked her neck and put on her helmet, lifting her scythe up. “Let’s see who’s talking once this is over.”

Seisha rested on her shoulder, but Kelsa didn’t seem worried. Wary, Meira turned to Seisha. She flipped the woman into the air and smashed her into the snow, her scythe slashing across Seisha’s neck.

The illusion burst away.

Meira looked up, and the real Seisha appeared next to Kelsa.

“When?” The Underlady whispered.

Kelsa didn’t answer, cycling her White Fox madra as her body was outlined in purple and white madra.

Daji was fuming, his shoulders going up and down. “C’mon! Let’s do this thing already!”

He jumped up to Kelsa, screaming as he Forged two Titans Blade and smashed them onto her.

Kelsa’s Fox Mirror technique blew away, the Forged illusions revealing empty air. Daji had not jumped to the Ancestor’s Tomb. He had jumped off the cliff.

As Daji fell through the air, he stabbed into the cliff with his sword, slowing his fall. Gripping his swords, he used them to stab into the rock, climbing upwards. He had barely reached the top when a white brilliance blinded him.

Jai Long stabbed him in the face with a Star Lance, but Daji punched the attack aside. Jai Long turned into a snake before his eyes, his body turning to white scales under the illusion. The albino snake curled around Daji, its mouth dripping with saliva as its entire mouth opening to swallow him whole.

Daji caught the snake by the fangs, screaming back at the snake. He ripped its face in half, blood flying in arcs. Daji blasted the remains of the illusion away with a jet of Guardian Steel madra.

Jai Chen was revealed standing in front of him, looking terrified.

The Ruler technique of his armor activated; it called upon the yellow madra seeping into the earth. The ground around Jai Chen formed long walls of compact soil and snow. It caged her in, and he smiled as he prepared to jump in.

Elder Whisper appeared above him, touching his nose against the back of Daji’s head. Foxfire flared out, and Daji screamed as he crashed into the ground, the pain of foxfire feeling like he was being burned alive.

But he was an Underlord, and his soulfire combated against the sensation.

Whisper landed in front of him, his five tails swinging up and smashing Daji under his chin. Daji caught one of the tails in his hand, but the snowfox slipped away and Whisper hit him from the side, another burst of foxfire making Daji scream as skidded sideways.

Jai Chen ran at him, her body morphing away to reveal she was Kelsa in disguise.

The Truegold cast a dome of foxfire surrounding Daji. The Underlord crashed through the fire and grabbed her by the throat.

“YOU’RE DEAD YOU PIECE OF—”

A second Kelsa appeared next to him and punched him in the face.

Daji barley managed to summon his helmet as her fist hit metal.

The Fox Mirror clone he had been choking vanished as he turned his attention to the second Kelsa.

Daji shot a spear of gray a madra at her, and it stabbed into her face, spraying blood as it exited out the back of her head. Or at least that was what it seemed.

As the image of Kelsa fading away, a third Kelsa peeled away in a mirror copy of herself, sliding through the snow. She came up to Daji and kicked him under the chin, a burst of foxfire shooting out of her sole. Daji was lifted into the air, and three more Kelsa’s appeared one after another in a chain reaction like an echo, kicking him higher and higher. Every time a clone faded, another clone peeled away and continued the assault.

At the same time Whisper hit him from behind.

Daji activated his Mountainroot Iron body, and he fell to the ground with a loud crash. The original Kelsa backflipped away, her hands pushing off from the snow as she dodged Daji’s kick. She landed back on her feet only for Daji’s boot to smash at her face. She brought her forearm up to block and was blasted into the snow as her breath escaped her.

He swung both swords, his blades lengthening with the Titan’s Blade.

Kelsa slipped under his blade, pushing it away with the flat of her hand as it almost bit into her shoulder. She rolled in the snow, throwing a wave of snow that under White Fox madra turned to an illusion of white bats. Daji walked through the illusion, sliding his swords around him in a circle.

Kelsa and Whisper jumped back, pulling as if they held an invisible rope.

Suddenly, lines of Forged foxfire materialized in the air.

Elder Whisper held one end in his teeth, pulling back. Kelsa held the other end, pulling back. The strings wrapped around Daji, and they exploded with foxfire. The explosions rose in the air, spiraling around Daji and shrieking like firecrackers as they formed giant foxes made of purple and white fire. They dove down into him as their jaws bit into him, filling him with a burning sensation that felt like his skin was being stripped away.

Daji fought against the sensation, his armor blazing with madra as he tore through the attack like a tank.

All around him, the Fox Dream Ruler technique began to activate.

