Part 2 · Chapters
Taking the Blow for Xiao Hui
An unexpected encounter opens a door. Climbing out is still up to you.
The hanging bridge swayed above the abyss. Each rotten plank seemed to warn them that there was not enough safety ahead for two, and their pursuer would not give anyone time to choose.
Only one ancient hanging bridge remained among the cliffs.
Beneath it lay no river, only darkness too deep to see the bottom. Wind blew up from the abyss without a trace of warmth. Even drifting snow seemed to be swallowed as it drew near.
“This is the Fireless Abyss.” Xiao Hui had gone pale. “The old man at the workshop said they never even find the bodies of people who fall in.”
Behind them, black flame blasted through the rock face. The figure emerged from the smoke with his hounds.
Xiao Jin pulled Xiao Hui onto the bridge. Rotten planks snapped beneath their feet, and ancient iron cables groaned under the strain. Xiao Hui ran to the control panel at the center and pushed his tools into the rusted gears.
“If we lower the gate on the other side, it'll lock the bridge in place.”
“How long?”
“A long time.”
“Then make it quick.”
Xiao Jin turned to hold the center of the bridge. When the first hound leaped at him, he lacked the strength to destroy its core. Instead, he pried loose the plank under its feet, dropping it into the abyss. A second jumped across the gap. Grasping a swaying cable, he threw his whole weight against it and knocked it over the edge.
The figure in black stepped onto the bridge. Black fire spread from his feet, burning the planks one by one into ashes without heat.
“You can't beat me with him in tow,” he said.
“I couldn't beat you alone either.”
“Then why not throw away the burden?”
Xiao Jin drove the broken staff into the bridge deck, barely stopping an ice blade. “Because he's not a thing.”
The figure turned his wrist. The ice blade knocked away the staff, and black fire exploded against Xiao Jin's chest. He fell to his knees, then immediately seized a chain from the deck and wound it around his opponent's ankle.
“Done!” Xiao Hui finally pulled the mechanism.
The heavy gate at the far end crashed down, locking both sides of the bridge. As the deck tilted, Xiao Hui's tool bag slid to Xiao Jin's feet.
Xiao Jin snatched it up and threw it back, the real emblem still inside.
“Take it back. Give it to Lie Ang.”
“What about you?”
“I'll catch up.”
Xiao Hui refused to leave. With all his strength, Xiao Jin pulled a spare iron cable. The deck lurched, sending Xiao Hui sliding toward the far bank. The figure cut the chain around his ankle and raised a hand toward that small retreating back.
A thread of black flame, compressed to a razor-thin line, shot out without a sound.
Xiao Jin saw it clearly.
He also had time to dodge aside.
But his body moved before thought. The Ash District's alley entrance, the ring of fire by the old water tower, and the words “there'll be no one left in front of him” all flashed before his eyes.
Xiao Jin turned and threw himself between the black flame and Xiao Hui.
Black fire pierced his shoulder and back.
The world fell silent. Only the dull, almost gentle jolt of black flame passing through his chest remained. Xiao Jin took half a step forward, as if still trying to shield Xiao Hui more completely. Then the impact blasted him off the bridge.
“Xiao Jin!”
Xiao Hui lunged toward the cliff, catching only a torn scrap of clothing. Xiao Jin fell into darkness, shrinking rapidly from sight.
“Stay alive!” he shouted with the last of his strength. “Tell them the truth!”
Darkness closed over him, swallowing his body and Xiao Hui's unfinished cry of his name.
Sobbing, Xiao Hui tried to climb down the cliff, but the fallen bridge gate trapped him on the other side. The figure stood at the broken bridge's edge and made no further attack.
“Go back,” he said. “Let Flame City know that meddling child is dead.”
Xiao Hui hugged the cloth bag tightly. Tears froze on his face. For the first time, he hated his weakness—not because he could not make fire, but because in that moment he could only stand in the place someone else had protected and watch Xiao Jin fall.
He turned and ran toward Flame City.
Far below, the wind went on for a long time.
Then even the wind disappeared.