Only a moment passes, before consciousness returns to me. Rough arms pick me up, and I’m carried onto the boat and placed beside a bunch of bags of grain.

Muffled voices reach me as Sun gives orders. The boat leaves the shore, and the sole lantern is extinguished, placing us in darkness.

I turn my head, and I’m vaguely able to make out the shapes of Sun and Lai Ming standing over a body.

I can’t see if she’s breathing.

I force my strained muscles to move, and push myself up.

Sun turns, then hurries over to me.

He crouches next to me, and places his hand on my arm “Quiet” he whispers, “sound travels over water. She’s alright.”

I relax, and my body collapses against him. He gently sets me down against the bags of grain.

The boat leaves the cave, revealing a burning city. It illuminates the night, the flames flickering off the waves. The city is still fighting, flashes of qi and screams making their way to us. In the flickering flames of the city, I catch sight of the army surrounding it. Hundreds of men on horseback, with strange siege machines taking up the road. I don’t know how they came upon the city so quickly seeing their number. In the sky, a single sky-ship hovers over the city.

I look back to the boat, finally noticing the two men rowing the boat into the large slow moving river. The gruff captain lowers the sails, and we catch a wind pushing us against the current.

Then we’re off, away from the flames of war.

I stare into the night sky, clouds barely letting the light of the moon light our way.

I take a deep breath, and focus inward, calming the qi that had gone wild with the eleventh requiem.

I spend several minutes meditating before hushed whispering pulls me to the present. I open my eyes, and look to the back of the ship. Sun and the captain look at something in the distance, their whispers almost audible. Sun’s eyes are golden, and his spirit is rougher, with a dangerous edge to it. The scent of the sea surrounds him. It vaguely reminds me of The Pirate Queen’s spirit.

I push myself up with my body only complaining a little and join the two of them. Sun catches my eyes, then points to the river behind us. I follow his finger, and stare into the darkness for several seconds before I catch sight of another boat. Black sails push it along the river, an unnatural wind helping it gain on us.

“We don’t know if they’ve seen us.” Sun says quietly, his accent rough and grizzled. “But no one in the city fly’s black sails.”

We turn around a curve and lose sight of the ship. Qi escapes from Sun, wrapping around the ship, and our speed increases.

“Rest.” Sun says, the word coming out like an order. He looks behind us, and mutters the last as if he’s speaking to himself, “Something tells me they’ll be upon us soon.”

I have the same sense of foreboding, but I don’t say anything as I walk over to where Lai Ming is resting next to Xia Jing.

Lai Ming is fast asleep, but Xia Jing’s eyes open as I approach. Her face is pale, but there’s still strength in her eyes.

“I knew my luck had been too good.” She says, chuckling lightly before a flash of pain crosses her face. At my worried look, she continues, “I’ll be alright. She’s a good healer.”

It takes me a second to realize that she’s talking about Sun. He’s still wearing the clothes of his tiger-orange personality which do make him look feminine.

“Are you alright?” She asks, making me look back at her. “I must’ve given you quite the scare.”

“I’ll be alright.” I repeat her words back to her, then I sit next to her.

She leans her head on me, her breath calming.

“I’m sorry.” I finally say.

“For what?”

“I dragged you into a fight with that demon.” I say.

“What? You think she was going to just let us leave?” Xia Jing snorts. “I don’t like demons either, Junior Sister. Fighting was the correct choice.”

I bring my eyes to the bandages around her waist, then I take a deep breath, and let it go.

“Thank you.” I say.

“We still have so much to do, I’m not out of the fight yet.” She places her head back on my shoulder. She continues, so quiet, I almost don’t hear her. “We just have to grow to face them.”

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Soon enough, she falls asleep. I keep my gaze on the horizon, watching as the sun slowly rises.

***

Rough shaking wakes me. Sun stands over me, his eyes golden. “They’re close. We need to be ready.”

I nod, and slip away from Xia Jing.

I follow Sun to the back of the boat, where the ship with black sails is in full view. Despite the distance, I sense the spirit of hunger and death.

Another demon? But this one is weaker than the last. Unfortunately, I can see that it’s not alone. At least ten cultivators, ranging from Qi Awakening to Foundation Establishment, stand at the front of their boat. Weapons drawn.

Sun’s qi still powers our boat, keeping the distance, the river is slow, but there’s no wind. Twelve oars push against the river, helping them gain on us.

I take a deep breath, recognizing what I must do.

A book escapes from my ring, and I hold it tight. I look to Sun who is waking Lai Ming. Both of them make their way to me.