He saw snowy arms began to lift themselves from all around him. The ground shifted under him, and he was suddenly falling down a cliff. Below him, a giant snowman looked up at him. Its coal eyes glinted as it opened its mouth, revealing a pitch-black hole about to swallow him up.

Daji shot blue lightning through the illusion, reappearing back on solid ground as Whisper and Kelsa stabbed him with Forged foxfire blades. Kelsa held a long sword that pierced into his neck. Whisper held a sword in each tail as he stabbed into each of Daji’s limbs, one piercing into his heart.

They had burned through his armor while he had been momentarily caught in the Ruler technique.

Daji closed his eyes, anger running through him.

His spirit pulsed, fighting back against their Truegold madra.

These Truegolds were playing him like a fool. He was an Underlord. It was time to show these idiots who they were messing with.

As Whisper opened his mouth, a ball of foxfire began to form. Daji whirled around, clasping Whisper’s mouth shut with one hand and swinging his sword down to cut off the fox’s head. As expected, it was a clone.

The real Whisper appeared next to him out of thin air and fired the blast of foxfire as the clone fox disappeared.

Daji had already begun his Ruler technique, and walls of earth rose around him, protecting him from the purple and white flames. He screamed and the walls of earth shot out from him, shoving against the snow as they slammed against the wind and fire, pushing out.

He glared through the snowstorm, his breath leaving fog in the air. He was starting to get very, very angry.

***

Jai Long poured madra into his spear until the spear tip glowed white; this was the second Enforcer technique of the Path of the Stellar Spear: The Star’s Edge. It Enforced his weapon.

As the spear stabbed forward, it left behind a white line in the air like the end of a shooting star.

Meira brushed the attack aside. Her scythe flashed green in Jai Long’s vision.

Jai Long blocked her scythe, but it shot him backwards with a loud crack. Meira came in to attack him in the air. Orthos jumped in to block the worst of her scythe, his body tanking through her attacks thanks to the Life Well reinforcing his lifeline.

Jai Chen spoke to them telepathically, helping them avoid the worst of the attacks. Seisha added in her Path of the White Fox, helping conceal their movements. At the moment, any help was appreciated.

Meira slashed down on Jai Long’s foot, feinting. Jai Long stepped backwards as she slammed her wooden shaft against Jai Long’s chest to knock him back. She slashed Orthos’s claw away behind her before spinning around and kicking away the turtle in the underbelly.

As the two Jades were blown back, Meira turned to Jai Long.

She walked up to the cringing Jade, snow falling all around from the shockwaves.

The Underlady pressed her leg against his chest as he lay against the wall of the Ancestor’s Tomb. He stared at her, pieces of his red bandages still clinging to his face. She pushed lightly with her leg, and green light flared from her leg.

The force launched Jai Long. He shot through the Ancestor Tomb, bursting through the walls. He then burst through the ceiling and into the air, towards Samara’s Ring.

He fired a Star Lance, but she appeared in the air in front of him. She stood on a tall pink flower, having grown it in less than a second.

Standing on the flower, she raised her hand, which were covered in emerald madra leaves.

His spear had just begun to glow white when her hand grasped the spearhead. The Star Lance exploded against her emerald-clad hand, the madra blocking out his attack as it dispersed. She ripped his spear away, and stabbed Jai Long in the chest.

With her scythe, she cut him in half, severing his life aura.

Meira jumped off the flower, which was now revealing its teeth hidden in the petals.

As she landed on the ground, Jai Long fell limply in the snow. The carnivorous flower dove down, biting onto Jai Long’s chest. Jai Chen screamed for her brother.

On the ground, Meira turned as Orthos poured a bar of Blackflame. Meira raised her hand. Leaves of green madra covered her hand, the edges burning with soulfire. It blocked the dragon’s breath like a shield as Orthos charged at her.

As the dragon’s breath ran out, Meira lowered her hand, ducking under Orthos’s claws. Kneeling on the snow, she looked up, swinging her scythe up at Orthos’s neck.

The scene around her began to wipe away like water swirling down a drain.

Fox Dream, she thought.

A whirl of watercolors rolled around her, and she jumped, tearing through the Fox Dream Ruler technique as she shot up 100 feet.

Her head hit the ceiling.

Meira landed back on the stone floor, turning around. The impact had not hurt her Underlady head, and the ceiling was unblemished.

She was not outside the Ancestor’s Tomb.

She was inside a room.

As she looked around, she noted it did not look like the Ancestor Tomb. Her senses told her it was an underground complex maze, bigger than she could sense.

