"I thought you said that it was just Khenbish and Baagvai?" Ye An whispered urgently to Xi Chen.

Behind Khenbish and Baagvai, there was a group of thirty or so well-built Northern warriors. All of them  equipped to the teeth and ready for combat.

Before Xi Chen could reply, Khenbish cut in with his thick accent. "You think you lost me, didn't you, boy? I was merely going around the mountains getting reinforcements."

Khenbish smirked. "You see, you might have your fortress but we have men camped out all over the mountains on our side. You could try running and getting reinforcements from your wall." Khenbish uttered the last word in a mocking tone. "But frankly, you and I both know that you don't have the time."

Beside Khenbish, Ye An noticed that Baagvai had on a troubled look. His eyebrows knitted as if replicating the knots in his thoughts as he watched Khenbish.

Baagvai scooted closer to Khenbish before hunching over to whisper in his ear in Northern. "Don't you think this is too much, Khenbish?"

With irritation etched on his visible eye, Khenbish whispered back to Baagvai, his voice less repressed than the larger man. "Do you want our heads to get chopped off? If we don't bring him back, that's what will happen. Dead or alive, I'm bringing the boy back. And since the emperor is here, I might as well bring the emperor back too. That should be enough for brother to forgive the both of us."

Baagvai still looked unconvinced. "But-"

"Another but and our heads leave our bodies tonight! Is that what you want?!" Khenbish hissed.

Ye An couldn't catch their conversation but she could see that Baagvai's uneasiness deepened.

Khenbish decidedly ignored Baagvai by giving out the Northerners' war cry, spearheading the group of men behind them as they charged at Ye An and Xi Chen.

When Xi Chen was locked up in the box, he was stripped of all of his weapons, even White Tiger, which was now strapped securely to Khenbish's waist. As such, the only thing Xi Chen could do was spur the horse forward as Ye An brandished her sword.

The Northern warriors who were fetched by Khenbish and Baagvai only came on foot. Ye An slashed her way through the throng of men as they galloped through the crowd.

"What's your plan?" Ye An breathed heavily when they had galloped past the aggregation of Northern warriors. 

Xi Chen pulled the reins so that they were facing the group of Northerners once again. "Khenbish is right, they have the numbers. We wouldn't make it even if we make a run for it on horseback. Not without any distraction." Xi Chen's breath was like a soft breeze on Ye An's ears as he spoke.

Ye An nodded grimly. "Unfortunately I have to agree, I see some of them even have crossbows."

Xi Chen continued, his tone of voice somber. "So, the only thing we could do is to continue with this for a couple of times in hopes that they're worn out before I could have a chance of overpowering them in physical combat."

Ye An nodded. "Do as you wish, General Yun."

Xi Chen raised an eyebrow. "Did Your Imperial Majesty just promoted me?"

Despite everything, Ye An still managed to crack a smile. "Well, we'll still need a whole ceremony when we're back in the capital to make it official, but I most definitely did." Ye An added, "If you want the position."

"Well, it's good to know that my sovereign doesn't overlook my contributions to the country. So, I would accept the promotion with nothing but gratitude." Xi Chen remarked smartly before urging the horse into a gallop again.

As they had planned, they went through this galloping and slashing sequence for a few times, fifteen times to be exact, before Xi Chen leaped from the horse and engaged in face-to-face combat with the Northerners. His immediate opponent was Khenbish.

It seemed as if fortune took Khenbish's side as Ye An couldn't spot any scratch on him despite her ruthless horseback slaying. Then Ye An saw Khenbish's weapon of choice, which surprised her because she was fairly sure that spears originated from the Middle Kingdom and had no roots whatsoever in the North.

Khenbish held his spear steady as he aimed for Xi Chen's heart. Xi Chen rotated his entire upper body and swirled to his side, the blade on the spear only a hair's breadth away from his chest. As he did that, he quickly stepped aside from a blade attack by another Northern warrior. In the same breath, Xi Chen ducked from an axe assault. Everything happened in a snap of a finger before he returned to face Khenbish.

Khenbish's spear swept in from the side in his attempt to catch the left of Xi Chen's head. Xi Chen ducked out of the way and slid into place with his back to Khenbish's back before turning around and crouching with his hand stretching out to grab White Tiger from the Northerner's waist.

Ye An, on the other hand, mainly circled around Xi Chen on horseback to prevent more men from attacking him. It proved to be a little bit difficult compared to the previous battles that she was in because of the mountainous terrain.

It took all of her concentration to control the animal's movements. One false move and both her and the horse would have fallen to a certain death. Just when her thought flitted to that, the horse skidded and whimpered in fear which broke Xi Chen's focus for a split second. But that was all Khenbish needed for an opening. His spear pierced the skin at Xi Chen's rib. Realizing his lapse in concentration, Xi Chen quickly pulled away. The damage was already done, but the cut was not deep enough to cause any fatal damage.

"Xi Chen!" Ye An yelled as she steadied the horse.

