Ashes and Obsidian Feathers

He was panting heavily as he ran, the sound of his feet moving in harmony with his ragged breathing. Rain lashed down, the droplets beating against his face with continuous, steady motion, impairing his vision. Still, he ran. His chest contracted, as if all the air was being squeezed out, a feeling he knew well: rampant panic. With every step, it grew.

"What happened..." He repeated the phrase over and over in his head.

He knew something was wrong. He recalled himself, his twin katanas in both hands, blood everywhere, on his hands, the floor, and his clothes. What had he done?

The Order of the Bronze Orchid was like a breath away. He knew they would come for him. In a couple of hours, they'd start hunting him like a dog; the entire organization would awaken. 

Rightfully so, all six Lords of the Bronze Orchid were dead.

Kamman must have heard by now. How would he take it in? Would he be calm and collected as he usually was? Would he be clouded with rage? Would he break down and cry from the death of his father, hurt by the betrayal of the person he trusted most? He feared for him. That was the first time he had felt real fear.

Kamman stopped hearing anything from the person at the other end. His ears stung, a deafening ring piercing his eardrums. His father was dead. They were telling him that his father was dead?!

"Young master...? Young master...? Are you still there?" The person on the other end tried to bring him back.

"How...?" He started, but the words got stuck in his throat.

Meng Yu: "Young master..."

"How did they die?" He finally found the courage to ask that chilling question.

"Umm... Their throats were slit... er... there's no sign of struggle, so it's quite weird... we're still trying to figure out the situation..."

"Where's Dian?" Kamman cut him off.

Meng Yu paused, carefully considering how to answer that question.

"Well... he's actually... we're looking for him because..."

On Meng Yu's end, Chen Kamman could hear the voice of a man stopping him, instructing him not to say anything.

"I think you should come and see it for yourself, young master," Meng Yu said after a moment, phrasing it very carefully, not wanting to annoy Chen more than he already was.

Chen hung up without another word. Half the house was asleep, and even in his immense pain, he was still considerate enough to try not to wake anyone. He hadn't wanted to go to the scene, but if it was something Meng Yu couldn't say over the phone, it had to be important. Auntie Long followed closely behind him, truly worried.

"My dear boy, maybe you should rest... Then tomorrow you'll head there when you're less tired, huh...? Or at least wait for the rain to stop." 

Auntie Long begged. Her legs were so short and tiny that, with how fast Kamman was walking, she practically had to run to keep up.

"Don't tell Gwen anything," Chen spoke, or rather, ordered. He was unnervingly calm. 

"Until the situation is clear. The news will probably be everywhere by morning, so don't let her see that, either." 

He added as he got into the car. Moments later, he sped away alone, leaving his driver and bodyguards panicked and confused and Auntie Long on the driveway, staring at the back of the car with a heavy expression.

Gwen was Chen Kamman's sister. She was sound asleep, as if nothing in this world was meant to trouble her. He knew she'd find out eventually, but if he could protect her from learning that she was officially an orphan for a couple of hours, then he would do it.

Judging from Meng Yu's tone, something was off with Dian. Kamman had called his phone over a hundred times, but he hadn't picked up any of the calls. His suspicion grew. Was he dead? He closed his eyes, rebuking the thought with strong passion. But they had only found six bodies, which gave him a bit of hope.

 His heart ached, and his breath came in short rasps as he tightened his grip on the wheel. He managed to mentally stabilize himself for one second, then fell apart in the next. For the sixth time, he taught himself how to breathe because he seemed to have forgotten how.

He arrived at the Bronze Orchid headquarters late in the night; the rain had grown even more fierce. With all the reality checks he'd been giving himself in the car, he thought he could handle it, but he surely couldn't have seen this coming. He absolutely wouldn't have imagined it.

Dian's body wasn't found among the dead because he was the one who killed them.