Chapter 13

The whirling storm of blades that swirled around the obelisk-like form of the Tomb of Singing Blades would be too much for most people. Heroic Mortals would be slain outright within seconds, while most Godbloods would last barely moments longer. Even the majority of the Dragonblooded Princes of the Earth that Shi Hou knew of would find themselves worn down eventually by the storm of edges, subjected to a literal death of a thousand cuts and unable to withstand any other defenses within the tomb itself by the time they reached the Obelisk.

Shi Hou rated his chances more highly only due to a very specific set of circumstances involving his repertoire of techniques. He had no less than three separate charms which boosted his ability to dodge in this situation, and his hearthstone setup was also calculated to allow for acrobatic dodges and maneuvers. At the same time, the Form Charm of the Even Blade Style meant that his capabilities at dodging and parrying attacks would not be as degraded over time as would be normal for a Dragonblood, let alone another Godblood. Finally, he had trained in the Ox-Body Technique Thrice Over, something many do not even bother with, forging his body into a thing of iron.

He was concerned slightly with Evening Rabbit's own ability to navigate the deathly field, mind you, but if needed he could simply use Virtuous Negation Defense to deal with attacks from blades she could not. With that in mind, he began surging his essence throughout his body, diving into the torrent of whirling blades ahead of his charge. Almost immediately, Shi Hou found himself having to parry an incoming Orichalcum Short Daiklave that flew right for his chest.

Forging ahead, Shi Hou parried, ducked, dodged, dipped, dived, and weaved through the whirling hedge of blades, being nicked once or twice in places his armor had little coverage, such as the meat of his lower thigh or his upper arms. He was making progress, however, even with cuts and gashes opening up on him. He was close enough to the Obelisk in the eye of the storm of blades that he could taste it.

Evening Rabbit fared somewhat less well, having taken a cut across the buttocks where her breastplate didn't cover, along with her legs and arms. It slowed her just enough that by the time they were about to break through the maelstrom of whirling, whistling, blades, she failed to catch an Orichalcum Reaver Dailklave making its way toward her neck from behind like a buzzsaw, emitting a humming noise that was so low that it was almost imperceptible.

Burning essence, Shi Hou rushed forward, parrying a Wavecleaver Daiklaive that tried to stop him from reaching Evening Rabbit and ducking under a swinging Daikalbar before coming up next to his charge. He mimed parrying the incoming blade even as Evening Rabbit looked at him strangely and Virtuous Negation Defense forced Evening Rabbit to turn and snap off a picture-perfect parry that sent the Reaver Dailklave that almost decapitated her whirling off into the distance to join its brethren in the cloud of roiling blades.

"Come on!" Commanded Shi Hou, grabbing Evening Rabbit by the wrist and dashing forward.

He dragged her along with him in his wake and together, they weaved through the hedge of singing blades. They had almost reached the Obelisk once again before several humming weapons closed in on them from two sides. There was no way for both of them to dodge all of this new pattern of attack from the defenses, which was a problem. When that sort of thing happened, however, having a good healer was critical. That way, whenever the attack that had just decimated you had ended, a good healer would be able to patch you back up and get you back into fighting shape.

With that in mind, Shi Hou did the only thing he could. What the experience of years as a mercenary had taught him to do. He moved to save the Healer. Shi Hou tossed Evening Rabbit ahead of him with a burst of essence and a half-tug, half-shoulder throw. Evening Rabbit squawked indignantly as she hurled out of the cloud of whirling death blades and into the eye of the storm around the Obelisk of the Tomb. Shi Hou had no more attention to spare for her, however.

No, he had to focus on his own defense, minimizing the damage as best he could. He parried a Daiklave with his own blade, ducked a spinning Daikalbar, and kicked away a whirling Grimcleaver. He sidestepped a thrusting Short Daiklave and parried a hacking Wavecleaver Daiklave, tucking into a shoulder roll to avoid a lunging Direlance. He popped up in a jump that avoided a cutting Reapear Daiklave, landed, and parried a Vajra Javelin that was streaking for his heart. All the while he was attempting to use Hopping Firecracker Evasion to get back over to the eye of the storm.

