Once he’d gained an understanding of the threat he was about to face, Wu Ling wasted little time. Grabbing the charred remains of one of the legs of his easel he pulled out a belt knife and got to work, using what little carving skill he’d managed to cultivate to produce a crudely tapered stick. Rummaging in his bag of art supplies he grabbed a small clay pot of thick paste before rushing to the place where the horses had been tethered. “Sorry,” he said to one of the stoic beasts as his belt knife flashed again taking with it a long length of horsetail hair. Working rapidly he used the thick paste as a glue to affix the horsehair to the stick, quickly shaving the hair into shape to produce a very crude and very large calligraphy brush. It looked ugly and would likely fall apart within an hour but he didn’t need it to last for more than a few strokes anyway.

“Yue,” he called, summoning the fluffy snow rabbit. “This is going to be hard and I’m going to need your help to keep me safe but don’t get yourself hurt okay? I’m afraid of what would happen to you if something more serious than what Fenglun did happened so you have to protect yourself too,” he insisted, his hands never slowing in their work.

In the distance, he heard the furious howls of the Red Mist Wolves, likely having encountered Su Xiang. When the answering roar came from the opposite direction he knew that his time was all but up. Fishing in his belt pouch he shuffled through the talismans he’d prepared earlier in the journey. The ones he needed the most right now had been the easiest to produce, they just hadn’t seemed like the right choice in the battle at the bridge. Unlike ‘Fire’ and ‘Wind’ which each required four strokes, this talisman only required three. “Here’s to hoping that breaking through lets me push a little bit further,” he whispered, wishing he had the time to test what he was about to do but…

ROOOOOAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRR!

An earth-shaking roar thundered across the camp accompanied by the crashing and snapping sounds of a mighty figure forcing its way through the underbrush of the forest. Moments later the massive form of a Burning Yang Sun Bear charged into the clearing by the lakeshore. The massive bear stood nearly two meters at the shoulder and massed over five hundred kilograms of muscle, bone, and sinew. The long winter had melted the layer of fat the creature had piled on the previous year leaving its skin and fur hanging loose over its lean, powerful body. Dull reddish orange highlights had formed on its lustrous golden fur and its deeply sunken eyes burned with a fierce orange glow like the light of the lunar eclipse.

“Nasty looking fellow isn’t he Yue,” Wu Ling quipped, dashing for the lake shore. Snatching one of his few remaining ‘Wind’ talismans he threw a dust devil directly at the beast’s face. Pebbles, sand, loose twigs, and fallen leaves swept toward the bear in an assault that was certain to accomplish nothing other than…

RAAAAARRRRRR!

Making it mad. Normally, an angry opponent was an exploitable opponent. Mad people were careless. Mad people make mistakes. Mad giant bears, however, became unstoppable mountains of muscle, claws, and teeth charging directly at him! Finally reaching the shore of the lake, Wu Ling’s heart thundered in his chest as he waited, staring into the burning eyes of the beast as it charged closer. “Ready Yue,” he said softly, eyes estimating the distance between him and the bear. Fifty meters. Twenty meters. Ten meters. “Now!” Wu Ling shouted, darting to the side as quickly as his feet would carry him.

Yue acted instantly, forming a thick plane of ice beneath the charging bear’s feet. Had it been a troop of charging soldiers with heavy boots on their feet the effect would have been perfect, sending them slipping directly into the lake at full speed. The bear, however, not only boasted thick claws that gave it traction but the immense amount of heat pouring from its body managed to melt a thin layer of the ice as it charged over.

Still, the ice proved just slick enough to throw off the bear when it tried to turn to follow Wu Ling’s dodge, sending the creature sliding and rolling in a giant splash into the shallow waters of the lake. “First move is mine,” Wu Ling whispered, putting distance and a large boulder between himself and the recovering bear. “Next move is yours.”

Unfortunately for Wu Ling, the dip in the lake’s cold waters seemed to have dulled the mindless rage that had overwhelmed the golden bear. A fierce cunning glinted in its eyes as it stalked out of the water toward Wu Ling. “I think that’s close enough,” he muttered. “Yue, wall,” he said, one hand reaching out to pet the fluffy rabbit before fishing out four of his twelve available talismans bearing the word ‘Earth.’

In front of the approaching bear, Yue built a thick wall of ice a meter tall and shaped like a horseshoe to contain the bear. With a swipe of a mighty paw, the bear shattered a section of the wall, creating a hole that he could easily move through if it weren’t for Wu Ling’s next action. All four talismans crumpled like sand in his hands as four mighty earthen hands rose from the ground to grasp the bear’s four limbs, locking the roaring creature in place.

