Page 87 of Elemasters

“Impressive indeed, removing me from my vessel at the height of my power. It is to be commended, but it will not be enough to save you. On this plane I need no host. All of my scattered fragments are within reach, and I am finally free to reassemble them,”

The remaining terracotta warriors crumbled into piles of rock, but the remnants started rolling across the room, collecting themselves and fusing into a new whole; a much larger statue, towering at 10 feet tall with incredibly detailed features. Bulky segmented armor plates took shape, followed by the dread inducing antlered helmet…

And then a bolt of white hot lightning struck straight through the roof and into the statue, lighting it up like a lightning rod.

And then another.

And another.

The strikes continued faster than Bailey could count them, and her blood felt like slurry in her veins as she realized what was happening…

That bastard had just built himself a new body, and with every strike of lightning, a different piece of his soul was finding its way home.

“W-what do we do?!” James stuttered, unable to pull himself up from the forced kneel.

No one had an answer; they were all completely transfixed by the horror unfolding in front of them…

Thankfully, fog rolled in, and soon Sima Yao was floating before them.

“He is in control of the Palace completely now. I tried my best to stand against him, and I will slow his progress as much as I can. But you must return to the physical plane at once!”

“And then what Sima?! Tell us what you need us to do!” Dustin yelled out over the roaring thunder. Sima looked back at them, pain and grief heavy in his eyes as he held out his hand, silently commanding a billowing cloud of fog to envelop them all.

“You must do the impossible; find the Heirloom Seal of the Realm… and brace yourselves for the battle of your lives,”

Chapter 34

That Green Gentleman (Things Have Changed)

The moment the fog cleared, Dustin and the others found themselves standing in the Ying Family backyard.

Given everything that had happened, it was eerie being back in such a thoroughly normal space.

“Holy fuck, back at home at last,” Chris sighed in relief, making his way for the back door, “I’m gonna put some clothes on, we can figure out a plan once my fruit’s back in the loom,”

As he disappeared into the house, Chloe snapped back into strategy.

“Alright Dustin, time to put that big history brain to work. Sima Yao wants us to find the Heirloom Seal, but he also called it impossible. Is it lost or something?”

“I know I’ve heard my mom talk about it before, but for the life of me I can’t remember what happened to it. All I know is it went missing during the…” Dustin groaned in frustration as his cell phone started blaring from his pocket. He relaxed a bit when he saw that it was his mother calling, “hello?”

“Thank God. Where are you?! You’re not on the road are you?!”

“No, I’m with…” Dustin trailed off, his eyes darting to the door that Chris had just walked through. It settled like acid in his stomach, but he knew he couldn’t tell her the truth, not yet. He didn’t need Charlotte rushing home right now, “Bailey. We’re hanging out. There’s a lot of noise on your end, where are you?”

“I was on my way to Seattle to check on the artifacts for my exhibit, but all the roads are closed because of this storm! I’m having trouble getting back into town, but I’ll let you know as soon as I’m in Pacific Cove, alright?”

Dustin’s eyes drifted to the sky above, his stomach dropping like a lead anchor as he noticed storm clouds gathering overhead.

“Mom… I need you to trust me okay? You’ve gotta take the closest exit and get somewhere safe. Pacific Cove is about to get hit with something way worse than what hit Seattle,”

“What? Dustin, no. I’m coming home, and that’s that,”

“Mom please,” Dustin pleaded, “after everything that’s happened, I can’t have anything happening to you!”

Charlotte took a long pause, before she finally spoke up again.

“Okay, okay. I’ll find a motel or something until this all blows over. Jesus, how quickly things can fall apart. I’ve made the single greatest discovery in the history of Qin Dynasty study, and I won’t even get to present it because of this absolute madness. The ceremonial sword, the Heirloom Seal… it would put that terracotta army discovery to shame,”