The door exploded in a shower of wood and magic. Total rockstar entrance. 10/10.
The Magistrate, Gao, spun around, his face shifting from greedy concentration to pure, unadulterated shock. His jaw literally dropped. "You!"
"Surprise," Di Jun said, his voice dripping with the kind of sarcasm that could cut glass. He strolled into the room like he owned the place, which, honestly, he probably did in his head. "Party crashers. Hope we're not late for the soul-sucking."
The girl on the bed, Lian, didn't even react. She just kept glowing, looking like a human-shaped nightlight from hell.
Gao's shock turned to rage. "How did you get past my wards? Who are you?"
"I'm the guy who's about to ruin your entire day," Di Jun said, cracking his knuckles. "And this," he gestured to me with his thumb, "is my healer. She's here to file a complaint about your terrible hospitality. Poisoning the food? Seriously? So tacky."
I rolled my eyes. "Focus, Di Jun."
But I could feel his mood through our bond. He was having fun. The absolute psycho was enjoying this.
Gao's eyes darted from Di Jun to me, and a cruel understanding dawned on his face. "The Pure Yang body… I thought it was just a rumor. So, the legends are true. You came to my city. You led me right to her."
He laughed, a dry, rasping sound. "Fool. You have delivered the final ingredient to me yourself!"
He slammed his hands on the floor. The room shook, and the grey energy pulsating from his daughter intensified. The dark threads of power flowing from the city thickened, becoming like thick, black ropes.
"He's drawing more power!" I yelled over the hum.
"Let him," Di Jun said, a feral grin spreading across his face. "The bigger they are, the harder they fall."
Gao screamed, a sound of pure effort, and the energy in the room coalesced, forming a dozen shadowy figures with glowing red eyes. They were constructs of stolen life force, and they all turned their hungry gazes on us.
"Get the girl," Di Jun commanded, his voice suddenly all business. "Break the connection. I'll handle the puppets."
"On it," I said, already moving.
The shadow-figures lunged. Di Jun met them head-on. It was… wow. Just, wow. He was a blur of motion, a dance of controlled violence. He moved like water, his hands and feet striking with the force of a battering ram. A shadow swiped at him with claws of darkness; he ducked under it, spun, and drove his palm through its chest. The creature dissolved into a cloud of black smoke. He took out three of them before I even reached the bed.
I focused on Lian. She was burning up, her skin hot to the touch. The energy flowing into her was a chaotic mess of Yin and stolen Yang. It was tearing her apart from the inside out.
I had to reverse the flow. I had to turn her from a battery into a conduit, sending the stolen energy back where it came from.
I placed my hands on her temples, and my Pure Yang energy flared. It was like pouring water on a fire. The grey energy around her sizzled and recoiled.
"What are you doing?!" Gao shrieked, his face contorted in fury. He was trying to maintain the ritual while fighting Di Jun's attacks, and he was failing badly. "Stop her!"
Two of the shadow-figures broke away from Di Jun and came for me.
I didn't even have to look. I felt a surge of cold power from Di Jun, and a wall of black energy erupted around me, shielding me from their attack. The creatures slammed against it and dissolved.
You're welcome, his voice echoed in my mind. It was smug.
Don't get cocky, I shot back, focusing all my energy on Lian. I could feel the tide turning. The dark threads connected to her were starting to thin, to fray.
Di Jun was a one-man army. He moved through the remaining shadows like a reaper, his strikes precise and brutal. He was enjoying himself way too much.
Finally, with one last push, I severed the last of the connections. The flow of stolen energy reversed. The grey light around Lian faded, and she slumped back on the bed, her breathing evening out into a normal sleep.
The effect on the city was instantaneous. Through the bond, I felt a collective sigh of relief, a wave of exhaustion and confusion from thousands of people who suddenly found themselves… lighter. The plague was broken.
Gao screamed in defeat as the last of his shadow-creatures was dispatched by Di Jun. He fell to his knees, a broken man.
Di Jun walked over to him, looming over him like a god of death. "You wanted power?" he said, his voice dangerously soft. "You wanted to steal life? I am the lord of a realm built on death and darkness. Let me show you what a real power imbalance looks like."
He raised his hand, and Gao started to scream, not in pain, but in pure terror. His skin began to turn grey, to age rapidly. His hair turned white, then fell out. He was withering, decades passing in seconds. Di Jun was feeding on him. Not his life force, but his fear, his despair. Giving him a taste of his own medicine.
"Di Jun, stop!" I yelled.
He didn't seem to hear me. His golden eye was glowing with a terrifying light.
I ran over and grabbed his arm. "That's enough! He's beaten! Don't become like him!"
He slowly lowered his hand, the light in his eyes fading. He looked down at me, and for a second, I saw the ancient, lonely being beneath the monster. He was breathing heavily, the effort of controlling his power taking its toll.
Gao was a shriveled husk on the floor, barely alive.
Di Jun looked at the pathetic man, then at me. "He deserved worse," he said, his voice a low growl.
"Maybe," I said, my voice soft. "But we're better than that."
He just stared at me, his expression unreadable. The room was a wreck, the Magistrate was a prune, and we had just exposed ourselves to who-knows-what kind of trouble. But in that moment, looking at him, I felt a strange sense of pride. We were a team. A messed-up, dangerous, and ridiculously powerful team.
He reached out and brushed a stray strand of hair from my face. His touch was still cold, but this time, it sent a shiver down my spine for a completely different reason.
"We make a good team, little healer," he said, his voice a low rumble.
And just like that, with the city's savior lying in a heap on the floor and his daughter waking up from a magical coma, my heart did that stupid, traitorous flutter thing.
Oh, I was so screwed.