More soldiers closed around Wugang, the rest stalking toward us. Their guandao flashed—curved silver blades with a jagged edge, welded to long poles of polished jade. They moved like the wind, as swift as a sandstorm. An army of death.

My fingers were stiff with terror, but I forced them to bend, releasing an arrow that hurtled into the shoulder of the nearest soldier. Sky-fire blazed down its arm, a crack forming all around as the arm fell off with a clunk. No blood spilled, though the soldier’s flesh glistened with a translucent wetness. The creature did not pause, seemingly indifferent to its missing limb, impervious to pain or fear.

The Celestial Empress wrenched free of her captors, crimson flames surging from her palms. Those scorched, halted in their stride—the empress running toward us. As a soldier gave chase, I let fly an arrow that plunged into its thigh. The creature shuddered as it fell down, twitching as light crackled around it.

Liwei raced to his mother, flames rippling along the length of his blade. As a soldier leapt before him, raising its guandao, my arrow struck the carved disc on its armor. The jade fractured as Liwei’s sword plunged through it, flames coursing into the creature’s body, its pale skin melting like wax. Dazzling light erupted from the soldier’s chest, the luminous glow of a laurel seed nestled where a heart should beat. Had Wugang planted it there? Was that the source of the creatures’ power? The soldier lurched upright then, the first sign of distress I had seen. The mottled patches upon its body thickened—like ice hardening on a lake—as the soldier collapsed into a quivering pile, the glow in its eye sockets waning. Spirals of gold dust slipped from the cavern of its throat, coiling into the air, soon lost amid the streaming sunlight. How I wished the Celestial spirit wrenched from its peace might find it again … even as relief surged through my veins.

These soldiers were not invulnerable; they could be destroyed.

“Break the jade discs to get at the laurel seeds within,” I called out to the others. “They are vulnerable to heat, to fire and lightning—use what you can.”

I tossed the Jade Dragon Bow to my father—his weapon was of no use here, for the laurel’s nature was cold. He caught it deftly, his fingers closing around it with practiced ease. The bow settled in his grip as I had only ever seen it do for me. As my father drew back the cord, Sky-fire flashed between his fingers, already hurtling toward the enemy. I grasped my magic to shield my parents and myself, as the rest did the same. Drawing my sword, I ran a finger along its blade, my power gliding across it until it blazed with vermilion fire.