ROTK - War of the Gods

Chapter 7

Sun Jian stared up at Red Hare and it's rider with a wild fierceness in his eyes. If he wasn't protecting his fallen General, he would have killed them both where they stood. The dragon opened it's mouth and sprayed a line of fire down at Sun Jian and Lu Meng, but Sun Jian erected an energy shield around himself before the force hit. Instead, the river of fire was deflected into the nearby woods where a huge explosion started a terrible forest fire.

The beast raised up on it's hind legs and then came back down, smashing it's clawed feet at where Sun Jian had been standing. He was no longer there though, because he had teleported away. Lu Bu urged the animal forward and it began attacking rebel troops. It knocked troops away as if they were toys and sprayed fire at any troops not within it's reach. Fires erupted everywhere and turned the landscape into a living hell. Everywhere, humans were being devoured by flame. The Angel of Death laughed as Red Hare began flapping his wings and lifted them both into the air above the inferno.

Sun Jian appeared beside Liu Bei after putting Lu Meng somewhere safe and drew his sword. They were about a mile away from Lu Bu and his dragon now, but the enemy soldiers were still coming in from all sides. Sun Jian and Liu Bei put their backs together and began slicing frantically at the wall of soldiers that surrounded them.

"Give me your power!" Sun Jian shouted over the screams of horror and yells of pain.

"I trust you!" Liu Bei shouted back. Sun Jian concentrated and then called on the power of heaven. Huge lightening bolts began striking the earth around them, knocking down several troops in each cluster hit. The blades of both men began to glow with a bright red fierceness as they cut back. "We can't stay here much longer!"

"We can't leave the troops here to die!" Sun Jian cried out "We must fight harder!" It looked like a hopeless cause, because the rebel troops were being cut down everywhere, the entire ground completely saturated in human blood.

A great call filled the air suddenly and everyone stopped fighting to turn and see what had caused it. There, from over the top of a nearby hill, another army appeared. Upon their standards were written, "Cao Cao, Ruler of Heaven and Earth." They were saved.

Lu Bu saw Cao Cao's army from his place high above the field of battle and frowned. His western force has completely routed now. Somehow, they had known about the ambush. "Fall back!" Lu Bu shouted to his men. "Fall back to the city walls!" It was a good twenty mile retreat, but a retreat Lu Bu knew he had to take in order to overcome the pantheon of Gods. He pulled on Red Hare's reins and they began their flight back to the city.

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Cao Cao entered the medical tent were Sun Jian was standing over Lu Meng's cot. The General's face was bandaged up, though dressings looked like they would need changing soon, because they were quickly becoming saturated with blood...

"If you've come here to gloat Cao Cao," Sun Jian said without looking up, "this is neither the time nor place."

"What need have I for gloating? It has already been acknowledged by everyone involved that I was right. Your attack was a complete failure. I'm not surprised in the least and I hope you are not either."

"What do you want?"

Cao Cao sat down in a chair across from Sun Jian. "I have a plan for conquering Dong Zhuo that includes neither negotiations for combat and I will tell it to you now. Lu Bu must be a lonely creature, having spent his entire existence in an underworld of dead souls. He follows Dong Zhuo blindly, but I'm willing to bet that if we presented him with a reason to live for himself, he would turn on his master."

"And what reason is that Cao Cao?"

"My daughter Diao Chan. The Goddess of Love."

"Diao Chan?" Sun Jian said in shock, standing from his seat. "What does she have to do with anything?"

"I'm afraid that Diao Chan is under the mistaken impression that she is to wed Dong Zhuo in order to end the conflict between the Gods. I told her that if she wed him, he would hand control back to me, her loving father."

Sun Jian lunged at Cao Cao and took hold of his neck, "Stop this at once Cao Cao! If my daughter is harmed, I will have your head!"

"It's too late," Cao Cao said, breaking free of Sun Jian's grip. "She left three days ago. Nothing can stop her now."

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Diao Chan was led deep into Dong Zhuo's Temple by a minister who couldn't seem to keep his eyes off of her. She was the Goddess of Love and was known in legend as the woman so beautiful that it drove men insane. The young minister could see that the legends were in fact true. He couldn't think straight when he was near her and had the strange urge to lead her to his room rather than Dong Zhuo's...

They entered Dong Zhuo's court room which he had converted into a harem. He was sprawled in the center of the room with about thirty beautiful, young concubines. When he saw Diao Chan coming from across the room, he sat up and smiled a terrible emotion to himself. "Leave girls," he instructed the concubines. They left the room, gathering up their clothing before departing.

Diao Chan kneeled before the Lord. "The Goddess of Love," Dong Zhuo said. "The pleasure is all mine I hope." He stood up and walked over the pillow littered floor to stand in front of her. "What are you doing here?" Dong Zhuo licked his lips in anticipation.

"My lord, I have come here to web you for my father's sake." Dong Zhuo wasn't sure about marriage, but he was pretty sure about something else.

"Minister, close the door on the way out of the room," he said. The young minister did as he was told and got a cold chill as he closed the door behind him. Poor young lady, he thought.

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Diao Chan was relaxing by her master's reflecting pool one day when suddenly another reflection joined her own. She looked up and was shocked to see Lu Bu, the Angel of Death standing over her. She knew immediately who he was, though she had never seen him before. He was staring at her now with the most peculiar look upon his face.

"I..." Diao Chan started to say, but she lost voice. She felt completely powerless in his presence, but for some reason.. she liked that.

"You are Diao Chan," Lu Bu said. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm... Here with Dong Zhuo...." She paused and looked deep into his eyes. All her life she had made men fall in love with her, but never once had she understood what that meant until now. "Where are you going?" She asked him.

"I was about to go to the front to check on the defense preparations," Lu Bu answered, himself feeling awkward for the first time ever. He was always so sure of his abilities, but now he felt himself lacking. Why was she here for Dong Zhuo?

"Take me with you," she suddenly said. Lu Bu was shocked that she would ask such a thing.

"I..." Lu Bu started to protest, but instead said, "I would be honored." As they walked together to Red Hare, Diao Chan tried to strike up a conversation about the beautiful garden. Lu Bu had to concede to her that he had never knew such life existed because he had always been a captive in the underworld.

The got on the dragon Red Hare together, Diao Chan afraid at first, but then more at ease after lifting up into the air and holding on to Lu Bu tightly. Both of them felt strangely alive for the first time ever. The Goddess of Love and the Angel of Death. They made a strange pair. One that would change Dong Zhuo's fortunes forever...

To be continued...