Chapter 16

Shi Hou and Evening Rabbit stayed for a few days in Onehill, gathering supplies and generally getting the lay of the land. Apparently, the Emir of Tulgadan and the Prince of Peshmi were on the verge of war over some sort of recently uncovered Shogunate Era Ruins in the borderland between their territories. Apparently, they'd uncovered some sort of supplemental training camp for Legion Auxiliaries from the Late Shogunate Era.

Or rather, a would-be band of Scavenger Lords uncovered a supplemental training camp for Legion Auxiliaries from the Late Shogunate Era and Peshmi attacked their camp in a military strike to claim the fort for their own, prompting Tulgadan to send their own forces to chase Peshmi off. Now both sides were glaring at each other from opposite sides of the borderland and moving forces in to try and claim the area around the fort with enough force to make the other back off.

Evening Rabbit had managed to get the real story from one of the few survivors of the Peshmi Army's purge of the Scavenger Camp, a man named Faisal from the Varsiyag Beylik of Hosmi. Apparently what they found was a mostly wrecked fort with a still-intact storehouse of alchemical and enchanted items and weapons and a very small library of preserved Shogunate Era instructional manuals that taught some Thaumaturgy and a very few that taught Dragonblooded Charms, namely, Elemental Bolt Attack, Wind Carried Words Technique, Dragon-Graced Weapon, and Ox-Body Technique.

The storehouse and library weren't anything that could really challenge any of the big players like Nexus or Thorns. Hell, even the Varsiyag Sultans would be able to deal with that sort of threat fairly easily. They might give the people who gained control of them enough of an edge to unite the independent towns in the northern stretch of the Grey River, though. For the petty lords of the various minor city-states that dotted the Stretch of the Grey River between the Marukan Redoubt and Nexus that was apparently a prize worth fighting over.

What this effectively meant was that the path south by land was going to be very dangerous, very soon. Shi Hou was insistent that he and Evening Rabbit take a boat south to Trouthome and dodge the combat zone that way. Unfortunately, of the boats in the small harbor, most were fishing boats that couldn't afford to stay away from Onehill too long, and none of the trading vessels were headed to Trouthome, instead, they were all going north to Nexus to sell thaumaturgically-purified iron or sulfur to the many foundries and alchemists of Nexus.

So it was that Shi Hou and Evening Rabbit found themselves being forced to once again travel south by foot, only this time there was the prospect of running across two warring armies to deal with. As it would turn out, however, they needn't have been worried about potential combat along the road to the south. Combat found them from the North as they were leaving Onehill.

They had been walking for perhaps twenty minutes, with the Town of Onehill still visible behind them when an arrow from out of the foliage came streaking for Evening Rabbit. Evening Rabbit, for her part, had turned around to avoid a sudden, chilly, breeze from freezing the back of her neck. Thankfully, Shi Hou had spotted an indistinct blur moving out from a bush near a tree, yet making no sound even as it rustled the leaves of the bush, a moment earlier. That allowed him to tackle Evening Rabbit to the ground in time for the arrow to pass by overhead and thunk into a tree trunk that overhung the bank of the Grey River. The arrow sizzled into the trunk as a greenish-yellow liquid bubbled from the head. A Wood-Element Dragon Graced Arrow.

As Shi Hou stood up, he found himself assaulted by a large, long-haired, Man in White Jade Lamellar who smelled vaguely of wet earth. A lunging Uppercut that seemed to tear stones from the very ground to enhance his punch came at Shi Hou and forced him to parry the punch with Blade Deflecting Palm, batting away the fist with the palm of his hand at the wrist while the rocky shards of earth bounced off the lamellar of his Five-Metal Armor Harmlessly.

Immediately, Shi Hou went on the offensive turning the parry into a grapple and throwing the Man over his shoulder in the direction of the hazy blur. Unfortunately, the Man managed to right himself in mid-air with a burst of essence channeled into the Dancing Ember's Stride Technique by kicking off some sort of updraft and using the very wind itself to turn himself around and land on his feet.

As the Large Man landed, the Hazy Blur resolved itself into the image of a slim, short, Woman in a Green Jade Breastplate with a Powerbow. She frowned as she regarded Shi Hou.

"You spotted me. That's interesting. The Anathema didn't spot me." Frowned the Woman.

"Anathema?" Questioned Evening Rabbit.

"Don't play dumb. We know you to be one. How else could you have slain Peleps Ling and escaped from Nexus with the city locked down and searching for you?" Rumbled the Man in White Lamellar.

"So you're what? The Realm's Wyld Hunt? Forgive me for saying this, but you don't look like Immaculate Monks." Frowned Shi Hou.

"We're not the Wyld Hunt. We're members of the Circle of Furious Elements. Peleps Ling was our sworn sister." Informed the Woman.