For a few, long, moments, it looked as if he might just pull it off. His charm setup seemed uniquely suited to the task of navigating this hurricane of death. Unfortunately, it was not to be. It started small, a Short Daiklave turning a thrust into a cut that carved into the calf of his right boot, hamstringing him. A burst of Essence healed the cut, but that split-second of healing caused an Orichalcum Throwing Knife to slip past his guard and catch him under his left arm. His underarm was armored only in padded leather. It was a gap in his artifact lamellar, one that he'd not had time to remedy before being chased out of Nexus. Now it had become fatal.

The knife punched deep into his underarm, not totally fatal, but close enough. He could heal it with essence, the only problem was that his reserves were too low after so much action with only a single hour to recuperate before entering the storm of weapons. He could make it to the eye of the storm or he could heal himself, not both. Another cut would kill him so he couldn't stay in the storm, and he ran a very real risk of bleeding out if he spent his last motes to get out of the storm. He would just have to trust that Evening Rabbit could heal him from the brink of death.

With one last burst of Essence, Shi Hou leaped for the eye of the storm, evading a striking Reaver Daiklave that would have been his death in the process. He landed in the eye of the storm of blades surrounding the Obelisk of the Tomb before stumbling a few steps. He reached under his arm and pulled the dagger out. Gods that was quite a lot of blood.

Then Shi Hou toppled to the stone floor of the Underground, unconscious. . .

XXXX

Shi Hou woke up and found himself in a cavern. Was this it, then? Had he died and gone to the Underworld? What an ignominious end for a long and fairly successful end as a Mercenary. Shi Hou always figured that he would be killed on the job, but never in a million years would he have believed that it would have happened like it had. He shook his head ruefully at the thoughts until he caught sight of something that didn't belong in the underworld. A Monkey, and one that was wearing a vest and respiring essence.

It looked over at Shi Hou and beckoned him to follow it, and so he did. Shi Hou wasn't sure exactly what the nature of this all was, but he knew a spirit when he saw one, even if it was an odd, Monkey-like Spirit. You don't grow up in Great Forks without being able to tell spirits. Furthermore, he sensed something within the Spirit Monkey, a familiar tinge to its Essence. That made Shi Hou curious enough to keep following as the Spirit Monkey led him through winding tunnels and up out onto a sprawling vista atop a mountain. The mountainside was covered in flowering fruit trees with various golden fruits and brilliant red flowers hanging from the branches.

"Now I know this isn't the Underworld. Nothing grows in the Land of the Dead." Scoffed Shi Hou.

"It is not." Came a sly-sounding voice from behind Shi Hou.

Shi Hou turned to see a humanoid monkey, bearing a staff and a golden circlet. His face looked more at home on a fierce thunder god than on a monkey and his Essence was powerful indeed. More to the point, this God-Monkey's Essence was familiar, it had the same flavor as his own, only far more potent. Adding to that, his fur was the same color as Shi Hou's Aura, and his unearthly eyes, a sort of whitish gold. It was then that Shi Hou realized who this must be and why he had been brought here.

"You figured it out, even if not the specifics. I always knew you'd be sharp. My name is Sun Wukong, and yes, I'm your Old Man." Grinned the God-Monkey.

"Why?" Demanded Shi Hou.

"Why? Did nobody ever give you the talk? You're way too old for me to be doing that." Chided the God-Monkey, Sun Wukong.

"No, I mean, why choose now to reveal yourself to me? I've gotten by for my entire life without that help. Why now?" Pressed Shi Hou.

"The answer is cause I'm under House Arrest and only just recently managed to get the bigshots still working in Yu-Shan to OK it." Snorted Sun Wukong.

"What? What's that supposed to mean?" Blinked Shi Hou.

"This is Mount Huaguo. It's my own private realm adjacent to Yu-Shan. It's also been turned into a Gilded Cage for the past twenty-eight years." Sighed Sun Wukong.

"Fine, I'll bite. What did you do to get put under House Arrest?" Questioned Shi Hou.

"I may have attempted to force a few Gods to quit the Games of Divinity involuntarily by locking them in a cell until they got over it." Admitted Sun Wukong.

