I know the Gods mock us. They created us to crave peace then gave us an endless capacity for violence.
Or is the order different? We crave violence and vainly wish for peace?
Perhaps I have lived so long I can no longer tell the difference.
— Excerpt from Meditations, by the Red Emperor
Primrose dragged Molam to his feet, noting his dangling arm and wondering if Molam couldn't finish healing himself. "It's just an echo, it's not the real one," she shouted at him. The earth shook and the Arena thundered as the Titled One and the echo fought fiercely nearby. "We got what you planned; now what?"
Molam looked to be in a daze and Primrose resisted the urge to shake him, unwilling to risk injuring him further. The only solace was that Molam's Domain had reasserted itself; but his shoulder still seemed unattached. The question surfaced again. Had he been forced to leave himself injured?
"What are you doing, Prim?" Scarlette had also helped Shurra up, nursing her own injuries. "We need to leave — wake him!"
Primrose shook Molam roughly in response, then layered aura into her voice. "Molam focus. We are about to die."
***
"I wish you safe travels, Molam. If the chance comes, I'd like you to meet my granddaughter Nettie. And if you two get along, I hope you teach her to play dragon chess."
Molam never had a chance to wonder if Flangel the Wise knew those would be his last words to him. Seeing the echo take on Flangel's form brought these words back with a roaring crescendo of blood pounding through his ears.
They had only spent several days together, but the former Prodigy had understood him. The man who carried the Wise Title had truly earned it; Molam found no other human to be close to his mentor in terms of wisdom. The achievement was more impressive if he accounted for the man having lived for only five centuries compared to his mentor's countless ages.
Then a voice thundered through his mind.
"Molam focus. We are about to die."
The words crashed through his thoughts, reminiscent of the time his mentor had raised their voice at him. The bubble burst around him and Molam's eyes refocused, seeing Primrose's face again. He blinked at the jarring disconnect between the voice and Primrose's face. Red hot pain seared through his body and he fell to his knees, clutching at his injured shoulder. "We need to leave," he grunted through the pain. "The echo might lose. We can't stay to find out."
"Where to?" Primrose knelt down, trying to hoist Molam up again.
"Sanctuary," Molam wrapped his good arm around Primrose's shoulders, testing his legs. He could still move. "She's weak from her fight with Master Ji, but the gap between us and the OutCast is too large. We need to reach Sanctuary while the echo keeps her occupied."
"That way," said Madam Scarlette as she pointed to an exit that would bring them closer to Sanctuary. They took several steps towards the exit, picking up speed as they found their bearings.
Then the ground in front of the exit erupted, a wall of earth shooting up to block their route. The Arena's stands rumbled behind them, the stone foundations crumbling with a violent vibration before exploding outwards in a shower of rubble. The OutCast's voice coughed through the debris.
"Leave the Oracle's vessel behind."
The group spun around, readying their weapons at the Titled One's advance. She limped through the broken structure, poleaxe in hand and fresh bruises on her body. "I'm not interested in the rest of you, but he stays."
The staff's hook extended out from the dust behind the OutCast. She sidestepped the staff's strike, then ducked under the reverse pull of the hook. The movement caused her to stumble on her weak side, causing the hook to snare her shoulder and spin her around.
The tug of war lasted for the brief moment Roxxa needed to regain her balance, then she dug in her heels into the ground to jerk her body backwards. This pulled the echo out into view to engage Roxxa, forcing her into defense once again.
It didn't hesitate to utilize the forced momentum from Roxxa's pull into an explosion of movement, unhooking its staff as it approached at rapid speed in a sliding motion across the uneven ground. The strange sliding movement continued, making it look as though the echo was ice skating across the cracked earth, circling the OutCast while couching its hooked staff in its hands like a spear and giving no indication as to where it would strike.
Roxxa stomped the ground and the Arena's ground responded in an eruption of spikes, stabbing upwards into the echo's tracks. Only the area within Molam's Domain was spared — everyone instinctively retreating from the sharp spikes to crowd around Molam at the center.
