1 The Cursed Flame

Lee Fe remained hidden in the forest trees, keeping watch and waiting as he was commanded. Enemy beast like soldiers and two headed demon hounds paced around the perimeter of this obsidian monstrosity of a castle, legend says that the Midnight King conjured up his army and castle from the underworld with just the twitch of an eye and conquered the world.

"We aren't ready for this." Lee Fe thought, there was too much about the Midnight King that they didn't know and many of them were going to die a meaningless death if things went south. Ja Shu was a strong leader, but his over confidence was troublesome. After Kal Yu Han's death, Ja Shu Han being his eldest son was automatically thrown into command. He was a great warrior indeed, but his hotheadedness often left everyone questioning if he should lead or not. Here they were a thousand men strong about to attack the midnight Kings castle that they knew nothing about. No one had ever laid eyes on the midnight King and lived to talk about it. The only information they had were legends passed down from the elders who survived the coming of the Midnight King. The elders told stories that when he arrived, the sun burned out and the earth was submerged into darkness. The Midnight King and his beast like army of destruction caused devastation while he conquered kingdoms and villages with ease, no one stood a chance against the Midnight King and his army of beast. The seers that were left could only see things at random, and unfortunately their visions could never see passed the aura of dark energy that surrounded the Midnight King. Truth be told, they had nothing of solidity to go on when it came to this harrowing King and even with the various gifts people were born with, it still may not be enough.

Lee Fe squeezed his fist, it shaking with uncertainty, he would be punished for taking actions into his own hands, but it was necessary. Taking a deep breath, he whistled like a bird, signaling a retreat. The whistle echoed through the trees as other men responded sounding like a flock of birds in the night as they all retreated to their village.

After about an hour the army of a thousand men made it home in different groups their swords and weapons in hand.

"Open the gate!" one of the gate watchers from the inside yelled.

The gate opened and the army of men walked in, most of them sighing with relief and welcoming the fact that they would get to see their wives and children again.

"Who blew the whistle?" Ja Shu yelled, he and his group the last to arrive. He was furious, just like Lee Fe knew he would be. All the men looked around at each other, some of them shrugging and whispering they thought that Ja Shu did.

"Who blew the damn whistle? Speak now or I'll.." Ja Shu demanded once more before he was suddenly cut off.

"It was I Ja Shu." Lee Fe yelled, stepping forward and talking over Ja Shu.

Ja Shu marched over to Lee Fe, the two of them now face to face, "You dare undermine me in the midst of a battle? You were to wait for my command!" Ja Shu yelled, shoving Lee Fe back, causing him to lose his balance a bit.

Le Fee stared at Ja Shu, he knew he would be angry with him, but he would rather his Commander be angry with him than dead.

"What have you to say for yourself?" Ja Shu demanded.

"If I could return to the past, I would whistle again." Lee Fe finally spoke, the thousand men around him whispering. "We are not prepared to face the Midnight King." Lee Fe added.

"Are you the commander?" Ja Shu yelled, positioning himself in front of Lee Fe again.

Lee Fe exhaled heavily, "You would lead your men to die and then what? Who will you have left to defeat the Midnight King and his army?"

"Damn your insolence! Lock him away!" Ja Shu yelled, storming away. Hesitant at first, men gathered around Lee Fe, and he nodded letting them know it was okay to arrest him. Lee Fee was put into a cell where he sat for hours, surely Ja Shu would come to his senses sooner or later.

Lee Fe began to drift off when he heard footsteps coming his way.

"Leave us." Ja Shu said to the guard. The guard nodded walking away, leaving Ja Shu and Lee Fe alone. Ja Shu touched the cell door and it unlocked.

"Why do you wait here when you could have easily broken out and been asleep in bed with your wife by now?" Ja Shu asked.

"To help you make a statement of course.", Lee Fe responded, forcing a smile onto Ja Shu's face.

"Walk with me." Said Ja Shu, leaving the cell. Lee Fe stood up, walked out of the cell and caught up to Ja Shu.

"What a grand night it is tonight." Ja Shu rambled.

"It is always night Ja Shu, what is so grand about this one?" Lee Fe responded.

Ja Shu chuckled, "You never appreciate the beauty of a moment."

"I am just being truthful; how do we even know what time of day it really is?" Lee Fe said, staring at the ground as he walked.

"That is true, but we must keep some sort of regularity of what things use to be. I must say my friend, you have truly embarrassed me tonight. I felt betra.."

"Please do not use that word." Lee Fe said, suddenly stopping and cutting Ja Shu off. "I would never do such a thing. Maybe you cannot see that now, but my gut feeling has never been wrong, not once."

