Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 117167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 586(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 117167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 586(@200wpm)___ 469(@250wpm)___ 391(@300wpm)
Moon winced. “Ooooh…that sucks. I—”
“Baobei,” Chen sharply cut in. A few seconds earlier, he’d pulled off the main road and onto a gravel-filled narrow drive that looked as if someone had cut into the woods. Chen hit the brakes. “We have a new problem.”
Directly ahead of them, a glowing red dome cut through the trees and appeared to wrap the property, with a large, two-story white house sitting in the center. All around the protective shield, pixies, gnomes, goblins, and even a small contingent of elves were attacking the barrier with spears, arrows, swords, and magic spells.
“Why are the fae trying to attack Moon’s house?” Xiao Dan asked.
“No idea. I wonder if they think I’m in there,” Moon murmured.
“Can we reverse without them noticing us?” Shixiong suggested.
Chen pointed to where a group of elves had broken off and were approaching the car with their weapons raised. “Too late. They’ve spotted us.”
“We need to dispatch them. We can’t risk them following us to the clan house. Chen, call Xiang for support. This might be more than we can comfortably handle.” He paused as he reached into the rear of the vehicle. With a smirk at Yichen, he handed him a sword. Not his preferred one, but a lovely blade all the same. One he’d used to spar with Shixiong and Chen. “I brought them just in case.”
“Excellent decision,” Yichen said as he accepted the blade.
“Yes!” Moon pumped a fist in the air.
“You will wait in the safety of the car,” Chen growled at Moon as he held the phone to his ear. The vampire-witch pouted but didn’t argue. Of course, Moon joining in the fight was a bad idea. It was unlikely he had any proper martial arts training and right now, his use of magic was frightening.
As he and Xiao Dan were hopping out of the vehicle, Chen shouted that Xiang was snagging Rei and hurrying to their side. That was reassuring, but he wanted to see how much damage they could cause before reinforcements arrived.
“Yichen, take the right. I’ll grab the left. We’ll herd them to the center. Chen will protect the vehicle and catch any who try to escape,” Xiao Dan commanded.
“Yes, Shixiong!” Yichen shouted, and Chen instantly echoed it. Something in his chest soared, and he laughed. Truly fucking laughed for the first time since rejoining his clan. This was what he’d been missing. Not simply seeing them or sharing a meal with them. No, it was running into battle, a sword gripped in his fingers and his brothers at his back.
In the two thousand years they had been together, they’d fought countless fights. They’d sneaked past enemy lines and taken out armies ahead of anyone sounding an alarm. They wiped out entire clans who’d dared to stand against the emperor. The Sword of the Heavenly Garden Sect had become an unstoppable force. After a long absence, Yichen was finally home.
He darted forward, his feet barely touching the ground as he dodged arrows that cut through the air and whistled past his head. Lifting the sword, he blocked the first blade aimed at his neck and ducked under a second, spinning away from the pair of elves in leather armor. Neither looked familiar, but those he’d gotten close enough to recognize hadn’t escaped the royal court alive. Either he or Rei had slaughtered every one of them who’d come for his life.
As he blocked, slashed, and stabbed through the army, he smiled. Blasts of ice shot past his shoulder as Chen took out anything with wings. He encased them in blocks of ice, sending them crashing to the ground with a dull thud.
Sweat trickled down the side of his face and covered his back, leaving his T-shirt sticking to his skin. A delicious burn filled his muscles as he fought while the scent of green grass and red blood tickled his nose.
Over the shouts and clang of steel hitting steel, he could hear Shixiong calling out combat moves as if he were still on the training field with his brothers and sisters.
Soaring Moon Strike.
Crane in the Western Sky.
Wind Carrying Delicate Snow.
Oriole Stalking Behind Mantis.
Without a single thought or breath of hesitation, his body reacted to complete the move, whether he was dodging, soaring, or striking. Zhang Xiao Dan was the voice of master and he was the disciple.
Each move deepened his sense of peace and called on old trust like a cord being struck on a guqin1 buried within his chest. He was home.
Now he just needed to remove the fae from around Moon’s home. He needed to get free of this blood bond so Rei could return to his home without worrying about his fate.
Of course, that was assuming they didn’t get overrun by the fae right now.
Chapter 8
Rei
“Hey, Elf!”
Xiang’s sharp voice as he shouted out the doorway had Rei cracking open an eye. Maybe his excuse to stay behind while Yichen accompanied his shixiong and er-ge on an errand had been entirely made up, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t use some peaceful meditation to soak in the rather excellent energy radiating from the small garden.