Highest Peak of Ushitora
Two thousand years ago, on the last day of the battle between Gods and Demons
Blood dripped from the blade of the sword trailing its tip in the snow, but the woman who gripped the cord wrapped hilt didn't seem to be aware of it. Her flame-coloured hair spilled loosely about her shoulders over robes that were brighter than a thousand maples as she continued painfully up the narrow mountain path, buffeted by the shrieking of wind and swirling of snow.
When she finally reached the top of the peak and stood fully exposed to the unforgiving elements, she whispered: "Leaving my heart's wish/ Beneath the darkening earth/ Once more, I am lost..."
She laughed crazily then, tears flickering on her eyelashes as she closed the first stanza. Then after a pause, accepting that there would be no answering couplet, she completed the remaining fourteen syllables by saying:
"I will never again hear/ the sigh of my beloved."
...I left my heart in Shuto, my little ghosts. Please forgive me...
She exhaled and glanced over her shoulder at a man with long dark hair and black robes who materialized out of the air and bowed deeply to her, hands cupped. Straightening, he flapped open an exquisite iron fan. On the one side was written 'reward good' and on the other side 'punish evil'.
Seemingly untouched by the viciousness of the weather, he stood still, unmoving, coldly immortal. His stormy blue grey eyes only showed emotion when he discovered that the blood dripping down the sword appeared to be coming from beneath the woman's sleeve. Heart filling with dread, he watched his mistress's tears become ice on her cheeks.
"Mu Shan," she said, smiling gently in welcome.
Something...something isn't right...he thought, frowning.
As the epitome of fire, the Firebird goddess would not normally be affected by something like cold weather, but while Mu Shan had been away fighting the demon army, the goddess Hong Yi* had somehow lost her godhood.
A firebird without her godhood...a firebird without her mate...what will she do now?
An instant later, a silver-haired man in stained white robes arrived, standing on the back of a crane. He slid off the bird and came to stand next to his dark-haired companion. Sporting the same stormy blue eyes, he also bowed deeply to his mistress. Although there was probably less blood on his clothing, the person known as Bai Xie An, looked to be in worse shape. It was clear that his wounds caused him pain when he straightened from his bow and leaned heavily on a huge broad sword. He only spoke when he had caught his breath.
"Reporting to my lady: it is finished...the mountain range was raised over the seal. The subjugated demons will guard the gates for eternity as you have commanded," he said.
"Eternity? Nothing last forever, my little white ghost," said the lady. "Even gods die...What of Xuanwu*?" she asked.
"His body has been separated and sealed under the mountain..." coughed the one in white.
"A fitting punishment for a traitor," she said without sympathy. Her eyes glowed fiercely as the wind lifted her fiery red tresses off her shoulders.
"I received confirmation that both the dragon god, Ryujin, and the tiger god, Baihu, died in battle," the dark- haired man reported, shifting uneasily. "The western kingdom was razed to the ground, so the remaining son of the tiger was brought to our southern lake kingdom...as for that other child...out of repentance for his family's sins, he refused to leave the north..."
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Migong - Book 1
Fantasi"Mine..." he repeated softly, drawing his head back to stare at her. Dazed by his beauty, she could only stare back. Feiyan flinched as he brought his face even closer. The ruby red eyes above her were framed with heavy white lashes, and they bore...
