The Prophecy of Voidfall is a much-debated subject among scholars. The destruction promised by the worst characters in history would usually be a well-analyzed piece of literature, yet few people have ever seen the original text. The Sun Queen hid the original scrolls within her vaults and has refused all requests to view them. Allegedly, the Sword Saint has requested to view the original over a hundred and fifty times, without success. -A passage of The Analysis of Voidfall, by Mu Qiran

  Xinya visibly stiffened as her eyes flicked around with excitement. Her eyes were wide as saucers, and I was worried she might soon explode, since she began vibrating on the spot. It was no secret that her favorite story was the Legend of the Darkened Moon. It was even less of a secret that her favorite character was the hero of that tale: the Sword Saint himself.

  With a happy trill, Chiho separated from my hair and darted around the room. The crane’s wind qi reacted to the old lanterns which suddenly blazed to life with emerald and rose-colored flames. Those same colors were reflected in the murals where auroral scenes shimmered and shifted like the real thing. After all, while sun qi was strongest during the day, and moon qi varied with the phases of the moon, wind qi was strongest during auroras, as the celestial winds blew over the earth, exerting their influence on the world below. In the light of those brilliant images, the rest of the room was illuminated.

  Iru’e Jinshi was a simple man with simple tastes, but he had travelled far and wide pursuing his path. Trinkets and treasures from every corner of our world were stacked on tables and tucked into barely closing chests in the corners of the room. For years, it had been a running joke that the servants who minded the Wind Palace were the best paid in the land, for they had the most difficult task of keeping Jinshi’s spaces tidy for when guests arrived. There were also rumors that those same servants nicked the many treasures found here. Such rumors had never bothered Jinshi himself, so I half suspected that he gave them those trinkets, just to get them out of his cluttered residence.

  Casting a glance around, I noted the objects I found. A pair of silver earrings I knew to belong to an ancient shade we’d defeated together lay in a dusty box next to a brocade robe that looked to be spun with real gold thread. A variety of weapons were stacked in a corner where Jinshi left them before our final fight. Everything was covered in a layer of dust that seemed consistent no matter where I looked.

  No one has been here since I was imprisoned, I realized sadly. Or at least, no one has lived here.

  If Jinshi really was still alive, he hadn’t returned here for very long, if at all. My heart throbbed slightly at that, but I quickly reminded myself that not all hope was lost. There were still two other places the Jinshi I knew would flee to, if the situation demanded it. His village, though it had been burned to the ground well before I met him, was somewhere in the mountains west of the Moon-Soaked Shore, not to mention a dozen different places in the Pearlescent Valley where he could hide without other Ascendents ever finding him thanks to the monsters that dwelled there. Even the Mind Bender or the Phoenix Emperor dared not anger the Valley Lord. That giant monster might not have been sapient, but it was older than I was and had long since made it clear that it was not fond of anyone over Gold stepping foot within its territory. As I understood it from Kansi Ren, the Sword Saint was the sole exception to that rule, though no one quite knew how he’d done it.

  “Was this where he sat?” Xinya asked, pointing to the dusty bench perched upon a raised dais. I nodded.

  “He only ever used it for formal occasions,” I explained. “Or when Chouko cornered him for tea. She was a firm believer that he didn’t get enough relaxation, so whenever he returned to the capital, she would pay him a visit, and they’d spend hours talking and drinking his favorite teas.”

  “Was he gone often?”

  “It was his path.” I tried to hide the ancient melancholy from my voice, but I must have failed, given Xinya’s curious look. “Jinshi couldn’t stay in one place too long. His path would grow stale if he stayed with us for too long. Sometimes, he’d be gone for years at a time before returning, and when he was here, he never stayed long. Only a few weeks at most.”

  It had been difficult. In a way, reviving my old pains about Jinshi made me realize just why nobody ever seemed to realize that we were an item. For nearly two decades before my fall, I wanted to ask for the wild cultivator’s hand, but I hadn’t. Fear that he would reject me to keep himself from being tied down had stayed my hand. In that way, it was no small wonder that the Shattered Moon Sect believed that Shi Reili was my most trusted consort. She was actually around.

