Blue Phoenix

by Tinalynge

  As the One-Horned Jasmine Eagle lifted her head, she saw Hui Yue and Lady Sun approach and the annoyed expression on her face changed to a smile while she gently stopped the healers that were healing her. She stood up and moved towards the two other cultivators.

  “We have been doing well here,” She said with a smile. “Although there were only hundred Crusaders they are truly a formidable foe,” She continued. “I got one of the Saint ranked Crusaders and as soon as he died the others retreated. I prioritized healing our own wounds before we gave chase.”

  Wan Qiao was looking at Hui Yue with big eyes and a tentative smile on her face. It was obvious that she was waiting for him to praise her, and a smile appeared on his face. “You did good,” He said laughingly, and his words caused the eagle to turn smug. A large smile was evident on her face, and it was clear that she had forgotten everything about the half-healed wound on her arm and chest.

  “Tell me about what happened here,” Hui Yue said cheerfully as Lady Sun and him looked around. Houses were destroyed, and the road had been busted open here and there. Holes were seen in the walls, and massive stones, which the walls and roads had been built of, had been completely shattered.

  “We found the Crusaders,” Wan Qiao started as she sat down on the ground once more allowing for the healers to return to healing her while she explained what happened. “We found the Crusaders lying amongst a whole alleyway filled with beasts; even Lord Pan was there.” While speaking, Wan Qiao’s voice quivered. Although she was the strongest beast in all of Shenyuan, she had lost one of her best friends. Remembering the sight of him lying there with his head in the ground, was something that she found hard. Clearing her throat and quickly wiping her eyes, Wan Qiao continued, “The Crusader was lying there as if Lord Pan had killed him, and his cloak seemed as though his body within had been twisted horribly, but listening to Lord Zhu I knew that it was not as simple as it looked. Although I knew it, as soon as I got close I was still shocked to see how quickly they launched their attack, and I even got injured. The moment they attacked the other lower ranked Crusaders appeared from the shadows and starting to attack the lower ranked beasts. Although many got injured, we did not lose that many beasts. We even managed to kill a few of the Crusaders along the way.”

  “You would never guess how they look when they die!” Wan Qiao continued her eagerness returned as she pointed at a cloak in front of her. “There’s one right here. Though, If you lift the cloak all you will find is ashes. But if you lift the cloaks of some of the other Crusaders what you’ll find beneath them.” While speaking, Wan Qiao stood up once more and moved to some other cloaks which were lying on the ground. While some of the cloaks were only a cloak, others seemed to have something within. Lifting the first cloak, Hui Yue found ashes falling off it, nothing within. Frowning, Hui Yue moved to one of the other cloaks. One of the ones that seemed to have something within, and as he moved closer, the scent of rotting flesh appeared. He slowly lifted the cloak only to see a corpse that was half decayed lying within. In another cloak was a complete skeleton. Around ten Crusaders had been killed and all of them were in differing degrees of decomposition. Some were ashes, others skeletons, and yet still some just had rotting flesh.

  “I know, right?” Wan Qiao asked as she stood back, “It makes no sense. They are clearly dead, but somehow they were humans before. Very human. It was a black bony hand which wounded me this badly. After being defeated he was turned into the black ashes over there, by the way. But how they can walk around while in different stages of decomposition without smelling, and without collapsing is beyond me. I really don’t understand at all.” She continued, and Hui Yue had to agree. He understood that these Crusaders were definitely dead, yet they were still following orders. It was as though they were an undead legion. It had to be a necromancer’s ability, but Hui Yue never heard Deng Wu mentioning anything about control corpses, and if he could this was on a completely different scale. The only thing Hui Yue knew for sure that he could control was the souls of beasts and humans.

  “I better make a mental note about this,” Hui Yue mumbled to himself as he looked at the many Crusaders. Suddenly a frown appeared as he looked at the skeleton. On the forehead were four small holes, so small that they looked to be made by an incredibly sharp needle. Looking at all the Crusaders who were not ash, he found that all heads, no matter who, had four small needle-like wounds on their foreheads.

