Liangfeng was as nervous as the humans her brother kept around like some kind of advisors. Like them, she was also trying her best to keep it hidden.

She made her way to the audience chamber in her human-form since it would prevent her brother from reading her emotions and irritate him to no small extent.

“This could be a problem, Chouyan,” She said to the qilin whose head she was riding on. “I think they’re speeding up their plans to get me under control. We might have to take matters in our own hands.”

The qilin nodded a response causing Liangfeng to bob up and down with her head.

“If things break down you are going to have to keep quite a few of them entertained while I explain things to the misguided fool,” Liangfeng warned as they neared the open passageway to the audience hall. “He’s making it public too so there will be no going back. Are you sure you don't want to step aside?”

The qilin nodded again and snorted her irritation at the question.

“Very crude Chouyan, we are supposed to be ladylike, you know?” Liangfeng snickered. Chouyan gave her a derisive snort once again.

They entered the hall and took a position in front of the platform where Huilei lay coiled up. He stared down at them, Liangfeng did not fail to see the irritation flash across his face when he saw her human-form, she had the advantage already.

Her gaze passed over the shadows to the left and right of him with the quick precision of an expert observer who did not want their target to notice the action. She counted three of them, there used to be four, but she had lost track of the other one some time ago. It compounded her nervousness along with waiting for the moment they would lose patience and start to get violent.

“Sister, the next candidate will be arriving in a few days,” Huilei said in a tone of superiority. “Our father will be escorting him from the capital and will be joining us here for some time.”

“I see,” Liangfeng sighed. “So you hope he can pressure me into it do you?”

“He was planning to visit and the timing just coincided,” Huilei responded. “Are you not happy to receive a visit from your own father?”

“Oh, I would be glad to receive a visit from my father,” she scowled at him even though she knew he would fail to recognize the expression.

“That is wonderful then,” he told her. “What should I tell him when he gets here?”

“Do you plan on not letting me speak for myself to him? That far exceeds your bounds, brother.”

As Huilei was about to continue their banter one of the shadows shimmered and a man stepped forward to whisper something in his ear.

Liangfeng tilted her head as she skillfully eavesdropped on the conversation. She was inwardly amused by how clumsy Huilei, and they were to not realize she was able to do so. It had let her stay a step ahead of their machinations for quite some time.

Huilei was so enraged by the news that a low growl slipped through his mask of serene calm. A terrible gaff for their kind who thrived in an environment of manipulation and deceit. Liangfeng wanted to laugh out loud from the mirth it made her feel.

“I’m surprised,” she said drawing looks of shock from the two of them. “I was not aware any of you were capable of such stealth.”

“So you heard that,” the shadowy man sneered. “We’ve been underestimating you all along it seems, Apostle of Jann.”

“Since you have let slip that your patience with me is spent, does that mean we will no longer be playing your clumsy games? Will you be pulling the string that has my own brother strike at me or will you be extending those shadows and mists you cling to so much in hopes that you can subdue me yourselves?”

The other two humans left their shadowy hiding spots and came over to join their comrade.

“What are you having that man and his witch do?” man number two asked, his tone arrogant to the extreme.

“It’s rude to ask a lady her secrets,” Liangfeng giggled at them, causing them to lose even more composure. They did not seem to know exactly what they should do with her.

“We should just kill her and start over,” the arrogant one suggested. Huilei growled at him much to Liangfeng’s surprise.

“Oh so you are not so far gone that you are a mindless puppet, only just one pretending to be equals with the ones pulling the string,” Liangfeng’s insults were merciless. “This is the result of your own stupidity and misplaced jealousy, my brother.”

“I am nobody’s puppet!” Huilei roared at her.

“Be quiet worm!” the third man shouted at him. He clapped his hands together and threads of shadow crept out of Huilei and wrapped around him. He was slammed to the ground and could only groan out his pain since they wrapped his snout shut as well.

“I am sorry, brother,” Liangfeng felt a tear run down her cheek. “I tried to warn you and save you, all it took was one promise of power to slay a dragon and you gave your life to these things. I can do nothing more for you, it will be all I can do to save myself.”

