Now that I have my senior assignments at bay, at least for now, I can finally update for you. Almost to forty! Seems like a lot of people wanted Jin dead, no? He wasn't THAT evil hehe

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Chapter 38

Out of the Cold

The Wei palace, the third floor…

He had a tight grasp on her hand, certain not to lose her this time, as they turned onto another corridor. The path was dark before them and the realization of the thinning time was settling into Xun's thoughts with each passing moment that they couldn't locate the stairwell. As they reached another fruitless cross-section of hallways, Xuan stumbled for the umpteenth time from her vertigo.

With no word, he dragged her to her feet and sped down the boundless corridor. Her breaths had become short and feeble, but he was unable to permit her to rest. In the haze of dizziness, she could vaguely distinguish the doors of empty chambers left open and the wall ornaments now lying in heaps on the floor. The still air was cold against her dirty face and the nicked floor pricked the bare heels of her sensitive feet.

Finally the black opening in the floor led them onto the third level. But at the bottom of the stairwell, Xuan had taken all she could manage.

"I can't do it," she murmured with sodden eyes as she struggled to even stay on her knees, "I cannot go any further…"

"You must," Xun said sternly, aware of the diminishing time unlike her, "I've come too far to leave you here, I refuse to do that again"

Abruptly he spun and pulled her limp form onto his back. She held tightly onto his collar, blood bathing his back and neck, though he felt no repulse of something he had seen enough of in his short life.

The pound of his footsteps was pacifying, but Xuan resisted the desire to fade into unconsciousness. Instead, she concentrated on his grip on her thighs as he fought to keep her flaccid form from falling. Though it was not to moment to be modest, she felt her pounding heart ache. But concern interfered with her hazy reverie; though she was smaller than he, she knew the battle with the prince had left Xun exhausted. Perhaps, before sunrise, it will truly be Cao Jin's victory.

As Xun crept cautiously down the stairwell and onto the second story, Xuan felt Jin leaking into her thoughts. He had beaten her, condemned her, and threatened everything she had remaining to love. His sadistic smile and black eyes were burned into her memory. But she couldn't hate him, because he had suffered in ways she couldn't imagine herself suffering. When she discovered her father had been stolen away, Xuan had believed no one could despair as much as she had.

Cao Jin had taught her to overcome anguish, for that she was thankful.

"Zhou Yu," She heard Xun state in relief as the thud of his footsteps slowed then halted. Xuan was pleased by her uncle's presence; simply that offered security.

"Xun, we cannot leave yet," Yu announced sternly with one hand wrapped tightly around Zhou Ying's hand. The sight of Xuan stunned both she and Xian, who was particularly staggered by the blood of someone so motherly.

"I fear Lord Sun Quan is still in the palace," Yu continued, distantly examining Xuan.

"Jin is dead; his minions will undoubtedly flee," Xun replied reassuringly, slouching in tire.

"I have reason to believe Cao Jin was never our true adversary"

Xuan's eyes fluttered open as she realized, "Sima Yi," the name seemed to fall from her lips as if she was reviving from coma, "He's been using Cao Jin from the beginning…"

"Then it is as I thought," Yu murmured, seemingly unfazed.

Lu Xun gritted his teeth; he couldn't bare another fight, not with the Wei strategist. In addition, the palace could go up in flames at any moment though Tong has most likely gone astray.

"Then we must find them quickly," He murmured as he set Xuan to her feet, unable to bare the weight any longer, "We will be victims to our ploy and it will be shame that I die with"

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Meanwhile…

The inferno had spread, engulfing the dwellings of the outer city. With fierce hunger, it swallowed empty market stalls and abandoned wagons. The streets were littered with empty market stalls and abandoned wagons, spilling dry hay in messy heaps across the bloodied cobbles. Bodies of the innocent and their murders lay haphazardly on the grimy paths that snaked through the capital.

