tejoka

Chapter 193 (Draft)

I didn’t get to see much of Elia and Elis after we returned, which I probably should have expected. Ceion was true to his word and went to talk to them. After that, from what I gathered, he sought out solitude, too.

I was too busy to really worry about it, even if I had been so inclined. But I did take note when, a day later, I saw Elia and Elis in a sitting room that had become something of a base for our group. They both looked slightly disheveled, with their hair not perfectly arranged, and Elis’ robe sported a small tear while Elia had a smudge on her cheek. They waved at me, but didn’t talk much.

After a moment of indecision, I elected to leave them in peace. They both had more than enough to do, especially with the Basement, and if they wanted to talk to me, they could. I didn’t really see Ceion around, but I could sense that he was there, which was enough for me.

Of course, I had more than just them to worry about. Tenira was a godsend, like usual, and the officers of the army also did their best and helped a lot. There was a lot to sort out, since we’d captured not only another city, but the center of the Dominion’s government. Such as it was and what was left of it. I expected things had been a little more orderly before the war, or before most of their highest leadership was gutted. It also seemed like someone might have taken a torch (or, more likely, a fire technique) to some of their files, since we found some government archives and offices little more than burned out ruins.

Luckily, we didn’t actually need much of them. We weren’t trying to preserve and continue the existing administration. If anything, we were tearing down their government structures in order to rebuild our own. It helped that we’d already been in control of most of the continent, except for the capital, and we could just build on what we already had.

I was too occupied too see my companions much, but didn’t mind it. I was deliberately hurrying so I could leave affairs here to other people and get back home, where I planned to get some rest in. They also seemed to be just as busy, and I didn’t question why I didn’t see much of them.

Then, one afternoon, I walked down a side passage in the mansion, a walkway that seemed to be stuck halfway between a corridor in the building and a terraced walkway around an inner courtyard, when I sensed Tenira and Yarani. I smiled and sped up a little, intending to say hello quickly, before I went on to my next appointment. Aston was keeping a discrete distance, and the guards on the roof and the perimeter were quiet. I crossed under the canopy of some trees and paused.

Yarani and Tenira were standing quite close together in the shade of some trees forming a little alcove besides the wall. In fact, close enough together that their auras almost seemed to be bleeding into each other the slightest bit.

They were kissing.

I stared for a moment, then blinked and slowly approached. I would have backed away, but they’d clearly sensed my presence after a moment. They stepped apart as if someone had struck them, but I noticed that Tenira kept a grip on Yarani’s hand.

“Hello, Nari,” Yarani said. She obviously tried to hide her awkwardness, but some of it still seeped through in her voice and the way she fidgeted a little.

“Hey.” I grinned at them as I came closer. “Don’t stop on my account.”

The two of them exchanged a glance. Tenira cleared her throat. “So, um …”

“How long has this been going on?” I asked, a little more quietly. The thought that they would have tried to hide this from me stung more than I wanted to admit.

“Just today,” Yarani answered with an awkward smile. It turned broader and warmer as she looked at Tenira. “We wouldn’t have tried to keep it from you, it just … turned out this way.”

“In fact, we were going to go and talk to you right away,” Tenira added. She looked at me intently. “You don’t mind, do you?”

“Of course not. I’m happy for you. Ecstatic, even.” I winked at them, enjoying the slight blush they developed.

If anything, I was a little annoyed with myself that this had caught me off-guard. I wasn’t the most observant when it came to people around me, in most circumstances. Even then, I’d been able to tell there was a tension between them. Hey, there’s been some kind of tension almost since they first met. And considering I can’t remember them fighting each other even once, this was probably to be expected.

“We didn’t think so.” Yarani’s smile had a self-satisfied cast as she looked at Tenira again. “Your relationships are already enough of a tangle that this shouldn’t change much. We’re just going to be a little closer, in a different way.”

“Well, I’m always in favor of turning a love triangle into an actual triangle. Not that that’s really what we had. You’re serious about this, then?”

Tenira and Yarani nodded. “We are,” Tenira said calmly. “I didn’t know it for the longest time, but we already feel strongly for each other. I have every intention of making this into a long and happy serious relationship.”

“Aww.” Yarani grinned at her. “I feel the same way, darling.”

Seeing her acting like this towards someone else was a little odd. Not that I minded. If it was anyone else, I definitely would, but I loved both of them deeply. A part of me was relieved that they’d have something to bind them together, and that I wouldn’t just be the ‘center’ everything revolved around. It’s a little funny, but despite everything, I guess I’ve never been completely comfortable with the idea of having a harem, I realized. That was why I always preferred to just see it as a poly relationship. Which it really is.

“Well, I’ll give you some privacy, then,” I said, glancing from one to the other. “Try not to cause too big of a scandal.”

The looks they shot me only made me smirk, but I quickly started walking again, heading away from my girlfriends.

I sighed softly to myself, and after a moment, glanced around. This part of the estate was as good as deserted. I kept going, since I didn’t want to be late for my meeting, but my mind wasn’t on it.

Slowly, a grin started to take hold on my face. I kept my qi senses curled in towards me and walked off, resisting the urge to whistle.

---

I’d never been so happy to see the mansion rising above the fields and forests beside the sparkling lake, under the blue, sunny sky of the Sky Continent. I’d thought I felt happy to see it when I’d gotten back to the Earth Continent, but compared to now, that had only been a passing sensation. Today, I felt myself almost physically sagging at the sight of the Empress’ summer palace.

The grass and trees were hidden under a faint carpet of snow, and the cold wind kept snatching at my hair even as the airship descended, but compared to the southern Storm Continent we’d left behind, it felt pleasantly warm. We arrived at mid-morning, when the comparative cold of the night had just left.

Of course, the increased levels of warmth and sunshine, or even the merciful decrease in paperwork and administrative work, weren’t the only reasons I was looking forward to my stay. In fact, I barely managed to contain my impatience and wait for the airship to properly land and the guards to exit first.

Then I jumped down, landing right in front of Xiaodan. I swept her into a hug immediately, and she wrapped her army tightly around me. We hugged so tightly I lifted her off the ground, but I walked forward a few steps, unbothered by heir weight or the obstruction in my field of view. “Hey, An, I’m back.” I closed my eyes for a moment.

We hugged for a long while, until Al apparently grew impatient of waiting and materialized at our side. Grinning, I let go of Little An and swept him into a hug, too. Ours was more restrained, but we held each other with even more force.

Finally, I disentangled myself from my siblings and took a look around. Not much had changed in the roughly a year I’d been gone. Except Little An, though I’d seen how she looked like from talking to her in dreams. She was now a preteen who’d be entering puberty pretty soon, and she was tall for her age. She seemed to look a lot more like Mother now. Or like Al, actually, especially with the glint in her eyes.

“So, you finally found your way back,” Al said, smiling.

“The Zarian were rather ungracious hosts and didn’t want to let me go that quickly,” I responded, returning her smile. “Terribly inconsiderate of them, really.”

They laughed. “If you say so, Elder Sister,” An said. “I’m sure you’d know.”

“You’ve been spending too much time with Al,” I complained, and got them to grin again.

Then her expression softened, turned uncertain, and she looked more like a kid again. “You’ll be staying for a while, right?”

I ruffled her hair and glanced at the estate buildings. “Of course. As long as I can reasonably manage it. I’ll need to return to the capital to discuss things with Kiyanu at length eventually, but I’ll stay with you as long as I can first.”

Actually, I’d simply gotten tired of it and decided that I would go see my siblings first, screw politics. After everything I’d recently accomplished for the Empire, I was owed that, at least.

An smiled again. She bit her lip and glanced up at me. “When you do leave, may we please go with you? I know I probably won’t be useful like Al, but …” she hesitated.

“Of course you can!” I quickly assured her. “I sent you here because I thought it would be better for you, and safer. Now we don’t have to worry about assassins sent by the Storm, and the guards can handle everything else. If you’d rather be back at the palace, that’s perfectly fine. To be honest, I’d rather have the two of you with me, too.”

Her smile was worth every bit of the grumbling the guards would probably do. But the way she’d looked still stayed in my thoughts and tugged at my heartstrings. Our relationship was still strong, but scratched. We needed to repair it, and it was probably one of those things that were best healed with time, spending time with each other.

After a minute of further reunions, we headed inside with my companions. Elis was looking around everywhere, while Ceion had preferred to go on to the capital directly.

I found myself with my younger siblings again, although this time, Tenira and Kajare joined us. We sat down on some plush couches in a sitting room, watching the others disperse to various entertainment options.

“I bet you’re happy to get back to a little luxury,” Al commented.

“Yeah,” I agreed. “I didn’t think I’d miss having regular meals available so much. But mostly, I’m looking forward to a bit of free time.” I leaned back and let some of the tension flow out. “We missed my birthday, but I think I’m entitled to celebrate it belatedly.”

Thus reminded, they quickly offered their congratulations, and I smiled. I was twenty-one now officially. A full adult in every way that mattered, and close to the age I’d been when I transmigrated. It felt like half a lifetime ago sometimes.

“That reminds me,” I said. “I brought you guys something back from the south.”

That made An sit up straighter with undisguised eagerness, and even Tenira and Kajare looked interested. They hadn’t noticed me gathering presents.

After a second to drag out the anticipation, I pulled a sword from my storage ring and presented it to Al. “This belonged to the last Security Director of the Dominion,” I said. “It’s heavily enchanted, forged from Fire Continent materials, and excellent for channeling darkness affinity qi techniques.”

“Wow.” Al’s eyes were wide as he took it almost reverently. “This is …”

“A war trophy,” I finished seriously. “Be careful with it and handle it with respect. Having you bee seen with it is a message in itself, even if that’s not why I’m giving it to you. But I think you can handle it. You need a good weapon that’ll accompany you to the higher stages, anyway.” I hoped that he wouldn’t have to fight much, of course, but I knew better than to rely on that.

Al nodded. “I will,” he promised. “Thank you.”

Then I turned to Xiaodan and got my next gift from my storage ring. I handed it to her and watched as she looked at it curiously. It was a thin golden chain with a stone mounted in a fitting.

“This is a memory jade which I filled with images from the South,” I explained. “I also recorded some poems into it, in both Zarian and Common, and even a bit of music. I hope you’ll like it.”

I knew I’d made the right decision when I saw An’s smile. To most cultivators, it would be disappointing compared to what I’d given Al. But she clearly understood that I’d put thought and effort into it. It was a personal gift, not some random ‘treasure’ or cultivation manual she could get from the palace’s archives, anyway.

“Thank you, Big Sister,” she said, pulling the necklace over her head right away. She hesitated for a moment, then hugged me, although it was a little awkward since we were sitting down together.

I grinned in response, glancing around the room and taking a moment to bask in the warm atmosphere of being among friends and family.

My gaze came to rest on Elis. When our eyes met, he raised a hand slightly and gave me a grin. Then he turned back to talk to Elia, who glanced at me with a raised eyebrow before she seemed to refocus on their conversation.

Yeah, I reflected, it was good to be back.

Chapter 192 (Draft)

Unfortunately, finding Ceion and Mior wasn’t as easy as I’d hoped. I didn’t really know where they’d gone, and my father was apparently too busy to give me directions. But I didn’t let that stop me and set out from the city as quickly as I reasonably could.

Aston accompanied me, of course, along with some guards. This time, I didn’t take any of my companions with me. They all had things to do in Saria, and it was probably best not to drag them out.

To be fair, I probably should have stayed, too, but my presence wasn’t urgently needed anymore.

We moved south, towards contested territory, though I didn’t think we’d actually reach any Zarian enclaves that might remain. If we did, I doubted anything there could stand up to Mior. Except possibly the Auditor. I wasn’t very clear on the relative power levels of the spirits. Although it seemed like Mior and Isuro had been roughly on a level, and I didn’t get the impression that the Auditor was stronger than the Pioneer. More like the opposite. Maybe.

The countryside south of Saria was barren and cold. Soon, we flew above a thick coat of snow that covered the tundra and made every detail vanish into a sea of white. I assumed that the ground was permanently frozen and the vegetation never free of snow and ice for too long. It still had a unique, stark beauty to it. All things considered, I was glad this part of the Storm Continent was thinly inhabited, but under different circumstances I could see myself enjoying a vacation here. There were mountains even farther south that should make for fantastic skiing.

Of course, my memories told me that wasn’t really a thing in this world, except for a brief try by Mother to introduce it. I smiled at the memory, and at how quickly and clearly it had come. Mother had taken me and Al skiing when I was a kid, probably about Xiaodan’s age now. When I thought back, I could remember the glint of the sun on the snow amid the towering vista of the Central Mountains, the sound of Al’s laughs on the cold win.

I raised a hand to my face and discovered it came away wet. Blinking, I rubbed my eyes dry with my sleeves and took a deep breath. I hadn’t had the opportunity to really investigate my old memories, but they were there now. Perhaps not quite perfect, but a lot better than before. I could just think about something or come upon a situation where I would naturally think back to a memory, and it would be recalled. I knew memories were really basically reconstructed in the act of remembering them, but that didn’t make it feel any less amazing.

I shook my head and refocused on my surroundings. I could have an emotional moment when we weren’t out on a mission, preparing to possibly fight hostile cultivators or an even more hostile spirit. And we’d already moved quite some distance. I was beginning to pick up what I thought might be hints of Mior’s presence. The spirit hadn’t tried to be subtle, and my intuition might have guided me in the right direction.

After a while, Aston and the other guards slowed down. I blinked, wrenched from my thoughts, then looked up. There was an orange streak in the sky that quickly grew bigger. I tensed, prepared to call Fides into my hand, and only relaxed when it became clear that we weren’t headed for trouble. At least not that kind of trouble.

“Honored ancestor,” I called up. “Good to see you.”

I didn’t mention that I’d have preferred seeing the Red Phoenix at the battle. The spirit beast went with less fanfare than he came, beholden to no one and not much interested in the goals or designs of the Empire. But he was the main reason we’d had no trouble from spirits beasts local to the area around Saria, so I wouldn’t complain.

The Phoenix winged down and took on his human shape as he landed. ‘Little Light,’ he replied, inclining his head. ‘You are going after the comet?’

I blinked, then nodded. ‘Yes. Do you know where Mior is? Or Ceion, the Auditor’s son?’

‘I have some idea.’ The Phoenix smiled slightly, an expression that showed a remarkable number of sharp teeth. ‘I also have some idea of where the Auditor himself is. If you are searching for him, I would be happy to guide you.’

‘Yes, please.’ I smiled at him.

I could tell that my guards weren’t entirely enthusiastic about this unexpected support. They appeared tenser than before as we set off again, and I caught a few of them eying the Red Phoenix’s back. I didn’t comment. And after a while, he transformed back into his beast form and flew, although he kept low enough I could have jumped up and grabbed him easily. Not that I would do that.

He led us roughly in the direction we’d been going, though after a while we came upon a path barely more than a game trail that he got us to follow, and it wound its way off in a slight curve. I glanced around, trying to scan our surroundings for threats or any interesting characteristics, but I didn’t find anything of note. The darkness didn’t impede my vision, but the seemingly endless blanket of snow didn’t help.

Finally, after what might have been an hour, when we were well south of Saria and I could see the trees of another forest off in the distance, I started to sense familiar qi again. This time, I could make out more and noted Ceion’s presence, as well, as we drew closer. His qi had a pretty distinct ‘flavor’ to it, as did most spirit children I’d met. Either he wasn’t trying to hide or the qi I’d laid over him was letting me bypass it.

The flat plains started to rise and fall into low hills that gradually got higher and the terrain turned rougher and lumpier. I started to see an occasional bit of rock jutting up, and there were more scraggly bushes and trees, too. A few of them were remarkably free of snow and clearly contained some qi. Under different circumstances, we might have been able to find some valuable alchemy ingredients or perhaps even what people might consider a hidden treasure. At the moment, I only disliked that they stood out to my qi senses and might make me miss something else, if there was a subtle sign I might want to find.

We moved slower and more cautiously from there, but I was still a little taken by surprise when I sensed another change. This one was much starker, and coming closer rapidly. I paused, focusing on my qi senses. Aston drew closer to me and I sensed him taking out his weapons.

“Looks like we found our target,” I said. “Let’s make sure he doesn’t get away.”

I didn’t wait for Aston’s response, but hopped on my flying sword and took off right away. I could sense what I was pretty sure was the Auditor’s qi spread out over a relatively large area, but there was still a clear focal point. I didn’t head for it directly, but instead swerved a little, moving to cut him off.

My intuition was proven right a short time later when I caught something else on the edges of my qi senses, also approaching rapidly. After a moment, I realized that there were two people. Cycling a bit of qi to my eyes let me confirm their identity: Mior and Ceion were obviously chasing the Auditor.

I took out my spear, letting Fides pulse with its qi threateningly. As I expected, the Auditor seemed to hesitate, his approach faltering. I smirked, then glanced at Aston, who stayed close beside me. My connection to Rijoko was thrumming softly in the background, and I couldn’t quite tell if the sharper focus the world had taken on was just adrenaline or not.

Apparently, Mior didn’t possess Ceion. They were still clearly separate and I couldn’t sense a tether between Mior’s ethereal figure and the spirit-child. Why did they take him along at all? Probably to locate the Auditor.

The pheonix joined us, circling to my other side, and let loose a ringing caw. It sounded vaguely mocking. I got the sense my ancestor didn’t like the spirit at all. Maybe there was more to why he’d decided to guide us here. Well, so long as he doesn’t try to harm Ceion again, I don’t mind if he’s out for revenge.

The Auditor clearly didn’t like the power arrayed against him, but he didn’t give in that easily. Instead, he drifted slowly to the side. I kept up and tried to look for anything he could potentially use against us. There was a structure on a low hill behind him. From this distance, I couldn’t see much, but considering the location, it was probably some kind of temple complex. Mior and Ceion probably roused him from there. That was good, I’d prefer to fight him in open air.

The two approached quickly. Before they were close enough to fight effectively, the Auditor launched at attack in my direction. He looked like a completely typical, forgettable cultivator, although his form was a little more immaterial than Mior’s. But the power behind the technique was nothing to scoff at. A net of dark lines spreading around a center, that reminded me a little of my own favored darkness technique.

I cut the qi I gave to my flying sword and let myself drop, sensing the technique pass by overhead. Aston had evaded to the side and responded quickly with a gust of air that almost seemed solid. It didn’t slow the Auditor down much, but it did force him to stop the next technique he was forming.

Then Mior arrived, and the Auditor’s focus was drawn away from us. I watched, trying to find an opening, as the two powerful spirits clashed, their exchanges of qi almost too fast to follow. Then the Red Phoenix screeched again and barreled forward, launching a wave of fire at the Auditor and following it up with a flaming blade shooting out of his claws.

I paused, then started flying off. Ceion saw me coming and looked like he wanted to evade, but I was too quick for him. Aston appeared close to him, and before he could try to wander off, I was there as well. The spirits kept fighting, but he had stopped far enough away from the clash that we weren’t in immediate danger.

“Inaris,” he greeted me. “Fancy running into you here.”

“Ceion. Why are you here?”

His brows drew together in a frown that was probably supposed to seem quizzical. “Why shouldn’t I be here? I think Mior at least is happy to have my help. Or are you upset that I left the city? I’m sorry if that’s the case, but I was under the impression I was not considered a security risk any longer.”

“Don’t give me that, of course you’re free to go if you want.”

“Then I fail to see the problem.” His jaw was set stubbornly.

I looked at him for a moment and sighed. “There’s only one reason why Mior would want to do this,” I said, trying for a reasonably gentle tone. “I assume they got you for tracking purposes. But they didn’t hunt your father down to have tea and share stories.”

Ceion returned my gaze. “I didn’t expect they would. So?” He glanced at the fighting spirits. “Besides, you’re here, too.”

I ran a hand through my hair. “I don’t want you to do something you can’t take back, Ceion.” I shook my head. “If this is what you want, fine, I’m certainly not going to stop them. But at least let Mior do … you know.”

Ceion folded his arms. “Does that matter?”

I shrugged. “I think you’ve got enough to deal with without adding patricide to it.”

“Speaking from experience there, are you?” He snorted. “I’m not your little brother, Inaris.”

I looked at him calmly. “I know.”

He cleared his throat and looked down. “Sorry,” he muttered. “That was uncalled for. I know what you’re getting at, and I appreciate the concern. But I think it’s a bit of a moot point, anyway.”

Together, we turned to watch the Auditor’s fight. With a start, I realized it was almost over. On their own, the Auditor might have been able to hold their own against Mior for a while. But with the help of the phoenix, not to mention the potshots by Aston and a few other guards, he was clearly reaching the end of his rope. I could most see his qi waver and flicker, and Mior’s aura dominated the scene of the fight more and more.

I approached cautiously, Aston sticking close to me, with Ceion following along. The Auditor glared at us, but he either didn’t want to take the risk or didn’t want to take his attention from his opponents, and didn’t attack us.

‘Any last words?’ Mior asked, smugness practically written into their incorporeal expression.

‘Wait!’ There was more than a hint of anxiety in the Auditor’s mental voice. ‘I know we’ve had our disagreements, but this is too much! Jideia will -’

‘Will what?’ Mior interrupted him. ‘Stop mitigating his losses and risk another confrontation for the sake of a minion who didn’t even try to defend him when the time came?’

‘You don’t understand. I’ve always been loyal.’

‘Well, I certainly don’t understand,’ the Red Phoenix said. ‘But we all know you’re at our mercy here. Can we hurry this along?’

‘Wait!’ the Auditor protested again. This time, I could sense their focus shifting. ‘Ceion, my son, will you really stand by?’

Ceion crossed his arms and said nothing. I figured he was maturing - the Ceion I first met would have responded with an angry rant at best.

‘You still shouldn’t kill you. I have information you want. Information that might help you, Imperial Princess.’

I shrugged. ‘Like what?’

‘I’m not going to just tell you now!’

‘Then I see no reason to believe you,’ I countered. ‘You’re obviously saying anything you think might help. Unless you have proof of your claims, I see no reason to even consider speaking on your behalf. Not that I probably would even then.’

He was silent for a moment, glaring at everyone. He even seemed to gather more power for a last push, but Mior suppressed that with their own power, smothering whatever technique that might have been.

‘Fine. You are friends with the Arialko children, aren’t you? I hear they’re very interested to learn how their father died. I happen to know everything about it.’

I narrowed my eyes. The Red Phoenix seemed to have the same thought, judging by the way his fiery aura flared brighter. ‘That must mean you were responsible for it. You killed him!’

If he could have, I had a feeling the Auditor would have winced. ‘No, I wasn’t responsible for his death.’