The echo twisted around several spikes as they grew, then reached out with its staff to hook a protruding earth for leverage to swing into the air out of the reach of the growing stalagmites. Its trajectory was perfect; as the earth's pull took over again, the echo used the downward momentum to position its staff in a falling attack straight at the OutCast.
The maneuver targeted Roxxa's weak side, resulting in an awkward parrying of the staff as the echo crashed down on her. The echo didn't hesitate at Roxxa's momentary disorientation to deliver a kick that broke through her guard, following it up with a barrage of attacks and movements that saw it circling around the OutCast, using both its hooked staff and the new earthen formations to dance around Roxxa's reaching limbs and attacks. A pirouette saw it duck underneath the Titled One's axeblade where it spun around with a palm strike against her back, sending the OutCast careening into the Arena's seating area and smashing her right through the walls.
Without stopping its sliding motion, the echo twirled around another spike and launched itself after the OutCast, disappearing past the rubble. The complete collapse of that section of the Arena and ensuing commotion told Molam that the fight had spilled out into ZhiXia City.
"This is our chance to move and get to Sanctuary." Molam muttered, pointing to another exit. "The echo can't hold her forever." He took a step and found Shurra's arm blocking him.
"Shurra?"
The Northerner shook her head. "The Traitor is weak. Didn't you see? This is an opportunity to kill a Titled One. We need to focus on helping the echo."
"Shurra, listen," Molam tried to remember the conversation between Shurra and Roxxa from earlier, looking for something he could use. The sound of clashing outside the Arena sounded like buildings falling… or were buildings falling, judging by the impact tremors reverberating throughout the ground. "I understand there's bad blood here but Roxxa is still a Titled One. Master Ji did his best to keep us out of the fight for a reason."
Again, a shake of Shurra's head. "The echo is her equal. We can tip their duel against her."
"We barely survived this far." Molam couldn't even believe this was the same Northern Warrior who had threatened Lyka to not interfere with her own duels, but here she was proposing to interfere in one. Shurra's pressed lips spoke of stubborn, grim enmity. "Did you learn nothing from the fight earlier? The OutCast had all of your lives in the palm of her hand! The only reason none of you are dead is because she seems to be respecting the Festival's traditions!"
"We don't have time for this, my dear." Madam Scarlette hooked her hand around Shurra's arm, her voice soothing. "Hasn't your leader issued an order?"
"But is that an order from him as the leader?" Shurra asked softly. The Madam's light tugging did not move Shurra. The Northerner's light blue eyes stared down at Molam, her imposing arm still blocking his path. "Or is that a command from someone who wants to flee for his life?"
"Shurra!" Primrose barked as the ground quaked, shaking sections of the destroyed Arena into rubble showering down around them. Something — several somethings — crashed to the ground outside. Molam, Shurra, and Martyker fought for balance while Scarlette and Primrose seemed to let the shockwave flow through their even footing. "Is now the time?!"
But Shurra refused to budge, her unblinking gaze focused on Molam alone throughout the earth's tremors. "If you're wondering why now, it's because I acknowledged the Traitor to be overwhelming earlier. But now she's injured, and an echo that is her equal is her opponent. This is as much as we can ask for! If now is not the time to move in for the kill on one of the Empire's Titled Ones, then when?" Shurra's voice went quiet, the glint in her eyes sharp and lethal. "I'm waiting, Molam."
Molam took a deep breath, meeting Shurra's gaze despite the throbbing pain in his shoulder. Seeing as no disagreement would work, Molam nodded. "You are right that the OutCast's life is within reach. Which two of us would you like to sacrifice with you?"
Shurra's look of triumph froze. A lengthy pause as she seemed to hear his question. Then, a look of shock flitted over Shurra's features, one that lingered on the others around them. Her mouth opened, but she paused before her eyebrows knit together. "What… do you mean?"
"You're right in that we stand a chance of killing the OutCast," Molam said testily. Shurra's hesitation was "but it won't be without cost. Conservatively… three lives." He gestured around their group, making sure his broken shoulder dangled in front of Shurra. "If you believe it's worthwhile, tell me which other two of the ones gathered here you think should die here with you." Meeting Shurra's gaze, he straightened his back. "I assume you'd include yourself, yes?"
