Xiyan woke up to the morning sun slanting through the trees overhead, beating down on her and blinding her vision. She turned with a groan, shielding her eyes, but the light had already done its work. Blinking against the brightness, she sat up, brushing loose strands of hair from her face.
Around her, the others were still fast asleep. Guo Lan had tucked himself beside the snuffed fire, and his arms were wrapped tightly around his chequered quilt. Taohua lay motionless, breathing deeply and evenly. Wei Lan was the only one who slept on his back with his arms crossed over his chest like a man prepared for death at all times. Yet… something felt off.
Her eyes flicked towards the edge of the grove, to the spot where Kaolin had last settled into the shadows. But the patch of earth was empty, and there wasn't even an indentation in the earth or a trace of his presence, just leaves rustling gently in the wind and nothing else.
She froze and rubbed her eyes to make sure she wasn't seeing things, only to realise Kaolin was indeed gone. But where? And why would he just leave without even saying a word about where he went off to and for what reason?
Panicked, she scrambled to Wei Lan's side and shook his shoulder. He stirred, although it took longer than she wanted, his eyes fluttering open with a tired grunt. "What—what is it?" he mumbled.
"Master Kaolin! He's gone!"
Wei Lan blinked once, then rolled lazily onto his side to take a proper look at her. "Of course he is. He left at dawn, or probably earlier."
"What?" she said, stunned. "And you didn't stop him?"
He shrugged. "Why would I? He said he'd go to Nivarra alone, and so I figured—"
"He's so—ugh! I can't believe this!"
Wei Lan yawned. "He's what?" He sat up when she didn't reply. "Hey, is everything okay with you?"
But Xiyan wasn't listening anymore; her mind was racing. Ever since Master Kaolin kept going on about how only someone from the Dragon Clan could breach through the fortress of Nivarra, she'd made up her mind to just let him have his way and go with him to that place. And he just… left? After making her lose sleep from overthinking, that guy had the guts to just leave?
She clenched her jaw, determined, muttering more for herself than for Wei Lan to hear. "In that case, I might as well just go there by myself, then…"
"You, what?"
She met his confused gaze. "I'm heading to Nivarra." Before Wei Lan could respond, she was already on her feet, only for him to leap up and block her way, fully alert and standing like a wall made of bricks.
"Hey, slow down! You didn't hear? No one can cross—"
"Who said anything about crossing?" she lied. "I'll just wait at the border, nothing else. Wasn't that what we planned to do, anyway? I'm just leaving first."
He gave a resigned sigh—"All right. Be careful, then, and please, don't do anything stupid, okay?"—before stepping aside.
"Sure, why would I?"
Before he could voice even one of the countless reasons she would act recklessly, Xiyan was already gone, vanishing into the forest, her qi rising beneath her feet and launching her towards the fortress overrun by Demons and Devils.
The closer she drew to Nivarra, the darker the world became around her, and the trees thinned, replaced by jagged stone and cracked earth, the land grey and lifeless. Even the sky overhead churned with violet clouds, and thunder rumbled without rain.
And there, in the distance, stood the demonic fortress; its walls were malformed by time and demonic power, the gate sealed with a visible, pulsing enchantment or some kind of array, where demonic scripts were woven across its surface and etched into the barrier like scars.
Xiyan landed softly a few feet away from the array. Her heart was pounding like it had never before, and her breath caught in her throat as she licked her chapped lips. For a moment, she just stared and couldn't do much else. What did Kaolin say, again? That she was born with the qi of the Dragon Clan, and as such, she had nothing to fear. But what if he was wrong? What if—she shook her head, getting rid of the doubts all at once. Though Master Kaolin's laid-back nature made him unreliable in most matters, he was not one to utter lies.
With this thought fresh in her mind, she reached out to the protective array with slow and deliberate movement, on full alert. Her fingers passed through the glowing barrier with no resistance or burn. Yet, she still withdrew it, startled by the insight that the demonic seal indeed recognised her. Master Kaolin had been right; she bore the blood of the Dragon Clan and thus demonic power coursed through her veins. There was no denying it now.
Drawing a deep breath and mustering up the courage, she stepped forwards, and the seal parted, exposing the nightmarish spectacle unravelling beyond the sealed barrier.
Twisted towers loomed in the distance, their walls crawling with grotesque runes, while the fortress itself was teeming with Demons and Devils patrolling the ruins like wasps around a hive. They were everywhere! Had she not remained vigilant and swift on her feet, they would have caught her long before she ever located Kaolin.
Thus, she kept to the shadows, darting between collapsed archways and shattered columns, suppressing her qi so as not to draw attention to make sure the demons did not sense her. Twice, she was no more than a hair's width away from being discovered and barely ducked behind the thorny outgrowths or broken statues with grotesque faces, as the demonic guards stalked past as if they were looking for something or somebody.
