IX | THE ANGKAS NOMADS
Tigran, dwellers of Mingqa and kin of the Felinia race have a slender build and long hind legs that outmatch their forelimbs. Their wings, when spread wide, span the height of dual palm leaves, showing a wondrous fit to the harsh land of Mingqa. They are mostly clad in white fur.
The sun, high in the sky, bathed the wanderer’s camp in gentle light. Mirth and merry talk floated on the wind, along with the steady beat of hammers on wood. This was but a common day for the Angkas wanderers, but, it was Bi Zena’s choosing day!
He skipped through the maze of tents, his braid belt swaying like a pendulum and the silver clasps on his neck casing catching the sunlight, it was their tradition.
“Morning, Auntie Inya!” he chirped, dodging past a woman mending a canvas roof.
“Uncle Dano, did you find that extra peg?” he called through the hammering.
Every greeting was met with a smile and a pat on the head. Today, he’d finally gotten his lifelong companion, a magnificent tigran.
His heart thumped against his ribs as he reached the clearing at the camp’s heart. There, tethered by silken ropes, stood a Tigran, its white fur gleaming. It was tall as a palm leaf, the wings folded against its back.
Bi Zena skipped to the clearing like a pebble dancing on water, eyes wide with wonder. The tigran, dipped its head towards him, its eyes pools of molten gold.
Bi Zena’s smile stretched wider.
“Waaah!” he squealed, bouncing on his toes. “So cute! I’m naming you Zeno, hehe.”
He stretched out a hesitant hand, fingers reaching for the silky fur. Zeno, in turn, lowered his head, nuzzling Bi Zena’s palm with his soft snout. A rumbling purr sent shivers of pure joy down Bi Zena’s spine.
“Haha, promise you’ll scratch my back, Zeno?” Bi Zena whispered in glee. “My back gets itchy all the time, especially after getting dusty!”
Zeno shuffled closer, nudging Bi Zena’s leg with its massive shoulder. Bi Zena giggled, feeling the warmth of Zeno’s fur against his skin. He reached up, fingers skimming over the soft down, then digging gently into the fluffier fur beneath.
Another day.
Men and women moved quietly, mending weapons and checking supplies.
Elder Bing Shiling emerged from the leader’s wooden fort, his weathered face grim. His braided belt and neck clasps were many.
He addressed the gathered nomads, his voice low and urgent. “Bandits,” he announced. “They’ve moved faster, they are now arriving.”
Elder Bing Shiling continued, “The chief and us elders has made a deal… for a price. We help them block this route.”
Bi Zena, unable to stay cooped up, often took Zeno for walks along the valley’s rim. One afternoon, Zeno’s keen nose drew him off the usual path. Bi Zena followed curiosity urging him forward.
They rounded a rocky outcrop and stumbled upon a sight that stopped Bi Zena’s heart. A pale young man, his hair as black as ink, sat blindfolded beneath a lone juniper tree holding a wooden branch impaling a foul-scented sock (courtesy of Iron Mountain’s left foot). Beside him, veiled by a wide bamboo hat, sat a woman whose grace spoke of beauty.
Bi Zena froze, unsure whether to approach or retreat.
Bi Zena swallowed, his mouth suddenly dry. “I… I am,” he stammered. “Bi Zena. And this is Zeno, my…”
“Nobody cares,” the youth smiled, aiming a hand at him. “Die.”
Bi Zena’s blood ran cold at the stranger’s words.
The veiled woman, seeing Bi Zena’s fear, spoke for the first time. “Senior Brother…” Hands already pinching him lightly in the wrist.
The youth pauses before sighing and retracting his outstretched hand.
“Very well, since junior sister says so,” he declared, standing up. “Another change of plans.”
With a rip, he tore a black talisman. In his hands materialized a staff, its black surface swirling with thorns except for the smooth grip and a pulsing squishy gemstone lodged at the top.
Bi Zena, fear gripping his throat, instinctively stepped back as he tapped it against the ground, the earth trembled, and from the shadows materialized five wolves, their maws glowing with ghostly grey orbs.
“How many men and sorcerers?”
“I… I’m not sure,” he stammered.
“Whatever,” the youth said, “you know the cursed bindings, right?” the youth put forth a playful edge. “Swear to me that you’ll leave these wolves on these spots,” he said, handing an awfully drawn map, “and be back before supper, hehe.”
Taking a deep breath, Bi Zena met the youth’s blindfold. “I… I swear,”
“Good, now be gone,” the youth smiled, waving him off.
The aroma that wafted from Bi Zena’s tent was enough to make a goat faint from deliciousness. Elder Bing Shiling, passing by, sniffed the air with an intensity that of a truffle pig.