  “How odd,” Hui Yue grumbled as he looked from one to another. It was obvious that it had some meaning but as for what it meant, Hui Yue had no idea. Sighing deeply, Hui Yue let it be and walked around. He saw beasts tending to their wounds or assisting others in preparing for a massive hunt. A few were stacking the casualties in a row. Although a battle had just ended, there was no calm and relaxed feeling. Tension hung in the air making everyone incredibly vigilant and worried about when the Crusaders would attack once again. Although they were vigilant before, they had still been taken by surprise when the many lower ranked Crusaders appeared from the shadows, though now everyone expecting an attack any second. The fact that the Crusaders escaped was both a fortunate thing as much as an unfortunate thing.

  “It is good that we are aware of their tactics now,” Hui Yue mumbled, “And it is good we had time to see to the wounded. But they have the chance of setting up another ambush, and we have no idea where they are hiding.” The war was still ongoing, and Hui Yue was the one who had to take the control. Suddenly his eyes went wide, and his mouth went agape. “THE EMPEROR!” He yelled as he ran back to the imperial castle. Behind him followed all the other beasts who were capable of moving as they rushed through the city. Wan Qiao was right by Hui Yue’s side and Lady Sun on the other. Both Saints had their eyes filled with fury and while rushing Hui Yue sighed deeply.

  ‘It is your turn now,’ He said to Lan Feng letting the two, bird and man, switch places. The moment Lan Feng took over his body both Wan Qiao and Lady Sun felt a shiver run through their bodies. Looking at the man by their side, Wan Qiao asked quietly, “Is that you, pipsqueak?” And when she saw Hui Yue nod his head she heaved a heavy sigh of relief. Although Hui Yue was strong and capable of using Lan Feng’s powers, the phoenix was far more experienced.

  Lady Sun looked at the two beasts by her side but said absolutely nothing. Lan Feng sighed as he looked inside of himself and his eyes widened when he felt that he too had access to the red mist energy belonging to the Red Wolf. He could also control the blue energy from the Monk. Although he could not control the energy from the other phenomena, he was greatly excited about the mist energies which he started to feel floating within him.

  Soon the palace was within view and Hui Yue slowed his speed down. Although he wished to make it there as soon as possible, he still understood that the Crusaders were likely to have set up an ambush on the way. If they were rushing too quickly it was likely that they would all die. Slowing down, everyone looked around them. Their sharp eyes and noses sensed everything around them yet no movements nor scents were detected as they inched closer and closer to the palace.

  Not much fighting occurred this close to the castle. Most of the humans who lived in this area escaped earlier without being killed, but the scent of blood hung heavily in the air. The scent was something which worried Hui Yue greatly.

  Making it to the palace the scent of blood got stronger and Hui Yue was ready to hit himself hard for not bringing the soldiers and the emperor with him earlier. Looking at Lady Sun, Hui Yue could see that she too was kicking herself; her face was filled with worry and fear as this was her army. These were her guards. Some of these men and women had been with her for millennia already, yet now she and Hui Yue had left them alone. Alone when there was a massive army of Crusaders out there.

  The castle was broken down. Walls had been shattered, and pillars had been crushed. Furniture was destroyed as if it were worthless, and anything of any worth had been stored inside a multitude of storage stones to be shared later. Everything of
value was gone, and the castle seemed eerie and empty. As soon as they walked through the main castle gate, they saw the doors hanging on their hinges, but the worst was the strong scent of blood and death.

