“Of course.” She chuckled. “Her words hurt because they were the last thing you expected to hear from her. You cared for her. Unfortunately, the ones we care for are often the ones that can hurt us the most.”

  “I don’t understand.” Taryn’s voice was raspy again. His chest felt tight with emotion, an emotion he couldn’t identify. He looked over and saw Gao Feng sleeping next to Xia Yawen. “Why does seeing them together hurt so much?”

  Fan Shun gave him a sad smile and made circular motions with her palm on his back. “Because, Taryn, you’re in love.”

  TARYN DIDN’T GET ANY sleep that night; his grandmother’s words were on a constant loop inside his mind. Every time he tried to fall asleep, he would remember the times he spent with Xia Yawen, and it would hurt that much more.

  Eventually he gave up trying to sleep and decided to try the Mourner’s breathing technique again. Maybe if he could relax his body enough, he would drift off to sleep. He once again imagined the ball of gas sitting within his chest and took a deep breath—

  “Taryn, run!”

  Taryn recognized the sound of his grandmother’s panic-stricken voice and immediately opened his eyes. He tried to take in as much information as he could, but his brain felt fuzzy. His eyes were hazy, and his entire body ached. He shook his head to clear his mind.

  “Taryn!” Fan Shun yelled, her voice breaking under the strain of her scream.

  Finally, Taryn managed to gather enough of his senses to look in the direction of her voice.

  A giant canine, easily three times Taryn’s height, snapped its jaws shut just a hairbreadth away from Taryn’s face. He fell backwards and quickly scrambled away, but the canine gave chase, its nasty jaws snapping at Taryn’s ankles.

  The canine drew back, giving Taryn his first good look at the creature: its fur was thick and was either black or dark blue in color. The tip of each strand of fur reflected light, giving it a metallic sheen. Its dull yellow eyes glowed in the darkness, making it relatively easy to discern what it was aiming for: Taryn.

  Suddenly, Fan Shun came out of nowhere and kicked the wolf in the left side of its head. Her blow barely knocked it off balance, but it did draw attention to her.

  Taryn noticed that she was tired and bloody, her left arm hung at a weird angle, and her clothes were torn in several places.

  “Grandma, what’s going on?”

  Taryn backpedaled as the canine’s eyes swiveled to look at him. It drew back into a crouch, then lunged for him.

  Something grabbed his hand at the last second, and he was hauled out of the way before he realized what happened. It was Fan Shun. She’d grabbed him by the wrist and was running with everything she had.

  It took a few seconds, but Taryn managed to get his legs under him, and he ran alongside her. It was surprisingly easy to keep pace with her, which Taryn chalked up to her being exhausted.

  They ran without looking back. They could hear the canine on their tail. One misstep from either of them, and they were that thing’s next meal.

  A low growl was all the warning Taryn got before a large paw tore through the darkness in front of them.

  Taryn reacted quickly and threw Fan Shun down, allowing her to pass safely beneath the paw. Taryn jumped at the last second and tried to clear the dagger-like claws; luck saved him from the claws, but he failed to avoid the paw pad. It struck his legs, flipping him through the air to land on his back beside Fan Shun. Had it been anything other than mud he landed in, the fall would’ve done much more than knock the breath from his lungs.

  The canine stalked out of the darkness, keeping its lithe body low to the ground, ready to pounce on them at the first sign of movement.

  Then a second canine emerged from the darkness. This one was larger, with red fur and red eyes, but with the same metallic sheen to its fur.

  The canines locked eyes, and in unison, they growled at one another.

  “Taryn,” Fan Shun whispered. “When I give the word, we’re going to run.”

  “What about the others?” Taryn didn’t know why, but he knew he’d feel bad if they’d abandoned them.

  “They’re already gone. The camp was empty when I woke up. Now, be quiet and do as I say.”

  Taryn gulped. His legs were shaking, his stomach was in knots, and he was about thirty percent certain he’d peed a little when the wolf hit him. But now wasn’t the time to focus on that. Right now, the only thing on his mind was surviving.

