AN: Yeah, right. You're not going to read this. Go read the icy lake good stuff and then we'll talk at the bottom. Enjoy.
Yuan Song was glad that his horse was battle-trained enough to nimbly navigate the corpse-strewn pathway that led to the small group of Xiulis and friends he'd come to save. A'Chu and Yuwen Yue were fighting side by side, matching swords faintly glittering in the weak sunlight of Xiuli Mountain. He made no objection as the troops around him yelled loudly, figuring that attracting the attention of the enemy as quickly as possible would likely be a wise decision this time.
"For Chu Da Ren!" many cried out, swords raised.
"For Yanbei!" others called out defiantly.
"For Young Master Yue!" the Yue guards yelled across from him as they led the group of troops they'd brought through the back pass.
The rest of them just yelled as loud as they could, apparently deciding to let their swords do their talking for them.
The enemy kept turning around in confusion, obviously having trouble deciding which new threat to attack. Screams from above added further to the chaos as the forces that had gone up and over the mountain finally arrived on the ridges to help the beleaguered troops stationed there. He also caught a glimpse of the Liang princess, who was once again fighting with an enraged Xia Chong.
Yuan Song blinked his eyes in confusion as he thought he saw Xia Chong form ice shards from the snow and send them hurtling at the princess with her mind. He knew that that was impossible, however, so he simply assumed that she'd kicked or thrown snow at the Liang princess in an attempt to distract her and his eyes had deceived him.
He had no more time for reflection as the disorganized charge of the enemy met him and his group. Meng Feng, of course, was out in front and to his right, already engaging those who had come after him. She'd been magnificent all day long, obviously taking his safety and protection seriously. He knew that she was probably more injured than she was letting on, and he'd be lying if he said he wasn't worried about her. Yet here his woman was, still fighting fiercely and effectively at his side.
My woman? he thought, his eyes widening as he lashed out with a boot and kicked an approaching soldier in the head. Where did that thought come from?
Where do you think it came from, idiot? his mind answered for him. He mentally shrugged, not really caring where the thought had originated since it was obviously true—or, at least, it hopefully would become true in the near future.
I need to find the courage to ask her to marry me before she decides that she's obligated to go back to Qing Shan Yuan with Yuwen Yue out of a sense of duty—or before any of these soldiers get any ideas.
Yuan Song knew that such thoughts were ludicrous given the circumstances, but even as he gutted a man who had charged at his horse's left side, he admitted to himself that he simply wasn't made for causing bloodshed. His friends had taught him how to fight, and given that he was still alive, he was obviously good enough at making war to get by.
But this will never be who I am, he acknowledged, holding on as his horse reared to avoid falling victim to a spear attack. I would much rather think about making Meng Feng my wife than about the various ways of sending a man to the afterlife.
He watched A'Chu and Yuwen Yue continue to weave their deadly tapestry of destruction with their blades and bodies, obviously in their element. In fact, he'd never seen Yuwen Yue look so fierce and disheveled, and A'Chu...well…
She's always looked at home on a battlefield, even from the first time I saw her, he thought, watching her killing men in the blink of an eye and moving on to the next man—the next target—before the last one even hit the ground. And yet I can't help but feel that, given the chance, she could become someone else, someone who...But will she ever get the chance?
Caught between two forces on multiple fronts, the enemy began to falter once again. Xiulis and Yuan Song's rag-tag forces alike noticed and gave a loud roar of approval.
"Kill! Kill! Kill!" they shouted to the heavens, increasing the ferocity of their attack.
She'll get the chance if I have anything to say about it, Yuan Song thought, his eyes catching Meng Feng's for a moment as they pressed ever forward towards their friends. We all will.
As the still-sizable enemy army began to feel the effects of being beset on all sides, Yuwen Yue began to feel even more hope that he and Xing'er would survive today after all. He'd had his doubts just as he knew his woman had, yet here they were, doing their part—more than their part, frankly—in order to overcome this final obstacle between them and happiness.
Yuwen Yue had never expected to experience the feeling of seeing his family legend not only brought to life but enhanced. As courageous as his female ancestor had been, her beloved had likely never had the visceral satisfaction of watching her wield his sword in combat. To be standing here next to his own beloved as he wielded the sword he'd given her so long ago, the sword that had recently been warmed by her hands...He couldn't bring himself to regret anything about his current circumstances other than the fact that he might not survive them.
