Chương 649: Chapter 640

Unlike her husband and daughter, Sarnai was not one to romanticize warfare. Not to say she abhorred it either, but if the decision were up to her, she would have stayed in her quiet mountain home and let the Empire deal with its own woes. Were the situation reversed, she knew full well that the Empire would happily leave the People to die, so why should the People feel obliged to die in service of the Empire?

Short-sighted, some would say, but Sarnai cared only about her People, and their staunch allies within the Saint's Tribulations Mountains, for she'd seen firsthand how the Empire treated their own, and it left her with little desire to count herself among them. It happened more than fifty years ago, during her first real battle against the Enemy. Back then, she was younger than Alsantset was now, a woman who'd been married to her beloved fool of a husband for almost a full decade.

One day, which began like any other, the routine humdrum of the village was interrupted when Akanai beat the drums and gathered the spears to ride out and defend an Imperial border fortress besieged by fifty-thousand Defiled. The call for help hadn't come through official channels, but from a tired, wounded scout Baatar came across during one of his long ranging patrols. The soldier told a tale of a daring defence thrown together by a lowly lieutenant, the best Officer the survivors had to rely on.

Being young and stupid, Sarnai believed that the Imperial Army was sure to rush to the aid of the beleaguered defenders, and that if there was any glory to be won, the Sentinels would arrive far too late to earn it. Still, she went along with her husband to keep him company since she had nothing better to do, as it would still be another twenty or so years before she had a daughter to love and cherish, and longer still before she had a son and twin grandchildren.

Pressed for time, Akanai set out with a token force of Sentinels only three-thousand strong, comprised mostly of Warriors of the People. Despite riding day and night with minimal rest, they arrived ten days after the siege had started, so imagine Sarnai's surprise when she learned that not only were the Sentinels the first reinforcements to arrive, but there were no other friendly forces to be found within two day's march.

Ever the foolish blockhead, her husband had rejoiced at the news, for he believed this was his Heaven-Sent prospect for honour and glory, but Sarnai knew the ways of people and politics, and already knew the truth of the matter. No reinforcements had come because the closest commanders expected the fortress to fall. This meant that once the Sentinels turned the tides of battle and threw back the Defiled horde, they would not be rewarded for their heroics, but quietly vilified instead.

Their bravery, sacrifice, and heroism on the battlefield would cast an ugly light on the cowardice of the Imperial Army Officers serving nearby, thereby upsetting a great deal of powerful factions. Sarnai explained all this to Akanai after the gruelling battle was won, and even warned her against going to Central when the summons arrived, but being the soft-hearted, hard-headed, optimistic fool that she was, Akanai refused to listen to reason.

Surely, things were different now that the Emperor Himself had personally issued a summons. Surely, He meant to honour the Sentinels for their valiant efforts and grave sacrifices, and in doing so, validate her centuries spent organizing and training this coalition of Warriors and guardians.

Surely this would be the first step towards bringing the People's cultural values and the Sentinel's reputation out into the Empire at large, building bridges with the outside world and removing the stigma city dwellers had for outsiders. At least Akanai was clever enough to half-listen to reason and only brought a small cadre of Elites along with her, instead of every surviving Sentinel who took part in the battle.

Sarnai's husband had pouted for days after, upset because he'd been denied the opportunity to see the wonders of Central when Naaran was given permission to join the expedition. Oh how he glowered over cups of tea with his similarly disheartened cronies, a bunch of sour faced youths with nothing better to do than ride around all spring and summer like thugs looking for a fight.

Khatagi went out on a hunt which lasted an entire week, though they later learned he'd tried following Akanai's party in secret and received a drubbing for his audacity from the Chief Provost herself. Yaruq was also insufferable, complaining about how she'd lost her chance to find a rich, Central husband to spoil and pamper her, when in reality, the nobles of the Empire were more likely to clamp her in chains and enslave her.

Fools, one and all, for they should've counted themselves lucky to still be alive, especially with so many parents mourning the deaths of their children, and children wailing for their parents in the village orphanages.

Even stoic, dependable Ghurda was beside herself with grief, having lost her second husband in the fighting, and Sarnai went over every day to help Elia care for her bereaved friend, only to come home to a mopey husband who was upset because he couldn't brag about his accomplishments to strangers in a far off land. There was glory to be found in battle, yes, but the costs far outweighed the benefits, and the costs of today's battle horrified Sarnai to the extreme.

A battle which could not be avoided, unfortunately, and one which must be won at all costs, so Sarnai cursed the Heavens for placing this tribulation before her while doing everything she could to keep the butcher's bill manageable. As a Peak Expert, this traditionally meant standing by and conserving her strength while lesser Warriors did battle with lesser Defiled, but Sarnai always thought of this as a self-serving style of combat.

Yes, a Demon could do untold amounts of damage to Imperial soldiers if left unchecked, but Sarnai could do the same to the Defiled and save Mother knows how many lives in the process. It was a matter of numbers plain and simple, and while standard Imperial doctrine was to let interest accrue while keeping an emergency reserve in case of a large, unexpected expenditure, Sarnai preferred to pay more now in order to maximize savings later.

