Voidlight Rising (A Xianxia Cultivation Adventure)

There has been a Demon of Devastation in every era. The Dark Age was ruled by the Oni Prince, and it was followed by the Darkened Moon in the Heavenly Age. The Dragon of the Depths rose to prominence during the Age of Endless Summer. Finally, during the Sunfall Campaign, and the Sunset Era, the Captain of the Ghost Ship appeared from the carnage to continue spreading her wickedness in death. Though no one knows anything of Sunflare, the last of the five, now that we have entered a new era of peace, it is certain that our peace will soon be shattered by their rise. Once it does, heavens help us if any of the five meet. -A passage of The Analysis of Voidfall, by Mu Qiran

I studied Satoro up and down. His crimson eyes met mine. The oni was arrogant from the tips of his horns down to his toes and every bit in between. His clawed hands reached out for the new jar of wine, foregoing the cup altogether in favor of drinking straight from the source.

"Something wrong?" he asked, taking a swig.

"No. Nothing." I couldn't ask him directly, not here. Though our table was separate from the rest, it was not a conversation subject that I could risk being overheard by anyone.

Satoro leaned back in his seat. "You know, they say that the Darkened Moon used to run this town."

"Really?" Xinya's eyes went wide.

"So say the statues in Armillary Square," he confirmed, "what's left of 'em, anyway."

Statues…

Back when this city was Half-Moon Hearth, capital of the Lanyue kingdom, there were lots of statues of all four of the major rulers, as well as several of our chief ministers and heads of state scattered throughout the city. I hadn't been to the main square of the district yet, but if there was a statue of me there, was that how Satoro had figured it out? Was the likeness really that good after all this time?

No, that couldn't possibly be right. Since arriving in the Black City, I hadn't assumed my human form once, preferring the benefits that were brought by being a monster in a city full of yokai. Oddly enough, I stood out less as a void spirit than Lin and Xinya did as humans. Any statue of me would have featured my human form, not the one graced with chains, horns, sharp teeth, and pointed ears. I should have been completely unremarkable and unrecognizable.

So…how did he know?

"Who's your favorite character in the Legend of the Darkened Moon, Kid?" The oni's question was directed at Xinya, even though his eyes were still on me.

Xinya glanced from me to Satoro. She could sense the tension forming between us, even if she didn't know the source. I saw her crinkle her nose as she tried to come up with the right answer.

"My favorite character is the Sword Saint," she admitted sheepishly, eyes flicking in my direction.

Satoro nearly choked on his wine. He coughed several times before chuckling. "She…she's enamored with the hero when the villain sits beside her!" he muttered through his merriment. I glanced around the room. A few of the other patrons were casting wary glances our way, including one or two sketchy-looking oni, but no one seemed to hear what Satoro had said.

"I mean, you asked about the legend, Mister," Xinya protested. "Maybe the Darkened Moon is actually a really caring person and legend has misremembered him." She inched closer to me, trying to give her apologies without actually saying them. I smiled and put an arm around her shoulder.

"I think the Sword Saint is pretty cool, too," I answered. After all, I once fantasized about marrying him…if only fate had been kinder to us.

Xinya stuck out her chin and looked Satoro in the eye. "And what about your story? Who's your favorite in the book you're reading?"

Satoro's laughter subsided, and he cast a glance at the book. "Well, obviously the hero, The Princess of Ren. She deserved better than the foul, good-for-nothing beast of a Prince."

With every word he spoke, Satoro's expression darkened until he practically spit out the prince's title. I sat back on my heels, trying to understand the hatred he had for the Oni Prince.

I hardly blamed him. I spent most of the century prior to my full Ascendency working tirelessly to defeat the Oni Prince. He was a tyrant, one who ruled mercilessly but without a single thought towards the people beneath him. He was a negligent bastard who only cared about the powerful and let the rest rot beneath his heel. The Sun Queen, Sword Saint, and I had all worked together in a long campaign to lay siege to his palace, only for him to vanish without a trace before we arrived. Rumors from his court said that he killed his lover, the Princess of Ren, then left without a word.

