It didn’t take too long the next day for the group to make it to the summit of the waterfall. Hongyi complained nonstop. He talked about the lack of horses. The weather. The bugs. He covered almost every single inconvenience during their walk. Zixin said the same thing over and over again: “Continue on. There’s nothing you can do about it.”

  He said it so often that even Bowen began repeating the phrase at Hongyi, much to the latter’s annoyance.

  The whining got so bad that finally Xinyue had to ask, “Is he that good of a Second-in-Command?” She couldn’t understand why Yichen kept him around. Sure, he was at times entertaining, but was that the only good thing about him?

  “Unfortunately, yes.” Yichen shrugged, sweat dripping down his face as they hiked. “It’s hidden.”

  “Very hidden.” Xinyue dryly replied.

  Yichen laughed.

  “I heard that!” Hongyi said, his face red.

  It was just after midday when they got to the top of the waterfall. The view was beyond anything Xinyue had seen, even from the temple. The mountain seemed to be high enough to touch the Heavens. The clouds swirled beneath them as they stood on the cliff, gray and billowy. They looked solid from up here, like a pathway that led to something just beyond the horizon. The waterfall raged and rolled over the cliff into a swirling pool down below, the clouds blocking their view of the bottom.

  “Well, we’ve made it. Now what?” Hongyi looked at the group. His voice cut through Xinyue’s appreciation of nature and grounded her back to the current situation. They were on a mission.

  “General Xinyue, do you feel anything here?” Yichen glanced at her, then back out at the view. Xinyue could feel his cultivation build and flow as he called to it.

  “I’ll try and see.” Xinyue pulled at the cultivation deep in her stomach, demanding that it swirl and move. She pushed and reached out with the magic, but nothing seemed to resonate with it. Closing her eyes, she focused and breathed. The rush of the waterfall blocked out most noises, and she let it envelop her in its sound. Again, she called to the cultivation, but nothing happened.

  She opened her eyes.

  “I don’t think it’s here,” Xinyue told them. “I can’t feel anything different with my cultivation.”

  “Unfortunately, you are correct.” The raspy voice came from behind them. Xinyue turned to see the Master of the temple.

  He had snuck up behind them and grabbed Zixin, a knife at his throat. For an old man, he could move quite well. His gray eyes were still misty and unfocused, but with a certain edge. His robes whipped in the wind as the waterfall roared beneath the cliff on which they stood. Bandits emerged from the surrounding trees.

  “You hadn’t joined them, because you were the one who was running the operation.” Xinyue filled in the gaps. “You led us here.”

  His allowing them into the temple, the hint about the legend of the four kingdoms, and his strange behavior. It all made sense.

  “I didn’t lie. I never broke my vow as the Master of the temple.” He said it was important for him to clarify what happened. Like he needed them to understand that he was still a man of integrity, at least in his position at the temple. “I needed you to come up the mountain alone. Without all the soldiers.”

  “Why didn’t you take us when we were in the temple?” Yichen had one hand on the hilt of the knife at his waist.

  “Careful.” The old man pulled Zixin closer to him, threatening them with his life. Zixin’s face remained neutral, he didn’t so much as frown. He hid any fear, any unrest.

  “We left Haoran below the temple with the rest of the soldiers. They were expecting us by a certain time, and everyone knew where we were. If something had happened to us then, all of the troops would have stormed the temple.” Xinyue answered for the Master.

  The Master nodded along with what Xinyue said, but he had something to add. “Think what you may, but I’m not a monster. I have a responsibility to the cultivators, to my people. There were children in the temple. If they were affiliated with the kidnapping of the Crown Prince, they wouldn’t have survived. I needed to pull you away from all of that.”

  “You need us, why?” Yichen asked, his voice cold like a steel blade. He didn’t take his eyes off the knife at Zixin’s neck.

  Xinyue looked at the other soldiers, her companions. It would be difficult to get out of this situation. Haoran wasn’t paying much attention to anything but Zixin. He kept his gaze firmly locked on the man and the knife at his throat. Hongyi and Bowen looked ready for action. Hongyi’s hand was on the hilt of his sword, prepared to unsheathe it at any moment. Bowen’s eyes were darting about, glancing at the bandits. If it was anything like the attack in the woods, Xinyue doubted that they would be able to get out of this mess alive.

  “Your…cultivation. We need it. There is a slight problem. Something unforeseen.” The Master hesitated on the last word. He danced around Yichen’s question; his answers were short. He didn’t answer anything, and only left Xinyue with more questions that she had to choke down. “We both know the legend of the four kingdoms- that the Piece of Heaven is in these mountains.”

  “How did you find out? The record. How did you get the record?” Yichen, ever the Crown Prince, needed to know about the security leak. If Xinyue’s guess was correct, they knew about the Piece of Heaven even before the Magistrate’s office. They were being played the entire time. “How did you know about the Piece of Heaven?”

  “It doesn’t matter how we know. It just matters that we are here now, and we both know the information.” The Master crept closer, moving Zixin with him. They walked along the cliff, next to the rampaging waters of the river, as if they flowed down to the swirling waters below. “All that matters is that I need you. We need you, the Crown Prince of the Long Kingdom, to come with me. We’ve been waiting a long time for you.”