‘You mean not directly responsible. Only indirectly,’ Mior said, with clear distaste in their mental voice. Their metaphorical grip on him tightened. ‘Who was it? And don’t get started wanting to bargain, I can always make things worse for you.’

The Auditor seemed to struggle again for a moment, before he visibly sagged. ‘Fine. Yes. Our people were watching him and it was decided he was too much of a risk. It was one of our best agents who actually killed him, from what would be the core of the temple fighters later. His name was Niordo.’

I had the impression he glanced at Ceion, who sucked in air in a surprised breath. I resisted the urge to go to him. Ceion had never actually mention the age of his older half-brother, but he was clearly at least several at least several decades older.

‘He might actually have other valuable information,’ I spoke up reluctantly. ‘We could let him live.’

Mior’s qi seemed to growl and the Red Phoenix spit another bit of fire. ‘I would rather just kill him.’

‘Exactly,’ Mior agreed.

I sighed and folded my arms. We all looked at each other for a moment, the decision clear.

Then Mior’s qi swelled again. I saw Ceion turning away, but I couldn’t help but watch. It seemed to engulf the Auditor’s, until I wasn’t sure where the person-shaped form in it was anymore, until Mior’s qi was completely pervading that of the other spirit. Then it started to fade.

I shook my head and sank downward with my flying sword, losing altitude. Mior and the Red Phoenix remained behind for a bit, but Ceion copied me.

“I didn’t know that was your half-brother,” I said. “I know he wasn’t exactly the best sibling, but Elis and Elia will want revenge, I hope this won’t make things worse between you.”

Ceion shook his head. “I wouldn’t have tried to stop them. But it’s moot, anyway.”

I nodded. It was pretty clear that Niordo had abused him when he was a kid. “What do you mean?”

He gave me a sideways glance. “He died at the end of the battle.”

“Oh.”

We landed on the snowy ground in silence. I wasn’t quite sure what to say. Should I express my condolences? That didn’t seem like a good idea. I couldn’t help but be relieved that things were apparently getting settled with Elis and Elia’s quest.

Although that brought up another point. As we started walking north, I cleared my throat. “If it’s alright with you not to talk about it to the others right away, I should get them alone to break the news as soon as we get back.”

Ceion shook his head. “That’s not necessary. I’m going to talk to them.”

“You sure?”

He sighed. “Yes. I should be the one to tell them.”

I nodded, but didn’t say anything else. We continued to walk north, at speeds a car would have had trouble matching, in silence.

Chapter 191 (Draft)

I thought it was downright unfair how of all the places I’d been in the last year, Saria had the nicest view of the sunrise. Even so far south in winter, where the sun would only be visible for a short time, it managed to dye the streets and buildings of the city in warm colors and made the decorations and different materials used in building the city stand out. Light sparkled off a river in the distance, and the fields around the city reflected a riot of color from different cultivated plants, helped along by cultivators.

Well, I wouldn’t complain about having a nice view to round out what had been a very long night.

“I hope you’re not thinking of jumping. Not that this balcony is high enough to harm you even without your shapeshifting.”

I glanced down at the ground several stories beneath me, realizing that Tenira was probably right. The estate we currently occupied had housed a branch of the Zarian government previously, although it didn’t really look like it with the nice courtyard, landscaped garden, and historic manor. It was also nicely in the center of the city while still having a defensible clear space around it, which probably factored into why Aston and the others had chosen it.

“Don’t worry, I’m not nearly that frustrated yet,” I answered, turning to my consorts. Yarani followed Tenira onto the balcony, though I didn’t sense Kajare anywhere.

“Your husband is talking to Elis,” Tenira said, apparently guessing what I was thinking.

“Let’s hope they keep to talking.” Yarani grinned.

Tenira sighed at her, but still smiled a little. “I’m quite sure they will. So.” She turned back to me. “Elis.”

I ran a hand through my hair. “Yes. I’ve been wanting to talk to you about him, but we haven’t had the time. Still, I haven’t really promised him anything yet, so if you object …”

Tenira and Yarani shared a glance. “I certainly won’t stand in your way,” Yarani said. She flounced over and leaned against another part of the balcony. “And it might do Kajare some good. You know, help him unwind a little. Not sure I really want to wish this on Elis, though.”

Both Tenira and I rolled our eyes as Yarani grinned again. I didn’t comment on her teasing, though. It was obviously in good fun.

Instead, I looked at Tenira. She shook her head slowly. “I don’t have any objections, either. From what I understand, he’s not going to be around much, anyhow.”

I smiled at her. “Thank you, Tenira.”

She snorted softly and moved closer, leaning against the balcony beside me. I relaxed and enjoyed the nice morning and their company.

After a while, Tenira spoke again. “Although I do have to admit I was a little surprised. That it’s Elis, I mean. I thought maybe Ceion …”

“Ceion? No way. I’d rather share a bed with Isuro.”

Yarani snorted a laugh, while Tenira just raised an eyebrow.

“Okay, maybe not,” I conceded. I ran a hand through my hair and sighed. “Not that I dislike him, it’s just —” I shrugged. “I don’t think that would be a good idea. We’re too … I don’t know, we wouldn’t be good for each other.”

Yarani nodded seriously. “I understand what you mean. That could too easily lead to obsession or unhealthy relationship dynamics.”

I pulled a face. But she wasn’t wrong.

“How long are we going to stay here, anyway?” Tenira asked. “I know you’ve been wanting to go back north and see your siblings, among other things, but there is still a lot to take care of here.”

“That it is.” I frowned thoughtfully. “I do want to go back, so, not long? Kiyanu can get some people here who will help with actually administering our new territories, now that it’s reasonably safe. And it’s not like we can’t be in contact even from Thousand Lights City. Plus,” I smiled at Tenira, “I seem to remember promising someone a wedding after the war.”

Tenira laughed. “Now that’s the best reason of all. But are you sure? We haven’t conquered the entire Storm Continent yet.”

I sighed a little. She wasn’t wrong. Parts of the army were already leaving to sweep south. But with those we had to leave here, we didn’t have the numbers, especially considering our losses, to roll over any entrenched resistance we might encounter. There might be a few holdouts we’d have to take care of later.

“I get the feeling the Empire is going to remain hungry for soldiers for quite a while to come,” I said. “But it’s really only a matter of time until we’ve secured everything that used to be the Dominion. Minus the parts other powers are swallowing up, of course. To be honest, I don’t think I’m really needed here, anymore. Our generals should be more than capable of dealing with the military situation.”

“But there’s still the political side to take care of,” Yarani pointed out. “We need to make sure things are stable here.”

“Of course, and that’s not going to be easy.” I raised an eyebrow at them. “Someone was against me killing the people who pose the greatest possible threat or problem.”

Yarani and Tenira didn’t look particularly perturbed at that comment.

“Anyway,” I continued, “I do intend to involve them in governance at least to some extent. Something like an advisory council, which would be composed of representatives of Zarian society.”

Tenira nodded slowly. “That could work. You just need to be careful not to have it lean too heavily towards protecting the old elites.”

“I imagine it’s going to be dominated by the Basement.” I smirked a little. “But the former high-tier citizens are going to have a voice, at least. And I’m not sure how much power this council will have, anyway. That’s something to hash out with the Imperial administrators who are going to be in charge of these areas.”

“Administrators for the central government, not nobles,” Yarani murmured.

“Exactly.” I smiled at her. “A lot of the land confiscated from the great families will go towards public institutions, like new universities. And we’ll might have some noble clans here, too, but I don’t want them to dominate the region like they used to back home.”

Yarani looked very pleased. I rolled my eyes, but didn’t comment. I approved of her attitude, generally speaking, and I was feeling good about this prospect too, after all. If we could make this work - and while there might be problems, I didn’t doubt that - this might be a major step forward not just for the people of the Storm Continent, but the Empire as a whole, too.

“Have you heard anything from Mior?” Tenira asked. She didn’t seem as relaxed.

I hesitated. “Not since the battle, no,” I said. “I’m sure they’re busy. I mean, there’s probably all sorts of stuff to sort out between Rijoko and Jideia. I’d like to know how things have gone for Isuro, too.”

They both nodded, though they shared a glance that seemed a little worried. I didn’t mention it, and I could hardly blame them. It would probably take a while until I was no looker looking out for hostile moves from the shadows.

Unless something happens.

And even if not, would that be a good thing? I frowned despite myself, and the thought dissipated the last of my good cheer from before. I didn’t think I was in danger of becoming complacent, but wasn’t there some quote about how victory could be worse than defeat?

“Let’s not borrow trouble,” Yarani finally said. “The guards aren’t going to relax their vigilance any time soon, anyway.”

“And now that spirits are no longer a big concern, there might still be mundane assassins, too,” Tenira added. “There’s still a lot of people that could want Nari dead.”

Yarani and I both gave her a look. “Thanks for that cheerful thought,” I said. But in truth, I wasn’t too worried. If Rijoko’s protections, indirect or not, had held out against the Storm’s attempts, I doubted he’d let some random cultivator succeed. Besides, I had complete faith in Aston.

“Well, I need to go,” Yarani finally said. “There’s a meeting between some of the nobles with the army and some Basement leaders that I wanted to sit in on.”

Tenira winced. “Yes, it would be good to make sure they don’t kill each other. I have to get going, too, I need to manage the disposition of your household for the coming days.”

I nodded and waved them off. Once both of my girlfriends were gone, I stretched and looked back out over the city. There seemed to be a little more life in its streets now. Then I turned to face the building.

“Aston?” I asked.

I hadn’t raised my voice much, but he appeared in the door a few seconds later. “Yes, my lady?”

I gestured at him to come closer. “You know, I never asked if you actually listen in during those conversations.”

Aston gave me a fleeting grin. “Yes and no, my lady. For the most part, I listen without actually processing what I hear, it’s a skill all guards are well-advised to learn.”

I returned his smile and leaned against the balcony railing. He already seemed a little more relaxed, which was nice to see. Aston had appeared pretty tightly wound for the last few months.

“How are you doing?” I asked. “We haven’t really had time to talk in a while, and I know the past few days had to be stressful for you.”

Aston looked at me for a moment, then snorted. “You could say that.” He came closer and leaned against the wall, obviously shifting out of bodyguard mode. “Watching you talking to powerful spirits and then setting off to fight others without even a warning, let alone any chance for me to keep up … Sometimes, I curse having taken this job.”

“I’m sorry,” I said quietly.

He shook his head. “Don’t be. I realize what you had to do and that I couldn’t have helped. Mior and the Moon wouldn’t have been careless with your life, and are at any rate much better qualified at protecting you than I am.”

“Still. I feel a little bad about it. But at least this shouldn’t happen again.”

He smiled slightly. “I certainly wouldn’t complain about that. But I don’t think we’re going to be able to return to a relaxed stance on your security until we’re back in the Imperial palace, if at all. Not that this should affect your plans overmuch. It’s my job to worry about that while you do yours.”

I nodded. “You’re being really reasonable for a bodyguard. I guess it helps to know that I’m almost immortal, doesn’t it?”

Aston flashed a grin. “That certainly helps. I still try not to be too cavalier about it. If nothing else, your consorts are still mortal, and I prefer to keep my head firmly attached.”

I laughed. Then I had to consider for a moment whether he only meant that he would be in the line of fire for any assassins who came calling, or whether he was making an ironic joke about me having him beheaded if his failure lead to the death of someone I loved. On second thought, I decided it didn’t matter, asking about it would be weird, and I’d rather move the conversation along.

“How are the rest of the guards doing?” I asked.

“Well enough, all things considered. I think I need to do a few reassignments once we’re back, but there are no critical issues. It depends on how you might like to have things arranged with regard to your siblings and the balance of strong cultivators.”

I considered that for a moment. “They still have high priority,” I decided. I was, as we’d just pointed out, a lot more survivable. “And I’d like to get proper details in place for my companions. But for now, we can leave things as they are, I think it’s working pretty well, and we’re all staying closer together, anyway.”

Aston nodded. “Understood. That would include Prince Kajare, Lady Tenira, and Lady Yarani, I assume? Also Lord Lei and Lady Elia? Perhaps Lord Elis?”

“Definitely, when he’s there,” I decided. “And we should probably have guards assigned to Ceion, too. What do you think?”

Aston hesitated. “My lady, you are aware that Ceion has left?”

“What?” I jerked upright. “What do you mean, left?”

Now that I looked for him, I really couldn’t sense Ceion anywhere. I hadn’t given that much thought. I couldn’t sense Lei either, but I knew he was across the city. From the way Aston looked, I got the feeling Ceion didn’t just go for a stroll through Saria.

“I assumed you knew,” he said with a small sigh, and bowed his head. “I got a message from Mior about it, about three hours ago. Given that it seems they are going to watch over him, I didn’t feel too concerned. Although …” He frowned slightly. “If they didn’t tell you, there might have been more to it.”

I ran a hand through my hair. “Great. Did you see Ceion? How did he seem?”

“Tightly wound, but to be frank, that’s hardly unusual. He did seem to pack quite a number of weapons, though.”

My eyes narrowed. “So he’s preparing to fight someone. Wait - If Mior’s involved, I doubt he’s just hunting down some old acquaintances from the templars.”

Aston cursed softly. “There’s only one potential target of his that Mior would be interested in, or would want to use him for in the first place.”

“Exactly,” I agreed. “The Auditor.”

We looked at each other for a moment. Aston bowed his head apologetically, but I just turned around and strode from the balcony. I picked up speed as I hurried through the corridors of the mansion. It didn’t seem like Mior had actually wanted to keep this from me, or they wouldn’t have let Aston know.

I could probably just sit this one out, but I really didn’t want to. It wasn’t just that I considered Ceion my responsibility or that I wanted to help Mior. I didn’t just want them to stay safe, I wanted to know when they went after their target, to be there and see to it myself.

It was time to go destroy a spirit.

Chapter 190 (Draft)

This might be the last time I went into a recently conquered city. At least in the foreseeable future. But it certainly wasn’t the first, and I’d come to have certain expectations for these situations.

Saria didn’t live up to them very well. Of course, what had happened here was far from typical. I still found it remarkable that I sensed a lot of people in the city. They weren’t crowded together in sturdy houses and bunkers, but seemed to spread out like normal. There were no fighters lying in wait to ambush us, though to be fair, my soldiers would have taken care of those already. Instead, I listened to the quiet sounds of a string instrument drifting on the wind from somewhere else in the city.

The storm had finally ended a while a go, but it still left the streets of the city covered in a wet sheen that sometimes reflected light oddly when the sun hit it right. It was already dusk, too, which seemed to cover everything in a sightly more reddish tint. It was a scene of surprising beauty, though I couldn’t enjoy it very well with the number of guards that were crowded around me.

Someone had blasted apart the inner gates of the city, though the wall around them still stood and looked mostly undisturbed. We kept to the main streets, which were broader here, most of them lined with trees and decorated with the occasional statue or fountain. They were all much emptier than they should have been. We also approached the parts of the city where the mansions of the rich and powerful stood. Here, I sensed more people watching us, most of them cultivators of at least middling strength. I tensed up slightly and noticed that my guards seemed on alert, as well, but no one approached us, much less launched an attack, and we passed beside them without incident.

“It seems like they worked out something,” Elis muttered, glancing at me. “I wouldn’t expect them not to try and cut deals for themselves, though.”

I snorted. “At least they seem to have realized that they’ve lost. I wouldn’t want to have to track everyone of note down outside.”

Of course, our planes and flying cultivators circling outside the city made it hard for anyone to flee. I still expected that some would manage to slip away. With a little luck, and if they were smart, they would flee into exile in other countries. At least I was pretty sure we’d managed to take out most of the Zarian elites who could use the teleport technique.

It didn’t surprise me when we drew closer to sense the gathering of cultivators in the Princeps’ Palace. It was a pretty obvious and meaningful choice. There were cultivators stationed outside and in guard positions on the roof, probably those less closely connected to the main families. The stronger ones were inside, and I assumed those contained what was left of the movers and shakers in the Dominion.

There weren’t all that many, and they weren’t all that powerful in total. Aston probably could have taken them just with his expanded complement of guards. With Hashar’s elites and a few eighth-stagers as backup, they’d have no chance if they tried anything. It wouldn’t come to a fight, anyway. This wasn’t going to be that simple.

I looked up at the white marble facade for a moment, watching the play of colors across it. Usually, there would be more pageantry, with formations or techniques used to pretty it up even further. The huge building was impressive even without that, though the plants in the garden around it still seemed to contain a lot of qi. I made sure to keep to the center of the path as we walked it towards the main doors. Aston was in front of me, with other guards forming a perimeter around us. Behind me came my companions, then General Wei, Hashar, and the eighth stagers present. The other generals were busy overseeing the army. I resisted the urge to straighten my robes again and settled a cold mask in place on my face, striding forward with my back straight and head held high. At least there were no photographs here.

The inside of the palace was as expansive as the outside, but we didn’t have to go far. After only one corridor, large and intricately carved double doors opened into a large hall. You couldn’t quite call it a throne room, given the lack of a throne, but it was still designed and decorated similarly, with tall pillars, balconies on an upper level that let you look down on it, and a lot of formations in the walls. But I didn’t spare them much attention, instead focusing on the people in it.

I couldn’t help but think they were a pretty sorry lot considering they were what remained of the Zarian leadership, their best and most powerful. Half of them were either too old, in appearance at least, or too young. Though I supposed I shouldn’t judge them for having weaker cultivators able to rise to prominence now. I actually discovered Vana in the room, as well, though I tried not to let on that I recognized her.

Though that raised an interesting question. Was the Basement here? I wouldn’t put it past them to have a few representatives prepared.

The already low level of noise in the room fell even further into deep silence as I crossed the threshold and started to walk into the room. Kajare and Tenira were on each side of me, a step behind, followed by the others. Every eye in the room fixed on us.

I didn’t hurry, but calmly walked down the hall until I stood in front of where the apparent leaders had gathered at one of the ends of the room, where a throne would have (and might have) stood. The different groups they came from were apparent in the way they stood together. There were even a few priests in the familiar robes of the Storm’s temples, standing at one edge.

I kept my head high and looked at them for a drawn-out moment, while the people behind me stopped as well.

Then some of the people started to bow, even if they looked like they weren’t exactly happy about it. Others followed their example, and in a second, everyone had given me a courtly bow.

I inclined my head in response. “Greetings, leaders of the Zarian,” I said. My voice sounded loud in the quiet hall.

A few of the people, probably the leaders of the major factions, exchanged a look, before they responded. “Greetings, Imperial Princess Inaris.”

I noticed that quite a few of the other Zarian were tense, their eyes darting between my guards and the elites who’d accompanied us. They were spreading out slightly, their postures clearly on alert.

They weren’t just ready to defend us should an assassin pop out. They could also slaughter every Zarian in the room if I decided to simply give that command. The realization made me hesitate for a moment.

“We have a lot to discuss,” I finally said. “But before that, I believe you have something to tell me. Your spirit patron was beaten and driven off, never to regain his bastion here. Your army was decisively defeated by the Empire’s might. Your strength is gone, your territory lost, and you are at our mercy now. I hope there is no one here foolish enough to dispute this.”

There was another moment of silence, another round of silent glances. I could practically see the calculations going on behind their heads.

Then one olderly woman spoke up, who I recognized as head of the Siranum. “You speak truly, Your Highness.” She bowed her head. “In the name of the Zarian Dominion, we formally surrender and ask for terms.”

A few of the others frowned. But remarkably, no one spoke up to contradict her. I had the impression no one was happy about it, and a few of them didn’t like the fact that she was positioning herself as speaker, but no one actually argued that she didn’t have the authority for this. Probably because none of them has it, either.

How ironic that they still didn’t have a new Princeps.

“Your surrender is noted and accepted,” I replied.

That seemed to ease the tension a little. It wasn’t like I couldn’t still get started with murder, pillage and arson, but I wouldn’t have needed to trouble with getting a formal surrender first.

“Thank you, Your Highness,” another man spoke up. He must be the current head of another great family. “The Dominion is prepared to take any reasonable measures to ensure that the war is resolved to everyone’s satisfaction.”

I smiled ironically. That was a little rich, considering everything that had happened. “You misunderstand,” I answered, letting my tone cool just a little. “I accepted your surrender, as persons and as a group. The Dominion, on the other hand, has been conquered. It started this war, killed many Imperial citizens, and has been brought down for it. With the fall of Saria, the Zarian Dominion is history. There will be no recall, no peace treaty. The Dominion is no more.”

That got a reaction from the Zarian. This time, there was no tense silence, just furtive whisperings too low for me to make out. I watched the stir, keeping my face impassive. They had no know this would happen, and among the people I’d identified as the leaders, I saw little signs of surprise. And why would I allow the Dominion to keep existing when I can just disappear it? Their land is already conquered, or as good as.

Besides, I’d already discussed this with Kiyanu. We were in agreement on this. He didn’t want to risk a newly strengthened Dominion out for revenge rising, either. Or let go of the strength that the resources, not to mention population, of the Storm Continent and the Zarian colonies represented. The war hadn’t ended in those colonies, yet, but I knew it wouldn’t be long now.

Then my attention was drawn by a gathering of qi I could sense coming as several cultivators approached. From the side doors, a group of people in the low and middle stages entered. They mostly wore simple clothing, but carried themselves with confidence. The Zarian leaders in the hall reacted immediately, many of them withdrawing a little. A few of the weaker people in their groups stepped forward, as well.

I turned to them and smiled. “Ah, our valued allies! The Basement has been extremely helpful, and its contributions will not be forgotten.” In a slightly lower voice, I added, “Please, do join us. This should be interesting.”

A few people stepped forward to join me at the head of the hall. I recognized one of the men as one of the Basement leaders who’d come to us originally to make an alliance. They all bowed to me and greeted me politely.

“We were just discussing the end of the Zarian Dominion,” I said, although there was no way they had missed that.

“Good,” an older woman stated. She had a slight smile on her face as she looked at the Zarian high-tiers. “It is high time that end come, and we are confident that the Empire will improve on it. Especially if it starts properly, making a clean sweep of the Dominion’s rotten core.”

I raised an eyebrow. “I can assure you that we do not intend to let the Dominion’s power structures continue on under Imperial rule. But I assume you mean something concrete?”

They nodded. “It is the considered opinion of the Basement that the leeches sucking the strength out of the Dominion’s people to hoard their power need to be properly cleansed.” The woman stared at me, looking almost challenging.

