A bell rang in her head. Lan had seen something similar, albeit on a much smaller scale. Something that lay strapped to her waist at this moment.
She could still feel Zen’s hands pressed against her own, the intentness of his gaze as he spoke:The name of this dagger is That Which Cuts Stars. This blade pierces not only human flesh but supernatural as well. Its purpose is to sever demonic qì.
If there existed a blade that could cut through demonic qì…then it stood to reason there could be a much more powerful one with the ability to cut through the core of a demon—even a Demon God.
“The first shamans gifted the Godslayer to a keeper, intending for them to use it as a last resort should the power of the Demon Gods ever spiral out of control. The Godslayer wasa means to maintain balance in this world, to conquer what could not be conquered.
“Yet instead of maintaining the balance, the keepers grew greedy, watching the clans grow powerful with demonic bindings. And one day, a general named Zhào Jùng marched on the clans with the Godslayer.”
“But the imperial family was known to bind the Demon Gods to them, too,” Lan said, thinking back to the conversation she’d eavesdropped upon in the bookhouse between Shàn’jun and Tai. “Tai said they wielded the power of the Crimson Phoenix.”
“Therein lies the problem,” Dé’zi said. “The keepers were never meant to use the Godslayer for their own gain, for their pursuit of power. It was only after the Middle Kingdom was established that the imperial family began to desire possession of the Demon Gods. They hid the Godslayer and launched campaigns against the clans in a bid to consolidate power.” His gaze fixed on her, steady yet heavy. “And so there arose a secret alliance: the Order of Ten Thousand Flowers, the flowers representing the peoples of this land. It began as a congregation of former clan members, then others joined the cause as well, with this very school serving as its base—unbeknownst to the Imperial Court. Our creed was to check the power of the imperial family…and to return balance to the kingdom. Perhaps our greatest triumph was when the Sòng clan reached an agreement to serve the imperial family as advisors in an attempt to seek out the Godslayer. Your mother included.”
“My mother,” Lan repeated, and her fingers drifted to the Seal on her left wrist.
Mama had left behind a trail of puzzle pieces that she hadn’t been able to explain before her death. The picture was clear now: the scarred Seal on Lan’s wrist that had led her to theocarina, the star maps pinpointing the locations of the Demon Gods…
The only missing fragment, now, was the Godslayer.
“Your mother,” Dé’zi said softly. “Sòng Méi.”
There was such a weight to the way he spoke her name, like a song, a story untold. Lan’s attention sharpened on the grandmaster. She knew so little of this man, of how his story…fit into Mama’s.
Intohers.
The thought had barely formed in her head when a shockwave exploded through the air.
The physical world held still, yet a tsunami of energies hit her, churning with yin. Lan doubled over, clutching her chest.
An eternity seemed to pass before she felt the tidal wave of power and darkness receding from her mind. So much grief, fury, and regret in that whorl of energies—so much yin.
Yet there had been something familiar about the qì. Something she recognized.
Zen.
Footsteps, pounding urgently against stone toward them. As Dé’zihelped Lan up, Yeshin Noro Ulara strode into view. Lan had never seen her face so openly furious.
“It’s him, Dé’zi—I’ve always told you that boy would be the death of us all!” Ulara snarled, her knuckles white as she gripped the hilt of her dao. “He has completely lost control—that qì will draw the Elantians to us like a beacon! I’ll kill him!”
“Ulara.” Dé’zi’s tone carried a warning. “You’ll do no such thing.”
More footsteps, and the remainder of the masters rushed in.
“The Boundary Seal has locked down,” Gyasho said gravely. “One of our own has betrayed us.”
“Henevershould have been one of our own,” Ulara snapped.
“It is confirmed, then?” Even Master Ip’fong looked grim as he approached. “It is Zen?”
“I saw this coming, eleven cycles ago, when you took that boy in, Dé’zi!” Feng shrieked. “I read it in the bones, divined it from the stars!”
“Silence.” The grandmaster’s word had the effect of a sword being drawn. Silence fell through the Chamber of Waterfall Thoughts. “We proceed as we planned. Master Ulara, it is time. Ring the bells again. Skies’ End is going to war.”
Whatever grief or grudges any of the masters held, they tucked it all away in this moment. Without hesitation, the remaining masters of the School of the White Pines brought their fists to their palms.
“And if our defenses should fail?” Ulara asked. She was looking straight at Dé’zi, and between them and the other masters, there seemed to be an exchange that Lan could not understand. A mutual understanding, a quiet pact of sorts as they turned to their grandmaster.
He replied serenely, “Should we fail, then we must release what is Sealed at the heart of this mountain.”