"You helped us fight back the Tempest with no casualties," she pointed out.
"Circumstances were different and I assure you that would have ended differently if she had chosen to fight to the death," Molam's mouth was dry, but he did not flinch away. "You want the OutCast's life? Who here are you willing to lose to make that happen?" He pointed at Martyker and Scarlette, "They're not part of the Dao, I can't command them. So just you, me and Primrose, no?" Molam gestured. "Like I said, it can be done." He hoped Shurra was as unwilling as he was. "Your choice, Shurra."
"The echo is supposed to be equal to her in power," Shurra argued. Her held arm quivered in front of Molam, but she refused to lower it. "We can assist without exposing ourselves to danger."
"Shurra," Martyker stepped in with a look of forced patience, "If opportunities were so easy, wurms would feed on birds. We cannot —" Martyker fell silent at Molam's hand on his shoulder.
"I understand your goal, Shurra," Molam turned back to Shurra with a look of understanding. "But what do you think her goal is?"
Everyone stared at him, but Molam kept his focus on Shurra. She hesitated, then asked, "Why do you ask?"
"I'm asking whether you are willing to risk letting her achieve what she wants in order to get what you want?" Molam pressed further, "It's important to think about what your opponent wants. You think she wants to fight the echo? She wants my life, Shurra. She didn't kill any of you despite having the opportunity to do so, which tells us her focus. If you agree, then she will have achieved her objective so long as I die, even if she loses her life too. Are you ready for that?"
A long pause as Shurra seemed to think it over. Good. Molam only needed to show her there was more than one way to victory.
"We can make it her loss by making sure she can't accomplish her goals, Shurra," Molam broke the silence first. "She would have gone through all of this for nothing. And we can make it our victory by reaching Sanctuary alive. Our goal is to survive. We win if we do that. All of us." He patted Shurra on the arm. "I hear and understand that you don't want to run from the OutCast when she's in this situation, but there will be other opportunities. I've given you my reason for choosing to go to Sanctuary now." Every second he spent here meant getting closer to the inevitable end in the fight between Roxxa and the summoned echo, but he forced himself to stay calm and relaxed as he prodded Shurra for a choice. "Will you retreat to Sanctuary with us?"
Shurra took a deep breath, then exhaled just hard enough to puff out her cheeks before she nodded. "To Sanctuary."
***
The Sun blazed overhead when they ran outside the Arena into ZhiXia City; it was barely past noon. The ground shook and the sound of rubble echoed through the empty streets. Based on the sound of the destruction, Molam guessed that Roxxa and the echo were fighting somewhere between the Arena and Sanctuary.
The Domain surrounding them hadn't disappeared, and Molam shouted to the others, "Don't leave my Domain without a good reason until we reach Sanctuary."
Without speaking, the group instinctively took the longer route to avoid the ongoing fight, moving towards ZhiXia City's center instead of going straight for Sanctuary. He looked down the road, appreciating whomever had had the foresight to design the streets of ZhiXia City like a fan. Though they were taking a detour to avoid the OutCast, the City's layout meant that their distance to Sanctuary hadn't changed so long as they moved laterally. No doubt the empty streets proved the residents had fled towards Sanctuary to take shelter from the fighting.
No one said anything, but everyone matched their pace with Molam's; his dangling arm, still useless, jolted with pain with each step he took. Perhaps the feather had determined it more important to exert a Domain over healing him.
As they ran, the ongoing fight between the OutCast and Flangel the Wise's echo reached a fever point elsewhere. A shower of rubble exploded into the air and they covered their heads, protecting themselves from falling debris. For some reason, it felt as though the fight moved laterally as they did, but Molam hoped that was just his imagination.
"Our fight against the OutCast didn't show this level of destruction earlier," observed Primrose. She kept an eye upwards as she ran, dodging nimbly to the left and right as small rocks rained down about them.
"Probably no reason to bring out her full strength against us," Molam responded shortly, saving his breath for running. He had no idea how she and Scarlette kept pace with him while wearing dresses, but they did not lag behind. "The echo's a different matter. It's her equal."