I nodded slowly, taking a deep breath. I knew something like this might happen.They weren’t quite making demands, but this clearly wasn’t far from it. The Basement had been critical, and they were reminding me of it. And now these low-caste freedom fighters were coming to witness the downfall of their overlords, something they had probably dreamed of and made sacrifices for for a long time. I should probably count myself lucky there wasn’t more open bloodlust.

Thoughtfully, I looked at the Zarian elites. Many of them glared at the Basement members, people they would have probably not have deemed worthy of looking at a few years ago. They didn’t manage to conceal their fear. It was obvious in the way they held themselves, the way they drew more tightly together. Even Siranum seemed hesitant to speak up. My gaze passed to Vana. She hadn’t moved, and met my eyes with a hard look.

The silence had dragged on for a bit. I nodded. “Of course, I understand your position.”

I turned towards the Zarian leaders, cocking my head sligthly, as one finger absently brushed my storage ring.

Then Yarani spoke up. “Inaris. Don’t do that.”

I turned back to my companions to see her staring at me challengingly. I glanced around, then took a step closer.

“Yarani,” Tenira said sharply. “You’re out of line.”

Someone was putting up a qi barrier to keep the conversation private, but I didn’t spare it much attention as I looked at my companions, especially my first one.

“I can tell what you’re considering,” she said. After a moment, her hand reached out and hesitantly brushed my sleeve. “It might seem the pragmatic thing to do, but think about what you’d be doing. We’ve already won. Focus on what you stand for, what you want to accomplish.”

My eyes narrowed, and I looked at her. But Yarani held my gaze easily. After a moment, I glanced at the others.

Tenira returned my gaze and inclined her head. “I will support you no matter what, Inaris.” She sighed slightly. “Although I do have to agree with her, personally.”

Kajare just nodded. Elis glanced at the Basement leaders, then back at us, and gave a little shrug. Elia and Lei stayed quiet, although she was watching everything intently.

I used some of my own darkness qi to disperse the barrier and turned back, taking a deep breath. She was right. I’d gotten a lot better at acting like a princess, acting more ruthlessly, but there was a balance to strike. I did want to make things better overall, and the greater good wasn’t always an excuse to do something immoral. Far from it.

“I do understand your position,” I repeated to the Basement leaders. “We will make a clean break with the way the Dominion did things. From now on, no Zarian will be measured or have their freedoms restricted by any tier system. The great families will no longer dominate your economy and society.” I raised a hand. “That said, I will not have unnecessary bloodshed. If anyone - and I do mean anyone - goes on a killing spree, they will be punished.”

The revolutionaries clearly didn’t like that. The woman glared at me. “They need to pay for what they have been doing.”

“And they will.” I smiled at all of them. “There will be proper trials, and if any individual has committed crimes or abused those under their power, they will be held responsible for it.” I glanced at the former high-tier citizens as I said that. “In addition, the property belonging to the great families will be confiscated and put to use to benefit the people.”

Neither group looked happy with that. I got the feeling that the Basement members were considering pressing the point. Quite a few of the others might have been thinking of doing something stupid, too.

Then Vana took a step forward. “A wise choice,” she said, bowing her head to me. Then she moved off to join the Basement leaders, completely ignoring the stares the other pseudo-nobles sent after her.

After a few moments, the woman from the Basement snorted softly and nodded. “Alright. We will hold you to these sentiments.”

I smiled again. “Of course. There is still a great deal to do, and much to discuss and establish.”

It was probably inevitable that the Basement would get a leading role in the new territories that had been the Dominion. Then again, I could use them to balance out any influence from the Imperial nobles. And the central government would certainly have to be strong.

I was confident we’d manage.

Chapter 189 (Draft)

Even after the Greater Spirits had disappeared, I spent a long moment just floating in the air, staring at nothing in particular. Only Mior’s careful poke roused me.

I beat the wings I had regrown and let myself drift slowly downwards. Mior was still linked to me, though they currently maintained their own form, and I could feel the extra power I’d drawn on during the fight slowly seeping out of me.

‘Inaris.’ Their tone was unexpectedly gentle. ‘I know this is a momentous occasion and you probably need time to process, but you have to get moving. You’re still needed right now.’

I blinked and shook my head. ‘Right. Let’s get going. How long are you going to stay with me?’

‘Not much longer. Actually …’

I paused, somehow managing to hover in the air anyway with their help. I felt something like a slight tingle in my qi. Although, now that I focused on it, I could tell that Mior was only nudging something I could have found there anyway. Almost by themselves, my eyes slipped close, and I started breathing deeply.

This breakthrough had crept up on me. If I paused to think about it, I’d only wonder why it waited this long, considering I fought an ascended cultivator and Greater Spirit and everything. But now I barely had to guide my qi before it started crashing through my meridians, flushing out impurities. I compressed it tighter in my dantian, shaping it for my next level of progress.

I knew who I was and where I came from, and now I saw what my future held, in more detail and with more certainty than before. I let those imaginings guide me, pushing through a breakthrough not just with my qi, but also my mind, defining myself and my path for myself. It was almost shockingly easy.

After a while, I opened my eyes again, realizing that I was resuming my descent. I shook my head to clear it and glanced around. That has to be the quickest breakthrough I’ve ever had.

‘Most likely,’ Mior agreed. ‘You’re welcome.’

I huffed and smiled slightly. I could tell I’d only been out of it for a few minutes, and Mior had kindly ensured that I wouldn’t do myself or my surroundings any harm during it. And it was a good thing that I was free now. As I came closer to the site of the battle, it became clear how much work was still ahead of me.

The walls had been breached and the qi shield covering the city broken, but the city was still mostly unmarred and as yet unconquered. Not that that would last long. The battlefield was a littler harder to assess, considering how cultivator fights tended to end for the environment and any hapless bystanders. But I could tell that the battle was mostly over. A lot of bodies lay in the mud, from both sides. It did seem like the Zarian had started to retreat, though. I could see a few Imperial eighth-stagers flying over or striding across the field. There were also a surprising number of Imperial siege weaponry and our large stationary guns still standing. As I watched, I saw a few minor spirits with qi tasting of something familiar, night and stars, leaving the battlefield.

It looked like my father had helped us out a little. How nice of him.

Elia was the first of my companions I found. She hovered pretty close to my current position on a flying sword, looking out over the field and the city. When I approached, she turned and nodded to me. Her forehead was slightly creased and I could read the tension in her posture despite her relaxed stance.

“Are you alright, Nari?” she asked.

“Just fine. And you?”

“Sure.” She smiled a little. “It’s not every day I get this close to my grandmother, but she was very gentle. I think I might even be ready for another breakthrough soon.”

“Good. Do you know where the others are?”

She pointed. “No need to go looking for them, I think.”

I turned and smiled as I saw what she meant. The rest of what I thought of as my group were not too far away and making their way towards us. Tenira and Lei were in the lead, with Elis, Ceion, and Kajare apparently talking to each other and Yarani at the rear. I nodded and Elia and started losing altitude again, sensing that she followed me.

When I landed, I first had to endure intense hugging from my partners. I was barely done with one before the next got their turn. Elis hugged his sister, while Ceion looked a little awkward.

“Alright,” I said, laughing a little. “I’m okay, I’m okay. That was a fight I won’t soon forget, but my father and Mior kept me safe. They’re still here, by the way.”

Mior faded out of my body and looked at the others, nodded at them. ‘Now that you’re back safely, I think it’s time to take my leave.’ The spirit smirked slightly. ‘Make sure she doesn’t get into too much trouble, alright?’

Before I could answer, they started to fade again. I felt a pulling sensation in my midsection, right where my dantian was, and a similar sense in my qi. I grimaced and braced myself, distantly thankful at the contact when Elis laid a hand on my shoulder and supported me. It felt like something was torn away from me and I instinctively wanted to latch on to it and keep it, but I controlled myself and instead hunched in on myself.

Mior’s qi gathered around me, forming again into a more solid person-like shape in front of us, with my companions backing away a little to give them space. After a few minutes of something close to agony without actual pain, the feeling lessened. I felt like I could finally breathe easier, but at the same time, like those were hollow.

Mior’s arm rose and they gave me a wave before their qi started to dissipate and I felt their presence leaving. They probably have a lot to do.

And so did I. I straightened, rolling my shoulders, and grimaced a little. “Alright. Do you mind filling me in on what happened and what our status is?”

I listened closely as they, mostly Tenira with some interjections from Kajare and Yarani, started explaining. It sounded like the battle had recovered pretty well from the presence of two Greater Spirits and proceeded. My generals did a decent job of controlling it, and with the qi shield over the city gone and some help, they were able to turn it around quickly. Now, we were in the clean up phase. A lot of Zarian had died, while a few had been seen fleeing. We’d probably have to hunt down the stronger ones later, but I wasn’t too worried about it, or what remained of the Dominion outside the capital.

Already, Imperial soldiers were forming up outside the city. The wall had been breached in several places, and I could sense that few people remained in its vicinity.

By now, the leadership of the army had come closer, as well, and we met up with it. I noticed the looks the generals and eighth-stagers were giving me, but chose not to comment on it. They must have all sensed the fight between the spirits and knew I was involved, but I would rather not discuss it.

At least they picked up on that fact quickly and the conversation focused on the battle and our next steps.

“We should be ready to march into the city,” General Poteri said. “Unless we have to expect further increased resistance from the Storm’s faction?”

I considered for a moment and shook my head. “I suspect that the High Temple will still fight, but we don’t have to be concerned about the Storm himself.”

They all looked relieved at that, although I got even more speculative looks. “Good.” Poteri nodded. “Then we can proceed, with your permission, Your Highness?”

“I’ll leave that to your expert judgment, General,” I answered. If he thinks we should press on as soon as possible, he’s probably right.

From there, the conversation quickly turned to practicalities, and the generals hammered out the details. They all seemed to agree with Poteri about wanting to get this going fast. Probably because the impact of seeing their deity defeated (people did realize that, right?) should still be fresh for the Zarian.

As the meeting wound down, I took out my trusty flying sword and rose into the air a little, getting a good overview of the situation and incidentally discouraging people from approaching and trying to talk to me. My friends didn’t go far, but they left me in peace, thankfully. With nothing else to focus on, I really noticed the way my qi channels were aching softly. Clearly, channeling that much power through them, with Mior possessing me, wasn’t easy to endure, and the minor breakthrough hadn’t recovered everything. It might have even made it worse. At least I felt confident the effect wouldn’t be permanent, and so long as I didn’t use too many strong techniques in the next few hours or days, it shouldn’t be a problem.

With everyone except the most seriously injured soldiers healed, the bodies collected and our planes and siege engines ready, the army started the assault on Saria, version two point zero.

It was almost anticlimactic. Whoever remained in charge on the Zarian side clearly decided that trying to defend the walls was a lost cause. Considering our planes were free to bomb them with impunity, I couldn’t disagree. It meant that our soldiers met with minimal resistance as they started advancing into the city proper.

I sighed to myself, watching teams of elites canvass the streets of the outer section. It felt like all of this was simply wrap up, annoying tasks that had to be completed once the true threat was dealt with. I’d accomplished what I’d really come here for, at least on a personal level.

Of course, there were still a lot of people whose fates hung in the balance. I’d told myself and others I wanted to make lives better for the Zarian common people, now it was time to put my money (or army) where my mouth was.

We waited in silence for a while while the soldiers moved into the city. I sensed the occasional fight, though it didn’t seem to be anything they couldn’t handle. Still, the occasional twinges in my qi sense made me antsy. I knew Aston, who’d been almost forebodingly quiet today, would not want me to enter the city until we were sure it was safe.

I glanced at my bodyguard, who was on a flying sword behind me, looking straight ahead, his face a stony mask. Yeah, I’ll need to have a long talk with him after this is over. Now that I no longer have to worry about Jideia’s assassins …

I sighed, shaking my head softly to myself.

“Are you alright?” Tenira asked.

I glanced at her and made myself smile. “Yeah, of course, I’m just a little keyed up still.”

She say anything, just raised an eyebrow slightly and looked at me. Beside her, Kajare folded his arms.

“Fine. I’m still not sure how I feel about all this … this.” I ran a hand through my hair. “We won, but …”

Tenira cocked her head to the side slightly. “You feel like the Storm got away with attacking you.”

“Nari,” Kajare said. “We haven’t seen the Pioneer. Is he gone?”

“Yeah. I think so.” I frowned slightly. “From how Mior acted, I think he’s permanently stopped supporting Jideia. He’s probably going to go his own way now. I guess with a little help from the Moon, and with Sparky still dealing with the fallout of this, he’s probably in a position to manage it.”

“And the other Greater Spirits just say the Storm get beaten down by his old enemy,” he said. “After he must have invested a significant amount of power here.”

“Yes, I suppose.” I scratched at my cheek. When he put it like that, I could see what they meant.

“So, you weakened him considerably and took away his strongest supporter.” Kajare smiled. “You could say that you hurt him far more than he ever actually hurt you, considering you survived all those assassination attempts.”

I blinked, then started to grin. “I guess so. Thanks, Kajare. You’re not wrong.” I guess I needed to hear that. Sparky is going to have problems because of this for a long time.

The two of them smiled. The conversation paused, and we turned to look at the city. One of the soldiers came to up wave us forward, and we finally started moving in.

“It’s good that we talked about this,” Tenira said quietly. “I hope you got your head in the game, as you would say.”

I glanced at her and nodded seriously. “Of course.”

Smoke was starting to rise from a few points in the city. I heard a crash from what might have been the High Temple’s ground. None of the soldiers I saw acted concerned, though. Still, there were quite a few high-tier Zarian left in the city. And they’d all know we were coming.

“Because we have yet to deal with the Zarian,” Tenira continued. “The affairs of spirits aside, this is going to be your challenge, I feel. The deciding point of this whole campaign, in a manner of speaking.”

I nodded slowly. I understood what she meant. How I dealt with them now would be crucial. And I didn’t feel like I really knew what to do. My plans had more or less aimed at how to get rid of the Storm.

I knew that would have wide-reaching effects, but it was a little hard to predict what they would look like. I sighed. Why couldn’t Kiyanu be the one who was here?

Chapter 188 (Draft)

I saw something that shouldn’t exist in this world. A winding labyrinth, equal parts ancient mazes and postmodern cityscape, stretched out and interconnected to parts of itself. It looked like someone had taken optical illusions and surrealist paintings, made them physical and interlaced them with towering walls, bunkers, drops into an eternal void, and higher-dimensional mathematical fields.

That was basically what I’d tried to do. I’d visualized the outer part of my mental defenses — or at least the middle part, those only someone who actually tried to intrude into my mind would get to — like that, working from the simply labyrinth I’d got from my training with Mother. I thought the result was pretty good, all things considered.

But it hadn’t been designed to stand up to Greater Spirits.

I felt Jideia’s presence keenly, and it even affected the visualized defenses directly. Instead of a figure appearing and having to find their way through the maze, like it was supposed to work, there was a dark pressure over everything, as if someone had put a grimy film over it, and then twisted it and pressed parts of it together.

I didn’t make an avatar for myself, at least for now, but just focused on trying to defend myself and drive him back. It was easier said than done. I didn’t consider myself a weak-willed person, but Sparky had millennia of experience and the power of what was essentially a god. I felt like I might have weakened him, there were subtle hairline fractures in the sense I got of his form, or maybe it was just because we were fighting in my own territory. But he still eclipsed me.

Luckily, I wasn’t alone. Even as Jideia’s presence advanced and parts of my illusory landscape crumbled into dust, breaking off the rest and disintegrating into the void or just flattening out into nothing, my connection to Rijoko thrummed with power. The Moon’s attention bolstered my own efforts. I managed to stabilize the latter portion of it, at least slowing the Storm down.

I could also feel Mior. It felt like Jideia had put up a wall between us, but the spirit was currently linked too tightly to me to keep them out completely. In a distant, mostly unconscious corner of my mind, I still felt them. I got an impression of their anger and determination, and it bolstered me in a way pure power from Rijoko couldn’t have. Like hell would I let this douchebag cut me off from my friend.

I couldn’t stop Jideia’s advance, so I concentrated on what I would do after. I would probably have to let him at least into the surface levels of my mind, but I was still far from defenseless. And my connection to Rijoko was anchored in a fundamental part of my essence, so it might even be easier, in a way.

I deliberated letting the visualization fade, but in a pure contest of willpower, or just power, I definitely wasn’t in Jideia’s league. This was still my mind, though, and I’d take advantage of that.

When Jideia finally shattered the last of my outer defenses, I shifted my mind, pulling him with me into another layer. He could have tried to fight it, but instead he leaned into the pull, trying to use his will to bend it in his favor. I didn’t let that catch me off guard, though, and kept a grip on my intent, my father’s power steadying it.

The fact that Rijoko wasn’t doing more probably meant they were still fighting and he was beating Jideia in the outside, but I pushed that thought to the back of my mind, doubling down on my focus to stop my next step from wavering.

We appeared in a scene that seemed slightly more substantial. Which wasn’t to say it was clear or a memory of anything specific. Instead, I stood on a wide dirt path in a mist-swept landscape, with a few curving walls and electrical streetlights guiding my sight, overgrown gardens and a few other things around me. There were groves, yards, nooks and crannies where I could put things, and no overall organization that led to any destination in particular. I started walking, away from where I sensed Jideia.

His consciousness, or the part of it currently attempting to invade me, at least, had also condensed. There was an actual figure about a few hundred meters back, moving forward quickly. I didn’t let it hurry me, but simply stepped off the path and into another that wound its way in a curve off to the side. I was moving at the pace of a normal person, and even Jideia didn’t get much faster. That was one stringently enforced rule in this mental space: There was supposed to be no qi. A normal cultivator from Aran might not have been able to do this, since they had no experience with such a situation, but for me it was, in many ways, still the default state.

I paused as I reached a break in the wall, which showed an opening into a garden of trees with dark, drooping branches and thorny bushes. There was a pond to the side of it, by the path, and I caught a glimpse of my reflection. It was vague at first, but solidified in my view after a moment. Brown hair, not blond, a serious gaze in eyes that couldn’t seem to decide on their color, the skin a healthy tan.

I kept walking. If this hadn’t been in my own head, I would have felt freaked out at the weirdness of it all. Instead, I was calm. Not because this space forced it, that was just the way my mind worked. I remained hyper-aware of Jideia’s presence and location, but my nerves were suppressed by a blanket of calm focus. I even felt my face break into an illusory smile. After all, I had a Greater Spirit coming into my mind, how often did I have access to an opportunity like that?

I withdrew just a little from my visualization. Not enough to shatter or fade it, just enough to pry my mental fingers into the edges a little. Maybe influence it. The next time I went off the path into another, the scene I happened upon was vague, misty, like something seen from the corner of my eye. It reminded me a little of what I’d seen when I was questing for a cure to the poison with the spirits before I unlocked my bloodline.

Except, this time, it was a vision of the life I left behind on Aran, not the one I was ripped from on Earth. I remembered the place from the Imperial palace, although the decorations were slightly changed. Soft music played, and I watched as a shadowy figure in the shape of a girl twirled in the middle of the room - after all, I wouldn’t remember a third-person view.

I didn’t know why this scene was significant … but then, I did. As I watched and listened to a teacher off to the side calling out steps, I remembered the sense of finally getting into the flow, finding joy in moving, in a way I hadn’t gotten on the training field. It wasn’t an earth-shaking or important moment, but it was emotionally significant to me. A moment when I’d become a little more me. From that day on, in my subconscious, the awareness had percolated that I didn’t need to be the best fighter, that it was alright to strive for and find fulfillment in other things. My passion for dancing, lukewarm to begin with, hadn’t lasted long, but in a way, this had set me on a course that led to my lab.

I smiled and started walking again. As I did, the scene around me dissolved and reformed into a different situation.

I hesitated for a moment when it did, caught a little off guard by the intensity of the stab of emotion that went through me all of a sudden. It was like a bitter, sour taste on the back of my tongue. I’d seen the location itself several times before, too; another part of the Imperial palace. But the raised voices echoing indistinctly through the scene didn’t match the serene paintings and gilded woodwork. I pressed myself against the side of a corridor in a mirror of the movement I’d done back then. The viewpoint of the scene had shrunk, leaving me looking up at the world from a child’s perspective. A child that crept closer, even knowing what was going on.

Then one of the two figures arguing suddenly seemed to become more solid as it turned to storm off in my direction. Child-Inaris froze, and Carston hesitated as well. Their eyes met, and I remembered the way I felt as I shrank back from the angry eyes of the man I believed to be my father. The knowledge that my current self had had him executed did not help. Then Carston’s lip curled in a slight sneer and he stomped off, never to be seen again by me until after my soul journey.

I glanced at my mother, whose face was a cold mask not quite hiding the anger and sadness in her eyes, before I shook my head and strode forward, letting go of the memory’s impressions. No points for guessing why that one. But I realized that I could remember my relationship with Carston, and even Mother, much better now, as well as other aspects of my childhood.

Jideia’s presence seemed to grow stronger for a moment, drawing my attention to it. I kept walking, focusing on maintaining my calm. I reminded myself again that I didn’t need to defeat him. It was probably enough if I just stalled him, then Mior and Rijoko could take advantage and actually end the fight. And it seemed I was doing well enough so far.

So, instead of confronting him or pitting my willpower directly against his, I tried to redirect his presence and the disruption it caused in the construct that was my mind, to make it work for me. I knew from what I’d learned in the caves of Old Riacis and later research, as well as my try with Isuro, that qi was able to store information and that my memories weren’t entirely gone. I just needed to regain access to them.

Anything that had happened before I gained my genius’ eidetic memory was probably harder to recover, but at least what happened since then had clearly been stored somewhere, maybe in the qi laced through my brain or something. I directed my focus on it and bent my willpower to the task of not just containing Sparky, but channeling the disruption he caused.

I blinked, my attention drawn to what passed for my physical surroundings here. I had kept walking and now passed another glade, where trees melted into stonework, creating a vaguely familiar looking courtyard. It was hazier than ever, and I repressed the urge to shiver as something inside me reacted to the feel of it.

I glimpsed a figure there, seemingly looking at me. It was vague, like something seen from the corner of my eyes, and nothing I could place. It felt weird, like a memory twice forgotten.

Then Jideia’s presence drew close enough to me that I could sense the effect it had on my surroundings, and I turned, inwardly swallowing a curse. The spirit’s form was here quickly now, still a rolling cloud of qi, dark storm clouds and lightning in the shape of a person towering over me.

‘You cannot hope to best me,’ he said, in an intensity that made the scene around us shiver and made me want to wince.

I forced myself to smile and stepped back, trying not to measure the distance between us and think about running. This wasn’t how it worked here. ‘Maybe not,’ replied slowly. Then I cocked my head to the side, clearly thinking, before I shrugged. ‘Luckily, I don’t have to.’

