Voidlight Rising (A Xianxia Cultivation Adventure)

The mighty dragon is the greatest of creatures in this world. Calling them a spirit beast would be a woefully inaccurate description of their power and might. In truth, they are closer to the divine immortals who carved our world in history, kindred spirits to those ancient Avatars who founded cultivation as we know it today. Dragons are ethereal, beautiful, and precious. Harming one is a grave offense, the likes of which will bring the wrath of Emperors and Ascendents alike upon your head. -Kimura Kimizu, the Sage of Water

I sprinted ahead, an arrow already nocked to the string. Lin could protect himself better than Xinya could. A huge vine slammed down into the stone walkway just inches away from the little girl as she rolled herself away from the monster. Another vine swooped in from the side, trying to toss her to the side. A corrosive arrow slammed into that vine just as I reached my niece, grabbing her arm, and yanking her to her feet.

"You didn't mention anything about evil plant monsters!" she cried as we retreated away from the flailing vines.

"Let that be a lesson, then," I said. "Battlefields are chaotic places. Enemies lurk everywhere."

"I didn't expect a flower to be so eager to kill me!"

I couldn't help but chuckle. "Then it seems you need to spend more time in Ishida's garden. Plants are little more than the world's most patient monsters."

"I don't think this one is particularly patient." Xinya pointed around me at the plant monster that had come within inches of crushing her only moments ago.

The qi of my arrow was eating through the thick vine, and the damage was only made worse by the monster flailing its appendage around. With a rip, the vine completely severed and was thrown to the side and out of the light of the voidlight lanterns. A low growl seeped from the creature, and the earth began to tremble. Roots erupted from the ground like a field of spears, all streaking towards us.

I handed my bow to Xinya, taking a stable stance as I did. Qi flowed through my body, gathering in the palms of my hands. Just as the vines were a scarce few yards away, I thrust my hands forward, shoving my qi outward. The vines sizzled and recoiled as they encountered the corrosive barrier of void qi that I pushed forward.

The roots retreated into the ground, and I took back my bow. Xinya and I backed up several paces, as I examined the monster as best I could. The main mass of the creature must have been to the right of the path, but with all the plants overgrowing the once beautiful garden, it was impossible to tell how big it really was, or where its true form would be.

Moreover, we couldn't keep defending from it forever. With each technique I used, it no-doubt was adapting to my qi, just as Lin would have done. The longer the fight drew out, the weaker my qi would become against it.

A roar, followed by the scraping of metal on stone and a yelp came from behind me. With a thud, Lin landed on his back next to us. He was a little dazed and the wind was knocked out of him, but otherwise, he'd recover. I offered him a hand, which he took gratefully.

"I don't suppose you want to swap enemies," I asked. "You're the master gardener, after all."

"They're your little stone pets, after all," he agreed.

He raised a hand, and I tagged him into the fight against the plant monster. He twirled his sword once before examining the garden for himself.

"Can I help?" Xinya asked. I nodded and knelt next to the little cultivator.

"Your lightning has a long range." I pointed up at where the dragons were once again lining up for an attack. "These enemies rely on qi senses just like the lions below, but their strength comes from their numbers. If we can isolate them by confusing one and taking the other down, then we'll stand a much greater chance of success."

Xinya thought about it for only a moment before a determined smile crossed her face. "I've got just the thing. You said Star qi works on symbolism, right?" I nodded. "Great! Then they must 'see' through their eyes and noses, just like a living being."

"Then I see you've got a plan. I leave the one on the left to you."

"Consider it distracted."

"Good girl."

The dragons swooped down. I released Eclipse from its sheath, guiding it to hover a short distance off the ground near one of the stone lanterns. Calculating the timing with the help of Flash Forward, I tensed and sprinted perpendicular to the dragons' paths. I sprang first onto the top of the stone lantern, using it as a stepping stone to reach Eclipse's blade, and from there, I leapt at the right-hand dragon.

My hand grasped the rough stone of its mane just as it passed. In a flash, I'd pulled myself onto its back and had a sphere of corrosive voidlight in hand. I plunged the qi into side of the stone dragon's face. It roared and bucked, trying to relieve itself of the unwanted passenger, but I clung to it, trying to drive qi into every crack and hole I could find on its weathered surface.

The other dragon had peeled off mine after a sharp CRACK and a brilliant bolt of lavender lightning slammed into its snout. Bits of stone dust had flown in every direction, and though it wasn't enough to seriously damage it thanks to Xinya's rank, it was still more than enough to disorient the monster.

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Eclipse flew towards me, and I snatched it out of the sky before burying the blade into the stone back of the dragon. It roared and howled, but each movement only widened the cracks created by my corrosive qi.

Another flash illuminated the darkness, followed by an intense crack of thunder. More dust fell from the other dragon as Xinya's second bolt slammed into its face just below its eye. I made a note to praise her aim once I was on the ground once more.

Below, I spied Lin weaving between vines as if in a dance. His qi flowed between him and the plant as he blocked and swiped at the plant's tendrils. With each swipe, he cut the creature further back from the path.

Xinya continued distracting her dragon, firing bolts of lightning to keep its attention until it wheeled around and dove straight for her. From my perch overhead, I saw the determination in her jaw as she held her ground against the creature. Lightning sparked around her as she prepared her next strike, but there was something more to it.