  The canines stared each other down for what felt like an eternity. They were both circling around their prey without breaking eye contact with the other predator, then something changed in the air. The larger canine leapt over Taryn and Fan Shun and sunk its dagger-like teeth into the other canine’s neck.

  The two canines hit the ground and went into a death roll, each fighting for dominance over the other.

  “Let’s go.” Fan Shun grabbed Taryn’s hand and ran while the canines were distracted.

  A loud snapping sound reverberated throughout the forest. Taryn looked over his shoulders as he ran. The red canine was holding its smaller counterpart’s neck inside its mouth; the other canine’s head hung at a weird angle for a moment, then “Red” bit down and the head disconnected from its body.

  Taryn felt a chill run down his spine as Red turned to look at him. Taryn spurred his legs to go faster, to break his previous limit and go far beyond what he’d ever run before.

  For a moment, everything seemed to change: the forest around him bled into a single color as he ran. Then his left ankle caught on a root, and he slammed into the ground. He bounced off the dirt several times, only coming to a stop after hitting his back on a tree and splintering a few ribs. After which, he was flung to the side by the excess momentum, only stopping once he struck a second tree, which fully cracked his already injured ribs.

  “Divines, Taryn!” Fan Shun raced to his side. She tentatively touched his ribs, which elicited a sharp inhale from Taryn as the pain hit him.

  “Leave... leave me. I’ll only slow you down.”

  Fan Shun laughed. “On the day I accepted you into my family, I swore an oath to myself that you wouldn’t die before me. I don’t intend to break that oath now.” Her ears flexed, and she looked back the way they’d come.

  Big Red was heading their way. And from the way he was growling as he ran, he wasn’t happy.

  Thinking quickly, Fan Shun grabbed handfuls of mud and slathered them all over Taryn’s body, covering both his robe and his face with enough mud to hopefully hide his scent. “Wait here. If I’m not back by morning... No. Here’s what you can do. Do that breathing thing again. Focus on that and don’t move until I come back for you, understand?”

  Taryn tried to speak but the mud covering his mouth was making that slightly difficult. He settled for nodding his head.

  Fan Shun drew her sword and turned to face Big Red. “Let’s get this over with, you overgrown fur rug.”

  Taryn wasn’t sure if it was the pain affecting his vision, but he could’ve sworn he saw his grandmother’s body vibrate a moment before she disappeared into thin air.

  A heartbeat later, Taryn heard Big Red roar, then the sounds of battle reached his ears. Trees were felled, dirt was sprayed in every direction, and Taryn was splattered with more than a few bodily fluids.

  Rather than think about what was covering his body, he closed his eyes and focused on his breathing and that gas ball in his chest.

  XIA YAWEN DIDN’T KNOW what was going on. The last thing she remembered was falling asleep next to Gao Feng and Xia Wei, but now all three of them were inside a dark cave. Rala’s light filtered in through small holes in the ceiling, allowing them some measure of vision.

  She glanced around and quickly noted that the tunnel was around twelve feet high and eight feet across. Plenty large enough for several people to walk abreast... Or to house one of any number of vicious Eco beasts.

  Now, she only needed to figure out what had happened to her and why she was there.

  She rotated her head to the right and spotted Gao Feng standing a dozen feet away with Duan He and Gu Qigang in front of a wall with two paths on either side.

  Xia Yawen couldn’t hear what they were saying, but her eyes could pick up the minuscule movements of their bodies as they spoke, and she assumed they were discussing which path to follow.

  She rotated her head to the left and saw that her brother, Xia Wei, was lying next to her; his wrists and ankles were bound with strange violet manacles.

  Xia Yawen frowned at this and attempted to sit up; however, the rattling of chains captured both her attention and the attention of the three men. She looked down at her hands and noticed that her own wrists were bound in front of her with the same manacles binding her brother. However, a violet band had been wrapped around her waist and the manacles were attached to it, completely preventing her from moving her arms.

  At least her ankles weren’t bound.

  Gao Feng rushed to her side. He helped her sit up and allowed her to lean against his knee while she got her bearings. The moment Xia Yawen got to her feet, rage overtook her, and she opened her mouth to yell. Gao Feng covered her mouth with his hand and placed a single finger over his lips.

