Kunlun Mountain Part 4 - The Return

Chapter 17 - Disquiet in the Forest

The Celestials Jade Forest

Reaching the edge of the forest, Qing Cang stopped. His mount was half Golden Lion half Dragon otherwise known as Drion and being the only one in their world, his had been a pampered life.  Born to a dragon woman his father The Golden Lion had taken his pleasure with her before forcing her into the Ghost Realm, Drion was also the only beast that could survive comfortably in both high and low Realms, so therefore a highly prized asset.  Though his body was Golden Lion, he had inherited his mothers dragon flame, a weapon just as deadly as Qing Cangs hell fire, and together they were lethal.

 Raised to serve him personally, Drion knew everything there was to know about Qing Cang, and because he had been raised as a son, Qing Cang knew everything about him too. But, when Qing Cang returned, it took a whole month to convince him he truly was his old Master.

Question after question flew at him, that Qing Cang could not help but feel he was under investigation, though he shouldn't have been surprised, but he was patient with him, something he would not have been in his former life time, but he knew that arriving in Mo Yuans appearance would cause suspicion, and even risk to his newly revived life. But he did not falter, because Drion in the end was the one he had to convince, and the moment he did, the rest fully followed suit.

Now straddling his enormous body and flanked by his out stretched wings of protection, Qing Cang took in the sheer size of the forest they would have to pass through. It would be far easier to fly over the top of it and avoid the risk of being ambushed, but his army was enormous, not all of his beasts could fly, in fact most of them couldn't and they were an integral part of his strategy. They were his brute force and because Drion had been the one to raise many of them, they answered only to him.

"So be it, let's go." he whispered down into his ear.

The moment he took his first step onto the forest path, the drums began to roll. His men loved the battle cries and revelry that preceded any war, and with the horns blowing and the screeching of his beasts filling the air, the sound was terrifying.

Echoing off every tree and shrub, the Ghost Clans arrival onto the boundary of the Celestial Tribes lands was heard for miles from every side of the vast forest. Birds took to the air and any land beasts that were not quick enough to hide, were quickly snatched up and eaten as they made their way through.

But Qing Cang was not even a quarter of the way through when he began to notice a change in his men's war cries. There was terror, an uneven shift in their energy, but not yet willing to stop, he urged them forward, until he was forced to stop by an uneven break in his right flank.

From his peripheral vision, he began to notice blade strikes whipping the air and as the sound of lightening strikes overtook the sounds of the drums and horns, he raised his hand bringing them all to an immediate halt.

It was obvious small battles were taking place, but with over half of the forest still to traverse, he could not afford to lose too many men, he did not know what was waiting for him on the other side.

Ordering several scouts into the air to see what was going on, by the time the first one made it back, it realized too late that not only was he surrounded but the energy belonged to the Demons.

Thinking back to the last great battle, he remembered clearly that Honghui had also gone up against him. They were not allies, but nor had they been enemies, they had merely tolerated each other, but still. The Demons were of the dark lands, to have supported the Celestials, regardless of the mans close ties to Mo Yuan was insufferable. And that the man was still alive was astounding, he would have thought the rest of the dark realms would have turned on him and possibly wiped him out.