And so she rode roughshod through the ranks of Defiled Chosen, flicking her fingers to deliver Honed shards of Chi to slaughter the heavily armoured traitors wholesale. The Deadly Thorns of the Mountain Rose, little BoShui called them, a name which spread like wildfire once he included it in his little book about Rain.

Though Sarnai openly scoffed whenever anyone mentioned it, she secretly loved her new title and how the bearish boy described her as 'the Mountain Rose of the People who wielded a Piercing Star from the Heavens and brought death to her targets from a thousand paces'. A shame BoShui wasn't here to see this battle today, riding with his uncle and her husband to do battle with the bandit Huanhuzi, but no matter. She was not here fighting for fame, glory, or honour, but to keep her son and daughter safe.

Sparing a moment to glance at the latter, Sarnai smiled at the sight of Alsantset's petulant glower, unhappy to be riding behind her mother who left no Defiled for her to kill. There was so much of her father in her, a hot-blooded fool who yearned for glory above all else, but at least she had the good sense to start a family early, instead of leaving her beloved to languish at home all by his lonesome. Not that he would have, of course.

Much like Sarnai had, Charok would've followed Alsantset to the ends of the earth if not for their darling twin children, which was one reason why Sarnai had wholeheartedly supported their betrothal when her dog-brained husband thought Charok wasn't good enough for their little girl. Pei. Good enough. As if swinging a sword well made one good enough to marry, though she had to admit, Gerel took better to married life than she'd have expected.

No matter, Charok was the man Alsantset chose, one who was slowly but surely coming into his own as a Warrior, still capable enough to be considered a talent himself despite spending so much time caring for his children, a pursuit in which Sarnai believed he was second-to-none. Family above all else.

That was how Sarnai saw it, but her beloved fool of a husband thought otherwise, and her compassionate son was the same, and so here she was, fighting in a desperate battle when she would much rather be at home spoiling her grandchildren and nagging her in-laws as a grandmother and mother-in-law should do. Riding at the head of their contingent, Naaran and Kharuul led the Sentinel forces back out of the Defiled ranks, having carved out a sizable portion of Chosen for the Imperial infantry to collapse around.

The fighting would go on for some time yet, as Defiled rarely broke ranks to flee, but their fates were all but sealed now that they were outnumbered and surrounded on all sides. There were still so many Defiled left to kill, Sarnai equated their efforts to a single wolf trying to eat an elephant whole, but with time, effort, and plenty of luck, there was a chance they could kill this elephant yet.

Following Kharuul's unspoken instructions, the five-thousand strong Sentinel force split into three groups, with the Spiritual Roosequin barrelling straight into the heavy gajashia cavalry who arrived to cut them off while the remaining groups circled around to nip and tear at their flank. Sarnai herself led the flanking force, and on her orders, Alsantset grudgingly fell back to join the ranged contingent, but not without four of Baatar's cronies to guard her in secret.

Timid and fearful were not words Sarnai would use to describe herself, but when it came to the safety of her children, there were no measures she would consider too much.

"The girl will never grow without experiencing the trials and tribulations of the world," her simpleton husband would say, but he was the sort of fool who threw the then-two-year-old Alsantset almost ten meters into the air and almost broke her ribs catching her, so what did he know? What's more was Sarnai had seen enough parents mourn their children to know this was a tribulation she never wanted to experience for herself.

In fact, she would count herself blessed if she went into the arms of the Mother ahead of her beloved family, though she did worry about what would happen to her husband after she was gone. Perhaps Yaruq could be convinced to check in on him, though it was probably too soon to bring this up with Khagati only a few months dead.

No matter, Baatar would have their children to look after him, and a mother and father in Akanai and Husolt now too, though their new family chart was rather confusing to navigate, mostly due to little Rain's lascivious appetite. That was all Fung's fault. What sort of booze-addled silkpants would invite a fifteen year old boy to go drinking in a brothel?

Akanai wasn't without fault either, letting Rain slip away without anyone to watch him, but to be fair, the boy was an independent sort who always did as he pleased. Sarnai still remembered following him out into the forests on his oft-requested solitary 'hunting' trips, wholly expecting to find him mutilating animals or engaging in some other unholy act of Defilement, but every time, he just wandered around the brush with the grace of an ox while all manner of wildlife slipped past him.

The boy was a terrible hunter, and considering how much he loved animals, was likely so by choice, and these trips were just an excuse to spend the day alone. Though Sarnai didn't understand why he would want this, she accepted it as part of who he was, even if solitude was one luxury he could no longer afford. Having grown maudlin over the thoughts of her family, Sarnai refocused on the battle now that she'd caught her breath.

Mounted combat was an entirely different experience from fighting on her own two feet, and Sarnai much preferred the latter, but there was no helping it. Even a Peak Expert on foot could fall victim to the power of a gajashia charge, the muscular beasts outstripping even the strongest of warhorses when it came to pure brawn, and Sarnai was fighting for her life despite avoiding the brunt of the charge.

