Crimson Qi, Exiled Beautiful Lady Falls in Love with a Shy Demon

The Wards

The wards on the door brought weaving to Xi's mind even though he had never worked the loom himself. The wisps came together to make strands, the strands became fabric. Unlike the silk, the magic ribbon did not draw the eye, it repelled all senses compelling an intruder to walk away. Once he understood the nature of the thing, his hsin sheared right through the middle.

The door slid to the side revealing what on Tiandi might have been a mage's laboratory or a smith's forge or both.

The tubes carried their bounty of liquid metal along the ceiling, but the splitters directed small amounts to the workbenches. Set metal was also everywhere: metal stretched into wire, twisted in spirals, beaten into plates and cast into ingots, all that metal scattered around or inserted into automatons. Strange instruments in exotic colours and shapes could have been finished products, tools or weapons.

Among the clutter, a pair of matching short swords propped against a wooden block drew Xi's eyes, the refreshingly familiar objects, with a clear purpose, beautiful. The swords had a heavy spine and aggressive chopper blades that would bite into anything almost as good as an axe. The metal was darker than bronze, with a raindrop pattern, green in hue but not the green of a patina.

"Guard the door, Chong Xi."

Sayewa went around opening valves and filling her containers with liquid.

Xi leaned against the cold metal wall next to the door, though he did not know what he was supposed to do. If a Celestial burst in, the best he could offer was a heartfelt apology. His eyes kept darting towards the swords. As the faery continued to scavenge, his spine unglued itself from the warming metal behind it. Step by a reluctant step, he drifted away from his post towards the swords. A metal weapon would disrupt his talents, but he thought that the blades would look just right in Minh's decisive, agile hands.

"Chong Xi." Sayewa's voice was still a whisper, but she was throwing urgent glances towards the door, an unusual strain evident on her face.

"Sorry, I was daydreaming." He stroked the swords's leather-wrapped hilts, because he could not leave without touching them, and hurried back to the door.

Three things happened at once.

A gleaming stack of metal boxes separated itself from the wall, soundlessly.

The door closed into his face, also soundlessly.

A dome of glass dropped to trap them. Soundlessly, of course.

The silence was what frightened him more than the coordinated precision of the three actions used to trap them. Instinctively, he huddled closer to Sayewa, watching the top of the metal boxy structure tilt, inspecting them.

The thing moved next to their glass prison, liquified and remodelled itself into a shiny copper lion with a mane of identical curls.

"Your Illumined Grace!" Sayewa cried out, pulling Xi down to his knees next to her. She was still clutching the box with the samples too. Xi admired her grit.

"Ah, you must be from Tiandi. Always hugging the floor." The lion's whiskers made a melodious sound as he spoke. "Did the old rat send you?"

"The Mistress of Rats sent us," Sayewa confirmed.

Celestial Lion prowled while she told the tale. He kept on pacing after she'd finished. The air started to run out in their jar, so Xi freed himself from Sayewa's grasp, sat down cross-legged and slowed down his breath, leaving as much air for the faery as possible. If anyone stood a chance of talking them out of this conundrum, it was her.

The lion had finally stopped his pacing and waved. The glass dome lifted up, releasing them, leaving Xi dizzy. He rolled forward from sitting onto all fours, dropping his head down. It was not so much the reverence, it made the fighting for breath easier.