Kage moved like a shadow given form, each footfall deliberate and silent against the moss-covered ground. The late morning sun filtered through the canopy above, casting shifting patterns of light and shadow across the stone circle—patterns he could use.

The White Apes lay in a loose cluster at the circle's center, their white fur almost luminous in the dappled sunlight. Their breathing was deep and rhythmic. Asleep, but not defenseless. These were predators, and predators never truly let their guard down completely.

Kage's eyes swept the battlefield with cold calculation. Twelve standing stones, each roughly eight feet tall, arranged in a near-perfect circle. The gaps between them were just wide enough for a man to slip through—or for an ape to lunge. The ground was uneven, studded with smaller rocks and root systems that broke the surface like veins. Good. Uneven ground favored the lighter combatant.

He noted the sun's angle. East-southeast, climbing toward noon. The light would be in his eyes if he approached from the western side, but it would also blind anything that faced him from the center.

The first ape was closest—a large male with a scar across its shoulder, sleeping apart from the others near the northern edge of the formation. Isolated and vulnerable.

Kage closed the distance in three silent strides, moving through a patch of shadow cast by one of the standing stones. His sword came up in a smooth, economical motion—no wasted movement, no flourish. The blade caught the morning light for just an instant before it descended.

The cut was clean. Throat to sternum. The ape's eyes snapped open, but by then its lifeblood was already painting the stones beneath it. Kage's left hand clamped over its muzzle, muffling any sound it might have made. He held it there, feeling the convulsions weaken, watching its eyes dim.

'One.'

He lowered the body slowly, carefully, until it lay still. Then he was moving again, circling left, keeping a standing stone between himself and the main group. The sun was fully behind him now.

The second ape stirred—whether from some instinct or the faint copper smell of blood on the wind, Kage couldn't tell. It lifted its head, nostrils flaring.

Kage exploded from behind the stone.

Three running steps and he was inside the creature's guard before it could fully rise. His sword took it through the eye socket, angled up into the brain. The ape jerked once, a grotesque puppet with cut strings, and collapsed.

'Two.'

But the element of surprise was spent. The remaining ten apes erupted from their rest with howls that echoed off the standing stones. They scattered, some rushing toward him, others scrambling for distance to assess the threat.

Kage didn't give them time to think.

He broke left, sprinting for the nearest stone. A massive ape—easily the largest of the group—charged him from the right, knuckles pounding the earth, lips peeled back from yellow fangs. Kage reached the stone and pivoted behind it in one fluid motion.

The ape couldn't stop its momentum. It crashed into the standing stone with a meaty thud, the impact reverberating through the ancient rock. Dazed, it staggered back.

Kage's sword licked out from behind the stone—a single horizontal slash across the backs of both legs. Hamstrings severed. The ape toppled with a shriek, and Kage's follow-up thrust silenced it permanently.

'Three.'

At this point, he was already huffing. All the rest he spent all morning for was spent in not even three minutes. Kage cursed his wretched body.

Two more were converging on his position, one from each side. He couldn't fight both at once, not in the open. The stones were his advantage—he had to keep using them.

Kage sprinted deeper into the circle, weaving between the monoliths. The apes pursued, but they were bulkier, less maneuverable. What he gave up in strength, he gained in speed and precision.

An ape lunged at him from the left. Kage dropped into a slide, the damp earth allowing him to glide beneath its grasping arms. His sword dragged along the ground, then swept up as he passed, opening the creature's belly in a diagonal slash. It howled and clutched at its spilling entrails.

'Four.'

He came up into a crouch and immediately had to throw himself backward as another ape's fist cratered the ground where his head had been. Loose stones exploded outward from the impact.

'Close. Too close.'

Kage rolled backward once, twice, then used his momentum to spring to his feet. The ape charged again, and this time Kage stood his ground—or seemed to. At the last possible instant, he sidestepped and drove his blade into the creature's side as it thundered past. The angle was awkward, but the tip found something vital. The ape ran another five feet before its legs gave out.

'Five.'

Kage loosened his grip on the sword. It was quite harsh to his palms even though he had been training for a while now and his hands were already calloused. But it wasn't the question of his palms, it was the hard rock quality of the hilt. Talia surely must have overestimated him.

He groaned silently while eyeing his next target, beads of sweat falling over his eyes through his defined brows and even in his ragged breathing, he did not forgo his Breath of Death. His gaze was sharp with lethality.

Seven apes remained, and they were learning. They circled him now, more cautious, communicating with low grunts and gestures. The mindless aggression had given way to something more dangerous—coordination.

Kage's breath came in controlled rasps, steadying his racing heart even as his muscles screamed. Sweat stung his eyes, but he didn't wipe it away. Couldn't afford the distraction. His grip shifted slightly on the sword hilt, trying to find a position that didn't make his palms burn.

The largest of the remaining apes—a female with a torn ear—feinted left. Two others shifted right. They were trying to herd him away from the stones, into the open center where their numbers would overwhelm him.

Kage took a deliberate step backward, as if giving ground. The apes pressed forward.

Then one broke ranks—a younger male, perhaps too eager to prove itself. It launched forward with a roar, powerful arms reaching to grab and crush.

