Ice came raining down, thicker and sharp. It plummeted down from the sky, raining across the city, people were cowering in corners for warmth but it did little for those who survived, they would not for much longer.
Mauis crest the clouds to look down, she scanned for any source of power. Her body reacted, a hammer flew by her face.
The Hammer fell from the sky but came back up.
'This isn't so hard.' Vector felt like he was toying with a Lion but he had slowed himself down in retrieving the boy. He tossed the hammer again after catching it, suppressing his aura was difficult but he hid among the clouds and tracked the trajectory of his hammer during each of his throws. It was somewhat simple for him to use the Ice to catch the hammer or slow its descent enough for him to retrieve it. Throwing turned into a game, a dangerous but an exhilarating one.
"ENOUGH!" After the hammer kept coming back at her face for the ninth time, Mauis shouted and burned her wings. They turned to ash and intense heat cleared the clouds.
Vector was uncovered, Mauis focused the heat into a single wave that shot out toward his position. He flapped his wings and avoided it but the blast tore through the frozen city streets, steam exploded into the air and hid him once more.
Mauis clicked her tongue and drew her sword. It burned with a similar fire as her wings before they were discarded. She hung in the air, white light crowded her feet. "Interloper, you've come to seek your grave!" The sword was swung down, it cleaved through the sky toward where Vector had been. The steam vaporized further, clearing the path of the sword shear.
'Tsk.' Clicking her tongue again, she started to chant and the sunlight from the sunsets began to collect around her, turning the sky red. "First Sunset" Her heart was calm and her breathing shallow, Mauis had the image of a sun appear behind her, it seared the eyes of anyone who dared look at it. Red in color, it had a hint of darkness. Black lines curved around its surface like chains.
Rays of red light scattered, turning the city to ribbons. The castle and execution grounds were spared but everywhere else far wide and above was targeted with their strikes, ten thousand rays of light fired from the miniature Sun.
The people below were inconsequential, most of the true believers and those who were the most devout had lost their lives when the incident had begun, Mauis cared little for those that remained. She cackled while the sun burst into a dazzling starlight and disappeared.
'There's no way he survived that.' She scanned the surroundings for life and energy but couldn't find any. A bright light burned around her, she felt victorious and looked up to the sky in celebration.
The Hammer struck her in the back, she folded over and her body fell limp.
Mauis coughed up blood in that instant, he had struck her in the spine and it had done considerable damage, she couldn't recover quickly if at all. The magic that covered her feet to keep her in the air dissipated into nothingness and she flew along with the hammer after its impact.
Vector appeared overhead with the broken tooth blade in his hand. He tried to stab at her heart but Mauis' arms still worked. She grabbed at the tooth, it cut off her thumbs. She screamed in agony and watched as the shaft tore through her robes and into her chest. The blade itself had narrowly missed her core, Vector could feel it on the left side of the tooth. He stored the blade away and sank his hand into her chest.
'No, no.. impossible..' Mauis watched as her core was torn from her body. Her eyes turned the color of stone and her body crumpled into one. It had happened so suddenly and completely had caught her off guard.
Vector held a core in his hand, it pulsed with her energy. 'Hot' "hot, hot hot..." Vector tossed it in his hands like a hot potato and then stored it away. His first action was to scan for more dangers, it was unlikely that she was working alone but he wouldn't be convinced without an inspection.
When he was sure no other enemies remained, Vector shed the cloak and landed on the execution grounds at the base of the Castle. There were spirit stones scattered around. The group of prisoners were able to free Cheonquq from his pending death by choking, when Vector came up to check on them all seven were fearful. He had just demolished one of the greater powers in the region without breaking a sweat.
Cheonquq himself had nearly died, he was gasping for air and in shock over what he had just seen. It was his first experience outside of the Kingdom, he had been captured, tortured and nearly executed by a Great Ancestor. Hodda also had ancestors and they were quite powerful but none of them were present. The Prince coughed up blood and stared at the Dragon.
"You're part Dragon?" Cheonquq smelled at the air, both of his eyes were somewhat swollen shut, asking was a natural reaction.
"Yes, I assume that's right. Now, you're Cheonquq? Right?" Vector grabbed at the top of his head in hope, he was nervous and tired the storm earlier had cost a lot of energy, otherwise he was sure that he could have frozen Mauis in place rather than having to dodge her many strikes.
Cheonquq nodded. "How do you know my name?"
"I hear many things. I am here to prevent a war between two peoples but it seems that war is inevitable with this Kingdom." Vector didn't answer. "Lets go before you're killed." Tapping a crystal on his shoulder, Misozi flew out of the trees and opened her backdoor. "In you go... Move it.." He hurried them as best he could but they were still chained and shackled.
֍ꟷꟷꟷꟷ֍
In a field, in another dimension, amid a grove of trees that sprang from the pond at the center, Zao Wu Hai found a clean spot and dug out a deep hole with a storage ring. When it was deep enough, he brought out the Pagoda and went inside.
