I slam into the middle of the ground. I pick up my flute and start playing it.  Lan Zhan arches himself. This is probably one of the stupidest ideas I have ever come up with, but since when do I let those stop me? This is the right thing to do.

"Sir? What are you doing?" One man asks.

"Go! I'm distracting them! Run!" I yell.

They nod and start running out of the mass. The puppets all charge at me. Lan Zhan charges. I feel my pulse tightening. Just stay still and keep playing. Trust Lan Zhan. Keep trusting him. I turn. I see others charging at me. I look to the villagers. They were escaping alright, good.  I let out a sigh of relief. 

I dodge a sword. Lan Zhan turns and slams his sword into the puppet. I continue playing. There are a lot of them. Could Lan Zhan really kill all of them? I really hope so, it's my life on the line. I turn to the forest. I can hear someone singing. My eyes narrow. I could swear that I see a blurry figure dancing.  I turn my head. A puppet was charging at the villagers. I jump forward and play my flute harder. Black smoke rises from me. They all look at me.

"Wei Ying!" Lan Zhan calls.

I turn.  I stop playing as I can hear someone in the forest. I can see someone, something dancing. I see red clothing, or at least I think I do. There's something calling me. Something pulling me. My guard was lowered just enough for a puppet to slam its sword into me. I wince and feel blood pooling up from my throat.

"Wei Ying!" Lan Zhan calls.

I fall to my knees. I turn to the woods. I hear a gruesome roar that seems to scare all the puppets away. They fall back and turn tail. They run like chickens. Lan Zhan grabs me before everything goes to black.