“I’m going to buy us time.” I say.

The both of them look at me.

“The two of you keep going, and I’ll catch up with you at Lin City.” I continue.

“You can’t be serious.” Lai Ming says, stepping forward.

I hold up my hand. “I’ll be alright, but Xia Jing needs safety more than anything. I’ll have Shia with me, and I know my father’s lands.”

Sun looks at me for a long moment, then nods. “I’ll use the last of my qi to increase our distance. If you buy us enough time, we’ll lose them in the tributaries.”

Lai Ming frowns, looking at the ship in the distance, then she nods as if coming to a decision. She turns to Sun. “I’ll stay with her. Can you keep our injured sister safe?”

Sun pauses, his eyes widening in surprise. Then he bows his head. “I’ll protect her with my life.”

I open my mouth to argue, but Lai Ming shoots me a look, “Water isn’t too far from ice. And ice is my domain.”

I close my mouth and nod, then I throw the book in front of me and jump off the boat.

The book opens mid-air to Second Song: Flow Of The River.

I sing the first note, my feet landing softly on top of the water. A moment later, Lai Ming steps on the river, ice freezing beneath her feet.

Water and ice rise around us, and I feel the qi of our enemies seeking to control the river. My song continues, and a wave rises, hitting the ship. A moment later, the wave is frozen, holding the boat in the air and stopping it from moving forward.

Five cultivators jump from the ship, landing on the water. Five more on the ship gather their qi to break the ice and let their ship crash back into the river.

I share a look with Lai Ming, then we’re moving. The water of the river moves with my song, only to suddenly freeze and shoot forward with Lai Ming’s power.

Behind us, Sun uses pulls on a large amount of qi to wrap his boat in power and shoot forward.

I draw my sword, and my blade meets another. My thoughts slow, as my world becomes the song of the river, the blade in my hand, and the opponent in front of me.

I take another life, my sword slicing through a neck.

My arm is cut, and qi attempts to invade the cut, but the water around me heals the wound. As I sing, I sense a familiar presence in the water. I know that Zhu Teng’s Daughter and the creator of The Twelve Songs Of Water, Zhu Yan Se, somehow watches me.

What must her power be like to watch through the eyes of a river in another realm?

I can’t think on it long, as my blade meets a blood-stained spear, and I’m thrown back.

The spirit of hunger and death fills the air, and I meet the eyes of another demon. Around us, spears of ice fly towards the enemy cultivators, only to be returned with a vengeance by the enemy.

Lai Ming skates on ice, dodging the attacks of the enemy, simply seeking to delay them.

I, however, desire death, especially for the monster that stands in front of me.

He is in Foundation Establishment, and he should be beyond my power.

But I’m sick of being weak, and I’ve slain monsters far beyond him.

My sword meets his spear, and water rushes to meet a bloody darkness.

I switch to Whispers Of The Silent Raven, and spin around his spear as he stabs at me. Water coats my sword, and I flick it towards him, using my qi to make a deadly slash.

Bloody darkness pierces the attack, but I follow up with several more, then duck in close.

His spear follows me, blocking my strike. The other end of his spear seeks to sweep my legs, but I’m already moving, the water under my feet giving me the extra space I need, before I dive back in.

He stabs forward, and I don’t fully dodge, a long cut drawing blood from my side. I trade the wound with an upward slash that claims the demon's hand.

He cries out, then uses his qi to draw on the blood flowing from my wound. I smile, water rising up to heal the wound before his qi can do anything.

He switches stances, his dark qi replacing his missing hand.

But I know it’s weak.

This time, as I step in, I have the advantage, every cut drawing blood, until my blade stabs him through the heart.

Zhu Yan Se’s spirit surrounds my sword, and my sword emits a fierce wave of spirit, bringing me out of my battle lust. It draws on the qi of the killed demon, and I sense the forming of something in the sword. Then it goes quiet, the demon falls off the sword and Zhu Yan Se disappears.

I don’t have time to ponder what happened, as with the demon dead, the other cultivators turn their attention to me, and I’m forced to dodge and deflect what I can. Occasionally, I’m hit, but the water rises up to heal what damage there is.

Suddenly, Lai Ming is beside me. She picks me up, and I squeak in surprise. “More are coming.” She says, her eyes on the sky. Ice forms under her feet, and she carries me into the forest as she skates at a speed that makes me mildly nauseous.

Cultivators follow us, so I pause my song, and grab my flute from my robes.

The Sixth Requiem: The Tomb

The world is enveloped in darkness as I play to help our escape.