Romance of the Three Heavens

Chapter 2

Zhang Jiao quickly set himself up as a spiritual teacher and prophet. Thought normally Dong Zhuo would have felt a disturbance of this magnitude, his angel Yin Yang helped shelter the human from his Lord's prying eyes.

Zhang Jiao's followers were known as the Yellow Scrolls because of the documents they carried with them at all times. These scrolls they carried were facsimiles of the Titan Scroll that Zhang Jiao held in his hands at all times. These Yellow Scrolls numbered in the millions and looked poised to take control of all China.

Finally, ten years after his confrontation with the angel Yin Yang, Zhang Jiao declared to his peasant followers that the Day of Awakening was upon them. There was much celebration and rejoicing as Zhang Jiao began to read from the ancient text, speaking in a language which had not been spoken in over 3000 years.

On that terrible and memorable day, the mountains of the earth split in half and the Titans who had been locked away for so long broke free of the chains that had held them. Immediately, these disgusting and powerful creatures began to eat the humans and animals of earth and also began to destroy cities and villages on every corner of the globe. Zhang Jiao saw that he could not control the beasts and ran away with his followers to hide with the rest of the human race in caves because the world was now once again at the mercy of the Titans.

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In Heaven, the Gods were completely taken by surprise by the appearance of these ancient beasts. No one realized that it was the Angel Yin Yang who had masterminded the entire event. "Quickly, my lord," The God of War, Zhao Yun, said to Dong Zhuo. "Let us send the Angel Yin Yang to our Lord Cao Liu Sun so that he may once again quell this threat as he did in the days of old."

Dong Zhuo was a bitter God though and did not want his brother, Cao Liu Sun, to interfere on the physical plain. At the head of the pure gold table, Dong Zhuo stood from his chair and said, "Cao Liu Sun is not to be warned of this threat. He has placed in me full authority of the affairs of Earth and I will honor that order. If anyone approaches the Gate to the Spiritual Realm, he will be killed or imprisoned along with the Titans."

He paused to make sure his declaration had been understood by all of the Gods present. Then, he said, "I will lead the attack against the Titans. If you support me in this effort, you will be richly rewarded. Who will come with me?"

All of the Gods present consented, but secretly, Zhao Yun went to the Angel Yin Yang after the conference and said to him, "The war between Gods and Titans raged for centuries and it was only with the strength of our true Lord, Cao Liu Sun, that we defeated them. I fear that Dong Zhuo does not have the power necessary to repeat such a victory and if the battle rages too long, I fear that the human race will not survive."

Yin Yang, of course, was absolutely delighted at the prospect, but remained calm in his manner. "Zhao Yun, I understand this to be true as well, though I do not know what can be done."

Zhao Yun whispered this into the Angel's mind so as not to say anything out loud that might be overheard : "You alone know where the gate between the two realms is located. Go secretly to Cao Liu Sun and tell him what has happened. It is our only hope."

Yin Yang agreed, although he had no intention of warning Cao Liu Sun. Instead, he flew off into space and went to the moon in order to wait there until the war had been settled. He had absolute confidence that the Titans would win. After that happened, he planned to go back to the spiritual realm and make up more lies to covered up his machinations.

Zhao Yun did not know of the Angel's treachery though and secretly told the other Gods besides Dong Zhuo that Cao Liu Sun was coming to help them in their battle.

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A year later, Dong Zhuo decided it was time to strike. Unsure if Yin Yang had made it to the gate, Zhao Yun and the other Gods decided to begin the battle in hopes that Cao Liu Sun would arrive as reinforcements. And so, Dong Zhuo and the other Gods Zhao Yun, Lu Meng, Huang Gai, and the Goddess of War, Shang Xiang went down to Earth upon their heavenly white battle horses to battle the forces of darkness.

A month of battle quickly stretched into two months as they waited desperately for Cao Liu Sun's arrival. On their side was an army of humans who had come to support them, but it did little good. The humans needed to be enchanted by the Gods in order for them to be of any use against the disfigured Titans. The enchantment process though took away valuable power from the Gods - power that was desperately needed.

In the third month, they had managed to drive the Titan leader Zhilim Xemi along with his hundreds of Titan children back to a single continent. Dong Zhuo had displayed outstanding combat intelligence so far in the campaign against the creatures, and the other Gods credited his involvement in so many human battles for the successes.

Now, the Gods were arrayed on the plains of North America, separated from the Titan encampment by only a few mountain ranges. In his command tent, Dong Zhuo gathered the other Gods along with the enchanted human leaders who found beside them. "Xemi has made another tactical mistake in his retreat across this mountain range," Zhuo said, pointing to a map laid upon the table. "He believes this pass here to be the only route we may take to reach his location."

"What do you suggest," Hua Xiong, one of the human leaders, asked.

"You will go through his pass as they expect," Dong Zhuo answered, "but I will lead Zhao Yun and Lu Meng under the mountain and come out behind them. They will be unable to take us on two fronts."

Hua Xiong looked confused. "Under the mountain my Lord?" Dong Zhuo did not answer, but instead smiled to the human.

And so, Hua Xiong led the humans, their weapons and armor still enchanted, through the mountainous pass and toward the enemy. As expected, three Titans were there waiting for them. As soon as they came into sight, the giants began throwing boulders the size of houses at the approaching human army. "Fall back!" Hua Xiong screamed as the rocks rained down on them, decimating their unit.

The God Huang Gai suddenly came up from the rear of the formation and said to Hua Xiong, "Did you hear nothing that Dong Zhuo said? If we retreat now, Dong Zhuo's plan will be ruined. We must hold them off here until we hear news from him." A boulder was falling right toward where the two men stood, but Huang Gai lifted up his Shadow Club and smashed the incoming boulder into fine dust.

"I will go in myself!" Huang Gai yelled loudly. He charged down the pass toward the three giants. Hua Xiong just stood and stared in complete shock. Though he had battled alongside the Gods before, their power and strength never ceased to amaze him. Huang Gai leaped from his steed and grew to three times his normal height so that he became as tall as the Titans themselves. Then, he began to wrestle all three of them. Their combined strengths were enough to reshape the mountains underneath them.

At long last the three Titans began to retreat, yelling something to each other in their strange tongue. Huang Gai turned to his human companions and shrank down to their size. "Follow me! Dong Zhuo has come up behind the enemy force. Now we will surely crush them!"

They charged down the path and came out into the plains on the other side of the mountain range, their enchanted steeds taking them as fast as sound through the canyons. Dong Zhuo and the two Gods Lu Meng And Zhao Yun were already there among the hundreds of giant Titans, battling with weapons that glowed with energy and burst into flames each time they struck a Titan. The creatures were completely surrounded and could not mount an adequate defense. For too long they had been chained beneath the earth and their strength and power had diminished in that time.

Upon the highest mountain peak, Zhang Jiao stood and watched the Titan slaughter. A single tear ran down his cheek. He had failed Yin Yang, the Angel who had blessed him with this one cause. Though the Titans were horrible, Zhang Jiao knew his fate would be worse if he did not do something. He opened the ancient Titan Scroll as the last of the great creatures fell in combat and began to read. It was a spell... One more powerful than anything a Titan could dream up. How it had gotten into their text, Zhang Jiao did not know. He only knew he had to go through with it... Or he would surely face the wrath of the Gods.

And so, the last word of the spell was spoken just as Zhilim Xemi was pierced through the heart by Dong Zhuo's blade. In that fateful moment, the very fabric upon which the universe was painted... was ripped asunder by the act of one misguided man - Zhang Jiao.

To be continued...