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With the Astral Express’s imminent fuel shortage, its next stop would have to be carefully thought out. The crew had yet to have an official navigation meeting, but it was looking like the Trailblaze Journey would ultimately take them to The Eternal Land, Amphoreus.
However, while traversing the Dreamscape, Stelle happened to meet a man from a nearby dwarf planet in the same system as Penacony. He told her about a recent influx of monsters that had been swarming around villages on his home planet before he’d managed to escape to Penacony with his family in a small ship. According to him, the monsters had suddenly appeared a few years prior and swept through the already sparse civilisations of people with little aim aside from causing chaos.
From what Stelle had been told, the planet’s agricultural land was scarce, and the monsters only made it more difficult for the people to grow crops, which led her to bring the matter to Himeko.
Himeko, upon hearing the story, proposed the possibility that there could be another Stellaron, or maybe remnants of one on the dwarf planet, which would explain the peculiar situation with the monsters.
There was still the issue of the Astral Express’s fuel supply, but after some discussion with the man Stelle had met in the Dreamscape, he offered up the small ship he’d used to get to Penacony.
Dan Heng had volunteered to go on this mission for a few reasons.
He was feeling restless, and he wanted to help these people if he could. In addition, for Penacony to have yet another Stellaron so close to it could be disastrous, especially since the Dreamscape was still recovering from the effects of the Order.
There was another reason though, one that had been in the back of his mind since he’d first heard Himeko mention the possibility that a Stellaron was somewhere on this planet.
It was a reason he couldn’t tell any of the other crewmembers. One he barely even wanted to acknowledge himself.
But if there was a Stellaron on this planet, there was a chance the Stellaron Hunters would show up, and an even smaller chance that they would happen to overlap with the Astral Express.
Dan Heng hadn’t seen Blade since that night on the Luofu. The bruises of Blade’s fingers on his thigh and the red mark that was thankfully just low enough on his neck that his shirt covered it were close to fading completely, almost imperceptible. Sometimes, Dan Heng would run his hand over the marks, as though he could feel the impression of Blade left behind in them, a peculiar sense of melancholy filling him.
He’d actually been avoiding fighting in Imbibitor Lunae’s form, because he knew that if he shifted forms the marks would heal almost instantly, disappearing forever like a forgotten memory.
He wanted to keep the assurance of the decisions he’d made that day, the knowledge that Blade was more than just a vessel of vengeance and that for that short, extraordinary time they’d had together, he’d been willing to acknowledge Dan Heng as his own person.
Dan Heng was worried that if he let himself forget it all, let himself cast that night away like he so often tried to do with Dan Feng’s memories, he would lose part of what now made him Dan Heng.
Because that night on the Luofu, the walk through Scalegorge Waterscape and the desperate, raw emotions in that worse-for-wear hotel– It had all been himself and Blade. Not Dan Feng and Yingxing.
The marks on his neck and thigh were on his body, not Dan Feng’s.
Dan Heng had to believe that with all his heart. Because if he didn’t… He wasn’t sure what he’d do with himself.
He slowly sat down next to Stelle, crossing his legs before a hot bowl of stew was handed to him.
“Thank you,” he said, nodding to the planet native who had made it. She smiled, motherly wrinkles around her eyes showing.
“You Trailblazers are doing so much for us. A little dinner is the least I could do.”
The door to the small house opened suddenly, ushering in a hot evening wind. “Mom!” The woman’s son burst in, eyes wide in excitement. “There’s another ship! Me and the boys just saw it fly over and land somewhere beyond the valley!”
Dan Heng nearly dropped his bowl.
“Another ship?!” March exclaimed, glancing at Stelle and Dan Heng knowingly.
The boy nodded eagerly. “It was huge!” He threw his arms out in a wide gesture. “Bigger than anything I’ve ever seen!”
“That’s all very good, but you’re late for dinner.” His mother walked over, pinching his cheek in one hand. “You said you’d be back half a system hour ago.”
“Sorry, we were trying to chase the ship!” The boy just grinned as his mother tutted at him.
“You don’t think that ship could be…” March trailed off, letting the implication carry the rest of the sentence.
Dan Heng couldn’t keep down the traitorous hope in the back of his mind that it was the Stellaron Hunters.
Rather than letting his thoughts show on his face, he just carefully set his bowl down, keeping a calm facade. “If it is the Stellaron Hunters, we’ll likely run into them eventually. For now, we should alert Himeko and Mr. Yang.”
“Right!” March pulled her phone out of her pocket, furiously typing a message into the Astral Express Family group chat. “And… send.” The other Trailblazers' phones simultaneously went off, indicating that the message had gone through.
The boy sat down at Dan Heng’s side with his own bowl of stew, his mother tossing a napkin at him.
“You shaid it landed beyond the valley?” Stelle mumbled around a mouthful of food, glancing at the boy.
He nodded rigorously. “I swear it!”
Stelle swallowed, licking her lips before speaking again. “So why don’t we go find it?” She looked at the other Trailblazers questioningly. “We can sneak in, maybe find some Stellaron Hunter secrets, maybe raid some trashcans while we’re at it…”
“We’re not doing that,” Dan Heng said resolutely, despite the fact that he did want to do just that. He had to make the smart decision here, and be firm about it. “It’s not safe, and there’s no telling if it even is them.”
“So what do we do?” March asked before lifting her bowl to finish off the rest of her food.
“We wait,” Dan Heng said decisively. “We’ll keep doing what we’ve been doing, and if the Stellaron Hunters show up…” He trailed off. It was always possible that the Stellaron Hunters split their missions exactly like the Astral Express did. What if Blade wasn’t even here with them?
“If they show up, they won't know what hit them.” Stelle smugly nodded her head and crossed her arms, completely assured of herself.
“Yeah!” March agreed with a good-natured smile.
The next few days passed relatively uneventfully. The Express crew continued travelling, moving to another village a little closer to the valley. The other ship still wasn’t visible, but based on the description they’d gotten, they had to be getting closer.
Dan Heng shoved a monster away before thrusting his spear through its chest. Its inhuman screech rang through the air as the others continued fighting around him.