Snapping fangs and thrusting spears came at her from every angle, and her defensive style served her well, blocking blades and cracking heads as she twirled her spear like a staff.

'Rend flesh and break bones, take no half measures' was her husband's mantra, while little Rain had the wildly misguided 'give flesh and break bones', but Sarnai much preferred 'Kill without being killed". Somewhat obvious yes, but Heavens knew there were many Warriors out there who often forgot this simple rule, though they rarely lasted long.

It was for this reason why she favoured defence over offence, a style she perfected fighting alongside her husband to help keep him alive, but it fell flat if he wasn't around to do the lion's share of the killing. No matter, this simply meant she had to work a little harder to pull her weight in today's battle. The spear served as her shield and her Deadly Thorns her true weapon, invisible, hidden shards of Chi delivered with a simple flick of her fingers.

Deploying a Thorn required less Chi than Honing and Amplifying a thrust of her spear, so it became her weapon of choice, especially since her Deadly Thorns travelled faster than any thrust and were nigh unblockable by anyone lacking a Domain. Since that included approximately ninety-nine percent of all participants on the battlefield, this made for a target rich environment, especially since she could fire more than one Thorn at a time and Guide them at different targets.

This of course required more Chi and focus, so she used it sparingly and stuck to slaughtering her mounted foes one at a time with ruthless efficiency. And when a Defiled Chieftain finally charged over to contest her, Sarnai grinned as she delivered a single Thorn through his mount's forehead and sent him crashing to the ground atop his dead gajashia, where he was promptly crushed to a pulp beneath the hooves of the rider behind him.

This was almost too easy, and though some were calling it a Talent, Sarnai wholeheartedly believed it was simply a skill which could be shared and taught. Mentor picked up the skill almost effortlessly as she was wont to do, and Charok and Gerel were making minor progress, though neither one had yet to succeed outside their Natal Palace.

As for Alsantset, she'd grown stubborn with desire to catch up to her husband and rival, but Sarnai's fierce, competitive, tigress of a daughter would do her proud, whether the girl mastered the skill or not. Some Paths were simply not meant to be tread by every Martial Warrior, but whenever the Heavens closed one fork, they opened up another path further along the way.

Despite her hefty personal contributions to the battle, Sarnai acknowledged that they were merely a drop in the bucket compared to Kharuul's commanding presence. Almost as large as a warhorse, the hulking quin Patriarch towered over his pack while crashing into his targets without fear or hesitation, his Deflection so powerful and well-timed the Enemy never laid hide nor hair upon his radiant armoured barding, much less the superfluous rider upon his back.

Rough, gravelly shrieks emitted from his blood-soaked jaws even as he fought, signalling for his pack to advance or fall back accordingly, his instincts for battle honed in countless battles waged over the course of a millennia. The ground trembled as he pounced from one foe to the next, delivering killing blows to both mount and rider with laughable ease, an apex predator and force of nature furious at this encroachment upon his territory.

When fang and talon failed to pierce through his target's Runic armour, the clever quin resorted to other means to kill his prey, namely picking them up in his cavernous jaws and shaking until their necks and spines snapped. Were it not for the gravity of the situation, Kharuul would've never been revealed to the Empire at large, but Naaran made the choice to do so during the withdrawal from Sinuji.

A decision Sarnai wasn't wholly convinced had been necessary, but here and now, they could no longer afford to hold back. Across the battlefield, there were no less than nine Spiritual quins running amok about the battlefield, including Sarnai's mount whom she borrowed from her husband, the ornery Balor who missed his rider so.

It took an effort of will to keep the headstrong quin from barrelling into the fray like Kharuul, but unlike his ancient pack leader who was strong enough to match Peak Experts, Balor was the youngest Spiritual quin in all the Saint's Tribulations mountains, having formed his Spiritual Heart during that ill-fated rescue some fifty years back. Sarnai remembered that day clearly, the memory burned into her mind. The Demon appeared out of nowhere, a slavering, fanged beast with a single, central horn.

Emerging before them like a creature of nightmare, it was already mid-pounce when it revealed itself, but Baatar pushed Sarnai out of its path, and for his troubles was impaled clean through the belly by the Demon's spear-like horn. The impact drove him off of Balor's back as the leaping Demon's momentum carried him over, but the dark-furred quin somehow affixed himself to the assailant's neck as it was passing by, his fangs clinging gamely as his claws and talons raked away at the foul fiend's underside.

The Demon was dead before it hit the ground, its torso shredded and head wrenched clean off, and though Baatar and Balor were covered in caustic Ichor, they both survived to fight another day. It was while he was being treated that the Healers noticed the Ichor had done minimal damage to Balor on account of his thick, luxuriant fur, and further testing revealed the quin had ascended into a Spiritual Beast by forming his coat into a Spiritual Heart.