Even though she's never said the words, I know she loves me, Yuwen Yue thought as he continued to fight with Can Hong Jian. I sense it in her eyes, in her actions, in the way her lips moved over mine...Her heart is mine. Her sword is mine. She is mine. No words are needed to affirm those truths.
His eyes connected with Xing'er's, and the emotions he saw in them staggered him. She was obviously being affected by wielding Po Yue Jian—bells and all—as much as he'd been impacted by watching her do so. The bells tinkled softly once again, reminding him of what he was fighting for. Another shift in the enemy forces disrupted his pleasant musings that had been so out of place on the battlefield but so right at the same time.
The enemy grew desperate, surging towards the barricade and its few beleaguered defenders rather than facing the hundreds of charging troops bearing down on them. Before he could even blink, he, Xing'er, and the Xiulis found themselves hopping the back side of the barricade and scrambling out onto the icy lake in order to avoid the frenzied crush of panicked troops that had overrun their battlements.
He made sure to stay by Xing'er's side, the hope he'd felt earlier evaporating almost completely away. Yuwen Yue knew that the ice would crack under the weight of so many people fighting and dying on its surface. Given his illness, if he went into the water…
None of that matters, he thought as he started hacking his way through the enemy, trying desperately to make a way back to shore for himself and Xing'er. All that matters is that Xing'er lives on.
The ice held up to the hits impacting its surface for a while, but eventually, Yuwen Yue's sensitive hearing began to pick up myriad cracks and splits forming as a result of the carnage happening all around them. No matter which direction in which he and Xing'er tried to fight, they couldn't get off of the lake.
Finally, a section of the ice near them buckled under the weight of the living and the dead, not discriminating in terms of which type of man it sent sliding into the freezing abyss. Yells and screams rang out as some cried out for retreat. Others continued fighting, however, either unwilling or unable to reach the relative safety of the shoreline.
Another segment of ice broke off even closer to them, causing Yuwen Yue to redouble his efforts to get his woman back to the shore. Yuwen Yue swore that he could already feel the cold of the ice and the water below it leaching the strength from his body. The heavens themselves, which had seemed to smile on them when his friends and their allies had shown up, almost seemed to have turned against them.
The icy surface on which he and Xing'er were fighting suddenly broke off; only their training and reflexes saved them from going into the icy water less than a footstep behind them. More men were retreating to the shore, deciding to take a chance with the Yue guards and Yanbei troops rather than to face the horrors of drowning and freezing. As the ice continued to splinter all around them and cause more men to sink to their deaths, Yuwen Yue acknowledged the truth to himself.
I can tell myself whatever I want, but I'll always regret that I never got to hear her tell me she loves me—and that I never told her how much I love her. And now…
The loud crack beneath them warned them a split second before the place where they'd just stepped turned to crumbling shards.
"Yuwen Yue!" the woman he loved cried out as she managed to stagger forward while he slid backwards towards the dark, cold waters.
She turned her back on the approaching enemy, grabbed a handful of his bedraggled black robes, and pulled him towards her; he stumbled into her but didn't fall into the icy lake. His beloved turned back around just in time to gut the soldier who'd been charging at them.
As if he were caught in a dream, his eyes lifted up to a ridge on which he saw the unmistakable outline of Xiao Yu. She held a bow in her hands and had nocked a single arrow against its string. Aiming it straight at him, she drew the bowstring back and let the arrow fly. He knew he'd likely be unable to evade the arrow given his circumstances, so he'd already begun to raise Can Hong Jian when he saw Xing'er pull her sword from the soldier's chest and instinctively shift towards himself.
Chu Qiao hadn't gotten a chance to look up at the ridge, but she'd seen the way Yuwen Yue had reacted and had heard the distinctive sound of an arrow hurtling at top speed towards a target. She'd instinctively stepped in front of Yuwen Yue just as she'd done ever since she'd just been his silver bell.
Po Yue Jian swept around and up almost of its own volition as she trusted her instincts to put her beloved's blade in the necessary position to save them both. Maybe she was too tired. Maybe she was too wounded. Maybe Yuwen Yue's sword was too unfamiliar. Maybe she was simply too slow, too incompetent.
Regardless of the specific reason why, she somehow missed the arrow, and her body cried out in agony as the arrowhead tore into her chest and burst out through her back. Chu Qiao's pain doubled, however, as she sensed the arrow piercing Yuwen Yue's chest, too, as its shaft went almost all the way through her.
