The Eastern Ridge was a serrated rock-and-darkness spine, pointed peaks biting into the sky with teeth. Moonlight barely touched the ridges, leaving black troughs in shadow. Fifty men picked their way warily among the rocks, flashing sabers and rippling qi generis, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. They were the cream of the crop, instructed by the most cunning elders of the Blood Saber Sect, sent to make Li Xian pay for his arrogance.
Li Xian's bloodshot eyes scanned the ridge from the top, chest heaving with pent-up rage. Su Yao's silver fire flickered at his side, strength coiling around her like living metal. They did not fear the ambush. They were the storm, and these black ones would discover that lesson inscribed in flesh and fire.
One step forward sent the first wave of attackers crashing. Li Xian's red qi exploded like scorching whips, wrapping around arms, breaking limbs, and wrenching swords from hand. Su Yao walked in perfect harmony, silver fire plunging into the crowd, slicing through steel, flesh, and speed alike. Each strike a crescendo of power, every step a statement: none could resist them and survive.
The attackers reformed and charged in concert, sabers drawn for killing,
but Li Xian spun and twirled, fists blazing with hot energy. One man sprang at Su Yao, dagger lifted to her throat—Li Xian caught him in mid-spring, his counter-twist twisting the attacker's wrist until it cracked with a grewsome sound. Su Yao's silver qi envelope another, slamming him down as she slapped palm of hand upon his chest, hot energy burning deep into his belly.
But even in the midst of madness, the intimacy between them pulsed like a vein. Every limb touch, every glinting glance, every flash of voltage was a bond, a connection tempered by fire and blood. Li Xian crouched close, muttering, "Sense my qi. Merge it with yours. Let them understand they do not dare enter here."
Su Yao's breath held fast, silver flames firing hotter as her own energy became one with his. The synchrony of their centers fueled a storm beyond even the reach of any blade or spell. As one, they strolled—unseen, unstopable, lethal.
The ridge burst into carnage. Blades crunching on Li Xian's fists; bodies arcing as Su Yao's silver robes cut through the line. The attackers tried to move around the flanks, but each route was anticipated. Each strike was parried, each step replicated. The ridge was a whirlwind of flame and darkness, steel and bone, cries and power in waves that battered the stones on which they fought.
Time passed in a whirl of ferocity. The first tide had been repelled, but others followed behind them, reinforcements summoned by Mo Tian's snare. Li Xian's crimson aura flared, coiling about him like incandescent mail; Su Yao's silver light leaped and wrapped around his, binding their power in a killing knot. Their powers combined to strike down attackers before they could reach the top.
Now and then, a reprieve: a breath, a glance, a touch, grounding them. Li Xian's fingers traced along Su Yao's cheek, and in that instant, all weariness and pain were supplanted by resolve. "We will never fall," he stated, bloody power coursing. "We burn, fight, and remain unstoppable. We are, together."
Su Yao smiled, silver flames curling around her in a halo of light. "Always," she breathed, her face inches from his. They both pressed their power, sending shockwaves that sent inferior attackers tumbling into the void between hills.
The battle raged fiercer as a group of high-level sabers, the Blood Saber Sect's elite, emerged from the shadows, their moves swift, concise, and deadly. Li Xian observed the aura of masterful strategy and his gaze narrowed. He grinned, a beast thrilled by prospect, and struck. Red and silver clashed steel in a firework of sparks and fury.
The fight became a deadly dance. Li Xian's blows were as strong as sledgehammers, but Su Yao's silver qi amplified them, slicing past guard and making return blows lethal. The elite killers tried to snap them in two, but their connection was too strong—each step foretold, each blow resonating. The elite killers perished individually, screaming as energy consumed them, their bodies crashing onto the stone with finality.
Despite the victory, however, Li Xian sensed a darker power. Far beyond the ridge, hidden under the cover of darkness, the true master of the ambush lurked. This was no ambush—it was an warning. The Blood Saber Sect was testing, pushing limits, but hiding its keenest knife.
The rest of the few who still attacked ran, leaving a trail of destruction and fire along the Eastern Ridge. Li Xian and Su Yao stood atop the peak, ruby and argent power swirling about them, the mountains shuddering at the might of their presence.
Li Xian stood over the bodies, his teeth locked. "Let them bring this back," he breathed. "Let them tell their masters that the Azure Blossom Sect does not bend, does not beg, does not fall. We are the storm they cannot weather."
Su Yao pressed against him, her breathing coarse but still unbroken. "They will come back," she breathed. "And they will come in more numbers."
Li Xian's red eyes burned, and his fists along with him. "Then we will chop through them again. And again. And again, until every and any blade fears us, and every and any sect shudders at our wrath.".
But as they went down, a whisper of movement caught Li Xian's attention—a faint ripple in the flows of energy. Concealed beyond the distant trees, waiting, stood an individual whose aura towered above all that they had met tonight. Chilly, calculated, and lethal.
Li Xian's gaze grew narrowed. "So it begins," he spoke, scarlet flames bursting higher, coiling around him like living flames.
Su Yao's silver strength mirrored him, intertwining in a ribbon of love and power. "Together," she breathed again.
"Yes," he panted, voice as unyielding as stone. "Together. And nothing. nothing will ever profane what is ours."
From the shadows crept the figure, unseen but sensed. The real storm was coming. The battle on the Eastern Ridge had been won—but the war, and the testing of their union, was just beginning.