If Blade was on this planet, would he hunt Dan Heng down, mara-struck and aching for bloodshed? Would Dan Heng have to kill him again, the end of his spear sinking into warm flesh that he now knew by gentle touch?
“Dan Heng!” March shouted a warning just in time. Dan Heng swiveled, Cloud-Piercer swiping through the air to strike the monster that had been coming for his open back.
He was getting distracted.
The next night, Dan Heng tossed and turned in the pile of blankets he shared with Stelle and March on the floor of a small family home.
Stelle was snoring loudly to his left and March was splayed out to his right, one leg kicking at his side.
He couldn’t sleep at all. He was tired, yes, but his eyes just wouldn’t stay closed.
Why hadn’t they encountered the Stellaron Hunters yet?
Who else would possibly have reason to come to this tiny planet, at this specific time, in a ship large enough that it could be seen easily from the ground?
What’s more, anytime Blade was mara-struck, he would seek Dan Heng out without fail. Which meant that if the Stellaron Hunters were on this planet, and if Blade eventually, inevitably, became mara-struck, he would consequently go looking for Dan Heng.
But he hadn’t appeared yet.
Was Kafka’s Spirit Whisper suddenly working overtime? Had she managed to completely wipe Blade’s mind of Dan Heng, Dan Feng, and the High-Cloud Quintet? Forever?
Finally, Dan Heng sat up with a heavy sigh. He glanced at his crewmates, confirming that both of them were asleep.
Then, he stood up, leaving them in their makeshift nest on the floor.
The nights on this planet were warm, so much so that Dan Heng was actually too hot if he wore his coat, so he left it with the rest of their luggage in the small house before stepping outside.
The stars were bright, twinkling in a clear sky against a backdrop of darkness. Amidst the rest, there was one brighter star that he knew was actually Penacony, where the Astral Express waited patiently.
Dan Heng walked a bit, wandering towards the edge of the cliff the village was situated on. From there he could look over the deep, wide valley, lined with small rivers and large fields with sparse trees. On the other side were some small cliffs with jagged rocks and dry, cracked earth.
The ship must have been beyond those cliffs.
It was maybe a day’s walk to get across the valley, probably a little longer if one wanted to keep to high ground.
Dan Heng was just entertaining fanciful thoughts. He didn’t plan to act on them. With a heavy sigh, he turned away, starting to walk back towards the house.
A ghostly breeze brushed the nape of his neck, bringing the faint smell of blood with it.
Dan Heng froze in place before whipping around to see…
Absolutely nothing.
The feeling of being watched had already disappeared, vanished into thin air.
Still, he looked around almost desperately, even considering shifting forms for the first time in weeks just to be able to see a bit better in the dark.
But if anyone had been there, they were already gone.
Dan Heng stayed there for a few minutes longer, pointlessly waiting for something, anything. Eventually, giving up, he slowly returned to his crewmates, slipping back into their shared mess of blankets on the floor.
The next day, the owner of the house pulled out a map, showing it to the Trailblazers.
“This,” he pointed to a region on the map. “Is one place you’ll find a heavy concentration of those monsters. As well as here,” he pointed to another location, circling it with his finger. “And here.” He tapped one other spot. “All three of these spots were important farming land, but now we can’t grow anything there because of the monsters.”
Stelle stuck out her lower lip in a pout. “They’re in the opposite direction of that ship.”
That they were. While all three locations were spread out a bit, they were all to the west, taking the crew away from the mystery ship.
“Hang on, is this a village in the middle of those locations?” March asked, pointing at a small marker on the map.
The planet native nodded. “It’s a rather large village. Much bigger than what we’ve got here. But like our little village, the monsters tend to graduate towards it.”
“So we’ll have to protect the villagers while we’re at it,” March observed. “We don’t want to bring the fight to the middle of town, after all.”
Dan Heng narrowed his eyes, various thoughts running through his mind.
“Maybe… we should split up.”
“What?!” March looked aghast, and Stelle looked at him like he’d gone crazy.
“Look,” Dan Heng ignored their facial expressions and pointed at the map. “The monsters are most active in the late night and early morning. If we want any rest, we’ll have to sleep before they start moving. But if we all stay together, we’ll be disadvantaged getting to these locations before the monsters start moving in on the village.”
“So you’re saying we should each take one location and stay apart for the night so we can keep the monsters from getting too close in any one direction.” Stelle brought a hand to her chin, nodding slightly as though she was catching on to Dan Heng’s train of thought.
“Yeah, but…” March trailed off slightly. “Shouldn’t we stick together?”
Stelle shrugged. “As much as I love you guys, it’ll be great to have a break from Dan Heng’s snoring for a night.”
“What–” Dan Heng frowned at the accusation.
“Stelle, I’m pretty sure that was you,” March deadpanned. “I’d never been woken up by someone snoring like an old man before you joined.”
“No, it was Dan Heng.” Stelle seemed extremely confident.
“Putting that aside,” Dan Heng said through his teeth, “What do we think about splitting up?”
“I mean, it makes sense, doesn’t it?” Stelle looked expectantly at March. “We can knock it all out quicker and get more sleep.”
March hummed, but she looked like she’d been convinced. “Okay… I’m fine with it. Just… no dying, please.”
“Please, those monsters can’t even land a scratch on me!” Stelle slapped a heavy hand on March’s shoulder with a grin. She turned to Dan Heng. “I’m good to go.”
Dan Heng nodded. “Alright then.” He glanced at the planet native. “Could you mark these locations for us, please?”
“Yes, of course.” The old man smiled. “Really, we’re very grateful for you Trailblazers. Thank you for all you’re doing for us.”
“Nah, it’s just how we roll.” Stelle waved a dismissive hand at him.
They set out later that morning, making way for the western village. As they travelled, they discussed the plan a bit more thoroughly.
What they ultimately decided on was that they would be apart for two nights, the first night dedicated to dealing with the monsters, and the second night just to be sure they were wiped out in those areas.