“Save yourself?” the first man laughed. “No matter what powers the farce of a being calling itself a god gave you, it is nothing compared to chaos itself.”

“An ironic claim considering who it was that pushed said chaos to its current state,” Liangfeng snorted her contempt.

“Boast while you can you bitch of a worm. You will either submit and serve our purpose or die and serve our purpose, it is only more convenient to have you alive. It is far from necessary,” the arrogant one added his share to the conversation.

Liangfeng knew that she was delaying in hopes that Zag’s son and the witch’s plan would be put in motion within the amount of time she could hold out. What she did not understand was why the shadow men were delaying as well. She had seen nothing to indicate they were stupid enough to keep playing along with her. She wondered if she was more necessary than they were letting on.

“Is that so?” she asked. “I cannot help but wonder…”

When she started to say something she noticed that the man suppressing Huilei turned as pale as a ghost.

“Were you somehow expecting to receive reinforcements? Perhaps not, perhaps it was a completely different plan falling apart. Chaos is probably not the best at executing plans in an organized manner.”

“Enough of this!” arrogant man shouted and lifted his hands which caused the black mist to rise around him.

Chouyan gave off something that was akin to a bark but there was nothing cute about it. It was a terrifying sound laced with anger and disgust. The man who was casting some form of shadowy sorcery was engulfed in sparks of electricity.

The air around him became superheated and scalded away both the mist and his flesh. When it let up there was nothing left but bones so charred some had turned to an ashy powder.

“What…” the first man was flabbergasted.

“Surrendering is always an option,” Liangfeng taunted. “Even after everything, I would be willing to concede on several points to have my family back.”

“There is no way you could pull that off again in short order!” the third man began his attack.

Several flashes of green lit up around Liangfeng and Chouyan. They momentarily caused the two men to stop what they were doing which gave Chouyan a chance to gut-punch the third man with a blast of air.

“Corruption!” the first man cursed. “Why are there spirits here?”

“It...must...be that witch’s doing!” the third man coughed out as he recovered.

“Latch onto her, we can't let her get away!” the first man ordered as he blasted shadow and mist towards them.

Liangfeng took direct action for the first time. She created an updraft that deflected most of the mist away. Chouyan grunted in pain as some of it grazed her sides.

The flashes of green further intensified and Liangfeng stirred the air in front of the two men. The excited movements of the air caused multiple static sparks which blinded the men and caused their shadow tendrils to miss as Chouyan took the opportunity to dodge unopposed.

“How much longer is this going to take,” Liangfeng muttered to herself as she glanced at the green flashes that surrounded them. They were slowly gaining in numbers and intensity but it seemed like it would take some time she wasn't sure she could buy before it would finish.

As their sight returned the men dashed away from each other. They charged at Chouyan and Liangfeng, who still sat on her head, from opposing flanks.

They released tendrils of shadow from each hand. The tendril looped around to where the only place Chouyan could go was up or towards one of the two.

Chouyan was canny enough to realize that if she went towards one of them they would draw in the surrounding net. They were willing to throw down their lives to recapture Liangfeng.

Chouyan felt her mistress stirring around on her head and was alarmed when she glanced up to find her shifting into her serpent form.

Liangfeng coiled around Chouyan’s body and shielded her from the tendrils that had closed in. The last thing Chouyan saw before her vision was obscured by the writhing coils were the tendril seem to weaken. Going from something meant to kill to something meant to restrain them all she could do was hear her mistress scream.

Liangfeng had never imagined there could be something so painful, it was like vines of fire were slithering through her veins and the vines were riddled with thorns and nettles.

“Alright, prepare yourself, who knows what we’ll be facing on the other side of this,” she could hear one of the men say.

“How can there be someone this powerful? I couldn't even dream of stopping it!” said the other man.

“Well, at least spirit users are no good in combat against our shadows. We can just wear them down as usual.”

“Hopefully that qilin dog is too tangled up to be a distraction,” was the last thing she could make coherent sense of before the pain became too much and her screams drowned everything out.

There was one last flash of green light that illuminated the chamber then everything rattled once and existence itself seemed to pop. Then there was silence only interrupted by the unconscious breathing of Huilei.