1 Ambush

Anguished pleas carried across the water. Men shouted at each other as they tried to extinguish the flames that were growing fiercer with each second. Fear, anger, and confusion muddled their moves. Feet tangled in ropes. Hips knocked corners. Bodies fell through weakened floorboards. None knew where these flames had started. A traitor some yelled, a spy others screamed. The striking blue could only mean the cause of their brother's and sister's demise were man-made.

The sudden wind shifted. Carrying the dark smoke towards the banks. Coiling around the lone stranger standing idly by. Watching the spectacle with interest.

A finger toyed with the mask attached to the face. Eyes cast onto the flag. The mark of the Black Water crowned prince. Feng Mo Chou. A tortoise entwined with a snake. The silver emblem against the black was only emphasised by the flames. Hesitation kept Jiang Ying Yue from making a move. If she stepped in and aided the crowned prince and his people. Word would carry that Paralyser has sided with Black Water and the Crown Prince Mo Chou.

Ensuring a war under the guise of fear that the Black Water tribe would seek to create a government that would control all the other tribes. With their resources and having the upper hand by being surrounded by water. Tribes from the west and centre would only make their move together. Causing for their lands to be unprotected by the south and east. The South would be more interested in keeping their borders safe while the Eastern Tribe would take this opportunity to cease the weakened land.

A very unladylike growl left Ying Yue's lips.

Bypassing the smoke. She slinked into the forest. Climbing up one of the trees. Only when her foot found a stable perch, did she sail to the next. Quietly and nimbly. She made her way closer to the dock. Ripping her mask off. Black hair released from its binding. Cascading down in silky waves. Only when she inverted her clothes. Jiang Ying Yue jumped through the trees and dove into the water.

The murky waters made it hard to see ahead. The pale white hand glistened before her eyes. Beyond the fingertips. Pure darkness. She pleaded that the creatures that lurked in these waters kept their distance.

Just as her lungs cried out for air. Nearing the surface. She caught the flickering flames above. Lurching forward. She peeked at the boat. Hoisting herself upwards. Water glided across her skin and down her clothes. It was moments like these where being a warrior cultivator would have come in handy. To fly across the sky as she had seen her brother and sister do countless of times. Or to even dry herself. So she wouldn't be soaked and cold.

Inching along the edge of the boat. She kept an ear out for anyone that would happen upon her. Thankfully the majority of the commotion came from high above. Finally, after slowly creeping around, she found an empty room. Slipping inside.

The tables were upturned. The aftermath of hurried men. Broken dishes of forgotten and now stale food and what looked to be were jugs of, from the fragrance wafting beneath the stench of smoke, the notorious south's wine. Half a jug consumed and even the strongest of man would be blacked out.

What a waste. She mused. Kicking an empty jug out of the way.

Bypassing the mess. Ying Yue crept through the corridor. Waiting with bated breath until she heard the sound of hurried but sure footsteps. She waited until he drew closer before she fell towards the ground. Pain shot through her elbow from knocking on the hard floor. Keeping her eyes closed in fear she would send the man a glare for not catching her. Weren't they all high cultivators?

"Miss!!" He exclaimed in shock.

She felt his body draw closer. Could smell his breath. It was putrid. Her face remained emotionless. Hoping her nose didn't wrinkle in disgust. The second his hands drew closer. Her eyes sprung open. Dragging her body away from him in mock fear.

"It's okay," he lifts the token attached to his waist. "I am the Black Water's crowned prince's bodyguard."

Only when her eyes fell onto the token did she visibly relax. Making sure that her eyes were glistening when she looked back into the face of her so-called saviour. She asked;

"What's going on?"

He kept his distance. Watching her with furrowed brows. "How did you get here?"

"I don't know. Where are my guards? I was with them at th------."

Screams above pulled both their gazes upwards. Warnings for the pirates to pull back. The crackling of the flames could be heard with the sound of trampling feet. Voices called out names. A chorus of 'what now?' and 'we must protect the prince'.