  It was killing them that they were unable to rush through the castle towards the location they left the beasts and the emperor. But they knew the dangers of rushing and very slowly they walked through one room after another, one corridor after another. The closer they got, the stronger the scent became. Moments after, the blood scent mixed with the scent of rotting flesh something which made Hui Yue think of the Crusaders they saw earlier and hope rose in his heart. Perhaps they had managed to fight back against the Crusaders. As far as Hui Yue remembered only a hundred Crusaders had been on the walls earlier, yet the army which Hui Yue left numbered over five thousand emperors. It was possible that they had won the war already, but deep inside a small voice told him ‘stop being so positive, you know it is not possible.’ Hui Yue clenched his fists as he prayed to whatever god there was that they would not have all died. Hui Yue was grateful that Lan Feng was in control of his body. He knew that if he had been in control, then he would have rushed towards the room ignoring all common sense.

  Chapter 289 - The Pyre

  * * *

  Chapter 289: The Pyre

  Moving through the castle, the silence was overwhelming. Although everything smelled of blood, it was obvious that the battle had already ended. The blood and the scent of rotting flesh gave everyone hope as they rushed into the room where they had left the soldiers earlier alongside the emperor.

  The sight which met them was enough to stop the entire army, and even Lan Feng, in control of Hui Yue’s body, stopped and felt faint. He saw a room filled with blood. Beasts were lying dead all over the room. Small black cloaks were lying around as well showing that although the beasts had died, the Crusaders paid an incredibly high price.

  In the middle of the room was the emperor. His face filled with horror while tears were streaming down his face. He had fallen to the floor and used his arms to cover his eyes as he shook uncontrollably. Looking at this, both Hui Yue and Lan Feng were surprised why the Crusaders had not taken him with them. After a second of thought they realized that they simply did not care about the emperor. Their orders were most likely not to be bodyguards but to slaughter as many beasts as they could. Seeing the dead beasts, Hui Yue’s heart felt heavy. His eyes burned, and he once more became grateful that Lan Feng was in control of their body. He had failed his soldiers and caused them to die, but he could not allow for himself to wallow in self-pity. No one knew whether or not there were more Crusaders around, and right now he needed to use his full attention, but Hui Yue was simply too shaken to focus on what was happening around him.

  ‘Pull yourself together!’ Lan Feng hissed at him, ‘We are not in a situation where we can afford to feel guilty. Although you lost some soldiers, you have far more under your control. You owe it to them to be clear headed!’ Hearing his words, Hui Yue understood what Lan Feng was saying. With a solemn self-scolding, he could finally focus on what was going on around him.

  ‘Let start by counting how many Crusaders died here,’ He said, and Lan Feng nodded in agreement. He then moved towards the mess of dead beasts and black cloaks corpses. Walking through the room, Lan Feng counted fifty-eight cloaks, and he could not help but feel proud of his soldiers. There were two experts with Saint ranked strength and all the normal Crusaders with strength equal to their beasts. Although the soldiers had been much more numerous than the enemy, the Saints clearly made up for that difference. Although they had seen the end coming, they had fought hard to the end. If anything, Hui Yue should be proud of his guards rather than pity them. Looking around, he saw a steeled expression on Lady Sun’s face. Her eyes were not crying; instead, they were as hard as stone. Her mouth did not quiver, but a stern smile was shown. She looked at Lan Feng and Hui Yue, but unlike what Hui Yue expected her eyes showed no signs of anger or blame instead they were full of pride and rage.

  “In hindsight we can blame ourselves for a lot of things,” She said in a very low voice as she walked to Lan Feng and Hui Yue where she placed her hand on their shoulder. “Although we made a mistake, these beasts were aware that they could very well die in this war. Losing them is a misfortune, but they fought hard. Don’t ever think of them as the beasts we killed, but as the beasts who fought to defeat their enemy.” Her eyes turned slightly moist as she spoke. Hui Yue understood that she was talking as much to herself as she was to him, but the words made him feel better, and Lan Feng nodded his head. He too understood that now was not the time to start questioning one’s decisions.

  “Search the entire room!” Hui Yue yelled out, and all the beasts searched high and low to see if any Crusaders had stayed behind. After searching it was apparent none had. They had previously been able to capture the emperor by following his scent, but this was impossible now as the Crusaders left no trail nor footsteps on the ground.

