8 Before The Eternal Darkness

-Yunlan-

After the big fight and the worse scare of his life, Yunlan make sure to haste their journey over water as much as he could, so by nightfall, they had travel a considerable distance, getting ahead of their previous estimation by at least a full day. That night, they all sat in a circle, as the fireflies returned to protect the ship while they rested and try to plan ahead with the little Zhao manage to see in his vision, as well as Lord Shi's warnings.

"So... the bats are more dangerous than we first thought?" Da Qing asked.

"They have absolute control over the darkness, we are at risk to lose our way there. How good are your senses over stone?" Zhao asked to the Earth Prince, he was not taking chances on repeating the hellish experience over and over.

"Stone is also part of the earth, although is a bit harder to manipulate, but I can have a good picture of it." Da Qing said.

"Good, we need to have a clearer idea of where to go once inside, if we get lost, then it's over for all of us. They will come at us from all angles, so we will need to be alert at all times no matter where we go. Darkness will be our doom, so Shen Wei... your fire is indispensable and so will be Guo's shield. For how long can you maintain it?" Zhao asked the little nervous young Sage.

"Oh... well, for as long as it's necessary... The shield, once summon, mostly acts on its own, it doesn't require too much energy." Guo said nervously.

"Alright, that's fine. You, Zhu Hong, use needles with the strongest poison you have with you and it will be the same with the healers... I know you are dedicated to save lives, but in this quest, ours are in the line pretty much with every step we give." Zhao said.

"Don't worry Yunlan, we will do our part too." Sang said, while Wang and two more healers assented in agreement.

"That's always good to hear. Now..." He looked inside his travel bag and took out a velvet pouch, then he empty the small bag over his palm. They saw a dozen of small stones gather in Zhao's palm, all of them with a faint white glow.

"Moonstones?" Wang asked curiously. She had read of the legendary stone, but had never actually saw one up close.

"Yes. Lord Shi entrust them to me for this part of our journey. As most of you should know, moonstone glows naturally in the darkness as they absorb the light from the moon and reflect it back. These stones had been absorbing moonlight for half a year, so they will not stop shining for at least three months without any further exposure under the moon. I will give one to each of you, so you have a source of light, even if everything else failed."

"However, I warn you. All stones had a bit of star energy stored as well, which can be used as a last resort attack, if you are in danger and had nothing else to defend yourself. Just brake the stone and the magic will be released, but star magic is chaotic and dangerous in closed spaces, so make sure you don't break them by accident and if you use it, get away as fast as you can." Zhao said, handing them to the group, all except Shen Wei.

"Why not Shen Wei?" Sang asked a bit confused.

"He is a fire user, why will he need light when he can create his own? Besides, his fire can crack the stone." Chu said a bit annoyed.

"But my Wang was given one and she is a..." Too late, Sang realize he had called the healer of the Fire Clan, my Wang, which make her blush to the extent of rivaling Wei's.

"Sang!" She yelled completely embarrass, but Zhao simply laughed.

"Don't mind him Wang, at least he is honest and there is nothing wrong in love someone form another Clan, at least not into my eyes." Zhao said, yet the theme turned toward him and Shen Wei.

"Of course not, you shameless pervert almost devoured poor Shen Wei a day ago and right in front of us!" Zhu Hong said.

"Oh, please not this... can we focus back in the plan at hand?" Shen asked, even more embarrassed than Wang. Da Qing laughed.

"He is so red..." Qing teased.

"And cute too..." Zhu added.

"Be careful with compliments, Yunlan is the jealous type..." Da Qing whisper under his breath.

"You are right, I take it back." Zhu whisper with a smile.

"Idiots, I can see this quest failing in so many ways." Chu added.

"Ha! Like you are one to talk big. I have not fail to see the way you look at little Guo..." Zhu added more wood to the flame. Guo look surprised as he too flushed red.

"Nonsense! It's you who had been eyeing the wind playboy." Chu refuted, then Zhu blushed.

"Wait, what? Don't include me in this mess! Isn't it Qing who is eyeing her?" Lin protested.

"Oh, come on, I don't want to get poison." Da Qing refuted back, yet he didn't dare look at Zhu and Zhao finally sighed.

"Enough! There is no shame in loving someone not matter the birth place. I can tell you right now, as someone who have the sight, that by the end of this journey, nothing will be the same for the Clans and that Wang, Sang, Shen Wei and myself, will not be the only ones crossing the forbidden line of the Clans, so don't kid yourselves, I will always know better." Yunlan said, looking at Chu, which avoided his gaze, which in turn make Guo flush even harder. Nevertheless, the discussion ended instantly.

"To answer the question, Shen Wei's fire magic can be used in a way that he can illuminate the caves like a small sun, chasing away the darkness, but that's not the reason I didn't give him one. His power is ten times stronger than most fire users, thus he don't really need one with him, because he can call forward a destruction greater than that of the stones."

"He is right, my Lord is very powerful..." Wang said, quite proud of him.

"That he is... Once inside the caves, we stick together, use all your senses, not just the sight. The bats had a confusion magic, generate by sound waves. If your instinct tell you that something is wrong, then don't ignore it, because there is a high chance its true." Zhao told them.