During the day, they would meet up somewhere in the village, which was ultimately decided to be a small fountain plaza near the middle of the market after they finally arrived. They went around the village to each corner they would have to occupy, making sure all three Trailblazers had somewhere to stay, whether it was a haunted-looking inn for Stelle(her personal choice), or small-but-willing homes for Dan Heng and March.
They ate dinner together as dusk grew near before heading off to their respective corners of the village.
Dan Heng was greeted at the door by the woman he’d spoken to earlier in the day, her husband in the middle of grabbing the spare bedsheets from a closet. He thanked them profusely before they went to bed, leaving him to the space of the living room.
He only stayed there for a few minutes, waiting until he was sure he wouldn’t wake them up by leaving.
It was nowhere near the time that the monsters would start moving, but since this plan had first formed in his mind, Dan Heng hadn’t intended to let himself rest much. He was going to wander outside a bit, to see if maybe, just maybe he would smell the sickeningly sweet dew of spider lilies mixed with blood, or if he would feel eyes on the back of his neck, watching his every move like a wolf watching a bird, waiting for it to take flight.
As a warm nighttime breeze caressed his face, Dan Heng was already on high alert, anticipating the cold metal of a shattered sword against his throat.
If he was certain of anything, it was that this reunion would not start out peacefully.
He wandered for a few hours, eventually getting close to the fields. He was losing hope, and he figured that by this time he should be getting ready to fight the monsters that plagued this planet.
He could hear movement not too far away, multiple entities shifting through the dry stalks of grass, inhuman growls drifting over the wind.
They might have actually been… too loud.
Something wasn’t right.
Dan Heng heard a loud squeal and he was reminded of the shriek the monsters had let out when he’d been the one to run them through with his spear.
He lowered his stance, summoning Cloud-Piercer to his hand as he crept closer.
The sounds of a fight became more apparent and Dan Heng wondered if somehow Stelle, the one closest to his location, had ended up in the wrong corner. Unserious as she was, she wasn’t particularly prone to making mistakes like that though.
He moved closer quietly, careful not to give away his position with noise.
A single dark figure danced among the monsters, striking them down one after the other. The figure’s movements were almost more inhuman than the monsters’, savage and quick as his shattered sword reflected the pale moonlight.
Dan Heng stopped in his tracks, forgetting all about trying to be stealthy.
“Blade…?” He practically whispered the word. No normal person would have heard it given the distance between them.
But Blade, with one final slash through a monster, slowly glanced over his shoulder, eyes a vibrant, burning red as they zeroed in on Dan Heng’s lone silhouette.
“Imbibitor Lunae…” A laugh tore itself from Blade’s throat. “You’ve saved me the trouble of hunting you.” He turned fully, raising his sword and pointing it at Dan Heng as though he were taking aim.
Dan Heng took one step back, his hand gripping Cloud-Piercer tightly, like it might disappear at any moment. His heart thundered in his chest, a flurry of emotions making it hard to come up with any sort of plan for what to do next. Blade was clearly mara-struck. It was fortunate he’d come across the monsters before he stumbled into the village.
Even if he wasn’t quite himself right now, it still made Dan Heng’s chest ache to see him again. It made memories of their last meeting swirl through his head; The genuine smile he’d seen, the slight dimple when Blade laughed, the warmth of his touch–
Something moved behind Blade.
“Look out!” Dan Heng was moving forward without even thinking about it. One thing never seemed to change about Blade, regardless of whether he was mara-struck or not– He always left his back open.
Dan Heng running straight towards him seemed to throw Blade off a bit. After all, who would expect their prey to come right to them?
Unfortunately, the distance between them was still great, greater than Dan Heng could cover in the amount of time it took for a monster’s claws to gouge through Blade’s back.
Blade didn’t look surprised. He barely even flinched. He just sneered, turned around, and sliced the poor creature’s head right off. All the while, his blood, falling in rivers down the back of his coat, slowly but surely fell slower as the cuts no doubt started healing already.
Dan Heng tried to stop his own momentum, barely coming to a halt just past Blade’s shoulder, eyes wide in panic as he breathed heavily. He’d moved without thinking and now he was too close, right where Blade needed him.
Blade turned and just looked down at him coldly, a hint of curiosity in his bright red-orange eyes. “You’re awfully friendly, aren’t you?” He was already drawing his arm back, adjusting his grip on the sword’s handle.
Dan Heng grimaced, glaring back up at him. He took a step to the side, but Blade took a step with him, keeping the distance between them exactly the same.
“Don’t make me kill you again,” Dan Heng said, his tone both threatening and plaintive as he faced Blade, his back now to some small cliffs rather than to the village.
Blade tilted his head to the side, hair falling away from his eyes as he smiled incredulously. “You? Kill me? Go ahead. I’d be more than happy to let you try.” His voice darkened on every word as he continued stepping forward, forcing Dan Heng to step back in turn. “Go on, Imbibitor Lunae.”
He moved faster than Dan Heng could blink, his bandaged hand clasping painfully around Dan Heng’s wrist. Blade kept walking forward, keeping them poised in an awkward, dangerous dance. He pressed Dan Heng’s hand right over his chest. “My heart is right here. If you stab through your own hand, you’ll be guaranteed to put me out of my misery, if only for a few precious minutes.”
Dan Heng saw more than felt his own fingers trembling against Blade’s coat, his other hand clenching around Cloud-Piercer’s staff. He continued stepping backward as Blade kept pushing forward. They were just moving further and further away from the village.
He could do it.
He’d done it more times than he could count already.
All he had to do was raise Cloud-Piercer and strike. Blade was right in front of him, and if Dan Heng didn’t kill him first, chances were he would find his own heart stabbed by the Shard Sword.
He just had to lift his arm.
Instead, he just stared at where his hand was held against Blade’s chest. He could feel his heartbeat through his coat, like he had Blade’s heart sitting right in his hand. He swallowed thickly, not sure if he was scared, angry, or just plain flustered.
Blade stopped walking suddenly and Dan Heng finally looked up to meet his amused, but still very much mara-stricken gaze. Blade was toying with him, enjoying Dan Heng’s internal plight.
