Chapter 2

A Massacre

The air of the camp had changed the next day. Instead of a bustling war camp, it was bustling now with a hopeful sort of buzz. Disciples were smiling and talking loudly, instead of sitting hushed at their posts, knuckles white on their sword-hilts. It was strange to see the two different types of camps, honestly. Especially since Nie Ruyi had never expected to see a war camp in the first place. 

The food line that morning had been loud and joyous, rather than the night before's subdued worry, and Nie Ruyi had eaten the food to the low-lying din of a living body of people. Now, as she walked into Lin Baiwei's meeting tent, she realized that it was because new people had arrived. 

Indeed, one of those new people, in particular, was standing at the table, profile turned towards her. Nie Ruyi didn't believe in love at first sight, not really. But she was certain her heart almost stopped when those warm russet eyes turned to her. An impish grin spread on oddly plush lips and Nie Ruyi could feel the blood rushing to her face. She had to tell herself to calm down, all the man had done was smile at her. Why was her heart beating out of it's chest?!

"Oh! So this is our new Nie-shimei! No one told me she was a lovely fairy!" His voice held a tinge of laughter to it, making Nie Ruyi feel almost as if she were being made fun of. The heat in her cheeks was set to boiling, as he continued, "Nie-Shimei, I'm Cai Bingtian, but you can call me-"

"Cai-shixiong." She interrupted, snapping out the honorific before he could say something else embarrassing. "Nice to meet you." Turning every ounce of her will to iron, she turned away from this asian adonis, and towards Lin Baiwei instead. "Lin-Shijie, Song Fengling asked Lao-Shixiong for some training, so he told me to come here until they're done. Do you mind if I sit in here for a while?"

"Not at all, Nie-Shimei." Lin Baiwei turned to her guest and continued their conversation, "That being said, we will need you to accompany us to negotiations today with the Dragon. That being said, you are not to speak beyond your technical capacity. You are not to attempt diplomacy, nor are you to make any jokes."

 "Oh come on, Lin-Shijie! I can be helpful in the negotiations! I'm practically best friends with the dragons I know." Cai Bingtian complained, leaning against the table to get closer as if that would prove his point. The careless curls of his half-updo spilled over his shoulder in a dazzling spill of light that distracted Nie Ruyi for a whole 5 minutes. 

She shook her head and dropped her eyes back to the book she'd brought. It was full of tips and tricks on how to live an off-the-grid life. Farming, animal husbandry and preservation techniques. Super useful, considering her situation, and she'd made it through a good quarter of the book since the day before. 

"No. You've caused enough political mishaps that the Sect Leader has made it clear to me that you are not to speak. I will put a silencing charm on you, if I have to." Lin Baiwei pointed a finger at him, her sharp manicured nail right under his nose. 

"Finnnneeee," he whined, before moving back a little so she wasn't poking him. "So who all is going on this mission?" 

"You, myself, and a couple of Juniors. If I can convince him to come along, Lao Xiaojun." At the name of her bodyguard, Nie Ruyi looked up. 

Speak of the devil, and Lao Xiaojun walked in just as they were discussing him. Song Fengling followed quietly, limping just a little, bruised but smiling so bright the boy could be used as a lantern. He trudged over to stand next to Nie Ruyi, who offered him a soft smile. The two of them turned back to the three surrounding the table just in time to catch Lao Xiaojun's sniff of derision as his eyes dragged over the messy Cai Bingtian. 

"Cai-qianbei," Lao Xiaojun drew himself down in the frostiest bow Nie Ruyi had seen outside of a harem drama. Nie Ruyi's eyebrows rose as she watched Cai Bingtian's bright grin falter for a moment, before it cemented itself wider.

"Ah, Lao-Shidi, you know I've been part of your sect for years now. You really could call me Shixiong, if you wanted to?" Cai Bingtian tried, his voice almost pleading. 