That was when the mental wall that separated me from Mior finally came down. I breathed a silent sigh of relief when their presence rushed to reunite with me, the storm of emotion at their core bolstering my own will. A new figure coalesced out of the air around us, glaring at Jideia with murder in their eyes.

What happened next was hard for me to follow, for all that it happened in the middle of my own mind. If asked, I probably wouldn’t be able to describe it. It was a raw struggle, one going beyond the physical or even just qi. My physical body finally made its presence known again with a pounding headache, and I flinched back before I even realized I was really doing it.

Then Rijoko reached through our bond, through me, and seemed to grab onto us. A dizzying moment stretched into a small eternity, and I almost burned under the fire of Jideia’s vehemence, though my father shielded me. Even a second later, I found it difficult to recall the experience. But then the landscape of my mind faded as we found ourselves back in the physical reality for good.

I flew backward a few steps, staring at the Storm, who didn’t move. He and Rijoko appeared entwined, and it took a moment for me to make sure that the Moon had Sparky contained, in a hold that was probably more metaphorical than real. But my qi senses told me the real state of affairs. Jideia was weaker, and Rijoko victorious.

‘And what now?’ I asked after a long moment of silence. I glanced beside me, noting that Mior had taken on their own manifestation again, though we were still deeply linked. The spirit had their stare fixed on the Greater Spirits.

‘You have lost, Jideia,’ Rijoko said, though it was really a more complex communication that boiled down to those words.

Jideia wordlessly agreed, not without clear resentment.

Well, that was easy. I shook my head at myself. ‘Will you stop going after me and mine now?’ I asked. I gently tugged on my mental connection to Rijoko. ‘If not, we need to weaken you enough to make sure you don’t pose a threat.’

I couldn’t help hoping that Rijoko would just suck all the power out of Jideia’s manifestation, even if that might mean he remained more of a danger later. I felt Mior’s wordless agreement through our link, but also their caution and desire to make the best choice, not the easiest.

Something passed between Jideia and Rijoko that I had trouble parsing, and I suspected I didn’t even catch the edges of it.

Finally, the Storm’s form nodded. He finally looked at me, then back at his nemesis. ‘It is agreed,’ he said. I felt more behind his words, an outline of what was to come. His influence in the Storm Continent, all two continents, really, almost gone, myself free to act as I saw fit.

I felt Mior’s distant satisfaction. Finally, Sparky would stop causing trouble for me, or he’d face the consequences. And his position was weakened enough that he had too many other problems, anyway.

I felt Rijoko’s attention shift as both of them glanced to the side. I followed their gaze, tensing up slightly. I’d been aware of the presence approaching, but distantly, my focus on what was happening between the spirits.

Elia was floating on the air without help. At the spirit’s regard, she inclined her head silently. I knew what this meant. The Sun’s qi was layered over her. She was witnessing this agreement.

I couldn’t help but clench my spear tighter for a moment. A part of me didn’t like how this had turned out at all. But I stepped on my dissatisfaction, then stabbed it and buried it in a dark field. So what if Jideia would still be around and I didn’t get a tangible revenge. I got what I wanted; what I needed.

We’d won.

Chapter 187 (Draft)

‘Is he gone?’ I asked.

Mior didn’t answer for a moment, presumably focusing on their senses in order to answer the question. Finally, the spirit nodded. ‘As far as I can tell, yes. It’s possible he could deceive me, with a bit of luck, but it wouldn’t work against Rijoko. And I doubt Isuro would do it, anyway.’

I breathed out deeply, then rolled my shoulders and beat my wings to gain some altitude. We could still see the city from here, though we were now far enough away, not to mention at a bad angle, to see much of the battle. ‘Good.’

Mior took my hand again, and sped up towards Saria. I clenched my teeth and focused on keeping up. This time, I managed it better, feeling like I was actually in control of and contributing to my movement. We crossed the distance far quicker than I could have done it on my own, and soon hovered almost over Saria again.

‘Stay calm and let me in.’ Mior said. ‘You trust me, don’t you, Inaris?’

I tensed up slightly, hesitating for a moment, before I nodded. I did trust them.

Mior’s hand on my arm seemed to grow warm, and I felt their qi more keenly as they hovered in front of me. They appeared to stare into my eyes in a way that might have been uncomfortable if they had a more physical body.

Then their form started to dissolve, qi hanging thickly in the air, and I couldn’t help but stiffen. I watched, keeping myself still, as the diffuse cloud of qi that I could sense contained Mior’s presence drifted into me. My skin prickled and I felt a strange kind of heat entering my body. But at the same time, those sensations grew more distant, as my mind encountered it, as well. I felt Mior’s consciousness reaching out and touching me, more closely than I’d ever felt them before.

It was like dropping into a deep void. I sensed the flickers of qi going through them, the vast and slightly alien intellect, with the weights of millennia of experience and vast amounts of power behind it. They cradled me, holding me close to themselves, padding the edges with comfort and feelings of care. It couldn’t quite drown out burning, stabbing pain that probably came from my body but maybe not just that.

I didn’t know how long that experience lasted. By the time I opened my eyes again, blinking against the disorientation, we had dropped some distance but were still in the air, my wings beating slightly erratically. I leveled them out and took a deep breath, trying to ascertain what happened.

‘That worked better than I was afraid it might,’ Mior said.

I turned to them. The spirit was currently manifested in a slightly more wispy form than before, floating alongside me. And yet, at the same time, I could feel them somewhere inside, directly connected to my mind. If I focused on it, I could almost make out a tangible tether of qi connecting the two of us. I suddenly had a pounding headache, and it felt like something was squeezing my head, pushing up against my mind. I didn’t want to think about how it would have felt if Mior had tried this when I was in a lower stage.

‘I didn’t know you could actually possess me,’ I said. ‘Isn’t my bloodline interfering?’

‘Apparently not. I’d wager a guess that it’s helping, considering we share the same bloodline, but I wouldn’t like to try this for an extended period without Rijoko’s stabilizing influence. Now, let’s go.’ Mior turned and looked off to the side, and at the same time, I could feel their attention shifting. ‘Time to introduce ourselves properly to Sparky.’

‘Sparky?’ I raised an eyebrow and followed their gaze to where the battle still raged. Actually, the two Greater Spirits appeared to have moved away from the human fighters somewhat, and were currently over the city walls.

Mior only grinned. ‘I think grandfather will give you more power. Try it. And stop dawdling.’

I shook my head, but got moving. Mior seemed to drift along, not quite contained in me, but not really moving by themselves, either. We approached the Greater Spirits, while I diverted some of my attention to my connection with Rijoko. It was still clearer and sharper than ever, basically thrumming with power.

I felt like skipping the distance between us was an insignificant step that took little more effort than if I was strolling leisurely through a garden. The humans I could see and sense in the background all appeared to be moving slowly, instead of with the blinding speed cultivators should display. And the landscape of qi around me no longer seemed so chaotic. Instead, I found myself understanding intricate patterns at a glance, feeling the streams and eddies of it, sensing everything happening while still being able to focus my attention on the important things. It was exhilarating, and a little daunting.

Rijoko and Jideia appeared even more intimidating to me now. They both were giants, not so much physically as with qi. I could feel Rijoko’s, especially, and even knowing that much of it, of him, was still contained elsewhere, did not make me feel any less as if I were an ant gazing up at a tree. Jideia was clearly different, but no less strong.

‘Don’t lose heart,’ Mior whispered to me, silently, in a corner of our minds. ‘I am with you, and we can do this.’

The spirit flared their qi, which felt a little as if they flared my own. It pushed out, claiming a little space in the raging clash between the Moon and the Storm’s presences. They both reacted instantly, although they must have known we were here, anyway. I felt something from Rijoko that was hard to put into words; perhaps focused determination came closest. Jideia’s avatar turned and shifted position slightly so he guarded against all of us.

In response, Mior started drifting to the side, and I followed automatically. We were far more coordinated than I’d ever been with any ally in a fight, and seemed to instinctively complement each other’s actions due to the way we sensed them from each other’s minds. We started circling a little, making as if to pen Jideia in. I knew it wouldn’t matter much, but Mior’s experience said that every little bit helped. All the while, we were still practically pouring out qi, pushing against our adversary, a silent and continuous wrestling in the background.

Unfortunately, it didn’t seem to matter much. Rijoko and Jideia still fought, exchanging qi in ways that seemed different from any techniques I’d ever seen, though still recognizable. Maybe it was just that I saw the process differently, more completely. I got the feeling that neither of them was in a hurry. And why should they be?

We were still drifting in the air, with no one seeming to give that fact any attention, and were now moving over the city. I didn’t get the sense that Jideia cared about that at all. Of course, he wouldn’t care if the Zarian city got demolished so long as his own goals were met. But that means he might be baiting us in, right? What if he has a prepared ground, an advantage when we go over his temple or whatever he’s done?

‘I doubt it,’ Mior replied, and I realized they’d caught the edge of my thought. ‘Rijoko would be able to tell if there was anything that could truly pose a threat there. Besides, this way we’re at least moving away from the soldiers. That reduces the possibility of unknown factors interfering.’

I nodded mentally and focused back on the fight. The city below us remained unscathed, even as I could sense people fleeing and seeking shelter in homes and defensible structures, for all the good that would do them.

In that moment, Jideia turned and I felt an intangible weight increase as more of his attention rested on me. Qi started pushing out in a crashing wave towards me.

I tightened my grip on my spear and held it in front of me in a blocking move. At the same time, Mior flowed back into me. We weathered the attack, although it felt like an angry horse had just kicked me. I was thrown back several meters before I managed to right myself and get back into position. The haft of my spear was hot in my hands, and lightning seemed to flicker in the runes etched into it.

Rijoko had just launched another attack on our opponent, but unfortunately, Sparky blocked it with little effort, catching the intertwined light and dark on a shield made out of storm clouds and thunder. I breathed in deeply and launched an attack of my own, leveling Fides like a gun as it sent qi shooting out of it, a beam of pure blackness crackling with lightning. This one actually hit, although it seemed to do little damage, just dispersing into the Storm’s robe.

Our fight continued for some time. I lost track of the time, my focus absorbed in the exchange of blows and qi, attacks and parries and the occasional dodge. When I concentrated, I could almost make out the intricate pattern behind it, like a dance led by the two spirits, every bit of qi expended and applied carefully measured. From the outside, it might not seem as powerful or awe-inspiring as having the strongest cultivators fight, but I knew that any of these little exchanges would blow away the best efforts of any of our soldiers.

My role in it was comparatively minor, and yet crucial. I realized that intuitively, my sense for qi and complex systems telling me that. Mior’s power allowed me to participate, and the fact that there was another fighter, another variable and focus of qi, put pressure on Jideia. He and Rijoko were pretty evenly matched, and we tipped the balance. That was why Mior had us go to deal with Isuro first.

‘Where is the Auditor?’ I asked. ‘Why isn’t he showing up?’

‘Could be lying in wait, but maybe he doesn’t like his chances here,’ the spirit replied in my mind as we deflected yet another attack and sent a response that pushed Jideia into an evasion to face Rijoko. ‘He’s not the best at direct combat, anyway. Bit of a coward, if you ask me.’

I took that with a considerable helping of salt, considering I knew of and could literally feel Mior’s dislike for the spirit. But I wasn’t going to complain if this kept going like this.

We slowly moved closer and closer to the center of the city and, among other things, Jideia’s temple. I spared a bit of my attention to check on how the battle behind us was going. To my surprise, it seemed to be more even than I expected. Maybe the time I’d spent talking to Rijoko only seemed longer to me because we’d been arguing in our minds, but it appeared JIdeia hadn’t killed that many Imperial soldiers after all. The two forces were still roughly on par enough that the battle continued without turning into a one-sided curbstomp. On second thought, maybe Sparky hadn’t been too careful about collateral damage, too, and I could sense some Imperial eighth-stagers on the field. Even if they weren’t fighting directly, they might help.

If all else failed, maybe we could use their help in this fight, too. It clearly wouldn’t break the agreement between the nations.

A wicked triple-folded feinting attack from Jideia ripped me from these thoughts and forced me to focus on the fight. I spun, evaded one feint and took another on a hastily raised qi shield. The force of it still pushed me back, and an accompanying mental attack made my surroundings spin into blackness as dizziness got me for a moment. Mior got my body into a stable position with a bit of their qi, and I quickly dashed forward again, trying to provide cover with a rain of black balls of qi.

Rijoko kept fighting, his qi dancing in deadly patterns with the other Greater Spirit. The rhythms hadn’t broken, though it had stuttered. I started to dive back into it, trying to figure out how best to use my own abilities, how best to help.

Then suddenly, there was a hitch. I barely had time to widen my eyes and instinctively try to flinch back. One moment, Jideia was clashing with my father, the next, he was in front of me.

Qi reached out for me, both the incarnations’s hand and possibly a more subtle form. Mior’s power surged and they managed to push it away. I backpedaled in the air, slashing frantically at the Storm, but Jideia avoided most of my attacks and simply turned to air where my spearhead would slash through for the rest. And at the same time, I felt a steadily growing pressure, not just against my physical body or my qi, but against my mind.

Distantly, I felt my father’s power crest, as he pushed harder and more aggressively. But it felt like Jideia might be pumping more power into himself as well, and his grip didn’t ease. It tightened.

I knew I couldn’t fight it, fight him directly. Mior was in complete agreement. We tried to evade, to back off, and gain distance. But Jideia would have none of it. He seemed to give in one moment, only to appear where I was about to rush to in the next heartbeat.

I thrust with my spear and this time, felt it connect, Fides’ tip flaring with power. But the Storm would not be stopped so easily. He grabbed me, his fingers digging into my arm like white-hot bands of steel, his qi pressing in on me until it felt like I couldn’t breath yet desperately had to, needing all of my will not to fold into myself.

Then his mind pushed into mine. My defenses stalled him for a moment, but the Storm wedged himself into them and nudged his way into the cracks. Then I felt him connecting to me directly. I barely noticed Mior’s attempt to manipulate the qi around us as everything went dark, and I slipped away into my own mind, feeling Jideia all around me.

Chapter 186 (Draft)

I jerked backwards, jumping back several meters before I realized what I was doing. Then I glanced at Mior, who still stood in front of me. Despite that, I could feel their qi far more closely than before.

‘What did you do?’ I said. I had intended to just say it, but it had come out in mental speech somehow. Or projected to the spirit?

‘Don’t worry. This isn’t possession. Yet. I just linked us together so we’ll be able to fight together and not have to worry about getting separated.’ They smiled. ‘You didn’t think this connection with Rijoko was everything, was it?’

I took a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. “Alright. Warn me next time. Now, you said something about fighting together?”

“Come on.”

Then Mior grabbed my arm again, and I felt myself pulled along as they moved through a world that seemed to shiver slightly, almost frozen in swirling qi.

I took a moment to look at the battlefield and our surroundings and take in the situation. My companions were still at the shrine. I wished the spirits had at least given me the chance to talk to them, although I knew time was probably precious. They were turning back to the battle, which still raged on the fields outside the city. I could tell at first glance that Jideia had decimated our army, though it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. Many of the Imperial fighters must have chosen to flee. The Zarian had withdrawn a little as well, though at the edges, well away from the Greater Spirit’s incarnation, fighting still continued.

Mior put us back into proper alignment with reality, or ended the trip, or whatever this was, in the air not too far from the city walls. I rubbed the skin of my left wrist, which they’d taken previously. It still felt almost itchy. And I could sense a bit of their qi sticking to me, but on the inside, maybe even connecting to my dantian. It was a disconcerting feeling. But if this allowed me to fight better, I’d bear with it.

‘Where are we going?’ I asked.

‘Come on, Little Light, get your head in the game. You probably know that as well as I do.’

I took a deep breath and forced myself to stay calm. After a moment, I realized what Mior was getting at. There was only one target the two of us would go after, since they clearly weren’t moving to help Rijoko with Jideia. So I stretched out my qi senses as well as I could, at the same time considering where we might find him.

A rolling thunder with a shockwave that moved us even up here drew my attention. Rijoko and Jideia had stood facing each other. If they’d exchanged words, they weren’t audible to mere humans. But now they were moving. From one second to the next, they clashed in the middle of the field. It felt like that should shave shaken the world in its angles, flattening everyone and everything around the two Greater Spirits, and yet there was nothing except this pressure change in the air. I could only barely make out the punches and stabs that followed, and yet they were all so carefully controlled and contained that they disturbed nothing in their surroundings. There was only a faint sense of pressure, more in the qi than the air. The hairs on the back of my neck and my arms hadn’t stopped standing on end in minutes.

‘Alright,’ I said, tearing my eyes away. ‘Let’s go.’

I noted that even with Rijoko engaged in fighting Jideia, I could still sense the sort of instinctive guidance, a sense of where to go, where to look. Of course, my connection to Rijoko also felt wider open than normal, and I even got what might be snatches from his confrontation with the Storm. In any case, it was enough that I went flying over the city without hesitation, finding my way to my target.

On a whim, I had decided on one white and one black wing today. They held me aloft and propelled me forward without trouble. It felt like the link Mior had engaged helped, like they might be sharing a bit of their power, but I wasn’t sure. My qi senses were already taxed trying to keep up with everything happening.

The Pioneer didn’t try to hide. I wasn’t sure if they could have hidden from Mior, anyway. They rose into the air slowly, in a quarter of the city I vaguely recognized that was situated close to the temple. He looked at us and raised his head.

As if on cue, I felt a slight disturbance in the surrounding qi and looked back. Rijoko and Jideia were still fighting, and had apparently gotten closer to the city. As I watched, the giant form of my father reached out to the qi shield. Some Zarian soldiers were bravely trying to hit him with techniques or projectiles, but he ignored them all, and they didn’t even rip the flowing robe he wore. He tapped the shield, his finger passing through it, and I felt a surge in the formation arrays around the city as the qi shield simply collapsed.

Mior didn’t waste any time in flying forward, and I hurried to keep pace with them. Isuro also drifted forward slightly, and it wasn’t long until we met in the air, close enough for conversation.

‘Mior,’ he said. ‘Somehow, it is even less of a pleasure to see you than the last time.’

‘Isuro,’ Mior replied with a smile. They pulled a sword from thin air and gave him a salute. ‘I don’t know why I thought you might show some manners.’

Isuro’s gaze moved to me, and I had to resist the urge to smile, too. That would probably not come off right in this situation. Instead, I gave him a serious nod. ‘Could we please do this in another location? Somewhere there are less innocent bystanders to get hurt?’

Isuro glanced between me and Mior for a moment, but I already knew he’d agree. It was the sort of request he wouldn’t want to refuse, and especially not in front of me. ‘Alright. Let us stay our weapons until then.’

I did smile now. I really didn’t like the idea of having an epic fight right above, or even in, a populated city.

Mior pulled some of their qi around us again, and we traveled far more quickly than I usually would, somehow keeping beside Isuro. The city passed beneath us quickly, and we headed into the mountains, rising in altitude a little. I glanced at the landscape beneath us as we slowed down, glad to see that it appeared to be uninhabited rock. We were also now a good distance from the battle, with the added benefit that whatever happened here would be harder to see from anyone there. I could still feel Rijoko and Jideia clashing, but there was no large environmental sign of it.

Apparently, their gentlemanly behavior was exhausted by moving here, because both Mior and Isuro attacked right away. I summoned my spear, but hesitated for a moment, trying to watch their movements.

It was hard. I felt like I had a much better idea of what Mior was doing than I by rights should have, and that somehow translated into understanding the Pioneer’s better, as well. But they still moved at speeds higher than any cultivator I’d previously seen except possibly eighth-stagers, and the first clash of their weapons literally shook the mountainside.

I suppressed a wince, then lunged forward. Isuro clearly saw my strike coming and turned to evade it, but that gave Mior the opportunity to close for an attack of their own. Their sword seemed to have expanded, and it caught in Isuro’s robes, but didn’t appear to actually touch him as the ascended cultivator stepped back in midair. Their spear flashed and it was Mior’s turn to retreat. Then Isuro turned it on me, blindingly fast, and I barely managed to dodge in time.

I frantically beat my wings, trying to keep my position stable, and cursed the fact that I hadn’t trained more for fighting with them. Mior and Isuro were already engaged in another hot exchange. The sight made me hesitate, questioning why I was even here at all. I clearly couldn’t match these powerful quasi-spirits. But Mior must have had a reason for taking me.

I took a deep breath and turned some of my attention to my connection to Rijoko while I repositioned myself, flying slightly below Isuro. It was still open, and I could almost swear I felt it pulsing faintly. More qi seemed to flow through it than almost any time before. I gathered my will, then reaching into it with my mental grip, trying to open it farther and pull more from it.

My senses seemed to sharpen, and I felt like Mior and Isuro slowed down. Rijoko was not at all stingy with his qi now, and him being incarnated so close to me, it felt like I had a far easier time with all of that. I felt power thrumming through my blood, in my body, taking me along into a flow of strength and danger.

This time, when I lunged forward, I anticipated Isuro’s dodge and corrected my strike. It was still a probing attack, and he managed to deflect it, but I turned the momentum of the strike into a lunge to the side and swept my spear at his legs, forcing him to jump upwards and open himself to an attack from Mior, who scored a cut on Isuro’s side.

It closed quickly but I still smiled. I knew we had this. Their weapons of choice were a poor matchup for Mior, even with their ability to change their sword’s shape, the spirit might be at a disadvantage against Isuro on their own. But Fides changed the balance. I had at least as much reach as Isuro, and my shapeshifting was probably at least on his level, from what I’d seen so far.

Isuro seemed to recognize this and short further upwards, gaining some distance. I felt qi gathering and knew he was starting to use a technique. But Mior’s qi rose in response, clashing and pushing against it.

I added what little I could to it, beating my wings and shooting upwards. Isuro deflected my strike and responded with a lightning-quick thrust at my midsection. I twisted and felt the tip of his spear graze my ribs. His focus hadn’t faltered, still wrestling his technique into existence.

I backed off, healing the cut, and threw my own qi into the mix in a more focused form. The Void’s Nibble looked different than usual, more expansive and less contained, and I had it crash into Isuro’s working like a raging wave sweeping away a sandcastle’s walls. Mior added their own will to the push, and we managed to stifle Isuro’s until he dropped his technique.

Next, he tried smaller techniques that he could build almost instantly. I had the feeling that that wasn’t really his style, but he was old and had more than a few tricks up his sleeve. Mior took on the brunt of dealing with them, while I just tried to keep Isuro occupied, harassing him with my weapon and occasionally qi as well as I could.

