Ming-Yue Song
Ming-Yue’s pain flared once again, but she continued to ignore it. Her twin hit her with another fiery blast with her dead eyes entirely under the control of Nián Lǎ o de Mèilì Zhě . Rayne didn’t seem to be able to free herself from the monster’s power. The giant ball of fire began to form, and she didn’t have time to get out of its way. All she could do was try to get The Aged Charmer through the portal faster.
Then, the colossal fireball launched upward into the sky, and Rayne collapsed onto the ground. Her twin had done it. She pushed aside the creature long enough to stop it from destroying everyone. Ming-Yue had a few extra moments to shove the creature back through the portal. The screaming finished as the last of the giant creature’s massive limbs slipped through the portal. She released the net and began to speak the ancient words of the portal sealing. The comments came quickly with the pulsing power still connected through the earth and ley line below her.
The portal blinked closed and sealed with a soft golden swirl with Nián Lǎ o de Mèilì Zhě sealed back where it belonged. Out of this world, back into the realm it resided within. Ming-Yue turned to see her sister unconscious behind her, the tent where the creature had been resting on fire, and several circle members rushing to join her. She heard her name being called, others running to Rayne and her.
Ming-Yue connection to the ley line kept her frozen in place, flowing with the magical power through her as she cleaned out the taint from The Aged Charmer. She didn’t want the stain of its presence to harm anything in the region. The purge of the taint went smoothly with the raw power she had at her disposal. There was so much she could do, so many she could help. Right now, there was another creature out there, maybe another. She reached out her impossibly vivid senses through the ley line to find where the other creatures or creatures were corrupting this world’s sources of magic and wonder. Her mind traveled so fast through the lines, across places of the world she had never been to and would never be able to sense. She felt the disturbance closer than she thought it would be, somewhere in the old rocks, once tall mountains that had worn down to hills. She felt their age, wisdom, and annoyance at the intruders in their domain.
Ming-Yue would be able to find this place once she left the line. She would have to travel to remove this creature to send it back to where it belonged—yet another problem she had to solve. Ming-Yue flowed back into her petite body, having to release the power to fit into herself. She opened her dull human eyes with limited range to see Kai holding her hands with a worried look on their face.
“Mistress,” Kai implored her, as they must have been doing for quite some time.
“Kai, I am back,” Ming-Yue said. Her voice was raw, and her throat dry as she swallowed. Even blinking hurt her dried eyes.
“Come, we must return home; you and Mistress Xiao Hong are exhausted. Your sister hasn’t awoken yet, and you have been,” Kai paused, staring at her, uneasy at what she had been doing, “unavailable.”
“I found other locations on the east coast. In the Appalachian Mountains,” Ming-Yue explained. She took a step to follow Kai and staggered into them. Kai caught her and helped her back to her feet.
“Come, I will help you back to the vehicles and get home,” Kai said softly.
“Yes, we need to go home. Nián Lǎ o de Mèilì Zhě has been returned successfully, and we have a starting point in our search for the next creature released. It has been a promising day,” Ming-Yue said, leaning on Kai, shuffling slowly toward their small caravan of vehicles to return to the small airport.