Baatar loved to jokingly claim that the quin had stolen his glory, despite the fact that he himself had been covered in Ichor and lying in a pool of his own blood when it happened. That terrifying scene featured prominently in her nightmares for decades to come, as did the image of his horrific injuries, though the nightmares diminished in frequency once she convinced him to finally settle down and start a family. Then again, convince might be the wrong word.

In the end, she simply made the arrangements and told him in no uncertain terms that she was adopting little Alsantset from the orphanage, to whom he could either be a father, or a stranger. Baatar chose to be her father of course, and he did a splendid job of it, but Sarnai couldn't help but suspect he brought Rain home just to get even. A good thing he did though, because little Rain was every bit the blessing Alsantset had been, and Sarnai loved both her children equally.

As for Balor however, the stupid, stinky, irritable quin was her husband's mount, one she would see stuffed and turned into a proper Spiritual Weapon if he didn't learn to obey. Balor didn't much like her style of fighting, killing all his prey before they were within reach, and his frustration mounted as the battle wore on.

Puffing his chest like a peacock on display, the surly quin made his displeasure known by jostling her upon his back while emitting a long and plaintive trill, one which raised the hackles of every quin within earshot and had Enemy gajashia's skidding to avoid him. Cheeks flushing at the imagined looks, Sarnai pursed her lips and cursed her husband for a fool, trading his Spiritual quin in for a skittish warhorse who shied away every time he drew close.

It was meant to endear him to his subordinates and make him out to be an Imperial Hero rather than a 'foreign' savage. Why her dog-brained husband cared, Sarnai would never know, for if the Empire could not accept the People as they were, then why were so many Sentinels dying for them on the battlefield? Against her better judgment, Sarnai signalled for Balor to charge in, and the dark quin almost threw her off in his haste to engage.

Where Kharuul dominated his foes through pure strength and mastery of Chi, Balor was wholly reliant on his Spiritual Fur to keep him safe. Ignoring the threat his foes presented, he charged headlong into the fray, blocking a thrust spear with his thick skull and leaving Sarnai to defend herself from the ricochet as he tore the gajashia's leg clean off in a single pass.

Leaving his prey for his pack to finish off, Balor pounced forward just in time to make Sarnai's attack miss, dragging a second gajashia with its jaws fixed to his shoulder and crashing into a third. Desperately fighting to hold onto both spear and seat, her spine wrenched about and threatened to snap as Balor wrestled with his foes, wholly unconcerned with his safety or the safety of his rider.

Barely able to cling on, Sarnai found herself locked in a contest of strength with a Defiled rider who'd been thrown from his seat onto Balor's back, which was exactly the opposite of what she excelled in. Raw strength had been Baatar's concern, while Sarnai favoured control and foresight, but there was no control where Balor was involved. And the worst part was, the stupid quin dispatched both his foes while Sarnai was still struggling with hers.

Ripping the Defiled off his back and snapping the bastard's neck with a shake, Balor huffed and peered at her askew as if annoyed by his 'useless' rider. Only now did Sarnai understand why her husband kept the Bloody Fang on hand, not because he needed a short sword to throw around, but because Balor kept bringing them both into extreme close combat.

Giving up on using her spear as the idiot quin pounced on his next foe, Sarnai Honed her Deadly Thorns and kept them fixed to the tips of her fingers like deadly talons, albeit ones she had to 'regrow' every time they were used. In the interest of efficiency, she resorted to only keeping two on each hand at time, situated on her second and middle fingers which she repeatedly drove into gajashia eyes and Defiled throats.

Inwardly grumbling at the indignity of it all, she reckoned she cut an unsightly figure, bucking and swaying atop her unruly quin and covered from head to toe in the blood of her enemies. There was no grace or dignity in the way Balor or Baatar fought, so Sarnai supposed she understood why Baatar had to switch over to a horse instead, but why couldn't Balor pick someone else as his rider?

Sarnai would much rather sit pretty atop sweet Pafu, a brave and obedient quin who didn't jolt her about like a carton of turnips atop a wagon. A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. Balor tore and rent his way through the Defiled cavalry with undisguised glee, chittering all the while as she fought for dear life, unused to this chaotic, high-paced style of close-quarters combat.

There was no time to do anything besides focus on the Enemy in front of her, and the next few minutes passed in a blur of frantic entropy. When she finally emerged from the fray, she couldn't feel the wind in her hair through all the layers of blood soaking into it, and she vowed never to ride this damned quin into battle ever again.

"He will protect you," her dog-brained husband had said, fondly stroking the hare-brained quin's neck, "As he has protected me all these years." An idiot quin for Sarnai's idiot husband, the two were a pair matched in Heaven. Still, despite the many near-death experiences, she noted this tactic was highly effective, since the Enemy could hardly know what Sarnai would do if she didn't know either.

So disoriented by the turbulent brawl, Sarnai almost let Balor lead them into the caltrop field, the stupid beast too dense to understand the danger those four-pronged spikes represented. Correcting his course to angle around the trapped field, she led the Defiled about on a merry chase and right into the lances of Chu XinYue's waiting cavalry.