Then, a sound shook the sky, one that was both deep and inhuman all at the same time, and she looked upwards instantly, fearing the worst, only to arch her brows in confusion as a figure flew past her high in the air. Huh?
Floating above the keep of the crumbling fortress was none other than Kaolin himself. His silhouette was framed against the stirring clouds, his cloak fluttering against the grey backdrop. But he wasn't moving or anything of that sort. Instead, he was staring intently at something she couldn't see from this angle, far below the walls of the keep.
Xiyan held her breath, eyes locked on Kaolin as he hovered silently mid-air, unwavering in his intense gaze. Time seemed to slow as she watched him scan the horizon, every movement controlled. Then, with the grace befitting a seasoned cultivator, Kaolin descended and landed atop the keep's battlements. In that instant, the angle shifted, and he slipped from her sight, leaving only the faintest ripple in the air where he had been.
A mixture of relief and unease settled in her chest; relief that he was no longer exposed, but unease at the mysterious focus that had drawn his attention. What had he seen that she could not?
As a pair of patrolling demons passed, she shot upwards, soundless and swift, rising to join him. He didn't notice her at first; his gaze was locked on the ground below. It was only when she floated closer to him that his head turned slightly, and his eyes flared with a sudden glow. His hand lifted, power crackling in his palm – ready to strike her down – until he stopped the motion upon recognising her, and the light in his hand dimmed as he lowered it.
"What are you doing here?"
His voice was cold, but not angry, perhaps surprised more than anything. Xiyan cleared her throat before gently landing beside him, following his gaze downwards to the assembly of Demons and Devils engaged in training. Their bodies moved with brutal force, executing martial techniques that combined physical strength with demonic power. Among them stood a tall figure in dark armour and a mask that obscured his facial features completely. It was also this person she noticed belatedly that Kaolin was watching with such intensity.
"Who's that?" she asked. "The one with the mask."
"Nobody."
As he said this, her eyes briefly drifted to his hands folded behind his back, noticing once again the strange tremor she'd witnessed back in Koryuthan. But instead of asking about it, she just inched closer and sought his avoiding eyes fixed on the spectacle below, her interest piqued for some reason.
"Nobody? Then why do you keep staring at him?"
With a reluctant sigh, Kaolin turned to face her.
"Since you're here… why don't you do me a favour?"
She blinked, wary but curious. "A favour? What… kind of favour?"
He gestured behind her without further explanation, towards a towering spire beside the keep. There, coiled like a serpent, lay a majestic dragon. Its scales shimmered with mythical power, bound to the tower by a single golden chain. Just above its heart was a single scale, unlike the rest, pulsating with a mysterious glow and energy. The Scale of Veyrûn. Xiyan felt her heart drop as soon as she caught a glimpse of the shimmering artefact and realised what he wanted her to do.
"No," she exclaimed. "Absolutely not! Are you trying to get me killed!?"
"You'll be fine; it won't hurt you. That dragon is the spirit guardian of your bloodline. It knows who it should pay its respects to, and who it shouldn't."
Something about the softness in his voice, like he was trying to assure her, caught her off guard, and a faint heat rose to her cheeks, though she hardly noticed it herself, not until Kaolin fully turned towards her, his eyes studying something she was now about to find out.
"Your ears… they're turning red."
"Huh?" Her hands shot up to her ears just as he reached out in concern. But before he could come closer and take a proper look at her bright red ears, she reacted instinctively and pushed him away before turning her back to him. "I'm fine! Just leave! I-I got this!"
He gave her a look that was somewhere between confusion and disbelief before stepping back and sighing. "Then I leave it to you," he said, adding before soaring to the overcast sky. "I'll meet you at the border with the others. Make sure no one sees you."
As Kaolin slipped into the drifting patches of fog and vanished from sight, she finally lowered her hands from her ears. Her gaze then shifted towards the tower and the previously dormant dragon, which had now stirred and was staring right back at her with its crimson eyes as if it had been waiting for her all along and only pretended to be asleep when Kaolin was around.
"All right," she muttered, as she slowly floated to the tower, "don't hurt me. Please, don't hurt me, okay?"
The dragon rose slightly and abruptly, which caused her to come to a stop mid-air and flinch just inches from the tower's edge, squeezing her eyes shut with a grimace and bracing for impact that never came. When she dared to open them again, albeit warily for good reasons, her gaze met the dragon's, and she couldn't hide the surprise in her eyes that very second as they grew wide.
Before her, the dragon spirit had craned its neck downwards to meet her, its snout level with her, and for a moment, the two regarded each other in silence, until the dragon moved once more and lowered its head fully to pay its respect to her, acknowledging her.
