The oriental gate, which had been preserved for millenia, seared black in conflagration. The roof’s tiles charred dark, and the large pillars cried in agony. Another explosion rocked the ground. Pebbles leaped into the air. Ayai and Zhen stared silently at the fire. Kwa clutched onto Zhen’s chest.

“Your Royal Highness!” ‘Mister’ Xiong followed behind the two. “The Jade Palace is under attack at the Gate of Eastern Wind and the Meridian Gate!”

“I ask at once to evacuate every Laoyuang, staff, scholar—Every single person from the palace.” Zhen spoke solemnly as a cloud of his breath expanded outward. “Second priority is to gather the palace guards and subdue the vagrants that are causing this and address the fire.”

“Yessir-”

They all ducked as lead projectiles bounced off the gravel. They found cover under a sandstone table in the Courtyard of Longevity. Ayai peeked to see where the gunfire came from. She quickly returned to find bullets whirring past her. From what she heard, there were more than five hostiles who were at the burning gate.

“Al-Tamarud hu alsalaam!” Their voices echoed from the cinders and smoke.

“I will call the palace guards and any nearby sentries!” ‘Mister’ Xiong held his cap as he ran towards the Department of Military Affairs in the distance.

Ayai turned her head towards Zhen. “We can take care of these militants ourselves. Shall we?”

“Gong Dongye, hold Kwa for a moment.” The Crown Prince slid the child into her arms. Ayai’s eyes went wide. Zhen dusted his legs and stood up from the table.

His guandao levitated into his hand. He brandished it before facing the oncoming onslaught. When Ayai glanced again, she saw a band of militants appear from the gate’s battlements.

They aimed their weapons and fired. Zhen dashed to the inner wall and took cover. With spear in hand he piked it into the wall above him and jumped up into the parapet. One of the men rushed towards him. But Zhen didn’t flinch. He brought his guandao back and slammed it into the militant’s abdomen. The enemy’s body reeled from the shock as the spear burst forth from his back.

The Crown Prince yanked his polearm out and brought it up like a javelin. The next man with a rifle contorted with an angry expression. Zhen hurled the great spear with great efficacy. It impacted the man’s skull and shattered it completely. The body jerked and flung around like a ragdoll.

“Al-tamarud!” Someone brought an ax down from behind Zhen. A sword materialized into the Crown Prince’s hands and he raised it up. Their weapons became bounded above them, as they wrestled to bring theirs down first. Ayai watched on from below.

Zhen broke his stance and rammed the militant’s face with the pommel. Ayai realized that it was the same move she had used on him. As the man stumbled backward with bloody teeth, Zhen plunged the sword into the neck. Crimson ruptured as Zhen’s cheek stained with red. His face was a blank expression, not one brow or lip quivering or curved.

“Your Royal Highness, we have come to assist you!” A small platoon of palace guards arrived at the gate, their hashara armor clanking to their urgent jog.

Ayai thought she needed to move as well. As she got up from her crouched position she was met with a barrel.

Zhen noticed the situation with a single eye. “Dihu Chuansong!”

He teleported in front of her and sandwiched himself between the militant and Ayai. He struck the man in the solar plexus with his sword. However the man just grabbed the puncturing blade .

His grotesque face warped and spat red as saharic particles surrounded him. “Kibuttohan, banzai!”

“Get back!” Zhen swiftly brought up his left hand. “Dihu Baohu!”

A violent detonation blew up in their midst. A brief flash of light blinded them. Black smoke followed after. Fumes burned into their noses.

Coughing, Ayai realized that she had folded over Kwa. She checked the child’s pulse and placed her hand over his cheek, to find Kwa’s heart rate elevated. Zhen formed a shield at the last second, so she stood up to find him.

When the smoke cleared up, she saw Zhen still holding out his left hand. But just as quickly he fell to his knees.

“Oi!” Ayai rushed over to him. Zhen’s left hand was charred black, twitching insensibly. “You…”

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‘Mister’ Xiong returned from the Inner Palace, waving his hands. “M’lord! I-”

“Ah, Mister Xiong. Didst thou evacuate everyone, my father?...” He responded hoarsely, as he writhed in pain. “Hah… I wasn’t aware that these vagrants could detonate on cue…”

“Zhen, we need to treat those saharic burns.” Ayai set down Kwa to inspect Zhen’s hand, only to realize that she called him by his first name. She required something to wrap his arm in and cool water. Injuries created by sahar spells couldn’t be healed with healing spells. They needed to be treated in a hospital or infirmary.

“M’lord… everyone’s evacuated, but what can I do to assist you? What can I do?...” ‘Mister’ Xiong’s voice wavered in its masculinity as he shook his head.