On the other side of the melee, Naaran had done something similar, except instead of a decisive cavalry charge, the gajashia riders were brought low by the concentrated efforts of the Ishin boy's retinue. Even on the battlefield, Ken-Shibu's face was caked in unnaturally white powder, but it was difficult to fault his performance as he led his retinue to slaughter the hampered Defiled cavalry.

Packed Death Corps ringed the gajashia's in while Expert Imperial swordsmen weaved their way in and out of their ranks, killing beast and rider alike with ruthless efficiency, but the watchful Enemy commander directed his cavalry towards an opening and salvaged what he could, with less than half of the gajashias escaping with their lives. Battlefield command was not a subject which Sarnai excelled in, but even she could see how much influence Gongsun Qi exerted through instruction alone.

The caltrops had yet to achieve anything besides area denial, but the Western Colonel General was even using this to his advantage, forcing the Imperial cavalry to engage his own and denying them free rein against the infantry. While the cavalry battle was going well for the Imperials, the Enemy didn't need their cavalry to win the overall conflict, whereas the Imperials would be hard pressed to do without it.

Instead of plucking away at their bows and delivering nigh on fifteen-thousand arrows every six seconds, the Sentinels were stuck in and fighting blade to blade with their heavily armoured foes, a task they were most certainly able to accomplish, yet far from their most effective use. At least Rain's Irregulars were proving more useful than expected, though only because few had any expectations at all.

As far as she could tell, they had yet to kill any Imperials with their crossbows or catapults, though they'd come close more than once. Keeping them safe in the centre of the formation meant reinforcements had to move around them to assist the Death Corps, but Hongji had the foresight to leave enough room for a small unit of Martial Warriors to move through the Irregular ranks, or at the very least, Rain's carriage.

A clever man, this Hongji, and polite too, with only a few of the grand airs she'd come to expect from the people of Central." Little Rose," Mentor Sent, her hesitant tone filling Sarnai with dread, " Leave your unit and come to the rear of the formation. I will guide you to our location." Giving control over to Naaran, Sarnai called Alsantset to follow her and Sent,"What happened Mentor?"" It is difficult to explain. Best you see for yourself."

A small comfort then, for if Rain was dead or dying, Mentor would have said as much. Trepidation gnawing at her belly, she heeled Balor and ran him at full speed while following Mentor's directions, though the block-headed fool made a mess of things when she tried to have Sarnai run straight through a unit of Irregulars, expecting the 'soldiers' to scatter and make way for the giant, sprinting predator.

Ignoring the appalled glances of frightened commoners and the deafening racket Akanai was making in her battle against Gongsun Qi, Sarnai rode around the immobile crossbowmen with Alsantset until Mentor popped into view. Alongside her was Rain's wagon of pets and a wary Ping Ping standing guard, her beak opened and pointed at Sarnai as she approached.

Twenty Death Corps guards also stood vigilant around her son, their eyes scanning in every direction and weapons at the ready while Li-Li and Lin-Lin stood in the centre, the latter shouldering her bow with a triumphant smile. Hopping off Balor and signalling for him to wait, it belatedly occurred to her that the quin might not be so obedient, but she couldn't spare another thought for him as she spotted her son laying limp in Song's arms.

Choking back her fear and rage, she pushed past the guards to check on her son, but Alsantset beat her to it by riding Suret right past the guards. Unwilling to shoulder her own daughter aside, Sarnai wrung her hands and snarled, "Why is no one treating him? Where are the damned Healers?"

"He was not injured in the attack," Li-Li reported, her cat ears flicking in quiet concern, while Ping Ping finally closed her beak and hesitantly ambled over to greet Sarnai.

"He was already comatose before it began. Tokta checked on him earlier and confirmed nothing is wrong, but has since left to tend to others."

"Explain. What happened? What did Tokta say?" The demand came out sharper than Sarnai intended, and Alsantset put a reassuring arm around the sweet girl as Li-Li described the day's events, even Lin-Lin's parts while the half-hare rested her chin on Rain's chest, her shoulders shaking in apparent tears. Apparently, the boy had learned to Scry despite his lack of working Core, and over-exerted himself in the process, but that made little to no sense, and Sarnai was not shy about saying so.

"How can this be? Scrying is not a Chi intensive process. The greatest expenditure occurs upfront, while maintaining the connection is nearly effortless. If Rain passed out from over-exertion, then he did more than just Scry."" That is the part which I find difficult to explain." Whipping her head around to face Mentor, Sarnai's heart skipped a beat when faced with the cold, but caring woman's caution, unwilling to even speak her thoughts out loud."

I sensed something from the boy, while he was Scrying to the north. A massive surge of Heavenly Energy emanating from him, then a second, similar surge to the North, where my little moustached grand-Disciple was fighting. What was his name again?"" Rustram," Sarnai absently supplied, turning her gaze towards where her dutiful Disciple was stationed." Rustram."