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Xinyue whipped her head to Yichen, questions in her eyes, but he as well didn’t seem to know the answers. He shook his head in confusion.

  “You need me specifically?”He asked the question again, this time adding more to it. Yichen tapped his index finger against the knife. He wanted answers, answers to what was happening. His spear was still strapped along his back.

  “Well, you and the descendant of the Tiger.” The Master looked to Xinyue with his unseeing eyes. He scowled in her direction. “Even if you are a bastard, I’m sure it wouldn’t care. You still have his blood.”

  Haoran hissed at the Master’s words, but Xinyue put a hand up, steadying him. Zixin frowned, and the indifferent mask slipped.

  “Seal your cultivation and come with us.” The Master motioned with his head, and two of the bandits stepped forward, their hands on sword hilts at their waists.

  Xinyue looked at Yichen. He was stoic and gave nothing away. Temporarily, sealing your cultivation, blocking the flow of magic from your cultivation points, was a painful process. Sometimes done as a punishment while Xinyue lived in the temple, it had been years since she had done it last. It wasn’t an experience that Xinyue was particularly excited about.

  “Quickly, or I will kill this one.” The Master used the knife to motion to Zixin, lifting it from his neck. It was just a little bit of a room, but that was all Zixin needed.

  Zixin grabbed at the Master’s hand, pulling it closer to his mouth, and bit it, his teeth sank deeply into the Master’s papery skin.

  With a cry, the Master dropped the knife, and Zixin was free.

  It took only a split second for everyone on the cliff to realize what had happened.

  Xinyue unsheathed her sword, and chaos ensued.

  “Don’t kill them! We need them!” The Master cried out among the clanging of metal.

  The bandits and soldiers fought each other, each fighting to gain the upper hand. As one bandit was felled by Xinyue’s sword, it felt like another popped up to take his place. They were never-ending, coming from the woods to enclose the group.

  “How will we get out of this one, General?” Bowen called out just as he stabbed a bandit in the side before being attacked from his right.

  “Not sure yet. Will let you know when I know.” Yichen had been using his knife to fend off the bandits. He traded the knife into his left hand and blocked a bandit’s attack. In one smooth motion, he took the spear off his back and swung it down on a bandit’s head. Stunning him before finishing him off with the knife. Pulling the knife from the bandit’s side, he slid it back in its sheath to carry on the fight with his spear.

  Xinyue struggled to keep the bandits at bay. She tried to keep their focus on her instead of Haoran and Zixin.

  The problem was the cultivation. All of the bandits were cultivators, and like the roaring waterfall behind them, they continuously used the flow of cultivation to strengthen their attacks and to increase their stamina. While all of the soldiers had fought in long battles and wars, they had never fought against cultivators.

  The cultivators healed much too quickly, staunching their blood with cultivation. If the strike didn’t end their lives, they would be fighting them again. They were much too fast, even with their underused martial arts and sword skills. Cultivation boosted everything about them, causing them to hold unlimited potential.

  Xinyue had been pulling at the cultivation within her own body, strengthening her blows. Her footwork was faster, more dangerous as she prowled and leaped at her targets. She fiercely cut away at the bandits that surrounded her.

  Until finally, she had a goal in mind: the Master. If she got to him, cut him down, the group would lose its leader. She caught Yichen’s eye as another bandit fell to the earth, and motioned with her head. He nodded.

  Yichen matched her movements and her path. They worked together to get through the throng of people. They fought side by side along the cliff’s edge, searching for an opening. Any chance.

  For a brief instant, Xinyue was able to glance at Yichen, only an arm’s width away. She watched him twist and wind his spear as he fought against the group of bandits, struggling to work his way to the Master. They were so close. If they could reach him, they could take him hostage.

  It was also in this moment that, in a flash of yellow, she saw an arrow hit Yichen in the shoulder. The yellow of its feathers stuck out of his shoulder.

  With all the expertise of a general and a battle-heavy soldier, Yichen didn’t drop his spear. He clung to it, allowing the adrenaline to overtake him.

  Xinyue moved to his side. She held her sword out in front of her and backed up. Ready to take on more blows. Where had the lone arrow come from?

  Xinyue blocked and parried the swings and thrusts of swords. They were on the edge of the cliff, there was nowhere left to go. She couldn’t find the time to look at the trees. To find the archer.

  She gripped onto Yichen as another arrow came from the woods. Another flash of yellow, this time aimed at her.

  Xinyue twisted into Yichen. The arrow whizzed by her head, right where she had been standing.

  Yichen’s balance gave out. There was nothing beneath Xinyue’s feet.

  The wind whipped Xinyue’s hair into a frenzy. Water hit them in the face and soaked their clothing. The fall from the cliff only lasted for an instant. The green of the trees, the gray of the stones, and the blue of the water merged together.

  Xinyue had enough consciousness to pull at the cultivation in her stomach. She prayed to all the gods that could hear her.

  This is what it must feel like to fall from the heavens.

  Then everything went black.