“Protect us and Kwa while I patch him up temporarily.” Ayai turned her head, hiding her broken composure through a calm appearance. ‘Mister’ Xiong looked at them worriedly, before tightening the cap on his head. The bodyguard turned around solemnly, and faced the bellowing fires in the distance.

“As you wish, Gong Dongye.”

The echoes of fighting reverberated throughout the palace, as palace guards pursued the militants destroying the Laoyuang residence. ‘Mister’ Xiong just stood there in place, waiting for the right moment.

That moment came. A militant found the four in the center of the courtyard, and drew his ax. ‘Mister’ Xiong unsheathed the weapon that was attached to her waist. Although to Ayai’s surprise, the ‘guarding sword’ wasn’t even a blade.

The ‘guarding sword’ reärranged itself into a metallic apparatus, with some sort of round core on the tip. A logo was imprinted on the staff, reading ‘Salkina Research’.

‘Mister’ Xiong brought down his weapon and slammed it into the ground. “Dihu Chuangzao: Kaolin Guard.”

Particles obeyed her command at once. Dirt and gravel from the ground rose and clustered together. Sift became sand, sand into pebbles, pebbles became cobbles. Two main clusters took humanesque appearances.

‘Mister’ Xiong tightened his fist. “Stand. And subdue him so.”

The two constructs stood and rushed towards the hostile. The man’s ax lodged into one of the constructs. But it didn’t stop the two from pinning him down on his knees.

Ayai had never seen such saharic art. Construct spells were common, but animated constructs were a new thing. And she was more intrigued in the staff which barely resembled those of legends. Ayai finished patching Zhen for the time being.

“Your Royal Highness, the intruders have retreated…” Another palace guard walked up to them and saluted. “However, the Jade Palace is still burning.”

Zhen lifted his head, his left hand freshly soaked in makeshift bandages. “Please put out the fire at once. I shall help as well, so-”

‘Mister’ Xiong turned to him. “M’lord, as you are injured, we implore you to evacuate along with the others.”

Zhen came to his feet, stumbling for a moment. “I am fine. Now, young sir, I beseech thee to lead to the places where the conflagrations run rampant.”

Following his orders, the group began to make their way to extinguish the flames. ‘Mister’ Xiong kept Kwa by his side, while also binding the new hostage with his constructs. The other palace guards regrouped with Ayai and Zhen, and they were each dispatched to different areas of the palace.

Ayai dashed into the Inner Palace, where the sky seared with orange and yellow. She followed the smoke that permeated the air, and the scent of burning sandwood. Several other guards assisted her. The Hall of Eternal Knowledge was on fire.

“Go!” The palace guards rushed into the building. “Dihu Shui!”

Water blasted through the hazy foyer. However the hall stayed ablaze. Clay bricks and sandwood rained down from the ceiling, soot blended into the sight. It would’ve been more simple if the fire happened in one place.

Ayai stepped into the flickering chaos. Her footsteps clattered against the floor, as the other guards turned to see her.

“Bring your arms together.” Ayai took all of their hands and brought them forward with hers. “Mayin Dej.”

A jet of water came forth from her hand and into the flames. Soon the others quickly caught on.

“What are you doing?! Back Gong Dongye up! Dihu Shui!”

“Dihu He!”

“Dihu Yushui!”

Their combined water blast became a jet stream with increasing bandwidth. The group together became a giant hose as Ayai rotated their entire apparatus around. The fire withered in its intensity, as they chased it around the foyer. Eventually Ayai and the guards subdued it in the corridors, as the last flame became quenched with water.

The Hall of Eternal Knowledge, belching with sodden ash, had lost its original luster. The intricate doors were smoldered in black, the roofs charred and destroyed. Sandwood sliding doors were soaked in soggy embers.

Ayai and the royal guards surveyed the damage, panting from exhaustion. She noticed a movement out of the corner of her eye and turned to see a figure stumbling towards them through the smoke.

The figure stumbled closer, revealing itself to be a woman. “Please,” she gasped, “help me. Liu Xiang is-”

Ayai nodded to the soldiers. “Two of you evacuate her. The others go search for ‘Liu Xiang’.”

The guards quickly sprang into action, two of them helping the woman out of the burning hall while the another two rushed off to search for Liu Xiang. Ayai remained behind, her eyes scanning the ruined hall for any sign of the person they were looking for.

As she turned a corner, she saw a figure slumped against a wall, coughing and wheezing. She rushed over, and the man stated himself as Liu Xiang. His clothes were sinġed and his face was blackened with soot, but he was alive. Ayai and two others quickly helped him to his feet and supported him as they made their way out of the hall.

The other guards soon caught up with them, and together they guided Liu Xiang out of the burning palace. Once they were outside the Meridian Gate, Ayai turned around. Dead smoke was still belching from the complex.

She needed to group up with the others as soon as possible.