Chapter 12: The Pearl's Mandate

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Something that sounded like an explosion rocked the carriage, sending my slumbering self out of the seat and onto the floor

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Something that sounded like an explosion rocked the carriage, sending my slumbering self out of the seat and onto the floor. Or at least, it would have had Yahui not caught me. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and glanced around. Moments later, I sensed it. The overwhelming powers of both Blighted and divine pressing in from both sides. Yahui and I left the carriage in unison, him to face off against the Blighted and me to stare down the divine beast.

The large creature made of light energies loomed over us, it's feet still hundreds of feet away. It lumbered slowly across the plains, clearly unaware of what it crushed under its golden hooves. Markings in brilliant prismatic light covered the bestial creature's hide. Golden adornments hung over various parts of its body, studded with vibrant jewels. The slight familiarity gave me a moment of pause, but when its next footfall shook the earth I snapped to my senses.

"Stop!" I commanded, summoning blades of light around me. "Do you intend to crush innocents during your hunt?!"

To my surprise, the divine beast halted and lowered its head. Its breath caused blades of grass, leaves, and dust to fly into the air around us.

"Inno...cents?" The beast's voice vibrated through the air, much quieter than I expected from such a large creature. Its golden eyes blinked at me, then shifted to our convoy. "I must hunt."

"Hunt elsewhere! We can destroy these Blighted!" I narrowed my eyes at the beast. It hesitated, tilting its head.

"Elsewhere?"

"There are more Blighted, far too many, in the wastelands beyond here." I kept my voice level, attempting to not come off as threatening. "Let us slay these. Go back to hunting the ones in the wastelands, or you will kill these people as well as the Blighted."

"I will...wait. If you cannot kill yours..." The beast trailed off, sitting on its haunches.

I bit back my irritation and hastened to join Yahui on the far side of the carriage. Every thrum of his guqin sent more Blighted collapsing to the ground. His disciples were quite far from us, aside from our driver who was keeping the horses calm. When I landed in a crouch near Yahui, he shot me a wary glance but said nothing.

"If we don't handle the Blighted ourselves, the beast intends to do it for us." I sent blades of light careening into the front row of Blighted. "We need to slay them, all of them, and quickly."

"Very well. We will discuss this later." Yahui shot me a dangerous glare before settling his glowing crimson and violet gaze on the Blighted. "Take care not to hit my pets with your attacks."

"Of course." I scoffed, summoning more light weapons around myself.

As I prepared, Yahui reached into one of his sleeves and pulled out what looked like small silver orbs. He tossed the orbs, sending them skittering across the ground. Once touched by his darkness, they cracked open to form the elegant cage-like contraptions I had seen him use to create familiars before. While they took shape, he continued attacking the Blighted with his guqin.

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