Two twin threads of voidlight streaked from the dragon to the girl. For a brief moment, I thought I saw the shadows coalescing around the little girl's feet. It fused with the lightning, and when Xinya unleashed her lightning upward, it flashed in brilliant purple, with streaks of plum and silver surrounding the core of the bolt.

This time, when the bolt made contact, the dragon's snout exploded in a hail of pebbles and dust. It's roar was cut off as it pulled up and away from the little girl. Xinya wobbled, barely catching herself before losing her balance from dizziness.

I hardly blamed her. After all, that blow was far more potent than it should have been, far more destructive than anything a Bronze should have been able to achieve against even a guardian as weathered as these. She was tapped out of qi for the moment.

My dragon swerved sharply to the right, trying to throw me off. I clung to Eclipse's hilt, driving it deeper into the stone. Voidlight bathed the stone surface of the dragon, causing the stones to smoke and sizzle as holes formed and widened on its rough surface. The dragon dove to the ground, and I saw an opportunity. Xinya's dragon was still near, trying to swipe at the little girl, despite its shattered senses. Gripping Eclipse, I wrenched the blade to the side, trusting that the stone would give before the lunar steel would.

I tilted dangerously to the side as my dragon was pulled off course. Strands of Voidlight misfortune shot between the two dragons, and I yanked Eclipse from the dragon. At the last moment, I leapt from the creature's back, tumbling and landing next to Xinya.

The two dragons slammed together in a shower of broken stone dust. The momentum of the first one continued, even after the collision, sending a shower of dust and rock into the garden where Lin was still battling the plant monster.

A shriek of anger echoed through the garden as the plant monster recoiled its vines away from the path, revealing a path for us to flee.

"There! The doors!" I shouted. Lin was coughing and stumbling back from the dust cloud, but he heard my shout and turned. Snatching Xinya off the ground, I raced after him. When he shoved the doors open, I followed him inside before kicking one of the doors shut.

Finally, silence reigned. I practically collapsed against the door, the adrenaline draining from my system. Xinya rolled off me and leaned against my chest.

"I'm tired," she said simply.

"I bet you are." I pat the little girl's head. "What was that last technique you used?"

"What do you mean? It was just altered Lightning." Her eyes turned quizzically up to look at me, even as exhaustion overwhelmed her.

I shook my head. "No, there was a darker color of qi to it. Did Satoro teach you that?"

"No?" Xinya rubbed her nose in thought. "I just wanted it to be a really strong burst to break its face." As she retreated into thought, she began chewing on the knuckle of her index finger, just as she often did when she was upset.

I narrowed my eyes and looked down at the little girl. Did she know something about it? Knowing her, she wouldn't volunteer the answer, preferring to struggle with it on her own, but I was growing concerned. Shadows, in this city, were the sign of only one form of qi, one that definitely would have created a more destructive bolt.

"Xinya," I began, squeezing her shoulders. "What's going on?"

"I…I don't know," she answered, but the waver in her voice made it clear that she wasn't being fully honest. Lin sat down across from us, lending his steady strength to the little girl, even as she buried her face in my collar.

"Xinya, I'm not going to be mad. I just want to know what it was."

"And I don't know anything about it! I just…I thought it was so cool that I did that, but..." her voice trailed off until it was scarcely more than a terrified whisper, "what if it was the void? What if I'm becoming…like you?"

I squeezed Xinya tightly, trying my best not to laugh at the ridiculousness of the suggestion. "Xinya, you're not becoming voidspawn. I promise."

"But, what if I am! What if my g-grandfather," her voice cracked and she flinched slightly, "what if Shen Tori was right? What if I really do have his bloodline? What if that's why I can see the woman and why I could hear you on the river?"

"What woman?"

Xinya froze. She said more than she'd meant to, and now she didn't know what to do. Tears streaked her face. I exchanged a look with Lin, and he shifted his position until he was sitting on Xinya's other side. Together, we were her staunch guardians, something she desperately needed as her outward resolve crumbled before my eyes.

"She…she's the one who told me about the blackout," Xinya confessed. She went on to describe a voidspawn woman, one wearing the colors of Lanyue, with hair pulled back in a tight ponytail and clothes that were perfectly in line.

It was a description I recognized.

"What if the reason I can see her is because I'm getting stronger?" Xinya continued to babble without even stopping to breathe. "What if his bloodline is twisting my qi? Yoru, I don't want to be a void artist!"

My heart ached for her. I knew better than anyone the pain of having one's path twisted into something it was never meant to be. I didn't know why Xinya could interact with what was undoubtedly Shi Reili's shade, and I certainly didn't know why the void seemed to be reacting to her wishes, even without her intent.

"You're going to be okay. We'll figure it-"

I gasped as a wave of power slammed into my mind. My eyes were drawn without my command to the left where a long hallway loomed.

The hallway was familiar, the same as dozens of other hallways within the palace I'd called my home for centuries. But, that wasn't the only thing it reminded me of, and with the figure that grinned at me from the end of the hall, fond memories of home were quickly overwhelmed by the panic spawned by millennia of fear and torment in halls that looked very much like these.

At the end of the hall, with a malicious smile on his face, was Jinshi. His youthful appearance was the same as the day he locked me in the Labyrinth.

"Welcome home, Yoru," he crooned wickedly. "Did you miss me?"