A crooked smile of disbelief played on her lips as she reached out and gently touched its breathtaking and rough scales, which were warm beneath her touch, throbbing with mythical energy, the same kind of demonic energy pulsating through her veins as well, and… surprisingly, the dragon spirit let her.
Her hand then slid over the shimmering artefact. "I'm sorry," she whispered. "But I need this."
With a grimace, she pulled, and the dragon spirit roared – a chilling sound that echoed across the entire fortress. The poor thing then surged upwards from the pain, unfolding its massive ebony wings, so that the entire tower and vicinity below was cast into deep shadows. For one fleeting moment, its majestic form dominated the sky. But not for long. The golden chains around its scaly neck yanked it back, slamming its body downwards and binding its fury once more to the tower.
She drew closer; her voice soft as she tried to soothe the dragon's agony, but its pain ran deep, and soon its blood-curdling cries reverberated through the ruined fortress, summoning Demons and Devils from every corner. In the blink of an eye, she was surrounded and blades and jagged weapons glinting as they closed in from all sides.
Her heart thundered as she took an instinctive step back, just as one of the demons lunged, and she squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for the strike, the divine artefact clutched tight in her trembling hands slick with sweat. But the blow never came.
When she opened her eyes halfway up, blinking rapidly to steady her vision, she saw a figure standing before her, or rather, the masked one she had caught Kaolin observing so keenly. He had stepped between her and the lunging demon, catching its blade mere inches from her, so that the edge cut deep into his hand and blood streamed as he tightened his grip and, with a sharp twist, snapped the blade in two.
Xiyan gawked, just as stunned as the demons, and then, all of a sudden, the masked person turned to face her, stepping away slightly, before falling to one knee and lowering his head in respect. Seeing this, the other demons released their swords as they too bowed low, falling to one knee before her.
The masked person then lifted his gaze off the ground to look at her, as if he wanted to tell her something, but said nothing. And she didn't wait to ask why, either. Instead, she blasted into the sky and fled, clutching the scale tightly in her hand – her heart galloping out of control from what she'd just witnessed.
Why were those things bowing down to her? No—why would they? It made no sense! Yet… Right then, she felt a surge of pain soar through her ribcage and reached for her forehead with her free hand, feeling the glow of the dragon qi and the demonic blood violently rushing through her veins, pulsing. Why had it activated all of a sudden?
But there was no time to dwell on these questions clawing at her mind and meddling with her senses, for as she breached through the demonic array, she found the others waiting near the edge of the ruins – just as Kaolin told her they would be.
Guo Lan saw her first and called out, waving at her to come down and join them, which caused Wei Lan and Taohua to shift their gaze upwards as well, relief flickering across both of their faces. But she didn't respond to their greetings or questions. Instead, she landed abruptly, handed the scale to Wei Lan without a word, and brushed past them, taking the lead as they set off on their journey away from the ruins of Nivarra.
Wei Lan, caught up with studying the divine artefact, awestruck by its beauty, was too occupied to notice the change in her expression and demeanour. But it didn't go unnoticed by either Kaolin or Commander Taohua, who exchanged a knowing glance between them, and before Taohua could quicken his pace and catch up with her, Kaolin shot out a hand and stopped him.
"Let her be."
"But—"
"She'll be fine," he said, not once taking his eyes off her, "sooner or later…"
Though Taohua didn't like hearing this, especially since he could see that Xiyan was in deep distress, he reluctantly caved in and resisted the urge to quicken his pace and follow her. Something had happened to her beyond that demonic barrier, something more than he understood, and whatever it was, Master Kaolin knew about it, too.
Back at the borders of Nivarra, Rongjie emerged from the shadows. He stood still for a long time, watching the group fade into the horizon. Slowly, he removed his mask to reveal a face worn out by thousands of years of guilt, the look on his face becoming more bewildered by the seconds.
Another figure then emerged from beyond the demonic barrier and approached him. It was Mo Ren, a black tiger devil, who was not only the commander of the Demon Army but also Rongjie's most loyal subject and friend, who had stood by him through thick and thin.
"That's him, isn't it? Master Kaolin…"
Rongjie didn't answer. His eyes were locked onto the group, steadily shrinking for each passing second. Frowning, Mo Ren followed his gaze, and his eyes narrowed as he spotted a figure who shouldn't have been there.
"Xiyan…? But why are those two together?"
Rongjie said nothing, even this time. His face was drawn tight and drained of colour, the initial shock fading into something more… rough and unreadable. Instead, he put his mask back on and just turned away, back to the fortress. Mo Ren, on the other hand, lingered, still observing in disbelief as the frown on his brows deepened, just as troubled by what he had seen as Rongjie himself.