The two Wu generals stood before the closed gates to the palace, still waiting for the young strategist's plan to fall into play. They prayed that their companions still locked within the dark palace would escape unscathed. With every passing moment, they feared the thunderous boom of that would send the castle toppling.

Fatigued but undaunted still, Lu Meng raised his pike to an oncoming masked adversary and with a harsh slash, he thwarted one after another. And still they came, flooding the streets and setting ravenous hellfire's to the empty homes.

"How is there still this many in reserve?" Taishi Ci inquired as he lunged a steel rod into the gut of another bandit, watching as he fell with a cry. He and Meng had been thwarting the army of bandits from reaching the palace, yet they couldn't protect the entire perimeter from the unrelenting horde.

"The prince must have been recruiting for quite some time," Meng replied curtly, propping himself against the halberd, "It is repulsive to see the innocent suffer still"

In the distance, morning was dawning; casting light over the mayhem of the nights pass. A burst of vivid color swallowed the east, engulfing the black of the night sky, yet the sorrow would drone into the new day.

But there, on the jagged horizon, an army drew nearer. Soldiers dressed in emerald clad with swords and pikes brandished in the morning light stormed the capital. Within moments, the empty streets were crowded with allied troops. Thousands upon thousands of them; with loud cries they flooded the city, cutting down the navy brigade. Suddenly, the entirety of the city was swarming with Shu soldiers.

Panicked and ambushed, the blue clad bandits scattered, letting the jagged hooks clatter to the stony ground. Volleys of arrows rained over the streets, striking them with strict precision. So rapidly, the tide of this battle turned.

"Finally they have come!" Ci stated, laughing.

Liu Bei approached, mounted on a gallant steed and storming down the main street. Behind him followed his loyal Five Tiger Generals, harnessing weapons and prepared for battle. Jerking on the reins, the Shu Emperor addressed Lu Meng, "Where is Sun Quan?"

"Inside the palace, I am certain," Meng replied in fatigue, "Thank you for your assistance, Lord Liu Bei, we are in your debt"

"Lu Meng!" Sun Shang Xiang called, riding to the frontline. She was dressed in green robes and missing her Chakrams, "What has happened?"

"Chaos, My Lady," Meng replied, half bowing, "Lord Sun Quan, Lord Zhou Yu, Lu Xun; they are all still within the palace. I'm afraid I only know nothing else, my apologies"

Sun Shang Xiang gave Liu Bei a poignant expression and he regarded her sympathetically. Gan Ning appeared just then next to the princess though he didn't seem at all elated about seeing his friends again.

"I must go assist my brother," Shang Xiang said finally, prepared to go forward but a strong hand stopped her. She glanced towards Liu Bei, who's protesting eyes forbade it. She frowned; she had made a bargain with him, if Shu was to rescue Wu, she was obligated to obey.

"I'll go find 'em," The pirate stated distastefully as he dismounted and passing the reigns to a soldier. The princess watched him pass, incapable to stop him or say anything.

"Very well then," The Shu emperor announced, "We shall secure the city, go forth and find Sun Quan"

"I know already," Ning remarked under his breath and through gritted teeth as he approached Lu Meng, who placed a hand on the pirate's shoulder.

"Find Lu Xun, if he still lives," Lu Meng murmured, lowering his head then explaining all the young strategist had planned. After hearing the plot, Ning had plastered a surly grin on his face, seemingly enthused.

"So Xun sent that punk to blow the joint up, eh?"

Taishi Ci nodded, "I'm afraid something has gone wrong though, they should have escaped by this time"

"Why the hell would he do all this when I went through the trouble of getting Shu?" Ning snapped in aggravation, but shook his head and brushed past them, "Whatever. I'll find 'em"

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A mew moments later, the Wei Place…

"Oh, is that so?" The Wei strategist couldn't resist laughing at the news of the prince's death, "He couldn't even do away with that pesky little Wu rat. No matter, since I have a most valuable prize, what can they do now?"