  “Carry all the beasts out to the garden and lay them down so that we can say our farewells,” Hui Yue ordered. Before he allowed for anyone to start moving, he sent half of the army to check the entire way from the room to the garden and every nook and cranny of the garden itself before he allowed them to move freely. Fortunately, it seemed as though the Crusaders had left the castle before Hui Yue and his beast horde entered.

  ….

  “Sir, why are we out here and not inside defending our emperor?” Li Xiaopeng asked with a calm face as he looked around the small cave in which they were located. The ones located within the cave was the Grand Marshall and around thirty Saints from the Siban Empire. None of the Crusaders were present, and neither were the families of the Saints or the Grand Marshall.

  “We are waiting,” He said patiently, “The Crusaders were given the order to decimate the beast horde, and they will do all the hard work without our help,” He said with a smile. “When the beast horde is weakened enough we will step in and get rid of them. When they are gone, we will be the heroes who saved the Siban Empire.” He smiled as his white teeth showed a devilish smile in the dimly lit cave.

  “We do not need the emperor,” He continued, “We have followed his orders for far too long, and he is not fit to be emperor. Just remember how he sent group after group into Shenyuan forfeiting the lives of our important soldiers. Even my son’s life was wasted in that godforsaken jungle.”

  “What we will do is defeat the beast army and then when the beasts within Shenyuan have been completely annihilated, we will take Shenyuan over for ourselves! We will then be the biggest empire on the continent, and we will prove to everyone that we deserved it! We will decimate the beast horde!”

  “One could almost believe you had this planned all along,” Li Xiaopeng mentioned with a smirk on his lips as he leaned against the wall. His upper body was still wrapped in bandages, and not all his wounds had been closed, but he did not seem as though it annoyed him.

  “It is the plan,” The Grand Marshall laughed out loud. “To get rid of all those common soldiers in the name of the empire makes it easier to take over the empire. The fewer loyal soldiers we have to get past later the better. I don’t want anyone to question whether or not we are truly worthy of the spot. If they ask why we are alive while the emperor is dead, we can always say that it was because we expected his bodyguards to be strong enough. That it was just a mistake which caused the emperor to die. If I look sad enough the people will believe me,” He continued with a laugh. “But for now, we wait for the Crusaders to do their job. They are given to us personally by Lord An He. There is no way that they will lose to a group of uncivilized beasts.”

  The Saints all looked at each other. Some of them showed doubt in their eyes while others had large smiles on their faces. They all seemingly approved of the plan as they started to nod their heads. More and more smiles sprouted on their faces until everyone started to chuckle or laugh at their future plans.

  ….

  While t
he Grand Marshall and his Saints were hiding deep within a cave in the mountain, Hui Yue and the beasts moved all their fallen brothers into the beautiful garden filled with lilies of all kinds. Beast corpses from across the city had been moved to this garden and were stacked on a massive pyre. Not all the beasts could be within the garden, so those who could fly had taken place on the roofs of the tall buildings or were in the sky looking down upon the funeral pyre that had been created. Some beasts climbed into the high trees where they had a good view.

  Holding a lit torch in his hand, Hui Yue, who was in control of his body, stepped forward and slowly lit the different sections of the pyre. “I thank all of you for having given your life in the pursuit of freedom,” He started. His voice was low but filled with power, and somehow it managed to be heard through the entire area. “We left together knowing that some would die, but the casualties were far more than I had imagined. So much of our brothers’ blood has been spilled in this war, there is no way we will lose. You will not be known as the beasts who died a useless death! You will be remembered as the strong, the courageous, the mighty who paved the way for the beasts of the world. You will be known as heroes! Songs will be sung and tales written about your bravery,” Hui Yue continued his voice filled with emotion. None of the beasts said anything. It was late into the night now. It had been around dusk when they returned to find the emperor and hours had passed since then.