"We need to move quickly."

The guard gathered to his feet. His eyes watched her as she slowly got to her own. It was then. As she sized the stranger up. Ying Yue realized that these weren't the men that often would accompany Feng Mo Chen. They were too fresh in the field. Many at the royal court would remark how the man who trained the crown prince's personal bodyguards, who happened to be her eldest brother, duplicated himself by how similar the guards were perceived. So serious and emotionless. This man was too emotional, too invested in her, and not keeping his prince as his number one. What exactly was going on here?

Following the guard. She kept a close eye on him. Why were the usual men that her eldest brother had trained not here? Was this man exactly who he says he is? It was easy to don the clothes and bare the token. Especially when convincing a woman with no speck of qi inside of her.

Both kept an eye around them. The guard more openly than Ying Yue. Going deeper and deeper into the ship. The heat from the flames was starting to cause sweat to pepper across her forehead and the back of her neck.

"Shouldn't we be trying to find a way to escape the boat?"

"The flames have surrounded all exits."

"What about the water?"

"We cannot risk the prince's safety."

'So you would much rather risk it with fire that is designed to tear the skin from flesh and melt the bones?' she nearly rolled her eyes. What idiots. Keeping her lips tight as they turned a bend and came before a guarded door. The guard to the left opened only after confirming the woman following behind was with her so-called saviour.

The second they entered through. Her companion bowed low. Greeting his prince. Ying Yue followed suit. Seven guards. None she knew. Aside from the eighth one standing beside Feng Mo Chen. His third most trusted personal guard. One exit. The one she just came through. Another potential exit could be below their feet.

Yet here they all stood.

"Jiang Ying Yue!"

Feng Mo Chen soft voice called out in shock. His body swayed as he attempted to get to his feet. Wanting to pull her up from her bow. Before he could move she stood to her full height. Eyes roaming over the prince. His lips were cracked, eyes blood red, and skin a sickly sheen. Now she understood why these men were accompanying him. To think the prince was so stupid to employ such an open and risky trap to capture whoever it was that has been attempting to end his life since he was appointed the crowned prince and heir to the throne. Ying Yue wondered if her brother knew about this plan.

"Why are you here?"

His voice was barely a whisper. Strained to get the words out. He panted and held onto his chest.

"I was out by the docks with my guards," she began the same story she told the other. "One minute I was there and the next I woke up here in a water bogged room. I don't understand, what's going on? Are you okay, your highness? Where is your doctor?"

"Killed."

Her eyebrows rose. Yet, she felt no surprise. Poison, change of guards, and an ambush. From the looks on the two before her. That meant it wasn't his trusted and personal doctor that often accompanied him. Ying Yue felt a smidgen of relief. Though her heart went out to the innocent doctor that filled in for his master. His personal doctor was her other brother and a man that was a close friend to their family.

Jiang Ying Yue bowed again.

"Please permit me, your highness, to seal your blood flow to cease the poison from spreading. It should give you enough time to get us to safety and to a doctor."

"You know medicine?"

"No," she lied. "But my second brother taught me a few things after I pestered him."

A puff of air, like a scoff, came from the prince's lips. She peeked a glance to see that it was an attempt of laughter before he grew serious. Flicking his wrist to beckon her forward. Jiang Ying Yue bowed again before she approached. She knew that without medicine on hand or her needles, she wouldn't be able to seal his flow, not in the most common of ways. If he was a member of her family or someone who knew her skills. She could use her fingers to administrate it straight away. But with all eyes on her and the prince being the subject...

On her hesitation. Feng Mo Chen peeked at her. His eyebrow raised. She glanced around her. Which prompted him to send his men out. She was surprised he so easily agreed to what she was asking. The trust this man would place in someone that was merely related to one of his trusted bodyguards.

"Even if you kill me. You wouldn't make it out here alive."

She smiled. Prompting him to close his eyes. Only then when he did. She struck his neck and knocked him out.