Chapter 14

Shi Hou immediately moved, essence burning as he hopped away from a blazing fist from one of the elemental automatons using hopping firecracker evasion to get clear. The second Elemental Automaton moved forward to seize the ground that he'd just vacated, before belching out a torrent of flame at Shi Hou that forced him to dodge by the simple expedient of falling flat on his back. The way the flames washed over the orichalcum inner wall of the obelisk spire scorching even that brilliant golden metal black proved to Shi Hou that getting hit with those flames was not going to be something that he would just shrug off.

Kipping up to his feet through the use of the Effortlessly Rising Flame Technique, burning motes as he did so, Shi Hou lashed out with his blade in a draw cut utilizing the power of Breath and Essence Control to strike the Elemental Automaton before its blazing fist could strike him. His Daiklave slashed into the Automaton's chassis, drawing sparks as it did so which were then fanned into flames by the bound Elementals, the fires washing over Shi Hou and burning him despite his armor. He was forced to drop to the floor in a roll to put the flames out, burning motes as he did so to channel the power of the Threshold Warding Stance to parry and dodge glowing stomps from the Elemental Automatons as if he hadn't just been sent to the floor.

As he popped back up to his feet, Shi Hou could spot that he had carved a great rent into the chassis of the First Elemental Automaton, fraying at some of the bindings keeping the Elemental within tethered to the material plane. However, his chest was a mass of burned flesh at the moment from taking just a single one of those fiery ripostes. The flames ignored his armor, heat conducting through the mystical metal to sear into him. He could take one more of those attacks, but not a third. Behind him, he found Evening Rabbit concentrating on something that she was doing with mirrors and essence.

"I hope you have something to deal with these because I don't know how much more I can take!" Called out Shi Hou.

"Keep them off me for a bit longer, I may be able to weaken the bindings enough that a solid blow will cause the Elementals to dematerialize!" Called out Evening Rabbit.

As the Elemental Automatons moved to attack again, Shi Hou took his stance and just had to trust that Evening Rabbit could do what she said she could. Once again, he burned motes, falling into the Even Blade Form, sheathing his blade, shedding motes like water, he closed his eyes and looked at his opponents. The traceries of essence that defined the Elemental Automatons and their movements and workings were laid bare to him for just the briefest of seconds. He spotted a weakness in the one he had gouged a chunk out of, one that might, if exploited hard enough, unravel the bindings tying the elemental to the automaton and force it to discorporate.

That elemental was also the first to attack him, and with another burst of essence and a shout, he charged forth a draw cut arcing out for the weakness he had spotted earlier. The chink he had taken out of its armor. His Daiklaive lashed out and tore into the Chassis of the Elemental Automaton, tearing into its torso with a screech of tearing metal. As he did so, the heretofore invisible glyphs binding the elemental into the Automaton began to glow red with heat. Shi Hou burned more motes into a Hopping Firecracker Evasion to try and get clear of the impending Meltdown, but even with that, the explosion of flame that blasted out from the torn open chassis picked him up and licked at his body, scorching into his back through the mystical metals of his armor and sending him flying into the rear wall with a crunch.

As Shi Hou blinked the stars out of his eyes, he realized that he'd landed on his left arm and it had broken in the fall. He was right-handed, but it would be difficult to perform many of the techniques of the Even Blade Style one-handed. There was quite a bit of Iaijutsu involved in the process, after all. He stood shakily to his feet, grabbed hold of his Daiklaive in a shaky grip, and took stock of his injuries and the situation. He had felled one of the Elemental Automatons with his last attack, but the other was still fresh. Doing so had also damn near killed him, as he was front and back were more burned meat than intact flesh, his left arm hung broken at his side, and he was bleeding from his scalp with a possible concussion.

"I hope. . .you're ready. One more. . .hit will. . .kill me." Wheezed out Shi Hou.

"Almost there!" Called out Evening Rabbit.

As the Last Elemental Automaton Moved in for the kill, Shi Hou braced himself for the end. He could spend essence to heal, but that would drain him to the point where he probably wouldn't be able to deal with the Automaton himself. Even with that, he spent the motes to heal his left arm so he could at least defend himself properly. Sheathing his Daiklave, he prepared to go down swinging, channeling essence into the Breath and Essence Control and Death Between Heartbeats techniques. He had one more good hit in him, he would have to make it count.