A niggling thought began to creep into the back of my mind. Within the Five Demons of Devastation, only the Oni Prince's name was known to me. He was the only one who could call himself my senior, and if he was still around, then that made him one of the exceptionally few people in the world who could claim that honor.

What if…

I reached for Satoro's jug, ready to turn the table on his little mind game, but before I could, a black line sliced across my wrist. A jagged tally mark formed, and a vision swiftly followed.

In the vision, the windows burst inward with clouds of void smoke. Lights were snuffed, and screams filled the inn as feral void spirits entered and laid waste to everyone within. I heard Sumiko cry out Xiaolong's name, heard Lin's pained moans. As my sight cleared and the present was revealed again, I caught a final glimpse of Lin's body, which was missing half his leg and an arm, before I unraveled reality and Flashed Back.

I jerked backwards, adrenaline already shooting through me. I couldn't let Lin bleed out like that. I couldn't let him die! If he died…if he…

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Visions filled my mind unbidden, conjured by my connection to the Labyrinth. Once before it had tried to use Lin's injuries against me. This time, it had a full, vivid depiction to work with. My mind filled with images of his mangled body, and my own body winking out of existence as my anchor line to reality was shattered, my soul pulled back into the Labyrinth.

My breath quickened as I tried to fight off the Labyrinth's influence. I needed to save him. I needed to find the threat! I needed to-

"Yoru? Are you okay?" Xinya took my hand. The touch was cool, and I clung to the sound of her voice as I waded through my thoughts and back to the present moment. Just as I forced my way back to the present, where Xinya's wide violet eyes were on me and Satoro watched with a cold apathy, I heard the little girl say, "Uncle Lin! Something's wrong!"

In an instant, Lin was at my right side. He spotted the black blood dripping on the table immediately and took my hand.

"It's only one." He squeezed my shoulder. "What's coming?"

"Void spirits, a wave of them," I breathed. I described the entire scene to them, leaving out only the last part. I couldn't bring myself to speak aloud of Lin's demise. It seemed too much like tempting fate.

Satoro set his wine down and sighed. "That's a Blackout."

"A Blackout?" I asked.

"What's this about a Blackout?" Ishida was on her feet. Green and blue qi sparked in an agitated storm from her skin.

"Yoru's sensed one on the horizon," Lin explained.

Ishida pulled her ward close. "Well, he's a void spirit. I'll take his word as an early warning system."

As if on cue, the void surged in my mind and its qi tingled against my skin. The voices sang of pain and destruction, a never-ending chorus that echoed in harmony with itself.

I shook my head, forcing the voices back. I couldn't afford to be paralyzed by them.

"Everyone to the storeroom," I said. "It's more defensible than here."

Lin was the first to react. He sprinted to the door, throwing it open to check for threats. Finding none, he gestured for the others to follow.

Before anyone could take more than a step, void smoke burst through the windows, just like in my vision. The lamps sputtered and died, plunging the room into darkness. Screams followed after. In the streets, the sound of people running in terror echoed far.

"I can't see below!" Lin shouted. "I'm going to try- Aaarrggh!"

"LIN!" I cried. My limbs reacted faster than my mind could track, the void feeding into my body and empowering it.

I flew through the darkness as if I'd sprouted wings. The monster below was not the one that hurt Lin in my vision, but that didn't make it any less dangerous. As soon as the smoke began to take shape in my sight, I unleashed my qi.

A blade of silver erupted from the ground, slamming into the creature. It howled and screamed before disappearing into the smoke that sheltered it. It wasn't fatal, I knew that. But it would keep the thing at bay for a brief moment, at least. Lin was leaning against the wall, breathing heavily.

"Are you alright?" I asked, my voice shrill with panic, even in my own ears.

"It's just a scratch. I'll be fine." He gripped a hold of my chains. "We can't go down there. I don't know how it got into the cellar but it's not safe."

"It probably manifested there," I answered. "Fine. Those who can't fight, get behind the counter. The rest, we could use a hand."

Ishida shoved Xiaolong roughly behind the counter. The boy stumbled in the dark but didn't argue. One of the other patrons, a shade woman with only a small handful of ghost wisps with her, ducked down with him. I looked around for Xinya, only to find she hadn't moved at all.

