In the Cloud Garden, the austere old man sat at the head of the table. A broken hand fan in his hand. Torn and ragged he looked it over with a bitter smile.
"Goodbye old friend," with those words the hand fan dissolved into motes of light and faded away. Before it completely left the image of a man just as old as the austere man appeared. And with sad smiles the two comrades said farewell.
The austere old man then nestled himself in his chair. Though he felt no physical exhaustion anymore he let his body give off cracking noises.
Opening his eyes that were filled with light. He gazed at the seats around him. Slowly his eyes flicked past them each. Past the empty ones and over the filled ones.
Over those whose owners were meditating or talking with those nearby. Over Xuan Yi who was to his left and then over Ning Yao who was to his right. And then finally, the last chair on his right. That just like the first he looked at was empty.
A sigh escaped his lips.
"Of our Undaunted Cloud less than half our numbers remain. We've been forced to make our children fight, and soon we will have to throw our babies at our enemy. Yet we have not been able to rid ourselves of even one of these invaders!"
Light erupted from the elder's eye and his body became pure light.
"I was once known as the Light of Dawn! The Bane of Evil! But now I might as well be a common night light. Brothers! Sisters! What can I do?"
"Nothing."
Xuan Yi's reply was quiet and tranquil. And his senior turned his eyes on him. No, raw light in the form of a man. An old man with a long unkempt beard and unkempt hair. A tired old man who was crying tears of light.
"Nothing for now, for now, we plan and think. And when we can think of nothing. We wait for an opportunity and research. We look through our memories for any hint of knowledge we can use. Or we look through our archives and treasures for anything we can use. It is hard Senior, I know. But for now, this is all we can do."
The tired old man of Light drifted to the window. And his eyes focused on the battlefield beyond.
Tears of light flew out into the wind as he watched a youth be hacked to death, looted and then trampled on as the swarm looked for new prey.
"If only that was enough," another sigh. "I now truly know how that Ol' Mountain felt"
"Go die if you want. But if you do let this old lady join you."
An aged woman who sat on the left seemed to be blown away by a non-existent breeze. Reforming in a similar fashion to the side of the old man of light.
"If you all are going then let this old flame burn brightly one last time with you."
"Hmph, since I have no family left. I guess I must settle for parting surrounded by old friends."
As the two sentences rang out two seats emptied. And as the two-sentence ended two old men stood side by side.
One was a wrinkled old red-head with streaks of grey. His face held a jovial, childish grin as he was once more in tune with his old friend.
The other was an equally wrinkled old man with blue hair that held streaks of grey. His expression was taciturn, and he pretended not to see his old friend.
The old bald dreaming man flickered then his position changed. He sat dreaming by the old lady as if he had been there for ages.
Now only five seats were filled.
"Venerated Elders I ask that you stay. We the younger generation would be lost without you."
Xuan Yi said his fist cupped towards the back of his five seniors.
The air seemed to shiver, and the eyes of an ancient monstrous beast slowly opened.
The shock was evident not only on those seated but those who stood beside the beast.
"Young ones forgive us. Our hearts have grown weak in our old age. Our families have died, truly, like dogs. We cannot hold back anymore. We are old after all."
A soft chuckle resounded in the Cloud Garden. And when the sound of that chuckle disappeared the five elders were gone.
On the battlefield rays of lights flickered in and out. And after each flicker massive pillars of blinding white light rang out.
Storms of golden fire and azure hail tore through the battlefield growing bigger and bigger. While a sea of golden flames devoured its enemy that seemed endless. And right by the sea of flames was an azure ocean. Undoubtedly, before the elders moved there was land all around. But now the entire landscape had changed.
Beyond all this deep behind the enemy lines. The varied members of the "swarm" were flying up in the air broken and bloody before crashing downwards, enshrouded in green winds.
Several other feats of powers raged out but they all started to slow. The pure white light, the golden flames, the azure ocean, and the green winds. All began to fade.
Then a loud snap ran throughout the world and the feats of power renewed with greater intensity. This cycle went on and on. But even that eventually stopped. And the five elders were slain one by one.
The Dawn's Light lay tattered and broken. His body filled with arrows and wounds. He was looted and then cut into pieces his body considered loot as well and had to be divided.
The Old Miserable Lady of the Wind looked nothing like she did before. Her body after being frozen, burned, scorched and dissolved. Looked nothing like a human either. Her head was cut off and her shriveled heart was taken.
The Golden Flame and the Azure Mist lay dead not too far from each other. Their bodies were in a much better state, well until they were divided up.
And the Old Dreamer the treatment he received left him little more than an unrecognizable pile of flesh.
The Cloud Garden had become a quiet place. And long after the death of the Elders, it remained a quiet place.