The Dragon Heroes and the Princess

I. The Death of the Emperor

For some reason, it always rained when Lan Qi cried. Amidst the darkness and cold air that blew throughout the wide palace hall, she could hear nothing but the crackling of the wooden pillars which were torn apart by the robbers' axes. Lan Qi had heard of those robbers. Even though she was only fifteen years old, living in the palace, and being the Princess of an Emperor, Lan Qi did not miss out on something dangerous to the people of the palace.

One of them was the robber.

They had all crashed Lan Qi's fifteenth birthday party, right on the eve of the turn of winter. The peach blossoms that fell, flew freely in the air. Flooded with rain and cold air that began to ambush the night. The vernacular-style windows and doors were open. Let the wind from outside into the hall.

Tables were overturned, the edges cracked or a sword stuck in them. Dead people lay strewn in front of Lan Qi. While the little girl hid behind the big chair belonging to the Emperor—her father, she covered her mouth while holding back tears.

In front of her own eyes, she saw her father being shot by someone. After that, the music that was singing and the guests who were busy joking and laughing on this happy day turned into hoarse screams and shrill cries. Splitting the night into a sea of ​​blood in the palace hall.

The robbers are coming. With the number of soldiers exceeding the number of soldiers available, they arrived at the Emperor's place and brought Queen, her mother. Lan Qi herself was pushed by the Queen to the back of a chair to hide. The war and the sound of clashing swords swayed Lan Qi's ears.

Until finally all the robbers left when the Queen allowed herself to be arrested.

Leaving Lan Qi clad in a silk dress with a tiny hairpin on her head, sitting on trembling legs and cold air pressing against her chest. She didn't know if everything was safe. All she knew now was, herself.

Everyone dies.

Nothing is safe.

Even her parents died and were kidnapped.

The soldiers probably died too.

Will the palace fall into their hands? Little Lan Qi certainly didn't know. She could only hug her legs in front of her chest in trembling and tears.

A few seconds later, she heard a voice.

It wasn't the sound of wood brushing against tree branches outside, or the sound of heavy raindrops. It was the sound of someone's footsteps kicking up bits of rubble on the floor. Lan Qi's body stiffened. There are still robbers here!

There is still…

The sound of someone's footsteps hitting another piece on the floor. As the Emperor's seat in the center of the room was quite wide, Lan Qi secretly peeked carefully and found a shadowy figure standing not far away.

Even though darkness overpowered clarity, amidst the moonlight from outside, Lan Qi could see the man's silhouette. He didn't look like the man of the robbers who had attacked earlier. The man was quite tall, he was bent over to pay attention to something. Behind his back, there was a bow whose string seemed to glisten. For a moment Lan Qi was mesmerized by the beauty of the blue color of the bow. It was as if Lan Qi saw a crystal smoldering under the moonlight. Made Lan Qi remember the story of a fairy who had a magic wand made of ice cubes.

When she was not consciously paying attention to that person, suddenly from outside the hall, she heard the sound of the crowd's footsteps. The man who had been standing earlier gasped, and so did Lan Qi. But just as Lan Qi was about to hide back, accidentally—their eyes met. Lan Qi widened her eyes, covered her mouth, and held back her fear when the door was violently kicked open.

Her heart was pounding. She was seen by a villain! Lan Qi couldn't be certain that the man with the blue bow was a villain but whoever was here, couldn't they be? Otherwise, what was that man doing here?

The footsteps of people entering the hall started to sound noisy. There were people kicking tables, and pushing an urn until it broke. The curtain was torn, and clay cups were thrown on the floor until another sound that sounded like a fire broke out—

Lan Qi gasped.

Fire….

There was a red light licking its shadow behind the wall. Lan Qi was about to take a peek, but suddenly from behind someone pulled her into a hug and covered her mouth.