“It’s rare for you to be this indecisive.” Still holding Dan Heng’s hand right against his chest, Blade raised his other arm.
Seeing the sword flash under the moonlight, Dan Heng struggled frantically, trying and failing to break away from Blade’s grip.
Had his moment of sentimentality really prevented him from killing his own murderer?
He had to kill Blade first. He had to.
The sword came down towards Dan Heng, but before it could hit, he had already circled Cloud-Piercer in his hand, practically subconsciously. The spearhead sliced through Blade’s arm and Dan Heng felt the sickening vibration of it sliding against bone.
Blade made a small sound of pain, or maybe just annoyance, as his sword fell from his hand, the muscles in his forearm having been cleanly severed. As he looked back at Dan Heng, sinew and flesh already rebuilding itself, his eyes shone brighter somehow.
He didn’t say anything, but a manic grin split on his face. His fingernails dug into Dan Heng’s wrist, his hand twisting in the fabric of his shirt sleeve as Dan Heng still struggled to back away.
Finally, Dan Heng resorted to raising a leg to kick at Blade’s chest, forcefully propelling himself off of Blade’s own body and escaping his vice grip.
Dan Heng went flying to the ground as Blade wobbled on his feet from the impact of the kick. He snarled, animalistic as he caught Dan Heng’s fearful gaze through the tall grass. “You can’t run… Imbibitor Lunae,” he growled.
Dan Heng knew that better than anyone else.
The only option was to face Blade head-on. But still… something stopped him from striking to kill. He was holding himself back, and he hated himself for it.
“Of five people…” Blade began the familiar quote, his voice low in a threat as he bent to retrieve his sword from where it had fallen in the grass. His eyes never left Dan Heng all the while, watching his every miniscule movement, eyes practically glowing in the darkness. “Three must pay the price. You… You are one of them.”
“...No. I’m not,” Dan Heng replied stubbornly. He picked himself up, standing tall as he faced Blade. “I am Dan Heng.”
“I will kill you, Imbibitor Lunae. You will pay, with me.” Dan Heng wasn’t sure Blade could even hear him anymore through the haze of the mara.
Blade ran forward, sword raised to kill. Dan Heng stood his ground, blocking the attack easily. Blade tended to get careless as the mara got worse like this. That wasn’t to say he wasn’t still dangerous. A sloppy swordsman with training long-since ingrained in him was one that was hard to predict, even if he was easier to block.
Dan Heng managed to block one more hit, but then Blade rotated, bringing his sword down in a circle. Dan Heng tried to dodge, but the very edge of the sword still sliced through his shirt, just above his chest.
It was a clean scratch, not at all life threatening, but Dan Heng still heard his heartbeat ringing in his ears as he realised that he was getting way too close. His weapon was a longer range than Blade’s. He didn’t need to let Blade close the distance like this.
He jumped back as Blade tried to hit him again, probably hoping to make up for the last hit not spilling a sufficient amount of blood.
Dan Heng wasn’t sure how long they continued on like that. He also wasn’t sure how much ground they covered as Blade just kept pushing forward, swinging his sword wildly as his eyes just became more and more manic, and Dan Heng, now determined to keep a decent amount of space between them, kept moving back, similarly to their earlier tango of equivalent steps.
He was dragging this on for too long. He had to just bite the bullet and kill Blade. He had to, he knew it, but…
“Blade…” Dan Heng grunted as he narrowly dodged the end of the shattered sword. “I’m… Dan Heng! We last met-” He raised the staff of his spear to block a heavy attack. “On the Luofu.”
Blade pressed down on Dan Heng’s spear with his sword, leaning over him slightly with a wide smile showing sharp teeth. “You will pay…for your sins, Imbibitor Lunae…” He was speaking to no one at this point. He probably didn’t even know where he was.
“You held me-!” Dan Heng felt the corners of his eyes burn despite himself. “And I felt more complete than I’ve ever felt in my life.”
Blade just kept pressing down and Dan Heng felt his knees about to give out. “We fought together too… against the monsters at Scalegorge Waterscape…” His voice was getting quieter and quieter as he quickly lost hope.
He was running through the memories, trying to think of what could have possibly been so different at the time… After all, even though Blade had been struck by mara while they fought, he’d still been reasonable after he woke up. During the fight too, there had been a moment where…
The cloudhymn magic!
Dan Heng had done something with it– or rather, it had moved on its own when he’d had to fight Blade back then.
He gritted his teeth, knuckles turning white around Cloud-Piercer as Blade just kept pushing downwards. Dan Heng was forced to drop one knee and Blade laughed victoriously, but he didn’t let up yet.
He had to shift his form. And he had to get enough space to do so.
In an instant, Dan Heng ran through every idea he could think of to get out of this. Finally, he let his arms go slack. The momentum of Blade’s own force drove him downwards, giving Dan Heng the chance to flip him over by pushing back up on Cloud-Piercer, effectively escaping from him.
Blade went crashing into the tall grass, bending the stalks under his weight as he rolled a bit before using a hand to stop himself. Breathing heavily, he glared up at Dan Heng, who was also panting from the exertion of having held him at bay for so long.
Sucking in a quick, deep breath as he closed his eyes, Dan Heng summoned the water into his veins, letting it pierce through his very soul. He concentrated Cloud-Piercer into its core as he slowly-
A heavy weight crashed into Dan Heng– Blade’s full body-force.
They went tumbling together and Dan Heng squeezed his eyes shut before he hit something hard and cried out in pain.
“Of five…Of five people!” Blade shouted, his voice a little too close. He sounded a little more lost than manic now, as though the mara were starting to sap away his grasp of reality.
Wincing at the pain in his shoulder and the heavy weight on top of him, Dan Heng opened one eye to see the bleary outline of Blade leaning over him, eyes frantically wide, practically seeing right through him.
Dan Heng’s body felt like it was in some kind of suspended animation. His transformation had never been interrupted that abruptly, and hitting whatever rocky wall was behind him with that amount of force had not helped with his violent disorientation.
He was still physically human, as far as he could tell, but the cloudhymn magic was desperately trying to merge with him to no avail. Its host just wasn’t physically compatible with it at the moment.
