13 A War With Two Fronts

-Fire Clan-

After almost a week of dealing with a sickness spreading all over the seven lands, Ming found herself desperately looking for anything that could give them a hint to locate the shadows behind it all. Although so far, the sickness could be cured, it needed time for the medicine to take effect and the patient to recover afterwards.

It was a matter of time before this slow process overloaded their healing houses and the healers, not to mention, the ingredients for the cure were not going to last for long if people all around their Clans keep getting sick in such numbers.

So, the second Prince, Ye Zun had been tasked with a quest, similar to the one his brother Wei was already embarked in into the dark lands. Lord Shen had ask the white haired Prince to hunt down the Shadows inside their territory. It was getting more than evident that if they didn't get rid of the source of the sickness, they will get into serious problems that will cause many unfortunates deaths.

However, hunting down Shadows was not an easy task and Lord Tao could not tell them exactly where to find them, because they were always in the move, so even if he knew one location, by the time they got there, the Shadow will be long gone. They try looking for them in areas were the sickness had spread the most recently, but they could not find any sign of Shadows anywhere.

So Ming, gave herself the task to look for answers in the old records. What little they knew about the dark lands and some of the creatures that lived there came from the times before the Clans were created. Although she had born with noble blood by the Fire Clan standards, she didn't study old history, because she was more focus in learning all healing abilities she could master with both potions and her fire magic.

However, now she was regretting not having that part of her training, as most nobles did, even if it was just a few days in the old archive. She spent all morning looking into the oldest scrolls, that were barely readable, but just when she was going to give up, she found something that caught her attention. There was a very small paragraph describing the times of war, when some dark creatures acted against humanity, taking the chance humans were busy killing each other.

"The Furies fire was felt by every strong fire user, so their approach was not unnoticed, but the Shadows did took humans by surprise. As they are more spirits than living things, only the strongest monks could feel their presence if they concentrate hard enough…" She read out load, knowing she had finally hit the spot.

Ming hastily went out of the archive room and ran as fast as she could to find Ye Zun. The monks of centuries ago that she just read about in the old text, where the founders of the Sage Clan and although Guo was no longer there, the Elders may know who else could pull it off. In her haste, she bumped into someone, when turning in a corner and she almost fell, if strong arms had not catch her in time.

"Wow, be careful there…" The man said, securely holding her and Ming's heart raised tenfold.

This was Zhi Long, the healer that came from the Serpent Clan a day ago. He was currently administrating the most recent medicine for the sickness, as she had volunteer to find the Shadows and help the Prince in his quest. The man was not only extremely good with potions medicines and poison, he was very handsome and caring, which in all honestly stole her hear in less than a day.

"Oh, sorry… my apologies, Lord Long… I was in a haste…" Ming said shyly, as she blushed, still in the gorgeous man arms.

"I can see that. Why the hurry? Where were you heading?" He asked, finally letting go of her.

"I was going to meet Lord Zun. I had something very important to tell him. It will greatly help him with his new quest." She said, still blushing a bit. The man smiled at her, melting her heart completely.

"Ah… you are in luck then, Lady Ming… he is just right behind me." He said and soon enough, Ye Zun was there, gently talking with Lady Shin, which just like her, had a blush faintly painted in her cheeks.

"Lord Zun…" She gave him a respectful bow. "I was in a rush to meet you. I had good news for you my Lord, about the hunting of the Shadows." She said.

"Then come, we were about to leave to the east… it's where the last case of the sickness came from. With luck, we may find a clue of how to find them." Ye Zun said, a bit tired.

"My Lord, we should head to the Sage Clan, I was in the archive room just now and found information of the Shadows in one of the oldest scrolls. Please have a look…" She said, giving the Prince the paper in which she had wrote the information. Ye Zun read it at once and smiled.

"Ah, Ming you did very well. Very well indeed. I will make sure that father rewards you greatly for this. I will talk with the Sage leader as soon as we are ready to go, in this times of crisis, I'm sure he will not deny us the help. His clan had fall into the sickness too, after all… come, I will ask father to grant us permission first, then we go." Shin arched an eyebrow and moved her head at one side in confusion.

"Ming, what did you find?" Shin asked, a bit worry about what her finding could mean for her Prince. She loved him so much and was always at the edge when he goes out to do a dangerous job outside the palace.

"We know now who can find the Shadows. Don't worry, it will be fine, the Prince is also strong." Ming assure her with a soft smile.

"Then I will go with you." Shin offered, but Ye Zun came closer and hug her tenderly.

"I'm sorry, Shin… I know you are a good fire fighter, but you were sick a few days ago and are still recovering, so you stay home and look after father for me." Ye whisper to her.

"But…" What was she going to said next was left unsaid, as Ye Zun kiss her. It was a soft kiss, because they were not alone and both Ming and Zhi Long were looking elsewhere to not stare and get embarrass of the caring moment between obvious lovers. Long approached Ming, while the lovers kissed and came to whisper to her ear.

"Can I go too?" She blushed.

"You are supervising the new medicine…"

"But your healers are well train and are doing it just fine on they own. My Clan needs to hear about this too, so they can hunt the Shadows in our territory as well."

"This is not a secret, you can sent a message to your Clan leaders at any moment."

"But what if I want to go? I may be of help and it will be good to learn how to hunt down Shadows." Ming face was about to melt.

"It's not my decision to make." Zhi Long smiled.

"You are cute." He said, enjoying her embarrassment.