I paid for it. Isuro was no one’s fool and a far more experienced fighter than me. He cut me at least three times for every hit I landed on him, and I barely managed to regenerate everything in time to not lose the rhythm of the fight. He burned me, crushed my left leg, and even hacked off an ear. But he never landed a hit on a truly vital part, or something that would seriously put my life in danger.

As the fight wore on, I started to suspect that might not be coincidence. I didn’t hold back either, and gave Isuro more than a few nasty wounds, though they closed quickly. But he didn’t seem to actually be trying to get past my apparent near-immortality, instead focusing on Mior. He didn’t seem to be in a hurry to get back to his master, either.

‘Why are you even doing this?’ I finally said, letting some of my frustration show, as I drifted backwards a little.

Isuro paused in hurling qi projectiles at Mior, which the spirit either dodged or seemed to absorb. ‘What?’ he finally asked. ‘Do you question why we are fighting?’ He shook his head. ‘It should be obvious. But if you wish to leave, I will let you run.’

I only snorted.

Isuro started to gather qi again. Mior lunged forward, predicting his sidestep and getting close. The two spirits (or close enough) started grappling. I waited for the right moment, then pounced onto them as well. Mior and me both used shapeshifting to its best effect. They turned into a many-armed flexible monstrosity, while I elongated my limbs, hardened my joints, and put Isuro into a lock.

Usually, he should be able to dissipate his form, but I could feel Mior pushing against his qi, holding him. I added my own efforts to theirs, keeping us bound to the physical world while I flapped my wings and barely guided our descent onto the mountain.

Isuro struggled, and his qi helped him enough that he almost broke free several times. But with Rijoko’s power reinforcing me, Mior and I overpowered him. When we finally crashed to the earth, in a small dip in a mountain, I pulled qi-suppressing shackles from my storage ring and wrestled them around his wrist.

He laughed. “Really?”

I continued, shrugging slightly. I knew they wouldn’t do much against a cultivator of his level, but it couldn’t hurt.

“Why are you even fighting us?” I asked again. “I think we’ve pretty conclusively established you don’t actually want to kill me.”

“You don’t appear to be trying to kill me, either,” he noted calmly, his eyes on Mior.

The spirit grinned. ‘I trust Inaris to know what she’s about.’

“Look, I know we won’t be able to keep you prisoner,” I said. “I don’t want to kill you, either, even if I thought I could. This whole situation is pretty absurd. I mean, I’m pretty sure you weren’t fighting on your full power, not really. Are you willing to go this far for Jideia, even discard your pride? Where’s your self-respect, Isuro?”

He glared at me. “You should make up your mind on what you want me to do, girl.”

I sighed. “I never got a chance to thank you for how you’ve fumbled all those assassination attempts. If Jideia had given them to someone who was actually trying their best, I might have had a harder time. That’s why I can’t believe you’re still doing this. You don’t even like it, Isuro. Shit, I’d be willing to bet you don’t even like Jideia.”

“I owe him loyalty,” Isuro said through gritted teeth. I noted that he’d stopped struggling, while I’d paused, one of his wrists in a cuff and the other dangling uselessly, all of us focused on the conversation. It felt like it might be the first actually frank one we’d had.

“Do you really?” I asked. “I mean, I know he helped you once, a long time ago. Fine, maybe he helped you a lot. But you’ve been doing his dirty work for a long time now, haven’t you? Was that really the deal? Being his slave in return for ascension?”

Isuro seemed to fade into greater corporality, somehow. “I’m not his slave!”

“Then act on your own opinions and decisions!” I stood up, getting a step back, and watched as he slowly rose to a crouch.

After a long moment of silence, he heaved a sigh. “So you want me to serve Rijoko? After I already betrayed him once?”

I shook my head. “My father is probably happy to gain your support. Whatever happened in the past, you know he’d much rather have you not on Jideia’s side, so he’ll protect you from him. But I don’t know if you really need to follow him. That’s your decision.”

He raised an eyebrow. “What then, Inaris?”

I glanced at Mior, then back at Isuro, ran a hand through my hair, and shrugged. “I just want you to leave us alone.”

He stared at me. I met his gaze steadily, waiting as the seconds ticked by.

Finally, he sighed, closed his eyes for a moment, and bowed his head. “You are right. This has gone beyond what I ever intended to support. I will leave.” He hesitated for a moment, then met my gaze again. Thank you, Little Light. Perhaps you have shown me the way to regain some self-respect after all. I wish you good fortune. We will meet again.”

There was a glint in his eyes, one I wasn’t quite comfortable with, but I understood Isuro well enough to know he was no danger to me anymore. He faded from sight and I felt his qi disappearing into the distance.

I still felt Rijoko and Jideia, fighting, as if in the center of everything here.

Chapter 184 (Draft)

The sound of drums echoed across the landscape like rolling waves of war and coming bloodshed. I listened quietly for a few moments. The sound wasn’t unfamiliar, after my campaigns here in the south, though I hadn’t heard it often. It felt fitting that the drums should sound now, as we marched on the enemy’s stronghold.

The Imperial army was still some distance from the city. An opposing force had assembled outside its gates, spreading through fields and across the streets leading to the capital. It was considerably smaller than ours, but many fighters might still be hiding behind Saria’s walls. I glanced at the city, panning my gaze across the gleaming walls and the buildings and towers rising behind them. Hopefully, they’d brought their civilians to safety. I knew there would be no easy surrender this time.

I took a deep breath, sucking in the crisp morning air. The sun was only just peaking over the horizon, though it was actually quite late by my clock, and I knew it would not be out for long today, at this latitude. That was alright, it wasn’t like we needed sunlight to see. And every cultivator here was strong enough that the cold wouldn’t affect them.

My horse pawed at the ground and snorted, clearly feeling some of the accumulated nervous tension in the air. I patted her neck absently, and she quieted. I hadn’t ridden White often, but she’d allow me to move quickly without using my own qi, and I had a feeling I would need every bit of that I could scrape together today. So will we all. I glanced at my companions, all of them stayed pretty close to me, most of them on their own mounts or flying swords. Aston had increased my usual guard detail again, despite us needing every elite we could for the battle. He’d argued that I was a primary target for the enemy, and I hadn’t contested the point.

“There are more than I thought there’d be,” Ceion commented quietly.

I glanced at him. He’d come closer than I would have thought. “What’s your take on it?” I asked.

He shook his head slowly. “I’m not sure. I think the great families and the temple are probably working together. No matter how much they dislike each other, an enemy army at the gates is the sort of thing only idiots put their grudges above, and they’re not idiots. Unfortunately.” He pulled a face. “Exactly how their arrangement works or who’s in charge, I can’t guess. Possibly not the same one as for the strategic command. But with the Storm himself involved, we should probably expect the worst.”

I nodded. That was pretty much what I’d thought, too. I wish there was some way to separate them and keep them fighting. But I guess that’s just not very realistic if we also want to have our army attack them. Especially without losing more time. I sighed. I could have tried to make the Basement try something like that, maybe increased sabotage, but even if they’d put themselves into that much danger, I didn’t think it was worth the risk.

“Are you going to give a speech?” Tenira asked, nudging her horse forward beside mine.

I snorted. “No. I could, but I’d rather not. I don’t think our soldiers lack motivation, and I haven’t had the time - or, to be honest, wanted to take the time - to prepare a speech. I’m sure their officers, the generals, and the nobles are exhorting them to fight for their home and honor, anyway.” And for me, probably. While I might be popular with the army, I didn’t know how much that would help.

“Well, if that’s what you want. I suppose you’re right, these are all hardened veterans. And they have other factors bolstering their morale. Some people actually constructed a small shrine to the Moon, you know? It went up very quickly.”

I sighed. “I suppose I can’t blame them for wanting to feel a touch of the divine before battle. If I had the time, I might have bitten the bullet and gone to give blessings to more of our soldiers.”

“That certainly wouldn’t have hurt,” she agreed. “But look, it seems there’s finally some movement.”

She was right, the Zarian forces were starting to move. A veil of qi went up over the city, making it impossible to see what went on around the walls and the gates. I cycled some qi to my eyes, but the technique didn’t give in that easily. I knew more cultivators from our own army would be trying to break through it. After a few seconds, I switched my attention to what was happening at the borders of it. Zarian soldiers were starting to move away from it, drawing closer to us. Were they actually coming out to face us? Maybe they wanted to goad us into an attack.

“Lady Ki says we should let them keep going and not attempt to attack them yet, my lady,” Aston reported.

I nodded. I would have expected a message like that from General Poteri, but I supposed eighth-stagers assumed some special privileges for themselves. And in all fairness, Ki was an experienced warrior, and she might be trying something to pierce the Zarian technique at the moment.

It quickly became clear that this wasn’t a full-on sortie out of the city’s defenses. A few cultivators took to the air and fled over to us. Many of our fighters responded, throwing attacks at them, though the Zarian were nimble and dodged many. Then some of our elites rose into the air to counter the enemies trying to harass us from above. I watched in silence, knowing it wasn’t my place to dictate movements in the battle.

Though, clearly, the battle had just started, and the Zarian were acting more aggressively than some of our commanders had predicted.

After half an hour of this, the veil over the city began to fade. I couldn’t see much that had changed at first, though on closer analysis, they seemed to have rotated their fighters on the wall and more were now stationed in a forward position. Those shifted outward slightly as if angling to meet us. Meanwhile, the airborne Zarian, now considerably diminished, started to back away.

After a short time, the call went out to advance. I watched as our front ranks started to march on the city, going slightly downhill. When it was our turn, I let my horse pick her way forward, my eyes still fixed on the Zarian.

I couldn’t have pinpointed a moment when the real battle started. At first, only the tip of the vanguard and single cultivators started to clash, but this soon transitioned into proper skirmishing. Our formation ‘expanded’ the way it usually did in battle, giving each cultivator more room to fight, though it remained pretty tight compared to some of our battles I remembered. The Zarian had concentrated most of their strength, and we were willing to indulge them.

The army’s forward motion slowed and the flashes and rumbles of the battle grew in intensity as more soldiers joined the fray. Our army had a lot of numerical superiority, which complicated matters a little when it came to finding optimal positions. But the Lighters, mostly on the edges and in the rows a little farther back, did their jobs with the skill of hard-earned experience. Their squads fired on single cultivators, sometimes bringing them down and sometimes draining their personal qi shields before switching to new targets. When I focused on it, I could easily hear the short calls used to establish their targeting.

Then the rumble of airplanes grew overhead as our bombers went in for their first run. Most of our airborne cultivators went along to protect them. The Zarian sent some fighters to attempt to drive them off and bring down the planes, but they didn’t manage to break through to many. I frowned, watching closely. They didn’t seem to have assigned this a high priority.

I saw why when our planes let their payloads drop over the city and the qi shield intercepted all of them. It seemed barely strained, with only a few small distortions appearing that faded quickly.

I sighed. I should have expected them to have a lot of power in the city’s shield, but I still didn’t like seeing it. I could already tell that our next strafing run would be just as useless as this one. And the ones after that probably, too. It would need a lot to begin breaking down the shield for real. While we could do that, it also increased the time our planes would be targets. Worst case, we could easily send flying cultivators to take over, but then we wouldn’t have them available for fighting the Zarian directly. They had the advantage of fighting a defensive battle.

I was tempted to try and help, using my techniques to attack or maybe buff my soldiers a little, but I held back. I felt like this was all only the beginning, and I should save my strength. It was an intense battle, sure, but a quiet kind of intense. I watched closely, and confirmed that no one was going all out and burning all of their qi. There had been very few deaths so far. The battle would keep raging for quite a while longer.

I glanced around, then nodded at Aston as he stepped closer. “How are things going?” I asked quietly. “Any word from the generals?”

“No, my lady. They haven’t sent any messages to you. I believe the battle is going according to expectations, but everyone is staying cautious.”

I nodded. He was probably right, and that was a good thing. Everyone knew this battle would be decisive. It still felt a little unreal to actually be standing here and seeing my army fight for the enemy capital city. I wished General Wei were here. While Poteri was certainly competent, I’d feel a little better with him in command of the battle.

Then darkness descended, the air bore down on us with the smell of rain and ozone, and I realized we hadn’t been cautious or prepared enough.

The sky was covered in clouds so dark they almost instantly plunged the battlefield into night. Wind picked up, ripping at my clothes and stinging against exposed skin. Droplets of water in it soon turned into freezing little icy bits. A presence descended over the battlefield, crushing down on me as if someone had turned up the planet’s gravity to double its normal value. And in the middle of the field, at the front of the Zarian formation, a towering figure formed.

It seemed like qi and clouds and rain streamed together to make it, the form of a warrior at least three meters tall, wielding a long spear in one hand and a wicked-looking spiked mace in the other. The weapons looked purely solid, and dark enough they almost seemed to draw in light. But they couldn’t compete with the depths of the warrior’s eyes. They appeared like looking into the eye of a hurricane and realizing it only led to the fury of a bigger storm. The Storm.

Jideia lifted his weapons and let out a wordless bellow that echoed over the battlefield. I saw soldiers clap their hands to their ears as the fighting momentarily paused. I didn’t feel much of an effect, but my horse reared up. She started bucking, gone completely wild. I threw myself from the saddle in a less controlled motion than I would have liked and barely saw her running away towards the mountains through the driving rain and groups of soldiers.

I didn’t have much attention to spare for it, because the Storm took a step forward that shook the ground, leveling his spear and shooting a bolt of lightning from it. The lightning seemed to split right away, arcing towards dozens if not hundreds of people and striking all of our fighters in the front line. Very few of them managed to keep their feet. And that was probably just a test strike.

I sighed and straightened up, pushing some wet hair out of my face. Then I started moving.

“Nari!” Elia looked almost panicked as she rushed closer. “What are we doing now? This is - we can’t fight the Storm!”

I nodded and pulled a face. “I know.” I kept moving backwards, barely looking at it as my guards started clearing a path through the surrounding soldiers.

“This is a physical incarnation of Jideia, isn’t it?” Tenira asked. She kept pace with me, but kept glancing back.

“Yes. Possibly not the only one. Almost definitely not his full power.” I glanced back, too, noticed how far the Storm had moved forward, and doubled my speed. We were almost out of the army now. “I knew Jideia was going to do something, but shit, I didn’t expect him to actually show up and fight the battle for them.”

“Where are you going?” Kajare asked.

“To get help, of course.”

Hopefully, it would work. If not… well, I could probably already kiss most of my army goodbye. We didn’t have much time.

Chapter 185 (Draft)

Visibility increased as we got further from the epicenter of the battle, but not by much. The air was still smoky, the hilly plain dark around us, lit by occasional flashes of light from techniques used behind us. Every so often, a crash or boom would ring out, and the ground under our feet would shake. Mud sucked at our boots, and icy droplets splattered against my face with the full force of stormy gales behind them.

I stumbled forward, less quickly than I would have liked, but still far more than I could have ever moved as a normal mortal. My qi senses gave me a reasonably good picture of my surroundings, but I still felt like I was fumbling my way through a labyrinth with a blindfold on. Luckily, my cultivation let me ignore all those pesky environmental hazards.

For once, I didn’t feel like something coming from beyond me was guiding me to anything. If anything, all I got from my connection with Rijoko was a vague sense of ‘get the heck out of here’. Which I couldn’t exactly argue with, but was still less than helpful. Luckily, it seemed like the more passive aspects of that bloodline ability were working as intended, because I could still find my way to my target.

At least, that was what I hoped. A faint change in the ambient qi background, barely detectable amid the influence of all the chaos coming from the battle, spoke for it. I hurried up, finally away from most other people except my guards and companions, and ran up a hill. I took a heartbeat to orient myself, then rushed down it on the other side before I even had a full mental map of my surroundings. We probably hadn’t even been running for a full minute, though it felt longer.

I knew Jideia was most likely going to come after me at some point. That had to be one reason why he incarnated himself here and joined the fight. But I didn’t know how long he’d take stomping his way through the army, assuming that’s what he was doing.

The shrine to the Moon I finally reached was a simple affair, barely more than a few pillars of stone forming the bare bones of a building around a stone altar in the center. That one was carved with some decorations and someone had put up a brazier beside it. I slowed my steps and walked forward, breathing in deeply and almost tasting the hint of spiritual qi in the air. It was thin, but I could work with it. It would have to do.

“Are we going to take advantage of the protection of a shrine again?” Yarani asked, breaking the silence. I noticed she’d drawn her weapon and was angled to guard from a threat coming from behind me.

“Not really,” I answered. I frowned up at the stone column, then took another deep breath.

I started focusing on the connection to Rijoko which usually sat still and silent somewhere in the back of my mind, almost hidden and overlooked under normal circumstances.

It was definitely there, and more noticeable than usual. But at the same time, I didn’t get the sense that it was really open. Rijoko was clearly paying attention to this area, I could have sworn to that even without any sign from his qi. But he didn’t seem inclined to talk to me, or really, to interact with me in any way. He’s not deliberately ignoring me, is he?

I frowned and shook my head. With a flick of my fingers, the cold coals ignited into a fire. I noticed that he others had withdrawn, presumably to give me some privacy, and were backing away a little farther.

“Father,” I spoke aloud. “I need to talk to you. This is important; you should know.”

There was no reaction. I waited for a while.

I sighed. “Come on. At least, Mior, why don’t you come and talk to me? I get it if you’re busy, but we kind of have a situation here.” I paused. I didn’t sense anyone coming.

“Rijoko, if you don’t answer me, I’ll just go and negotiate with Jidei on my own.” I set my jaw and delved more deeply into the corner of my mind that housed my connection to my father’s qi. I grabbed at it with mental fingers, trying to wrest the qi into place. Trying to reach through it and get some kind of grip on the entity on the other side, the entity connected to me not just by his qi but my own beliefs. I might not be able to do much more than poke him, but my father would by his own name react to me.

There was a sudden, sharp shift, even if the outside world might not be able to tell and even my own qi and the strange mental stuff I’d been handling barely showed any change. But from one moment to the next, a person stood in front of me, just before the altar. I took him in quickly. Rijoko had shown up in the form of a thin, wispy bundle of qi in the form of a man, less tangible or elaborate than when I’d seen him before, but still unmistakable a link to the Greater Spirit’s consciousness.

“Father.” I bowed my head. No reason to be rude or disrespectful now. “Thank you for answering my call.” I took a deep breath. “I need you. Jideia is here, in person. He has an incarnation with a lot of power, one my army obviously can’t stand against.” I glanced behind me, where the sensations I got from my qi sense confirmed what I was talking about.

‘I am aware, Little Light.’ The Moon’s voice was as cool and measured as always. ‘It has taken him power and considerable preparation to pull this off. You have encountered some parts of those yourself.’

’The temples?’ I frowned. ’When he blew it up, the sacrifices, that was in preparation to let him incarnate? Wait, why couldn’t he do that before?’ Then it dawned on me and my eyes widened. ‘You mean preparations so he’d get to do it undisturbed.’

The ghostly presence inclined its head slightly. ‘Yes. Be assured, I am already taking advantage. His position in our own ‘realm’ will not weather this without cost.’

‘Great. And in the meantime, he wreaks havoc here?’ I crossed my arms and stared at him. ‘Don’t you want to stop him from rebuilding or expanding his base on these two continents? Not to mention, you know, my presence?’

‘Your efforts are appreciated. They have helped spread my power and limit his here, at least to some degree. But there are other strategies at stake, what you would call the “big picture view”.’

I narrowed my eyes, resisting the urge to clench my fists. This sounded suspiciously like he was just seeing this as a welcome distraction, which allowed him to score a point on Jideia in whatever game the two played. While, of course, I’d always known something like that was at the core of why my father supported my own efforts — arguably even the reason I existed in the first place — having it shoved in my face like this, while my soldiers were fighting and dying behind me, rankled.

‘What did he do?’ I asked, trying to stay calm and gather information.

‘He subtly attuned the qi of this land to his purposes, created formations that would hide his activities and energy flows from prying eyes, and fortified anchors that allowed him to project power here while at the same time stabilizing his presence in other places, and warded his centers of power there so they would not fall to a quick assault. The details are far more complicated, but you would not understand them without a comprehensive education I do not have the time to provide you now.’

I nodded, making a mental note to see whether I could get some further knowledge and training from him later. But that would have to wait until this was all over. I go the gist of what he was saying, in any case. Jideia had set things up to give himself breathing room where he could act in this place without making himself vulnerable to his enemies among the spirits. I’d hoped I could prevent him from doing something like that, but with so many locations presumably involved and without more to go on, that had always been a long shot.

‘So you don’t want to interfere here?’ I asked.

Rijoko inclined his head slightly. ‘I am already taking action against him,’ he repeated.

In truth, I’d always suspected it would come down to something like this, even if I didn’t know what exactly Jideia wanted to do. But I knew I couldn’t match him on my own, and I definitely couldn’t fight him directly. I had to rely on my allies for that. On other spirits.

‘You know, I spent quite a bit of time thinking lately,’ I said. ‘Considering my position and what I was really prepared to do.’

Rijoko didn’t answer, but I sensed a slight increase in the intensity of his regard. He knew I was leading up to something he might not like, maybe even what.

‘In the end, this is all your problem. It’s your enmity with Jideia at the root of this, and I was only dragged into it because you made me to be of use to your side.’

‘I have never pretended otherwise.’

‘But I don’t really have that much against the Storm,’ I continued. I grimaced slightly. ‘Well, I do take all the times he tried to have me killed somewhat amiss. Not to mention a few incidents with my friends and family. But I don’t need to get revenge. My primary concern has been and still is my safety, and that of my people. I only need Jideia to back off, I certainly don’t need him gone or even defeated.’

‘You are attempting to pressure me with the prospect of you cutting a deal with the Storm.’ Rijoko’s mental voice was still calm and neutral.

I shrugged lightly. ‘If that’s what it takes. He’s definitely in a weakened position, and I don’t think he can be choosy at this point.’

Rijoko’s form cocked its head slightly, though it didn’t really have enough of a defined face to show any subtlety in facial expression. ‘And what makes you think that you have anything to offer JIdeia that would make him promise you safety?’

‘Pretty much the same thing I offer you,’ I answered calmly. ‘So far, I have eroded his powerbase and his worship, and indirectly increased yours. There’s nothing saying I can’t do the opposite. The Empire is stronger than it’s ever been, and it does have a long tradition of worship of the Storm, so it wouldn’t be too hard to accomplish. I could simply start burning your temples and having new ones built for him. It might be a little awkward with our present propaganda, but it’s not too late to turn it around, and I do have the means to influence what people believe. It might not hurt either of you too much, but are you going to pretend I couldn’t affect you and your conflict?’

