The Dawn of the New World

*Thud*

The conversation was cut short when Ma Jiang collapsed to the ground prompting them to tend to her instead.

,m Princess Ceni tried to help her up but her hand started to sizzle the moment it came into contact with her body.

"OW! What the hell?! I thought you said she was going to be fine, what's going on?"

Jin Wang placed a hand on her forehead which immediately began to smoke.

"Her body is releasing extremely concentrated Yang energy."

"Yang energy? Her? How is that even possible?"

Yin and Yang energies were represented as cold and hot in nature. The females of most species had more Yin energy whereas the males had Yang energy. This didn't mean that they were exclusive to one gender but only that they were more inclined to one side.

The Yang energy being released from Ma Jiang's body was particularly abnormal because not only was it extremely pure and concentrated but the quantity was also increasing with time.

The area near her vicinity had already begun to scorch and cinder while her breathing became erratic.

"What did you do?! She's getting worse!" Princess Ceni screamed in a hushed whisper trying to keep her voice down whereas Jin Wang was lost in thought.

His mind was racing trying to come up with a reasonable explanation but obviously he would never be able to come to the real conclusion.

That whatever creature that was sealed within Ma Jiang's body was trying to break free by taking advantage of her weakened state.

Just then Ma Jiang reached out and grabbed a hold of Jin Wang's hand, muttering in a state of delirium, "Please...take me somewhere where there aren't any people...away from the city...far away...."

That was all she could say before closing her eyes and falling into a deep state of meditation.

Jin Wang had many questions but he couldn't very well ask them right now so he did as Ma Jiang had requested. Picking her up in his arms even as the yang energy threatened to burn his flesh he jumped up and away.

Princess Ceni was left with no choice but to follow after them with gritted teeth.

They flew straight up and towards the north away from everything. There was a solitary bare mountain peaking out of the forest just a few miles away, this was their destination.

Nothing grew here, not a single leaf of grass or the droppings of a beast could be found. All life had left this place.

And as soon as they made landfall Princess Ceni could feel the absolutely bizarre atmosphere. Not only was the air much colder but it made her feel naked as if she had just lost a layer of protection she never even knew was there in the first place.

"Are you sure this place is safe? It's giving me a strange feeling..."

"No, but it's the best place for her to be. There is a concentration of Ying energy here, it should help ease whatever she is going through and suppress the Yang energy inside her."

Despite feeling like someone was watching her from the shadows Princess Ceni followed Jin Wang towards one of the many burrows that decorated the back of the mountain.

At first glance they looked like many gaping mouths of some ancient beast that was just waiting for them to enter. And the sounds of billowing wind didn't help which sounded like the cries of children.

He stopped in front of a seemingly random burrow and started walking in, "This one should be fine."

One step at a time they walked through the eerily quiet tunnel in near pitch darkness. Thankfully they didn't have to go too deep before what looked like a room appeared on their left.

Jin Wang turned into the room without saying a word but Princess Ceni was distracted by something else.

Just a stone's throw away to the front was a doorway etched out of surrounding rocks. There were some symbols carved onto the sides that had caught her eye.

Despite it being so dark that nothing beyond a few feet could be seen Princess Ceni could still clearly make out the symbols. The doorway itself was old, far too old to even estimate its time period but symbols looked like they had been carved just a few minutes ago.

Three on the right, four on the left, and two at the top. Each one was more complex than the last, consisting of letters from a throng of different languages.

'I have seen these before...in the final work of the philosopher Arteym from the Era of Antiquity. There was an image of a gateway just like this. If I'm not wrong they should read something like...'

She unconsciously uttered the next few words out loud, albeit barely audible to any else besides her.

"Halt! Here is the Empire of Death, the host to the throne of eternal darkness, Necropolis of Mo- MMMM!"

😉