Sima Yi laughed once again, dark and dangerous it was. Still, he had the empress and the young emperor bound and waiting death. Quan had since recovered from the Sima Yi's control and was spitting insults one after another, though in vain.

"Sima Yi!" Quan snapped, pressed against a wall and fighting the pain in his leg, "You will pay for what you have done to Wu!"

"Oh, will I, by whom exactly?" Yi replied wryly with another cruel laugh, "Don't fret though, I will not kill you yet, not without a proper audience"

While he marveled over his own egocentric brilliance, Zhou Yu and Lu Xun were silent and waiting near the closed door. To Sima Yi's disadvantage, they could hear Quan's bellowing all through the halls. Silent and anxious, like a coiled snake prepared to strike, they waited for a proper moment. Sun Xuan was standing around a far corner with one of Xun's sabers. She refused to leave without him and her uncle though they did their share of protesting.

Zhou Ying was at her side, naturally concerned about her father. Li Xian had her hands tightly clutched to Xuan's dress and was staring with broad, apprehensive eyes up at her. Xuan at them both; disheartened that children had to witness all that they had.

"I want to see my mother," Ying whispered, near tears as she drew closer to Xuan and tugging at the ribbon that her cousin had given her. Xuan couldn't relate; if she blamed anyone for all that was happening, it would be Da Qiao. She could hear her father telling her otherwise, but if her mother hadn't made a bargain with Cao Jin, all who died would still be walking the earth still. Then again, Xuan wouldn't have heard the prince's story, or met Li Xian and Cao Li. And if Da Qiao hadn't taken her away from the boarding school nearly a year ago, she wouldn't have met Xun or feel the way she did for him now.

Xuan pushed the person she both loved and hated to the back of her thoughts and instead, focused on the present. There was no worth in holding a grudge against something that cannot be changed; that, Jin had taught her.

Suddenly, there was a distinct sound of bells down the dark hallway. Ying gasped, averting her wide, terrified eyes. Xuan squeezed the hilt of the blade and wrapped her remaining arm around both children. She didn't believe she could slay anyone the way she had Jin; she was still too drained and too dazed to even lift the blade. As the rhythmic sound grew stronger, she realized both Yu and Xun were too engrossed with waiting at the door.

Suddenly, a figure appeared at the end the long hall with a serrated blade raised.

Xuan felt her heart race, realizing she couldn't even raise the saber or summon Xun without making a commotion.

The figure paused, "Xuan?"

Xuan remained silent, still squeezing the hilt tight.

"Hey, it is you; long time, no see,"

"Who are you?"

Drawing closer, Xuan recognized the figure in the dim light. It was Gan Ning, a man who hadn't been even remotely fond of her when she first arrived in Wu. He fashioned the clinking bells and a boastful grin, just as Xuan had remembered him.

"Wow, what happened to you?" He knitted his brows at the blood staining her robes, "That Wei jackass, I bet"

Xuan lowered her eyes and nodded, "But he is dead"

"Yeah, why the hell are you still in here anyways?" Ning inquired, noticing Xun and Yu standing at the closed door, "The whole place is gonna go up in smoke from what I hear"

"Sima Yi. He has my uncle and my grandmother in that room and Ling Tong is…" She raised her head as an idea formed in her thoughts. Ning gave her a repugnant expression.

"Your dad used to give me those looks, what are you thinking?"

"Ling Tong is in the cellar below the palace," Xuan explained, enthused by the tiny piece of hope, "He's going to destroy the palace once he finds reaches—"

"And you want me to stop 'em from blowin' us to smithereens, right?" He narrowed his eyes at her.

"Yes, for a little longer"

"Alright, alright," He murmured as he turned his back to her and headed down the hall, "but you owe me"

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THE worst chapter yet. I know, this chapter could have been better, but I wanted to submit something today and I kinda put myself in a jam I won't say how n_n; It was really rushed, but I hope it was decent at least