𝐋𝐄𝐆𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐒 𝐎𝐅 𝐄𝐑𝐃𝐀𝐒 {spirit animals}

13. Diminishing Fire

Shen drew his sword as Talona and Caspian jumped off the blazing red dragon, only to be met by half a dozen masked figures closing in on them. Talona had whipped out her crossbow, aiming an arrow that flew through the forearm of one of them, instantly sending him staggering away and dropping his weapon.

    "I didn't know you could shoot like that," Caspian nodded at her in shock.

     "We've been training at this island for how long now?" Talona muttered as she drew another arrow, "Shen, where are the others?"

     Shen glanced back at them, and lifted his blade, "Get rid of these guys first, then I'll take you to go find them."

     He watched Caspian draw his hunting knives out of the corner of his eye as he jumped onto Liu again, and his spirit animal soared towards the Darkcloaks. He slashed his sword at them, battling another advancing figure as Liu shot a fiery blast of flames.

     Talona shot down one last Darkcloak, and Shen landed again, making a run for the castle and motioning for the other two to follow, "Come on, I know exactly where Rae is. We'll get her first, then we'll hopefully find Kolin and Sucia too!"

     Liu disappeared in a flash of light, reappearing as a tattoo on Shen's forearm. He threw open the doors of the castle, Talona and Caspian right behind him. Leading them through corridors erupted in chaos, they found Rae locked in battle with yet another Darkcloak.

     Shen couldn't tell who was winning, but Rae seemed to be losing her ground. Ikaito, the enormous black dog stood against a black mamba with bright slitted eyes. Shen jumped in to help, but his first blow was intercepted by the Darkcloak.

     Rae shot him a look, "Great, you guys got back about half an hour too late. Where's Ylva?"

     "Uh, hopefully alive!" Shen said, "How many of them are here?"

     "Too many for us to fight off!" Rae gritted her teeth.

     Shen growled as he lunged for the Darkcloak again, only for his sword to be deflected again. Turning, he tried to attack again only to lose his balance, and as he grabbed at his sword, accidentally ripped the dark mask off of the girl.

     He blinked as shock overcame him, stumbling backward before regaining himself as the realization of who this was washed over him.

     "Tianshi? What are you doing here?"

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Shen was absolutely sure this was Tianshi Le Cheng. Daughter of Zhong's most wealthy noble, practically royalty with their family's reputation. Deep blue eyes filled with fury as she saw Shen, twin daggers still raised.

     "You should know," She scoffed, speaking Zhongese that no one other than Shen would understand, "Zhong has been overrun with Darkcloaks, hours before you and the dragon fled."

     Shen stood in shock. He briefly remembered Leila telling him to leave before "they" arrived, but he never thought it would be the Darkcloaks. Now that he thought about it, it was true that he hadn't heard a word from anyone back home ever since arriving at the island.

     "What are you doing?" He asked again, switching back to the common tongue, "What's happening in Zhong?"

     Tianshi scoffed, "So now you're concerned. I just said, haven't I? Overrun by darkcloaks, the entire continent has fallen. Eura too, and we hear Stetriol may be next."

    "So as a solution, you joined them?" Rae snapped, "Shen, how do you know... Whoever this is?"

     "Tianshi Le Cheng," he said, "Daughter of Lord Jian Cheng of Zhong. Last I checked she was a respected noble, but your guess is as good as mine as to why she's here."