Lao Xiaojun tilted his head so that he was looking down his nose at the shorter man. "I don't." Nie Ruyi blinked, and then tilted her own head. Were... Were his cheeks pink? No. It must be the light, right? Lao Xiaojun turned to Lin Baiwei again, and decidedly ignored Cai Bingtian's pouting cheeks. "Who are you sending into the forest?"

"I was hoping you might be willing to come along, Lao-shidi. If things go south, we'll need your expertise." Lin Baiwei explained, rolling up a map and setting it aside. "Your charge can stay in camp. We'll assign a few shidi to guard her, but I don't anticipate the need for her protection." 

Lao Xiaojun's brow creased and his lip curled. Before he could say whatever acerbic thing he was about to say, Nie Ruyi called out, throwing out both hands as if to physically stop him. "Really! It's fine! I'll just stay in here with Song-shidi, and we can spend the afternoon talking!"

Song Fengling looked startled by her declaration, but Lao Xiaojun seemed to be considering it. Eventually, the broad man nodded, and then turned back to Lin Baiwei.

"That will be acceptable." At his response, Lin Baiwei nodded, and gestured for the two men to precede her out of the tent. When they did so, Nie Ruyi turned to her little guardian and smiled. Marking her place in the book, she put it inside her sleeve so she could get to it later. Carrying her purse with these sleeves was a pain, so she had just started doing what she'd seen people on dramas do. 

"So, Song-shidi. You and I haven't gotten a chance to be introduced. I'm Nie Ruyi, I'm 34, unmarried and I used to live in America. It's nice to finally meet you." 

He seemed aghast at her introduction, and his eyes darted left and right, as if someone would save him. The sparring must have knocked him around some because there were little strands of hair falling from his tight, neat bun. "W-Well... This shidi is Song Fengling, grandson of the minister of Finance for Silk Citadel. I am 12 years old, betrothed and I used to live in Silk Citadel. It's... nice to meet you too?"

Nie Ruyi grinned encouragingly, "That's wonderful. So... is Silk Citadel in the same country as the Sect compound?" She figured a good place to start getting to know this world would be to learn about it's countries. 

"Mn. Although Sects are set apart from the countries they inhabit. They're very similar to city-states, in that they pay taxes but have autonomy." Song Fengling explained, "I've... never heard of America, though. Is it over the great river?"

"Great... no, Song-shidi. It's in another world entirely. It's a country in that world. The city I lived in was called Springfield." She watched him try to parse the strange language that was English. Then, she translated it for him. "It means 'Field of Spring' and it was a fairly large city. About fifty thousand people, all living, working, and breathing together." She felt that inexplicable sadness roll into her heart like a heavy fog, and she sighed out the pain. 

"...That's a lot of people." Song Fengling looked absolutely floored at this news. "Was it a capital city?" 

"Oh no, not at all." Nie Ruyi waved away that possibility, "Just a city. Our world was much different from yours. We had carriages that didn't require horses, only a noxious liquid to go, and devices that let us speak to anyone around the world in an instant, with almost no delay between replies."

"You're lying." Song Fengling declared, scowling. Nie Ruyi couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm really not! Honest. It's just that, instead of magic, and qi and demons and monsters, our world only had people and animals. And we conquered the animals long ago. So, we made machines instead. You know plows? We made machines that could plow by themselves, at a hundred times the speed one person might. All because we couldn't stand it taking so long." Nie Ruyi waved at the forest, "We have huge machines that could eat that forest in two weeks and spit out enough logs to build houses that could house over a hundred families."

"No way!" Song Fengling declared, looking unwilling to believe it, but he was leaning closer as if to a good story. "If you made huge machines like that, they'd be monsters themselves!"

"Well, not really, since they're controlled by humans. But I see why you might think that, given your world's rules. ...so, Cai Bingtian. Lao Xiaojun doesn't seem to like him. Is there a reason?" Nie Ruyi asked, hoping the boy wasn't too shy to talk about such things.