"Ok, and what exactly are you the God of Again? Bad Plans? You held other Gods against their will? How did you think that was going to go?" Snarked Shi Hou.

"Hey, in my defense, you've never seen how bad it is over in Yu-Shan. All the big Gods are addicted to those stupid games to the point that they're actively neglecting their duties! Even the Unconquered Sun is hooked on them to the exclusion of everything he's supposed to be doing! I had a chat with an old friend of mine before I made the attempt, God by the name of Lytek, the God of Exaltations. We've crunched some numbers and looked at potential futures and it looks like if nothing was done about the addiction, then it's likely everything goes straight down the toilet in the next ten to fifteen years from now with no hope of recovery." Protested Sun Wukong.

"So you thought what? You'd kidnap a bunch of other Gods and force them off whatever these Games of Divinity you're talking about are?" Frowned Shi Hou.

"Admittedly it wasn't my best plan. You're seeing the consequences now." Shrugged Sun Wukong.

"So. What were you the God of, then?" Queried Shi Hou.

"I was the Eastern God of Martial Arts under Sunipa. I worked my way up from the God of Monkeys through hard work and talent. Taking down Mowang, the Primal Savagery, and his Fetch Souls during the Primordial War didn't hurt either." Chuckled Sun Wukong.

"Some promotion. So, why am I here? Don't tell me you've gotten a sudden attack of conscience and decided to be a father out of the blue?" Asked Shi Hou.

"Well, for one thing, you're not here. Not really. This is all me sending you a vision while you hang between the boundary of life and death waiting for your Solar Friend to save you. If you were really here, then I'd be able to actually give you a real boon instead of just giving you information. That actually segways nicely into why I brought you here in the first place." Intoned Sun Wukong.

"Information? Fine, lay it on me. We'll see if it pans out or not." Huffed Shi Hou.

"Well, first off you've got a Dormant Solar Exaltation in your soul. Problem is, without very specific rites being performed, a Godblood can't exalt and the Dormant Exaltation will eventually pass to another person after one year without those rites or upon you attaining Full Godhood, whichever comes first." Informed Sun Wukong.

"What? When did that happen?" Questioned Shi Hou.

"Apparently when you managed to get through the Storm of Blades set up by a First Age Solar to weed out the unworthy, something that should be impossible for a Godblood and unlikely for a Dragonblooded Exalt. If you weren't my kid, you'd have Exalted in the attempt already, but Divine Essence makes things tricky and gums up the process. Lytek's explanation wasn't really something I followed most of, though." Answered Sun Wukong.

"Fine, so I've got a year to get these rites done. How do I do that?" Demanded Shi Hou.

"That's the problem. Unless you find a Solar who survived the Usurpation, you're only gonna be able to get that done from Lytek himself. Fortunately, you're a Godblooded Companion of a Solar Exalt, which means you're allowed in Yu-Shan. The problem is the Solar in question isn't strong enough to get there yet. You've got a year to get her to that point before your Exaltation goes to someone else. That ain't the worst part, though." Frowned Sun Wukong.

"All right, what's the worst part?" Queried Shi Hou.

"Lytek heard the Maiden of Secrets mention something was going on with the Neverborn and that it's likely to hit the Scavenger Lands within the next few years. He doesn't know what precisely it is, or even when precisely it will happen. It could be anywhere from a year and a half to three years out. Furthermore, if the Maiden knows specifics, she isn't telling, but I'm guessing she doesn't. Even the Maiden of Secrets can't know exactly what's in the minds of the Neverborn, after all. Whatever is going to happen, you need to be ready by then, along with your Solar Charge, because it is going to be big." Intoned Sun Wukong.

"Great. Thanks, I feel so much better now." Deadpanned Shi Hou.

"Hey, it's better than no warning at all. Fortunately, you've already come across someone who can help you on both fronts. She's a double agent in the Bronze Faction for the Gold Faction." Grinned Sun Wukong.

"Marilka. You're talking about Marilka the Red." Stated Shi Hou.