"Is it possible the echo will win?" Shurra asked hopefully, her large strides to his side making her look like she was just doing a normal jog. She had a hand over Molam's head, knocking aside falling pebbles and rocks before they could hit him. "The Traitor is both injured and tired from her previous fights."
"Battle Alchemists have their strengths in their unique tools. Unless the echo can replicate Master Flangel's tools, the echo is also not fighting at full strength." Martyker shrugged, the flat of his greatsword held over his head, clinking as the falling debris rattled against it. "Getting the OutCast to summon a Titled echo was already as much as we could hope for in that situation."
They continued forward in silence. The detour to avoid the fight in the city's center had brought them to the Pleasure District. Molam recognized it as the street he had been on just yesterday — HuaLang Chamber was just down that corner.
Primrose, who ran slightly ahead of the group, turned to wait for them as they caught up while she scouted down the empty streets. With a quick gesture that it was safe, the group turned right and began running towards YiZhi Mountain and Sanctuary. Soon, the pillars of Sanctuary were visible in front of them, with just three cross streets before they reached it. A small stream of residents could be seen, shuffling into the sacred complex as pairs of Priestesses in their pure white robes directed the flow of the crowd.
Primrose frowned, her eyes glowing purple, her cheeks tinged with a hint of rosy red from the exertion of running. "The Oracle's Domain isn't there."
Molam felt his heart skip a beat. What did that mean? "There should be another." He prayed it was there. "The Submerged Leviathan's."
Primrose squinted. "Yes," she confirmed a moment later. "I see it. I suppose that light blue is usually overshadowed by the Oracle's pure white."
"I don't know what the Oracle is doing, but if the Leviathan hasn't shown herself then Sanctuary should still be safe." Molam felt his lungs begin to ache, but did not dare slow his pace. He was already slowing down the others. "Once we get inside, we can—"
The ground beneath them rippled, shaking to and fro. One could almost be forgiven for confusing it with EarthShaker's presence somewhere far away. Molam lost his balance; when he instinctively used his arms to regain balance he felt an explosion of pain from his useless shoulder that sent him to his knees. The others fared slightly better but were in various stages of struggling to maintain their balance.
Buildings toppled over, concentrated on their right. Several large thuds, then a thunderous boom. Silence, then something crashed into the street before them with a large cloud of dust. The impact slid across the street, spewing up dirt, gravel, and stones. When their vision cleared, the OutCast's large form grappled with the echo on the ground; both of them sported injuries that looked to be lethal on anyone else.
"I guess this Domain is an easy beacon to follow," Molam forced himself to speak through his pain. Whether planned or due to sheer coincidence, Roxxa now blocked their path to Sanctuary. Though he was no fighting expert, Molam immediately suspected that the echo being pinned down would end their fight. If the echo was defeated here, they would be helpless. "We need to attack the OutCast. Don't let her kill the echo. Now!"
Primrose and Scarlette sprung into action, sprinting forward in a flutter of colors. Their arms blurred through the air; daggers and needles flew through the air at Roxxa as the Northerner brought up her weapon for a killing blow.
Roxxa blocked the barrage of needles with the flat of her poleaxe; the echo struck from below, hooking its legs behind Roxxa's knee and jerking her down. Primrose's daggers flew in a moment later, two of them burying themselves into Roxxa's arm. With an angry roar, Roxxa shoved the echo down into the ground and drove her knee into its chest, her mangled hand holding it down by its head.
The two women didn't hesitate, taking advantage of Roxxa's situation to accelerate their approach. Roxxa looked up and brandished her poleaxe — but the real attack came from below in the form of earthen spikes piercing the ground they ran on.
Primrose swerved and somersaulted through the air, her red-orange hair billowing in the wake of her movements with its blue satem flowers. A spike caught on the hem of her dress and tore straight through the cloth; Primrose reached down and ripped off the lower half of her dress, revealing tight black leggings underneath. Hooked blades appeared in her hands, which she used in a manner similar to the echo, hooking the spikes as they emerged to help her move about and dodge the OutCast's attack.
