Page 94 of The Wind Dancer
One of them fell before he could realize he was dead. And I was already rushing to the other one. He tried to raise a crossbow, but I rolled under and slammed my palm into it from below, throwing its aim completely off. Then I punched him in the groin. And immediately followed it up with a dagger to his head as he bent over from the pain.
Then I spun around, using the corpse as a shield from a crossbow bolt fired by the third mercenary. I was unfair in calling them incompetent idiots. Their reaction was perfectly decent, just not enough against me. And the fact that I was a dragonblood made it insufficient.
A sharp kick sent the body flying into the crossbowman, and I rushed him. I shifted to the side, dropped into a low stance, and stabbed him in the liver. I did everything the way I was taught — stab, twist, and pull the blade out quickly. Weapons should never get stuck.
A quick punch to the throat silenced the forming scream of the future corpse. And a crushed windpipe made it impossible for him to call for help.
The hallway was quiet now. There was just the faint sound of the blood pouring out of the wounds. The way up was clear now.
Three taps on the earring let Mei Lin know that I was starting.
The situation looked as bad as it could be. A dozen mercenaries were blocking my way up. I could technically use Basic Enhancement to take care of them, but ordinary people had no essence that I could absorb. And the throbbing in my veins didn’t exactly make me happy. I needed that cleansing ritual mnemonic package to activate soon. I really didn’t want to become a distorted creature.
I focused back on the situation at hand. My old man always told me that if there was no way out, then you had to create one. And the large windows were clearly a way out...if you’re suicidal or had been taught by Feng Shen.
I went out the window without looking.
Not out of bravado, but common sense. If you started looking, calculating, you’d already be a lost cause. The human mind was afraid of heights. People weren’t meant to soar, but to me, the sky was a friend. The Heavenly Wing has saved my skinhundreds of times and helped me sneak into the homes of my targets. It was time for it to shine again.
I pressed my palm against the cold stone, feeling the surface under my fingers. There was smooth masonry here, but centuries of rain and wind had formed cracks in it. I smirked behind my mask. The wind had helped his brother again.
The steel hooks on my gloves clicked into position. With a strike the metal bit into the stone with a soft screech. I checked the grip; it held.
Then I found my footing — eagle claw-shaped spikes on the tips of my soles dug into the recess. My body was as tense as a bow string. I pushed myself up.
The stone crumbled under my left hand, and my heart stopped for a moment, but my right hand already stabbed higher, deeper. I looked back at a thin rope strapped to my belt. It shook below me, but it gave me security. If I fell, it wouldn’t let me fall all the way down. But that means I would make noise, attract attention, and fail the operation. At least I would survive and be able to look for a new chance to kill Fouche.
At this altitude, the wind should have been an obstacle. The relentless gusts could slam you into the wall or blow you away like dust. Instead, it pulled me up, gently, as if he was supporting me under the shoulder blades, not letting me get tired. The whirlwinds slid over me, as if patting me, giving me confidence in my abilities.
I could feel my back muscles burning from the strain, my fingers going numb from the effort. And I continued. The distance felt like it stretched on endlessly.
Move by move, I crawled upward like a spider. Somewhere above, I could hear the vile litanies, which made the Distortion in my veins pulse more and more. The wind hit my face and cleared my mind. “Thank you, brother,” I whispered silently.
There was just a little bit left.
I raised my hand, hooked my claws on a narrow metal ledge, arched, and pulled myself up. My heart was pounding in my throat, my face was covered in sweat, but I could see the last ledge. One last push left.
I slid onto the Heavenly platform like a shadow. There were strange things already taking place. There was a statue in the middle of the platform, in the features of which I saw the girl in blue armor that I had seen in my visions. She was looking straight at me, and I could feel her calling to me. She was begging to be released. I just needed to tweak the ritual a little and take the power for myself.
The wind pushed me back, and the obsession dissipated, giving way to anger. And I could hear Mei Lin’s ice-cold voice over the earring:
“Get ready, partner, we’re starting!”And then I heard her order:
“Kill everyone who doesn’t bear our mark!”
A chorus of hoarse voices answered her:
“In the name of the five dragons! Death! Death! Death!”
I didn’t see the Chancellery’s attack force launch their attack, but I heard it perfectly. I closed my eyes and listened to how they worked. It was brutal and merciless. No one eventhought about taking prisoners — their task was a lightning-fast assault.
They kicked down the door, immediately stepped aside, and combat artifacts flew through the opening, creating a massive explosion. These were some extremely costly weapons.
Each claw had their own task. A team with heavy sniper crossbows with alchemical bolts that could pierce iron as thick as an arm, similar to the kind uncle Sima had, was tasked with eliminating priority targets. I wasn’t sure if even an experienced dragonblood could survive such a shot.
The team with multi-shot short crossbows had prepared black poisoned arrows and could send ten bolts flying in just a couple of breaths.
Anyone else planning this operation would have said that I was an idiot for not going with Mei Lin’s fighters. But I had a reason. No matter how prepared they were, Fouche was well prepared and expecting them. I could hear the bastard’s hoarse laughter as he worked his vile magic, a choir of cultist priests helping him.
