The Princess returns in Chains

She moves so fast, I can barely keep up. I try to take note of how she places her feet, directs her energy, holds her sword… but so much happens at once, it feels like making a single mistake in a rhythm game and being unable to jump into the sequence again. You just see the notes, the combos rushing at you, knowing them in principle, yet you’re powerless to execute them. She said she couldn’t take over, but it seems I’m so bad at this, she has to.

Murong Zhiyu isn’t the only one erratically flitting around the battlefield like a moth around a lantern. While the regular soldiers fight hard and skillfully, they seem stationary in contrast to the cultivators, who chase the enemy shifters. They live in separate worlds, fighting with wind and fire, the people around them getting caught up in their inhuman power exchange. Murong Zhiyu isn’t just one of them, she is at the top. When she relinquishes control and shouts orders at me to conserve power, even an amateur like me can use her body to perform supernatural feats. Armed with a blade, which is surrounded by air so cold, it burns on contact, I swing at so many people, I lose count.

Yet the onslaught doesn’t cease. I can only think of this as a game, in which new enemies spawn again and again, but these are living people. Where are ours? Have they all been decimated? I can’t believe it. Zhu Chun can’t be… she can’t be gone.

“Retreat to the palace!” A voice rings out, magically loud enough to reach all corners of Xiyang. It’s General Liu. “Retreat and regroup now!”

Suddenly, Liu Renqing is next to me, and behind him Feng Yu.

“What happened?” I ask.

I can’t hear their answer over the rumble in the distance. It sounds like thunder and feels like an earthquake. A violet light shines from behind the wall and comes closer with every second. Liu Renqing grabs my arm and drags me away, towards the palace, as we were instructed. Feng Yu follows us closely behind, flinging burning stones at our pursuers. Since the city guard is retreating, the enemy moves into the city, shooting at us, which sets even more houses on fire. Another tremble starts and tips over into an explosion so violent, I briefly lose my balance.

Then, over our heads, another light blooms. It’s silver and as gentle as the moonlight. An enormous dragon flies through the night sky, and in its wake, snow falls, blanketing the city. Where it falls on the flames, they are quenched. I hear people cheering around us. It’s Queen Zhu! She joined the battle! Given her temperament, I half expected it. She roars as she dives and the ground shakes, violet lightning sprouting as she meets her enemy. It must be their leader. A white fox. Can a fox really be more powerful than a dragon? Even if he is fueled by hatred, it can’t—Queen Zhu roars again, and this time it sounds like pain.

No.

“No!”

Feng Yu grabs me as I instinctively turn back to help her.

“Let me go!” I shout.

“You’d be of no help to her!” Feng Yu hisses. “We go to the palace. Now!”

Murong Zhiyu seems to agree. She doesn’t help me to run back to the queen and I am dragged away from the fight. We join the rush of city guards, running, stumbling. Some are carrying others, some have lost limbs and are bleeding profusely. It’s a long way through the city, but the streets have been cleared and there are no stragglers about. I have little time to be impressed by the discipline of Xiyang’s citizens, however. As we reach the main avenue, which leads to the palace on the hill in the north, we run into another fight. A group of shifters have snuck past the regular humans, cutting off their way to relative safety. I can see a large number of white foxes, but also other animal forms like lions, tigers and bears. They fight as cultivators, but mostly with claws and teeth.

“We need to clear the way,” Liu Renqing says.

“Before they catch up to us,” Feng Yu agrees. “Be careful.”

Liu Renqing stares at Feng Yu for a long moment, then he steps forward and kisses his cheek.

“You too,” he says and runs into the fight.

His ears are so red they might as well be glowing in the dark. I look at Feng Yu, who is running hot for a different reason than his phoenix fire.

“Did you… did you…”

“Yeah, I saw. Congratulations.”

“Fuck.”

“You can’t die now.”

“Hell no, I can’t.”

Feng Yu bursts into action like a superhero, flames growing around him as he speeds towards the palace, so fast he leaves a streak of light in the air. In the distance, enemies go flying as he engages them. Right.

“Let’s go,” I say to Murong Zhiyu.

“Let’s.”

It's easier now, but I’m still anxious as I leap on a nearby roof to get an overview of the area before I attack. Yet when I look at the avenue, the fighting has already ceased. In the middle of the street, I see… Zhu Chun! How? How can she be here?? She’s… Oh no.

Behind her, holding on to her as she’s wrapped up in magical bindings that spark like lightning, is a tall stranger. He’s incredibly handsome in a way neither Liu Renqing or Feng Yu are. He’s older, more rugged. His gaze is hard. He wears dark leather armour, and his brown hair is bound in a harsh ponytail up on his head.

“Lay down your weapons or I will kill your princess!” he shouts in a booming voice. “Tell your queen that Gu Shuai of the White Foxes wants to see her. Now.”

Zhu Chun makes an attempt to free herself and Gu Shuai throws her to the ground in response. The binding must seal her energy, as she shouts in pain when she falls defenceless. The city guards take a step back. Behind us, another attack as large as a volcano eruption shakes the earth. Tell our queen?? She is currently ripping apart—wait, if that behind us isn’t the leader, how powerful is this Gu Shuai?

“Let me go, I can talk to her,” Zhu Chun says.

“Nice try. You’ll turn on me in a second.”

Zhu Chun spits on the floor in front of him. “And rightfully so.”

Gu Shuai laughs. “You have some bite. I like that. Too bad that it wasn’t enough to overthrow our people. Make way! I’m going to wait for your queen on her throne. If you can’t bring her to me in half a shichen, I will execute this one, who calls herself commander.”

He grabs Zhu Chun’s bindings and carries her away in one hand like a bundle of straw. A very lively bundle, though, as she kicks and wiggles and shouts murder at him. The enemy shifters follow him into the palace, where they’re let through under their threat to Zhu Chun’s life. I can’t believe it. She was more skillful than anyone I’ve ever seen, and that includes Murong Zhiyu.

“Hey!”

“Sorry,” I respond in my head. “What do we do?”

“Get my mother. Now.”

“How?”

“Move where no one can see you and shift into dragon form. She will be able to hear you then.”

“Wow. Like Superman.”

“Like… what?”

“Forget it.”

I retreat over the rooftops, finding a deserted garden. It takes me only a few moments to shift and I wisely open the robe before I do, so that it hangs on me like a small cape when I rise into the night sky. At least I will have something to wear when I shift back. In the distance, an enormous white fox and a silver dragon are wrestling each other on the ground, teeth bared.

“Queen Zhu! Queen—Mother!” I shout, not daring to come too close. “They have San-mei! They’re going to kill her!”

Even though my words aren’t all that loud, they seem to carry to her. The dragon lifts its head and looks for me.

“Qiu’er?” her voice rumbles, reaching my ears.

“They’re in the throne room. Quickly!”