“Of five people…” Blade muttered, slowly raising shaky hands to Dan Heng’s neck. “Three must pay… must pay the price…” Dan Heng was still reeling, barely catching up to the feeling of Blade’s fingers closing around his throat.
Blindly, as Blade’s hands squeezed around his neck, Dan Heng felt around the ground at his side, hoping to find Cloud-Piercer there.
His hand rolled over something round, a ball. Cloud-Piercer’s core, he realised belatedly as it started rolling away. He choked, his breath cutting off under Blade’s grip as Blade mumbled under his breath. Dan Heng flapped his hand desperately, trying to grab hold of Cloud-Piercer’s core again.
His fingers tapped against it, gaining just enough traction to roll it back towards himself to grasp it.
His body wasn’t exactly prepared to use cloudhymn magic– not in its current form. But the water was still there, flowing frenziedly inside him and offering itself to his use.
He had no idea what he’d done last time, and he had no idea what he was doing now, but as black spots filtered into his vision, Blade’s hands squeezing tighter around his throat, Dan Heng was willing to try.
He concentrated the water into a small bubble in front of his chest, one Blade didn’t even notice, still babbling words that were slowly losing their meaning.
Struggling to look down at Blade’s body, Dan Heng closed his fingers tightly around Cloud-Piercer’s core, willing it to channel for him whatever cloudhymn magic his current body wasn’t capable of controlling. He narrowed in on Blade’s chest, right where his heart was, and with what little awareness Dan Heng had left, he sent the water straight through Blade, parting his consciousness from it at the last second.
The last time, the water had dissolved itself from his awareness. This time, Dan Heng was the one to sever the connection, but he didn’t know how else to make it have the same effect on Blade.
Blade’s hands stilled, neither tightening nor loosening.
With the miniscule amount of cloudhymn magic that had managed to coalesce in his body now gone, and his mind slowly recovering from the transformation interruption, Dan Heng released Cloud-Piercer’s core, instead bringing his hands up to claw at Blade’s arms, desperately trying to free his own airway. His vision was mostly blacked out already, and what he could still see was hazy due to the tears that formed in his eyes, a dark blob of blue and red and black in front of him.
Slowly, Blade’s fingers released Dan Heng’s neck. Bit by bit, his hands opened and Dan Heng gasped, drinking down air, his throat burning with each ragged breath. He coughed, his hands still gripping Blade’s wrists as Blade slowly lowered his hands.
“Blade…!” Dan Heng managed to choke out, squeezing his eyes shut and wincing at the raspiness of his own voice. “Are you…?”
He heard a groan of pain and the blurry shape in front of him hunched over slightly, the hands in Dan Heng’s grip trembling.
“Dan… Heng…?”
Dan Heng blinked rapidly, clearing his eyes, his hands softening over Blade’s wrists.
Blade’s hair was covering his eyes, and his head was turned away slightly. All Dan Heng could see was his mouth, his teeth clenched tightly as he hissed in pain.
“It’s me…” Dan Heng whispered, chest heaving with each struggling breath.
Blade raised his head slightly, wide-eyed, like a caged animal. He went completely still, just staring at Dan Heng.
A long, terrifying, silent moment passed.
Dan Heng had no idea if Blade was sane or not. Maybe Blade himself didn’t even know.
“You…” Blade’s expression was unreadable, but his hand suddenly twitched violently in Dan Heng’s hold, grabbing onto his shirt.
“You…” Blade’s voice darkened significantly as he drew close, so close that Dan Heng could see the rapid fluctuating contractions of his pupils, his eyelashes quivering. As he tugged at the front of Dan Heng’s torn shirt, Dan Heng tightened his hold on Blade’s arms, hoping to keep him from getting his hands on his throat again.
With his hands pulling so insistently at Dan Heng’s shirt, the collar was tugged down, away from his now reddening neck. Amidst the red handprints around Dan Heng’s pale throat was another, much smaller mark that Blade’s eyes seemed to catch on.
He seemed to freeze, entirely focussed on that one faded mark on the side of Dan Heng’s neck.
Blade slowly released Dan Heng’s shirt. A hand tried to rise higher, and Dan Heng hesitated, holding it in place before he loosened his grip a bit, letting just one of Blade’s hands move upwards. Gloved fingers gently caressed the side of Dan Heng’s neck.
The fingers twitched against his skin and Dan Heng flinched slightly, eyes trained on Blade’s face as his expression remained completely unreadable.
Blade’s breath faltered as he lowered his head, his hand abruptly closing on the side of Dan Heng’s neck.
“You’ll pay…”
Dan Heng held Blade’s wrist steady, a shaky breath leaving him as the hand on the side of his neck slowly loosened again.
“Blade, it’s… me,” Dan Heng whispered plaintively, leaning forward slightly to look under the hair that kept falling over Blade’s eyes.
Suddenly, Blade’s eyes met Dan Heng’s. They were frighteningly clear, and filled with nothing but vengeful hatred.
Then, they closed as Blade winced. His hands closed into fists, but he didn’t try to pull away from Dan Heng’s grip.
Then, without any warning whatsoever, Blade surged forward, his lips meeting Dan Heng’s. The back of Dan Heng’s head hit the rock behind him, but he couldn’t do anything about it with Blade pressing forward so firmly, kissing him like he wanted to swallow him whole.
Blade opened his mouth just to mutter a single word against Dan Heng’s quivering lips. “You…” The word was growled through Blade’s throat, carnal and dangerous. He leaned over Dan Heng more, lifting himself on his knees to tower over him even though his arms were still in Dan Heng’s grasp.
Dan Heng was frightened, aroused, and thoroughly confused.
Blade kissed him again, aggressively, his tongue probing invasively into Dan Heng’s mouth, swallowing any questions Dan Heng tried and ultimately failed to ask.
He honestly had no idea if this was Blade in his right state of mind or not.