"He can come, if he truly wish it. He is not a Fire Clan member, so he can go whatever he think will be best for the good of his people. I'm sure Shen Wei will had said the same…" Ye Zun said with a bit of nostalgia.

"Ah, Lord Wei… he truly is well loved by his brother and Clan. I hope all of them are doing fine out there." Zhi said, hoping Zhu Hong was also doing fine on her way to save their Clans.

"I'm sure they are alive and well… Shen Wei is still fighting back, I know he is." Ye Zun said with confidence, because he would have known if something had happen to his brother, their link was as strong as ever.

-Shen Wei-

They make haste trough the Furies territory, avoiding their hunting tertitories and with two less members of their team. Shen Wei could detect Furies from miles away, sensing their fires moving around the rocky land, so there was no need for Zhu Hong and Da Qing, to join them.

Zhu needed more rest and Da Qing's earth magic was still weak, not to mention he offer himself to look after Zhu, so Yunlan decided to let both of them rest inside the goddess dimension, so they could go back to their best sooner. If there was the need to bring them back for a bigger fight, Yunlan could always summon them out.

The hours passed as they walked and when a big fire blocked their path, their Lord of Fire, remove it, so they could keep up the good pace. They only stop for a bit of resting and a short meal and soon, the night came, ending another day in that traitorous lands.

That night, Shen Wei suggested to make camp outside the stone, because if a powerful Fury approached, it will notice the stone and try to destroy it and they will already be in a disadvantage position, if something like that were to happen. So they took turns to watch over the night, although Shen Wei will still sense the Furies fire coming, even if he was fast asleep.

Late in that night, when it was his time to keep watch while the others rested, Yunlan sat behind Wei and hug him tightly. The night was cold and the Prince was warm and lovely, so Yunlan wasted no time to tease him with the lame excuse it was a way to keep him awake.

"Yunlan… this is not the healing pond, where we had our privacy… and you know that I…" Zhao smiled as he slightly bite his earlobe.

"Yeah, I know you lose control of your fire, when I do things like this… your body temperature is already raising with just this simple kiss on your neck." Shen was hot red in the face.

"Then stop teasing…"

"But I am cold… this is part of my survival…" If it wasn't for the others who were having a deserved rest, Shen would had laugh like never before, yet he couldn't hide a smirk.

"You shameless Prince… anything is a good excuse, right?" Shen whisper, looking back at his teasing lover, but Zhao simply give him a soft kiss on the cheek.

"Oh, yes… you got to know my deepest secret." Shen smiled.

"Zhao Yunlan… what will I do with you? Oh dearest Water Prince, you are such a fierce leader, when serious… but then…"

"Mmm, don't blame me, my Prince. You are hot by nature, how can I resist such temptation?" Shen smiled.

"Seriously you… Ah, never mind." Shen Wei said as he closed his eyes. Regardless of feeling his temperature rise, it felt good to be in his arms, because Zhao was his opposite, also by nature, meaning he could cool him off as well.

"Are you sleepy? How far is the nearest Fury from here?" Zhao asked.

"Quite far… I find it odd, but they seem to be getting away instead of coming closer." Shen whisper.

"Well, you did destroy one of them all on your own… and that one even back off before your beautiful silver dragon set it on ashes. That was impressive, my Wei… you shinned so much, but you scare me to death when you go out of the shield."

"My Yunlan, there was no need to worry… I told you I wasn't going to sacrifice myself. I know fire the best, no Fury will defeated me so easily using my main element." Zhao kissed the crown of Wei's head and hug him tighter.

"I'm so glad… you are not to die on me, because right now I love you too much…" Shen smiled, while he blushed a bit more.

"It's the same with me Yunlan… so please don't use star magic in such a way… I too was scare to lose you, I often am when resorting to the magic that weaken you so easily." Shen shiver, which pleased Zhao greatly.

"Ah, come give me a kiss my Prince, you are too lovable for not to kiss you…" Zhao make Shen turn in his arms, so he could kiss him fully, half holding his back with one arm and the other to his waist, like he would hold a child.

"Mmm, Yunlan…"

"Don't worry, I will cool you off… we do this one step at the time." Zhao whisper against his lips, tasting the younger Prince passion in a slow dance of lips and tongues that did rise Wei's heat.

However, as they kiss, Shen felt something strange coming in their way. Immediately Shen Wei broke the heated kiss and sat back, closing his eyes in concentrations. Yunlan knew when Shen Wei was serious, so he didn't said, nor did anything further to interrupt his concentration. He saw Wei's body tense back and after a minute he summon that silver flame that was the portal of his silver dragon, then he worry.

"Shen Wei, what…?" Shen turned to look at Yunlan, while the silver dragon go out of his flame.

"Go wake the others, something is coming." The small detail didn't fail to be notice.

"Something? You mean it's not a Fury?" Zhao asked as he help him stand.

"No… this coming fire is a bit different, and it's coming from the air… fast."

"Do you know what is it?" Zhao asked seriously, going back to his role of a leader.

"Yes… something that shouldn't exit."

"What?" Zhao insisted and Shen looked at him.

"A half Fury dragon… a wicked thing created from bones, fire and stone." Zhao looked up, expecting to see the thing out in the night sky.

"Then we get ready to put it back to where it belongs, back in hell." Zhao whisper, turning to kiss his Prince for a second, before moving away to wake up the others, to join forces in yet, another hard battle.

AN: Thanks for reading.