Just as the Elemental Automaton moved to attack him, however, Evening Rabbit finally completed whatever sorcery or thaumaturgy she was working on. Her essence was channeled into and bounced off of, several mirrors before reflecting onto the Elemental Automaton in a coherent beam of golden power. The beam seemed to sear right through the Orichalcum of the Automaton Chassis and into the Elemental Beneath. The Elemental Automaton Froze, as if trying to fight off the power.

"Now while it's distracted, hit it with everything!" Called out Evening Rabbit.

Shi Hou needed no more encouragement than that, cutting out in a lunging draw cut that carved into the Automaton Chassis, tearing through metal and destroying invisible binding glyphs. Then, with a screech that sounded more avian than tortured metal, the golden light from Evening Rabbit's mirrors suffused the Automaton Chassis, overpowering the flames within and snuffing them out in a burst of golden radiance and a crack like thunder.

Shi Hou immediately began spending essence to heal what he could, but he knew that Evening Rabbit would have to finish the process for him. She must have known he was fairly tapped out of Essence from the constant fighting and running through the Undercity as well because she immediately moved to begin using her alchemy and Medical Training and Charms to fix up his various wounds.

As she applied alchemical salve to his burns, Shi Hou asked, "What was that thing you did?"

"It's fairly simple. I applied Thaumaturgical Principles to Sorcery to combine the two into a banishment spell. It still almost wasn't enough because I only know Emerald Circle Sorcery at the moment. Even supercharged with Solar Essence and concentrated with Thaumaturgical Principles, it wasn't going to be enough against Sorcery of a Higher Circle used to make that thing. That's why I needed you to hit it as hard as you could." Explained Evening Rabbit.

"Teamwork, eh? I suppose there are worse principles to take away from the Dragonbloods than that." Smirked Shi Hou.

"Indeed, now hold still." Commanded Evening Rabbit.

After a few hours spent with Evening Rabbit patching Shi Hou up and just resting to regain their spent essence, Shi Hou finally felt healed and refreshed enough to don his armor once again. Immediately, he began looking around the chamber for anything they might be able to take with them. The Hearthstones especially proved to be a boon, as Evening Rabbit pointed out several that she felt would benefit him specifically, such as a glittering, flawless black ovoid, a brilliant red that glows as bright as a candle, a gem with no constant color that appeared pale or brilliant, cloudy or translucent, green or blue, depending on the angle, and a translucent reddish-orange gemstone with a golden-orange iridescence that plays across its surface.

"Those are a Gem of Adamant Skin, a Gem of Perfect Mobility, a Gem of Sapphire and Emerald, and a Seven Leaping Dragon Stone respectively. Those will make you tougher, faster, impervious to sorcery, and more capable with martial arts, respectively." Pointed out Evening Rabbit.

"What about for yourself?" Questioned Shi Hou.

"I will take these." Grinned Evening Rabbit. She pointed to a simple blue stone, a healthy earth-brown stone, mottled with spots of green, a plainly but perfectly formed prism made of a material that is somehow both metallic and transparent, a clear stone that had an oily, gold sheen to it, and glowed brightly from within, and an eight-sided pink and black tourmaline cross-section, with eight facets around the edge with perfectly smooth faces.

"What are those?" Queried Shi Hou.

"These are a Stone Of Healer’s Flower, a Stone of Healing, a Twice Striking Lightning Prism, a Stone of Sorcery, and a Rose of Millions. They'll make me far better at healing, Sorcery, and Social Situations than I already am." Informed Evening Rabbit.

Aside from all of that, there were a number of other things that they grabbed, like a pair of Orichalchum Perfected Kata Bracers and an Orichalcum Reinforced Breastplate that could stop any one attack from hitting the wearer outright once a day. There was also the odd, First Age, Apparatus to look into. Neither of them could tell exactly how it worked, but as best they could figure, it was meant to insert a crystal into the slot on the apparatus, then fasten the goggles and earmuffs to the user's head and the information in that crystal would be downloaded into the user's brain. . .somehow. Fortunately, the various Crystals were labeled in Old Realm, though only six labels were still legible, and of those, only four of the crystals were still able to be used. Time and the turning of the wheel of ages had since rendered the rest unusable.