Repeating the name as if to remind herself to remember it, Mentor nodded and Sent, " I am certain the boy did something, because after the surge of Heavenly Energy, grand-Disciple Rustram Developed his Domain, slew a Demon, and Healed the little lady he brought with him to dinner, the one I said showed promise and you told me had already been claimed."" Sai Chou?" Now Sarnai was even more confused, and everyone could see it, with the Death Corps and Li-Li were giving her curious looks."

Well, it matters not what happened, so long as he is alright." The boy's Martial Path was an indecipherable mess to everyone who wasn't him, so there was no telling what'd happened." Mhm..." Again, Sarnai's heart skipped a beat, for Mentor's tone was laced with implication." I am uncertain if this is true." Furrowing her brow, Mentor grabbed Rain's limp arm, raised it high, and dropped it so he smacked himself in the face.

Ignoring the glares directed towards her by the gathered Death Corps, Mentor tilted her head in thought." He was not sleeping so deeply before, muttering senseless phrases while hugging the turtle, but now, he sleeps the sleep of the dead." Now that Mentor mentioned it, it did seem strange for Rain to be so out of it. Even during his two-week long coma after Ping Ping's ascension, he was slightly responsive to outside stimuli.

If his pets crawled atop him or his wives curled up beside him, he would snuggle in and hug them tight, and he smiled whenever Sarnai stroked his hair or washed his face with a wet cloth.

In fact, she would dare say she'd never seen Rain this... not relaxed, but helpless, without a single defence in place to keep himself safe. There was a time when Sarnai would've given anything to help him be rid of his anxiety, but not like this. Though she had no way to prove it, something was wrong here, something terribly, terribly wrong.

"Something's wrong," Lin-Lin declared, bolting upright from her place atop his chest.

"Rainy's heartbeat is slowing!" Moving over to check him herself, Sarnai was once again pushed aside by Alsantset, who was already there.

"She is right. His pulse has slowed considerably. I can barely even feel it." To make matters worse, Ping Ping also noticed something wrong and was trying to make her way over, clambering up on her hind legs to inspect Rain. Her plaintive squeaks were heart-rending to behold, and her mournful gaze doubly so, but Sarnai knew not what she could do to help.

One of the Death Corps fell back from his vigil and took Rain from Song, and Sarnai could tell from the current of flowing Chi that the guard was attempting to Heal him. After long, quiet seconds, the guard grimaced and said, "Forgiveness Great Ones, but this slave senses nothing amiss with the Legate's health, but he is dying nonetheless. This slave can keep him alive, but without fixing the root cause, then it will only be a matter of time."

"What's wrong with Rainy?" Balling her hands into tiny little fists, Lin-Lin added, "Be specific, and explain what you're doing."

"The Legate's organs are slowly ceasing their efforts to keep him alive." Brow drawn in confusion, the guard continued his efforts and explained, "This slave has seen this before in the elderly, where their bodies simply give out without discernible cause, but this slave was taught that this was a sign the patient's soul had already gone into the arms of the Mother, with only an empty shell left behind."

"How long can you keep him alive?" Sweating with focus and effort, the guard answered, "This slave does not know. Minutes at the very least, hours at most." Taking his struggles with speech as a sign to keep her mouth shut, Sarnai clenched her weapon tight and watched the guard work. Oh if only she had thought to call Tokta over immediately, but now it was useless.

The guard had already begun Healing Rain, so another Healer would have to wait until his Chi completely dissipated from Rain's body before even attempting to Heal him, lest their Chi interfere with one another and render their efforts useless. There was nothing to be done but stand and wait, so Sarnai sidled closer to Alsantset's side and took her hand in her own.

Only then did she realize why everyone had been giving her strange looks, why sweet Ping Ping almost attacked her, and why Lin-Lin, up until now, had been hiding her expression while laughing into Rain's chest. Because Sarnai was still covered from head to toe in the blood of her foes, and made for a most fearful, horrid sight. Damn Balor, and damn Baatar for foisting him off on her... Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, Sarnai moved back and emptied her waterskin over her head.

The lukewarm water helped clear her mind, and one of the Death Corps guards handed her a clean towel which they'd kept secreted Mother knows where, but she was grateful for it nonetheless. The cloth came away dark with blood as she wiped her face and hair, unable to even spare the effort to curse Balor or her idiot husband for fear of losing Rain. Keeping the towel to cover up the worst of the dried gore, Sarnai reached over and drew Lin-Lin close, while Alsantset did the same with Li-Li.

There was nothing any of them could do to keep Rain alive, but she suspected there was nothing they would not dare try. Alas, the Heavens were fickle and her son's path steep, his trials and tribulations more than any one man should bear. There was a part of her which wondered if he would be happier this way, freed from the constraints of his mortal burdens.

Eight years had passed and much had changed since Baatar brought him back from the mines, but Rain's scars ran deep and he had yet to wholly recover in so many ways. He kept all his pain hidden, even from his wives and family, and she only caught glimpses of it in his darkest moments, but she knew his troubles were with him at every moment of every day.