Although she knew that the man she loved must've been hurting as terribly as she was, her name was what he cried out in torment as the force of the arrow propelled them both backwards and into the icy lake.
Xiao Yu smirked in triumph as she watched two of her most hated adversaries windmill backwards into the frozen waters behind them, their precious matching swords flying out of their hands and sinking with them into the depths. The cries of agony and dismay from their allies were as pleasing to her ears as music from a well-played zither. Even from where she'd been standing, the princess had been able to tell from body language and tone of voice that Yuwen Yue and Chu Qiao had developed strong feelings for each other.
You chose Luo He's daughter over me, Yuwen Yue, and now the heavens have used me to condemn you for your foolishness by allowing me to take you both down together.
She hadn't meant to hit Chu Qiao on that first shot; Xiao Yu had assumed she'd have to shoot her separately. Being far away from the battle—and thus Yuwen Yue—had given her the emotional distance that she'd needed in order to be able to do what she should've done in the forest a few nights ago.
Even If I do nothing else today, at least I've managed to kill you two,she thought, hearing a tell-tale shuffling behind her seconds before an icy barrage slammed into her back.
Xiao Yu whirled around to confront Xia Chong, who seemed to have recovered somewhat from the kick to the head that the princess had landed on her former prisoner. The strike had stunned her combatant long enough for Xiao Yu to dash to the edge of the ridge, pick up the bow a soldier had abandoned in the fight, and shoot off an arrow. Xiao Yu could tell that victory would soon be at hand, however, as her opponent was clearly on her last legs.
Xia Chong snarled at her and launched another attack, this time managing to impale Xiao Yu's left arm with an ice shard. Xiao Yu sneered at the other woman and went on the offensive, using the flexibility of her sword and the skill of her footwork to back her opponent near the tree line. Her eyes landed on the sort of tree she was looking for, and she hid her smirk of triumph as she suddenly lashed out with her boot and caught Xia Chong again, this time in the midsection.
Just as Xiao Yu had planned, her enemy crashed into the trunk of the tree, impaling herself on the jagged stub sticking out from it that the princess had seen. Xia Chong groaned in agony before sliding off of the now-bloody wooden outthrust that had served Xiao Yu well.
A light patter of footsteps crackled on the snowy forest floor behind her as what sounded like a young Yanbei soldier charged towards her from behind a tree. Xiao Yu rolled her eyes as she imagined the upraised sword that the idiot would likely be holding in a completely ineffectual manner. She'd dispatched numerous such morons today and didn't mind killing one more.
Without any warning, Xiao Yu whirled around and thrust her sword out towards the soldier, the agony that suddenly pulsed through her chest taking her by complete surprise. She finished her own strike out of spite and instinct, her confusion increasing as the little fool made no attempt whatsoever to avoid getting run through. The soldier's cry was more effeminate than it should've been, and Xiao Yu was shocked to discover the identity of her killer as they both crashed to the snow-covered ground.
The pain that pulsed through Chun'er's midsection was nothing compared to the savage joy that she felt as she completed her vengeance. As she felt her life slipping away, she relished the prospect of joining her loved ones in the afterlife. She had no regrets, no more goals, and nothing more to do beyond explaining her actions to her final kill.
"I took your advice, Princess Xiao Yu," Chun'er said bitterly, blood seeping from the corners of her mouth. "While I didn't recognize you in the inn, I knew that you, like me, were not who you were pretending to be. So I waited for you. I followed you. I figured out your plans. I acted."
"You stupid little fool," Xiao Yu rasped, her hatred evident in her baleful glare.
"Everyone's always thought so," Chun'er said conversationally. "Stupid, naive, feather-headed, flighty little Chun'er. What could she possibly accomplish? Yet all of my enemies—all of the people responsible for my suffering—are dead. Yan Xun's dead. Yuwen Yue's dead. Chu Qiao's dead. My father and the rest of the rebels are as good as dead. And now you're dead, and soon, I'll be dead."
"You're mad."
"You're probably right," Chun'er said, smiling manically. "The events that you set in motion likely drove me that way. I didn't know who you were at first, but when I found out, I knew you'd be my last kill—besides myself, of course."
"H-how did you..."
"I disguised myself as a soldier, followed you to Xiuli Mountain, stayed out of trouble, and climbed up the side of the mountain after you and the other woman left," Chun'er explained. "It was way too easy, really. Nobody ever seems to look beneath the surface these days, even the vaunted head spy of Liang. You expected to encounter a feckless soldier boy, so that's what I gave you. I always was a good actress—and a good shot."