"Probably because Cai-Shixiong keeps teasing him. They bicker like that all the time. I've never seen them get along unless Sect Leader is in the room with them." Song Fengling seemed much more comfortable, now that he was on a topic he knew was real. "I heard they met when Lao-Shixiong was 15, and Cai-Shixiong had just skipped out on his old sect. He liked us better, I guess."

Nie Ruyi nodded, feeling like she'd just unlocked a cut scene about some character's tragic backstory. "I see. So, what are their specialties?"

"Well, Lao-Shixiong is a Pill Master and a very strong pugilist. Strong enough that swords can't even cut his skin! And Cai-Shixiong is a Seal Master. He uses a sword too, but his tricks are what you have to watch out for. One time, he strung me up from a tree during a spar and I didn't even realize until I was upside down." He had the same sparkly look in his eyes that little kids did about their older brothers. He hero-worshipped those men, she could see it, and it made her smile fondly. 

"You must train ha-" Her words were interrupted with the sound of screaming.

The scream startled both of them so bad that Song Fengling actually unsheathed his sword enough for the silver of the blade to shine in the lamplight. Nie Ruyi's head had snapped in the direction it had come from. It was bloodcurdling, chilling and close. 

"Did you hear that?" Nie Ruyi whispered, despite knowing Song Fengling did. He nodded anyway as if to reassure himself too. He'd gone pale, and Nie Ruyi was pretty sure she had too, her hands shaking. Several voices raised in chaos, some battle cries, other orders yelled over the din, and suddenly Nie Ruyi knew they were under attack. 

Had the dragon decided their deal wasn't worth it? No, not enough roaring, not enough wind. Nie Ruyi turned to Song Fengling, who was staring at the tent-opening in a dazed sort of terror. She put herself between him and the door, forcing him to look at her. 

"Song-shidi, we need to find a place to hide. We need information about what's happening and how it's being dealt with. I can't fight, so you have to protect me, Song-shidi. Do you think you can do that?" She felt terrible, telling a 12-year-old boy he had to fight to defend her. She wished it weren't necessary. But whatever was out there was hurting people, and she was near helpless in this world. 

The objective reached him, and she watched him marshal himself with a firm nod. "Yes, Nie-Shijie." He grabbed her hand, and she could feel his fingers shaking as he led her to the back of the tent. Carefully undoing some ties she hadn't even noticed, he opened a little hole big enough for them to crawl through. Then, he peeked through it, before coming back in. "It's chaos out there. Stay close."

With that warning, he crawled out of the tent and she followed. Madness erupted around them. The sky seemed oppresively grey now, and the wind was still where moments ago it had been slightly pushy. Like the eye of a storm, it was still, with only screaming and shrieking to mark the moments. 

Nie Ruyi shivered as the wind picked up a sliver of a cackle, some mad thing laughing in this din. Song Fengling pulled her along, past cultivators running this way and that. She had no idea what was going on, or who was supposed to be in charge. Song Fengling led her to the outskirts of the camp, and then hesitated. 

Behind them, thick smoke was rising from the camp. Someone had set the tents afire. Nie Ruyi glanced nervously back at the camp, the sounds of steel clashing and that wicked laughter following them like a foul smell. There. Between the tents, she caught sight of someone, dark hair wild and pulled high, a sword as thick as Nie Ruyi's waist swinging wild with abandon. The slab of metal cleaved a young cultivator in half, moving through the sword as easily as it's weilder. 

Nie Ruyi's heart juddered in her chest as the person's face turned towards her. She wasn't close enough to see any of their features, but she was sure, absolutely dreadfully sure, that they were smiling. "We.... We have to go." She choked, tugging on Song Fengling's hand. "We gotta go, NOW."

"Where?!" Song Fengling's voice was high pitched with terror, and Nie Ruyi knew with certainty that he'd seen the saber-wielder too. 