"Is that what she's going by these days? We knew her as Zerca, the Priestess of Hidden Talents. Use that name, I'm sure she'll get a kick out of it. Anyway, she was born to the Tribe that the Plains People would eventually descend from before being Chosen by the Maiden of Secrets. She's got a soft spot for the Plains People as a result." Grinned Sun Wukong.

"I'll keep that in mind." Nodded Shi Hou before suddenly stumbling. It felt like he was burning up with a fever from a poisoned wound or something.

"Ah, looks like you're waking up. Hot means you lived, cold means you're headed for the Underworld. You look like you're feeling the heat, that's a good sign. I don't know when I'll be able to get in touch with you next, so remember what I told you." Insisted Sun Wukong.

Then there was a flash of heat and light as if Shi Hou was immolated, and Mount Huaguo vanished. . .

XXXX

It was replaced by the sight of the underground cavern surrounding the Obelisk of the Tomb of Singing Blades. Evening Rabbit was leaning over him with her hands bloody from stitching him up and the smell of alchemical solvents wafting in the air. She'd had to take off his armor to sew him up, and from where he could see, there was a bloody hole in the padded leather underlay that he wore to keep the lamellar from chafing where he'd caught the Orichalcum Dagger.

"How long was I out?" Demanded Shi Hou.

"Four hours. It should be sunset up above ground right now. You should have enough of your Essence refreshed to heal without needing the stitches now." Explained Evening Rabbit.

"I'm lucky you're here. You saved my life. Thank you." Thanked Shi Hou.

"I wouldn't have been able to if you hadn't saved mine first. I think we'll call this one a draw." Shrugged Evening Rabbit.

Shi Hou checked his Essence and found himself at capacity. He could afford to spend a bit to heal his wounds. Unfortunately, leaving it this long like this meant that he'd have scars. He knew that from experience. It didn't ultimately matter, though. Not compared to being alive. As his wounds knit fully, Shi Hou donned his armor. He shrugged on the padded leather underlay before buckling on the Artifact Lamellar Cuirass, Vambraces, Gauntlets, and Greaves that went on over it. He finished everything by buckling on his weapons and grabbing his traveling pack.

"At least the pack didn't get torn up in the maelstrom out there. That's where our provisions and the Guild Package are." Smirked Shi Hou.

"Thank Heaven for Small Mercies." Snarked Evening Rabbit.

Shi Hou stood, satisfied his equipment was all secured before saying, "Come on, Let's head inside."

It took Evening Rabbit a bit to figure out how to open the tomb door without dumping enough mystical lightning to fry a Lunar Elder into them both. If she hadn't been as familiar with Thaumaturgical Principles as she was, they both would have been burnt to a crisp. Fortunately, she managed to figure it out and got past the mystic lock on the door without killing them both. As the door sunk into the stone of the Obelisk, retracting with a whooshing noise, Evening Rabbit turned to Shi Hou.

"I wonder why the Thaumaturgy Puzzle? Even Mortals could learn Thaumaturgy. You'd think it wouldn't be ideal for keeping grave robbers out." Mused Evening Rabbit.

"A Mortal wouldn't have gotten through the Storm of Blades and most Exalts don't bother with Thaumaturgy. After all, why would they when they can learn Sorcery? This was probably meant as the second part of the two-part outer defense." Answered Shi Hou.

"The Blades to Weed out those Weaker than Exalts and the Door Trap to weed out Exalts?" Asked Evening Rabbit.

"Exactly. Now, keep your eyes and ears peeled. The Outer Defenses may have been enough to keep snoopers out, but every story I've heard about delving into a First Age Tomb tells me there are going to be inner defenses as well." Warned Shi Hou as he stepped inside with Evening Rabbit trailing behind him.

They found themselves in a large chamber that appeared to be half-crypt and half-treasure vault. The walls of the chamber were lined with all sorts of Artifacts and Other Equipment, from weapons to armor, to hearthstones, to first-age items that looked strange to Shi Hou's Eye, goggles and strange over-ear coverings with slots for various crystals that lay in alcoves along the walls. In the center was a Jade, Starmetal, Moonsilver, and Orichalcum Sarcophagus with the carved visage of a rugged warrior with a shaved head like a Monk, though Shi Hou knew that the Marshal of Tiger Warrior Hall was more of a Dojo Sifu than any Monk and had sworn no vows.