"Xinya! Get over here."

She didn't answer. Her focus was elsewhere, seemingly staring at a blank patch of the wall. I bit back a swear. The void surge had caused a relapse in her fever. She was experiencing a dissociative episode. A moment later, I was at her side and lifting her by her shoulders.

"Wha?" she asked, as if suddenly jerked out of a trance. "What's going on? Where did she go?"

I let her go behind the counter. "Stay here. Xiaolong?"

"Yes, sir?" the boy answered dutifully.

"Keep her here, okay?"

He nodded. Chiho trilled in my ear before separating from my hair. It would protect the innocents, as well, and I felt much more confident in their safety under the pin's watchful gaze. Chiho didn't like violence most of the time, but that didn't mean it wasn't capable of destroying a decent chunk of the city if it wanted to. It would keep them safe.

I returned to the gathered defenders. The battle was already underway.

Ishida danced around swirling shadows as her qi wove itself between her allies, mending their wounds. A tether of vibrant qi connected her to a glowing sapling that grew from the corner of the counter. Whenever the shadows connected with her, a pulse of qi stretched along the tether to protect her from harm.

Next to her, Lin's skin glowed with veins like bark as he adapted to the void qi in the air. A nearby spirit snarled at him. It was roughly the shape and size of a horse…if said horse had claws instead of hooves and a thirst for blood instead of grass. Its eyes were twin pits of pitch black, yet I could see the glimmer of malice, even in the darkness.

"I'm with you!" I shouted to him, rushing to his side.

The horse monster lunged forward, teeth bared for Lin's throat. He held firm, raising an arm to block the creature's bite. Its teeth wrapped around his forearm, but his skin was unpierced. The wood qi that flowed through him glowed, reinforcing his body as it analyzed every aspect of his attacker's qi.

With the monster distracted, I darted in. Twin blades of moonlight erupted from the ground, piercing its flanks from either side. It screeched and swiped at Lin with a claw. The force of the blow overwhelmed his defenses, sending him spinning. As he whipped back around, a handful of glowing green seeds flew from his hand, piercing the spirit's form and causing it to blur around the edges.

"Are you alright?" I called.

He nodded. "I'll be fine!"

Gripping my chains, I whipped the glowing length of lunar steel at the monster. It passed through the creature's form, but it was enough to turn the creature's focus to me. It snarled and stamped its feet on the ground.

"Pain…death…destroy!" The void voices rang clearly through my mind.

"This is a sanctuary!" I shouted. "Your destruction and pain are not welcome here!"

Another handful of glowing seeds flew through the air. At the same moment, I summoned a disc of crescent light to my hand. I hurled it at the horse monster. It lunged forward, teeth bared. The disc sliced through it in the same moment as its form was riddled with holes from the seeds. It stumbled but continued.

I tried slipping to the side, but the void spirit twisted its neck at an impossible angle, latching onto my arm and digging vicious teeth into my skin. I gritted my teeth.

"Hurting… I take! Give qi!!" The predatory horse squeezed its jaws. I felt a thread of its qi reaching through its teeth, trying to pull at my own through the wound.

Vibrant green flashed in the dark as dozens of seeds flourished into a tangle of vines which climbed upward. The spirit thrashed, trying to stamp the vines out, but they continued to grow, unaffected by the qi of its attacks. The vines wrapped around its claws, then into its flesh. Without skin to stop them, the vines spread through the creature like weeds, and soon it was covered in them.

In a bid of desperation, it tried to pull more fervently at my qi. I gritted my teeth.

"You want qi, then take some of this!"

Qi poured from my hand in a mix of void and moonlight that swirled together until the blue-silver glow of voidlight filled the room. The corrosive power ripped through the spirit, banishing the darkness in which it sought refuge. It screamed as its form was ripped to shreds and eaten by the vines.

Lin was at my side in an instant. "You should have let me keep its attention. You're bleeding."

"You are, too," I snapped back.

A wave of turquoise emanated through the room. Ishida's qi sank into our injuries, stitching them back together.

"That's all of them, for now!" she called. "The next wave will be here soon! Everyone, make ready!"