"Why did you wait?"
Chun'er had to admire the princess for being able to last so long; she had, of course, hit the center of her target.
"Why wouldn't I wait? I might come across as spoiled and demanding, but I've grown up a lot recently. Why would I care if Xia Chong or anyone else killed you instead of me? Besides, I figured that maybe you'd find a way to finish off my other enemies—and I was right, judging by the names those soldiers cried out down there. Thank you for killing Yuwen Yue and Chu Qiao, by the way. That really simplified my task today."
"G-glad to be of service," Xiao Yu rasped sardonically before her breath finally rattled in her chest for the last time.
"You died well, Xiao Yu," Chun'er said, nodding magnanimously. "You truly were a credit to your homeland and your station."
Chun'er allowed herself to slump over the princess, not caring that she was further impaling herself on the princess's odd blade since she was beyond feeling anything anyway. The position seemed right somehow, as if she were offering up her own life in exchange for achieving her vengeance.
"F-finally," Chun'er whispered as she breathed her last, her blissful smile never leaving her face.
As Chu Qiao pushed off of Yuwen Yue's upper thighs with her feet, she almost passed out as the rough wooden shaft and its fletching tore through her body. All that mattered to her, however, was that she'd managed to free herself from the arrow that had impaled both of them. She could tell that her injuries would likely be fatal, but she knew that Yuwen Yue's would probably heal given time.
Envisioning Yuwen Yue pulling the arrow from his chest and swimming for the surface, Chu Qiao felt at peace as she sank deeper and deeper into the icy lake. A soft touch at her waist startled her out of her stupor and filled her with horror as she realized that Yuwen Yue was trying to save her instead of escaping with his life. She tried to pull his hands off of her, but they tightened around her instead, and his touch was the last thing she felt before she lost consciousness.
A rush of energy brought her back awake with searing clarity as both her memories and the Feng Yun Ling began to return to her. She could feel the tattoo reforming on her back, knitting together the arrow-torn skin beneath it. Not only did Chu Qiao now remember how to control her abilities, but she also knew how passionately she hated both the Eyes of God and the Yuwens. The memories of her old life battled with those she'd made since the human hunt, but her love for Yuwen Yue easily vanquished the protests of the person she'd been before falling into the river.
How typical of me to be able to realize the depths of my love for Yuwen Yue only when measured against my former hatred of him—especially at the end of my life, Chu Qiao acknowledged as she turned around to face her beloved, whose hands had fallen away from her and now hung loosely at his sides.
While she understood that her own death was imminent, she shoved aside the emotional ramifications of that knowledge in order to save the life of the man she loved. Chu Qiao used an Ice Martial Arts technique to swiftly form a cylinder of air from their waists all the way to the surface. She then flushed the water from both her own lungs and Yuwen Yue's.
As her beloved gasped for breath, Chu Qiao partially froze the worst wounds in her chest. She knew that this would do tremendous damage to the inside of her body and would kill her if she kept her wounds frozen for long, but since she knew she didn't have much time left anyway, she didn't care. All that mattered to her was that this technique would numb the pain and stop the bleeding enough for her to be able to fight at the side of the man she loved one last time.
Chu Qiao formed a rough slab of ice beneath their feet that she kept aloft through her Ice Martial Arts abilities, knowing she'd need the leverage to carry out the rest of her plan. She kept the water around their waists and legs, though, knowing that she'd require its extra support a little while longer. Yuwen Yue's eyes fluttered a few times, but he was clearly not conscious enough to support himself yet. Given what she had to do next, Chu Qiao figured that a lack of clarity on his part might not be a bad thing.
As she reached for the shaft of the arrow embedded in Yuwen Yue's chest, his bloodshot eyes blinked open and met hers. She saw him frown in confusion as he was obviously unsure of what to make of the new, unfamiliar depths he saw in her eyes. Chu Qiao watched comprehension dawn on him, however, and her heart gave a lurch as she saw fear form in his eyes. This was not fear for her as she'd sometimes seen in his gaze, though; this was fear of her, of who he now knew her to be.
"Ch—Chu Qiao?" he managed to rasp from between his bloody, frozen lips.