"And does your gut feeling have no trust in me, your best friend? You are my second, my right hand, the next commander should I fall, but your faith in me has dwindled more now than ever. It doesn't sit well with me that you do not trust me or my judgement when it comes to leading our people." Ja Shu said firmly.

"It isn't that I don't trust you Ja Shu, you named me your right hand so it is my duty to help you down the right path and being so means that we are bound to disagree from time to time."

"What will you have me do? Sit and wait for the midnight King to come and attack us when he is ready? We are waiting to die, why not strike first?" said Ja Shu with irritation. The wind began to pick up, roaring past Lee Fe.

Lee Fe shielded his face, "Calm yourself Ja Shu, this is a conversation, not a fight." Ja Shu, closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, turning his back to his friend.

"Let the seers do their jobs, they may be able to find something that may help us defeat him. There's no need to rush to our demise." Lee Fe exclaimed, hoping his friend could see his point of view.

"All we have to go on are stories and no one has ever even seen him, who's to say that he is even as formidable as they say?" said Ja Shu.

Lee Fe shook his head, "And you'd be willing to gamble with lives because there's a possibility that the stories are false?"

Ja Shu cut his eye at his friend and continued walking, "So you will not fight with your commander then?"

Lee Fe stopped walking; Ja Shu was quite stubborn to say the least. "I will gladly fight with you, as your second, I swear to you, but I will not back you on a suicide mission!"

Ja Shu turned around, the two friends glaring at each other, "You are quite fierce, aren't you? You will make a fine Commander one day."

Lee Fe rolled his eyes, "Ja Shu do not speak such nonsense. You will live a long and happy life and I will grow old by your side."

Ja Shu smiled, "We will wait until we have more information on the Midnight King, now go home to your wife, I'm sure she misses her fierce husband." Said Ja Shu turning his back to Lee Fe.

"Goodnight Commander." Said Lee Fe sighing with relief, slightly bowing and making his way to his home.

Ja Shu turned around to watch as Lee Fe was leaving, his long straight and black hair slowly blowing in the wind. Lee Fe was certainly fierce, sometimes too fierce for his liking.

"So, he let you out, did he?" said an old man sitting on the steps to his house drinking a bottle of rum.

Lee Fe smirked and walked over toward the old man, "We talked it out, he isn't as angry with me anymore."

"You were in the right you know, there are men here who look to you, you saved them." Said the old man taking another gulp of his rum.

"You flatter me." Lee Fe responded staring at his feet.

"I mean it, Ja Shu is a spoiled brat of a man, a good warrior but not fit for leadership." The old man spoke.

"You must learn to hold your tongue old man; he is our Commander; he deserves your respect." Said Lee Fe.

"Commander by default, young man, it should be you. You have the blood of Wen running through your veins, the blood of the flame." Said the old man.

"And what good is power you cannot control?" Lee Fe asked, turning his back on the old man and walking away.

"You cannot control it because you fear it, first you must bury your fear, then bury the one in your way."

Lee Fe stopped in his tracks and spun around, "Kill the one in my way? Do you speak of Ja Shu? You do understand that I am his second? I could have you arrested!" Lee Fe warned.

"Oh, don't listen to the ramblings of a drunken old man, I mean no harm, goodnight young man." Said the old man taking another gulp of his rum.

Lee Fe sighed heavily, turned around and continued to his house. No one ever had the guts to say it out loud until now, but the old man was right. Ja Shu was only selected because of the sudden death of his Father at Lake Ono. On the way home from a recon mission, Kal Yu and his men were ambushed by the Midnight Kings army while they were sleeping, only one made it back to tell the story because he was away from camp taking a piss when it happened. Before that Lee Fe's Father Kang Wei Wen was the commander with Kal Yu as his second. During a battle with the Midnight Kings army, Kang Wei disappeared, never to be seen again, so by default, Kal Yu was indeed named Commander. Lee Fe hissed, "Who does that old man think he is and what does he know of me? No matter how he became Commander, the title is Ja Shu's by right!", he thought.

Making it back to his home, Lee Fe wiped his feet and opened the door. "Sai Yu, I'm home.", he said loudly. Coming in from the other room Sai Yu stood in the doorway, her pretty face pouting and her big eyes squinted at her husband.

"My husband has finally decided to grace me with his presence, you've returned home three hours ago." Sai Yu said rolling her eyes.

Lee Fe smiled, walking over to his wife, "My dear, forgive me, for I had some business to attend to."

Sai Yu looked at her husband, the tears in her eyes streaming down her face, "I didn't think you were going to come home."

Lee Fe enveloped his wife, "I am home my love and I promise to always return to you."

