The silver dagger twirled high in the sky above his head, the crimson light of the dying sun catching on its spiraled handle, the inlaid gemstone in its pommel flashing brightly as if it were made of pure fire. It went so high that he had to tilt his head back to keep watching its trajectory. But, like everything that climbed to high heights, its downfall was more than predictable. And, sure enough, it plunged back towards the ground as fast as lightning.

With an amused smirk on his face, Wen GinWan followed the path of the silver blade as it rushed down to meet him, looking almost like a falling star cutting through the fiery sky above his head. Without a moment’s hesitation, he grabbed it before it could reach the ground, a burning pain immediately biting into his skin.

Shit. He had failed. Again.

Turning his hand to look at the damage the sharp blade had caused, his gaze was immediately captivated by the bright red color of his own blood.

Taking his hand closer to his face, he took a deep breath, closing his eyes in sheer rapture when the familiar scent of blood reached his nose. Of course, his hand still hurt, the blood now flowing down his arm, soaking the dark-red sleeve of his coat. But no amount of pain could ever compare with how good it smelled. Better yet, how good it tasted, he added in thoughts, sliding his tongue across the length of his cut. The metallic, almost acid taste of blood filled his mouth, and if felt so good that a shiver ran down his spine, spreading through his entire body, leaving a tingling sensation on the tips of his fingers.

He really wished LinWan could be there with him to share that moment. Everything always felt more vivid, more intense, when LinWan was with him. It was almost as if they were one and the same person, which meant that, whenever they were apart, something was always missing. An incomplete existence. Suddenly he really wanted to go back to the Palace as fast as possible! No! He wanted to be there, right now! He wanted to see his sister right now!

Opening his eyes, he quickly looked around, almost as if he didn’t know where he was. The three men accompanying immediately took a couple of steps back, huddling together as if that could save them from the sharp dagger he held on his bloody hand, a panicking expression taking over their faces.

Fucking cowards!, GinWan snorted glancing their way in a mix of loath and despise. He might as well kill them all. Why on earth would the Palace need such useless cowards at their service in the first place? And why were they were standing, looking at him as if they were facing an insane person? Surely not to protect him, in case they were attacked. Those bastards would most likely be the first ones to turn on their heels and leave him behind to fend for himself. If something like that were to happen, instead of trying to rescue him, they would most likely be praying to the Heavens that he might just die, while they ran for their lives as fast as their feet would carry them. And they better have their prayers answered! Or GinWan would finally have the excuse he needed to tear them to very small shreds.

Anyway, who was he kidding? No one would send anyone to protect him. Not even his own mother, who spent her days cowering inside her private chambers, refusing everyone’s visit but the El’Dur’s. And only because she couldn’t refuse him, for obvious reasons. Not that his honorable father would ever visit Tei’s Heavenly Hammer Pavilion. So, yeah, Tei DimRei, his loving mother, basically lived like a damned hermit, the coward bitch!

Now that he thought about that … when was it?, the last time GinWan had seen her? Oh, that’s right. Before his sister and he had been sent to that tiresome Gathering. GinWan would easily bet his right arm that their precious mother had hoped they wouldn’t return from that. Well, better luck next time! As if he would drop dead that just to grant her motherly wish!

That being said, since it was obvious that those bastards weren’t there to protect him, they could only be there to watch him, to make sure he … behaved. The thought alone was enough to almost leave him rolling on the ground, laughing like the crazy person everyone thought he was. They never gave up, he sighed, considering killing the three useless bastards after all.

Well, he could always do that, afterwards. He didn’t want to offend the sensibilities of a certain person.

Opting to ignore them for now, GinWan made his way to one of those pitiful … what? Could they even be call houses?

Halting by the door, he leaned against the door-frame and crossed his arms. He was suddenly feeling very, very bored! He wanted to be out of that inhospitable, cold place right that instant! He wanted to be back at the Palace! Above all, he wanted to see his sister!

“Can we go, now?” he asked with an impatient sigh.

The young woman inside the small dwelling stopped doing whatever she was doing, her small, pale hand still pressed against the dark stone wall.

“Did you kill them?” she asked in a small, delicate voice.

GinWan smiled, glancing down at his bloody hand. Even though she had her back to him he was sure she must be wrinkling her nose in disgust.

“If I haven’t killed them, can I kill them now?” he demanded, sounding very much like a child asking for his mother’s permission to go out and play, and the young woman’s shoulders visibly relaxed.

“Do you want to have to carry our luggage down the mountain yourself?”

GinWan released a bored sigh.

“We should have brought a few more men with us, climbing this forsaken mountain.”

“We brought seven. Of which you killed five just to vent your frustration,” she pointed out, her voice sounding basically indifferent as she went back to whatever she was doing, slowly caressing the dark stone wall.

