Warring Kingdoms: The Tale of the Jade Phoenix and the Dragon Blade

Chapter 8: Bonfire

Nightfall came Luo Na and General Hua decided to prepare their dinner while Li An gathered the firewood to start a fire. On her way to the forest where the General and Luo Na came from. She had then gathered some firewood and went deep into the forest to get more of it. Treading further, Li An noticed footsteps from behind her. She turned her back but she saw no one.
"I must be imagining things, or this forest is really giving me the creeps."
She whispered to herself and then whistled a happy tune to get rid of the creepy vibes that she's getting. Moving on, she heard the footsteps again but this time, it's much more faster than before so she ran quickly and pulled out her jade sword and pointed it at her back.
"You again?" Li An sighed. Standing in front of her was Ya Xu.

"I-I couldn't leave a girl being afraid in the dark. Heheh." He laughed. Li An shook her head. She isn't really fond of men following her because if one man does, she would cut his head off.

"What are you doing in this forest by the way?" Ya Xu said helping Li An gather some firewood.

"Gathering firewood for his highness isn't it obvious?" Li An picked enough and headed back to the entrance of the forest. Ya Xu followed her.

From afar, Li An spotted General Hua, Luo Na and Wei Yue gathered in place. Wei Yue had his hands in his face while the General and Luo Na is still arguing what to cook.

"You highness looks very stressed." Li An approached them with Ya Xu on her back carrying the firewood.

"Wh-why is he here?" Luo Na shouted.

"What? You know him?" General Hua and Wei Yue are confused looking at him.

"He's the Dragon Blade's highness' youngest prince! The third in line to his throne! Zhang Xiaoxing!" Luo Na stood up and dropped the pot with the ingredients in it.

"Alright, right. I have nothing to hide. I maybe of Xiaoxing's blood, but I think my father is acting out of his league since that whore, Ning came to become his consort." Zhang Xiaoxing dropped the firewood and turned his back at all of them.

"I want to save my father from the witch that controls him."

General Hua raised up his head as he heard what Zhang Xiaoxing have to say.

"What proof do you have that your father is bewitched?" He asked Zhang Xiaoxing.

"Everything has been fine but a week ago, he gathered an army and decided to attack a hidden kingdom because a witch named Ning prophesied that the kingdom would soon rise among the others and shall tremple upon ours. Father believed to this and then..."
Zhang Xiaoxing stopped saying anything and bowed to Wei Yue with his head on the ground.

"Forgive me from what ever my father did to your kingdom!"
With tears in his eyes, he bowed several more times. He didn't care if his royal robes are dirtied by the soil on the ground.

Wei Yue understood the situation and made a sign on his hand signaling Zhang Xiaoxing to stand up.

"Yes we knew your father has been bewitched. Now we know who the source of chaos is, will you help us restore... No... Unify our kingdoms?" Wei Yue reached out his jade staff on Zhang Xiaoxing. Zhang Xiaoxing touched it's tip indicating that he swears his loyalty to his highness.
A bright light shone from the staff and landed on the piled firewood. The firewood burned with green fire and a visage of a woman with luxurious robes showed it's apparition above the flames.

"Now you all know the cause of chaos, you must all carry on the journey. This journey isn't for the sole purpose of reclaiming a kingdom after all, it's for unifying it..." The celestial apparition spoke before them.

"Goddess, where will our next journey be?" Wei Yue stood up and asked the deity.

"Go south to the pass of the Kunlun mountains and you will see a temple there with my followers. They will guide you all where the spring of clarity is. The spring water is powerful enough to cleanse the demonic possession that the witch had cast upon your father."
The deity looked at Zhang Xiaoxing. She nodded at him and he too nodded in response.

The apparition then disappeared after this and the green flame from the bonfire disappeared and turned into a normal color.

"Anybody hungry? I'm starving here." General Hua said rubbing his stomach through and through.

"You're such a pig. You have to catch the food not wait for the food to be served." Li An angrily crossed her eyebrows.

Luo Na just stared into the flame. She wonders what her brother is doing now. The moon shone bright even though some dark clouds have been passing through it.
Luo Na kept thinking about her brother but then she heard grumbling stomachs around her which disrupts her concentration.

"Ugh!" She shouted angrily and threw her dagger aiming at General Hua but the dagger luckily passed him safely and flies into the dark.

After then, they heard a sound of a roaring bear from General Hua's back.

"Here. Dinner is served." Li An shouted as she tended to the bear, boiled water, skinned the bear and chopped it's parts and cooked it.

"No wonder why you became the head of the assassins of the Dragon Blade, you have fine instincts, Miss Luo Na." Zhang Xiaoxing said as he indulged and partake of the food that Li An cooked.

"Yeah right, if General Hua wasn't lucky, he might have died in that very spot, the bear was almost an inch close to him." Li An said as she served food to them.

"Fine instincts you say, I only threw my dagger because I can't concentrate thinking with your hungry stomachs."
Luo Na slurped a bowl of soup.

Everyone has their eyes stared at her. They thought that Luo Na might be annoyed enough to the point where she wanted to kill General Hua.

"Are you? Uh, perhaps annoyed at me?" General Hua sat beside Luo Na who was busily eating her food.

"No, I just threw my dagger for us to have food. That's all." Luo Na blushed.

"Are you alright, Luo Na? You seem to be catching a cold since yesterday." General Hua moved closer to her and put his right palm on her head and the other palm on his head.

"I- I am alright! Stop doing that." Luo Na pushed him away and her bowl of food fell on the ground. She moved a little apart from him.

Wei Yue noticed this. But Luo Na acted all cooled up and sat apart on the rock facing the dark side.

"You all can sleep peacefully. I'll keep the first watch." She said as the flame grew brighter on the bonfire casting a shadow behind her.