Water Mirrored Moon - 水鏡月

Part I - Born of the Water Moon: Prologue

Desperately running, Zhao Ling Xian stumbled over a pile of twisted bodies and wrecked timber.

Even though he was surrounded by the haze of smoke and fire, he continued to run towards the inner courtyard of the manor, searching for his lover. With spiritual force swirling in his palm, he tore the manor apart. Any doors in his way were blasted open even as he leapt high over each threshold, and gripped his sword tight in his fist, scanning every corner with coal dark eyes.

Where are you?

With his lungs burning for air, his chest squeezed. Even to his own ears, the sound of his breathing was like the desperate gasps of a dying animal. 

Abruptly skidding to a stop, his vision blurred and he felt like his heart would shatter in his rib cage.

There!

She was lying in a courtyard white with the new snow. The peaceful scene was broken only by her ravaged body and the bloody dark hole seeping at her chest. A'Xian's heart twisted when he saw that her clothes were torn and that she lay in a pool of red. What terrible things had been done to her?

He stumbled toward her, arms outstretched, falling to his knees next to her. Please...please no!

Trembling in anguish, A'Xian gathered her broken body in his arms. Tears spilt hot onto her blood splattered face as a sob caught in his throat.

"Oh!" he cried softly as her head lolled against his chest.

She looked so small...Like a battered bird that had had its wings smashed flat...just barely breathing.

The faint, ragged sound of her breath gurgled in lungs that were choked full of blood. The heavy, wet noise told him there was absolutely no hope, and each laboured breath stabbed through his consciousness.

No!

At that moment, eyes the colour of honeyed amber opened to gaze up at him, and the cracked lips that were flecked with blood formed into a painful smile.

"You came..." she whispered in a rasping, ruined voice that had once been soft and sweet.

"Yes. I'm here! Shhh, don't talk!" he said hurriedly holding her tighter in his arms. Anger, fear, hatred, love, and desperation warped his heart.

She shook her head. With what strength she had left she lifted her hand to his face, smearing it with red.

"How many lives have I spent loving you? Why does it always end up like this? Why...?" she whispered. "My beloved, in the next life...let's not meet, alright?"

Her words pierced him to the bone. Ignoring the pain radiating from his heart, he gently caressed her hair, but the small hand that was against his chin slipped limply to the side as she turned her head to stare at something in the distance.