"Stay with me! Please stay with me!"

What....is that.....someone calling my name?

"Yiyun! You will not die like this! Come on!"

That voice.................

It sounds like......Song Qian's voice.

I blinked a few times trying to clear my vision but without any success. I gasped, my breath ragged, but bit by bit I could feel the pressure and pain in my chest subsiding and my vision clearing. Once I did get enough of my eyesight back I could see who had been calling me; it was indeed my mother, Song Qian.

"Mo...mother." I rasped out.

The look of relief washed over her face briefly before she concentrated once again trying to save me.

"Thank heavens! Just stay still and you will be just fine."

I looked on as I watched her work her magic. Her hands hovering over the area of my chest where the dagger had pierced me. I turned slightly with difficulty to see the dagger lying on the ground next where mother was kneeling. Turning my attention back to my chest, I saw her left hand applying pressure on the wound, keeping what I knew was a talisman sheet in place as she used her right hand to hover over my upper body making sweeping passes as she muttered incantations under her breath.

Little by little, I felt my strength return, but not without wincing. Normally, I would not feel pain or come to harm, but I could scratch that off the list as I was nearly killed by a dagger and currently, whatever incantation that mother was chanting felt like it was ripping my insides and then stitching it back together again then repeating the process.

Minutes later, Song Qian stopped muttering incantations and took a shaky breath. I tried to get up with little success, however I was able to sit up with a groan.

"Are you okay?" That was the first thing I asked her.

From the looks of how pale Song Qian looked people would have mistaken her as the one who was ill or injured, not me.

Song Qian gave me a mild glare. "You nearly died and the first thing out of your mouth after I just pulled you back from near death - a second time - is if I am okay? Are you stupid?"

I gave her a sheepish smile. "Maybe? Yes?"

She sighed but she had a small smile on her face, which was a good sign. "I am fine. I should be asking you that question. Are you okay?"

"I guess I am now. Better than when I was a few minutes ago."

"That I can believe." She agreed wholeheartedly. "You almost sent your poor mother to the grave."

"I'm sorry." I apologized. "What happened? How did you find me?"

"That should again be my question." Song Qian answered. "I didn't see you when it became pitch dark and then I had this horrible sinking feeling like something in me was ripping away. That was when I knew something was wrong and I quickly put the pieces together. Missing Yiyun, the atmosphere being off, and that indescribable feeling in me like I had just lost something significant. I ran into the woods to search for you."

"That is insane!" I yelled, only to wince in pain.

Song Qian gently placed her hand on my shoulder to push me back to lean against the base of the tree.

"Careful." She warned.

"Mother that is insane, that rogue could have killed you! If he could do this to me," I gestured to my chest. "Then he could easily dispose of you. You should not have come alone."

"I can handle myself just fine, Yiyun." She defended. "Besides, he was long gone by the time I found you; he crossed the border to the neighboring kingdom. If I were to bring people with me and they saw you in this state it would raise more suspicions, especially if you magically came back to life with blood red eyes and black veins popping out."

We sat silently in the woods taking our surroundings. I could feel my full strength returning to me and the pain was going away quicker than I expected.

"What did you do to me?" I asked, shrugging my shoulders and lightly patting the area of my chest where the dagger plunged through.

Song Qian gave me a weak smile before explaining. "To put it simply - magic. It's an old incantation weaved with new incantations made specifically for your kind. I worked on it for a very long time perfecting it in case it was needed for anything like this to save your life; or anyone else's life dear to me."

At the mention of someone else's life, I got the feeling that she was mostly implying Zhoumi's life which made me snicker. I felt touched that she went through all the trouble and dedication to create such a thing, but I could also see the toll it took on her.

"It must be a heavy toll on you to do that type of incantation." I pointed out.

"It is." She sighed. "It quickly depletes my energy and leaves me defenseless."

"Then it is a good thing that I will never let you do that incantation a second time and I will never let any harm come to you in this state." I said fiercely.

"Good, good." She patted my cheek lightly.

"Now tell me what happened." Song Qian switched from looking tired and being affectionate to serious and a determined fire burning in her eyes for answers.

I relayed what happened between me and the rogue and what I found out and the alleged plans the rogue told me about. When I got to the part about his comments on Soojung, I nearly lost it. I snarled like an animal at his disgusting comment and I wanted to do nothing less than rip him apart piece by piece in my head and in reality.

"Oh dear, what could he be planning? To invade us with the neighboring kingdoms?" Song Qian asked shocked.

"If he does, the question is when will he?" I said."This is not good, we must tell the Emperor immediately to prepare the troops for an all out war."

"But isn't the kingdom already at war with the smaller states?" Song Qian tilted her head in question.

I nodded slowly. "Yes we are. Looks like that will have to be abandoned and switched over to a larger scale. The worrying part is what kingdom would attack us? We are one of the larger ones but that does not mean that we have the upper hand. My best guess is the kingdom bordering us right now to the West is the one to