  I shook my head, purging the bitter thoughts. I had long since accepted that I couldn’t have Jinshi the way I wanted and resolved to treasure what small part of his life I could have. The days he swooped in out of nowhere, swept me off my feet, and took me away from the capital to spend time together were some of my most precious memories, and I wouldn’t trade them for all the treasures in the Sun Queen’s Vaults.

  “I wish I could have met him. Aunt Kansi told me tons of stories about him from when she was a disciple. He sounded like an expert in kicking ass and taking names!” Xinya exclaimed loudly. I smiled at her inelegant language. Sometimes, she just got too excited to filter out the words she’d heard from sailors and fishermen all her life.

  “He definitely was,” I said with a sigh. “I think he’d have liked you. His path was centered on the idea of being as free as the wind, which meant that half the time, his manners were as bad as yours.”

  “Hey! I can be polite when I want to be.”

  I smirked. “When you want something, you mean.” She stuck out her tongue.

  “Is that why he developed the ward flags?” Lin asked, interrupting the squabbling between master and disciple. “To be free as the wind?”

  “Most of his signature techniques involved negating qi affects from others,” I explained. “It’s how he was able to defeat me. I can’t see him in Flash Forward, and he knew better than to give me time to Flash Back.” I paused, rubbing my chin in thought. “Though, the ward flags I think were developed mostly to help others. He had dozens of sets, all of different grades. In fact, I bet you could probably find lesser versions of his work in cultivator markets today.”

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  “But the ones we’re looking for are special?”

  “Actually, as long as we find strong enough ones, any ward flag would have done. But the ones here are all but guaranteed to be of the quality we need, assuming they haven’t degraded.”

  “Then let’s split up and look.” Lin eyed the cluttered mess warily.

  “Just be careful where you step. There are no traps here, but the trinkets he brought back could be just as dangerous if you’re not careful.”

  Finding the ward flags wasn’t hard. In fact, I spotted a perfectly good set within seconds of stepping into Jinshi’s old armory, which also happened to be the most cluttered place in the whole palace. Leave it to someone called the Sword Saint to have the biggest personal armory in history…and that was after only two thousand years instead of thirty. But, the ward flags had been carefully leaned in the corner, the light green cloth with pink characters draping over an old sword case.

  I frowned, in spite of myself. That case…none of the other swords in the armory had cases. The polished wood was unadorned, and no characters covered its surface, but it still stood out. Thanks to the ward flags, no dust had collected on the box. In the end, curiosity got the better of me. I set the flags aside and lifted the lid.

  “Moon Rose,” I read. The characters were engraved on the blade, which sat separate from its sheath on the silk bed. “Authorized wielders: Jinshi & Yoru.” The last part was written on a scrap of paper tied to the green tassel tied to its hilt.

  It was exquisite craftsmanship. I immediately recognized the engraved patterns on the blade to resemble rose vines, complete with tiny etched thorns. If my guess was right, it was forged from refined ironwood, a flexible metal from the west. To my knowledge, no other blade in Jinshi’s collection was made from that material, making this one unique.

  “Why have I never seen you before?” I mused. I definitely would have remembered the blade. Its sheath was beautiful, with carved blue rosebuds and green vines decorating its length. Jinshi always had his favorites, though. Perhaps something about the blades balance wasn’t to his liking.

  At my touch, the blade thrummed with latent power. The buds blossomed on the hilt, and the blade awakened at the touch of an authorized wielder.

  “How would you like to be returned to the world, friend?” I asked softly. The blade didn’t respond, but at my command, it hovered out of the box and slipped into its sheath. I picked it and the ward flags up before returning to the room with the others.

  “You found them!” Lin praised. “Should have known that you knew their master’s tendencies.”

  “Apparently not as well as I thought, though,” I mused. “I found this blade. I don’t think he ever used it extensively, but since its mildly wood themed and you’re looking for a blade, would you like it?”

  “Would it be right of me to take it?”