Lan Qi's heart almost stopped when she didn't immediately notice the figure of the man earlier now behind her, raising a finger to his lips, telling her to be quiet. His eyes which were blocked by dark shadows had dimmed to blue. Lan Qi froze on the spot. She leaned back against the Emperor's chair while the man whose face was still not visible hid in the shadows.

The flames behind them grew bigger and bigger. Lan Qi could see shadows of light starting to fill the walls of the palace hall. Smoke started to fill Lan Qi's lungs. She held her throat which felt numb with the heat. She had to hold off for a while until at least the robbers were gone.

“Burn all the corpses. Let nothing remain!” one of the men could be heard calling out. Amidst the collapsing rubble and cracking wood, Lan Qi was starting to barely stand the smell of the smoke.

"But boss, shouldn't they already know that this is our doing?"

"No, idiot. Have you forgotten what we are here for? We can use the Lightning Villain as bait. Let us think of a plan, but in the meantime, the Lightning Villain will receive the punishment for this deed and languish in prison.”

After saying that, Lan Qi saw the blue bowman peeking to the side. Let the light fall on his face. And at that moment, Lan Qi could feel her body freeze for a few seconds.

Under the moonlight, the man's hair was slightly long. Bangs and looks piercing his eyes. His sharp eyes and bright blue irises were like lightning striking in a storm. His lips pursed, and a sharp yet cold gaze overtook his expression. But it didn't end there, the clothes the man wore were also unique.

Lan Qi couldn't describe it clearly, but she could see the bow with the bright blue string.

The fire raged, breaking logs and consuming all the remaining furniture as the robbers made their way out. Lan Qi started coughing, and accidentally one of the robbers heard it.

"Boss, there is one over there!" one of the men exclaimed. Lan Qi gasped. The man in front of her immediately stepped forward and whispered.

"Do not get out."

Before Lan Qi could stop him, the man had already stood up and picked up his bow. Aiming with a well-built body and before there was even a gust of wind, an arc shot at the person it was aiming at.

Lan Qi took a quick peek. One robber fell. But others exclaimed. “Lightning Villain! Catch him!"

The man who was called Lightning Villain clicked his tongue. He twirled the bow in his hand, then in a swift rotation, miraculously, the bow turned into two blades. Dagger blue and clear as ice, Lightning Villain leaped up, lightly gliding past the furniture that had been engulfed in flames. It flies from pillar to pillar, striking back at the robbers.

Lan Qi covered her nose. She almost found it hard to breathe because the heat was starting to overwhelm her eyes. The rain outside had no meaning anymore. Because the flames that licked the air cracked the floor of the hall more and more, devouring inch by inch the wooden pillars.

Amidst the flames, Lan Qi watched the fierce fight. The robbers used long swords and machetes. Snatched the Lightning Villain's head while the man nimbly dodged, slashed, and turned to injure them. Lan Qi had never seen anything like it.

The swords clashed. The ice knife that the man was holding blocked the daggers' machetes and knives. Their anger was drowned in the man's agility and dexterity. They fought and kept fighting. Lan Qi was about to run away because her body started to feel dizzy. But before she came out of her hiding place, in the middle of the fire a mugger found her.

Lan Qi screamed.

"There you are! Give my regards to the Emperor later, okay?” The robber's sword was raised, and Lan Qi closed her eyes and covered her face with her arms. But quickly, the blue bowman dashed towards her, throwing a small blade shaped like a blue crystal that stuck into the mugger's head. Somehow, Lan Qi had been carried away by the man earlier and with ease, they had dashed out of the blazing and burning hall.

Lan Qi was short of breath, after getting out of there and running away from the robbers who were still trying to chase her, Lan Qi coughed and felt smoke filling her lungs. The man carried little Lan Qi, hopping from tree to tree with his light legs.

For some reason, that night, the rain also stopped.

When Lan Qi could feel nothing but a cold breath and a drizzle that slapped her cheeks, her eyes closed and she felt sleepy.

***