  “Don’t yell. That’s what got your brother in that condition.”

  Xia Yawen’s eyes widened, and she quickly turned to look at her brother: it was difficult to make out in the darkness, but she could see swelling on his face and a dark stain on his chest.

  Xia Yawen didn’t know what was going on. Her inexperience and youth made it difficult for her to think clearly. She only knew she needed answers, and she knew the fastest way to get them was to question the only people not bound by chains.

  Gao Feng’s smiling face flashed through her mind. She almost couldn’t bring herself to do it... Almost.

  She lashed out with her front leg, kicking Gao Feng between the legs.

  Gao Feng’s hand dropped away from her mouth as the pain registered in his mind. His consciousness briefly left him, and he slumped forward. He didn’t get far though. Xia Yawen brought her rear leg forward and kneed him in the face.

  His head was thrown back as blood spurted from his nose.

  Xia Yawen hooked her shoe through his belt and brought her leg up over her head; Gao Feng’s legs left the ground as Xia Yawen took his entire body weight on a single leg.

  “What did you do, Gao Feng? Where are we?” she demanded.

  Gao Feng could only blubber in response. The blows to his heads had temporarily left him only semiconscious, forcing her to repeat the question several times.

  Gu Qigang snickered loud enough for her to hear.

  She glared at the Cai men, though both of them seemed to be enjoying the show. They had matching smiles on their faces and neither one had bothered to reach for a weapon.

  Xia Yawen was insulted. She was a body refiner: one of the strongest people in Haven City. She knew all of the other body refiners on sight, and neither Duan He or Gu Qigang was among that group. Unless the Cai clan had been keeping them secret, they couldn’t have been more than channel builders on the same level as Gao Feng... So why did they make her feel so uneasy?

  She swung her leg downwards, throwing Gao Feng towards the ground. He landed harshly on his shoulder, resulting in a painful crunching sound.

  “I suggest the two of you explain what’s going on.”

  “Do you now?” Though it was Duan He who spoke, his voice was... different; it was entirely emotionless. “I’ve thought about your suggestion and decided that I really couldn’t care less. Though you will have to be punished for knocking out our navigator. Now we’re going to have to wait for him to wake up before continuing.”

  “Oh? You think you can punish me? Take these chains off and fight me like a martial artist, if you dare.”

  “Dare?” Gu Qigang laughed out loud, and his voice reverberated off the walls and throughout the tunnel. He quickly approached her and grabbed the chain linking the manacles. He pulled them up to his lips and blew; purple gas passed between his lips. The moment it came into contact with the manacles, they began to disintegrate. In only a few moments, the restrictive chains were gone, and Xia Yawen could move again.

  She wasted no time. The moment she could move her arms, she lashed out with a palm strike to Gu Qigang’s chin. Normally, someone Xia Yawen’s size could never harm someone Gu Qigang’s size: he was almost two feet taller than her and probably weighed three times as much. But she wasn’t only using her muscles. She struck him true, and his head swung upwards due to the burst of Eco she pushed out of her palm.

  Gu Qigang took a single step backwards.

  Xia Yawen capitalized on the moment. She leaped forward, planted her left foot against his thigh, pushed herself up, and kneed him in the face.

  Gu Qigang took a second step backwards.

  Before gravity took hold and pulled her down, Xia Yawen placed her foot on his right shoulder and threw a front kick with her rear leg. She hit him square on the chin and used the momentum to flip around and land on her feet.

  Gu Qigang took a third step backwards.

  Xia Yawen dashed forward and planted her left elbow into his stomach. He leaned forward with the blow, so Xia Yawen threw a horizontal elbow with her right arm, bashing his temple with everything she had.

  Suddenly, a chill raced down her spine. She quickly retreated, leaping over seven feet backwards to get away from him.

  Gu Qigang was on her before her feet could touch the ground. He wrapped his meaty fist around her throat, pivoted on his left foot, and slammed her into the tunnel wall.

  Xia Yawen’s head cracked, and blood seeped into her silver hair.

