Editing Hurry Home, Sweet Voice

[[Nameless Ravine]] looked down at [[Shai Mei]], her face draining of color as her lifeblood spilled out over his hands.  With great effort, she whispered a few words; he leaned close over her to hear.  “Tell [[Lu Fei]]… I’m sorry… he’s the one… was supposed to… this…”

Her words shocked him back into the present.  His eyes shot to the canyon walls, but there were no Abyssals to be seen.  He glanced up at [[Amilar Agathon]], who stood at the ready, his hand clenched around the hilt of his blade in white-knuckle fury.  Ravine followed Agathon’s unflinching gaze and saw [[Soho]], his jade bow still quivering in his hand.  The monk could not meet the Solar’s gaze; he flinched, and the bow slipped from his hands and clattered to the ground.

There once was a time when the Nameless Ravine would have acted with haste and fury.  When sheer force of will would have taken form as motes of corrupt, baleful essence; when that essence would have found expression in a moment of terrible triumph, when he would have slaughtered the traitor before him like so much cattle.  That time, and that part of him, had been torn away forever, leaving a hole that still stung with grief and regret and hope for the future.

“Cousin.”  Nameless Ravine’s voice was whisper soft, and filled with steel.

“Cousin.”  Agathon’s reply was steady and emotionless.

“Restrain and subdue this… traitor.”

“At once.”  Soho was too shocked and numbed to resist as Agathon relieved the monk of his weapons, and bound and gagged him.

Meanwhile, still cradling the tree-daughter in his left hand, Nameless Ravine’s right hand reached to his collar and drew out an ornate miniature trumpet that hung around his neck by a thin ribbon of golden silk.  Talismans such as this were rare and precious; each member of [[the Qinglong Alliance]] carried one, and each could only be used once.  [[Chi Wen]] had given hers to the Nameless Ravine before he set out on this journey, to be used only as a last resort.  The solar raised the gift to his lips, and whispered into it his plea.  “Fell, the foe; bitter, the fight; now, friends lay dying upon the field.  How I long to hear the fanfare of blessed relief!  Where is that sound, where is the [[Sweet Voice of Brass and Glory]]?”

The talisman shattered, and a trumpet’s clarion call faintly echoed off the canyon walls. Within moment, the call was answered by a resounding fanfare of triumph and war, as a shimmering golden portal appeared; through it stepped [[Storm of Amber]], holding [[the Third-Arm Glaive]] aloft, prepared for anything; and close behind him followed Chi Wen’s mistress, the Brass Lady Herself.

The horse-lord stepped forward and looked about in surprise.  “Nameless Ravine, what happened here?”

Nameless Ravine shook his head.  “There’s no time to explain, brother.  Take Shai Mei to [[Flying Pearl Lake]], and quickly!  The healers there may yet save her life.”  Sweet Voice gasped when she saw the Little Tree lying so close to death, but she could not spare a Touch of Grace and still keep the portal open.  She took the dying girl in her arms and stepped through.

“And take Magistrate Amilar’s prisoner and throw him in the stockades beneath the [[Pagoda of Infinite Strategy]].  He must face the Judgment of Heaven for his crimes.”

“What prisoner… surely you don’t mean Soho?  I thought you counted him a friend.”

Nameless Ravine’s voice was thick with bitterness.  “So did I, Storm.  So did I.  Hurry home, brother.”  He turned away from the portal, towards the path winding its way out of the chasm.

Standing at the brink, Storm of Amber called up to him.  “Where are you going?  The portal will close any minute!”

Ravine shouted back: “I have unfinished business here, brother.  I will meet you at the Gorge of Othoclase in one week.”  Storm of Amber nodded once, and stepped into the portal; it closed behind him.  The Dawn Caste warrior was left alone.  “I’m not turning back until I find [[Sha Yan Shi]].”

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[[Heaven's Mandate]]