Rijoko was silent for a moment. I still felt his regard, more intensely than at the beginning. He didn’t feel angry, if he was even capable of that emotion. ‘And you would actually do this, knowing it is a step you could not take back?’

I met what passed for his incarnation’s eyes calmly. ‘If you won’t even raise a hand to defend me and mine, what sense is there in remaining loyal to you?’

It almost felt like our connection deepened, like he got a greater glimpse into my mind and I caught the edges of his, more of an impression than before. I wasn’t concerned about this. I knew he wouldn’t force me to do or not to anything, anyway. It just wasn’t in him.

Then I realized he reached a decision, and I stepped back as more and more qi seeped into the figure in front of me. Pressure gathered in the air, and I had to lock my knees to remain standing. He exploded with light, and I had to close my eyes. When I opened them again, I saw Rijoko standing there in the flesh … more or less. He occupied a figure that was only a little bit smaller than the form Jideia had taken, with long hair, a beard, and a long spear clasped in his right hand.

I just stared for a moment, before I ducked my head, almost on instinct. “Thank you,” I said.

Rijoko nodded. “Come, daughter. You have more work to do.”

I frowned and was about to ask what he meant when I noticed another presence approaching. I stepped out of the temple and turned to the side, while Rijoko started walking forward towards the battle. My companions scrambled out of his way, most of them on their knees already.

Mior appeared like more of a spirit than the Moon, even if their presence felt quite solid. They grinned slightly as they appeared beside the rudimentary shrine. ‘I knew you’d get the old man to see reason, Little Light. Good. Now brace yourself.’

I tensed up slightly. “What do you mean?”

‘We have work to do.’ Mior’s voice somehow felt more tangible than normal, like their mental communication held an intensity they didn’t always bring to the table.

It sent a tingle up my spine. I took half a step back, darting my eyes around our surroundings. Rijoko had clearly drawn Jideia’s attention, and that of everyone else given the lull in the battle, in the techniques used, I could sense. ‘What -’

Then Mior stepped forward, taking my hand. I glanced at it, then up at them, and snapped my mouth shut. Their presence laid itself around me like a tight blanket, and Mior flowed into me.

Chapter 183 (Draft)

Elis collapsed onto his armchair like someone had used a gravity increasing technique on him, sprawling into it in a graceless heap. Not that I had any room to judge, since that was exactly what I’d done a minute ago.

“What did I miss?” he asked, raising his head enough to actually look at us. He’d stopped by the Basement’s offices briefly while most of us had gone on ahead once we finally reached the army’s camp.

“Not much,” Tenira anwered. “We just gave a brief recap of what happened.” She sat straight upright in her own seat, although the way her hair stuck to her forehead and the grime on her robes didn’t suit the picture of composure she was trying for, and I knew she was tired, too.

“You actually teleported?” Hashar asked, still staring at me. She’d barely even glanced at Elis. “Just like that? That’s … You don’t even cultivate spatial affinity qi!”

“I’m a spirits-damned high level genius. With extra special abilities.” I snuggled my head deeper against the comfortable headrest of the chair, staring at the ceiling. “Got to be useful for something.”

There was a quiet, unidentifiable sound. Then Ki spoke up. “It is quite impressive, Your Highness. Although clearly, it was something of an ordeal.”

I just grunted, too exhausted to care much about keeping up appearances right now. That was why we weren’t meeting with the full war council, anyway.

She wasn’t wrong. I felt tired down to my bones, in a way I knew my shapeshifting wouldn’t fix, and just drained. My headache seemed to have set up a proper siege camp around my temples, and I didn’t feel like I could do any major techniques. We’d had a hurried and harrowing journey back from where I’d teleported us, the grove Vana had met us in the beginning. It wasn’t helped by the fact we had no clear location for the army, or the way the High Temple had clearly mobilized their assets outside the city. Of course, it still wasn’t that long a trip in absolute terms, really, but as they’d pointed out, I had just freaking teleported half a dozen people for the first time with little preparation after we were already tired.

“Was it at least worth it?” General Poteri asked. “Obviously, you rescued Lord Arialko, and I’m glad to see that Ceion accompanied you safely.” There was a pause, probably some gesturing I couldn’t see. “But did we come out ahead or did our position worsen?”

I raised my head, though I stayed silent for a moment. “I think it was worth it,” I finally replied. “I’m not entirely sure what the effects of our misadventure will be. But if nothing else, we gained valuable information, and saw the situation in the city firsthand. If it gets out that we were there, it’s only going to cost the Zarian more face. It might help to unify them, granted, but there were several points of increasing friction between them. I doubt the families will be happy at the way the High Temple handled themselves, for example.”

Ceion snorted. “They’re a bunch of arrogant bulls.”

“Which?” Yarani asked. “The families or the Temple?”

He smiled wryly. “Well, I suppose you could apply the description to both.”

Kajare looked a little skeptical, probably not because of Ceion’s comment but what I’d said, though he didn’t speak up. I saw Yarani whisper something to Tenira, though I couldn’t hear it over the sounds of Lei and Elia starting to joke about the Zarian. Neither of them seemed very affected by everything that had happened, which was probably a good thing. I sighed softly, rolling my shoulders.

“Perhaps we should adjourn and give you a chance to rest,” Hashar suggested. “Now that we know what happened, we can start thinking about our next steps. But there’s no apparent urgency and we can take some time to consider instead of rushing to a decision. And now that you’re returned, we can prepare to move the army, too.”

“You’re right,” Tenira said. She looked at me. “You should probably go sleep, Inaris.”

I frowned, feeling a bit reluctant. I didn’t really want to go dream right now. “I think I’ll cultivate,” I said.

The others nodded, and the meeting started to diperse. Aston stayed behind for a moment to talk with the generals about something military, while Lei, Elia and Elis headed out together. I smiled at the rest but moved away without pausing.

It wasn’t hard to find a good spot. The army’s camp was pretty spread out, though it still didn’t look large compared to the town anchoring it this time. I found an open courtyard beside the tent they’d apparently assigned to me. There was probably a reason we didn’t camp inside the town, but I didn’t feel like bothering to find an answer right now. The other sides of the courtyard consisted of the wall of what might be a storehouse, hastily built, tents that probably housed my companions, and a small throughway. I settled down onto the surprisingly lush grass and felt the light of the sun shining down on me. Starting to breathe regularly, I let my thoughts slow to a rest and began sinking my awareness into the qi.

The cultivation went well. I found enough darkness affinity qi around to suit my needs, and the sun provided plenty of light as always. I didn’t try anything fancy, just cycled my qi in my usual pattern and drew in more to add to the qi swirling around my dantian. It felt like I was nearing another breakthrough, I realized after a wall. Another one, again.

Well, considering my speed the last times, that shouldn’t be too surprising. I opened my eyes and stretched slightly, shaking my head. It was winter, and my twenty-first birthday would be soon. I’d kind of hoped I would be able to spend it with my family back in the Empire, but clearly, we weren’t going to be done with this war that soon. Still, I really needed to make sure I didn’t miss Xiaodan’s birthday, even if I didn’t have the time to come visit her. If the war wasn’t in such a hot phase right now, I’d definitely go to visit her soon, I hadn’t seen her in far too long.

What a great big sister I am. I sighed and stood up, stretching a little. I didn’t feel as sore as before, and the cultivation had helped me regain some of my energy.

I glanced around and blinked in surprise. The tents had already been taken down. In fact, the camp seemed to be in the process of packing up, and almost finished. There were a few soldiers standing in a group not too far from here, and a few other clusters, but I could sense that most of the army was further away. Frowning, I stepped away from the spot where I’d cultivated and looked around from my guards.

“My lady.” Aston bowed after he stepped up beside me. “The army has been preparing to move out. Now that you are available, we can set off.”

“Aston.” I frowned. “Already? They don’t want to meet and make plans first?”

“It has been quite a few hours, Your Highness.” I glanced up at the night sky full of stars glittering above us, noting that it looked to be close to dawn, and silently conceded his point. Aston kept speaking. “The army’s leadership has deliberated and decided to continue the army’s advance. If you command it, I am sure they will put it on hold and defend their reasoning to you.”

“No, no need.” I shook my head, then started walking again, slowly. “It’s probably best if we don’t lose any time. I assume we have a wagon or something? I’d like to sit the journey out, so to speak.”

“The royal carriage is ahead, my lady,” Aston replied, pointing the way. “I’ll make sure it’s readied for your needs, and in case your consorts will accompany you.”

I nodded and flashed him a grateful smile. We kept walking to the carriage, which was a deceptively small affair drawn by a team of spirit beast horses, but the formation arrays inscribed in it made it larger on the inside.

I settled into the plush cushions with a sigh, then kicked off my shoes and draped my legs across the bench, while I looked out the window. The army was getting moving quite quickly. Already, the vanguard had moved out quite a distance, and there were a few spots on the horizon that I knew were scouts that I could barely make out. I leaned against the pillowy softness of the carriage, closing my eyes for a moment. My qi senses told me we started moving, though there was no sensation of it inside. Being Imperial royalty did have its perks.

The door opened silently, and one by one, my partners trickled in. I dimly sensed Lei and Elia in another carriage behind us. This time, we were traveling roughly in the middle of the army, in a protected spot. I knew I should feel anxious, considering how deeply we were penetrating into Zarian territory, but I just couldn’t muster the energy to fret about it. After the city, being in the middle of my army felt comfortably safe.

“No, don’t get up.” Tenira gently pushed my legs back onto the bench as I made to sit up. “We can sit on this side together, it’s big enough.”

“I think you earned some rest,” Yarani added. She smiled, a familiar twinkle in her eyes. “If you want me to give you a feet or back massage, just say the word. It might be a little awkward in here, but I’m sure we can manage.”

I grunted, then a smile forced its way on my face. “Thank you. Maybe later. Are the three of you alright?”

“Of course,” Kajare said. “We’re all used to going into danger from time to time. I admit I didn’t enjoy it, but we’re all ready to keep fighting. Right, ladies?”

The other two nodded firmly.

We fell silent, watching as the army wound its way through the Zarian heartlands. I enjoyed what I knew would probably be the quiet before the Storm. Hopefully not literally.

We kept traveling in silence for a while, the army slowly winding its way up the outskirts of the Whitecap Mountains. We headed higher, avoiding most of the Zarian settlements at its feet. Squads of elites and supporting soldiers were moving in on some of the towns we’ve identified as being either of high strategic importance or barely defended, but for the most part, the army was heading for Saria. It was where the Zarian had assembled their defenses, where their center of government, or what remained of it is, not to mention the High Temple. I had a feeling it’s where the last decisive battle of this war would be fought.

I didn’t know if I was ready for it. But I was afraid we didn’t have any time to lose.

The uncertainty gnawed at me, increasing my tension as we move deeper into the Zarian lands, closer to their bastion. I started taking deep breaths, forcing myself to relax and let the tension go. I could only do the best I could do. Besides, it wasn’t like we didn’t have a trick or two up our sleeves.

The sooner this war is over, the sooner the killing stops and the sooner we can go home, I told myself. Rijoko is just going to have to help me with it. I smiled wryly to myself and shook my head, looking out the window again. We had a nice view of the towering mountain peaks, though the army had spread out more to move up the mountains. I could sense Aston on top of another wagon, taking the opportunity to refill his qi reserves with cultivation. Ki and the other eighth-stagers moved around, ensuring we wouldn’t easily be caught off guard.

Then the army started to slow. I stood up, getting out of the wagon ahead of my partners. I glanced over the soldiers around us, quickly taking in how they started to set up, before I walked to the edge of a rocky ledge that gave us a good view of the land below the mountains. There Sari was, nestled at the foot of the peaks. I could make out the qi shield covering it even from here.

I hoped Vana and her people would make it out of the city in time, or succeed in whatever preparations they’d made to defend themselves. They hadn’t wanted to explain their contingency plans to us. Or rather, it would be more accurate to say they had clearly made contingency plans that they didn’t share with us, besides our shared planning. But things could happen in war. They’d made their own choices, though. I couldn’t help but be glad Elis was with us instead of a Basement cell right now, in any case.

I waited there until someone came to join me. To my mild surprise, it turned out to be Elis.

“How are you doing?” I asked him, turning away from the view.

“I’m alright.” He gave me a smile, though it seemed a little shakier than normal. “I never properly thanked you for what you did. Without you and the others, I would most likely never have gotten free. You didn’t have to come. I know what it must have cost to just rush off like that to Saria.”

“You would have done the same for me.” There was no doubt in my voice. I was simply stating a fact.

He regarded me for a moment. “Yes, I would,” he agreed.

We looked at each other, the second stretching out. He took a small step closer. Finally, we turned back to look at the heartland of the Dominion spread out before us, gazing at it companionably.

“I imagine you can see emotions pretty well,” I said.

Elis cocked his head slightly. “Not all that well. But yes, I’m generally good at it. What people feel has surprisingly much to do with what they’re like, who they are, most of the time.”

I nodded. That was interesting, although for once, I wasn’t after a psychological discussion.

“After this is over …” Elis trailed off. When I glanced at him, he shook his head, but his eyes didn’t leave mine.

“You will keep traveling, I imagine,” I said contemplatively. “You’re not the kind of person to be tied down.”

Elis exhaled audibly. “Yes. I suppose you’re right.” He hesitated. “But I can step by the Imperial palace every so often.”

I smiled. “I would expect that. You’ll always have a place there.” My smile widened. “For however long you want it.”

Elis grinned with obvious joy, and maybe a little relief. “Thank you. I’ll visit whenever I can.”

We fell silent again, just standing together on the mountain ledge. Then he spoke up again. “And …”

“After this is done,” I said. “There’s no point talking about such things now.”

He nodded, then a wry smile found its way onto his face. “Well, I suppose that gives me time to think about what how to talk to your husband.”

I grinned. “Oh, I think Kajare might surprise you.” I thought back to some times I’d seen Kajare, hints that had come up in conversation. Yeah, I didn’t think there would be a problem. Especially with what I’d picked up from Elis, too.

The other spirit-child blushed a little, maybe guessing in which direction my thoughts had gone. But he didn’t seem upset or concerned. In fact, there was a bit of mischief in his smile. “I’m looking forward to working out that little affair, then.”

“Oh, I’m sure.” I chuckled, then started walking back towards the others. After a moment, Elis followed behind me.

Somehow, I felt a lot less anxious about the coming fighting.

Chapter 182 (Draft)

For a moment, I just stood there, staring after the Pioneer and letting the adrenaline fade. I never wanted to do that again. It was worse than nerve-wracking.

Then I turned and glanced around quickly before I started walking.

“Nari, that was …” Tenira shook her head.

“We need to go,” I interrupted her. “Come on. Hurry.”

Suiting actions to words, I took off at a quick pace down the street. We were still in the middle of the Zarian capital city, and while the people around us had obviously not noticed anything amiss, that protection was gone now. I could already hear them whispering.

We’d attracted far too much attention. And that was without counting the fact that Isuro’s visit would have been sensed, too. He’d been pretty discreet, all things considered, but the temple had to know what had happened. At least the basics. And they wouldn’t just let us go.

“We can expect templars to chase us soon,” I said. “Any thoughts?”

“Don’t get caught?” Elis suggested. He shivered slightly. “I don’t suppose you’ve learned how to teleport?”

“They’ll probably use multiple teams,” Ceion said. His voice was even, but I could hear some of the tension behind it. Still, he seemed focused on the situation at hand. “Some will be after us directly, some might try to guard key locations.”

I took a deep breath, then quickly pulled some light and darkness qi from my core, which was emptying alarmingly quickly, and wove it into a message. I sent it off, then crossed into a back alley, where we would hopefully be less visible.

“There’s no point going for stealth now, and we need to leave as quickly as we can,” I explained in a low voice. “That means rejoining the others. I’ve informed them, and we need to meet up and get out of the city fast.”

“That might be a bit of a problem,” Kajare said. “If they’re looking for us, won’t they guard the gates? Or, for that matter, go after the rest of our group?”

I pulled a face and nodded, while I led us across a crossing onto another alley, this one leading to the district below the upper one where Vana had hosted us. “They’ll probably try.”

I continued leading us through the city at a fast pace, though not so fast as to draw too much attention. I didn’t have to pause and consider where I was going. This time, my father’s guidance actually helped. Or maybe just part of my own powerset. It could be hard to tell whether Rijoko was actively involved or not. Regardless, I managed to lead my companions through a good chunk of the city without being stopped or encountering any overt resistance.

“Nari.” Tenira quickened her step to fall in beside me. “I think I sense something up ahead.”

I paused, glancing around and questioning my own qi senses. “Let’s go around.” I hesitated, then looked at my other companions. “Keep an eye out. We need to avoid any templars we might find, and as many of the other armed thugs patrolling the city as possible.” A city in the middle of what might well be the beginning of a civil war was not the best place for this kind of adventure, I reflected.

We detoured around the suspicious qi presences and managed to avoid coming close to any temple knights after that, too. However, we couldn’t avoid everyone who might be employed by the High Temple. There were simply too many of them, and I didn’t want to waste too much time finding my way around everyone.

I paused, glancing in the direction where I knew the temple was, though I couldn’t see it from here. I’d sensed a pulse of qi, not a large disturbance, but probably more than just someone using a strong technique. I guess the hunt might be on, now.

“I think I’m feeling someone familiar,” Elis said.

I smiled. Now that he’d mentioned it, I noticed the same. But I stayed cautious and kept leading the others on as surreptitious a path as possible instead of charging ahead.

A minute later, we ducked into the shadow of yet another alley, this one leading beneath an overhang of the neighboring buildings. And there we finally came upon the people we’d been coming for.

Elia rushed towards Elis like a speeding truck, and swept him into a bear hug. He looked like he wasn’t quite sure if he was under attack for a moment, before he regained his mental (and maybe physical) equilibrium and returned her embrace.

Yarani was a little more restrained, but since we were apparently taking the time anyway, she and I exchanged a short hug, too.

“What happened?” she asked. “I see you found Elis, but what was that with the qi? And where did he come from?” She tilted her head at Ceion.

“I’ll tell you all on the way,” I answered. “We really need to go.”

They followed as I started walking again. “Go where?” Lei asked, still looking at Elia and Elis.

“I don’t really know. Yet.”

“Then I assume you also don’t know how we’ll get out of the gates that are certain to be guarded?” Yarani said.

I hesitated for a moment. “Uh, we’ll need to think of something. I’m sure something will jump out at me.”

Sometimes, I wasn’t so sure what this intuition ability did to my planning skills.

For lack of anything better to do, though, we kept walking, heading vaguely towards the eastern gates. I noticed with some amusement that everyone followed my lead without much sign of reluctance or doubt. At least I wasn’t the only one to rely on it. Now if only Rijoko had warned me before this whole incident… or did he want me to talk to Jideia? I shook my head, chiding myself to focus on the situation. And I couldn’t second-guess everything, that way lay madness.

The closer we got to the gates, the narrower and less straight the streets got. Luckily, there weren’t that many people around compared to before, though it was a real challenge to avoid all the fighters or guards posted by the great families or especially the High Temple. We had to slow down more than I’d like. And all the while, I was conscious of the temple and its knights starting the search behind us.

We really needed to come up with some kind of plan or at least a basic direction. They were almost certain to watch all of the gates, with strong forces standing by to intercept or chase us, and probably likely to have a gate actively guarded, too. It might be better to go west and then slip around to our army in the northeast, but I didn’t think that basic was worth it. They might actually guard the western or southern gate more closely, for all I knew.

I glanced at the group following me, considering my companions. Aston and a few other guards. Tenira, Kajare, and now Yarani. Lei, Elia, and Elis. And me, of course. Too many to just slip by somewhere unnoticed, probably. At least all of them seemed serious and intent, not exactly free of nervousness but not about to panic. I knew this was a bad situation. Perhaps not quite the same as when I’d been trapped in a Zarian-occupied city alone behind enemy lines, but they hadn’t been closing in on me like this back then, either. Still, this group represented enough firepower that we could possibly fight our way through some obstacles, and certainly give most opponents pause.

That might work to our advantage indirectly, too, I realized. The temple wasn’t going to send out small teams unless they just wanted to scout or slow us down. They needed concentrated striking power of their own.

“We’re almost at the northwestern gate,” Elis said. He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, shaking his head. I was starting to get concerned about his energy levels. “Any closer, and we’re going to encounter watchers.”

I sighed. “Alright. We need to get the lay of the land, I think. Li, go scout ahead. Tenira, you think you can get some info, too?”

“I’ll do my best.” Tenira kissed me on the cheek, then headed off. She walked slowly, not going too far.

She’d be using her techniques more than actually trying to sneak around. I would have asked Lei to do the same, but he wasn’t as good at the stealthy stuff. It made me want to join in, but I exercised my patience and contented myself with waiting. At least we’d found a pretty secluded spot, in a dead-end corner between some high tenement buildings. It was dim and stank faintly of rotten vegetables, but that probably worked to our advantage.

It didn’t take long for Li to return, and a few seconds later, Tenira came back as well. “Not good news,” she said, grimacing slightly. “There are definitely temple fighters watching the gate. I think at least two distinct groups. And there might be others that are better hidden.”

“I counted the same, my lady,” the guard agreed. “They also have a complicated array of wards on the gate itself and the surrounding stretches of the wall.”

I ran a hand through my hair. Why couldn’t this be one of the cities where the walls had stopped being used and fallen into disrepair while the city expanded outside them? Instead, Saria had only built new walls when it expanded. Well, they did have a lot of historical incentive to guard against monster attacks here. No matter, we’d have to work with this. We’d gotten past the disused inner gates earlier today, but this wouldn’t help now.

“Could we get past it?” I asked.

They hesitated, and the others exchanged glances. “I don’t know,” Tenira answered. “Honestly, I don’t think so.” She looked questioningly at Li, who nodded. “Even if we could blast our way past the defenses, it would just slow us down enough for them to get us. And if anything can get the disunited factions of the Zarian high-tiers out to fight someone besides each other, Imperials causing fighting in their city probably could.”

“Alright.” I shook my head, frowning in the direction of the gate. “Let’s walk around a bit, get a different look at it.”

In reality, I felt a little uneasy, though I tried not to let it show. I didn’t feel any kind of impulse to do something improbable, or even stupid. I didn’t get any sign of Rijoko giving me a tip. That just left an unpalatable situation with an unknown but steadily ticking time limit.

Unfortunately, it didn’t seem like my idea to go around was helping. I didn’t get any sudden bursts of inspiration, and the gate didn’t look any less formidable from a different perspective, when I occasionally managed to catch a glimpse of it as we wound our way through narrow alleyways and back passages.

