Chapter 39: The Heroine of Shu

Wu Zhang Main Fort

"That brat is taking too long," muttered Galatea, watching the evening stars glimmering in the night firmament. "Your son treats war like leisure far too often, Mengde." Behind her waited a force of Imperial Lancers that Cao Cao had entrusted her with: fifty thousand strong and clad in black armour, they were the most unapproachable horsemen China could offer, surpassing Shu's White Riders and second only to Cao Cao's personal Royal Guard. While the majority of the Central Plains Guardians still remained in reserve, the King had dispatched this particular regiment of Imperial Lancers for Galatea to personally command, in the name of hunting down the generals who were advancing towards Tianshui, Jieting, and ultimately, the plateaus of Wu Zhang itself.

Could the Shu warriors have defeated Cao Pi and Zhen Luo? she wondered. They're formidable foes when angered, but like Mengde, they aren't born and bred for battle like Zhang Liao or Xu Huang. It could well be that Flora triumphed through some fortunate turnaround, or ingenuity alone. I wouldn't be surprised.

"If those two have managed to escape… then the responsibility falls on me to hunt them down," she muttered to herself. "If they have really defeated our forces at Tianshui, then they will move to attack Jieting and push into the Wei heartland."

Flora… she will undoubtedly play a central role in Shu's strategy against us. In that case...

She turned around to face the dark horsemen. "I cannot allow Flora to roam free!" she declared, her voice clear and absent of hesitation. "She must be found and captured! Dead or alive!"

"Our Lady!" roared the Imperial Lancers, their voices as disciplined as their formation. They bellowed their obedience in unison. "Beloved of King Cao! We shall hunt her down and bring her broken body to you!"

She nodded in approval. "Move out!"

"For domination and supremacy!" Adjusting their thick, massive spears, the Imperial Lancers spurred on their steeds, and line after line of royal, mounted Men-At-Arms galloped past her, giant hooves pummelling against the ground as the innumerable warhorses narrowly brushed by her cape. The army departed for Jieting, where Zhuge Liang awaited Flora, Yue Ying, and their Wu allies. Galatea closed her eyes, patiently waiting for the thundering of fifty thousand steeds to disperse. After what was understandably a prolonged delay, she looked back up at the stars, recalling her beloved's words.

"I wish to unify All Under Heaven. My methods may seem harsh in contrast to the vision that I will change the land through… but as I promised you, I will not lose my humanity. Though we make war against her, Flora will not die. I swear it."

We will unify all. Every single nation on this world…

Galatea let out a quiet sigh. "I'm sorry, Windcutter. I had no choice. Take this as a compliment: our Prince is so incompetent that I have to take up his slack."

She grimaced. "Pi, you fool. Flora is a hundred times more talented than you are and will prove herself as one of Shu's finest generals. You can never persuade her to join us, no matter how slippery your persuasion is."

She turned away, surprised she could have spent so much time talking to herself. Tomorrow, the Imperial Lancers would engage the advancing Shu forces directly. As long as Mt. Ding Jun and Hanzhong remained under Wei control, they could concentrate on Jieting for the meantime until Zhuge Liang moved his forces up to Wu Zhang Plains. It was there that the fate of the Shu Kingdom would be decided, so naturally, the Sleeping Dragon would not dare to advance until he was absolutely certain of a chance at victory.

"My Lord, grant me the strength to follow your directives to the last word," she murmured. "As long as you retain the same humanity that you've shared with me for so long, I will not protest.

"But I'm not so confident… about your son."

*

"You should give up," remonstrated Cao Pi, as he gazed down at the twitching Flora. He continued to hold her in his arms, patiently waiting for her paralysed nerves to recover. Until then, she belonged to him… regardless of what she felt. "I'll repeat myself. Father would much rather you support his cause than die."

"Never," she whispered gazing up at him with a hateful intensity. "I will submit to no one, let alone you."

"Tch," muttered Cao Pi, even as he continued to stroke her. Her soft body squirmed sensuously but shamefully. "You possess a rather obstinate will."

"Why do you insist on doing this to me?" asked Flora, the light in her eyes changing. Her heart pounded uselessly in her chest as she desperately attempted to hold back the flush on her sumptuous lips. "I have made no secret of my undying loyalty to Shu, and of my dislike for you. Yet you still…"

"Yes?" urged Cao Pi softly. "I still…?"

"I… " She gasped and sighed, squirming in feminine impulse as his gentle finger found the nipple underneath her grey uniform. An embarrassingly pleasant and stirring sensation shot through her being as he stroked at it, caressing it with the expertise of a sexual connoisseur. She stifled a cry as he met her lips again, his palm cupping her trembling cheek. He muffled her protest with his mouth, and the tension was inimitable.

"For such a beautiful, intelligent woman, you are painfully pig-headed. Perhaps this… coaxing… really is worth our time," he snickered.

She shook her head, looking away from the young man and blushing. She… had begun to feel slightly damp, and his fingers could feel it. "Surely you are satisfied with everything you've done up to now," she gritted, desperately silencing her sensual purr as he bore down on her again. Her neck… her breasts… her collarbone… they were all tingling. "Had I the strength… and the will… I would have detached your arrogant head from your neck long ago."

