Page 28 of Elemasters

“You are correct Second Master Ying. I will tell you the story of how I came to be the guardian of this place, and the battle that my allies and I failed to put an end to, that now falls upon you to finish,”

As Sima Yao’s floppy sleeve brushed the mural, it was suddenly charged with pale moonlight; brightening until it became blinding. Dustin shielded his eyes, but he was powerless to stop what was coming…

The last thing he felt before the palace blurred around him, was a whirling in his stomach as the light encompassed them all…

Chapter 11

Yángguān Sāndié

Since the night they first stepped into the Palace of Radiant Clouds, Dustin had conditioned himself to expect the unexpected… but there was no amount of opening his mind that could’ve prepared him for this.

When the blinding lights finally gave way, he and the others were no longer standing in front of the mural; they were now hovering above a battlefield as two massive armies clashed beneath them. Not with guns or bombs… but with swords and spears. He recognized enough of it from his mother’s work; this was a Qin Dynasty battle…

In an instant, Sima Yao had somehow transported them over 2000 years into the past, and they were now standing on invisible ground like ghosts watching history unfold.

“Millennia ago, the land that is now known as China was made up of seven rival kingdoms, constantly warring for power. The most ruthless of these kingdoms was Qin, and their king Ying Zheng was determined to conquer the other six kingdoms and unite them under a singular banner,”

As Sima Yao’s voice echoed in his head, Dustin focused his gaze on the man sitting atop a horse behind one of the charging armies; a tall, broad figure with sharp, passionate eyes… and a bulky black helmet with towering deer-like antlers fashioned from solid gold.

It was him… the figure from the mural was the king of Qin, Ying Zheng…

Better remembered by history as Qin Shi Huang; China’s first emperor.

As the battle raged on beneath them, Sima Yao continued.

“Knowing that he could never succeed where his ancestors had failed, he committed a sin so grave that it would alter history forever. He stole a scale from the great Dragon King Ao Guang,”

“Wait… dragons are real?” James’s eyes went wide, and a huge smile stretched across his face, but it faltered a second later when the realization fully dawned on him, “dragons are real… and he stole power from one,”

“That stolen power was so great that it allowed him to summon storms mighty enough to shake the heavens, and he did so as easily as breathing,”

As Sima Yao spoke, Qin Shi Huang rose his hands skyward, and the crack of thunder that resulted nearly scared Dustin out of his skin. The group watched in awestruck horror as volleys of lightning pelted the opposing army with divine precision and otherworldly fury; reducing their forces to scorched corpses in a matter of seconds, without any of them being able to put up a fight.

“What the fuck… he just fucking vaporized them like they were nothing,” Chris’s voice trembled, “how do you even fight something like that,”

“A worthy question Master Ying. One that the king’s own son was also desperate to answer,”

Another blinding light seized their vision, but when it faded, they now found themselves inside a dark and musty room, overflowing with scrolls and only lit by a single lantern. There was a young man sitting behind a large wooden desk, poring over the contents of an incredibly long parchment like it held the secrets of life itself. The man clearly couldn’t see the group, but Dustin leaned in closely enough to take stock of his features, and he was immediately taken aback.

This person, whoever he was, bore a striking resemblance to the twins; the same angular but expressive eyes, high yet soft cheekbones, and full lips. His incredibly long black hair was pulled into a high topknot, eerily reminiscent of Dustin when he put his into a ponytail.

Dustin didn’t have much time to ponder it before the door on the far side of the room opened, and a teenage boy stumbled inside, carrying even more scrolls in his scrawny arms; so many that the pile completely obscured his face.

“Apologies for my lateness Prince Fusu. I was originally due to arrive before dawn, but the journey from the mountain monastery took longer than expected. I still have the scrolls you inquired about, though I had to grease quite a few palms to convince the abbots to part with them,” the boy said, his voice painfully familiar. As he lay the scrolls on the table in front of the prince, the entire group gasped at once.

It was Sima Yao; before he was a beautiful ghost boy, that is. He still looked mostly the same, though the robes he wore were deep black, rather than the spectral white Dustin was used to seeing him in. His cheeks were also rosier; a sign of the blood still pumping through his veins.

“Thank you, my friend. I know that what I’m asking you to do carries an enormous risk for us both, but I cannot allow my father to bring the new Qin Empire to ruin through his tyranny. There must be something among the writings of Laozi that will give us the edge we need to depose him,” Prince Fusu replied, giving Sima Yao a warm smile before unfurling one of the scrolls. Sima leaned against the desk, and sighed.

“All the ancient tales about the Yellow Emperor and Flame Emperor’s endless fighting showed us that violence is necessary to bring about peace. But unfortunately, it seems that our Emperor has forgotten that peace can only thrive with compassion. He seeks to rule with the sword of justice in one hand, and a shield of self-righteousness in the other,”

Fusu chuckled slightly, meeting Sima Yao’s eyes again.

“Where has this wisdom come from? One would think you well beyond your years; a far cry from the boy I met last year who could hardly decide whether to devote his energy to his studies, or to the flock of palace maidens beckoning for his attention,”

A red blush crept up Sima Yao’s neck and spread over his face, before he and the prince erupted into hearty laughter.

“As humorous as it is, you are correct. I suppose I’ve just been given a purpose to focus on that demands a greater commitment from me,” Sima Yao replied, “now, would you like my help reading through these? It will take an entire night on your own,”