Wukong had been jogging for quite some time, but there was still no sign of his Mistress. While giving off a deep, guttural "Hrrrrrrmmmrrrrr", he selected the tallest tree in sight, jumped towards the nearest branch and began swinging to the top.

Standing on a swaying branch with one hand shading his eyes, he began scanning the distance for any sign of Trip. His eyes opened wide and seemed to burn with a bright golden flame, as he slowly turned his head, searching.

He saw...a bolt of flame, hitting his Mistress in her shoulder. His Mistress, dropping to the ground.

Lips set into a thin, grim line, Wukong catapulted himself off the top of the tree at an upward angle, towards Trip's location. He landed a distance away, continuing onwards by swinging through the trees branches. He took care to make sure his approach was silent, avoiding the thick undergrowth completely.

When he neared the path, he saw the circle of imps, daring to kick HIS Mistress! Still silent, he threw his quarterstaff at the imps. Like a javelin, it pierced through two imps, one through the throat and the other through its chest.

Before the imps could even process what had happened, Wukong landed in a crouch beside Trip. Pressing two fingers to Trip's neck, Wukong checked for a pulse, then sighed in relief. His Mistress was still alive. All was well. Now, all he had to do was get her back to the monastery, fast.

Wukong gripped the center of his quarterstaff, suspended between the two impaled imps, then lifted it. When it felt its feet leave the ground, the imp that was pierced through the chest gave off gurgling cries of agony. The sound snapped the other imps out of their stupor. Growling with annoyance, they attacked this new interloper who had interrupted their fun.

Or rather, they tried to. Using his quarterstaff which still had the two imps impaled on it, like some grisly makeshift double-headed flail, Wukong spun it round and round, smashing the impaled imps into their fellows.

As he sent the last imp into the ground, a firebolt hit him in the back of his head. Unfortunately, it was not the fatal finishing move that the imp mage had thought it would be. Not only did Wukong's head not burst into flames, his hair was not even slightly singed.

Most terrifying of all, the only effect the firebolt had was to make Wukong turn his head towards the imp mage, and GRIN.

With two flicks of his quarterstaff, Wukong sent the remnants of the two impaled imps flying like two misshapen canon rounds towards the imp mage's head. Sneering, it raised the red shield of force, causing the two fleshy projectiles to glance off. Secure within the shield, the imp mage had begun to charge up a fireball, but as the second imp bounced off its shield, it revealed Wukong charging towards it. His quarterstaff was firmly gripped in both hands, pointing towards the imp mage's chest.

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When he neared the end of his charge, Wukong thrust the quarterstaff forwards like a spear. It hit the force shield, causing it to flare a bright red for a split-second. Then, the quarterstaff continued onwards without pausing, shattering the shield to end up piercing the imp mage's chest.

Wukong withdrew the quarterstaff from the caved-in chest with an abrupt movement, causing a gasping imp mage to crumple to the ground. Not sparing his opponent any further attention, Wukong hurried back to Trip. He gathered her up in his arms, looking towards the skies to give a loud, shrill whistle that seemed to echo off the clouds.

For many moments, he stood still. Holding Trip in his arms, his gaze directed at the clouds, as though he was searching, or waiting, for something.

Almost imperceptibly at first, a piece of cloud seemed to detach itself from the rest. Then as it drew closer, its shape became clearer, its movement more obvious. It was a round white disc, large enough for several people to stand on. Moving faster than any horse could ever hope to, it slowed to a stop in front of Wukong, hovering above the ground.

Wukong hopped on the white disc, cradling Trip as gently as he could. With a sudden whoosh, they accelerated towards the sky, whizzing towards the monastery.

***

Trembling hands reached for a pouch, extracting a mummified finger. Desperate gasps and the coughing up of blood alternated with breathless mumbling, as the imp mage held the mummified finger close to its chest, as though it was its last hope.

Which was exactly what it was.

Dark red particles flew out from the mummified finger, gathering around the gaping wound in the imp mage's chest. A transparent dome formed over the wound, and it began to heal at a fast rate. Within seconds, the the wound shrank, then eventually disappeared, leaving only smooth skin.

Like ash in the wind, the mummified finger disintegrated into tiny pile of dust.

The miraculous healing came at a cost. The imp mage was still gasping, which sounded even worse than before. Before, it was merely thin. Now, it was positively skeletal, the little flesh it had seemingly dissolved by the healing.

With labored, exhausted movements, it dragged itself upright. Taking out more objects from its pouch, the imp mage released the energy within them, causing a cloud of red particles to envelop him. Within moments, the red cloud formed a perfect, smooth, transparent red sphere. Inside, the imp mage floated, suspended in the middle of the sphere. At some spoken signal, moving so fast that it blurred, it rolled back towards Black Wind Cave.

***

Back at the monastery, Wukong carefully laid Trip down on a cot. Examining her wounds, he found that even the large one in her thigh had stopped bleeding and was almost completely scabbed over.

Wukong sighed in relief. His Mistress would be fine after some rest. White Dragon had told him about her receiving some of his powers of regeneration, but seeing it at work helped allay his worries.

Turning to Brother Mender, he puffed out his chest and said "When my Mistress wakes up, tell her that I, her loyal disciple, have gone to do battle with the Black Wind Demon! I will defeat him in single combat and return with the treasured weapon of her ancestor!"

-- Chapter 20, End --