Kage set his stance, sword angling up for the killing thrust—

Something massive whistled through the air above his head.

The stone—easily the size of a man's torso—caught the charging ape square in the skull. The crack was like thunder. The creature's head simply caved inward, and its body folded, momentum carrying it forward to crash at Kage's feet in a twitching heap.

'Six.'

Kage's head snapped toward the source of the projectile.

A boy stood atop one of the standing stones, balanced on its narrow peak as easily as if he were on solid ground. He couldn't have been more than fourteen or fifteen, but his lean physique suggested someone who'd spent years training.

His hair caught the late morning sun, so bright it was almost blinding—the color of pure sunlight given physical form. Golden eyes surveyed the battlefield with an intensity that seemed far older than his years.

The yellow and black imperial robes he wore were immaculate despite the violence, moving around him like living silk as he leaped—leaped—a full fifteen feet to land on another standing stone. He'd already hefted another large stone, this one jagged and brutal-looking.

"Hello! My name is Lin Feng!"

Kage frowned for a moment then the corner of his lips curled up.

'Of course, you're here.'

Just after talking to him, Lin Feng hurled the second stone. It caught another ape in the shoulder, spinning the creature completely around and shattering bone with a sickening crunch. The ape went down shrieking.

'Seven.'

The remaining five White Apes were now caught between two threats. Their heads swiveled, trying to track both the swordsman on the ground and the stone-thrower who moved across the monoliths like they were stepping stones.

Kage didn't waste the opening. He surged forward while their attention was divided, targeting the ape with the torn ear. She saw him coming and raised her arms to block, but Kage had already adjusted. His sword swept low instead of high, opening a deep gash across her thigh. As she stumbled, he reversed his grip and drove the blade down through her spine.

'Eight.'

"Behind you!"

The boy shouted.

Kage made an irritated face and twisted, pulling his sword free just in time to deflect a swipe from another ape. Claws scraped against steel with a metallic shriek. The force of the blow sent vibrations up his arms, and his already-stressed grip nearly failed. He gave ground, one step, two—

Another stone, smaller this time but thrown with precision, struck the ape in the temple. It staggered, dazed.

Kage didn't hesitate. His blade found the gap beneath its jaw, driving up into the brain.

'Nine.'

"Three left!"

The boy announced, as if narrating a training exercise. He dropped from his perch, landing in a crouch that should have shattered his ankles but somehow didn't. His golden eyes gleamed with something that might have been excitement.

"I'll take the one on the left. You handle the right. The middle one—"

"We split it."

Kage made it clear and was already moving.

The boy grinned, bright and fierce.

"Good enough."

They moved in unison, though they'd never fought together before. Perhaps it was instinct, or perhaps the boy was just that skilled at reading combat flow. Either way, it worked.

He just noticed that Kage was easy to match and Kage was also flowing at his pace, almost as if they'd trained together before.

Kage drove right, his sword flashing in the dappled sunlight. The ape he targeted was already wounded—the one he'd gutted earlier had somehow dragged itself back into the fight, intestines trailing behind it like grotesque rope. Dying, but not yet dead. It swung at him with the desperate strength of something with nothing to lose.

Kage ducked under the wild haymaker and brought his sword around in a clean horizontal arc. The blade bit deep into the creature's neck, not quite severing it but close enough. The ape dropped.

'Ten.'

On the left, the boy was a whirlwind. He'd abandoned the stones for close combat, and Kage caught glimpses of devastating strikes—palm thrusts that caved in ribs, a spinning kick that shattered a knee joint. The ape he faced didn't stand a chance. Within seconds, it was down, neck twisted at an unnatural angle.

'Eleven.'

That left one.

The last White Ape was the smartest of the lot. It didn't charge. Instead, it backed toward the forest edge, eyes darting between the two humans, looking for an escape route.

Kage and Lin Feng moved simultaneously, cutting off its retreat. They closed in from opposite angles, a pincer movement that left no room for error.

The ape made its choice. It lunged at Kage—the more obviously exhausted of the two threats.

But exhaustion didn't mean incapable. Kage sidestepped, using the ape's momentum against it, and his sword opened its side from ribs to hip. The creature howled and turned, trying to bring its massive fists to bear—

Lin Feng was already there. His hand shot out, fingers rigid, and struck the ape's throat with surgical precision. The howl cut off instantly. The creature clutched at its crushed windpipe, eyes bulging.

Kage's sword ended it.

'Twelve.'

Silence fell over the stone circle, broken only by Kage's ragged breathing and the distant sounds of the forest. The morning sun illuminated the carnage—twelve massive bodies scattered among the ancient stones, blood soaking into the moss and earth.

The boy straightened his robes with a casual gesture, somehow still immaculate. He studied Kage with those unsettling golden eyes, head tilted slightly.

"Your swordsmanship is adequate, is like a dragon's fang but your endurance is like it's reverse scale."

He paused and examined Kage for a beat.

"Who trained you?"

Kage leaned heavily on his sword, using it to stay upright. His whole body shook with exhaustion, but he met the boy's gaze steadily.

"No one who'd satisfy you, apparently. And you are?"

The boy smiled, sharp and knowing.

"Someone who just saved your life."

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