The Sorceress: Blossoming Power

Farewell

General Lofey and Tyriece didn't wait for help and did their job as veteran fighters who experienced wind and rain to win a city in the name of Goding. Tyriece, riding on his flying horse, led the stone Chiangdas to dig a deep ditch in the middle of the former Platanna camp. 

The general told the scattered water and plant Chiangdas to pull those Undead and throw them to the newly dug hole as wide as the camp itself. The fire Chiangdas understood the next step. Without hesitation, they burned those who were thrown into the hole. 

Xinyi, Ming, and the spirit guardians didn't involve in this arduous task. They ran to the city gate when they saw the Undead were on their way to enter the city while some passed through the forest at the sides of the city. Although the gates were closed, the forest could lead them to the back of the mountains where the innocent families lived in tents. They had to protect them at all costs.

Nianshi and Meirga flew above the city as a lookout on The Undead's directions while burning those they saw. Yet, these Undead were truly deadly why the kingdom of Cendarth banned its practice. Although they were charred black after the dragons' flames burned them, they continued to walk as if they were a walking torch until their bodies broke by themselves. Somehow, they didn't stop there. The heads rolled on their own, looking for prey. 

This annoyed Nianshi and stomped hard on it until it turned into dust. And that was the end. He thought of doing this to all the Undead, but they had scattered everywhere. They couldn't even track the rest unless they burn the entire forest. His fears were in the dot because the trees hid some Undead and were on their way to the other cities in the unthreaded path.

Nianshi flew to Lofey's side to tell him what he did. Good timing, Ming and Xinyi, who rode on Shijian's back, were there to ask for the Chiangdas help. While flying above the hole, Xinyi proposed the dragons would do the incineration of those Undead in the ditch while the Chiangdas would team up to track down and capture those heading to the villages and other cities.

While they made their plans in mid-air, Prince Zelmer arrived. Ming wished to punch hard the prince, to pour out his anger, blaming the man for this onslaught. But Xian Lang, who was sitting behind Tyriece, on the latter's horse, stopped Ming. He wanted to hear from the prince. As a man wised by experience explained that this was not the time for blaming. They had to find the one who did this first and stop the person. Ming argued and insisted that the prince was the one who did it.

Hearing their arguments, the prince was heartbroken and thought of Lady Seliah. He told them the truth and offered to leave Lady Seliah's life's punishment in their hands. He also explained that he didn't tell her to do such a sinful spell, nor had he any knowledge of her arrival. He also informed them that the kingdoms of Platanna banned this dark power utterly.

Xinyi didn't wait for them to finish and insisted on her plans she said earlier to them. She argued they had to move now or more people would become Undead before nightfall. She also added they had to set aside their fights and settle their scores later.

Thus, they grouped together as one. The once enemies become allies in an instant at this desperate time. A team composed of twenty Chiangdas of different powers, two black-clad warriors, five green, blue, and red-dressed men. A Chiangda commander led every team. Their major task was to capture and burn that Undead to dust before their vileness would reach farther. It would be a disaster if it did.

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Night fell, but only a few teams came back, reporting that they only found a few and burned them. But no one could tell it was evening since the skies had darkened since morning. The worst, the unicorn's horn was still in mid-air but it blackened. After the color changed, the lightning and thunder worsened. Xinyi and the rest had a bad feeling about this.

They asked the prince what would happen next or how to stop it. Xinyi suggested pulling the horn from the skies. Nianshi and Meirga volunteered to do this. As they did, the lightning hit them before they could even go nearer to the horn. The lightning seemed to protect it. They flew down right away as they saw it would strike their chests, their weak part. If it touched them, they would transform into their human form while flying. That would be disastrous.

The prince went where they imprisoned Lady Seliah and interrogated her. But they got nothing from her. She did not know how to stop it. What she recalled from her mother's tale was someone had to sacrifice oneself in exchange for the dead unicorn to stop it, but the person had to use the horn to kill his life. They couldn't even go near it, so how to get it was the question. There was only was answer. The person had to withstand the lightning. 

Prince Zelmer told them they had to move fast. Based on what he remembered in the archives, it said that the horn would grow bigger and its power would reach farther areas to the point of bringing the dead from their graves to become the Undead. 

They looked at each other and thought Shijian's electrical power. Shijian offerred herself to stop this devastation, but as she flew toward the horn, she couldn't stand the lightning and fell down as a human. Nianshi caught and brought her to safety.