“Spirits!” he boomed, his braided beard quivering. “Boy, when did you learn how to cook?”
“It’s just soup, Elder Bing,” Bi Zena announced proudly, emerging from his tent with a steaming pot cradled in his arms. “Zeno and I stumbled across a recipe book!”
Other elders came and exchanged hesitant glances. Elder Mei Lan, her wrinkled face usually as stoic as a rock, somewhat drooled.
Bi Zena knew it was the blindfolded youth creation, he beamed and began ladling out steaming bowls. Bai Zena had been the first to sip the soup, in case the youth had a mind to wipe out all the elders with venom, and that would be a dreadful woe.
The elders, hesitantly slurped down the soup.
The first spoonful was met with appreciative murmurs. The second, with sighs of pure bliss. By the third, the clearing was filled with slurping, smacking lips, and the occasional snort of pure delight.
Elder Bing Shiling, his face flushed and beard glistening with broth, slammed his empty bowl on the table with force. “More!” he bellowed, his voice thick with euphoria.
He ladled out bowl after bowl.
And then, it began.
A tentative cough from Elder Mei Lan. A nervous wiggle from Elder Hao. The clearing erupted in gurgling, grumbling, and the unmistakable sounds of impending intestinal war.
Aunt Mazila’s soup had indeed worked, Aegis had made sure to lower the intensity.
The elders of the Angkas nomads were now locked in a battle, for the hole of the lone wooden outhouse.
Elder Bing Shiling, his beard now adorned with stray flecks of carrot, charged towards the outhouse like a runaway ox.
Elder Mei Lan, her usually serene eyes narrowed in steely determination, trips him with a well-placed foot, sending him sprawling into a patch of dirt.
Meanwhile, Elder Hao, nimble despite his years, attempts a flanking maneuver, only to be intercepted by Auntie Inya wielding a stick like a sword.
“Out of my way, I was here first!”
Suddenly, the squabbling came to a screeching halt.
A figure strode into the clearing, casting a long shadow in the afternoon sun. Two slim swords in black with gold carvings, red hilt, white handle, clad in a leather breastplate, black robes flowing dramatically from her shoulders, and sporting a shock of jet-black hair, silver clasps on her neck, she surveyed the scene with an eyebrow raised to heights.
“What in the hell is going on here?”
Elder Bing Shiling, beard plastered to his chest, rose from the dirt. “Ah, Chieftain! Just, uh, discussing the recent… rumors.”
His eyes flickered nervously towards the lone outhouse, currently occupied by Elder Mei Lan, whose gurgling could be heard through the thin wooden walls.
The chieftain narrowed her eye in suspicion, “Is that so, why is it—”
She suddenly dashed aside with wide eyes, narrowly avoiding the colossal area of ice spikes that tore, standing as tall as half a mountain and reflecting the clear setting sun above.
It was so sudden; the sorcerer warrior riders had already taken to the skies. Shouts echoed all around as suddenly, explosions of smoke could be seen.
“Kira!” She ran and shouted as her tigran appeared before her, riding it high.
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website.
The other elders also turned serious, summoning their respective Tigrans, while Bi Zena felt guilty.
But they promised they wouldn’t kill anyone, he thought.
Chieftain Ming Zi flew across the camps in circles, smoke rising everywhere. Towering large areas of ice spikes chased after her tail, destroying camps of wood one after another, tearing apart many unsuspected, and starting small fires around.
As she soared through the air, leading the ice spikes to extend even further, their camp took shape in a straight line, securing and guarding potential sneak routes with precision.
Facing a sudden spike in her path, her mount struggling to maneuver, wings quivering, she exclaimed, “Damn it!”
Reacting swiftly, she fell in a roll and planted five poles into the ground. The earth rumbled, giving birth to five statues of flying creatures carved in stone.
Clapping her hands forward, she dispelled the smoke, revealing him, in arms was a black staff with long black hair and a dancing cloak, blindfolded.
The airborne creatures surged forward at savage speeds, yet the youth merely took a step, freezing everything around him, including the airborne creatures. The creeping ice slowly approached her, prompting a step back. Swiftly, she grabbed one of her slim swords, inserting it into the earth. The sword’s magic melted the encroaching ice as she held her ground.
“Chieftain!” Elder Bing Shiling cried atop a brown Tigran, wielding a wooden coiling staff. Wooden roots of spikes burst from the ground, rending the air in a bid to skewer the nimble youth. Suddenly, shining orbs of lotus surrounded him, he swiftly made a wooden shell around his body ere the lotus orbs blew up. The feeling of being crushed and ripped asunder gnawed at him from within, making him spew a mouthful of blood as the mighty force took its toll.