Now, his pain could bother him no more, his fears a thing of the past, so perhaps she should tell the Death Corps guard to leave off his efforts and let her son move on in peace... No. Somehow, despite all his pain, fear, and burdens, he still found the strength to smile and fight for a better future for all. Her son would not be better off dead, because Falling Rain was a Warrior and a survivor, a stubborn ass of a man who didn't know the meaning of surrender.

Though they had little to do with his upbringing, he was still the son of Baatar and Sarnai, and they could not be any prouder, but Rain's tale was not yet done, his purpose not yet fulfilled, for he was a man destined for greatness.

"He will wake," Sarnai declared, more for her own sake than anyone else, but her daughter appreciated the support and squeezed Sarnai's hand in return.

"This is but another trial and tribulation laid out before him, one he will conquer like the rest." And then, as if the Heavens meant to prove her wrong, a cry rang out from the front lines as a dark cloud passed overhead. Turning towards the commotion, she spotted Akanai still locked in combat with Gongsun Qi, but they no longer fought alone.

Countless Demons had emerged from Concealment and were running roughshod through the Imperial lines, with Demon Slayers and Peak Experts scrambling to keep them under control. Binesi and the Singing Spear were there, battling it out with the Dark Child and its Demonic ursine mount, which rampaged through the Imperial lines despite the two spearmen's best efforts to stop it.

Treating its current opponents with utter contempt, the diminutive, black Demon ignored Binesi and Yukun to attack other, distracted targets instead, shooting crescent blades of darkness out into the crowd of Martial Warriors with startling effectiveness. Most of its efforts were focused on dealing with Akanai, who finally gained the upper hand in her duel against Gongsun Qi, though likely due to the broken arrow still protruding out of his bicep.

Despite her vigilant guard and lightning-fast reflexes, her armour was torn and shredded from multiple close brushes with death, some from the Dark Child but most from the Defiled Commander himself, who did not appear bothered by his injury as he traded blows with Akanai, their every exchange echoing across the battlefield and shocking all who witnessed it. No, his power had diminished significantly.

Silly to not see it at first, because even injured, he stood head and shoulders above Sarnai, but she realized Akanai was no longer being thrown away after every trade, holding her ground against the Prince of Barbarity for the first time since the battle began.

Still, despite her best efforts, Akanai was unable to kill Gongsun Qi with the Dark Child focusing the lion's share of its attention upon her, while Binesi, and Shi Yukun both were unable to bring the bear-Demon under control, much less kill it and help Akanai.

All around the battlefield, similar scenes of chaos broke out as the Demons and Defiled Chieftains worked together to overwhelm Imperial Peak Experts, so Sarnai gripped her spear tight, gave her daughter and son one last look, and rushed over to lend aid, praying she would see them both again. In this life, or the next. The Enemy meant to crush them here, once and for all, which meant there was no more time to delay.

There was an upside to all this, Sarnai supposed, running along the arranged avenues in between the Irregulars to avoid taking a bolt in the back. At least now, with the Demons having revealed themselves, she could kill one and bring its corpse back to her son. If his plight was caused by a lack of Heavenly Energy, then perhaps Demon Ichor would rouse him, and if one wasn't enough, then Sarnai would keep slaying and delivering them until Rain opened his eyes once more.

Because if he didn't, then she wasn't sure what she would do, for she was not strong enough to bear his loss. Stopping short of the front lines, Sarnai raised her spear high and sent it soaring off into the heavens. Despite disappearing from sight in an instant, she knew exactly how far away the spear was at any given moment, and how long it would take to return, but she couldn't just stand around twiddling her thumbs with nothing to do.

Under no delusions as to her personal strength, she ranked herself well under the stand out talents like her husband or Ghurda, and even Binesi and Shi Yukun were beyond her, so if two of the famed fifty couldn't defeat the Bear Demon, then her presence would only get in the way of their practised coordination. Instead, she joined hands with her old friends, Yaruq and Naaran.

Leaping into battle with Deadly Thorns upon her fingertips, she delivered a spray of Honed Chi shards into the closest group of Defiled, each perfectly aimed to kill a single target. There was no room for waste or needless action, for one single misstep could spell death to them all, so she supported Yaruq in clearing the field of useless chaff so the Peak Experts had more room to maneuvers.

Her nine-section staff warbling as it whirled about in a deadly ring of death, the half-gazelle was a formidable Warrior still in the prime of her life despite being older than Sarnai by an entire decade. Cutting a heroic figure amidst the sprays of blood, Yaruq whipped her weapon about in hypnotic, dizzying patterns faster than the eye could follow, with Demons and Peak Experts alike blown aside whenever she passed nearby.

Running interference for them both, Naaran's features took on a macabre cast as he leapt off Kharuul's back and plunged his spear straight through a massive Demon, his amber eyes lit up with glee as a grim smile made its way across his face. Instead of stopping on impact, he flipped himself over his target as if pole-vaulting over a tree, his spear cleaving the Demon in twain and driving the creature's shattered innards through use of Deflection and Reverberation.

