Zhenxing stared at the saber, the skin of his palms tingling with the amount of power contained in the spiritual weapon. The elegant curve and etched design of plum blossoms along the blade were unmistakable.

Huzhao, Tiger's Claw, had appeared from nowhere and was now in his grasp. A strong killing aura emanated from the blade, a menacing blue glow covering the metal. 

Those words echoed in his head again and again. Did you kill him in order to take his place?

Take his place.

Did you kill him?

To take his place.

Did you kill him?

Fury washed his vision bright red. He could taste blood in his mouth as his spiritual power pounded impotently against his still-blocked qi points. Huzhao shook, dragging Zhenxing forward a step. Its own rage pulsed, mixing with his, using its rapidly dwindling spiritual energy to lunge farther forward.

Zhenxing wasn't prepared when a blast of spiritual power swept out of the blade. His ears rang, the skin of his hands and face burning in that torrent of fiery rage. The blade of energy slammed into the Zodiacs, sending all eleven of them flying. Blood sprayed from eleven mouths as the Guardians hit the walls and crumpled to the ground. 

For a moment, Zhenxing thought he felt a familiar hand on his shoulder, heard a familiar whisper in his ear. It told him to be brave.

And then it told him to run.

Spiritual energy that was not his flooded into him, swirling around the blocked qi points and making him light as a feather. Huzhao disappeared into thin air, and Zhenxing followed the last order of his Lord. 

He ran. 

Before the other Zodiacs could recover enough to rise and stop him, Zhenxing fled, pelting down the halls of the Dragon Palace. He blew past servants and knocked over decorative tables holding ancient treasures, nearly colliding with the Dragon Attendant as he rounded a corner, the main door coming into view.

"Zhenxing!" she said, startled as he whirled past her. "Where—"

"I didn't kill him," he bellowed over his shoulder as he ran. "Tell your mistress this. I did not kill him."

With those words, he blasted through the doors and out into the streets.

Just as he had run through that forest away from his father over a century ago, Zhenxing now ran through the Heavenly Realm. Startled faces gaped at him, there and gone as he used that precious spiritual energy to move as fast as the wind.

He ran toward the North Gate and had nearly made it out when disaster struck.

Tiangou, the Dog Immortal, barreled into Zhenxing just as he came to the line dividing the Heavenly Realm and the Mortal Realm. Zhenxing slammed into the marble beneath the gate so hard he cracked the stone. He swallowed back the blood surging in his throat and got to his feet. The last vestiges of that awesome, wild power shimmered along his meridians as he stood, staring at Tiangou.

"Please—"

"Xing-er, the only reason I don't tear you apart here and now is my fondness for Ah-Shen." The Dog Immortal grimaced, wiping blood from his chin. "Come back quietly with me. Face your punishment courageously and make him proud."

Zhenxing scoffed. The one thing the Tiger Immortal hated more than cowardice was injustice, whether it was suffered by himself or others.

And nothing so unjust had ever happened to Zhenxing before in his life.

"I didn't kill my master," Zhenxing said again. The words rang in his head like a discordant note in an otherwise familiar song—unpleasant, impossible and just plain wrong. They were words that should not exist coming out of his mouth. That is how ridiculous this all was to him.

"Then how is he dead?" Tiangou howled. "How do you have Huzhao? Your greedy, human heart got the better of you once he told you of his plans. You forsook his kindness, his love for you. You killed him for his power and now you have it!"

A wave of spiritual power bore down on Zhenxing, forcing him to his knees. He gasped, coughing as the Dog Immortal's power crushed the breath from his lungs. More blood flooded his mouth.

"No,"  Zhenxing hissed. "I don't!"

"You have Huzhao." Tiangou was incredulous. How dare this lowly human so blatantly lie to him?!

Zhenxing blinked, eyes watering under the strain. He opened, then closed his mouth. For that, he had no answer. He didn't know why Huzhao had appeared in his hand. The weapon barely tolerated his touch even for cleaning. The only person it truly liked was Hu Shen, its true master.

Tiangou took his silence as a confession, his own spiritual weapon suddenly appearing in his hand. The sword was light and quick, agile like the one who wielded it.

"We all warned him not to take a human attendant. We told him humans are not to be trusted. But he didn't listen." Tears lined his eyes. "And now, as punishment for his pride and his kindness, he is dead. Slain by the one he treasured most."

Zhenxing could bear no more. He heaved a breath. Another. Then, he shoved.

A ripple of spiritual power burst from him. Sound went dead, the air growing heavy. The world seemed to pause.

Then the North Gate shattered. The Dog Immortal barely moved in time, his sword blocking the attack. But it was no match for the wave of power battering against it, and Tiangou was thrown back. He tumbled back down the road, smashing into the wall of the guard house.

He did not rise.

Though it came from him, Zhenxing was not spared either.

The mad rush of energy threw him from where he stood in between what was left of the pillars of the North Gate. It strained and tore his meridians, his spiritual core molten hot just below his breastbone. His skin split open, bloody tears leaking from his eyes, more spraying from his mouth as the pain consumed him.

He flew right to the edge of the Heavenly Realm.

Then, Zhenxing fell.

Word Count: 983

Total: 6983