"You don't know that! How many times are you going to allow Ja Shu to lead you to death? One day you won't come home and what am I to do then?" Sai Yu shouted, shoving Lee Fe off of her.

"Sai Yu, I brought us home, we are home, and we are safe!" Lee Fe shouted, only so his weeping wife would hear. Lee Fe grabbed at his wife and she fought him, slapping away his hands as he tried to hold her.

"No! No, because you'll only run off to war again if he commands it!" Sai Yu shouted, still fighting her husband and suddenly Lee Fe went flying across the room, landing on the dining room table and breaking it.

Lee Fe let out a barely audible moan as he stood up holding his back, looking at his wife surprised at what she had just done to him. "Alright, alright Sai Yu, calm down." Lee Fe said calmly walking over to his wife and holding her tightly as she let herself sink onto the floor. The two sat on the floor in silence for a while, Lee Fe still holding his wife as she sobbed softly, resting her head onto his chest.

"I didn't mean to." Sai Yu apologized, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"I see," Lee Fe replied, not thinking anymore of it.

Run away with me, we can leave tonight." Sai Yu pleaded; her voice shaky as she spoke.

Lee Fe sighed heavily, "You know I cannot do that; I am his second."

"And I am your wife, does my brother mean more to you than I?" said Sai Yu looking up at her husband.

"Please do not do this, you know there is no one in this world I care for more than you." Lee Fe said, burying his head in the nape of his wife's neck and squeezing her tighter.

"I missed you.", Le Fei whispered into his wife's ear, as he planted kisses onto her neck, his warm breath tickling her skin. Sai Yu let out a soft moan, trying to keep quiet, but her efforts proved a waste of time. Lei Fe lifted his wife up, the two of them making their way to the bedroom.

***

Lee Fe lay on top of his wife, his head resting on her stomach as he caressed her thigh. He glanced up at his beautifully naked wife who was most certainly now relaxed and satisfied. Allowing a smirk onto his face, Lee Fe continued massaging her thigh.

"You nearly flattened me earlier, you've gotten much stronger since you last used your gift. Maybe it was because you were upset." He said.

Sai Yu lay under Lee Fe, running her fingers through his long hair that was messy now, "It's because I haven't bled for weeks now, my hormones are all over the place. Lee Fe I'm….I'm pregnant."

Lee Fe quickly looked up at his wife, utter disbelief on his face and then he released a smile, rubbing and kissing his wife's belly. "He will be just like his Father." Lee Fe said proudly.

"And what makes you think it will be a boy? Maybe she will be just like her Mother.", Sai Yu said with a giggle.

"Whatever, the sex, may it be a beautiful healthy baby." Lee Fe said, still smiling as it suddenly faded, his mind racing a thousand miles per minute.

Sai Yu had talked Lee Fe to death about their growing child before drifting off to sleep. Careful not to disturb her, Lee Fe had gotten up, closing the door behind him and made his way into the dinning room where the broken table was still laying on the floor. He walked over to an open window and began looking at the sky, the gentle breeze caressing his handsome, but worrisome face.

"How could I have not been more careful?" Lee Fe thought, closing his eyes. It was not that he did not want the child; he just did not want it to be born in these uncertain times. Now he understood why Sai Yu was so upset when he first got home. How was he going to be able to protect them both? "Dammit!" Lee Fe cursed, his thoughts driving him further and further away from sane. Suddenly running away with Sai Yu didn't sound like such a bad idea, but where could they go that the Midnight King would not find them, not to mention Ja Shu would never forgive him. Lee Fe sighed heavily punching the wall, his fist stinging from the impact. "The Midnight King needed to die, that was the only way." Lee Fe thought.

*****

Ja Shu lay awake in his bed, two women asleep on either side of him, "I am not wrong!" he thought. "My men are strong; we hide from no man nor beast!" Ja Shu got up out of bed, somewhat disturbing the sleeping women, put on his robe and exited his room.

"You there!" Ja Shu yelled to a man who was tending to the plants in front of his house.

"Yes Commander?!" the man replied, jumping up quickly, running over and standing at attention in front of Ja Shu.

"Spread the word, tell every man and boy to ready themselves, we leave camp when the moon is no longer in the sky. We will defeat the Midnight King once and for all!" Ja Shu shouted to the man.

The man stood before Ja Shu with a shocked look on his face, "Why are you still here? Do what I've asked of you!" Ja Shu shouted to the man. The man stared at the ground, saying softly, "yes, right away sir." and ran off to spread the word.

**

Lee Fe tossed and turned, low cries seeping out while he slept, images flashing in and out of his head.

