Chapter 29 - Lion Cubs

The evening passed uneventfully, perhaps because Tang Jin's ancestors really watched over the ancient fort or perhaps because it offered little of value to the local wildlife. Either way, the trio woke up well rested and ready to continue their trek the next day.

Following a hard day's trek through the forest, the group stopped early for the day on the opposite side of a hill from the ridge where the Blood Rage Cougar den had been reported.

They could have pressed on but no one wanted to arrive at the cougar den at dusk. Blood Rage Cougars were most active in twilight hours, like the time that a pair had encountered Ao Wen and Feng Xi. It would be better to camp here for the night and scout the den in the middle of the day when the cubs were likely to be napping.

This time, no one slept easily and they camped cold without lighting a fire. Feng Xi seemed accustomed to this. Despite many viewing her as a sheltered Fairy who they couldn't imagine being dirty, many years accompanying her father had given her good skills at roughing it. Ao Wen didn't seem bothered by the cold damp night either. Truthfully, she spent much of the night trying to connect with her inner flame wash as a result kept herself quite warm. Tang Jin, who didn't know how either of them were managing, could only curl into his blanket and shiver miserably.

When morning arrived, Ao Wen woke to the sound of rustling from the side of camp where their packs had been placed the night before. Her first thought was that it was early for either of the other two to be getting breakfast. Her second thought when her eyes had opened, was that they had a very big problem.

It would be easy, if one ignored the pulsing veins and arteries that stood out prominently in the muscular Blood Rage Cougar cubs, to mistake them for normal adult mountain lions. At seventy kilograms each and over two meters in length, these young cubs were already deadly predators. Having one of the cubs find their camp this far from the den was a stroke of horrible luck. Having four of them invade their camp while they were asleep was nothing less than divine punishment!

The only saving grace was that the cougars had become interested in the fragrant snacks stashed away in Tang Jin's bag and hadn't yet turned their attention to the sleeping humans. Slowly, Ao Wen began to move under the blanket. Thankfully, she and Feng Xi slept close enough to each other to reach out and touch. Placing a hand gently on Feng Xi's cheek, she turned her elder sister's face towards her and placed a finger over her lips. Moments later, Feng Xi woke to see Ao Wen's intense stare followed by a glance in the direction of the cougars.

Feng Xi shot a glance in Tang Jin's direction but Ao Wen shook her head. Tang Jin was further away from them and couldn't be reached without alerting the cougars. Slowly, Ao Wen moved her blanket aside, easing the still-nameless shark fin-tipped saber in its sheath. She mimed to Feng Xi, pointing first at herself, then the cougars, then at Feng Xi followed by Tan Jin. She'd already learned that she might kill one in an initial rush but if help didn't arrive fast she'd be pulled down by a group.

Seeing Feng Xi nod in understanding, Ao Wen drew her saber and charged towards the cougars. The spirit beasts acted in surprise at a person charging into their midst but none of them mistook the threat she posed, scattering instantly as she charged. Seeing one headed in the direction of Tang Jin and Feng Xi, she changed the direction of her charge, bare feet sinking into soft soil as she roared her challenge at the cougar.

The noise of her charge was enough to awaken Tang Jin as Feng Xi reached his side. "I need my zither," she hissed. "Help keep them away from me for a moment."

Ao Wen had little attention to spare for Feng Xi and Tang Jin as the first cougar pounced towards her, both paws reaching out to maul her. Side-stepping, she pivoted and brought the saber down in a mighty swing, cleaving through bone as her bronze-colored martial aura flared. Moments later, both of the cougar's front paws plopped to the forest floor while the cougar itself cried out in pain.

Diving immediately into a roll, she dodged a second cougar before coming to her feet, seeing the second and third cougars stalking towards her while the fourth had knocked Tang Jin to the ground.

"Shit," she swore, rushing at one of the cougars circling her in the hopes of breaking through to help Tang Jin. Her saber flashed out again only to be batted out of line by a swipe from the cougar, leaving only a shallow cut on its powerful arm. Behind her, the third cougar pounced with a yeowl! Ao Wen dropped to the dirt, planting the ring pommel of her saber into the dirt and lifting the shark fin-shaped tip towards the pouncing cougar. The beast twisted in midair, preventing itself from becoming impaled but still suffering a deep gash along its side that exposed rib bones in several places.

A pained cry from another cougar echoed through the morning air followed moments later by a deep thrum from Feng Xi's zither. Tang Jin stumbled to his feet, blood dripping from his sword, clothes torn, and bleeding himself from half a dozen cuts but very much alive. Light flashed along the edge of his blade as he slashed down at the cougar's wounded flank. The light seemed to solidify into three additional blades, striking the cougar and leaving a deep bloody wound that looked like it had been raked by a mighty mountain lion.

Ao Wen drew deep on her earthen energy, covering her arms and torso with a layer of dull bronze scales as she charged the wounded cougar. The beast snarled and struck out with a heavy paw only for Ao Wen to repeat her earlier performance, cleaving through the bones of the forearm with her nameless saber.

THRUM!

The energy of Feng Xi's zither pulsed loudly, freezing the cougars in place in fear. Ao Wen's blade was already in motion towards the beast's neck. The sudden freeze doomed both that cougar and the one raked by Tang Jin. Seeing two of its siblings fall, the second cougar Ao Wen had fought turned tail to run away only to find a zither string of light curling around its neck. Feng Xi pulled a finger quickly along the length of a high note letting her anger towards the beast that hurt her friends take physical form, constricting around its neck until it collapsed, dead.

Moving swiftly to prevent it from continuing to howl, Ao Wen returned to the cougar that had lost both front paws and mercifully ended its suffering. Drawing deep breaths she looked from Feng Xi to Tang Jin, seeing the former unharmed and the latter less injured than she'd feared. "Everyone alright?"

"Fine," Feng Xi said, getting her breathing under control. "Jin pushed me out of the way when it pounced," she added, giving him a grateful bow with cupped hands.

"I'm," Tang Jin started to say, then stopped as the adrenaline surge passed and his face went pale. For a moment, his limbs felt like water and he collapsed to his knees propping himself up with his sword.

"It's okay," Ao Wen said, fishing in one of the torn packs for a jug of cool water. "Vomit if you need to. I did my first time."

"Really? You?" Tang Jin asked, not entirely believing it. "Thank you," he said, taking a gulp of cool water and wincing at the pain from his wounds.

"Really. Here, let me see," Ao Wen said in a motherly tone as she inspected his injuries. "Nothing too bad. I've got some salves in my pack that'll help, sorry I don't have anything for the bruises though. Xi, can you get things cleaned up to go while I get Jin patched up to travel? We probably need to move fast for a little bit to find a place to make our next stand."

"Next stand?" Tang Jin asked.

"Yeah, my fault," Ao Wen said, pointing at the cougar who's paws she'd cleaved off. "That one yowled like it was the end of the world the whole time we dealt with its siblings. I'm afraid that either its siblings or mother will find us next. Either way, this isn't ideal ground to fight. Bite this stick if it hurts, I'm not taking time to be gentle," she said as she began to apply foul smelling paste to his wounds before wrapping them in bandages.

In less time than it took for a stick of incense to burn, their camp had been cleaned up, the fallen cougars placed in Feng Xi's cosmos bag and their packs repaired enough from the damage the cougars had done to last for at least a bit more trekking.

"Now," Feng Xi asked. "Where to?"