A few minutes later, I slowed down, then stopped. It felt like there were too many people around, and people that were too strong. I couldn’t get a good read on which of them might be following our enemies’ orders, and it was getting impossible to avoid all of them. I tried my best, winding my way back roughly perpendicular to the direction we’d come from, but that only took us closer to the streets funneling the stream of traffic through the gates to the surrounding town and villages clustered in the countryside.

Suddenly, one of the guards, who’d been keeping watch a little farther out, popped up closer. “There’s a group of temple knights coming,” he reported. “I think they’ve sensed us.”

I cursed and turned to go the other way, then hesitated. There was a stronger group of probably templars there, too. Instead, I turned again, hurrying down a street and into a side alley.

The next few minutes where what you might call a game of cat and mouse, if the cat had gotten cultivator’s herbs and the mice were running around high on something, and they were playing in the middle of a dog school or something. I tried my best, but there were several close calls, and we were definitely attracting more attention than I wanted.

“Look out!” Elia called, pulling on my sleeve.

I veered to the side, glancing back just in time to catch a spray of icicles splashing against the stone wall of a building behind me. I cursed, then jumped up onto the roof, ran over it, jumped onto another, and dropped into a narrow passageway that led out into another back alley.

“I closed off that route and made it inadvisable to fly above it,” Aston reported, just as we turned onto another covered walkway.

“Great,” I said. I didn’t have the attention to spare for anything longer, and instead plotted the next two or three turns. We were steadily getting farther away from the gate, not that we realistically had any chance of sneaking through it now.

The next time we managed to catch a break, I headed straight westward. We were in what I might call a primitive shopping mall, winding our way through customers and shelves of wares in a large, sprawling building. Our group didn’t all take the same exit, but we emerged into a plaza that led into another passage crossing southwest.

“I think we shook them off for now,” I said. The sensation of our pursuers was fainter, and they appeared to have lost our scent among the bustle.

“Good,” Tenira said. “But what now? We don’t have much time until someone find us again.”

I exhaled heavily and kept walking, though we were now setting a more moderate pace. She was right. I had no idea how to get through any gate like this, and going in without a plan clearly wasn’t working. Why didn’t Rijoko help? It was his enemies who were threatening me, and he’d already shown he didn’t want me falling into their hands. Well, maybe he’s busy with someone else. There were enough changes happening in the mortal world that I knew had to be impacting the spirits’ affairs.

Then it hit me. I groaned and pressed the balls of my hands against my eyes for a moment. Of course. He didn’t help me get out through a gate because I didn’t need to go out through one of the city gates.

I stopped and turned to the others, beckoning them closer towards me. “I’ve never done this before,” I told them. “But the situation is definitely providing a tribulation that needs a new ability.” I glanced at the guards. “Li, can you lead the others to get lost in the city and lay low here for a while? The fewer people I have to take with me, the better.”

“Of course, my lady,” he guard responded, bowing. “They won’t care as much about us if they’re trying to hunt you down elsewhere, anyway.”

I nodded and watched for a moment as the guards, except for Aston, blended into the crowd quickly. Then I closed my eyes and focused.

Spatial qi was tricky, but I did have the ability to use it, like any other kind. And it was tricky for everyone. So I calmed my mind, trying to forget we where in an exposed location in an enemy city, and only focused on the task, and on the qi around me.

For a few minutes, it seemed like I would never manage it, and fear tried to creep in to disturb my efforts even further. But I gritted my teeth and sank farther into my meditative state, grabbing onto the feeling of my connection with Rijoko mentally, anchoring myself in the knowledge that I could do this.

For an endless second, I wrestled with qi and the world around me. Then the world twisted, space around me and my companions bunched and shivered and layered itself, and the destination burning brightly in my mind’s eye advanced through it and into reality.

I staggered, clutching my head, a part of my laughing at the Zarian for not warding against teleportation out of their city. My head pounded like an old drum and I felt vomit gathering. But when I opened my eyes, the buildings of the city around us where gone, replaced only by my companions staggering around and the occasional tree.

Chapter 181 (Draft)

With Elis’ and my senses, we managed to avoid the people in the building quite well as we hurried through it. I knew we wouldn’t be able to fool everyone, and I preferred speed over complete stealth, anyway, given the circumstances. But we should be gone before any of the Zarian inside thought to check what was going on.

Unless we were stopped, at least.

It was obvious that Elis didn’t have much qi. They’d clearly drained him, and he couldn’t exactly recover a lot of it right now. I knew he wouldn’t be much use in a fight, and we would probably be lucky if he could use his bloodline abilities intensively. But at least he could move without being hindered by an injury, and his body was hardened by qi enough that his speed matched ours. I still kept him between myself and Aston.

We moved quickly and soon reached the door. This would be the trickiest part. I put a bit of darkness qi around us to cover our walk from the actual building to the gate of the compound, but I saw that it had been closed and locked again. There might be alarms when we opened it. Ordinarily, I could check and probably disable them, but I didn’t want to risk the time that would take now.

“They might feel this,” I warned the others in a low voice. “Be prepared.” Then I used my qi to cut through the formations I could sense covering the doors, while at the same time putting newly grown spiky outgrowths through the lock and twisting it open.

A quick pulse of qi got out. It might have been an alarm. Aston pulled the door open and we rushed through it, emerging onto the street. It wasn’t quite empty, though I didn’t see many people on it. A few of them paused and looked as we emerged from the compound.

I suppressed a grimace and took off at a quick walk, the others following. Running would probably just attract more attention. And trying to sneak invisibly through a crowded city wasn’t a good idea, at least when you needed to be quick. We’d need to get lost among the crowd somehow.

That turned out to be both harder and easier than I’d thought. Harder because we always seemed to attract some attention. I guess the mix of apparent ethnicities and the cultivation levels don’t help. Easier because this was still a big city, and people generally minded their own business, and because they were lucky enough to get into rush time with a lot of people out and about. Some things, I’d realized some time ago, were universal between worlds.

We didn’t head directly for Vana’s safehouse, of course. While I kept an eye out, not to mention my qi senses, I couldn’t be sure we weren’t followed. The last thing I wanted was to lead any pursuers to our base. I considered sending a message to it to get in contact with Elia and the rest of our people, but refrained for the same reason.

We left the quarter and turned into another one, and I still couldn’t sense anyone pursuing us. That made me uneasy. Maybe Elis had been wrong and Isuro wasn’t actually going to come for him. Or maybe he just hadn’t arrived yet or had even lost our trail. But I didn’t pin too much hope on that. My connection to Rijoko was cracked open, and I felt a constant sense of low, simmering tension.

“Where are we going?” Tenira finally asked in a low voice.

I glanced around, sighing. “I’m not sure what’s best,” I answered quietly. “Maybe we should head out of the city? That way, even if some strong enemy catches us, at least one we wouldn’t risk people in the city getting caught in it.”

Aston cleared his throat quietly. “I don’t want to be callous, my lady, but I feel I need to point out that it works the other way, too. An altercation in the city might be more restrained to limit collateral damage.”

I nodded, frowning. “You’re right. And it’s probably going to be easier to hide us, anyway.” I didn’t mention that I wouldn’t trust Jideia to care much about collateral damage. Isuro was a lot more honorable, or at least liked to act like he was, anyhow.

“Just follow me,” Elis spoke up. “I think I can guide us pretty well. It’s not my first time in this city, and no offense, but none of you know as much about blending in or hiding in an urban environment.”

I nodded. That made sense. And if it’s his fault we’re in this situation, at least he can help out with getting us out of it. Of course, I kept that uncharitable thought to myself. It wasn’t like anyone had forced me to come try to rescue him, after all.

Elis actually had us slow down, and at his hissed words, we spread out farther. He strolled down the street, looking at the surrounding shops with just the right mix of curiosity and boredom. I tried to mimic his demeanor and considered whether we should send someone to contact the rest of our group at the safehouse.

In hindsight, I really should have had Vana point out a secondary safehouse. It was a shame we couldn’t use our radios to communicate here. While there was always a chance the Zarian hadn’t actually set up anything to detect radio waves here, they were definitely detectable by cultivators in principle, and if someone did catch us, we might as well have written ‘we’re Imperials’ on our foreheads. Though, actually, that would probably just be dismissed as a prank, so it was actually worse.

“No one’s attacked us yet,” I murmured. “They’re probably not going to. If someone is actually following us, they’re waiting for us to lead them to our base.”

Kajare pulled a face. “Wandering around the city aimlessly forever isn’t an option either,” he commented.

I nodded, and glanced around again, as surreptitiously as I could. I’d been keeping my qi senses out as much as I could, trying to catch any hint of Isuro bearing down on us. It was wearing on my nerves. Kajare was right, we really needed to decide on a destination. Taking a very circuitous route, maybe with changing disguises, to our safehouse might be best.

“Where is your base, anyway?” Elis asked quietly. “How did you even know where to find me?”

“A good dose of luck, and the help of our mutual friend,” I answered. Better not to name names if there was any chance of being overheard. “We should be heading towards the northwest if we want to get there.”

“Then I can lead us there the long way round,” Elis said with a nod. “Take a left over there.”

“Alright.” That would take us south, but I trusted him to know better. This time, my own intuition was pretty silent about where to go, and I probably would just be leading us in circles if I tried to rely on it.

Before I could continue the conversation, I paused as I noticed something in a corner of my awareness. I hadn’t paid as much attention to my qi senses while I was talking, but now they recaptured my attention. There was a familiar sensation originating not too far away from us. Coming closer, actually.

“Wait,” I said. The others slowed and I noticed them tense up at my tone. But I kept walking, glancing around. After a moment, I sped up.

Then we rounded another corner into a decently wide side street lined by brick townhouses, and I came to a stop as I found myself facing a familiar figure.

“Ceion?” I asked. I started to move my hands into position to quickly grab my weapon from my storage ring automatically.

“Folks!” He hurried closer and smiled. “You didn’t make it easy to find you.” His gaze moved to Elis, and his smile widened. “I see they found you. Wonderful. Are you alright?”

Elis looked a bit confused, almost annoyed at not knowing what was going on. “Yes, I’m fine. So they didn’t take you along? Is that…” He glanced at me, and I could tell what he was thinking: Is it safe to have Ceion here?

I wished I could be completely sure of that, but I couldn’t. I was confident, though. After the incident where his father had tried to take control of him, I felt like he was well defended against something like that happening. I could also still faintly sense the blessings of the Moon I’d laid on him (or at least some qi).

“It’s good to see you made it into the city safe and sound,” I said to Ceion. “We should get going, though.”

I turned to resume our walk, then froze. It felt like the city around us was being stretched away from us. Qi hung heavy in the air, with a familiar flavor.

‘It is good to see.’

I took a step back and swallowed heavily as I saw the figure stepping out of the crowd, where no one should have been able to hide, and coming into the open to face us. Isuro didn’t look completely material, with still a hint of qi in his form, as if his body was permeated with streams of it, but he did look pretty physical. His appearance hadn’t changed a bit since the first time I saw him, though his expression was different. His attention seemed focused on Ceion, with some resting on me. It was like a subtler version of the way a cultivator’s presence could suppress someone. He seemed to ignore the rest of our companions.

Ceion couldn’t quite suppress a slight flinch. He took a step closer to me, his posture tenser than I’d ever seen him. I couldn’t fault that reaction, and I felt my own heartbeat pound in my ears and my breaths speed up.

“Isuro.” Ceion’s voice was tight.

The other people seemed to flow around the Pioneer, as if he wasn’t even there, none getting too close. My companions had drawn weapons, but they had to know we wouldn’t have good odds in a fight.

‘You were foolish to return, Ceion. After you betrayed us.’ Isuro stepped closer, still leaving a large empty space in the middle of a bustling city around him.

I took a step forward, putting myself between them. ‘He didn’t choose to leave you, I captured him. It’s hardly our fault if that leaves him better off than the treatment he got here. And it’s funny that you should be talking about betrayal in this matter.”

Isuro’s gaze shifted to me, and his lips curled slightly. But the expression in his eyes was harder to read. ‘Little Light. Bold as ever, even in the heart of your enemy’s power.’

I ignored that. “I mean, I have to admit I didn’t get it. But I think you have personal reasons not to want to see Ceion here. After all, you were the one who got him out, ultimately. Maybe you expected I’d kill him. Still, this is really your fault.”

Ceion tightend his grip on the sword he’d pulled out. “Inaris is right. You think I didn’t wonder about this?” He exhaled heavily, shaking his head. “You were the only one of them who was ever decent to me. And you set me up to be taken by our enemies.”

Something flickered in Isuro’s eyes, but he didn’t lose his vaguely contemptuous facade. ‘Even if I did any such thing, it would hardly mean more than that we were disappointed with your efforts and did not mind getting rid of you.’

“Very honorable,” I commented. “Are you just going to stand there and be haughty, or did you actually want anything from us?” I almost winced as soon as the words were out. Provoking the powerful pseudo-spirit didn’t seem like a wise choice under the circumstances. Still, I wanted him distracted from Ceion, and being somewhat confrontational had worked well with him so far.

Isuro cocked his head slightly. ‘You’re quite brash, considering where you stand, Inaris. You do know how vulnerable your position is, don’t you? Or do I really need to explain?’

I surreptitiously took a deep breath, but my words were confident. “You could definitely defeat us under normal circumstances. And you might be able to beat me, but only if the Moon doesn’t grant me his protection, which he likely would. And then where would you be, Isuro?” I smiled. “We haven’t seen each other in a while, but it’s not like you were ever bold enough to actually attack me in person.”

It was true that it had been pretty long since our last confrontation. I thought that was telling. He’d probably kept arranging things to have me killed, but still. He acted a lot less … casual with me now than the last time we talked, and it probably wasn’t just the witnesses, but I had a feeling it only concealed his own conflict. He’s trying to retreat into his role, perhaps.

‘In the middle of our capital?’ Isuro shrugged slightly. His fingers played over the shaft of the spear in his hands, which he’d started materializing at some point. ‘I suppose. It might be likely that Rijoko would act to preserve your life. But his?’ He shifted, pointing at Ceion.

I gritted my teeth, trying to suppress any sign of the cold shiver that went down my spine. “And what would that get you?” I asked quietly. I took another half step forward. “I will not abandon him to you. If you will strike at any of my companions, you need to go through me.”

I heard a soft sound from someone else, maybe Tenira, but I didn’t turn to look at the others. I knew they were only this quiet because they recognized the danger and trusted that I would know the best thing to do. Still, having all of them here, within reach of the Pioneer, made my heart feel like someone was dunking it in ice water. I just ignored that and focused on the situation.

Isuro almost sighed. ‘Oh, Little Light. And to think I always though of you as smart and ruthless when you needed to be. Do you simply want me to strike and get it over with? Because I can oblige you.’

I smiled, trying not to show the strain behind the expression. Funnily enough, it seemed easier. While I still felt the same tension as before, it was fading into the background more, my focus fixed on my opponent. Or my target. “Will you?” I asked.

There was a moment of what felt like startlement from everyone, although the air was still filled with the sound of people going about their business, oblivious. Isuro drew back just the tightest bit. ‘You actually want me to?’

“You could kill me, if you can.” I took another slow step forward, then another.

Isuro looked like he wanted to step back as I approached him, but didn’t. Instead, he watched with a hard expression as I drew close. He was slightly taller than me, but I still leaned forward a bit, looking into his face.

“Kill me, then,” I said. “I am here. You have me. Go ahead.”

“Nari!” Someone uttered behind me, half whisper, half cry. I could have placed the voice but didn’t want to. In that moment, they were a distraction. I wasn’t even sure what I was doing, except that I had to keep going with it.

I laid a hand on Isuro’s weapon, slowly. I made no sudden moves, showing that it wasn’t an attack. My heartbeat galloped in my throat like a panicked horse, and I could distantly feel sweat start gathering on my skin. But my hand was steady. I pulled the Pioneer’s weapon up, letting the point rest against my throat. Cutting off the supply of blood and oxygen to my brain would kill me quicker than destroying my heart.

“Kill me,” I repeated, staring into Isuro’s eyes. They had color, a wispy blue untouched by his qi.

I felt his weapon tremble for a moment. A second passed, a second that stretched into half of forever.

Then Isuro stepped back slightly, the pressure left off. He tilted his spear back. ‘Do you think I am that easy to fool? Ha!’ A sneer twisted his features, but I knew it was just a covering. ‘Enjoy your father’s protection while it lasts, girl. Take your little friends and go. It will be amusing to see how you flail against the Storm.’

Then he started dissolving. There were cries from the pedestrians as they saw a wispy qi figure leaving. I stared at it with narrowed eyes.

He could pretend all he wanted that he’d only refused to do it because of my father’s protection, for fear of provoking his power. We both knew better.

Chapter 180 (Draft)

We didn’t have to wait long. Soon, I felt the approach of someone in a middle stage of cultivation, probably the late fourth stage. He entered the office from the other side, and then we were asked to come in. It turned out to look just like any other forgettable office anywhere, with a desk, a few chairs, file drawers, and a window looking out into an alleyway. The man looked just as forgettable, like a middle manager in his fifties who just happened to wear robes.

“Welcome,” he said, a bit brusquely. “Please take a seat. What can I do for you? I’ve been told it’s, I quote, ‘a tricky matter’?”

I smiled at him and sat down, with Aston choosing a seat beside me. Here, he couldn’t act like a bodyguard. “That’s true, and thank you for seeing us. It is a bit tricky, and I didn’t want to talk about it where anyone might overhear, or to talk to anyone but a priest of the Storm with some standing.”

The man nodded. “I don’t mean to be rude, but I do not have a lot of time today. Some other matters have come up that require my attention.”

“I see.” I nodded. “Well, I’ll try not to take too much of your time, then. Although what we’ve come about may actually be related to those other matters of yours.”

He sat up a bit straighter, and his eyes narrowed slightly. “Oh? Does that mean you are with - no, let me rephrase that. Why do you think so?”

I hesitated for a moment. I hadn’t actually planned to say that, I’d just done it following an impulse. One that probably came from a nudge from my father or my own intuition. But now that I had, I’d see this through.

“If you mean the two people that might have been found here in the vicinity, then I’m afraid we might be here for the same reason.”

The priest just looked at me for a moment. “I see. I hope this means you will provide us some answers we are very eager for.”

I tried to discern if he was pressing some kind of panic button or sending an emergency message, but it didn’t seem to be the case. Maybe it was too sophisticated for me to sense, perhaps a silent alarm that didn’t use qi at all, but I took it as an indication that he didn’t consider the situation to be that dangerous. Hopefully, that meant our cover wasn’t completely blown, and we might get out of this without undue destruction.

“Of course we will.” I smiled again. “Our family deeply regrets any irritation or damage that might have resulted from a misunderstanding. But I’m afraid I can’t say much more until I’m assured that the people I’m looking for are actually here, and in good condition.”

He stared at me for a moment more, while I smiled back pleasantly. Finally, he sighed slightly and stood up. “Very well. We’ll sort this out. Follow me.”

I suspected this decision had something to do with the opportunity to get templars or other guards to meet us. The way he eyed Aston indicated caution, at least. But we simply followed the priest from the room quietly.

It wasn’t a long way, but it felt longer than it was. I was on high alert, my senses stretched tightly, trying to take in everything and gather what information I could about this place. I still didn’t manage to penetrate the shroud around where I’d sensed my companions before, although we were going there now anyway. But I did get the slightest feeling from another direction.

Without really knowing why or what it meant, I slowed down, angling myself to peek into another corridor besides the one we were crossing. I could just sense a group of people, their auras held tightly and almost smothered, on the move. A bit of light qi floating to the roof let me peek around the corner, giving me a view of them crossing the intersection ahead.

I barely managed to keep my own aura under control and not make a sound. The group were arranged in a formation around one man. He wore heavy manacles that clearly suppressed his qi, and probably further talismans to the same effect. I couldn’t get anything from his aura, really. And he didn’t look familiar, like any forgettable Zarian face. But I recognized him, anyway. It wasn’t anything I could have described. The way he moved, even with the restraints. The way he turned his head, glancing in my direction.

Elis. They had Elis here. I was certain of it.

I suppressed a sigh and hurried to catch up to my host. Behind me, the bit of qi I’d left dissolved into the air. Aston had kept going, managing the distance between us to cover for me. I kept part of my attention on the group, trying to trace the path they took. It was difficult, since they got harder to sense as they moved further away.

At least now I had an idea of why Tenira and Kajare had gotten themselves into this situation. They should probably still be my first priority. Everything else aside, they’d be a lot of help in freeing Elis. I couldn’t assume they’d left a prisoner like him without some high-powered watcher. And that would be a lot harder.

The part of the compound we reached now was a lot more tightly guarded, with several cultivators on both sets of doors we passed. I could sense others in adjoining rooms. They all regarded us suspiciously, but at least no one was drawing weapons. I smiled again. My cheek muscles were really getting a workout lately.

I’d noticed the priest sending a message, so I wasn’t surprised that they’d obviously prepared their prisoners for our visit. Tenira and Kajare wore nondescript clothing and rudimentary disguises, but I’d still have recognized them instantly. Hopefully, their appearance wasn’t well known in the Dominion, and the different hair colors and makeup might actually be enough. At the moment, they were kneeling on the floor, their hands cuffed behind their backs with other sets of qi-suppressing restraints.

“Yes, those are our people, alright,” I commented.

Kajare sported a split lip and the beginnings of a black eye, but otherwise, they didn’t appear injured. I still had to suppress a surge of anger at the sight, though I kept it from reaching my face easily.

Their eyes darted between me and their captors, but they didn’t speak. Probably silenced by another application of qi, like a sound-dampening field. That was probably just as well. They’d managed to fake a Confederate accent pretty well, but still, the less the Zarian heard them speaking, the better. But they must have been smart enough to keep quiet after they were captured.

“Is that so?” The priest’s tone was noticeably cooler than before, although he still didn’t sound openly hostile. Clearly, he didn’t want to antagonize whatever faction we represented needlessly.

I turned to him and bowed formally. “We sincerely apologize for this incident, Priest. I recognize that your affairs and the business of this station were disrupted by a needless incursion, and will offer compensation for the damages suffered today. Let me assure you this was not due to any deliberate malice. It was simply young people being … over-enthusiastic about their duty.” I glanced at my two companions again, giving them a cold look. “Rest assured they will be dealt with.”

“Be that as it may,” the priest said. He sounded at least slightly mollified, though. “We would still like to know just who takes responsibility for this offense.”