But Dan Heng slowly relaxed his hold on Blade’s arms nonetheless, melting into his warmth. Blade’s hand found the thin slice in Dan Heng’s shirt that his sword had torn earlier. If Dan Heng weren’t too occupied by the way Blade was intruding in his mouth, he would have seen the warning signs before Blade gripped the fabric in his hand and promptly ripped it open.
“Hey!” Dan Heng gasped, turning his face away from Blade's to stare disbelievingly down at his own shirt, now nothing but a scrap of fabric that was barely hanging onto his arms. He could only look for half a second before Blade’s other hand roughly gripped his chin, forcing him to turn his head. Dan Heng’s affronted complaints ended up nothing more than a few mumbled words that were made meaningless by Blade’s mouth against his.
Blade pulled away for barely a moment to murmur another lone word against Dan Heng's lips. "Please..." It was so quiet Dan Heng actually felt it being spoken more than heard it. Blade didn't let him answer though, slotting their mouths together again in another searing kiss.
He was gradually coming to understand what Blade was really trying to do.
The rational part of him, which was just barely holding on, was desperately trying to ground himself in Dan Heng’s body, in the memories of that night on the Luofu. He was trying to reign himself in by using Dan Heng as an outlet.
They’d already done it once, Dan Heng was more than willing to do it again.
Granted, the first time had been on a bed rather than under the half-roof of a hollow cliff with a rock still digging painfully into his shoulder, but he was sure it would be fine.
Blade was a little more aggressive, a little less restrained this time, but knowing him, Dan Heng doubted he’d been holding back too much more when they’d done this the first time.
He could take Blade, either in a fight or in bed.
Dan Heng let a moan shudder through his parted lips, tilting his head to the side and releasing Blade’s wrists to wrap his arms around his neck instead, pulling him closer. As embarrassing as it was to be this straightforward, his pride burning indignantly, he wanted Blade to know that this was fine– That Dan Heng would take whatever he gave.
With his hands now free to roam, Blade felt for Dan Heng’s belt buckle, shaky fingers frantically undoing the clasp once they found it, before tearing the belt and its armour accessories away.
There was no gentleness to his movements– none of the sweet softness that had been there the first time. He bit at Dan Heng’s lips until they were bleeding, pushing closer and closer, making Dan Heng’s back dig into the rock wall behind him. He tugged Dan Heng’s pants down quickly, dragging them over his hips before Blade’s hands moved quickly to his own belt.
An alarm went off in the back of Dan Heng’s head. Exactly how mentally present was Blade? Was he planning to just jump right into it?
“H-Hang on…” Dan Heng muttered as Blade’s mouth moved to his neck, sucking at his skin. “Prep…”
Blade didn’t even seem to hear him. He just pushed the waistband of his own pants down, underwear with it.
Dan Heng pushed a trembling hand at Blade’s shoulder. “Wait…. Blade…” A slight sense of unease settled itself in his chest. If he wanted this to go as easily as possible, he’d have to prepare himself while holding Blade at bay.
Unfortunately, there were a few problems with that. Firstly, Blade had been the one to prepare Dan Heng the first time, and Dan Heng didn’t quite know what he was doing. Secondly, there was obviously no lubricant at his disposal here. Thirdly, Dan Heng’s ears burned viciously just at the thought of opening himself up on his own fingers with Blade right in front of him.
But with Blade closing in on him, tugging at the waistband of Dan Heng’s underwear with insistent fingers, there really wasn’t much other choice.
Hesitantly, Dan Heng reached out with one hand, keeping it firmly against Blade’s chest. A low, indignant sound reverberated in Blade’s throat as Dan Heng held him back a bit.
His other hand moved up to his own mouth, pressing down on his tongue to coat his fingers in his own saliva as Blade’s hands dug bruises into his hips, trying to lift him up from the ground.
Frankly, he had no idea what he was doing, and the fact that he was having to keep a half-feral Blade from immediately ravaging him was not making it any easier. With all the strength he could muster, Dan Heng pushed forcefully at Blade’s chest, giving himself barely a second of space in which his hips weren’t being threatened to be pulled up off the ground. He quickly pulled his fingers out of his mouth and lowered them behind his back, with him having to shift a bit to make space between his body and the rock wall.
Sucking in a shaky breath, Dan Heng slowly prodded his finger into his own body. Blade tried to press forward again, panting hot breaths against his neck as his gloved hand pushed down on Dan Heng’s shoulders, the other scrabbling at the side of his waist trying to pull him up again. To temporarily satisfy him, even just a bit, Dan Heng slid his free hand down the front of Blade’s coat, slowly closing around his burning member.
Flinching at the feeling of his own finger inside his body, Dan Heng tried to bend it, going entirely off his memory of that night on the Luofu. He needed to make more space and get another finger in as quickly as possible.
Blade’s teeth closed around his neck and Dan Heng, with his attention torn between his two hands and the adrenaline coursing through his body, let out a low, ragged moan, unable to hold himself back.
Blade’s hips rocked, his erection sliding obscenely in Dan Heng’s hand as he continued savagely biting Dan Heng’s neck, almost like he intended to eat him.
With a groan of frustration, Dan Heng managed to slip another finger in, desperately scissoring and just hoping that he was doing it well enough that Blade wouldn’t split him in two. Lifting one leg slightly, using the movement both to push Blade’s body away a bit with his foot and give his hand more space, Dan Heng pushed a third finger in as Blade moved down on his neck, the wet heat of his mouth soaking into the fabric of Dan Heng’s shirt collar.
Dan Heng split his fingers inside himself, widening the entrance bit by bit. By now his saliva had mostly dried off, but there was nothing he could do about it. Especially not with Blade rutting into his other hand, his mouth returning to Dan Heng’s to kiss him fervently.
Panic aside, Dan Heng was getting hard as well, with the barrage of sensations across his body sending heat to pool in his gut, making him even more impatient with himself. His fingers worked clumsily, trembling with his own combined arousal and agitation.
Finally, whether he was sure he was ready or not, which he probably wasn’t, Dan Heng slid his fingers out of his body, lowering his foot from Blade’s stomach to let him dive forward and descend on him.
