Wang Lin stood motionless in front of the door, which threw out green light from the seams in the door frames.

The light intensified, turning a bright red and then Wang Zen screamed. Wang Lin’s eyes widened in panic and she opened the door.

In the middle of the room was Miss Xing and Wang Zen. Zen was floating in the air, above his bed. On his chest was a glowing web of cracks from which the red light was coming from. Miss Xing, who was glowing green was trying to bring him back down onto the bed.

The web of red cracks flashed instantly for a moment and Zen could be heard guggling as blood flowed out of his mouth and nose like water.

“Zen!” Wang Lin cried, walking towards him.

“Do not step into the circle!” Miss Xing said, gesturing at the circle on the floor made of green glowing runes.

“Daughter!” Jao said, following behind her. “We must not disturb her.”

“Yes,” Miss Xing said as she was able to get Zen back onto the bed by covering him in green energy. “Get out!”

Lin held back tears as she allowed her father to pull her out of the room.

Miss Xing waved her hand and had thick vines grow over the door to make sure no one else could easily barge in. She placed her hands on Zen’s chest and sent more green energy over his body until the red energy bated, returning back to blue.

Jun Nee ran through the alleyways as the two dogs were chasing her. She looked back at the dogs with their teeth bared, sheening with ki.

She gulped nervously and held the pot plant she had gotten for Zen and the knife given to her by Zheng closer to her chest before looking forward. A woman had appeared from an adjacent alleyway in front of her. She ran around the woman and lost her footing; she fell forward and the pot plant and the knife flew from her grasp. The pot smashed on the floor, sending soil spilling on the ground and the plant plopping on the floor with the roots exposed. The knife clattered, its point pointing towards the smashed pot plant.

She frowned at the site. “Zen,” she said under breath.

A scream behind her caused her to look back and her eyes widened in horror. The two dogs were attacking the woman who was screaming and flailing in a useless attempt to get the two big and muscle-bound hounds off of her.

“No!” Jun Nee shouted as she activated her ability and barrelled into the closest dog, sending it flying away. The dog noticed her and ran for her. She activated her ability and got away, getting both dogs to stop attacking the woman and chase after her.

She began to breathing heavily. She was unaccustomed to using her technique for such an extended period of time. She would need to find some way to end this, or the two dogs chasing her would surely catch up and rip her apart!

Yin Zheng faced down the dog that was before him. He also would briefly check the ground for the shadow of the horse-sized hawk flying overhead.

The dog ran for him, growling with each breath. Zheng charged at the dog. The boy could see the shadow of the hawk growing larger on the ground, barrelling on his position, for a two-prong attack. When the black dog was close, it pounced for him but he dodged by leaping up and landing on its head. Pushing off hard on its head, he sent himself into the air and the dog’s head into the concrete ground.

Zheng flipped in the air and grabbed onto the hawk’s thick brown feathers.

The big bird struggled but Zheng kept climb up its side until he was close to its neck. Her ringed his hands around the beast’s neck and began squeezing. The hawk began to panic as Zheng clasped his hands together, completing the choke hold he had around its neck.

The hawk panicked. It tried to peck at Zheng’s arms and face with its sharp black beak. Zheng activated his Shuddering Shield, to weaken the pecks to his arms and tucked his head in so that it could not get his head.

The hawk dived down and crashed into some barrels and shot up again. To its horror, Zheng still held onto it, was still choking the life out of it.

On the ground, the two boys were looking up in worry. Their dog could do nothing but look up and balk while the hawk was being killed.

“We need to do something!” the well-built boy said. “If he kills Razor Feather, the Li Family will have our hides!”

“Quickly,” the skinny boy shouted, “dismiss it before he kills it!”

The well-built boy nodded and opened up his scroll. “I invoke the contract and dismiss, Razor Feather!”

Zheng, who was still holding onto Razor Feather saw the bird begin to glow in his arms. That’s when he realised what was happening, the bird was being dismissed, with him still on it!

Jun Nee still had the two dogs on her tail. Her lungs began to hurt and her legs were starting to ache from the running. She knew that she did not have long to go before her speed gave out. She was contemplating making a U-turn and heading for Zheng but did not want to burden him with fighting 6 enemies and protecting her.

She remembered where she was and turned into an opening with an old well in the centre. The well had not been used as the water was green with algae, and the commoners were awaiting the city officials to clean it.

Jun Nee leapt over the well and landed on the other side. One of the dogs simply ran around the circumference but the other attempted to jump over the well just as she had. Jun Nee turned around and jumped towards the dog, which was already halfway past the well in mid-flight.

They crashed into reach other and the dog flailed, catching onto the edge of the wall. Jun Nee was able to do the same and pull herself up so that she could stand on the rim of the well wall. She looked around for the other dog which was still on the other side of the well.

“Come!” she shouted in anger.

The dog leapt in the air and pounced for her. With all her might, she shoved the dog away. Its momentum knocked her back, rattling her arms and threatening to pop them from her shoulder joints. She landed on the ground and the dog grabbed onto the rim. But without hands for grabbing, both dogs flailed and dropped to the green murky depths below.

She could hear the dogs barking and struggling, their cries reverberating and echoing against the well’s walls.

She took a deep breath. Fighting the urge to just collapse there, she activated her ability and began running again. She ignored her aching leg bones, her sore heart and the blood she would cough now and again. She needed to get to Zheng and help him in any way she could.

The hawk glowed bright and Zheng could feel it beginning to disappear. He scanned the ground and saw the two boys who had summoned the beast. He let go of the hawk, aiming for the two.

He fell quickly through the air. Steeling himself, he deactivated Shuddering Shield and redirected as much ki as he could to hardening his body. Focusing on the legs and back, he made sure to harden those the most as they would be taking the brunt of his landing.

The hawk vanished overhead as he continued to shut down, trying to aim his fall near the boys, hoping to land on top of them to soften his fall. The big black dog had seen him running and was also running to his position, hoping to attack him before or after he landed.

The ground, the two boys and the dog were coming up fast and he involuntarily closed his eyes as he made an impact.

There was a BOOM! His landing not only produced a shockwave that spread around him, it also made the ground concave with a web of cracks extending beyond the lip. There was also a shower of blood beneath him as he had landed on something with flesh and bones. The pain of the landing travelled from his feet right up to his skull!

With trembling legs, Zheng looked out. The shockwave had knocked the two boys away. The skinny one was getting to his feet, looking at Zheng with fear.

“Get back here!” Zheng shouted.

He flinched at his angry voice and picked up his companion, who had been knocked out by the landing. They both stumbled away from the scene and Zheng.

Zheng’s shaky legs finally gave way and he fell forward. He looked along his legs to his blood covered feet and found the dog that he had been fighting there. The dog had foolishly gotten too close to him during his landing and was crushed beneath his feet.

“Zheng! Zheng!”

Zheng could hear Jun Nee’s familiar voice. He looked at her as she ran to him. His vision already growing blurry and by the time she had gotten to him, his mind had already faded to black.