Unfortunately, the second both he and Evening Rabbit had stepped into the Chamber, they found themselves assailed by a pair of strange clockwork automatons of Orichalcum belching fire and smoke from the arcane processes that kept them going. Shi Hou had heard of Brass Legionaries before, even seen some of them at work during the War with Thorns. These were somehow different. It took Evening Rabbit to figure out who their attackers were.

"There are Elementals Bound in those automatons! Be careful!" Called out Evening Rabbit.

"I just had to be right about interior defenses." Grumbled Shi Hou, taking up a stance.

Then the Magitechnological Automatons attacked and there was only time for fighting. . .

XXXX

Dragonlord Johoda was nervous. It had been most of a day without the Girl and her bodyguard being brought into Custody. Sergeant Shun and his squad had needed to be evacuated from the Undercity with wounds that it took alchemical medical treatment to properly heal. Corporal Jing still hadn't woken up from the Alchemically Induced Coma he'd had to be placed in for the surgeon to heal him. He'd cracked his skull on some of the Undercity's Masonry fairly badly and had needed to be sedated while they cut open his head to clean up any loose shards of skull and apply the Bone Regrowth Elixir to the wound.

To make matters worse, Ziva No-Clan had lost the targets in the Tunnels and had reported that they'd doubled back enough times to thoroughly confuse the trail. She was waiting outside their most probable exit to ambush them now, and Dragonlord Johoda had sent a full Scale of Troops under Lieutenant Kaiza to back her up, but there had been no word yet. Now he had to report all that bad news to the Midnight Queen.

Speaking of whom, here she came. Dragonlord Johoda knelt in front of his Employer and waited for her to address him. Bad news was always best delivered with proper deference, after all. Maybe if you did that, the Employer would be in a good enough mood not to dock your pay for incompetence. The Midnight Queen could do a lot worse than garnish your wages, after all. Best err on the side of politeness.

"Rise. What news?" Demanded the Midnight Queen.

"Sergeant Shun and his squad had to be extracted from the Undercity and taken to a surgeon. Ziva No-Clan continued the pursuit alone. Unfortunately, the trail was confused by doubling back and various other tricks to throw off pursuit. Ziva No-Clan has given up chasing and instead is waiting to ambush the Girl and her Bodyguard when they exit the Undercity. I have sent a full scale of troops to back her up since a Talon barely slowed them down." Reported Dragonlord Johoda.

"I see. And which exit does our agent believe that they will take?" Pressed the Midnight Queen.

"She believes they will take the Great Forks Gate. It makes some amount of sense. Sergeant Shun believes the Girl's Bodyguard to be a Godblood of some description. An attempt to flee to Great Forks to lose themselves in the City of a Thousand Gods along with the rest of the Godbloods would be a logical course of action to take if his suspicions are correct." Offered Dragonlord Johoda.

"I see. Well, while you have been busy overseeing this chase, I have been in communication with a very interesting group. The Circle of Furious Elements has recently lost a member to the Girl's Bodyguard. They have offered us their services as Bounty Hunters and Mercenaries for a very attractive price. They want to recover their fallen member's artifacts and attain vengeance. I have accepted their proposal and they will be here in a few short days. Not enough time perhaps to avoid our targets slipping the net, but more than enough to send after their heads once they have." Intoned the Midnight Queen.

"You believe Ziva No-Clan will fail?" Questioned Dragonlord Johoda.

"Divinations point to that being the case, yes. Unfortunately, something has made telling the specifics of such an escape difficult. We likely will not know how until after they already have gone." Confirmed the Midnight Queen.

"Still, the Circle of Furious Elements? Is it wise to allow Dynasts to just traipse about our territory like that? What will our allies in the Confederation think about that?" Frowned Dragonlord Johoda.

"It matters little. The deal has already been struck. When it comes to the security of Nexus, you of all people should know that we do not discriminate among methods." Pointed out the Midnight Queen.

"Very well. What would you have me do in the meantime?" Queried Dragonlord Johoda.