The ceaseless explosions went on, fiercely pounding him. As the wooden shell around him at last broke, a hand reached in and seized him. It was Elder Mei Lan dragging him out of the ruinous pit, fleeing the ruthless assault in rolls and blood under the sinking sun.
“HAHA! This great man’s name is Iron Mountain!” A chubby figure emerged behind them, drinking from a wooden jug and breathing out intense fire.
He hastily forged a wooden shield as Mei Lan pulled him out, just in time for another lotus to explode, carving the earth around them.
A jagged green dagger suddenly aimed at Iron Mountain’s neck, only to be blasted away by a sword with a blue handle, silver guarded, intricately carved with a broken arrow. Another decisive slash and the figure of green mist were sliced but not dead, transforming into water and being absorbed by the ground.
“Tch.” Iron Mountain spat.
The desolate ground tremored as numerous green mist silhouette figures rose, surrounding Li Xin and Iron Mountain. They met the eerie misty foes with fire and slashing blades.
Another arrived, bare-chested with only shoulder guards strapped on. He wielded axes, which ignited into flames as he charged forward with shouts.
A black wolf materialized before him, and he swiftly slashed it with the fiery axe, splitting it in two and into the ground. A smirk played on his lips, but it quickly turned into a frown as another black wolf leaped at him from behind. He hurriedly turned and slashed with his fiery axe, only to feel a tap on his shoulder. Before he could react, a fist met his face, knocking him out.
Boar riders, five in number, wielding identical axes and guards, suddenly assaulted them. A bald man with a tribal mark on his forehead and a black wolf by his side multiplied into twenty, clashing with the boar riders. Another fiery slash and the misty green figures disappeared, leaving the battlefield cleared.
As Li Xin prepared to slash forward, a barrage of lethal arrows rained down. He, along with Iron Mountain and his steed, swiftly retreated, covering each other’s backs against the relentless arrows.
Colossal ice spikes emerged, piercing the sky and catching many Tigrans above, causing a significant loss for them. The open battlefield transformed into a landscape of colossal slanting ice spikes in all directions.
It was now a maze.
Aegis exhaled a breath of mist, his gaze fixed on the woman wielding dual blades.
Her breath was ragged and ruined as they faced each other in the icy field.
“Who the hell are you!” Chieftain Ming raged.
“Me? A disciple of the Mortal Heart Sect. We merely wanted to get to the other side.”
Aegis calmly replied as bandit leaders emerged within the icy maze. One rode atop a boar with a chained saddle, barechested with shoulder guards, the left adorned with towering spikes. The other, dressed in blue with gold linings, held a brown wand stick.
“So? Shall you allow us or face a slaughter, one by one?” Aegis holding his black staff, his words accompanied by a breath of mist.
“What boastful words. Activating your techniques might’ve already drained you; I refuse to believe otherwise,” the woman in the blue robe declared with skepticism.
Aegis casually stretched his palm downwards and waved it forward, a towering spike that surged towards the three. However, they swiftly dodged the impending threat.
The blue-robed woman landed on top of the spike, swiftly launching forward. However, as she closed within five palm leaves of Aegis, she suddenly retreated, boots scraping across the icy ground.
“You! How could you have—” She was left dumbfounded as another towering ice spike pierced the ground before her. Swiftly dodging, she sacrificed an arm in the process, narrowly escaping the lethal strike.
Blood dripped across the ice, “Damn it! Is it that staff?!?”
“Wrong,” Aegis said, walking slowly before her, he pointed the end of the staff towards her.
I can’t get near him! I’ll get frozen instantly to death! What is this?
Suddenly everything around her changed, She was still in the same spot, but there was no color, and she couldn’t hear the cries far away, It felt weird.
“Right now, we are inside another space. This staff replicates the space outside and transports us inside. You see, as it only has this limited space, my essence pool is draining. It cannot copy the moons, so… here’s your chance to kill me,” Aegis smiled.
“You—I’ll take you down with me!” She shouted, appearing suddenly before him, but as her body crumbled and seemed about to explode, she was already frozen in an icy stasis.
“Fools.” It mattered not how much he paid, as long as it did not fall him in one strike. If there was a moon, he was deathless, Aegis thought, eyeing the falling sun before turning his sight to the twin moons in the sky.
Somewhere across the maze of icy spikes.
“To your left!” Li Xin shouted, swiftly slicing apart a misty silhouette.
“RAAAAAGH!” Iron Mountain responded by spitting out fire to his left, then nonchalantly taking a swig from another jug of beer.
As Li Xin spun through the air with a slash, another silhouette was burnt by a horse, who was also casually drinking beer.
“Damn it, how do we kill this guy!” Li Xin exclaimed in frustration.