The Northerners took this opening and swarmed all over Xi Chen. Ye An immediately jumped down the horse to help. Suddenly remembering the flare that was given to her earlier, she quickly pulled out the red one and released the flare into the sky. As the flare exploded into a red flower in the sky with a loud bang, the Northerners, including Khenbish and Baagvai, flinched in surprise.

Xi Chen took his chance and slipped past Khenbish, aiming his sword at the tribe leader's torso. His aim was true and White Tiger was plunged into the Northerner's body to its hilt. With a twist, Xi Chen pulled his sword out, spraying blood all over himself. He then turned the other way to face the rest of the Northerners as Ye An joined him.

"What are you doing?! Get back up on the horse!" Xi Chen roared at Ye An as he blocked an attack over his head. This was the first time she ever saw Xi Chen directing his rage towards her.

Ye An gritted her teeth. "I'm not staying up on a horse when you're battling alone."

"Ye An! Get back up the horse! This is not the time to be headstrong! There are too many people on their side!" Xi Chen shouted roughly as he grabbed Ye An by her waist and plonked her down on the horse. He remained on foot and pulled the reins on one hand while wielding his sword with the other as he braved the throng of Northerners until there was a clear path ahead of them. He then slapped the horse's behind with a clean crack, provoking it to gallop across the border without looking back.

"Xi Chen!" Ye An screeched as she tried to gain control of the agitated animal to return to his side.

Despite Ye An's obvious fury, Xi Chen smiled in relief when he saw that she was safe across the border. The Northerners wouldn't risk crossing the border without instructions from their higher-ups. His shoulders relaxed.

Xi Chen watched the anger in Ye An's eyes morphed into fear.

"Xi Chen! Behind you!" Ye An shrieked in panic.

Xi Chen didn't even get the chance to turn around. He could only hear Khenbish's howl as his spear went soaring over the air towards him. "I swear that I'm going to bring you back to my brother and His Imperial Majesty Sze Chang, dead or alive!"

This time, Khenbish's spear went cleanly through Xi Chen's ribs. He couldn't process it as he looked down at the tip of the spear poking out of his chest.

Xi Chen's wide eyes started to glisten as they searched for Ye An's. Ye An could only watch in horror as Xi Chen fell to his knees. His eyes were still on Ye An even then. She watched the disbelief in his eyes turned into acceptance as he gave her a forlorn smile and mouthed. "I love you. I'm sorry."

The world turned silent for Ye An except for the deafening ringing in her ears. She didn't even hear the galloping hoofs of Ah Lin's horse.

Both Ye An and Ah Lin watched as the light went out from Xi Chen's eyes. Xi Chen fell with a hand clutched over the red that was blossoming rapidly on his chest as he thought to himself. So this was how grandma felt.

*******

Ah Lin took in a shaky breath before breaking the heavy silence. "Your Imperial Majesty-"

"No." Ye An gritted her teeth. "Don't."

They were back at the military barracks. It took Ah Lin, and the rest of the scout party, monstrous amounts of energy to bring Ye An back here. With Xi Chen on the ground, Khenbish had taunted Ye An who's immediate response was to scramble towards Xi Chen's body. All Ah Lin could think of at the time was what would Xi Chen have wanted him to do in that situation and with the help of the other scouts who had arrived after him, he dragged the distraught Ye An away from the scene and back to the military barracks.

Ah Lin's eyes was empty as he said, "He's dead, Your Imperial Majesty."

"No." It felt as if a thousand daggers were cutting her heart apart, each blade cutting an inch at a time. It felt like ten thousand stones had settled their weight on her chest. It felt as though water had pressed into her nostrils, clogging her lungs.

Ah Lin sighed. "He's dead and-"

"Captain Zhang." Ye An glared at Ah Lin dangerously. "If you're going to spout nonsense, I highly advise you to leave."

Ah Lin pursed his lips before leaving the room, Xi Chen's quarters. He stepped out but still stood guard outside with his back to the door.

Once alone in  the room, Ye An heaved a breath. And another. And another. Before a restrained gurgle escaped.

Of course she knew what Ah Lin said was not nonsense. She was there watching the entire scene unfold in reality. But knowing the truth and accepting it was two vastly different matters. Ye An stood still. Unwilling to bridge those two together.

She clutched at her chest. Grasping her clothes tight in her fist as if she was holding onto the last straw, the nape of her neck reddening at the collar cutting at the delicate skin there. What she was desperately holding on to, she didn't know. But she was sure that it definitely wasn't hope. She was trained enough in combat to know that no one would've survived such a wound no matter how hard she wished that he would. No matter how much she prayed for Xi Chen to be alive.

As her thoughts stubbornly went through all the possibilities that Xi Chen could still be alive, like trickles of dew gliding down from the tip of dozens of bald branches to the trunk, her chin dimpled with her grimace, marking the beginning of her first sobs which manifested into a wailing cry. The kind of gut-wrenching, grief-stricken cry that erodes your soul.

With his back to the door, red rimmed Ah Lin's eyes. Blood streaked the whites of his eyes. It was as if they were the gates to hold his tears in. However, the tears still managed to sneak past them as he mourned the loss of someone who was like a brother to him. Someone he never thought would leave so soon.

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*Writer's note: Sooo um yea 😬