"Forest. The forest!" Nie Ruyi said, turning in that same instant and pulling the young boy after her into the underbrush. That person would murder them, certainly. But the Dragon could be reasoned with. And if the Dragon realized they were trespassing, as it surely would, it might alert those negotiating with it that something was wrong. 

She didn't let them slow down, not for a moment, pulling Song Fengling through stinging thickets and sucking mud. "W-Wait, Nie-shijie!"

"We've got no time to wait." She replied, "Save your breath, we need to run as much as we can." She was already wheezing, and she was more out of shape than he was, but somehow, she was certain that she couldn't stop. That saber-wielder had more stamina than either of them, she was sure. She could only pray that the cultivator was having as much trouble with the terrain as them.

A thought occurred to her to call out to the dragon. After all, it's little spies must surely have spotted them by now, but she wasn't about to risk compromising their location in case the Cultivator chasing them didn't know where they were. When Song Fengling opened his mouth to argue, she hissed at him until he quieted. 

They stumbled as fast as they could through the woods for what felt like hours but must have been only twentyish minutes before she started to recognise signs. That rock, she'd seen it before, and those two trees twined around one another. She turned, adjusting their path, heading for the copse of trees where the Dragon had crawled down like a gecko.

Breaking through the thick brambles, she near-screamed when she saw what awaited them. Red, drenched everywhere, dripping from the canopy like rain. It drew her eyes up, into the boughs of the trees, where the broken corpse of the dragon hung like a kite from the thick branches. Deep, awful gashes littered it's body, white showing through the deep red of muscle. 

"No!" Nie Ruyi's desperate sob crawled up her throat, too loud and aching to keep quiet. The Dragon had been their last hope for safety. Had Lao Xiaojun and the others killed it? Had they murdered the creature when it met them for peaceful parlay? Or had that murderous monster with the saber behind them done it?

"Nie-Shijie, we have to go!" Song Fengling mimicked her from earlier, and she choked on a laugh that was a sob at the same time. Where? Where could they go? They couldn't outrun someone who could fly on a sword.

Her hand squeezed the boy's sweaty palm in hers, and she turned, desperate to find some escape for at least the child. Maybe if she carved the dragon's stomach out and stuffed him inside, the cultivator would think he ran off in a different direction and be satisfied with murdering her alone. 

"Hahhh...." A soft rattle of pained breath escaped the corpse above them, scaring Nie Ruyi out of her fucking mind. Her head snapped to look at the great creature, meeting one of it's massive eyes. Even to someone as unused to reptiles as she, it looked dazed and out of sorts. She imagined she would look the same, were she dying. "What strange things humans do. To send an assassin, and then come to me as I lay dying, stinking of fear and maternal concern."

Nie Ruyi didn't understand what it meant, but she was certainly afraid. "We're being chased, I think. Some cultivator with a massive saber. They were massacring the camp when we escaped into your woods, seeking sanctuary. Please. I ask only for a place to hide him, at least. He's just a child!"

The dragon let out a weak snort of breath that stirred Nie Ruyi's braided hair. "And why should I care for a human child, when my own shall be orphaned in minutes."

"...What if it didn't have to be!" Nie Ruyi cried, "Please. I could care for it! I know a lot about your species from the books in my world, I could raise it well, and when it's old enough, set it up in a territory with its own horde. Please. I would treat it as if it were my own child." She was desperate. She would try anything if it meant saving Song Fengling, who didn't deserve to be in this situation. The Dragon's eye slid shut.

"Nie-Shijie... They're getting closer." Song Fengling squared his shoulders, trying to be brave as he stared in the direction of the monster in human flesh coming after them.

"Please! We don't have time!" Nie Ruyi cried, her voice aching with tears and fear. "Please. I beg you, please! Just somewhere safe!"

"Enough... So noisy." The Dragon groaned. It pushed itself up from the branches, slipping a bit, as the trees groaned under its weight. A wheezing gasp escaped it as one of the trees impaled in its side dug deeper into the wound. "Follow the blue flowers. You will know them. If you miss one, look for a sparrow. It will lead you to the next. Hurry, for if I die, neither will lead you anywhere good. I will hold her off."

