Author Note: You all should be ashamed of yourselves, being glad poor Yue Ying's husband is dead! *looks really stern and angry, then cracks a smile* that's what he gets for having Jiang Wei as his "assistant!" Poor Yue Ying.... she's had it rough. And now it gets even worse. (And yeah, I just keep switching between calling them Jades and Orbs.)
Big thanks to Yukira for her help in writing this story and providing me info on the Chiang Shi!
Chapter Three: Blast of Storms
"Yue Ying," Liu Bei said softly to the quiet widow. The two sat at Liu Bei's table in his private chambers drinking tea.
"I am ready to tell you, my Lord. I am sorry it has taken so long to collect my words and..." Yue Ying began.
"No, Yue Ying. You have been through much since the battle," her Lord told her, "But if you are ready to tell me what happened to you in the Cave of the Lightning Jade then please proceed..."
~Flashback~
Already Yue Ying had managed to destroy three of the six stone warriors, but the one welding the Lightning Orb still alluded her blows. It seemed the stone guardians had figured out she knew which one to attack and were protecting only the true orb. Now making them easier targets.
"Hiya! Ha!" Yue Ying threw her weapon at two of the on coming warriors.
She eyed the green orb and grabbed for it from the female stone solider, but the guardian wouldn't release its prize that easily. It lifted up Yue Ying and tried to pry her loose from the magical jade artifact. Instead of throwing the Shu officer it only managed to knock itself off balance and fall to the ground.
With triumph in her eyes Yue Ying held up the glowing orb for the world to see. The remaining guardians halted in their tracks and the whole chamber went silent save for the crackling of the orb in the Lady of Shu's hand.
~end~
"And then you returned to the battle and saved us from a terrible defeat," Liu Bei finished for her.
"I did not save.... everyone," Yue Ying bowed her head, "And for that I will not forgive myself."
Lui Bei stood suddenly and his officer looked up into his eyes in confusion. The Ruler of Shu looked down at her with annoyance.
"Yue Ying! You saved hundreds of lives on that day! You probably saved the whole Shu Kingdom with your actions! You could not foresee that Zhang He would also have one of the Fabled Orbs! You have acted honorably under dire conditions!"
"I know, my Lord," Yue Ying looked down again, "But I feel that there had to be something I could do to save Zhuge Liang."
Liu Bei looked out the window of his castle. Dark storm clouds were brewing far away, probably over the ocean. He sighed and bowed his head.
~Some where in the ocean~
Zhou Tai looked out over the sea and stared at the approaching clouds. Just a few moments ago he and his crew had been enjoying a peaceful sunny day and now it looked like a heavily storm was coming. Of course there had been all kinds of odd things happening recently. Odd animal actively, bad dreams, and then yesterday they passed an unknown island that gave all of the crew an unnerved feeling.
He touched the handle of his sword absently and turned to his mean, "Prepare for a bad night."
And bad it was. The very ocean seemed to have decided to destroy the small ship and was doing it with great conviction. Zhou Tai did everything in his power and knowledge to keep the craft afloat and the men safe. He cursed softly to himself as some fool got himself knocked off the ship.
After hours of rough waves the storm lessened and vanished. Zhou Tai stood in disbelief as the sky cleared as quickly as it clouded up. He had seen a lot in all his years in the open sees and much more in his short time with the Wu empire, but the past few days had been the strangest ever. And they were about to get much worse.
"Sir! We've hit.... the island," a crewman shouted to his captain. From the way he said 'the island' Zhou Tai new exactly which island. The one they found the other day, the one with the aura of evil and danger.
Moments later the crew were standing on the beach looking around. The tree line came almost right up to the ocean and left a short line of sand. Under the tree the shadows were long and eerie. No animal sounds issued from the jungle. Needless to say the men did not like Zhou Tai's next words.
"I'm going in," the officer of Wu stepped halfway into the forest.
"Sir!" on of the braver crewmen, Ko Bian, stepped forward and bowed, "Please allow a few of us to protect you."
Several of the men shot daggered looks at their "loyal friend."
Zhou Tai watched his men for several moments. Studying their expressions and understanding their feelings, "Fine. Follow."
A hardy few reluctantly volunteered to go along. The small group traveled deep into the jungle. They really didn't know what they were looking for. Maybe a tribe of lost men. Maybe a castle filled with unknown treasure. Maybe a haunted castle. Even with all of these possibilities in mind they were still surprised when they stumbled upon the labyrinth.
It was a huge black maze set in the middle of a jungle valley. They could see a shining light in the middle of the maze. It seemed to beckon them to it. Zhou Tai grabbed the shoulder of one of his men before he could rush down the valley side and into the archway.
"No. Wait. It may not be safe."
"but... but..." the sailor stammered. He blinked and shook his head. Looking up he stared in wonder, "I'm sorry, sir. I don't know what came over me."
"It is dark magic," Zhou Tai said, "We must be careful."
The group slowly made their way down. A few bolder members touched the dark archway. None dared to enter save Zhou Tai.
"uh... Uh... Sir! W-wait!" Ko Bian the self made leader of them yelled out.
The swordsman turned back to face his men. They suddenly saw a fiery light gleam behind his eyes. He seemed transformed into something more than human for just a moment. They all stood in silent shame.
"I shall go alone, then."
An hour passed for the sailors before the vampires struck.
According to Chinese belief, a human has two souls: a superior soul and an inferior soul called a p'o or a P'ai. The superior soul would pass into the afterlife but if the p'o didn't, a chiang shi, or vampire, is born.
The first anyone knew of was when Ko Bian saw a deep red liquid trickle from the mouth of the man sitting in front of him. He stared at it for a second before it registered in his mind and he grabbed his sword as the other man fell dead. A creature stood in the shadows and snarled at him. Its cold green eyes were filled with an unyielding hunger. It smelled of death.
Ko Bian blanched but held up his sword and shouted, "Ambush!"
The creatures leaped from the shadows and attacked the men. They tried to rip the limbs off of the sailors and each emitted hellish howls. The men were scattered. Ko Bian stared in horror as two of his friends fell under a pile of the inhumans. Another leaped at him but he raised his sword to block it. The thing landed on his sword but continued to reach out. It slashed his face and spat blood on him.
An explosion to the left of the two took their attention from the life and death battle they were engaged in. A figure stood over the burning corpses of the chiang shi pile. It placed its sword back on its sheath and held the hilt.
"It is time for the Blast of Storms."
Well, that was fun. I added the character Ko Bian just so I could call one of the sailors something besides sailor or crewman or helpless victim number 5, =). I seriously doubt he'll make it into anymore chapters save in passing. This was Yue Ying light, I know, and really the only reason she's in the beginning was 'cause I messed up in the second chapter and didn't leave a way to explain how she got the orb. Next up is the Fire Orb!!!