Compassion filled her heart for the man she loved, the man who was now likely more unsure of her feelings for him than he'd ever been before. She shook her head slowly, doing her best to express her love for him in her eyes.
"No," she said softly, raising her left hand to his cheek. "I'm not Chu Qiao—not for you, anyway. For you, I'll always be Xing'er."
The raw emotion in his gaze almost brought her to her knees, so she went through with the rest of her plan before she could become distracted by her beloved. Her left hand stayed on his cheek, but her right hand grasped the shaft sticking out of his chest and pulled hard even as she kissed his lips. She swallowed his scream and quickly sealed his gaping wound as she had hers, knowing that he wouldn't care about the scar it would leave as long as he got to live—and he was going to live.
Having succeeded in temporarily healing him physically, she moved her lips over his again, this time passing the bulk of the knowledge of her Ice Martial Arts techniques to him as quickly and painlessly as possible. She remembered how much the awakening of her own abilities as a child had hurt, but Yuwen Yue was a grown man in his prime who already possessed significant inner powers of his own. He was well-equipped to handle the influx of power and ability she'd just given him—the power that he'd hopefully be able to use to save himself and the lives of their people.
Chu Qiao broke the kiss, pulled back, and swayed, thankful for the water at her waist that kept her on her feet. She quickly sent it flowing away from both of them, however, conscious of how little time they had remaining. Yuwen Yue almost toppled over, but his new abilities and his old stubbornness seemed to be helping him to stay upright. He reached out for her waist and pulled her closer, steadying them both as his eyes examined hers for answers to multiple questions.
"I just gave you most of my Ice Martial Arts abilities," she explained to him softly. "I don't have much time left, but I've frozen our wounds over and will now take us back to the surface of the icy lake with the small amount of power I've kept. I'll fight at your side as long as I can, and then when I feel like I'm nearing the end, I'll give you the rest of my abilities so that you'll be able to win the battle and live."
"No, X'er," Yuwen Yue rasped, holding her as tightly as he dared given her wounds. "Take your abilities back. I don't need them as much as you do. You have to survive. You have to live on with me."
Chu Qiao smiled sadly at the man she loved as she began to power the water beneath them more forcefully, causing the roiling waters to begin pushing their icy platform to the surface of the lake. She concentrated with all of her might, having to work much harder than she had earlier in order to keep the ice beneath their feet firm and the water away from them.
"I know how badly I'm hurt, Yuwen Yue," she said, placing her hand on his cheek again. "There's nothing you can do to save me."
"I'll find a way," he vowed, tears in his eyes that he didn't even seem to notice. "I promise I'll find a way, X'er. I always have, and I always will. You have to stay with me. Promise you'll stay with me, X'er."
"I promise," Chu Qiao said, her own tears tracing hot tracks down her cold cheeks. "I'll stay with you till death."
"No, X'er," he said firmly, his arms convulsing around her waist. "Not till death. For life."
"Yes," she said, smiling through the tears as she placed her free hand on his other cheek and gazed into his eyes. "For the rest of my life."
Yuwen Yue's eyes filled with fire as he pulled her into a passionate embrace and pressed his mouth firmly and fiercely to hers. This was no tender commitment kiss like the one they'd shared back at the cave; this was the desperate, burning kiss of a man who had been given his heart's desire only to face the distinct possibility of its imminent loss. Chu Qiao matched his ardor with her own, putting all of the love and need that she felt for him into that single, frantic kiss.
He broke away, panting as his darkened eyes bored intensely into her own.
"I'm going to hold you to that, X'er," he vowed. "I'm going to hold you to that, and I'm going to find a way to save you—but you have to stay with me."
"Mm," Chu Qiao agreed, dipping her head once.
She knew that the odds of her survival were slim, yet she was not going to overtly deny her beloved anything this close to her death. Chu Qiao had realized the fundamental truth that if Yuwen Yue was going to have the proper mentality to survive the rest of this battle, then he was going to have to believe that he could save her.
He's also going to have to have his sword, you idiot, her mind reminded her.
Summoning what was left of her abilities, she swirled the waters around where she knew Po Yue Jian had likely landed after it had flown out of her hand upon impact. She brought it to herself, clasped its handle, and held it out towards Yuwen Yue. His eyes filled with tears again as he took his sword from her hands, its bells tinkling in spite of the wetness still coating them.
