"Try the Gong Bu we practiced, using the sword!"
Kai turned a still face to Yung Mai, then frowned. He turned his gaze back to the sword pulsing in a silver light in his arm, then exhaled.
The cold air, which should have faded, pressed against his skin sharply, as if it had turned into a sword of its own.
'Let's try,' a smile tore on Kai's lips as he thought and shifted the sword forward.
Gravel crunched beneath his bare foot as he slid into the Gong Bu stance, bending his front knee and locking his back leg like it had grown roots.
Dust lifted in a low wave, letting leaves scrape across the stone and rattle like dry bones, as if the land itself had accepted the stance.
Saliva snaked down Kai's throat the moment he felt the ground through his heels. The silver light pulsing from the sword brightened, forming into heat as he sliced it forward.
A deep thrum traveled from the hilt into his palm, then up his arm, in a steady rhythm like a second heartbeat.