“Well, that couldn’t be helped. I was promised a village full of people and told I could have some fun with them. I’m sure you remember. That’s what they promised, if I agreed to come on this ridiculous mission. But what did I get for my troubles? A bunch of cold, deserted caves full of trash! Anyone would feel a bit frustrated at being disappointed like that. But if you’re worried about our luggage we can always wait until the rest of our men return,” GinWan added, sounding more than a bit hopeful. Killing the three idiots waiting outside would undoubtedly improve his mood. A lot.

“You mean the men you sent after the villagers with orders not to return until they capture them?”

GinWan nodded, increasingly excited.

“That’s right.”

The young woman sighed.

“What do you think will happen, if they’re unable to capture the villagers?”

GinWan frowned, his enthusiasm immediately plummeting.

“What do you mean?, if they can’t capture them. A bunch of useless people, living in caves like animals? Why wouldn’t our men be able to capture them?”

“It’s been two days and only two have returned with prisoners. Prisoners you happily tortured to death before we could even ask them about their companions’ whereabouts,” she added in a clear critical tone, and GinWan’s frown deepened.

“You mean to say they will probably not return?”

“I’m just saying that you gave them the perfect excuse not to return.”

Now, that sucked!, GinWan thought. He hadn’t considered that possibility when he’d ordered most of his men to remain at the base of the mountain and bring the runaway villagers back to the village.

“Fine. I’ll keep the three out there alive, for now” he finally conceded. In return, he really wanted out of that boring place as soon as possible! “So, can we go now?”

The young woman released another deep sigh and finally lowered her hand, turning to look at him. It was almost eerie, GinWan thought, a smile tugging at his lips. In the shadows of the low cave, her golden eyes seemed to glow as if they belonged to a ferocious, wild animal about to pounce on him.

“I guess. There’s nothing I can do, here,” she confessed and GinWan looked around the small cave.

“What do you mean? Weren’t you tracking him?”

She nodded and glanced back at the dark wall beside her.

“It’s not working. I can’t say why. But it’s not working. I can feel that he’s been here, sat on those chairs, walked on the street outside. But every time I try to see where he went next it just … doesn’t work. It’s like something is blocking me. Which is wired,” she considered. “I mean. I could understand being shunned like this if Nox had a Tien’Elhar. Sometimes the land becomes so deeply connected with its Tien’Elhar that it will reject another Tien’Elhar’s touch. But Nox is an unblessed land. And, even though it’s presently under the rule of the Nai Calzai of Wei, Wei also doesn’t have a Tien’Elhar. I wonder if it’s been it’s been without a Tien’Elhar for so long. In any case … ”

“You can’t track him,” GinWan concluded. “I can’t track him either. He’s too far away. So let’s hurry up and go back!”

The young woman released a deep sigh.

“I guess there’s nothing else we can do here,” she agreed and GinWan actually perked up at the sound of that.

“Great! I wonder how many idiots fell in my traps!” he sing-sang, and the young woman shoved him aside, exiting the small cave, the thick braid coiled at the back of her head glowing like liquid gold when touched by the light of the day.

“Remember what you’ve been told. You can have your fun. But any prisoners are to be brought back to the Palace. Alive. You’ve already killed three.”

“Bah!” GinWan snorted, following her outside. “How are they going to know how many we’ve captured? Or if we captured any at all?”

She glanced back at him, her expression as cold and detached as always, her golden gaze as indifferent as it had been since the first time he’d seen her. She didn’t utter a single word but, even so, GinWan sighed in resignation.

“Fine. Half! I’ll take back to the Palace half of those we capture. And that’s it! The other half is mine to do as I please!” he added, a cold, murderous smile on his lips, his green eyes burning from enthusiasm. And the young woman sighed, turning her back on him and making her way towards the narrow stone tunnel leading out of the village.

---

Language:

Wen: Literally wen (sun). Name of one of the three Empires, Wen, Ran and Sen. (Sun, Moon and Star). Also used as a surname by the members of the Imperial Family with ascending rights to the throne

GinWan: Literally gin (golden) + wan (fire)

LinWan: Literally lin (silver) + wan (fire)

El’Dur: Literally el (supreme) + dur (ruler). Name given to the Emperor

Tei: Literally tei (metal). Where Tei is the name of the Clan, also the name of a Province.

DimRei: Literally dim (precious) + rei (iron)

Nox: Literally nox (night). Where Nox is the name of the Clan, also the name of a Province.

Tien’Elhar: Literally tien (Heaven) + el (supreme) + har (girl child). The Heavenly Beings also known as Celestials in the common language.

Nai Calzai: Literally nai (transparent / translucent) plus cal (bright) + zai (blade), or Blade of Light. It can be translated into common language as Invisible General, one of the military leaders of the Empire. Each Province has it’s own Calzai. To distinguish them they were given different colors. The Nai Calzai refers to RimMyu from Wei.

Wei: Literally wei (crystal / precious stone). Wei is the name of the Clan (family name), also the name of a Province.