Warmaster

"I suppose the metal construction only makes sense, considering your affinity to fire."

Rekkonji indicated the fortress.

"Indeed. It suits my purposes."

Zheng mused, quite finished with idle pleasantries.

"You must be wondering why I've asked you to come, old friend."

Rekkonji nodded.

"You would be correct. Your letter only mentioned that you required assistance. Perhaps you would like to enlighten me, now that I have arrived."

Zheng nodded, rising to pace the vast open area of his throne room a bit, putting his thoughts together before turning again to the old Jackal demon.

"You recall when we first met, I presume, when I held territory on the island. You and that old dog general came in search of…what was it again?"

Rekkonji could tell from Zheng's tone and expression that he was probing, and he didn't much care for it. He narrowed his eyes slightly.

"An item of interest to the general. As I remember it, you were able to direct us and were kind during our stay there."

"Yes, that is how I remember it as well. I also remember a promise of future assistance, if ever I required."

Rekkonji crossed his arms, impatient.

"That would be why I am here. Get to the point."

Zheng smirked slightly. "Always an icon of pragmatism, aren't you?" He chuckled slightly at Rekkonji's unwavering stare.

"Tell me, friend, do you know how my family came to possess this?"

He raised a hand, letting his flames flicker for a moment.

"Is it not a skill native to your bloodline?"

"It is, in a way, but originally it was a gift, of sorts."

Rekkonji raised a brow, curious. "Go on."

***

Kintsuke swept herself away as the men concluded their conversation and began their polite farewells for the evening. Her head was swimming with all she'd heard, and she felt herself stretched in many directions.

Zheng had explained everything to Rekkonji. The creature in the lake was a phoenix that had given its sacred fire to Zheng's ancestor to guard as it delayed its rebirth to rest. Mixed with their demon energies, however, the fire turned black, its rainbow of colors and abilities showing through intermittently. Those were the hues Kintsuke was mastering. It seemed the phoenix was awakening, and as such would want its fire returned. Zheng had found a way for the rest of the family to maintain its fire while honoring its duty to the phoenix: offer it the soul of one who could see the prism.

'That could explain my nightmares, my sense of foreboding…'

Outside, she stared deeply into the greenish flames that thrashed angrily in their brazier. Had Daiyufan or Shoucheng known? More importantly, how was Kintsuke going to get out of this one? Zheng had made it clear he would be naming Shu-Ting his heir once the whole ordeal was over, as she had showed flickers of the different hues in her flames, which only left Zheng and Kintsuke with the appropriate flames the phoenix required. She knew the outcome of that choice.

There was no way Zheng would give up his own life.

In fact, he was not willing to give up much of anything. He'd called Rekkonji here to assist him in slaying the creature in its moment of weakness as it assimilated its fire once again. This would ensure the phoenix would not bother them again, and would rid him of the family disgrace at the same time. With a mate and heir, he had no need for the half-breed any longer.

In her own pursuit of power, it seemed Kintsuke had allowed herself to become the instrument of her own demise.

***

Rekkonji listened as the children held their father's attention with their small talk, catching him up on everything he'd missed as they'd grown. The thing that held his own attention, however, was the half-demon that sat across from him in absolute silence, and yet without even a tinge of the usual inferiority he found such creatures could not help but exude.

She was familiar to him, somehow, and as he ate, he pondered, finally discovering the answer. It wasn't the ears that tipped him off, even though they were familiar to him, neither was it her eyes or her unique mannerisms. No, it was the smell of dragon on her that made him smirk inside.

'Still alive, are we, little half-breed?'

If he looked close enough, he could see the faintest lines under her robes that told him she was still wearing her dragon skin suit and armor. He could only imagine how many times it had needed repairs over the years, how she'd survived this long; and what she was doing here.

He thought back on what Zheng had told him, slowly reconciling all that had transpired.

It had been Daiyufan and her lover all those years ago that threw the poor half-demon at the feet of himself and the Inu no Taishou. Rekkonji had never met Daiyufan, so he hadn't recognized her back then, but it would have made little difference even if he had. He was not one to interfere in family affairs. He'd long suspected the origins of the half-demon that now sat across from him for years after he'd first observed Sesshoumaru running her ragged on the practice fields. Now, he found he'd been correct.

She glanced up for a moment to watch one of the little ones speak quite animatedly to Zheng, and he caught her gaze for a moment before she returned to her dinner. Kintsuke, they'd called her. Did she recognize him? To her credit, he couldn't tell.

He examined her youki for a moment, admittedly a bit impressed by the vast increase he found. Her jyaki pulsed around her form, poised and controlled. Truly, if he was not already personally aware of her unfortunate state, he would not have guessed it.

'Perhaps Sesshoumaru saw a part of himself in you, enterprising hanyou. Mayhaps that is why he took you in, and also why he cast you away.'

It seemed suddenly wrong to him, watching her here with Zheng and the rest. She didn't belong here. Her heart, like his, he was sure, was tied to the island, and her potential was wasted on Zheng's cowardly plan.

'No,' he decided, 'I will honor my word to the letter, and not a bit more. She will find a way around this as she has every challenge up 'til now.'

He met her eyes again, her silence speaking volumes to him. There was a tenuous tranquility in that yellow jade, a livid inferno deep inside, biding its time, waiting, planning. He understood now, and he trusted in her strength. It was not the blustering of a meager half-demon he saw there, but the confidence of a true demon.

'No, he would not do her the dishonor of interfering.'

Once again, Rekkonji said nothing.

***

Kintsuke stood by herself on one of the lower patios of the fortress watching the sky ignite in a rainbow of colors and shapes. The humans were celebrating their New Year, but it wasn't the fireworks that were keeping her awake.

The phoenix in the depths of Lake Tai had awoken; she could see the surface of the water above where it lay bubbling as it roused. Surely, tomorrow would be the day.

Zheng had once again erected his barrier, trapping them all here, so instead of escape, Kintsuke focused on her plan for survival. She would admit, her chances looked slim, but she wouldn't go down without a fight. She and Zheng had both met the terms of their agreement, even if he had not officially declared it, and so she owed him no further consideration or loyalty. She had a mission now, and something to protect; and hell take her if she was going to let Zheng win.