Chu Qiao looked at him expectantly, and she saw him turn that magnificent mind of his towards the task of finding Can Hong Jian. While he took longer to retrieve his target than she had, he eventually succeeded in bringing his sword's mate to his hand. He held it out to her, that potent expression she loved so much on his face. She put as much love into her own gaze as she could as she accepted her half of the whole.
At least she'd managed to return his sword to him, and her own would hopefully be easy for him to collect when the time came. They were nearing the surface, and she reflected calmly that she'd managed to meet her goal of giving him everything she could.
Not everything, she admitted as she acknowledged that, once again, she'd made a decision based off of her own desire for self-protection rather than Yuwen Yue's wants.
"Yuwen Yue," she said, placing her free hand against his cheek and looking into his eyes. "I love you."
The stars that lit up his eyes surely rivaled whatever brightness he'd ever seen in hers as a fresh pair of tears rolled down his cheeks. He closed his eyes in what she could tell was both pleasure and pain as he pulled her close to him again.
"I love you, too, X'er," he whispered before he pressed his lips to hers again.
This kiss was bittersweet and full of longing, and part of her tried to tell the rest of her that she'd been wrong to cause him this level of pain. Yet as her beloved deepened the kiss, she acknowledged that he likely believed that the hurt that their approaching separation would cause was a small price to pay for the joy he felt after hearing her declaration of love.
The man she loved pulled back from her just before they broke the surface, his eyes aflame with myriad plans for a future with her that she knew would never exist. His face went cold as his eyes burned hot, and he began to form ramparts and a slab of ice around the hole from which they would emerge.
Chu Qiao watched in awe as her beloved learned to use her Ice Martial Arts abilities right before her eyes, seeming to master effortlessly techniques that she had required years to learn. She knew that Yuwen Yue would someday achieve sufficient mastery of Ice Martial Arts to cause a red spider lily tattoo to form on his back that would match hers.
What might this man and I have accomplished together had we both managed to survive the day?
She had no time to ponder the answer to her question as their platform finally brought them all the way out of the icy lake, seamlessly sealing itself as one with the rest of the icy battlements that Yuwen Yue had formed with his incredible mind, Ice Martial Arts techniques, and the water around them. They both settled into a fighting stance near one another, swords at the ready and powers as focused as possible.
"Remember, Xing'er," Yuwen Yue said, his eyes meeting hers one last time. "You promised to stay with me for the rest of your life."
"I remember," Chu Qiao said, her face hardening to match her beloved's and a flame lighting in her own eyes.
The emotional whiplash that Yue Qi and his allies had recently experienced had been almost as tiring as fighting the battle itself. All of the events that had led to the frenetic charge towards their friends had all taken their toll, but nothing had hurt worse than watching his master and Xing'er get shot and fall into the icy lake.
Deep down, Yue Qi had never believed that Xing'er would ever return his master's love. He had felt that there had simply been too much history, too many misunderstandings, and too many competing responsibilities between them for her to ever express her love for him. And yet, he could tell from the way they were interacting with one another that the improbable had happened and that Xing'er was now in love with the master.
To come to the realization that his master had succeeded at long last in achieving his heart's desire only to have it so cruelly ripped away had taken its toll on him and his allies. He Xiao had howled in anguish and had somehow managed to fight even more savagely than he had been fighting previously. Meng Feng had also cried out, although she'd managed to hold onto her temper and stay, as always, at Yuan Song's right side. The prince had also looked crestfallen but had continued to pull his weight, fighting as hard as he could.
The first sign that all was not normal had been the sudden opening up of a hole in the center of the lake. Ripples had eventually reached the surface of the water in other areas, and small waves had licked at the shoreline. Both sides had fought on, but all had seemed wary of the hole that led down to the darkness of the depths.
A soldier had screamed in terror as he'd noticed first an icy platform and then what looked like walls forming on their own around the open hole in the lake. The entire battle had stopped, all of them clearly uncertain about what new threat was emerging from the frozen waters. They'd all watched in awe as the walls had slowly formed into ramparts that would provide both protection from the enemy and convenient firing locations.
When Yue Qi had recognized his master and Xing'er as their heads had become visible through part of the ramparts, he'd let out a triumphant yell that had been echoed by the rest of their allies. Granted, Yue Qi had gotten stabbed in the side because he hadn't been paying attention to the enemies around himself, but at least Young Master Yue and the woman he loved had survived against the odds.