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Rushing forward, Wu Ling poured thick black ink over his improvised giant calligraphy brush, hoping the crude tool would be enough for a single use. Reaching the bear’s side, Wu Ling began the first of six strokes that he hoped would incapacitate the bear.

Feeling something must be very wrong with this mortal woman’s actions, the bear roared in fury, its fur unleashing a deep ruddy glow that cast stark shadows across the lakeshore. Undeterred, Wu Ling completed the second stroke before things went horribly wrong.

First one of the earthen hands exploded in a shower of rocks, then another followed quickly not by a third but by the bear’s massive claws batting Wu Ling away. Yue did her best, leaping in the path of the claw and creating the thickest ice shield she could but the original ice wall had already drained much of her energy, and the barrier she created shattered instantly after absorbing less than half the force of the impact.

Pain blossomed in Wu Ling’s chest as ribs cracked and three of the bear’s claws tore at his flesh, shredding the ice blue dress like rice paper and leaving deep bloody gashes across his ribs, in one place even exposing bright white bone. Wu Ling’s delicate figure sailed through the air before crashing into the rocky lakeshore, driving the wind from his lungs and leaving his world spinning.

RAAAAAAWWWWWRRRRR!

The enraged bear bellowed, shattering the remaining earthen hands and charging toward the fallen Wu Ling. Frantic to help, Yue threw as many icy walls in its way as she could before leaping into Wu Ling’s inner world and pleading for Hou to come help their master.

With a fiery descent, Hou lobbed two balls of flame at the rushing bear. The first caught the bear squarely in the face, stopping it in its tracks as it howled in pain. The second came up short, bursting on the ground between Wu Ling and the bear. While the bear suffered little from the blast of flames, Wu Ling wasn’t as fortunate, and several embers burned holes through the skirt of his ice-blue dress landing on his slender pale legs and searing into his tender flesh.

The pain, however, cleared the fog from Wu Ling’s mind enough for him to toss out the next set of ‘Earth’ talismans, once again grabbing hold of the bear’s limbs and dragging it down onto the earth. “Hou, help me up,” Wu Ling said weakly, stretching out his left hand and clutching hold of the young Golden Crow’s talons. Hou’s wings beat mightily providing little actual lift but giving Wu Ling enough of a steadying force to pull against that he managed to stagger to his feet.

Returning to the bear’s side, Wu Ling added a third, fourth, and fifth stroke to his calligraphy, feeling his energy surging through freshly expanded meridians pushing past the limits that had constrained him just hours before. The bear, however, wasn’t stupid enough to allow him to finish. Rather than tearing its limbs free, it flung its whole body sideways, attempting to crush Wu Ling beneath its ponderous weight!

Darting backward, the world spun and Wu Ling’s feet slid out from under him as his soft shoes slid on the smooth wet stones of the lakeshore. Moments later, the bear crashed down on top of his left foot, crushing it beneath its massive bulk in a horrifying crunch of bone. “Noooooooo!” Wu Ling shouted, his eyes clouded with tears that threatened to overwhelm his vision.

Thankfully, the bear was more interested in rolling back to its feet than continuing to roll over Wu Ling or he’d have been crushed beneath the immense weight of its muscle and bone. Forcing his body to function, Wu Ling threw out two of his four remaining ‘Earth’ talismans to form opposing half-arches of earth that pinned the bear in place. They wouldn’t last long but he only had one stroke left to complete! It had to buy him enough time!

Throwing out another ‘Earth’ talisman, a pillar of earth formed beneath his back, brutally shoving him upright and staggering toward the bear. Hopping on his one remaining good foot, he crashed face-first into the golden-red colored wall of fur next to his almost completed calligraphy. With a trembling hand he added the sixth and final stroke to the character ‘Ice’ and poured every last bit of energy he had left into the powerful symbol nearly half a meter tall that he’d inked into the wet fur of the beast.

In less time than it took to draw a breath, the water of the lake froze solid, locking the bear in place. The powerful word, however, hadn’t come anywhere close to finishing its work. One centimeter after another, layer upon layer of ice formed on the massive creature, joining the earthen hands and arches in locking the beast firmly in place. Gleaming orange eyes smoldered in rage before becoming dull and clouded as the bear’s natural response to plunging temperatures took over, slowing its heart and all but halting its breath.

Moments later, Wu Ling found himself lying on the ground staring up at the starry sky as rapid footsteps approached him. “Wu Ling! Wu Ling!” Alchemist Huang called, unable to stay away from the battle any longer when she saw the bloody condition of their expedition’s guardian.

“Finish it,” Wu Ling whispered as the alchemist reached his side. “Before ice melts…” he managed to say before pain and exhaustion carried him away and darkness claimed his vision.