Blade hardly wasted a breath, hands reaching feverishly for Dan Heng’s thighs, fingers digging uninhibitedly into his flesh to part the way. Dan Heng squeezed his eyes shut, hands bracing on Blade’s shoulders as he bit his lower lip, anticipating the intrusion.
Ultimately, any mental preparation he tried to do was pointless, as Blade shoved himself into Dan Heng’s body violently, practically spearing him open.
Pinpricks of white dotted Dan Heng’s vision as the air was forced out of his lungs, burning pain overtaking his entire body. He gasped soundlessly, body tensing and twitching as Blade somehow pushed even closer, pressing all the way in.
Blade’s own fluids helped ease the friction somewhat at least, but it didn’t help with his sheer size, something Dan Heng’s inept fingers had been completely inadequate to prepare for.
He began moving almost immediately, his body rocking against Dan Heng’s while Dan Heng couldn’t do anything but hold on for dear life, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes as the pain slowly faded into an almost masochistic pleasure.
Dan Heng felt his form threaten to shift, but just before it could, it stopped itself, sending a cold shudder down his spine as the change faltered without his interference, his physical being teetering on the edge between human and Vidyadhara.
This physical suspension, unfamiliar and staggering, only served to overwhelm him even more, making him flush hot, his face and ears a bright crimson as sweat dripped down his skin.
This had never happened before, but Dan Heng later suspected it had something to do with the fact that he’d already been interrupted when trying to purposely transform. Either way, he was glad it hadn’t happened, as it likely would have only made the mara worse in the moment if Blade was suddenly faced with Imbibitor Lunae instead of Dan Heng.
Blade continued pounding into his body without mercy or care, one hand braced against the rock behind Dan Heng and the other digging into the side of his hip. Dan Heng was quickly coming to the realisation that Blade had actually been holding back a lot the last time they’d done this.
He choked back a moan as Blade happened to hit that one spot inside his body, sending Dan Heng’s nerves into a flutter of excitement. His own member bounced with each aggressive snap of Blade’s hips, swollen and red as it leaked slightly, but ultimately unattended. It was all Dan Heng could do just to grip Blade’s shoulders with fabric bunching in his clenched hands, much less try to move a hand down to deal with his own body.
Blade leaned over him, making Dan Heng slide painfully down the rough surface behind him, the sound of his already torn shirt shredding against the rock filling his ears. He felt the jagged edges scrape the sensitive skin of his shoulders, no doubt drawing blood.
As Blade thrusted into him repeatedly, driving himself deep into Dan Heng's core, Dan Heng couldn’t even hold back his own voice if he wanted to. His entire body ached, torn between feelings of overwhelming pleasure and pain so strong that he could feel his awareness slipping away.
He couldn’t think, couldn’t even breathe. He could barely even see, with his eyes blurred by involuntary tears. He bit down on his own bleeding lip, the metallic taste of his own blood anchoring him slightly through the onslaught of stimulation.
“Blade-” He choked out, his voice hitching up as Blade rutted forward. It felt like he was about to pierce right through Dan Heng’s stomach. “Blade, Blade…” He lowered his voice to a whisper, pressing his cheek to Blade’s shoulder, eyes shut tightly.
His erection was becoming almost painful, Blade’s coat occasionally providing a sweet friction that only lasted a mere second before it disappeared as Blade pulled back, only to snap his hips forward again.
Blade’s length then brushed against that bundle of nerves again, sparking Dan Heng’s entire body for a brief, electrifying moment. Dan Heng groaned, just barely shy of gratifying relief. It was torturous, maddening even.
Blade started to pick up the pace, moving faster, more frantically. As he became more careless and slightly less forceful, Dan Heng managed to slip his hand down between their bodies, finding his own painfully erect member. He winced as he tried to stroke himself in tune with Blade’s rhythmless thrusts.
As Blade's teeth found the jut of his throat, Dan Heng gasped, his back arching slightly, which only served to push Blade deeper into his body. Everything went blank for a short, euphoric moment. He came over his own hand, white splattering the front of Blade’s coat and Dan Heng’s ripped up shirt.
It was right after Dan Heng came that Blade coincidentally began hitting that one spot again, pushing Dan Heng to his absolute limit as his body tried and failed to come down from the high of his release.
He could hear something, a repeated high shout almost, interrupted by small hiccups of silence. He only realised after a moment that it was himself, incapable of holding back any of his own noises as Blade’s movements finally stuttered and white heat seemed to fill Dan Heng’s body, making his toes curl in his shoes at the intense, unfamiliar sensation. Blade groaned against Dan Heng’s shoulder, one arm snaking under his upper back to hold him even closer as his movements gradually slowed.
The hand around his back clawed into the back of his shirt, fingers clenching tightly in the already shredded fabric.
Dan Heng’s head fell forward slightly, his mouth hanging open as he breathed heavily, finally able to collect himself a bit. He could feel thin, warm streams of blood turning sticky on his back, clinging to his skin with his own sweat. His legs felt like they were barely there, like he couldn’t even lift them if he tried.
Blade was silent, almost deathly so, his face resting between Dan Heng’s shoulder and neck.
Dan Heng felt alone and a little bit afraid, despite the warm weight that would typically be comforting draped over his body.
He swallowed thickly as his panting slowly turned to shorter inhales and shaky exhales, the world seeming to come back into focus around him.
Finally, he dared to speak.
“Blade?”
Blade didn’t say anything, but his left arm moved, reaching out to the side as his hand floundered on the ground a bit. After a moment, there was a tap at the back of Dan Heng’s hand and he turned his palm for Blade to place a round object in it.
He struggled to look down over Blade’s shoulder, at the ball in his hand– Cloud-Piercer’s core.
The corners of Dan Heng’s eyes burned.
He knew exactly what Blade was trying to say. It was a silent order: ‘Don’t let go of it until I’m gone’.
He still wasn’t stable; just out of energy for now.
“You better…” Blade’s voice was rough and raspy, like it almost pained him to speak. “You better heal those cuts. And the marks on your neck… Don’t keep them like trophies.”