Now he was fighting frantically to kill all of their enemies and to reach the shores of the icy lake so that he could be prepared to take his proper place at his master's side. Yue Qi figured that He Xiao's goal was roughly the same in regards to Xing'er, and he somehow found himself fighting at the side of the fiercely-grinning warrior who was covered with the blood of untold numbers of men.
Without explanation, a hail of ice shards suddenly lanced out at the enemy from nowhere, causing terror to befall the battlefield. He had no idea what was happening, either, until he saw his master and Xing'er wave their swords before ice shards materialized on their own from the lake itself and impaled themselves in their enemies. As shocked as Yue Qi was to see Young Master Yue and Xing'er wielding such power, he still managed to keep his wits about him and continued fighting his way to the shores of the icy lake.
While Yuwen Yue had derived a great deal of satisfaction from watching Xing'er fight with Po Yue Jian, the fire currently burning just beneath the surface of his skin made those previous feelings pale in comparison. The power of Xing'er's Ice Martial Arts abilities pulsed through him, giving him the means to fight as he'd never been able to fight before. Even his crude, untrained actions were resulting in numerous casualties at the shoreline and keeping the battle at a stalemate as his people continued to fight hard.
The cold fire that was powering him, however, couldn't be solely attributed to Ice Martial Arts abilities that Xing'er had given him. No, he believed that much of the energy that was keeping him going was coming from the memories of his beloved's kisses and words.
How many times have I dreamed of hearing her say she loves me, of having her kiss me passionately, and of having her promise to spend the rest of her life at my side? Yuwen Yue mused as he formed another set of ice shards from the water and sent them on their way towards the shore.
Xing'er was contenting herself with transforming existing ice into shards because doing so was easier. She was causing quite a bit of damage, but Yuwen Yue could tell that the woman he loved was weakening.
No, she's merely tiring, he stubbornly thought, refusing to acknowledge the possibility that he would soon lose his beloved.
He doubled his efforts, spraying the enemy with relentless, merciless bursts of ice shards. Yuwen Yue's own stamina was fading, however, the effects of the icy lake, the battle, his chest wound, and the wielding of unfamiliar martial arts techniques sapping his strength. Although he continued to fight fiercely, he was forced to acknowledge that, even though he could feel the ability to control the Ice Martial Arts techniques within him, his own power stores and body would soon be unequal to the task.
His beloved exploded another ice sheet at the enemy before slumping down behind the ramparts and landing in a heap at their base.
"X'er!" he cried out, abandoning his post to run to the woman he loved.
"No!" she said, pushing him away. "You have to save them! You have to live on!"
"Not without you, X'er," he rasped, placing a hand tenderly on her cheek. "You promised, remember?"
"So I did," Xing'er said, pulling a small packet from her robes and unwrapping it to reveal a handful of darts.
"What are you-?"
"What does it look like?" she said saucily, using a little of her abilities to knock a small hole through the bottom of their battlements.
"You're hungry so you're going fishing with your darts?" Yuwen Yue said, trying to lighten the moment.
"Almost," she said, drawing a small amount of water up from the hole and shaping it around one of the darts before freezing it. "You're going fishing with my darts."
She proudly handed Yuwen Yue a crude ice arrow, her eyes shining brightly with that defiant spirit he loved so much. He took it from her wordlessly, his eyes conveying his feelings for his woman as he pulled out his special crossbow, fitted the ice arrow into it, and fired it into the mob of enemy soldiers on the shore.
The whoosh and boom the arrow caused put a malicious smile on his beloved's face as she continued forming ice arrows from scratch. Yuwen Yue noticed that Xing'er had started to somehow freeze ice shards within the ice arrows themselves, and he mentally shuddered at what those might do upon impact.
He shot one of her modified ice arrows at a clump of soldiers that was about to overrun He Xiao and Yue Qi, and the resulting explosion and carnage caused yells of different tones to go up from friend and foe alike. Yuwen Yue kept firing the arrows as fast as his beloved could make them, knowing that she'd soon exhaust her supply of darts and her energy. The arrows were making a difference, though, and giving him a much-needed break from using Ice Martial Arts techniques.
To his dismay, the remains of the enemy forces grew desperate again and charged the line, succeeding in pushing his people back into the trees and out of his line of fire. Yuwen Yue looked over at Xing'er, whose eyes were starting to glaze over. He put his mind to the task of causing the water to propel their floating fortress towards the shore so that they could rejoin the battle.