  “Oops.” Gu Qigang took his hand off her throat and allowed her to slide down the wall. She settled on the ground, completely unconscious and rapidly bleeding out.

  Gu Qigang blew purple mist into his right hand. The purple mist hardened as it touched his hand, transforming into a stretchy piece of fabric. Gu Qigang wrapped it around her head to hamper the blood flow.

  “There, that should keep her from dying for a while.” Gu Qigang brushed his hands off on his pants and turned. Duan He was suddenly standing nose to nose with him. Gu Qigang took a couple of steps backwards out of surprise.

  “Don’t do that—” Gu Qigang didn’t have time to finish his sentence before Duan He’s hand landed on the front of his robes. Gu Qigang was yanked off his feet and thrown away from Xia Yawen. He smashed into the opposite tunnel wall hard enough to fracture the stone. He collapsed to his knees and spat out blood. “What—ugh—what did I do?”

  By the time Gu Qigang looked up, Duan He had already unwrapped Xia Yawen’s head and was in the process of healing her with his own Eco. “You damn ignoramus. Need I remind you that the entire reason we brought them along was to get us through any barriers we come across? It’s impossible for them to do so if they’re dead or have brain damage. If she dies, you’ll have to get us through the barrier.”

  “I’m no script breaker.” Gu Qigang chuckled nervously.

  Duan He looked him up and down and smiled darkly. “I’m sure you’ll think of something.”

  Chapter 14

  TARYN’S EYES SLOWLY began to move. At first it was difficult, as the mud and... other things that caked his face and mask had hardened. It took effort for him to move his head and neck enough to break the mixture loose and free himself from his gross prison.

  Once his head was freed he pushed off the ground and sat up, being careful not to move too quickly and hurt his ribs again. Surprisingly, his ribs felt better. They were still sore, and if he moved too quickly, they hurt quite a bit. But it was a far cry from the pain he’d felt moments after hitting the tree.

  Something dripped on his head.

  Taryn’s entire body tensed as his adrenaline spiked. Two more globules of a clear viscous liquid dropped from above to land on Taryn’s shoulders. You’ve gotta be kidding me. Taryn cautiously angled his head to look up; a truly gargantuan black-and-yellow arachnid sat on top of the Mokan tree Taryn had been resting against. It was so large that it easily dwarfed Big Red. It had seemingly made its nest on top of the Mokan tree, and its legs brushed against the ground in a near perfect imitation of the leaves of the Mokan tree.

  Taryn didn’t know whether to scream or run.

  “Just don’t make any sudden movements.”

  “Ahh!” Taryn yelled. He quickly moved his head to look in the direction of the speaker. Fan Shun was sitting on a nearby rock. Her hair had come undone and hung freely around her shoulders, her robe was ruined, and she was missing her right shoe. All in all, she looked surprisingly well for someone who’d fought a giant canine.

  Fan Shun winced at the volume of Taryn’s scream. And it was only then that Taryn remembered the arachnid above him. He discreetly tried to motion above his head, as if Fan Shun hadn’t noticed the creature, but she just shook her head and sighed.

  “You’re okay, that’s a Mokan spider. They don’t eat humans.” Her words were meant to ease Taryn’s fear, but it was obvious that it did little to change his mind.

  “Then what do they eat?”

  Fan Shun merely pointed towards the Mokan spider. Following her finger with his eyes, Taryn noticed a rather large bundle of webbing stuck to the side of the Mokan tree, from the bottom of which hung a big bushy red tail. “Pretty much anything else. It’s actually rather fascinating to observe. The Mokan spider knows we’re here. It just doesn’t care. And as long as we don’t attack it or threaten it, it’s keen to leave us alone. I’m surprised we managed to find a nest by accident, suppose that means we weren’t meant to die here.”

  “How... how do you know this?”

  Fan Shun gave Taryn a disappointed look. “Honestly, it’s like you forgot where you came from. I was part of the expeditionary force that found you, remember? Actually, now that I think about it, I seem to remember finding you near a Mokan spider’s nest. It’s how we discovered their distaste for eating humans.”

  “Glad I was able to help.”

 

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