"Are you saying you no longer wish to kill me? How interesting." His lips brushed across her chest again, and she closed her eyes in mortified arousal, moaning and twitching ever so briefly. He hissed in satisfaction. "You are quite the beautiful flower. That is the truth. I ask you one last time: join me."

Her right hand weakly pushed against his chest, but his sexual energy was overwhelming. "Do… do not… tempt me," she whispered, her voice pleading. "I… do not love you… in the same manner that I love Zilong." She looked up at him, her silver eyes kissing his black irises. "Please… do not break two hearts on a whim of lust."

Is she still thinking of Zhao Yun and Zhen Luo at this time? Such… charity. His expression soured as he stared at her gentle lips, at those confused, troubled… erotic eyes. So she has lost part of her will to resist me, although one portion remains impregnable.

"The immobilization of your pressure points will end soon," he suddenly threatened, losing his patience, "so perhaps I should cripple your limbs permanently. Then, you would be powerless to resist me."

They stared at each other for several long minutes, before Flora spoke quietly again. "Do it. Do what you will, Crown Prince. Torture does not frighten me. I can think of many, many things that would hurt me more than your ruthless hands." She suddenly gave a small smile. "My heart is indomitable in the face of men like you. But it is a weak lamb against those of Zilong's calibre."

At her calm refutation, the light in Cao Pi's eyes also changed. After several more moments of tense eye contact, he finally relented, releasing her and laying her on the ground carefully. He stood up, walking back several paces. He could not restrain a grin. "I can see why you harbour affection for the Young Dragon."

"Zilong?" whispered Flora, her heart skipping a beat. Sensation suddenly returned to her immobilized limbs. She felt the freedom of her arm and legs returning to her – her nerve passages were no longer blocked. She struggled up unsteadily, her hands shaking as they readjusted to movement. She raised herself on all fours and arched up her buttocks to stretch her stiffened muscles as blood rushed back into her thighs. "How do you know?"

He stared at her in approval. Her amusing attempts to recover from his pressure point manipulation were more like innocent passes at seduction. "It is obvious, even on the battlefield. In many ways, you both share the same spirit. Indomitable. Free… wild," he observed as she quickly reached for her sword and held it up in a defensive guard. "Father has told me much about this legend of Shu. In many ways…" he snickered. "You two deserve each other."

"Enough with the mind games, son of Cao Cao," snapped Flora, swallowing his saliva. "Where did Zhen Ji take Zilong? I must know."

Cao Pi smirked. "He is in fact here, here in Tianshui fortress with us. You have not seen this marvel of construction, but it is an entirely new structure, a tower that reaches up to the heavens themselves. It is the perfect prison; a dungeon from which no enemy of ours can escape or evacuate."

"A tower? Impossible. The Chinese have not yet learned to construct spires of stone."

"Oh, of course. It is a Continental tradition. But thanks to contracts from the Silk Road and your homeland…" He smiled. "We now possess the technology and expertise to craft new engines of war. And with the help of such vital expertise, we will conquer the world and unite it under the Wei banner."

"Then I stand corrected," dismissed Flora impatiently. "But more importantly, you say that my Lord is here? Where, exactly?" she demanded.

"Would you believe me if I said that he was only one storey above us? My wife has engaged him in the shrine chamber, ensuring he cannot flee this dark tower without you. But he will only have escaped his confinement if he has managed to defeat my wife. And if he loses…"

"He will not lose to her!" snapped Flora again, lunging towards Cao Pi –

Boom.

As if to answer her, the roof cracked without warning, and an injured Zhao Yun plunged through into the cold dungeon chamber, landing painfully beside the debris that slammed into the floor around him. Dust obscured the already murky hallway. The Shu champion had utilized some particular attack to break through the ground, and it had obviously taken its toll on him along with his battle against Zhen Ji. He panted quietly, barely able to raise his ponytailed head to look at Flora. His armour was dented and slightly crumpled, and blood poured from his face.

"I… I have returned to you… as I promised," he gasped, struggling up from the rubble. "It… it won't end here," he said quietly, clutching at his side and staring at her with an intense devotion. "No… not with my Lady here."

"Zilong," cried Flora. She rushed to the Shu champion and lowered herself on one knee. "My Lord!" she cried, embracing him. "You're severely hurt! You must not move!" She took his arm and propped up his slumped shoulder. "You… you defeated her…" she realized. "You defeated Zhen Luo."

Nodding, he managed to grin defiantly at Cao Pi, who glared down at him contemptuously. "Impressive," admitted the heir of Wei reluctantly, stepping forward. "I commend you for defeating my wife. But this is as far as both of you go." He raised Havoc. "Now is the time to finish this!" he declared.

Flora quickly lifted a feverish Zhao Yun on one shoulder. "You might have had the advantage earlier," she said, glaring at Cao Pi, "but you will not have the final say this time."