Though Naaran was careful not to negatively impact his allies, Kharuul was not so considerate, crashing into the thick of things with an eerily similar expression of glee. Locking his gargantuan jaws around a feline Demon, the oversized quin crunched down and tore its head clean off in a spray of yellow-green goop, the Ichor forced out of his mouth without ever touching the skin through instinctive use of Deflection.

Not yet done, Kharuul turned about and flicked the carcass with his tail, sending it flying into a crowd of Defiled, including one Wraith who thought to creep up behind Naaran. Huffing with indignation, Kharuul wasted no time dispatching his fallen foes before scurrying back to Naaran's side, man and beast moving in near flawless coordination to keep the Enemy at bay.

Then Du Min Gyu made his presence known, in the most eye-catching manner possible, his invisible blades of rotating wind dyed in red as they scythed through the Enemy ranks, killing more in a single move than Sarnai had killed all battle. The Mother loved all her Children, but some more than others. Glancing around with a rueful grimace, Sarnai noted there were no more easy targets at hand, with every combatant within a hundred meters in possession of a Domain.

Lacking Du Min Gyu's Talent of piercing Chi, Sarnai's Deadly Thorns would be limited use, but she did not fret, for she had allies to support her until her weapon returned to hand, which should be right... about... Now. The Piercing Star arrived in a flash of light, and despite its nigh immeasurable speed, Gongsun Qi lived up to his reputation and swung his Green Dragon Crescent Halberd to block it.

A deafening clap of steel echoed across the battlefield, followed by the crash of thunder which always accompanied such speeds, and Gongsun Qi staggered back seven full steps. Though it might not seem like much, he was also the first Warrior Sarnai had ever met that could send Akanai flying in a direct clash of strength, which made it a formidable accomplishment indeed.

Bleeding from the shoulder where the Piercing Star had destroyed his Runic pauldon with a grazing hit, the Living Legend's furious gaze turned towards her for a moment, promising all manner of death and despair, but he would have been better served watching his foe. For Akanai had served as Sarnai's sparring partner for many decades, and knew all her best tricks. Balance on Windy Leaf, Stalking the Dragon, Darting Fang, and Pierce the Horizon.

Those were the four Movements of the Forms Sarnai could make out from Akanai's actions, information gleaned from a veritable lifetime of study. There was still more to the attack, this much Sarnai knew, and she also knew her sweet son had touched upon those secrets, even if he himself didn't wholly understand them.

Apart, those four or more Movements were of no significance, or at least not any more significant than the other Movements of the Forms, but together, they formed the basis of Akanai's Ground-Shrinking Strike. For a brief, infinitesimal moment, the Chief Provost of the Sentinels stood in two places at once, both forty or so metres from Gongsun Qi, and directly in front of him.

Then reality reasserted its will and Gongsun Qi was thrown violently away, his armour shattered and body limp as he sailed back into the Defiled ranks. The ground where Akanai once stood exploded in a cloud of dirt, and the foremost Warrior of the People, the woman and Demi-Human who stood closest to Divinity, threw her head back with pride and let loose a roar of victory.

Only for it to be cut short as she violently doubled over in pain to stare wide-eyed at the dark blade protruding from her belly, one which rapidly melted away in a crimson spray of blood. Screaming in abject denial, Sarnai launched herself at the Dark Child, as if killing it could help Akanai after this blow was dealt, but the bear-Demon danced away and brought them both to safety.

All the while, the Dark Child worked its hands with such speed they blurred and almost disappeared, each wave accompanied by the same deadly, black blade which felled Akanai. Screams rang out as Peak Experts of the Empire fell in droves to this massed attack. Sarnai's Domain just barely Deflected one strike which sent her spiralling through the air, half of her own accord to lessen the impact and half because she had no other option.

A good thing she did too, as a second blade raked her across the gut whilst still in mid-air, and Sarnai smiled in spite of the pain, for it showed that the Enemy had marked her as too dangerous to live. No matter though. So long as she had time and Chi to spare, she would soon return to the battlefield in full health, thanks to the miracle of Panacea.

Unfortunately, by the time her feet touched the ground again, the Dark Child was surrounded too many Demons and Defiled Chieftains, including a bloodied, battered, but breathing Gongsun Qi, as well as four, fearsome, armoured Demons whose hostile glares gave Sarnai pause.

Those were not the eyes of soulless Demons she gazed upon, but unmistakably human ones, filled with rage, hatred, and violence, yet even this was not enough to shake her, were it not for the foremost Demon's eyes shining in an all-too-familiar shade of amber. It could be mere coincidence, or it could be the Enemy coloured the Demon's eyes this shade on purpose, but if not, that meant that this particular Demon had once been one of the People, and there was a good chance Sarnai had known him in life.

"Mother in Heaven," Sarnai quietly prayed, desperately mending her wounds with all possible haste, "You ask too much of your children." But as usual, there was no reply. Chapter Meme