A labyrinth.

Kelsa had led her right into the labyrinth without Meira noticing.

She extended her senses upwards, and found Daji was fighting….alone. He was trapped in Kelsa’s Ruler technique, Fox Dream, believing he was fighting his opponents.

She spun her scythe, the flame-blade thrumming in the air, waiting for someone to come out.

This place felt greedy, and she began to get anxious. She could sense treasures in the maze, and they called to her. Meira itched to go and grab them, to steal everything she could.

She hungered for it.

Meira extended her life aura, trying a perception technique. The hunger aura in the room began to suck away her technique.

Meira could feel hunger aura all around, and she knew any technique she tried would be absorbed by this labyrinth, carried to its….. source, whatever that was.

She began to run through the room, trying to find an exit. It was lined with vines and plant life. The walls were made of white bricks. Tiny ponds and fountains dotted the stone floor, the room bigger than the entire Heaven’s Glory School. Above, bats were screeching, glaring at her with red eyes.

She poured a barrier of life madra around the room, covering the outer layer of the room, reinforcing it with soulfire. It began to be absorbed away, but it would hold for a couple of minutes. The hunger aura would still limit her, but the barrier would allow Meira to use her techniques without it instantly blowing away.

Footsteps thudded behind her.

Meira stopped and turned around slowly, smiling.

Kelsa walked out, her white robes patterned with purple foxes. The foxes seemed to be moving, turning their eyes to Meira. Seisha and Elder Whisper joined behind her.

Kelsa punched her fist into her palm, smiling.

Meira noticed something glinting around their necks. She looked closer.

Whisper, Seisha, and Kelsa all wore halfsilver badges.

***

Daji screamed as he realized he was still trapped in an illusion. Breaking out of the Ruler technique, he turned to the Ancestor’s Tomb. Snow blasted from his feet as he shot forward, reaching the doors. He crashed through the doors with a punch, landing with a crouch inside.

He looked around, taking in his surroundings.

There were as many pillars inside as there were outside. On the ceiling there was a mural of the four Dreadgods locked in battle. There was the Weeping Dragon, a blue serpentine dragon on a thunderstorm. The Bleeding Phoenix, a blazing red phoenix. The Wandering Titan, a warrior with the shell of a tortoise. The Silent King, a crowned white tiger.

In the back of the room an ornate door stood as the entrance to the labyrinth. It was slightly cracked open. Daji recognized Meira’s work. It appeared she had slashed through and followed Kelsa inside the labyrinth, possibly tricked to go inside.

But Daji paid no mind to the royal garden servant.

In the center of the room, Jai Long and Orthos were tending their wounds.

When Daji came in, they both stood up. Jai Chen stepped back, looking worried.

Daji breathed heavily, staring at them for a moment.

“Stop running!”

Jai Long leaned on Orthos. He had almost been killed by Meira, but thanks to Whisper’s Fox Dream, he had slipped away before Meira had mortally wounded him.

Whisper had gone to the labyrinth, saying there was a treasure hidden there that could help them survive. Kelsa and Seisha had gone along with him, Meira following under the spell of the Fox Dream.

Daji walked forward, his swords scraping the ground as he swaggered forward. “Come at me all at once.”

Orthos began to laugh. “You speak like a dragon.” His eyes narrowed. “But… you are no dragon.”

Jai Chen closed her eyes, and a giant pink dragon streamed out of her body, coiling in the air above her.

Jai Long prepared to die standing on his feet, Orthos right next to him.

They would never back down.

He turned to Jai Chen, who looked at him with wide eyes.

Go, he mouthed.

Jai Chen shook her head, wiping her tears away. Her white fox stood on her head, making whining sounds.

As temping as that sounds brother, you can’t get rid of me that easily. I will always stay with you.

Jai Long turned to Daji, cycling Stellar Spear madra.

Orthos ignited with the Burning Cloak, shaking the blood from his body.

As Daji came closer, Jai Long found his mind coming to a certain Blackflame boy.

“Lindon…. if he were here, what would he say?”

He didn’t know why he was thinking about Lindon. Maybe it was the hopeless situation they were in now. That crazy kid never gave up, always willing to fight to protect those he loved. No matter how desperate everything was. He was always getting into trouble.

“What would Lindon say?” Orthos repeated.

He stood up proudly, blazing fire and destruction. The Blackflame turtle, a descendant of the black dragons and of the ancient Blackflame empire, growled as Daji roared at them, lightning flashing from his swords.

“The Dragon Advances.”

Together, Jai Long and Orthos advanced on Daji.

END OF PART 1