"You wish to escape? What a pity – "

"It will be hard, but it's possible," said Zhao Yun, silencing Cao Pi's retort. "This place is a common structure of the Continent, Zhen Ji told me. Apparently it's called a tower – "

"Cao Pi told me as well. But how did Wei engineers manage to learn this in such a short time…"

"That's not important now," urged Zhao Yun. "If my Lady can break through this wall, we can break past the enemy."

She nodded and turned to the granite wall, drawing her sword. "You dare turn your back on me?" snarled Cao Pi.

"Cease your masquerading," replied Flora. "We know you are as worried for your beloved as I am concerned for mine." Pouring all of her strength into her Windcutter, she hacked and bashed at the wall relentlessly, slightly desperately. Through each air-slicing stroke, the wall slowly split apart and crumbled into several pieces of dark granite. Wind began to seep into the ruins, slapping roughly against her face. She had already created a large hole through which to break out of, but she did not dare to ease her onslaught until the sundered pieces of stone blew apart completely, revealing…

"My God," whispered the Lance Marshal.

Five hundred feet below from the chamber in which she had been fighting in, the sprawling grasslands of central China yawned across the land, stretching out for as far as the eye could glimpse. The height of the fortress was disconcerting. Now she understood the entirety of Zhao Yun's words. It was true; Tianshui fort had been constructed in the style of her homeland's architecture, of the prison spires that sealed away convicts and murderers.

How fitting, that they should be attempting an escape from what could only be a Wei jail. To leap from this altitude of five hundred feet was veritable suicide. Nevertheless, she had to escape, and take Zhao Yun to safety.

Cao Pi read her mind, and remained sceptical. "You intend to leap? Madness."

Without another word, Flora tightened her grip on her Lord. "I'm going."

"And I'm coming with you," he whispered.

She glanced back, one last time, at Cao Pi. Their eyes met, and for a brief moment, their unusual encounter flashed before them. She turned away, but matched his deep stare again as she spoke. "I am afraid I must reject your offer, Prince. Until your father can truly show that he works for the good of the common people, I will never kneel before him."

She turned back and broke into a sprint, closing the distance between them and the sky. Cao Pi reached out a hand incredulously. "Wait!" he cried. "You'll die!" But it was too late. Her aching, bleeding legs left the floor, and holding Zhao Yun tight, she hurtled through the wall's large gap, consigning herself to the outside world, falling, falling…

Falling.

"Fools… so they were not jesting." Cao Pi ran to the edge of the ruined wall's rubble, staring down the expansive plains below in astonishment. Their plummeting forms were growing smaller and smaller, and within seconds his eyes could not discern them at all. It was highly unlikely that they could survive such a nosedive, but that was only a shaky assumption. The fundamental reality that they had attempted such a preposterous retreat was far more troubling.

He licked his lips as he stared at the hole Flora had created. Desperation certainly drove humans to do such ridiculous things. Surely, the people of Shu were the embodiment of such futile hopelessness. Perhaps he was frustrated more so because she had managed to flee. He almost had her.

Almost.

The late night breeze from the open wall felt wonderfully refreshing. "But I wouldn't have it any other way," he murmured to himself, standing alone in the darkness. "The thrill of hunting those two down… I haven't felt such warmth in my heart in many years, not since I executed eight hundred of Father's enemies with my own blade. Not since I first took to the battlefield with this sword of mine, cutting down any in my path."

He chuckled quietly to himself. "Yes… it must be like this. It must be like this for the fun to continue. No matter how many stones one throws into the Yellow River, or how many times I step on Father's shadow… the river does not disappear, nor does Father's shade.

"Flora… your face has been engraved into my memory forever. We shall meet again."

*

They plunged from the highest level of Tianshui fort, the windstorm shrieking in their ears. They fell from five hundred feet above the plateau, and survival seemed improbable, if not impossible. Flora tumbled through the stratosphere and past the walls of the fortress, her hands grimly searching out Zhao Yun's. They touched and clasped, for that was all they had left as they tumbled together through the dark firmament. Earth still looked diminutive from this altitude, but she could feel spontaneous tears blinding her stinging eyes as the wind howled around them and slapped at their faces. She had never… experienced anything like this before. She could not soar like a falcon; she could not save herself if there was nowhere to land.

This seemed to be… her final checkmate.

"Be strong," she whispered to herself, hardly able to hear herself over the tempestuous gale. "Be strong."

Her heard her. "My Lady is already strong," he whispered, slipping in and out of consciousness. "But we… we did it." He smiled at her and pulled her into his waiting cuddle. He held her close as their intertwined forms hurtled through the clouds like a falling star towards the distant ground. The highlands were visible now. Any moment, and their bodies would break from the terrible force of gravity as they smashed against the elevated earth. But…

"We are reunited. And no matter what, I will never leave you."

"Zilong," she cried over the wind, looking up at his warm, dark brown eyes.

"Flora. I am here for you. Always," he replied calmly. They drew together and their lips met, their loving kiss warming their bodies even as they continued to shiver from the cold, shrieking, hostile storm high above the world.

They refused to release each other as they plummeted to their graves.