The manic laughter of Lǔ Bān echoed against the ceiling and walls of the cave.

He had outsmarted everyone in the room and the one person who had technically overwhelmed him, had paid a price far too high.

He had lost the fight in this cave, but won the war with his surrender.

The ring still existed.

Láng Wényì had utterly failed in their quest.

Tiāndì had gambled and lost more than he could afford.

In the end no one had truly won. The losses were simply different, some of them had anticipated those and accepted them. Others had been caught in their surprise and would never grow over it.

Lǔ Bān's appearance faded out of existence, leaving Láng Wényì and Xuě Lù to handle the aftermath.

"What did you see when I killed you?"

Xuě Lù tried not to flinch at Láng Wényì's casual question. They really didn't care about life and death very much. But to be so careless about Xuě Lù's own death, was not something he had foreseen.

"Was it only supposed to be a memory of your past or did it also tell you why you came back?"

Why was this important now?

"I killed Lǔ Bān twelve years ago, before the war even started. It is ridiculous you would appear at the one moment in time there was a chance to destroy it."

Xuě Lù had known it had been that long, but hearing it said aloud changed its meaning greatly.

"I don't believe in coincidences, someone sent you back and though I have my suspicions, it would greatly help if you knew more."

Twelve years of silence he couldn't remember, yet Láng Wényì was still not telling him anything.

"Why don't you start talking? I've been the one telling secrets and helping while you kept me in the dark about everything important, including that small detail about my own death."

He shouldn't have said anything. The moment the words left his mouth he knew he had lost.

"So you don't know anything, that's alright. The person who holds the ring right now, can't be on a very high danger level, otherwise it would have come to light they also had a piece. When they show themselves I'll make the next move, divine power to break it in pieces is at my disposal after all."

This would not end well for him, Láng Wényì was gloating.

"I have time to wait it out, chances of it killing me are small. Its original owner might have hated me with a passion, the weapon in itself couldn't care less."

They would do something irreparable to him.

"You on the other hand don't know what will happen to what is left of your soul. Fortunately you don't need any help from me, to solve that problem as it appears my presence wounds you. Have a nice day."

In a flurry of silver wings Láng Wēnyì disappeared, leaving Xuě Lù behind in the broken place he once called home.

-

Áo Rùn was flying outside when a gust of wind made him plummet out of the sky.

Never before had the wind flown this fast by his eyes, his wings didn't cooperate and the earth was coming closer and closer.

-

The trees waved softly in the autumn breeze when a scream of fear destroyed the serenity of the village Kroan lived in. The light of the sun got obscured by a shadow falling through the clouds.

"It's a dragon!"

Kroan didn't recognise the dragon, it wasn't red so it couldn't be Marouan or one of his clan. The dragon was white as snow and far bigger than Kroan had ever seen one.

"I don't remember seeing one that big, or falling from the sky like that."

The actual dragon falling from the sky did not scare Kroan as much as hearing his wife admitting it was something she had never seen before.

"How can that be? Weren't you there?"

Kroan watched as the dragon came closer and closer to the ground, something really bad was going on.

"Yes, but that specific part wasn't my purpose. I assume this one went into hiding during or before the first war."

Dragons didn't fall during flight unless killed. Something that as far as he knew only happened once and they hadn't been public about their action. Though it hadn't taken long either before everyone had been made privy to that fact.

"It's not them."

One of the taller trees pierced the dragon's wing, before the celestial beast disappeared from their sight.

"Who else is capable of doing something like that, apart from the obvious and willing to do it in the open."

Kroan had somewhere during the conversation started running towards the place the dragon had fallen. Shifting would be faster but then Heron would be unable to keep up then. She was fast, but not that fast and would never be.

"You know who, the same who created a murder weapon to kill the opposition."

The trees were destroyed, some even laying on the ground in defeat. They were going in the right direction.

"To kill you."

What was his plan, what role had this dragon played in angering the Leader of Heaven.

-

Áo Rùn was dying.

He knew this, no matter what the kind people who had come to his rescue were trying to tell him.

It was over.

"Is there nothing you can do, Heron?"

The man kept eye contact in a futile attempt to force him to stay awake.

"His wings are destroyed and he's bleeding from more places than we can help. Dragons aren't shifters Kroan."

The woman was assessing his injuries out of his line of sight, but he knew where she was by following the man's eyes.

His throat hurt.

He needed to warn them about the changes that were happening.

"Do you know who did it?"

The man was asking him something, but his voice disappeared in the noise that occupied Áo Rùn's mind.

"Slayer of gods. They-"

They know who did it.

-

The dragon died after they confirmed Kroan's suspicion though he had assumed this person wouldn't so openly kill a dragon.

"Can you send them a message, we need to speak."

Heron was gone before Kroan had finished his request, leaving him behind with what was left of sky's mightiest inhabitants.

-

January 4, 2023

[grammar check]