  I nodded. “Jinshi never used half the swords he made. Some of them were gifted to the sect leaders and people of note within the kingdom. Others became gifts for our political allies. I didn’t know this one was here, which meant it must not have been to his taste. Still a good blade, as far as I can tell, though. Ironwood is supposedly quite flexible as a qi conduit, as well, so it should work well for you with time and practice.”

  Lin took the blade gingerly, examining it with awe. Once he’d seen the whole thing, he gave a short nod. “I would not turn down such a monumental gift. Thank you.”

  He was so formal, but his cheeks were pink, even under the shifting pink and green lights of the reception hall. It made my heart warm. If he were here, I was sure Jinshi wouldn’t mind. If he did, then I’d find a way to make it up to Lin later. With a single command, I granted him authority over the blade, and it became truly his.

  “Now, let’s get back to the task at hand. Reili’s palace would be next.”

  As we walked, I collapsed the poles of the ward flags and tucked them into Lin’s satchel next to the fertilizer. They’d be safe there. The rest of Jinshi’s palace was largely the same as the others. His servants really did have their work cut out for them. Though the courtyards were clear and tidy…or at least they used to be…I was sure that they’d managed that feat at the expense of several rooms within. Given how little time Jinshi and I actually spent in his palace together, I suspected half the rooms were stacked dangerously high with tchotchkes and would fall apart the moment I opened the door. Better to leave everything closed tight and try to make a run for the next palace.

  In a twist of fortune, Shouweiye didn’t see us cross the path between the Wind Palace and Void Hearth. However, where the Star Sanctuary, the Wind Palace, and, from what I could see across the lake, Eclipser Hall all were left open, the Void Hearth was not. A black curtain had been drawn over the building, obscuring everything within. I had no doubt it was an automatic response to the building being abandoned for a certain amount of time, since it was a well-known fact that Reili was quite secretive with her research.

  “Uncle Yoru?” Xinya whispered as we approached the void veil. She tugged on my sleeve, and I paused to kneel next to her.

  “Yes, Xinya?”

  “The voidspawn woman is back,” she explained. She pointed to a point next to the path, but I couldn’t see anyone there.

  “Do you know if she can hear me, or just you?” I asked. For Reili to be here, but unable to be seen by anyone but Xinya, could have meant almost anything.

  “I can, Yoru. With effort, I can speak to you through the void, but it is difficult with the power I have access to,” Shi Reili’s voice was clear in my mind. To my surprise, the tone of her words matched the nicer voices of the void. She was on the side of sanctuary and safety instead of destruction and violence.

  “How could we get the power you need to manifest?” I asked.

  “In my lab, like everything else,” she explained. “Xinya is authorized to enter. She must do so, reach the lab, then advance to Iron with what she finds there. Only then will I be able to manifest.”

  “Did you hear that?” I asked the little girl. She nodded. “Will you be okay on your own? I can come with you, brave whatever void veil she put up.”

  Xinya paused for a moment, listening to the voice only she could hear. “She says that even a voidspawn would suffer if they entered.”

  That…didn’t surprise me much, but I did crinkle my nose in frustration. Xinya would be on her own for this one, something that didn’t instill me with much confidence, but I put that feeling aside. If there was anyone I would trust with Xinya’s safety besides myself and Lin, it would be the Void Herald. After all, it wasn’t the first time I entrusted her with more than my own life, since I gave her permission to completely corrupt and alter my own cultivation, which had the potential of exposing our entire nation to harm. Even if it ultimately didn’t work, that was due to my mistakes, not hers.

  “Alright. I have faith in you,” I said, pulling the little girl into a hug. Lin knelt and did the same.

  The little girl took in a deep breath as she faced down the void veil. With a smile filled with confidence that didn’t quite reach her eyes, she stepped through and vanished into the darkness.

  “How did Shi Reili authorize Xinya so long after her death?” Lin muttered. I didn’t have an answer.

  “I trust that she did. She’s way smarter than I am.”

  “Do you think she’ll be okay?”

  I bit my lip. I didn’t have an answer. Xinya was on her own.