Part 4 · Chapters
The Guardian Heartflame
True protection gives everyone the chance to stand side by side.
As the Heartflame Armor closed over his chest, Xiao Jin felt his companions' breathing too. This armor would not allow him to act strong alone. Every crack carried along their bond a reminder that others were bearing the burden with him.
The black-mist army attacked at dawn.
More than a hundred controlled beasts entered the Earth village from three sides. Boulders wreathed in black fire hurtled toward the earth-vein healing chamber. Shuang Ya was still inside, and Feng Ling could barely stand.
Xiao Jin stepped onto the village wall.
The Primordial Ember spread from his chest. Crimson patterns climbed his arms to his shoulders, forming translucent armor. It gave off no suffocating heat. Villagers near him instead felt the reassurance of a winter campfire. The ancient forge's voice still echoed in his heart: this was the Guardian Heartflame.
A blackflame boulder descended.
Xiao Jin spread his hands.
“Guardian Field.”
A ring of faint light spread from the wall and covered the central village. The boulder struck it. Most of the black flame was weakened, but all the remaining impact passed into Xiao Jin's body. His knees bent, and blood seeped from his mouth. The armor held.
“This power doesn't make me invincible,” he told Yan Pan. “Every hit I block really hurts me.”
When the second volley of boulders rose into the sky, Yan Pan did not look at the enemy. He looked back to make sure every face in the healing chamber was behind his shield.
He planted the square shield into the earth vein and pressed his palms to the ground. The stone markings people had always mocked as clumsy lit one section at a time, like the earth opening long-sleeping eyes.
“Earth Guardian Wall.”
Three walls of rock rose around the village. The first took the impact. The second channeled black fire into an empty ravine. The third remained before the children and injured, steady as a promise that needed no loud declaration.
Instinctively, Xiao Jin wanted to rush to the outermost edge. Then he remembered the promise in the ancient forge and stopped. He stayed behind Yan Pan and placed a palm against the wall. The Guardian Heartflame did not steal the earth's color. It flowed through the cracks to wherever support was needed most.
Without turning, Yan Pan said quietly, “You hold the fire. I'll hold the wall.” Xiao Jin nodded.
Yan Pan hoisted his square shield. “So we won't make you take every hit.”
He shook the ground, extending the Earth Guardian Wall's second layer outward. Feng Ling blew the boulders off course. Xiao Hui directed mechanical crossbows toward the black crystals. The healing chamber door opened, and Shuang Ya emerged, leaning on the wall. Her ice core was still cracked.
Xiao Jin hurried over.
“You shouldn't be out here.”
Shuang Ya regarded him coldly. “Deciding for me again?”
He stopped.
“I'm sorry,” Xiao Jin said.
“I shouldn't decide for you.”
He glanced at the cracks still running through the ice core in her chest.
“Next time, I'll hear you out first. And trust you to choose your own place.”
From above, Feng Ling shouted, “Can the touching apology wait? The left side's about to break!”
All four laughed briefly, then ran to their positions.
Black-mist cavalry broke through the wall. Xiao Jin no longer left the team in pursuit. He maintained the field from the center. When attacks fell on Yan Pan, the Heartflame Armor shared the impact. When black fire bound Feng Ling, Xiao Jin used Flame Return to absorb part of its force and send it back along its path, burning through the controlling lock.
Shuang Ya drew the enemy to the valley entrance. “Now!”
Xiao Hui pulled the mechanism, and Yan Pan sealed the retreat. Feng Ling compressed the air. Shuang Ya froze the mist. Xiao Jin drew the Guardian Field tight in an instant, releasing everyone's strength in the same direction.
The black-mist army broke apart.
The villagers had barely begun cheering when a second, darker line appeared on the horizon.
The Black-Armored General walked at the army's head.
The Ember Blade formed again in Xiao Jin's hand. It was as small as before, but its light was no longer linked to his breathing alone.
Shuang Ya took his left side. Feng Ling landed on his right. Yan Pan planted his square shield in the ground.
“Going alone again?” Shuang Ya asked.
“No,” Xiao Jin said. “Together this time.”
Xiao Hui slid down from the control platform and ran into their midst, placing his oil-stained hand on top.
When five hands overlapped, their wounds did not disappear. An apology did not turn back time.
But a new promise began there:
Next time, no one would decide another person's sacrifice in silence.