"I think I was giving a potion to fight illusions..." Wang added as she look inside her bag.

"I guess Lord Tao did knew what was coming." Da Qing said.

"He is the Oracle, what did you expect?" Chu said, but the young Earth Prince ignore it and so most of the night was spent in preparation for the coming challenge.

After a few hours of meditation, Shen Wei stood to look at the water. His thoughts wondering back to his brother and how well or bad he could be doing, but he didn't dare to use their link again. He closed his eyes and inhale the fresh air. Then, he felt two arms wrap around his waist.

"Are you worry about your Didi?" Zhao asked and Shen Wei sighed.

"Yes and no. I know Ye Zun can meet father's expectation, but this is not the safest time to be in charge." Zhao hugged him tighter.

"He is going to do fine, trust me Shen Wei... he is far better than we will soon enough." Yunlan kissed his neck, which send a river of pleasure all around his body.

"Yunlan..." Shen Wei murmur.

"Stay always close to me, my Wei. One scare is more than enough for a lifetime..." Shen turned in Yunlan's arms.

"I'm sorry about that..." Still, Zhao didn't give him time to apologize again, as he trapped his soft lips with his.

"You owe me... months of kisses... for that stunt alone." Zhao said between kisses and Shen smiled against his lips.

"Oh great Water Prince... you sure are demanding." He gave said while deepening the kiss.

"Damn right... my Fire Prince..." Zhao said back, kissing his lover a few more times, before they finally lie down in the floor in each other's arms, sharing a peaceful dream.

-Fire Clan-

The night was filled with a certain tension and it was plain to see for the one who walked toward the throne of the Fire Clan palace with a steady peace. She had bad news, but they were only meant to be hear by Lord Shen and his son, if he was there, which she doubted.

The doors of the throne room open for her, as she announced her arrival to the guards. These days, many healers had come in and out of the throne room, so her presence there was not any different than the others, with one exception. She was the top healer and so, others demanded of her more.

She bowed in front of the Fire Clan leader in respect of his position and waited until the room empty, by the King's command to give her report. They were lucky enough to have someone who guide them with fair justice, for which she served the crown with pride.

"Ming, stand up and tell me with honesty was going on in the towns." Lord Shen urged her and she looked at her leader with great concern. He looked pale, but there was an intense fire behind those dark eyes, pretty much the same one she could see in his son, Shen Wei.

"The sickness had spread to the nearest two towns closer to the palace. I receive words from the Water Clan, telling me, that they too have the sickness spreading. Lady Jun, from the Poison Clan, assure us that she will send a few of her most trusted apprentices to make a stronger medicine for our citizens. Apparently, the sickness attack differently in each Clan land, so we need to get the cure to the others, just in case we also have it spreading to our lands." Ming said.

"Ah, the spreading of the sickness is bad news, but hearing thst Lady Jun offer us her help it good to us all. I have great respect for Nuwa's worshipers... There is something I will like for you to do. It's about Ye Zun. I wish for him to be with you when the healers from the Poison Clan arrives. Right now, he should be taking care of Lady Shin, please inform him that he will be taking Shen Wei's place as of tomorrow. I can no longer rely on Shen Wei alone... he is fighting hard to save the Clans, so his brother will have to fight harder to make sure, his brother has a home to come back." Ming smiled.

"As you wish my Lord." She bowed again and walked away from the throne room toward Lady Shin's quarter and stopped in front of her door, to slightly knock on it, but as she received no answer, she worry, knocking a second time, without much luck.

So she open the door and blushed, when seen the second Prince in a heated kiss with the brunette beauty. Obviously, she was fully recover from her sickness, from which she was glad, but unfortunately, she had her orders. She loudly coughed, making both of them startle, with Lord Ye Zun almost falling from the border of the bed.

"Ming! You scare me!" Lady Shin said with a red face.

"My apologies, but Lord Shen demands, for the Prince to take Shen Wei's place as of tomorrow." She saw deep surprise in the white haired Prince.

"What? Has father go crazy? How can I take Gege's place when he is still out there risking his live to save us?" Ye Zun protested, as he stood. Ming simply smiled.

"My Lord, your father needs a second in command to help him deal with the spreading sickness and as Lord Wei is absent, the responsibility falls over your shoulders. You are to go with me and welcome the healers from the Snake Clan, as for his orders. If you are against his command, please talk with him." And so, the Prince pass her, without bothering to close the door behind him.

"Shin... you lucky idiot..." Shin laughed to her childhood friend.

"He is no scare of sickness anymore..." Shin said, still blushing.

"I can see that..." Ming responded with a smile.

"Don't mind his poor behavior just now, he is not really against taking responsibility as a Prince. It's just that Shen Wei's place is special to him."

"Of course, our heir is special to us all, but I think that it's time for Ye Zun to have a taste to that responsibility that could be completely his, if all fails..."

"Please don't say that... let's pray that Shen Wei and all the Clans heir's come back to us in no time."

"Of course, let's pray for their safe return. Good night." Ming said, walking out of the room and closing the door behind her.

AN: Thanks for reading.