"I am Mnemnon Chen, this is Cynis Juri. We have been given the first chance at vengeance for our dead Sister by our leader, Cathak Sen." Added the Man in White Lamellar, Mnemnon Chen.

Shi Hou didn't wait for the conversation to end, signaling Evening Rabbit to attack, Perfection shifting into a set of Smashfists and God-Kicking Boots. With one fluid movement, Evening Rabbit drew her Orichalcum Throwing Knife and tossed it at the Woman, Cynis Juli, even as Shi Hou charged Mnemnon Chen. Cynis Juli, however, merely took an arrow and fired it in a burst of essence, shooting the Thrown Blade out of the air before it returned to Evening Rabbit's hand. Meanwhile, Mnemnon Chen stomped the ground turning his heel as he did so. A burst of essence shot through the ground and a jagged wedge of stone shot up to block the heavy punch that Shi Hou sent his way.

Shi Hou's Punch shattered the stone, but already, Mnemnon Chen was already attacking, stomping the ground to produce a ball of stone that popped up in front of him. Chen punched the ball and it struck out at Shi Hou as if fired from a ballista, forcing Shi Hou to dodge in a burst of essence, using Falling Star Maneuver to leap over the flying stone ball and lashing out with an axe kick at Mnemnon Chen's shoulder.

Surprisingly, rather than block, Mnemnon Chen chose to tank the blow, the attack smashing into his shoulder and causing him to grunt slightly from the hit before he trapped Shi Hou's leg with his arms. An attempt to break Shi Hou's leg ensued, but thankfully, the Gem of Adamant Skin supernaturally toughened Shi Hou's bones, and what would have been a lethal blow to his right leg instead only bruised his shinbone. It was still more damage than he'd done to Mnemnon Chen, who appeared to be barely hurt even after tanking a blow from Perfection that had been enhanced with a falling star maneuver.

Shi Hou kicked out with his other leg and Mnemnon Chen dropped him with a pained grunt, only to lash out in a rising knee that was enhanced with the power of more flying shards of rock. One of the shards sliced into the back of Shi Hou's head, cutting a line across his scalp that didn't bleed thanks to the powers of the Gem of Adamant Skin, but was nonetheless a bashing wound. As Shi Hou rolled away from the sudden stomp of Menmnon Chen's foot, he chanced a glance over at Evening Rabbit.

Evening Rabbit had, unfortunately, had to resort to Sorcery in order to hold her own, the lashing, glowing, bladed, chain of the Flying Guillotine whirling about in mid-air as Evening Rabbit managed to swat a trio of arrows that had been fired all at once by Cynis Juri out of the sky with it. Unfortunately, her counterattack was dodged as the bladed chain carved through a tree instead of her target. Cynis Juri darted forward and, in a burst of essence, struck out for Evening Rabbit in a two-fingered strike. Evening Rabbit tried to dodge but only succeeded in taking the blow not on a vital point. She staggered backward, making space, and suddenly lost her grip on the magic of the Flying Guillotine.

Evening Rabbit began stumbling around as if drunk and threw her Orichalcum blade at nothing, resulting in it burying itself into a tree with a thunk before she called it back to her with a burst of essence. In that time, she was struck in the back by an arrow that punched through the space between the Orichalcum pauldron and breastplate of her Reinforced Breastplate, sizzling into her flesh with an acrid burst.

Evening Rabbit cried out in pain at the attack, and clutched at her shoulder, shaking her head clear of whatever had affected her senses. That was all that Shi Hou had time to see, however, as Mnemnon Chen punched his fists into the ground and pulled them back up covered in a layer of stone, as if he'd just put on a pair of fighting gauntlets. He then rushed for Shi Hou, prompting a parry using the Blade Deflecting Palm Technique, slapping away the attack with his palm in a burst of essence, before striking out in a flurry of punches as kicks of his own, burning so much essence into his Fist-Spinning Maelstrom that his eyes began to glow with divine light and a whitish aura enveloped him. Each punch was infused with the power of water to wear away at stone using Flow Past Defenses.

A Punch was blocked and the second punch parried, but a roundhouse kick to the knee went through, as did a knife hand strike to the side of the neck, a knee to the floating ribs, and a punch to the nose, an elbow to the temple, and a front thrust kick to the sternum. More and more essence was spent on more and more blows, robbing Mnemnon Chen of more and more of his defenses until finally, he managed to fell Chen with a leaping elbow to the top of his head, sending the Earth Aspect unconscious to the ground.

"Chen!" Cried out Cynis Juri, who immediately moved to charge Shi Hou.

