Li Xian glided as a specter across the razor-sharp ridges, Su Yao by his side, their energies woven together. The stench of blood on the wind, and the cries of injured disciples carried distantly on the air, reverberating off the mountain as an omen. Each step measured, every movement purposeful. He had hunted before, but never with so much at stake—his name written in blood, the reputation of his sect at stake, and the Blood Saber Sect waiting patiently in the shadows.
Their prey was not an accident; scouts and spies had already led him to the hidden camps of the Crimson Thorn assassins. Li Xian's crimson qi swirled around his fists, his aura tightening to anything beneath him. Su Yao mirrored his strength, silver fire burning on her arms, crackling and fusing with his energy to become a deadly chemistry.
They surprised the first encampment before dawn, silent as they crept around the outer guards. Li Xian's fists shattered bone with precise blows; Su Yao's qi sliced through metal and meat with the same ease. The former hunters among the disciples were prey in an instant. Howls of pain filled the gale, screams muffled by gusts and the sheer violence of their assault.
The battle was a dance of fury and mastery. Li Xian twisted, swatted a dagger from a man's hand that was intended for Su Yao's back and broke it in two, then hurled the attacker across the room with a blast of uncontrolled power. Su Yao's hands darted across space, releasing sears of silver fire that ripped into those who dared assault her guard. They danced, predator to predator, leaving desolation in their wake.
At noon, the camps were reduced to smoldering embers. Li Xian's eyes scanned the horizon, locating the mastermind hiding behind a heavily defended grove. The man had a strong aura, but he had underestimated the raw strength of Li Xian and Su Yao in tandem.
The climactic fight was brutal. The man attacked with twin sabers, but Li Xian cut him down in mid-air, scarlet fire twisting around his arms like living serpents constructed of liquid metal. Every strike of the assassin was deflected, wracked, shattered. Su Yao's silver power surged forth, binding the man's movements and augmenting Li Xian's own powers. He drove to the chest, and the man crashed into the central tree of the grove. Wood and bone shattered upon the impact.
Panting, Li Xian stepped forward, scarlet energy wrapping around his fist. "Your instructions were issued by the Blood Saber Sect," he informed him, his voice low and deadly. "You pay for your disrespect with your life now."
The man was caught before he could even speak as a burst of silver and scarlet qi blasted out of Li Xian and Su Yao both, destroying the grove and leaving silence.
As the dust settled, Li Xian knelt beside Su Yao, his chest heaving, strength still pulsing through them both. "Let this be a warning," he whispered, lips against her hair. "No oneprofanes our name and lives. And no one… will come between us."