Relief fell over Nie Ruyi like a snowfall. "Thank you! Thank you, I will never forget this!" She tugged, pulling Song Fengling towards where the bluest flower she'd ever seen had just bloomed. 

The flowers were surprisingly easy to spot, and in her terror she was alert enough to find them quickly. They lead them through the trees and under dense thickets. Several minutes into their mad pursuit of blue flowers, they heard the dragon roar loud enough to shatter the silence for miles. Nie Ruyi tugged Song Fengling harder, the boy clinging close as he followed. 

Eventually, the two of them were led to a cliff face, a river flowing sluggishly beneath it. "Her lair is here." Nie Ruyi stated. "they always build their lairs in cliffside or hills. It's got to be here. Can you fly down and guide me as I climb?" She turned to Song Fengling, who was looking over the side with terrified eyes. 

"I... yeah, Yes, Nie-Shijie, I can." He tossed his sword over the side, and instead of it falling into the burbling water below, it floated in the air and returned to him. She would never get used to that. 

He guided her down the twisting vines carefully and went back above her to move the ones shifted by her weight back into place, to hide their trail. It would look a little like they had jumped in to escape their predator. Nie Ruyi was so thankful for this little measure of foresight that she had to bite back the sting in her eyes again, even as her hands ached from holding onto thorny vines. 

"I'm so sorry, Nie-shijie, I wish I was strong enough to carry you..." Song Fengling sounded so wrecked by the fact that he wasn't, that Nie Ruyi had to laugh a little. 

Breathless, she comforted him, "Don't worry so much. You're still very young. When you're older and stronger, I'll have you carry me from place to place. You'll see. I'll never have to set a foot on the ground again since my little Song-shidi will take good care of me, won't he?" Half-teasing, half offering him a future to glance to instead of the terror of their last few hours, she made sure her voice was light. 

It was only when she could no longer find rocks under her feet that she looked down. Beneath her was a long fall, but closer, there was a huge cave entrance. She shuddered, realizing she didn't know how she was going to get in. "O-Okay, Song-shidi, I know you aren't strong enough to carry me. But do you think you might be strong enough to help me fall?"

"Huh?" The boy cried, confusion turning his eyes wide. She sighed, her arms shaking so bad she could feel her fingers slipping. 

"Okay, so, come closer, close enough that you can grab me. In fact, grab the cloth of my dress at the shoulders, okay?" She waited anxiously, until she felt his little paws grab on. "Okay, now, when I let go, we're going to fall very quickly. I need you to push with that sword of yours, so that we fall INTO the cave, and not away from it. Do you understand?" 

"I-I think so?" Song Fengling sniffled, and she could hear his fearful panting. 

"Hey. Listen, no matter what, we're going to get through this. Just need some quick thinking to do so, okay? Just remember, push about the count of three after I let go, okay? Too soon, and we hit the ceiling. Too late, and we fall. Count One-mississipi, okay? I'm going to let go on the count of five." 

"One." She felt the little hands holding her shoulders turn into claws, and winced at how tight they gripped her. 

"Two." She slipped, her fingers sliding along the vines a little, and Song Fengling heaved against her sudden weight dispersal. "I'm okay! It's okay! I just slipped. Three."

"Hurry." Song Fengling whispered, and she wasn't sure what he'd heard, but she didn't want to find out. 

"Four, five!" She rushed, before letting go of the vines entirely and kicking (just a little) away from the wall, so she wouldn't scrape down it. The wind rushed by her as she fell, and she wondered if Song Fengling had remembered to count, had remembered to say Mississippi after each word, because if he didn't-

A powerful shove against her shoulders changed her direction, sending her into a tailspin so bad she didn't know which way was up or down. But it didn't matter, because by the time she realized she didn't know, she hit something hard and fast. The pain was a brief flash and then everything was black.