"Keep up the appearance that we have every confidence in our blockade. There is no sense in worrying the public with the fact that the checkpoints that are slowing trade and the increased Guard presence on the street are pointless. It would throw trade into chaos and we can't have that. However, while you are keeping up appearances, it would behoove us to pull together any relevant intelligence that could be used by our newest contractors once they arrive. This includes foreign intelligence reports about the situation in the surrounding territories. Best to allow the Circle to know the territory they will have to search through, yes?" Ordered the Midnight Queen.

"Very well, My Lady. By your leave?" Asked Dragonlord Johoda.

"Dismissed." Affirmed the Midnight Queen.

Dragonlord Johoda turned to leave thoughts swirling in his head. Mercenary Dynasts are a tricky proposition at the best of times. Most Dragonbloods working for the Confederation were either state forces from Lookshy or Outcastes. Dynasts only tended to get accepted by the confederation at large if they were disinherited, exiled, or otherwise had their connections with the Realm severed. The Circle of Furious Elements, however, didn't fit that description. Each of the members was from a Great House of the Realm and each had their House's predominant Aspect.

The leader was Cathak Sen, a Fire Aspect with a penchant for leadership and tactics who favored light armor and his own fists. He was proficient in the Blazing Corona Style of Terrestrial Martial Arts. His second was Cynis Juri, she was a Wood Aspect who was good with healing and poison by turns and was a practitioner of the Arrow Frog Style of Terrestrial Martial Arts. The powerhouse of the Group was Mnemnon Chen, an Earth Aspect who preferred to wear medium armor and a pair of artifact fighting gauntlets to beat his opponents to death. He was a practitioner of the Ruthless Avalanche Style of Terrestrial Martial Arts and was reportedly hard enough to kill that he could withstand the heat of a Southern Volcano. The last of the living members of the Circle was Tepet Mei, an Air Aspect who was adept at stealth and infiltration and wielded an artifact war fan of all weapons while practicing the Hurricane Fist Style of Terrestrial Martial Arts.

From what he had heard, the Circle of Furious Elements had a terrifying combination of Dynastic Arrogance and Extreme Competence. Apparently, just one of their Circle, Peleps Ling, a Water Aspect and practitioner of the Falling Rain Style of Terrestrial Martial Arts had almost managed to kill the Girl's Bodyguard by herself during an encounter in Varsi. All four of her surviving Brothers should be enough to handle it. The question was, would they leave once the job was done, or would they attempt to pull some sort of Dynast Power Play to help the Realm and perhaps gain a Satrapy of their own?

Puyo and Varsi down to the south were already fairly Isolated from all the major power players of the Scavenger Lands except for Thorns, which was already a Realm Satrapy. If they decided to set up Satrapies down south once the job was over, that might draw Thorns into things as a guarantor of those Satrapies, and then the Realm would be closer to equal footing with the Confederation of Rivers in the Scavenger Lands. If that happened, the situation would have changed for the worse entirely because the Midnight Queen hired the Circle of Furious Elements to act as Mercenaries. That would inevitably blow back on her with the rest of the Council, and then by extension, Johoda himself. Could the Circle be trusted not to set that chain of events in motion and simply leave once the job was done?

As Dragonlord Johoda began cutting orders to the blockade forces and gathering intelligence reports, he was disturbed to find that he could not answer his own question. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, so here we finally get to see who Shi Hou's dad is. The seeds for it being an Exalted Version of Sun Wukong were already planted at the very start of this fic. After all, Sun Wukong's original name was the Stone Monkey. Here he's currently under House Arrest because he did something stupid on realizing that Creation is basically doomed if nothing changes soon. Lytek counseled caution, but Sun Wukong has never been a particularly patient Monkey.

On Shi Hou being able to Exalt, I am using the First Ed Godblooded Lore and Rules for large parts of this fic. In First Edition, Godbloods could Exalt, but the process by which they did so was kept vague on purpose. This was to allow Storytellers to make up their own stories for such things to occur while simultaneously allowing Storytellers to not use such a thing in their games if they didn't want to. I'm doing the former here.

At any rate, the next chapter will finally bring the Undercity Trip to a close as we see the outcome of the Tomb Delve.

Stay tuned. . .