Solstice Souls: Solstice Sons (Book 3)

Acceptance

Wei Ying POV

The day is long yet productive. Everyone has taken their turn moving between training stations. Sword play, hand to hand combat, and talisman making are the three that are the focus of practice but other groups such as general first aid and a game of stealth play break out at the edges of the training field. Wei Ying walks around slowly and smiles proudly at his fellow clansmen as they hone their skills and learn new techniques.

The older, more experienced cultivators guide and encourage the younger ones, all of them understanding this could be their last battle. Everyone's knowledge and ability is shared and questioned. To Wei Ying, it feels as if they're cramming for a test, a test not everyone will pass no matter how hard they try.

Will it be enough? Will they be enough?

Wei Ying thinks back on his years growing up and what he has learned from Lan Zhan about the war between their clans. The feud between their people may have started bloody and violent five hundred years ago, the wrath of a grieving mother the fuel that fed it. However, over the centuries, battles became less numerous. The injured and dead bodies of their clansmen became fewer and fewer, everyone tired of fighting. Yet somehow no one was able to stop the bloodshed completely, the curse too strong to break.

Most of these men on the training field had never really seen war. Nowadays, the only time Wei and Lan fought was if they accidentally encountered one another. Neither clan went out of their way to start something that would never end. No one wanted to explain to family or spouses as to why their child or husband would not be returning home.

But now, the Wens are coming. Men who want nothing more than to eradicate anyone not willing to bow down to their supremacy. A ruler who doesn't care how many husbands, sons, and brothers perish as long as he gets what he wants.

And what he wants is power.

What he wants is Wei Ying.

And, if he ever finds out how powerful he and Lan Zhan are together, his husband will also be hunted down.

The urge to run straight into Nightless City and destroy everything and everyone in his path is crushing and Wei Ying takes a step back. His next step almost turns him away from the people depending on him but he stops short when he lays eyes on his husband and hears his jade's deep voice whisper that one promising word in his head.

Together.

They've promised to do everything together.

They've sworn to protect everyone together.

They're fated to save the world. But only if they stay...together.

Wei Ying stands motionless. His next breath comes with a calmness he hasn't felt before. The pull of his jade's white core on his black one feels like a gentle tug coaxing him back. Watching Lan Zhan interact with the people who once hated him, he can't help but take a step towards the man he loves.

Wei Ying stares unblinking, mesmerized by his husband's grace and kindness towards people he should have been cutting down in hatred. People, who up until six months ago, Lan Zhan would have unleashed Bichen upon without a second thought and without mercy.

Instead, Lan Zhan is helping to teach a young boy, probably one barely old enough to fight by their side, how to control his breathing during a sword fight. His white robes are a beacon in the day's fading light, drawing everyone together. The men gather around him like moths enchanted by a flame. Slowly, they fall into the steady pattern of Lan Zhan's rhythmic breathing. Even Wei Ying can't help but follow the repetitive rise and fall of his husband's chest.