To make the story short, they divided into groups and flew to cities to warn them to run away or stay somewhere safe, like Xionmao let the Fengfu inhabitants stay in his cave where Nianshi hibernated before and closed the entrance with his power. This saved the Fengfu people. But some people in other places listened, but most didn't. Xian Lang had to show up to convince them.

The mass evacuation was so slow that the Undead overtook them. Xinyi's team had to fight nonstop against the Undead.

The destruction continued for days. And they saw cities turned into ghost habitations and became empty graveyards as the days went on. The countries fought against these Undeads, but they couldn't do anything to stop it as the horn grew bigger and had a longer reach.

The Youshi king and the Chiangdas joined and help them evacuate the people from other countries. The rock Chiangdas made caves with a small entrance where men had to crawl to get out so that the Undead couldn't go in since they remained standing as they walk.

Xinyi provided seeds from Xionmao's place. Using her power, she planted them in the man-made caverns, letting them grew faster to provide food for those inside the cave. Water Chiangdas made water gush out from a certain part of the wall for drinking water and pools. Through these, the people would not starve even for a month of stay. 

Plant Chiangdas enclosed the forest where the people stayed with vines to stop the Undead from entering it. They had to chop their way in which their dead brains were not capable of analyzing. They also provided food there. Water Chiangdas worked with rock Chiangdas to make rivers and motes around borders to entrap the Undead in one place to burn them. 

Somehow, despite how much they worked, they couldn't end the production of Undead from the cemeteries. Even some forced themselves out from the ground in one of the enclosed forest and almost killed everyone there. It showed these new Undeads had been buried there for years. It was of Xinyi's good thinking to take a firm stand on leaving the combined Chiangda with Platanna warriors team there to look after the people and saved them. Also, some children present were from the Chiangda clans and their newly spawned power gave assistance at the right time, but they had to leave the place as those who died transformed to become Undead. 

A month passed, and exhaustion overtook them. They couldn't continue this way. They must bring that unicorn horn down. But who could do it?

Xinyi flew near the horn with Nianshi and used her power, but she too couldn't stand the black lightning. They tried different ways, but it was pointless.

She went into her domain and searched for the answer in her library. Alva looked at her with hesitation while holding a book. She saw it and insisted on Alva to give it to her. The little girl gave it reluctantly. It was a book about dark powers. There, she found out what Alva did not want to show her. 

It said that the world's Chief Guardian had to summon the great Lightning Python, the only beast which could resist lightning. But a person with a colored essence had to be with the python when it flew to the horn. Because such a person would be the sacrifice.

Not exactly as it sounded, but the process entailed for the person was to use the colored essence of which the book described as the one connected to the person's heart. Xinyi, who possessed the colored essence in her, got the complete explanation on why her power was aligned with her emotions. Thus, it would no doubt make her the sacrificial lamb for the unicorn's life differently. 

Xinyi, Alva, and the other three spirit guardians explored all the books in the library for another option and found nothing else to counter the evil spell of the Undead, sadly.

Ming didn't want her to do it. Even Xian Lang never wanted her to take such a deadly task. 

Prince Zelmer offered to take her place, but unfortunately, he had no colored essence to negate the spell. No one else could fulfill the task but the Chief Guardian who was Xinyi. But he persisted to accompany and cover her with his shield and his powers.

Looking at the black horn floating in the skies with the crackling sounds of lightning and the deafening rolls of thunder, Xinyi knew she had to do it. Hence, she insisted and brought up to them the reason for her existence in Chiji. That was to govern and protect Chiji's Kore. In short, she had to keep Chiji and the inhabitants alive even if may cause her life. She never wanted this role, but if it meant to save her new family here, she would be glad to take it.

Reality wise, they had to admit that this was the only path for them to take. Sadness filled them just thinking of Xinyi's predicament. Ming, himself, wished to kill Lady Seliah to vent his anger. With no other way, they set a day of silence for her before she journeyed to the Forsaken Forest where the python lived. In fact, the said python was no one else but the snake where she used to nap in its coil.

With Nianshi's lightning speed, they traveled and came back faster than they did before. The python had no need for further persuasion, but sad for her. Xinyi only smiled at it and slept in its coil for the last time, as her way of farewell to the beast who was partly her nanny for years.

She didn't say her goodbyes to the people and to her family because she still hoped that she would return alive, but she and Ming spent some time for themselves, to be together, for the last time. However, both denied that this was the last.

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