Chapter 18: Chapter 18: Leaps and Bounds

“Is something wrong, Koya?” Yaihan asked as he brought the cart to a halt. Midnight stopped moving, leaving the kunoichi frustrated as she tried to get the horse to move. 

“Midnight is acting up,” Koya said with a whisper.

“Is he too afraid to advance along the steps?”

“No. He acts this way whenever there are Oni around,” she said as she flicked the reins again. “There must be demons around here.”

“We need to tell the others.” Yaihan tilted his head to look past the immobile steed. The others continued along the thin walkway without looking behind. 

“I can’t tell them if I can’t catch up. And if there are Oni nearby, shouting might alert them to our presence.” Koya huffed and pulled the reins back, making Midnight stand on his hind legs. He tilted his head back, ready to neigh until Koya placed a hand over his snout, keeping him silent. “Shush, boy,” she whispered to her horse. “If you don’t like Oni now, you definitely won’t like them when we’re working with just a few inches of footing.”

“I’ll let them know,” Yaihan replied. Koya looked over her shoulder as she continued to stroke Midnight’s main to get him to calm down.

“What’s your plan? How are you going to get around me when there’s no room?” She looked down at the side of her horse. The edge of Midnight’s hoof already dangled over the precipice. “And we’re high up enough for any fall to be deadly!”

“Then I won’t fall.” Yaihan took a crouching position and focused on the spot in front of Midnight. After a moment of concentration, the cultivator propelled himself with a single leap, jumping over Koya’s head by several feet before landing gracefully a few feet in front of Midnight.

Koya clapped her hands together in silence as Yaihan turned around to face her. “Right. I keep forgetting that you’re a cultivator.”

“Stay here,” Yaihan said. “Watch the cart. I’ll go ahead and warn the others of Oni-Zhen presence and take out any demons along the way.”

“Sounds like a good plan to me.”

Yaihan pressed one hand against the cold, stone wall of the plateau. Cyrus trailed right behind Fei-Lu and Lysa with a steady trot. With a brief sprint, the cultivator traversed the remaining distance between himself and the horse ahead. 

“Cyrus!” Yaihan said as loud as he could without making his voice echo through the barren area. The scout turned his head around and looked at the cultivator, bewildered.

“Yaihan? What happened to the wagon? And where’s Koya?”

The cultivator walked behind the horse. “They’re both fine. But Midnight sensed that there are Onis nearby.”

“That’s not good.”

“Tell Fei-Lu. See if you can get convince her to stop.” 

Cyrus turned around. He put two fingers to his lips and whistled. A quick and high-pitched sound pierced the silence, catching Fei-Lu and Lysa’s attention up ahead. The tactician brought Zephyr to a halt and spun her head around. 

“What’s the matter, Cyrus?” she said in her usual, commanding voice. 

“Seems like there might be Onis in the area,” Cyrus replied. “Midnight’s been acting up.”

Fei-Lu clenched a fist. “Just what we needed. We’ve still got a bit of travelling before we make it to the top of the plateau.”

Yaihan leapt again, jumping over both horses with ease. With a single flip in the air, he reversed his position and faced the tactician. “I can make sure the path ahead is clear,” the cultivator said. 

“And what of the wagon and its supplies? We need those just as much as we need to get across this trail.”

“Koya is watching them. Midnight refuses to go any further.”

The tactician smacked her forehead with her palm. “Ugh. That horse is always causing problems.”

“Let me go up ahead. I can deal with any potential Onis without a hassle.”

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“I shall accompany you,” Fei-Lu said quietly. 

“Are you sure? The environment is dangerous. I wouldn’t want the leader of Xiwao to get die because of a misstep.”

Fei-Lu narrowed her eyes and looked at the cultivator with frustration. “You speak as though you haven’t seen me in battle.” She took hold of the necklace dangling from her chest and pressed the white jewel against her heart. A brief beam of light engulfed her, showing only her silhouette before vanishing as quickly as it appeared. Fei-Lu remained seated on Zephyr’s back in the same pose, but her Purifier Ensemble replaced her outfit. “I have the element of wind on my side. I can leap just as well as you can. If not, better.”