"Here's where you've been hiding." Said Kang Wei as he kneeled down under the table with a reassuring smile. "Don't you cry, you will learn to use your gift. Lee Fee, you are the only member of the Wen bloodline in centuries to have been blessed with the gift of the flame."

"I won't! I'll never use fire again! Never!" eight-year-old Lee Fe cried to his Father.

"It's alright son, I'm fine! I am the commander, it will take a lot more than that to keep me down." Kang Wei said with a smile, showing Lee Fe that the new burns on his hands and forearms were not that bad. Little Lee Fe pouted, crawling out from under the table and his Father picked him up, again smiling and reassuring him that everything was okay. Kang Wei was too proud to admit it, but his son had burned him badly when he got angry during training and Lee Fe knew that.

"You are bound to the flame!" a deep sinister voice echoed through Lee Fe's head, replacing his Father's calming one.

"No…nnno…." Lee Fe whispered and suddenly he was standing in the middle of his village, the entire place was consumed with fire. Every man, woman and child circled around him, their bodies smoking as their eyes glared in his direction without blinking.

"Lee Fe Wen! Lee Fe!", a familiar voice called out to him and a baby began cry. Lee Fee looked around at all the people frantically trying to find the person calling out to him, he knew who it was.

"Sai Yu!" Lee Fe called out and suddenly she appeared, holding a screaming infant in her arms. Tears swelled in Lee Fe's eyes as he struggled his way over to his wife, but he never seemed to be getting any closer no matter how hard he tried.

"Burn them all!" the voice echoed, roaring in the night sky.

"I will not!" Lee Fe screamed, as he continued struggling to get to his wife and child. When he was almost there, his arms began to tingle with a burning sensation. He looked down at his hands and they were on fire. "No!" Lee Fe yelled.

"Burn them all!" the voice roared again and when he looked up Sai Yu, his child and the entire village of people burst into flames, their screams ringing his ear drums.

"Noooo…nooo…I…I…didn't…mean to!" Lee Fe cried, falling to his knees in complete in utter shock. Lee Fe watched while everyone burned, tears streaming down his cheeks as a smile suddenly creeped onto his face.

**

Lee Fe's eyes snapped open, and he shot up in bed. His body was covered in a cold sweat and his heart was beating out of his chest. "What...what was that?" he said softly, his voice shaky at the thought of what he had just woken up from. Lee Fe squeezed his eyes shut, quickly opening them and turned over his trembling hands, his palms sweaty, but no warmer than usual. It had been a while since the fear of the flame in his body had given him a nightmare. Kang Wei always said he was blessed, but to Lee Fee, it was a curse.

"Knock, knock!" a loud bang on the front door demanded scaring Lee Fe and his sleeping wife.

"What was that?" Sai Yu whined.

"I'm sure it's nothing, go back to bed." Lee Fe said as he got up and made his way to the front door. Lee Fe sighed heavily before opening the door, he knew that something was wrong, or they would not be knocking.

Lee Fe opened the door to see a group of men suited up outside his door. "What's the meaning of this?" he demanded.

"It's Ja Shu, he's lost his wits, he's rambling off about the Midnight King, said anyone who refuses to go will be committing an act of treason."

Lee Fe's eyes widened, quickly going back to normal, "I'll be right out." Le Fee said as the men that had came to his door nodded and left. "Dammit it to hell!" Lee Fe cursed, thinking that he and Ja Shu had come to an understanding, it was apparently evasion after all. Quickly throwing on his robe and his gear as quietly as he could, Lee Fe made a dash for the front door leaving out, ignoring his wife as she called out to him in a lethargic voice.

Lee Fe hurried toward the front of the camp where there was a lot of commotion and when he got there, he witnessed Ja Shu carrying on with his men who were outright refusing to follow him into battle.

"This is an act of treason and you will burn for it!" Ja Shu shouted toward the men that were circled around him.

Lee Fe pushed past the men, hurrying to the front of the group, "Over my dead body!", he shouted, silencing everyone.

Ja Shu quickly turned around, the look of a mad man on his face, "You dare undermine my authority in front of my men again!" Ja Shu shouted.

"You said we would not make a move until we had more information!" Lee Fe shouted.

"I am the commander; I need permission from no one!" Ja Shu shouted the wind beneath him swirling around his fist.

Lee Fe noticed Ja Shu felt threatened and he was ready to attack his own men should need be. "Ja Shu listen to me…"

"I will not listen to you any longer, your judgement is clouded because you are afraid, but I the commander am not! We can defeat the Midnight King and we shall be known as the men who did!" Ja Shu shouted.

"You will kill us all!"

"You aren't fit to lead!"

"It should be Lee Fe!"

"Stepdown!" men shouted within the crowd and soon all the men were chanting "stepdown!"