5 My Little Soldier

Slandering through the ashen darkness, Duan Jian arrived before a gigantic, golden door. On each side of the sunrise-golden door stood a small army of soldiers clad in raven-black amour. With their spears raised and ready, they pointed them at him.

From each small army, a scar-ridden leader stepped forward, sending the dust from the ground with each step into turmoil. Like a united being, they both shouted; "STOP!" towards Duan Jian at the same time.

Duan Jian halted in his steps and tore his dog tags from his neck, throwing them towards one of the guards.

The soldiery guard clutched them with his bony hand and gave them a slight scan from his elf-sharp eyes. Sparing Duan Jian a last glance, he threw the dog tags back at him and moved back into formation, making way for Duan Jian.

His blood-red eyes changed back to their icy-blue colour and his conscious returned. The only thing that stayed the same was his ocean-blue hair, cascading down his head.

At this moment, he could hear a familiar voice again, which gave him goose bumps - simply spine-chilling. "Little boy~, let's have some more fun next time."

The heavy, golden door creaked open, showing an enormous land of green in front of him. From grasslands and flowers to waterfalls and big trees, everything looked awe-inspiring.

After he stepped through the door, a cherry blossom sweet smell assaulted his nostrils. A whiff of baked-apples was lying in the fresh air and accented the sweetness of the air even more. Looking at the mint-green leaves of the proudly erected trees, he felt like he walked into a picture book.

The beauty of the forest not only comforted Duan Jian's heart, it seemed that it was also enjoyed by the animals living in it.

Yolk-yellow ducklings waddled along the riverside, sticking their cute butt feathers clumsily towards the air. With a pleased look in their innocent eyes, they followed their mother and gave an occasional "grackgrack" from them.

The nut-brown deer stood peacefully in the flower field, surrounded by busy bees.

Unnoticed by the mesmerized Duan Jian, the enormous, golden door closed tightly behind him.

With freedom lying in front of him, Duan Jian couldn't help himself and a bright smile blossomed on his face. He hummed a mesmerizing song and followed the path of gravel deeper into the fairy-like forest.

Even though he had never seen this forest near the city, he gave it no heed and just enjoyed this moment of bliss. Putting his hands into his pockets while walking further, he looked like an innocent person taking a stroll in the park.

After having walked more than five minutes, the noises of a surging waterfall could be heard. Following the gravel path even further, he stood before an aquarium-blue waterfall. The water drizzled onto the rocks under it, lifting a curtain of white smoke. The flowers next to it were swinging along and had a honey sweet smell.

Lowering his gaze even more, he saw a petite woman sitting on a throne under the waterfall. The cloud-white mist from the waterfall extended from under the throne like a carpet only for gods themselves to use.

The petite woman had ore-golden, bright hair which flowed over her right shoulder. Her dreamy, duckling-yellow eyes accented her pencil-thin eyebrows. Even a sculptor couldn't have created a better Amazonian figure than hers. Wearing an Eden-green dress, she seemed like she had a gentle and cheerful character.

Opening her sugar sweet lips and showing her angel-white teeth, she formed a soothing smile which eased his heart. With an enchanting and melodious voice she asked, "What are you here for, my little soldier?"

Duan Jian chocked on his words and didn't know what to say. No matter what he would say, he would embarrass himself in front of her. Moreover, he got a familiar feeling from her, as if he knew her. In his panic, he just said what came to his mind to avoid an awkward silence. "Oh. Ahmm… I am on the way to the city. I think I took a wrong turn."

The woman only gave a light smile in return, chuckled, and stood up from her throne. She gracefully walked over the carpet of cloud-white mist towards Duan Jian. Standing next to him, she leaned her head next to Duan Jian's ear and whispered to him in a seductive manner, "You're not my little soldier."

Duan Jian was left perplexed. 'What does she mean?'

Shifting back her head, she continued in a voice no songbird could match, "Every solder of mine knows that this is my throne room. How could any of my sweet, little soldiers mistake my throne room for the outside world or anything else?"

Only now did Duan Jian understand. He hasn't left the H.I.V.E. prison at all! He was still in it, and adding to his mistake, he was in the throne room of the owner of the prison! That was the worst place he could have come to!

Duan Jian started to curse that mysterious voice in his mind for sending him in here.

Within a split-second, the petite woman sat elegantly on the throne again. A lavender-purple hue flashed through her yellow eyes as a golden crown thrice the size of her head appeared above her.

Shortly after, the non-existent sky turned casket-black and thunder was cracking and crashing above their heads. The thunder rang out across the area, echoing through the throne room. A single lightning fought its way through the grumpy, black clouds and shot full of anger towards Duan Jian.

Having a good reaction, Duan Jian could evade the thunder in time. He started sprinting towards the exit to flee from this monster. He also tried to summon his head gear to no avail. It seemed that the puppet ate it last time and his cultivation was now non-existent.

Ghost-white mist crawled out from the ground and slithered along the ground. Cold and heavy raindrops fell from the outraged clouds and drenched Duan Jian. His breathing became ragged and uncontrolled; he didn't know if she followed him or not, but he also wasn't willing to turn around to look.

With his hawk-like gaze focused on the far away golden door, he ran for his life.