Dan Heng’s face and ears burned. Blade knew he’d purposely kept the hickey. No doubt he’d seen the bruises on Dan Heng’s thigh too, fading away right next to the new ones that were already starting to darken.
He was quickly distracted from his embarrassment, inhaling sharply as Blade slowly started to pull out, a lewd squelching noise sounding as their bodies disconnected. Dan Heng shivered at the feeling of Blade’s spend slowly dripping out of him as Blade backed away, shuffling with his pants.
Once he’d buckled his belt, he glanced up, eyes flashing rapidly between mara-struck and sane. He scanned over Dan Heng for a moment, brows knitting as he took in the flushed, thoroughly debauched look of Dan Heng’s face, lips bitten bloody and dried tears streaked under his red-rimmed eyes. All of that, paired with the red handprints on his neck, the absolute shredded mess of his shirt, and his pants pulled down to his calves made quite the image.
Noticing the complicated expression on Blade’s face, Dan Heng turned his head away. “Honestly, I much prefer this to getting stabbed.”
“You, of all people, are joking right now?”
Dan Heng shrugged, the corners of his lips lifting. “It wasn’t too bad. I could probably go again even.” That was half-true. Everything hurt, and he was sure another round would only make it hurt worse.
“That’s just your ridiculous amounts of stamina talking. But I guess I was worried for nothing.” Blade sighed, leaning back to unbutton his coat. Dan Heng watched him curiously, not sure what he was doing. Blade pulled the coat off, leaving himself in just his bandages, before he stood fully and tossed the coat at Dan Heng’s lap. “Use that to wipe yourself off.”
He then turned, walked a few steps and bent to lift his sword. He stared at the weapon in his hand for a long, heavy moment, fingers tensing around the handle, his bare forearm, now good as new, flexing with the motion.
Dan Heng’s hand closed tightly around Cloud-Piercer’s core, waiting to see if Blade would turn back around and swing the sword down at him.
Aside from their equally heavy breathing, they were both quiet for a long moment, the air filling with tension.
“Did you know… it was me?” Dan Heng asked ambiguously. He knew some part of Blade was aware of their shared night on the Luofu when he’d kissed Dan Heng, but the real question was whether or not that miniscule piece of Blade was the one driving him to take more.
“...I knew you call yourself ‘Dan Heng’.”
An equally ambiguous answer. It had a cruel implication to it, one that made Dan Heng’s pride sting, but it was better than the alternative.
“That healing magic of yours…”
“Don’t.”
Blade went quiet, heeding Dan Heng’s wishes for once.
Dan Heng didn’t want to hear about the cloudhymn magic, about how he’d been able to purify the mara somehow, and how that power was undoubtedly one Dan Feng had most likely possessed.
“The others are out in the fields helping your friends. We’ll leave at dawn,” Blade said gruffly, his back still to Dan Heng, who blinked in surprise.
The Stellaron Hunters were helping them? It wasn’t… unusual, per se, given the tender balance of conflict and alliance between their two sides, but it was unexpected.
“You aren’t staying to look for the Stellaron?”
“There isn’t one. Just a dormant Fragmentum nest that was revived by followers of The Elation. We found out yesterday.” Blade’s voice shook just slightly, almost imperceptibly, as his hand tightened on the sword handle, one shoe turning slightly towards Dan Heng.
It was useful information. Something the Astral Express crew might not have figured out as quickly on their own. Obviously they would still stay and finish wiping out the monsters, but at least now they knew they didn’t have to deal with a Stellaron.
Blade took a long, deep breath, lowering his shattered sword to his side. “I… will see you again.”
“...For better or for worse?” Dan Heng quoted.
“For better or for worse,” Blade repeated, taking one heavy step, and then another, walking away from the small open cave, away from Dan Heng. He didn’t turn to look back. He probably couldn’t, lest seeing Dan Heng’s face would bring the mara right back to the surface.
After Blade had disappeared from his sight, Dan Heng slowly used his arms to push himself up, hissing as the scratches in his back became more apparent with the movement. He’d have to shift forms before he was supposed to meet up with the Astral Express crew or they would have more than a few questions. The marks on his neck were very obviously the work of a human rather than a monster.
After using Blade’s torn coat to wipe himself down, Dan Heng surveyed the damage to his shirt and was faced with what he already knew. It was unsalvageable at this point, nothing but a few scraps. Luckily, he had others with him, so he wouldn’t have to walk around shirtless for the next few days.
He stood carefully, testing his legs. Then, gripping Cloud-Piercer’s core tightly in his hand, Dan Heng slowly, bit by miniscule bit, managed to summon the water into his veins, seeing the transformation through this time.
It made his head ache a bit, and he had to brace a hand against the rock wall next to himself for support. He supposed such a reaction made sense after the transformation was interrupted twice in a row. Absently, Dan Heng raised a shivering hand to his neck, brushing his fingertips over the newly unblemished skin.
Though the marks on his neck and thigh disappeared, along with the bloody gashes on his shoulders, back, and the scratch on his chest, his legs still felt like they could give out at any moment. He supposed there wasn’t exactly anything to heal, since it was just due to overexertion.
At the very least, in this form he could float, if only for brief periods of time. It made it much easier to get back to the field, which he confirmed had been completely wiped of monsters, before he took himself back to the house he was staying in, quietly slipping through the front door.
The Astral Express crew reconvened the next day at the plaza like they’d planned and went over their encounters with the Stellaron Hunters. Dan Heng only shared the bare minimum, which, thankfully, wasn’t unlike him.
After taking care of the main Fragmentum nest, the location of which was drawn on Stelle’s map by Silver Wolf, the crew returned to Penacony.
Once they made it back to the Reverie Hotel, Dan Heng handwashed Blade’s coat and stuffed it in the bottom of his travel bag, planning to mend it and give it back the next time they met.
Probably.
The Astral Express's fuel shortage was still an issue, as was the choice of whether or not to trust Black Swan’s suggestion for the Express to warp jump to Amphoreus. Himeko and Welt decided to think on it a little more for the time being, meaning the crew would remain on Penacony just a little longer.
In any case, a little vacation time before the next mission was likely a good idea.