Scarlette sidestepped each spike as they emerged below her, stepping lightly side to side in a swish of crimson folds. The attacks began coming at her from uneven angles, forcing the woman to bend, vault, and slip through in an astonishing display of acrobatics. When the eruption of spikes slowed down, Scarlette rose upside down through the air atop the last stalagmite, balancing neatly with a firm grip on its tip. She flipped over onto another spike, landing on her feet and sliding down its side as she flicked her fingers at the ones within reach — one by one, they crumbled at her touch.
Shurra had launched into the air in a mighty jump, clearing the field of spikes alongside Primrose and Scarlette. After the women cleared the field of spikes, Shurra charged forward, joining the other two women to rush Roxxa once again. The echo had somewhat freed itself from Roxxa's hold during the earlier distraction, struggling to escape Roxxa's grasp on its ankle. When Primrose, Shurra, and Scarlette approached, Roxxa looked up with mild surprise, then her face took on an expression of grim determination.
"You have my praise."
The OutCast's eyes glowed orange and she slammed the butt of her weapon into the ground.
It looked as though all three women tripped on nothing. Shurra fell to her knees, her sword clanging to the ground as she braced herself against the earth's pull, both arms straining to keep her body from flattening down. Scarlette and Primrose had both crashed against the ground mistride; their folded arms braced against the impact, now pinned underneath their bodies.
By the time Molam realized he was seeing the full effects of Roxxa's Domain, he and Martyker were already running forward as fast as possible. Just like the time when the Tempest restricted people from breathing, Molam needed to counteract the effects of Roxxa's Domain with his own.
More earthen spikes erupted, blocking their way as they dashed forward. Martyker ran first, his greatsword cleaving through the obstacles to open a path for them as they ran to aid the others. The echo took this chance to strike Roxxa's head, throwing off her concentration as it freed itself from her grasp and retrieved its staff.
The perimeter of the feather's Domain covered the three women to immediate effect: they breathed a sigh of relief and pushed themselves back to their feet, rubbing at their elbows, hands, and knees.
"What now?" asked Primrose, the purple glow of her eyes focused on Roxxa's fight with the echo. "She's between us and Sanctuary. Do we take another detour?"
"No, she's clearly tracking us." Molam shook his head. "Or at least, me. And without this," he gestured at the Domain, "We probably aren't moving anywhere. None of you need to be here," he added. I don't want any more people dying on my account, he didn't say. But for some reason he couldn't bring himself to say it, as though giving it a voice would make him feel the weight of those that must have already died in the OutCast's rampage. Instead, he said, "I don't think the OutCast will stop any of you if you try to reach Sanctuary another way."
"Enough from you about that! Staying with you isn't for you to decide." Shurra shuffled, ensuring she was between the group and Roxxa's fight at all times. "How about you focus that head of yours on deciding what we're going to do about this?"
Molam looked at the rest. Primrose shrugged, Scarlette's pose indicated polite interest, and Martyker's white teeth beamed at him from behind the bushy beard. No one said anything about leaving.
He sighed. "Then I hope you have all lived a fulfilling life with minimal regret?" Molam looked around. The words, customarily said in the Free Cities before an encounter with the Empire, were the polite way of asking if everyone had made peace with their death. But none of them seemed to change their mind.
The fight between the echo and Roxxa reached another breaking point, with the echo being knocked back down to the street. Martyker had been right; without the tools of alchemy, the echo of Flangel the Wise could not match against the injured OutCast's raw strength. But all was not lost; when Roxxa turned towards Molam, the echo hooked her feet out from beneath her, causing her to stumble once again.
"Very well. Listen up. We're close. Sanctuary is only three streets away. That must be why the OutCast is no longer holding back her aura." Molam rubbed a knuckle on his temple, piecing together his thoughts. "The primary goal hasn't changed: We use the echo as a diversion and reach Sanctuary. If we do, we win. More importantly," he added while looking at the group around him, "We survive."
"Primary implies secondary." Scarlette's veiled gaze honed in on him. "What other goal would we have here?"
"If the OutCast is stubborn about this and we can't break through… we may as well try what Shurra wanted." Molam grimaced, his gaze honing in on Roxxa, his mind wondering if it was truly possible.
"Attempt to kill a Titled One."