The tactician turned around to Lysa and handed the druid the reins. “Here. You take control of Zephyr for now. Continue along the trail, but don’t leave Koya and the wagon too far behind. We can’t afford to waste time sitting around.”

“Yes, Fei-Lu,” Lysa said as she grabbed the rope. With the druid in control of Zephyr, Fei-Lu stood on the horse’s back. She kept her eyes focused on Yaihan as she bent her toes upward, launching herself dozens of feet in the air and landing a few feet in front of Yaihan. 

“Now then,” she said as her swords materialized in her hands with a golden glow. “Let’s search for these Onis.”

“Did you want to lead the way?” the cultivator asked as he pressed his back as much as he could against the wall. With a polite bow, he offered the tactician the lead position.

“Stay close to me,” Fei-Lu whispered as she passed the cultivator. “I don’t want us getting separated and wasting time searching for one another.”

“As you command.” 

Fei-Lu moved across the trail with a sprint. She lowered her body, keeping her head low as she scanned the top of the plateau. Yaihan kept up with her, keeping a watch for any movement. “Do you see anything?” the tactician asked as she came to a halt after taking a wide turn. Fei-Lu pressed her back against the wall and stared up at the jagged horizon the plateau’s peaks formed. 

“I haven’t. Have you?”

“No,” Fei-Lu whispered, her frustration evident despite how quiet she spoke. “Perhaps Midnight is just being... difficult.”

Instead of replying, Yaihan angled his ears towards the wall behind them. He held up one finger, showing that he needed silence.

“Do you hear something?” Fei-Lu said under her breath. 

The cultivator nodded. Fei-Lu turned her attention towards the wall behind her as well, pressing one hand against the stone wall. Amidst the faint howling of the slight breezes, an even quieter rumbling came from above.

“There’s at least one up there,” Yaihan said just below a whisper as he pointed to the top of the plateau. Fei-Lu looked up and squinted her eyes. The wall shot up perpendicular to the ground they stood on while a few chunks of stone jutted out intermittently all throughout the wall. 

“We’ll have to scale it,” Fei-Lu replied. “Do you think you can make it up there? It will require precise movement.”

Yaihan’s head bobbed back and forth as he planned a route to the top in his mind. “I can manage. Need me to go first so you call follow?”

Fei-Lu’s glare turned cold. “Are you saying that in jest? You know I can make it up there with ease. I was asking if you would have difficulty landing on the formations. You might have the strength of a dragon, but you have the elegance of a drunken boar! One wrong landing from you could send the entire cliff-side tumbling.”

“I just wanted to make sure the path up ahead was safe for you. You are the commander, after all.”

“Watch.” Fei-Lu lifted her head and focused on the closest protrusion. With the motion of a hop, Fei-Lu leapt straight to the lowest hanging stone, leaving a gust of wind behind her that rustled Yaihan’s clothing and hair before landing on her tip toes a dozen feet above Yaihan. With her footing secured, she peered down at the cultivator and waved at him, urging him to follow.

Yaihan prepped himself for another jump. After a few seconds of preparation, he launched himself to the same platform as Fei-Lu. “Was that graceful enough for you?” 

“The landing could have been better. I saw you buckle your knees a bit once your feet touched the ground.”

“Perhaps you should show me how it’s done,” Yaihan whispered. “And as you said, we’re in a hurry. Maybe we should skip a few leaps and try for that section up there.” The cultivator pointed straight up at a formation that stuck out just beneath the top of the plateau. Fei-Lu squinted at the small bit of rock that dangled nearly one hundred above them. “Of course, if you’d rather take a safer route, we could do that as well. Whatever you decide, I’ll follow.” Even though Yaihan’s face remained as stoic as ever, his tone carried a hint of playfulness. 

The tactician holstered her swords in the loops of her belt before returning her attention to the target. “You are bold, Yaihan. I will admit that.” She took in a deep breath and braced herself for another leap. “I accept your challenge.”

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