There was no reason that he had to remain standing while he did so, however, so he sat down beside Xing'er and pulled her carefully into his lap. They looked into each other's eyes for a few moments, Xing'er's expressing sadness and apology.
"Why did I run from you, Yuwen Yue?" she whispered weakly. "I still ended up being a spy of sacrifice anyway, and I came to realize that there are far worse fates than dying for the ones you love."
His arms convulsed around her as more tears traced themselves down his cheeks.
"You are not going to die for me or anyone else, X'er," he said fiercely, scowling down at her. "We're going to win, and I'm going to take you home. Or we'll go somewhere else if you want, remember? I told you I'd take you anywhere, and I meant it. Just stay with me, X'er. You promised."
Yuwen Yue knew he was babbling, and he was glad that nobody else was around to see him this way. His beloved had closed her eyes in misery and was leaning her head against his right shoulder away from his own chest wound.
"Sorry, Yuwen Yue," she whispered faintly, appearing to grow weaker by the second. "So s-sorry. N-need to give you the rest of my abilities..."
"No, X'er..."
"I...I love you...so much. S-sorry I didn't get…to tell you more..."
"You'll have plenty of time—the rest of our lives, in fact."
"Yes...the rest of my life...love you..."
"I love you, too, X'er. Stay with me. You promised you'd stay with me."
His beloved was silent, however, and Yuwen Yue could feel her slipping away, could sense his world ending. She stirred feebly and grasped his hand, frowning in concentration as if she were trying to do something difficult but not succeeding.
As they drew near to the shore, a low but piercing voiced yelled out, "For Luo He's daughter!"
Xin'ger's eyes flew open wide and she looked up at Yuwen Yue, an expression of horror on her face.
AN: Whew. That icy lake scene in particular has been burning up my brain for weeks, so I'm glad to finally put it up here. I hope it satisfied and lived up to expectations. I'd like to thank my two quality control experts, reallyseaweed and Sey KompungCham, who told me that I needed to ditch a decent bit of the Chu Qiao introspection I'd written into the icy lake scene and to just get to the XingYue good stuff. They were right, and the scene reads much tighter without all of that stuff that was just common sense anyway.
On the Feng Yun Ling: I admit that my comprehension of the Feng Yun Ling is sketchy, but my understanding is that the Feng Yun Ling is the tattoo that forms on the back after one has mastered the Kungfu of Ice, which is the ability to manipulate water in all of its forms. I had originally used the term "Feng Yun Ling" to refer primarily to the ability itself, but after watching Eng-subbed ep 53 when Dong Fang Ji (Mustache Man) and Zhan Zi Yu (Jade Ring Guy) talk, ZZY tells DFJ this distinction, so I changed my own terms accordingly. I also assume that one's ability to wield the Kungfu of Ice would be subjected to one's power level/stamina/current physical condition, etc. and that YWY would not gain a tattoo of his own until he had fully mastered the Kungfu of Ice. Anyone with a better understanding, please feel free to set me straight in the review section and I'll change things again.
[Edit: Fortunately Lilliumscribe took me up on this invitation and gave me her take as a translator on the FYL and what I've been calling the Kungfu of Ice. She says that the term "Kungfu of Ice" would better translate to something like "Ice Martial Arts" (and other terms that wouldn't work as well in English-speaking context), so that's what I've gone with. She says that "technique" is a decent description of the use of the Ice Martial Arts, so I've used that as well. "Tecnique(s)" doesn't always work in context, though, so I've used "abilities" to describe her capacity to use Ice Martial Arts techniques.]
Tentative writing timeline: Next week: the end of the battle and its immediate aftermath. Two weeks away: More triage with characters you may or may not care about. Three weeks away: Awakening. (Which will also be the title of my next story, FYI.) Four weeks away: Some really fabulous hurt/comfort XingYue I can't wait to write and post.
This week's musical selection is "Skyfall" by Adele. That song has long given me CQ/icy lake feels, so I never even considered using anything else. There are plenty of good covers (and you can't go wrong with Adele, of course), but I prefer the Madilyn Bailey one. If rock covers are more your thing, then I like the ones by Our Last Night and Within Temptation.
This week in translations, Angel Chua has written summaries of "Princess Agents" grouped by episodes. She's also begun writing and posting a fanfic called "The Secret Princess." Her website is simply called princess agents dot wordpress dot com, and the newest posts display at the top of the page. Yunsheng has also just posted another novel recap segment on her website, yunshengw dot wordpress dot com.