That was a mistake, it turned out, as Evening Rabbit, sporting a pair of arrows that had struck into her and burned her flesh with acrid venom, on her last legs, yet still able to fight, summoned up a final casting of Flying Guillotine and, with effort, hurled it at Cynis Juri even as she struck for Shi Hou with an outstretched spear hand strike with her fingertips coated in yellowish, foul-smelling, essence. Just before she reached Shi Hou, however, the blazing, bladed, chain of the Flying Guillotine wrapped around her arm and tore it off her body.

Cynis Juri fell to the ground, bleeding out as Shi Hou huffed and puffed, almost completely out of essence and half knocked out on his feet from the hits he'd taken from Mnemnon Chen. Meanwhile, Evening Rabbit looked like she was just barely standing, even if she still had essence left. Her Caste Mark burned bright on her brow as she drew in essence from the environment to supplement her own, a golden brand revealing her status as a Solar Exalt for all the world to see.

"That. . .was harder than it should have been. . ." Huffed Shi Hou.

"We need to run." Grunted Evening Rabbit through clenched teeth.

"No. . .arguments. . .here. Can. . .you manage. . .a horse?" He questioned.

"Just about. Then I'm tapped." Nodded Evening Rabbit with a wince.

"Good. . .enough." Responded Shi Hou.

Evening Rabbit spent yet more essence, chanting in Old Realm. Suddenly, a green horse with a brown mane materialized from out of the swampy forest to the side of the road. Shi Hou and Evening Rabbit clambered onto its back and the Etheral Horse sped off leaving the unconscious and bleeding out forms of Mnemnon Chen and Cynis Juri respectively behind.

Unfortunately for them, it would not be the last they would see of the Circle of Furious Elements. . .

XXXX

Mnemnon Chen woke with a start, eyes darting around rapidly, looking for enemies. He found none, instead spotting Sen and Mei sitting near a campfire. Their local guide was roasting some sort of marsh fowl on a spit over the flames. Chen sat up wincing at the headache the motion induced in him.

"Easy, you took a beating." Intoned Sen.

"What happened? Where's Juri?" Queried Chen.

"Mei sent her back to Nexus on a ship carrying Sulfur and Iron from Onehill. She's alive, but she'll never hold a bow again." Answered Sen.

"She'd gotten her arm torn off by Sorcery. Flying Guillotine, a nasty spell." Informed Mei.

"She would have bled out if not for the actions of our Guide. Apparently, she knows the Lunar Anathema methods of healing wounds." Informed Sen.

"Couldn't reattach the arm. It doesn't work like that." Added their Guide.

"You let her use that. . .dark magic on Juri?" Asked Chen.

"There wasn't a choice. My own skills aren't good enough to bring someone back from almost bled out. Not without proper facilities. It was that or Juri dies." Admitted Mei.

"More to the point, Juri was able to tell us something interesting. Seems like both of them are Anathema." Pointed out Sen.

"That actually explains a lot." Nodded Chen.

"Which means that we get one more shot at them before I have to call in the Immaculates. We'll hit them with everything we have tomorrow. From what Juri said, the two of you together almost got them. With you, Mei, and I fighting together? They don't stand a chance." Grinned Sen.

Mnemnon Chen was glad to hear that. Two Anathema working together couldn't be allowed to go free. It was a sensible decision, taking one more shot at them. A last chance at revenge for Ling and Juri. If they failed, they would have to report back to the Immaculates and a Wyld Hunt would be sent out. That would involve politics with the Confederation of Rivers, something that would cause no small amount of headaches for people back in Imperial City.

And headaches for people in Imperial City meant censure for the people who caused said headaches. That was something that none of them wanted, shot at vengeance for Ling and Juri or not. Censure by the Immaculate Faith wasn't exactly conducive to your health, after all. Their next chance would have to succeed.

Or else. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here's the first fight between Shi Hou, Evening Rabbit, and the Circle of Furious Elements. As you can probably guess if you're an Exalted Player, those were some fairly high-level charms being thrown around. As in, Essence Four Prerequisite Charms. Shi Hou and Evening Rabbit just barely made it out of there alive.

The next big fight will involve three Essence Four Dragonbloods, it's gonna be a tough one. They may not win, they may have to just survive to be able to flee. If they do, the Circle will pursue. They'll only call in the immaculate if they get beat again, after all.

As for Ziva No-Clan, well her orders are just to act as a Guide for the Circle of Furious Elements. She's not under any obligation to fight herself. That said, the immaculate showing up isn't exactly good for her either as a Lunar Half-Caste. They might just decide to take care of her along with Shi Hou and Evening Rabbit. If the Immaculates do get called in, she might be forced to join up with Shi Hou and Evening Rabbit just to survive.

At any rate, the next chapter will be the flight south with the Circle harrying Shi Hou and Evening Rabbit along the way.

Stay tuned. . .