Some odd things were happening, Qu had hundreds of puppets running around. "Ah, Master. It is time. There are some things you must understand." He explained about the limitations that had been put on him before continuing, then he asked where the other were.
Wu Hai sighed, "Its been three years, even Honey hasn't returned. I can't find a trace of Kuzunoha, Misozi, Vira, Mursayade or Vector.. its like they vanished from Ultinia, I know they wouldn't leave without contacting me first. All of that leads me to believe that they are stuck somewhere. What did you want to talk to me about?"
"Ah, that, Master. The library's contents have been adjusted according to Qingchi's guidelines. Before you returned her core to Shiyan, she had been working on further understanding the instant transference of knowledge through crystals. I believe that time has now come." Qu waved his hand and a banded yellow crystal appeared.
"Banded?" He took a good look at the bands construction, more than a hundred formation plates were stacked on top of each other in foils to make the banding. "I see where she got her designs, this is quite something." Wu Hai tossed it in his hands and then sank his energy into it.
Suddenly several volumes of information were instantly put into his mind. All sorts of knowledge concerning the basics of a swordsman technique appeared in his mind. 'Wuliao's Silent Sweep.' Wu Hai remembered Wuliao, he had been kidnapped and liberated by the Emperor. Afterward, Wuliao had even saved Qingchi's life. "Did Qingchi leave this Technique with you?"
"Yes, she said it was Wuliao's last wish that this technique be handed down among the Emperor's Family." Qu passed him several other crystals.
"What are on the rest of these?" Wu Hai asked.
"Prayers, final wishes, Qingchi was very busy before she left. I have an abundance of others but these were meant for you personally." Qu passed them over and watched Wu Hai sweep them into a storage ring. "Why have you decided to only now return to the Pagoda, so much time has passed. Surely you haven't been spending all your time alone in the wilds?"
Wu Hai looked down at his palms, they were filthy. "I made due. I couldn't let myself be caught up in luxury while my wives and friends could be in harms way."
"Please do not misunderstand, but, why come now?" Qu inquired delicately.
"I need a shower and I have a lot of things I'd prefer you to sort through." Wu Hai passed several bags of storage rings over.
"So many." Qu was use to mass quantities of items being dropped in his care but it had been a few years since the last time.
"Much of it shouldn't be mixed together and perhaps you know of use for them. Just do your best, you know me.. I'm a pack-rat." Wu Hai laughed and took out the token. "I'll be in my room for a while after if you need me but I won't be staying long."
"As you wish." Qu waved his hand and sent the rings to his avatar on the upper floors.
There was a lot of work that was to be done and the puppets didn't always know when to stop.
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In the Kingdom of Hodda, Mursayade, Kuzunoha and Vira had been guests of the King during Vector's mission. He had agreed to spare no resource to help them escape if they could rescue his son from certain death. The Ancestors of the Hodda, more importantly, the Royal Family of the Hodda Kingdom could never openly attack another nation without fighting those who shared a similar strength. All they could do was pity the child for having stepped into the worst of outcomes. The King of Hodda had commissioned Vector and agreed to Kuzunoha's conditions only under the pretense that the three of them remain while he was away.
Guards saw the ship returning, the fact that he was returning so quickly was not a sign for celebration. They presumed the worst but hoped in their hearts. Misozi found a good place to land in a courtyard, then opened her back door.
People piled out.
The Journey that they had originally set out on had taken them well over a month to travel along the road. In less than two days they had already returned and without further incident. They thanked Vector like they were thanking the Gods. He shook it off and did his best to get them to stop. Mursayade and Kuzunoha were busy in the Kingdom's library when he arrived, only Vira was standing outside of the ship.
"Where's Mursayade?" Vector sounded worried.
"She's got her nose in a few books, is everything okay?" Vira asked.
".. Sort of." Mauis' Core appeared in his hands and he threw it to Vira. "This is just better given to you than given to spoil my wife, I have her spirit stone too but her core.. It just feels like it should belong to you." Vector tucked his wings and walked with the Royal Guards to the Castle's Main Hall.
They were under heavy guard, the Prince saw the state of the Castle. There were few servants, most of them had been tasked to other things. "Where are all the Servants?"
For a Royal Guard, they did little to answer the Young Prince. They all remained silent and led him to the large doors that separated the Kingdom and the Throne Room. A single attendant stood by the door with a scroll in his hands. "His majesty, the Royal Prince of Hodda, Cheonquq has returned along with several of his council." He took a deep breath while the Royal Guard stood for decorum. "The Dragon King Vector, has returned successfully from his mission to rescue the Prince." The scroll snapped shut like a ducks asshole and was wedged under his arm while he stood and bowed to the Prince.
'I hated this shit then, and I still hate it.. go figure.' Vector wanted to laugh but he knew that he also hated that sort of thing. He did his best to pay attention but it seemed so dramatic when only the Royal Guard and Family were present. No council members, not even those who had been rescued were allowed into the throne room, only Vector and the Prince were allowed.