"This one says Even Blade Style: Tiger Warrior Citadell Variant, this one says Terrestrial Hero Style, this one says Sapphire Circle Initiation, and this one says Dolorous Reflection. I suppose I'll take the Sapphire Circle Initiation and Dolorous Reflection and you can take the Martial Arts Styles to complete your training in them?" Asked Evening Rabbit, as she read out the labels.

"If it works." Snorted Shi Hou.

"You should go first. If the thing malfunctions and fries your brain, I can use the Stone of Healer's Flower to fix you up as if it never happened." Pointed out Evening Rabbit.

"Lucky me." Huffed Shi Hou.

He slotted in the Crystal for the Even Blade Style: Tiger Warrior Citadel Variant, fastened the apparatus to his head and sat down on the floor. For a moment, nothing happened it was as if the apparatus just wouldn't work. Then as if a switch had been flipped, everything hit him all at once, a barrage of sensations and information beamed directly into his mind and muscle memory as if he had been training in the style for decades and had finally mastered it. It seemed the Tiger Warrior Citadel Variant was one of the two yet-to-be-discovered variants of the style, omitting Air in favor of Wood and Earth followed by Fire and Water.

As quickly as it came, the sensations cut out, leaving Shi Hou feeling more capable than ever. After a brief bout of diagnosis from Evening Rabbit to check for any damage to his brain, Shi Hou slotted in the Terrestrial Hero Style Crystal and fastened the Apparatus back on his head. Once again he was assailed by sensations as knowledge was beamed directly into his mind and muscle memory. A grappling charm that carried the essence of Wood, a flurry of furious blows empowered by the Essence of Air, and a capstone charm that carried the essence of all five elements and could reduce a target's defenses to nothing were now his to use.

Once again, the sensations cut out, leaving Shi Hou even more capable than he had been previously. After a brief once over by Evening Rabbit to confirm there was no damage to his brain or nerves, it was Evening Rabbit's turn to gain the lost knowledge of Tiger Warrior Citadel, meager though the surviving knowledge was compared to the veritable wall of data crystals that sat behind the apparatus.

When she strapped in and the Apparatus turned on, Shi Hou got a look at how he must have looked. Evening Rabbit twitched in her seat, nerves firing as the information sought connections to her muscle memory. He could understand why she had insisted on giving him a check-up after each use. It looked for all the world as if she was being electrocuted. After two sessions of that, followed by two sessions of self-check-ups, there was only one thing left to do, search for Perfection, the Marshal of Tiger Warrior Citadel's fabled Orichalcum Blade.

It was Evening Rabbit who found it, disguised as an ordinary Hairpin. Shi Hou was glad she had done so because his first thought had been to check the Sarcophagus. Evening Rabbit shook her head at that and enlightened him on exactly why that would be a very bad idea. Pointing at the numerous glyphs hidden within the elaborate carvings and metalwork.

"Look here, if you'd tried it, your essence would have been drained to empower the defenses, and your body immolated to dust." She pointed out.

Fortunately, that had not happened. With Perfection now at his side in the form of a Reaper Daiklaive, the Perfected Kata Bracers at his wrists, His Hearthstone Amulet, and his Five Metal Armor, he now had a full six hearthstone sockets on his person, which currently held the Seven Leaping Dragon Stone, the Gem of Perfect Mobility, the Gem of Sapphire and Emerald, the Gem of Last Resort, the Monkey Stone, and the Gem of Adamant Skin.

Evening Rabbit, meanwhile, had her Reinforced Orichalcum Breastplate, Hearthstone Bracers, Orichalcum Throwing Blade of Returning, and a Hearthstone Amulet for a total of six Hearthstone sockets. She currently had the Bloodstone, Stone Of Healer’s Flower, Stone of Healing, Twice Striking Lightning Prism, Stone of Sorcery, and Rose of Millions socketed.

With that, the pair headed out of the Tomb of Singing Blades, leaving a large number of hearthstones, artifacts, and other goods behind them. This seemed somehow to please the defenses because as soon as they left, the pair found the door into the Obelisk Tower sealed shut behind them and a path through the singing, whirling, storm of blades open in front of them. Shi Hou couldn't help but laugh at that.

"What's so funny?" Demanded Evening Rabbit.

"Everything I've heard of the Marshal of Tiger Warrior Citadel suggests that he was the type of Exalt to absolutely turn his tomb into a test for worthy warriors. Complete with a prize at the end, no less. I wouldn't be surprised if those Elemental Automatons have begun reconstructing themselves now that we're leaving." Chuckled Shi Hou.