“I’M GOING CRAZY!” Iron Mountain roared, unleashing a fiery blast that melted everything within eighteen palm leaves around him.
A figure materialized before the scorching flames, but before he could escape, he was swiftly slashed by Li Xin and then fatally stabbed in the heart.
“BEHIND!” Iron Mountain roared, alerting him to another figure. Li Xin swiftly spun, slashing forward, but not without receiving a slight slash. The dodging misty figure was met with a burst of fire.
The figure rolled across the ground scattering the embers and blended across the icy walls.
“Damn it! This guy’s too slippery!” Li Xin exclaimed. “I shouldn’t have held back—Senior Iron Mountain!” He looked back, noticing the fallen asleep steed and the fat man.
The others were In peril with that fiend on the loose, but he could not forsake Senior Iron Mountain here, he panted, grinding his teeth and clenching his fists in vexation. Everyone was in danger! Uncle Zhang and Lady Nourn should be busy sneaking by now.
Pink petals, sharp as knives, whirled around Elder Mei Lan and Elder Bing Shiling. They flew in frustration, bouncing against colossal ice walls one after another. A lotus suddenly appeared before them, exploding and forcefully separating the two.
Elder Bing Shiling swiftly waved his staff and hand forward, wooden roots to deflect hundreds of lotuses. The explosive flowers burst, scattering thousands of petals, now aiming for him.
Elder Mei Lan grabbed him with quick speed, but before they could speed off, two lotuses greeted them with explosions, sending them cracking along the icy surface.
“Senior, forgive this junior, stop resisting, we will not harm you.” A veiled woman in a bamboo hat appeared, with pale skin and a beautiful, enchanting voice.
Elder Bing Shiling sighed, “I—.” Suddenly, his vision swarmed, and he started aging rapidly—fast, very fast. This was one of his greatest fears. He aged until he was now a mere husk.
“Cursed vows?” The young woman muttered. “I see—” Suddenly she took one late step aside, her blood dripped, stomach lacerated. A green misty figure appeared, diving into the floor.
She took another step aside, deftly dodging a jagged blade that erupted from the ground. Then, another step, and suddenly, another clone appeared with a jagged blade aiming for her heart.
A long, bloodied, serpentine-winged creature intercepted the clone, and a clang rang out as they clashed. The creature hissed and swiftly dispatched another opponent. She dodged yet another attack, but a new clone rose from the walls. As she took a step, Elder Mei Lan tapped the ground, causing a small burst of rock from the ice to trip her.
“Rex!” Jun Zhou shouted after dismantling an man unconscious. He leaped from his back and was met by the black wolf; they tumbled in a fierce bang.
In one part of the maze, dozens of unconscious warriors lay before him. Only five boar riders remained, and suddenly, another group of two sorcerers emerged with fireballs aiming for him.
He clapped the ground and an earthquake came.
I’m out of Qi! He rode the wolf and ran away, scurrying in the maze of ice, These guys are crazy! After I told them not to! He raged inside as the wolf struggled to run across the icy grounds.
Another group of five confronted him on one of the pathways. The black wolf extended to ten clones as Jun Zhou leaped off Rex. He met the sword-wielding warrior mid-air with a fist of rock, blood splattering. Sliding on the ice, he punched another, held back by the maw of a black wolf. One after another, they fell.
A swath of fir’ caught him mid-punch, scorching one of his arms. Tumbling, he was saved by Rex, and they ran once more with beating hearts.
Li Xin, now bloodied, faced numerous foes before him, but he continued to slaughter them one after another. Iron Mountain and the horse still lay dormant.
Suddenly, another figure appeared before them, a bald woman with scars crisscrossing everywhere, with numerous facial piercings. In her hands, she wielded a giant hammer adorned with thorns.
“Wake up!” Li Xin shouted.
“Rex, wake the bastard up!” Jun Zhou commanded as he arrived in the fray.
The two wolves rushed at the sleeping pair.
But the woman swung the hammer, her relentless swing, and the wind pressure alone sent the duo tumbling crashing across towering walls of ice.
“Iron Mountain!” Li Xin shouted as he sliced the pressure.
Jun Zhou was bloodied and beaten. He could only watch as the woman charged at them, her hammer poised for a devastating blow.
A sudden thrust of a blade, a twist in the wall, a step, and a kick.
Li Xin was now already bloodied and ragged.
The woman, gurgled as blood bubbled past her lips.
“Huh? Huh? What?” Iron Mountain woke up, groggy and confused.
“You damn fatty! Wake up!” Jun Zhou shouted, bloodied.
“What?!” Iron Mountain exclaimed. “Where are the enemies?!? They shall fear the wrath of this Mountain!”