Choices

26 - Choices

I will not swear that everything will be beautiful

But I wish I can be together with you

Leave our book on the pillow

Wait till you wake up and come

-- Person by the Bedside (ELOD Opening Theme)*

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When Fengjiu set out to chase after Donghua, it was more than just the driving need to see him for what could be the last time. Rather, it was a certainty, as sure as the ring on her finger throbbed in time with the beating of his heart, as precise as the thundering of his blood in her veins, and as real as the child that rested in her womb, fruit of an un-fated love.

Following the breath of Donghua's essence, she found her way to the spot where Bihai Cangling once stood, bypassing the sorceries that surrounded the area to confuse one's sense of direction. There was nothing there but empty space, an echoing nothingness that spread on all sides, and a deafening silence that assaulted one's senses like a living thing.

Except, the ring on Fengjiu's finger was anything but quiet. The purplish red patterns beneath the glaze finish swirled every which way, and the phoenix feather on its top glimmered in response to something familiar. It seemed to call out to her, and she let herself be led further into the void, to a certain spot in the emptiness that stretched all around and threatened to swallow her whole.

Heeding the voice in her heart, Fengjiu raised the hand that bore the ring, and with that simple action, lifted the spell that hid the Holy Blue Sea from the rest of the world.

By this time, Liansong, Siming, Cheng'yu and Zhonglin had arrived, and from behind Fengjiu, their voices formed a chorus of "Dijun!" "Your Majesty!"

There, on the banks of the marsh outside the blue-water lake, stood Donghua. The Cang'he was held aloft before him, its tip pointed in the direction of a dark-haired monstress in red robes, using living sashes as her weapons. A ward woven out of starlight surrounded the immediate area, put in place to seal both the monstress and the foul essence that emanated from her very pores.

Above the two powerful beings, two spirit animals grappled. One was dark, like a night sky without stars, taking the form of a three-tailed python; menacing and foul, reeking with a power that is both evil and malicious. The other one was its mirror image, only silvery-white, glimmering in the haze of the miasma that floated within the starlight ward. Both were equally vicious, except that the black python was berserk in its movements, while the silver one was more refined and controlled, though no less deadly.

As they watched, the silver python lunged and sank its fangs deep into its nemesis' neck, the sharp talons of its legs taking purchase in the other's stomach and holding fast. The black python struggled with its full might, its scaly body thrashing like a worm caught in a bait, the three tails flinging this way and that before wrapping around the silver one in a futile attempt to pry it off.

Its efforts thus thwarted, the black python bellowed and hurled itself to the lake instead; waves crashed and thunder cracked as the two pythons plummeted into the tempestuous waters and continued to grapple underwater.