Evening Rabbit clearly didn't know what to say to that. Instead, she simply followed Shi Hou through the opening in the vortex of edged orichalcum that had been presented to them. As they made their way out of the Tomb Chamber and down the tunnel toward the exit, Shi Hou remained amused by it all, even as Evening Rabbit remained bewildered.

They emerged out of the smuggling tunnels to a night sky having just begun to lighten with the dawn. With no sign of pursuit from their Lunarborn Adversary or any of the Hooded Executioners to be found. Deciding not to look a gift horse in the mouth, they immediately began heading southeast toward the Grey River.

Hopefully, they would find smooth sailing all the way to Varsi. . .

XXXX

Ziva No-Clan scowled as she was recalled from her hunt empty-handed, with no sign of her prey to show for her hours of ambush preparations. The Old General, Johoda had recalled her personally with a direct summons from the Council and she couldn't refuse that, no matter how much the failure smarted.

She had spent the next few hours being grilled by first Johoda, then the Queen of Midnight, going over everything and trying to find some hint of useful knowledge by asking the same questions over and over again in various different ways. It was all just so frustrating to her. Still, she would bear the shame. For what the Council had done for her, she could do no less.

"It seems that we have reached the end of the productivity to be gained in this debriefing. That being so, you have new orders." Intoned the Midnight Queen.

"I will carry them out to my fullest capability." Nodded Ziva No-Clan.

"Indeed? Dragonlord Johoda will brief you, I have other concerns that require my attention now that the debriefing is over." Huffed the Midnight Queen, turning on her heel and leaving the chamber.

Ziva No-Clan turned toward the Old General, inclining her head. "I await my orders." She stated.

"In her infinite wisdom, the Midnight Queen has decided to contract a Circle of Dynast Mercenaries. The Circle of Furious Elements are on their way from their most recent contract out near Greyfalls. This will be their first foray into the Southern Scavenger Lands and they will require a guide who knows the area, along with one who has faced the Girl and her Bodyguard and lived to tell the tale." Began Dragonlord Johoda.

Ziva No-Clan's eyebrows climbed up high on her forehead as she heard that news. Dynastic Mercenaries were hardly a wise choice, considering how swiftly the petty politics of the Great Houses of the Realm could rear their heads even out here in areas wholly independent of the Realm. It was not her place to question the decisions of the Council, however, to do so would be ungrateful in the extreme.

"I take it I am to be that guide?" She questioned.

"Indeed. Render these Dynasts any assistance you can in tracking down your mutual quarry, but keep an eye out for any hints of treachery. The Council may have decided we need their help, but we emphatically do not need them setting up a new satrapy somewhere in the Southern Scavenger Lands. If it seems as if they are planning to do so, communicating with Thorns, sending secretive messages, anything, report it back to me via the usual methods immediately." Commanded Dragonlord Johoda.

"Of course." Affirmed Ziva No-Clan. The Old General was wise to be wary of treachery and seek to guard against it. Another reason for Ziva to be thankful for her current lot in life. Prior authority figures had been far less capable and far more brutal. She refused to even think about that now.

"Very well. They will arrive in two days. You are free to make whatever preparations you wish for their arrival in the meantime. Dismissed." Ordered Dragonlord Johoda.

Ziva No-Clan didn't wait around to be told a second time, immediately turning and heading for the quartermaster's office. She would make her preparations, she would study her latest teammates, and she would lead them to their mutual quarry. Then, when the time came for her to face their prey again, Ziva No-Clan would not be found wanting again.

Instead, she would conquer, and through that victory, wash away the sting of her failure. . .

XXXX

AN: So yeah, here we see how things turned out with the Tomb of Singing Blades. Now, you may think that the loot was a bit much this early on in the story. To that, I say simply that it was exactly as much as it needed to be against what is coming. Peleps Ling almost killed Shi Hou by herself back in Varsi, and she was the weakest of the Circle of Furious Elements. Plus, if Shi Hou and Evening Rabbit Gank the rest of the Circle, that is going to draw the eye of the Immaculate Order.

Even if they win, they could very easily find themselves facing down a Circle of Immaculate Monks looking to slay the Anathema/Wipe away the shame of Defeat. They need all the help they can get on that front.

At any rate, the next chapter will involve the first stretch of the trip back to Varsi.

Stay tuned. . .