I hesitated. This was the tricky part. I could easily blame one of the noble factions in the city. He probably wouldn’t be able to check this before we were out, and would probably not see any reason to disbelieve, or openly challenge me on it, right now. I couldn’t be sure of that, though, and rescuing Elis would turn all of this on its head. Right now, he probably assumed they were foreign mercenaries. This would be easier if I had a clearer picture of how he feels about the various groups.

“I understand,” I replied with another smile. “However, would you consider simply accepting the answer that it was a group that deeply regrets what happens, holds no ill will towards you, and is prepared to show it in making amends? Our reparations will be just as useful regardless.”

The priest frowned. He looked wary, and I caught him glancing at where his guards stood. “I understand that this was a regrettable accident,” he answered. “However, we still haven’t agreed to forgo any punishment, much less the identity of the perpetrators.”

I took out a money pouch. “I see. In that case, be assured that…” I hesitated just slightly, looking to the side for an instant, “… House Siranum and its allies regret any inconvenience and will make sure this doesn’t happen again.” Slowly, I started counting out a few gold coins. The amount was trivial considering my actual position and the resources I had access to, but still a good chunk of the Zarian money I’d taken with me. “If you’ll allow me to speak plainly, I’m sure you understand why my superiors preferred to keep an eye on the High Temple’s properties. However, this isn’t intended to be hostile, and certainly not as a provocation. You will not see us again.”

The priest accepted my coins easily, looking down at them with an expression that didn’t quite manage to stay neutral. “I’m sure. I’m glad this could be resolved amicably.”

“Quite so.” I glanced back at my partners, who were now being freed by one of the head priest’s goons. They can’t have done anything too aggressive, if this is so easy to resolve. Probably just trespassing, really.

They had the presence of mind to stay quiet, at least, except for short murmurs as they rose. They bowed their heads to me, then, after a moment of hesitation, Kajare bowed to the priest, and Tenira followed suit.

“We will escort you out,” the priest said. “You’ll forgive me if I don’t wish to see you again.”

I smiled. That was basically the Zarian phrase for goodbye. “Likewise.”

We turned and left, and I let out a deep breath as surreptitiously as possible. One hurdle down, the rest to go. I quickly glanced at Kajare and Tenira and gave them a smile, but, mindful of our surroundings, we didn’t talk. Now I just had to deal with the two minions escorting us outside.

I caught Aston’s eye and titled my head slightly. He gave me a barely perceptible nod. A second later, I felt his mind reaching out to me. ‘My lady?’

‘Aston, can you subdue those two without raising an alarm?’

I didn’t look at his face, but I could make out a slight shift in his aura. ‘Most likely, my lady, though I can’t guarantee it.’

I nodded. ‘Do it.’

We’d just reached the intersection where we’d head off in the direction I’d seen Elis in. Fortunately, Aston didn’t dally. I instinctively hardened my skin and focused on my qi senses, but he acted too quickly for me to really catch what happened. It felt like we were just walking along, then there was a moment of confusing and a very short spike of qi, and the next moment both of the Zarian were staggering. Quickly, they collapsed to the floor, making no noise except for a muffled groan.

“Very good,” I said. “Let’s get going.”

Tenira sighed. She was massaging her wrists, and now gave me a look. “I suppose the debriefing can wait, then? Thank you for the rescue, by the way.”

“I saw Elis here earlier,” I explained. “I assume that’s why you went in?” Even though they had obviously not been supposed to.

Tenira and Kajare exchanged a look. “We weren’t planning to,” he said. “But their surveillance outside was more extensive, and aggressive, than we realized, and we ran afoul of it. We tried to hide at the back of the compound, where the wards wouldn’t cover as closely.”

I shook my head. “Well, there’s time for recriminations later. Give me a moment to improve our stealth.”

I breathed deeply and pulled some darkness qi to weave a technique. Tenira quickly contributed some of her own to help. Then we set off down the corridor, invisible. Aston muffled the sound of our footsteps with a qi shield around us, and all of us suppressed our qi presence as tightly as we could.

“I think I understand everything, except for one matter,” Tenira said. “Why did you name the Siranum as the culprits? I thought we wouldn’t want them to get blamed for it.”

I snorted. “Right. If I was actually working with a Zarian great family faction, it would be much better to implicate a rival rather than my own people.” I shrugged, still focused on looking around. “Of course, everyone’s going to deny responsibility for what we do. With any look, the priests will be second guessing everything too much to settle on any action.”

Tenira chuckled. “Of course, I should have known it would be something like that.”

I stopped, frowning down another corridor. We were now drawing close to where I figured the Zarian transporting Elis had been headed, and the doors were getting heavier and secured better, with formation arrays.

I carefully approached the door in front of us, looking the wards over slowly. Then I sighed and turned to the others. “I can disarm this, but it won’t be completely quiet. If there’s anyone on the other side, they’ll almost certainly notice. Be prepared for trouble.”

They all nodded and readied themselves. I turned back to the door and quickly inserted some of my own qi into the formation. It took a few minutes of careful and exact work, but finally, I managed to break the lock and felt the qi coating it sizzle away.

Aston pushed me aside and opened the door right away, charging into the room before I even had time to properly appreciate what we found. There were three Zarian of about the fifth stage here, just starting to respond.

Aston took them out just as quickly as he had the others. By the time I stepped into the room, they were all lying on the floor, unconscious or dead. I didn’t comment on it. The door was bad enough, I definitely didn’t want them to raise an alarm.

Although that might not be much of a concern. I looked at the other door, which seemed to not be locked completely at the moment, and the presences I sensed behind it. Frowning, I stepped over and pulled the door open, readying myself to activate a defensive technique.

What I found made me pause in surprise, until Tenira pushed to enter after me. Elis was here, alright. He stood beside another priest, who was slumped at the ground. The qi-imbued manacles were lying in a heap on the floor.

“Inaris!” Elis took a step closer, his eyes darting around. He still looked different. I could see that his clothing was stained with blood and dirt, but he didn’t appear significantly injured. “Tenira, Kajare. I’d say it’s good to see you, but these aren’t exactly the best circumstances.”

“It looks like you didn’t need our help much,” I noted, glancing at the priest and the room. The walls were heavily reinforced and lacked windows, while the room lacked furniture except for a single table and a few chairs, one of which was clearly bolted to the floor.

“Yes, and I wish you weren’t here,” Elis replied, still coming closer. “But since you are, we really need to leave. I don’t think who they’ve got coming to see me is someone you want to face.”

I suppressed a sigh, and quickly got moving again. “Don’t tell me …”

Elis gave me a small, sardonic smile, as we started hurrying back the way we came. “If they were telling the truth, it’s the Pioneer.”

I closed my eyes for a moment and ran a hand through my hair. Great. Just Wonderful.

Chapter 179 (Draft)

A/N: Sorry for the delay! This was supposed to be posted the usual time on Monday, and I didn't notice that I missed it until just now. Well, there'll be two posts this evening instead.

I didn’t typically get nervous in crowds. But today, the undulating waves of humanity pressing through the space around me stressed me out. It felt like every eye was on me, possibly piercing my disguise. There could be any number of strong cultivators hiding within them, ones even I with my special ability couldn’t beat in a fight.

How Aston wasn’t a twitching mess, I didn’t know. But on the contrary, he actually seemed as solid and serene as a rock, grounding me. Maybe he’d moved past any anxiety into professional focus.

I breathed a slight sigh of relief when we turned from the plaza into a side street. It was still full, but not packed, and at least the looming temple fighters on one side of the square didn’t have us in their field of view anymore. My initial impression of the Zarian in their capital hadn’t changed too much. They were still, generally, tense, nervous, afraid, angry. But with crowds this size, there were a lot of individuals, and they felt and did things their own way. Some people kept joking and laughing with their friends as if nothing happened. Well, for all I knew, maybe they really didn’t care. It provided a constant background of noise that made it hard to pick anything out of the din, though, and I had to almost shut down my nose, too. My qi senses were barely better off.

“We’re almost there,” Aston muttered. In Zarian, considering our surroundings. His accent was almost unnoticeable, and didn’t even sound very Imperial to me.

“Great,” I replied.

In truth, we were probably wasting our time. The others had already started following the more promising leads. But I’d found myself with nothing much to do after Vana headed off to do her thing with her house, and I might still help. I hadn’t had more of a plan than wandering aimlessly through the city and seeing if something jumped out at me, but on Aston’s initiative, we were aiming our wanderings to see some temples and bases for the Storm’s following. I went along with that because nothing else happened and my intuition didn’t seem to have so much as tingled until now.

When we finally reached our next destination, I almost passed it. The compound looked unremarkable, just drab, slightly dirty white walls, no different from most of the surrounding buildings. Then again, this wasn’t a temple, just a base where priests, templars, and maybe sympathizers or lay helper people, whatever they called themselves, might meet, store stuff, or the like. They probably didn’t keep prisoners here, but it was worth checking out. Hopefully.

The other guard accompanying us (visibly, at least) slowed down slightly. She was farther ahead, so, this meant we caught up to her. I already knew one of the others was going to go around back of the building. But I focused my qi senses on what I could sense from it, carefully probing at the walls.

They were warded, but not all that well. Not well enough to keep out a surface level scan, or for that matter, not much better than the surroundings. Maybe we’d overestimated the importance of this spot. Unless this was actually more sophisticated and they had a second layer.

I turned the corner and tried not to seem like I wasn’t paying any attention to my surroundings as I focused on the wards, trying to tease out more information from them. I could dimly sense a few people inside the building, though none of them felt familiar, or all that strong. Of course, they could be hiding their strength. This way, I couldn’t tell.

I was just deliberating whether to take a chance and try to dive deeper into it when a message reached me. I blinked, stopping myself from looking around nervously, and kept walking unhurriedly. It was just a bit of qi, clearly sent from a communication talisman, and didn’t contain any actual words or other message. And I could tell it was sent by Tenira, her qi was unmistakable.

I caught Aston’s eye. Neither of us gave any indication that anything was wrong. We probably weren’t being watched, but there was no point taking a chance, and we didn’t want to draw any more attention to us than we had to. Still, we understood each other. We turned another corner and kept moving away from the priests’ compound. I knew the other guards were watching and would have figured out what was happening. Aston was in the seventh stage and knew Tenira, he had probably caught the taste of her qi even from his position.

She wouldn’t be sending a message like this casually, even without an actual content that could be overheard. Especially since she couldn’t know for sure where I was going to be. That meant that either they’d discovered something that required a quick response, or something was wrong. Possibly both.

I started walking quicker, going in roughly the direction the message had come from, not that I’d caught more than the very tail end of it. But I knew where Tenira was supposed to be, and she should have at least Kajare with her, if not more of the others. We’d been very clear about no one going anywhere alone. Of course, they could still have been separated. I told my heartbeat to calm down and focused on searching my surroundings for anything suspicious. We didn’t seem to have drawn any attention, at least. My connection to Rijoko lay cold and silent in the back of my head, but I suspected that he was metaphorically keeping half an eye on us.

We had quite a bit to go. Saria was almost as big as Thousand Lights City, and the inner portions of it tended to be filled with lower buildings and thus more sprawling. We moved quickly, mostly avoided streets that appeared too crowded, but it still limited how quickly we could go. I kept an eye out and my qi senses as open as I could, but given the environment, it just wasn’t possible to get a detailed assessment of anything potentially interesting. At least I didn’t have to worry about where we were going. Ever since I awakened my bloodline abilities, my sense of direction and locations seemed to be great, and I practically couldn’t get lost.

Once we neared the area where I expected my companions to be, we slowed down. I noticed that one of the guards who’d been keeping their distance from me and Aston was going ahead, presumably to check out the area and report back if there was any trouble. I wished I could just use my light affinity qi to scout, but that was probably not a good idea in the middle of a busy city street.

We turned off a main street into a side alley that led into an older quarter of the city. The buildings were a bit lower, expect for some that had obviously been modified later, with additional stories built on top in stone of a slightly different color. The streets were narrow, though still broad enough for a horse-drawn cart, and I could see the occasional bit of trash strewn around the back alleys we passed. Charming.But it was worth it, because I saw a few signs in different languages, with other alphabets. At least assuming those weren’t just specific symbols. All of them had Zarian text as well, and the foreign text was rather discreet, but this still indicated that this quarter housed immigrants. Probably mostly from the most recently conquered parts of the Dominion.

If I had to bet, these people would be less than patriotic, at least compared to the general Zarian population. The languages definitely indicated that. It was curious that the High Temple had set up such a large base here. Perhaps as a mission station? I’d also expect that the Basement had infiltrated the area pretty thoroughly, which might be why Vana had known to look here.

I stiffened slightly as I felt the brush of Aston’s mind against my own. I let him in, but didn’t give any outward reaction to the contact. ‘My lady, Li reports that there is no sign of Lady Tenira or her companions.’

Crap. I glanced at him, then back at the street. ‘I assume this is just from the outside? So they aren’t in the open, but might be in the building itself?’

‘Yes, my lady. The wards are too good to get a much information on what or who is inside.’

‘Well, there’s nothing for it, then. We’ll have to check it out. Tell one of the other guards to head back to the base and report, Aston.’

I altered my appearance slightly as we continued, careful to do it gradually so even someone watching me shouldn’t notice the change. By the time we reached the walls of our target, I still appeared to be a different girl than the one staying in Vana’s safehouse.

It was a pretty big complex, with outer wall set some distance from the actual main building, which rose at least three stories high and only had small windows. The whole thing looked old, as if it might have been built as a redoubt in ancient times, but was in good shape. The large gate stood open, but I noticed that the metal lock wasn’t shut, so you would be able to push it open quickly. I sensed someone hovering close by it. But the guard was right, they did have high quality wards, which made getting anything more from the inside of the building frustrating.

Still, it could be worse. I reminded myself that this wasn’t a closed enemy fortress. The priesthood actually wanted to interact with its people. This was a case where brute force wouldn’t at all be helpful, but that was hardly my only tool.

So I just knocked.

The knocks rang out with a dull thumping sound, three raps. Then there was silence for a few seconds, but I just waited patiently, Aston beside me standing still and letting out a subtle sigh. I sensed someone moving a moment before the door was pulled open.

“Yes?” It was a middle-aged man in what I thought were probably priestly robes, raising an eyebrow as he looked at me, Aston and the other guard who had just materialized beside me.

I would have expected them to be a little more welcoming. Although I didn’t know what had happened, and if they’d really caught a couple of intruders snooping around, it might make them more suspicious of strangers showing up now.

I didn’t let the speculation show on my face and just gave him a winning smile. It was a bit of a shame I wasn’t as pretty in this form. “Hello! I was hoping to speak to Head Priest Minu? This is his station, isn’t it?”

The man frowned, though it wasn’t a hostile expression. “No, we are headed by Priest Iano.”

“Oh, dang.” My face fell slightly, although I’d known from Vana’s background brief that that one was from another temple. “I must have confused something. Again.” I gave Aston a sideways glance. “Yes, I know, don’t even start, Tio.”

He raised his hands, protesting. “I didn’t say anything!”

“Good.” I turned back to the Zarian. “I’d still appreciate speaking to the head priest. Or if he’s absolutely not available, whoever else will see us.”

“May I ask what this is about?”

“Um.” I hesitated visibly. “It’s kind of a tricky matter. But important. I’m certain your Temple will want to know about this. It concerns the state of the city, I’d just rather discuss it with someone in charge, in private.”

The priest didn’t look particularly pleased, but at least he didn’t seem suspicious. I could see him wishing that we hadn’t shown up, but his professionalism and what was probably the general policy overruled it. “Of course. Just give me a moment, and I’ll let you in. I’ll see if he’s available. If not, his second certainly will be.”

True to his word, he led us into the compound after a few seconds, Aston and Li trailing behind me. I smiled pleasantly and didn’t let him see the way my gaze swept over the place, cataloging everything. There wasn’t much to see, really. While this station wasn’t as small as the one we’d come from, it was hardly a major temple. The buildings, a main and side wing, were the same bland beige stone as the surroundings, the space kept clean but almost bare of decorations.

“We’re not going to the main part of the building?” I asked. He’d led us into the central building, but veered to the side. “I thought that was where the head priest would have his offices.” I squinted. “You’re not just brushing us off, are you?”

As we walked, I detached little bits of light affinity qi and stuck them to the walls. They’d disintegrate pretty quickly, which was good since I didn’t want them to be caught, but they formed part of a technique I hadn’t used before. It was a bit too ‘traditional’ in its approach for my sentiments. It would still give me an idea of what went on here.

The Zarian sighed, clearly barely keeping from rolling his eyes. “Of course not,” he replied. “There’s been an accident in that part of the building and it’s closed off for casual use for now. Have no fear, you’ll meet someone with standing where we’re going.”

Even from here, I could tell that there hadn’t been any accident, at least not that would cause structural damage. Now that we were inside, I could sense the interior of the building much better. There were, however, a few spots where my sensed seemed almost to blank out. Probably warded. One of them was close to what I suspected would have been our path, and they clearly didn’t want to take a chance on us seeing something we shouldn’t.

“Alright.” I smiled more brightly at him. “Lead on, then.”

As we kept walking, I focused on my qi senses. I almost missed a step when I recognized two familiar presences. They were very dim, and I nearly missed them. Tenira and Kajare. I turned my head, exchanging a quick glance with Aston. Li was letting herself fall back, a slight shroud of darkness qi building around her. The two of them were farther ahead, just at the edge of one of those spaces. As I was watching, they moved further inside. Well, at least we found them. And Yarani? Maybe she got away.

I debated launching a surprise attack on our guide right now to free us to move around, but I didn’t know how noticeable that would be, when he would be missed. We might still get out of this in a better way, and if nothing else, whoever we were going to talk to would be a better target.

It seemed like we were here, anyway. I surreptitiously took a deep breath, looking down the corridor. Office space, clearly. No one was here yet, but I could sense someone coming. The door guard must have already talked to his superiors, or perhaps sensing our presence was enough.

Although it seemed like our plan had backfired quickly, I didn’t feel particularly upset. Instead, I actually felt a bit excited, nervous tension sharpening my mind. The qi connecting me to Rijoko almost seemed to tingle.

“Great, thank you,” I said. “I suppose we’ll wait. You wouldn’t happen to have a bit of water for us, would you?”

The Zarian’s exasperated sigh was totally worth it.

Chapter 178 (Draft)

The city of Saria was older than the City of a Thousand Lights by at least a millennium, and it wore its age well. The honor of being the Dominion’s capital changed back and forth between some Zarian cities regularly, but Saria had been at it this time for half a century, and that showed. I hadn’t seen more grand spires in any other city on this world. Its inhabitants had brightened the city with many colors as if they wanted to spite the war. The streets were broad and often lined with trees, they’d built many fountains and public buildings signs identified as libraries or galleries, and music drifted on the wind.

It only made the signs of deterioration stand out more sharply.

The citizens hurried about their business grimly, with more hushed curses and displeased muttering than laughter. Several of the buildings in the districts farther from the center had obviously been damaged. There were a lot of armed figures present on the streets, but whose presence they displayed seemed to vary depending on which area you were in. Temple knights and noble family guards outnumbered regulars from the Dominion’s army. Others wore no obvious uniforms, but it was apparent they worked for the High Temple. At least there was no open fighting in the streets, but I’d be very surprised if there hadn’t been violent incidents.

I wasn’t quite sure whether to feel pleased or troubled. Looking down at the city from my current spot on one of the hills the city was built upon, I studied it, tracing the patterns and flow of people and qi. I didn’t find anything I’d consider significant, or even helpful.

“My skin hasn’t stopped crawling since we got here,” Yarani muttered. “Do you have to dally?”

“Of course, ground your airships,” I answered in a lazy tone. “Everything’s fine and dandy, isn’t it?”

Yarani sighed, but relaxed, and nodded. I smiled at her as I turned back and brushed a strand of black hair out of my eyes.

For obvious reasons, I’d given myself a thorough disguise. I was now a curvy, slightly taller black-haired woman with a hooked nose and pockmarked skin. I’d also disguised my qi presence, with the help of a few special talismans but also manipulating my qi systematically myself. I’d been channeling fire qi off and on, and modified the veil over my qi signature. By this point, I seriously doubted anyone short of Isuro himself would pick me out of a crowd. Of course, I might just meet him now. Who knows?

I grimaced and started walking, turning my focus back on the present. Vana had just appeared on the other side courtyard, and I hurried up to catch her.

“Is everything alright?” I asked.

“Yes, don’t worry.” She smiled, although it couldn’t quite hide the tension in her bearing. “I’m not a hundred percent sure of the circumstances surrounding our friend’s apprehension, but I am quitesure that my own activities weren’t discovered. Quite apart from the fact that I wouldn’t be here if they were. But let’s join the others, if you would?”

I nodded. She’d taken us to a safehouse in one of the more mercantile quarters of the capital. From the way it was appointed and warded, I knew that it had been built with House Siranum’s resources, not the Basement’s. But that didn’t matter much, so long as she was confident of its privacy. We wouldn’t be using it for long, anyway.

Inside, Kajare, Tenira, Elia and Lei had settled down in various seats. We hadn’t taken anyone else into the city except for Aston and a few guards. This endeavor rested on secrecy more than strength. I knew only the fact that he couldn’t physically restrain me had made Aston agree to it, anyway. But surprisingly, I felt quite calm and at ease.

“Do you know who has him?” Elia asked as soon as Vana came in.

The Zarian nodded. “Not every detail, but in general, yes. The High Temple’s agents, and specifically their temple warriors, are the ones who got him. I made some inquiries and have narrowed it down to two possible locations. I don’t think they’d keep him in the central temple complex, too high a chance for him to pick up something useful.”

I ran a hand through my hair, wishing that Ceion was here. Hashar had carried a message to him, but we’d have to do without his input.

“That makes sense,” I said. “It was them who originally chased him, anyway.”

“I thought so. That doesn’t necessarily help us get him back.” Vana ran a hand through her hair and sighed. She let her gaze sweep through the room. “I have to admit, I’m not so sure about this. You being here. I understand that you want to help him, but this is … well, ‘dangerous’ is putting it mildly.”

“Believe me, we’ve had that argument.” I glanced at the others, too. “These all insisted on coming along.”

I knew I could have forced them to stay behind, but I didn’t. I guess I’m not that callous.Elia would always have been here, anyway. And Lei went to support her.

“I’m not certain if your own presence here is any wiser,” Vana said carefully.

I glared at Tenira, who looked like she might start grinning. “I’m the most skilled shapeshifter on the continent,” I responded calmly. “Not to mention my other unique talents. If there is going to be some sort of infiltration mission, my abilities will be crucial.”

Vana nodded with manifest unwillingness. “Alright. I can’t argue that. I suppose that brings us back to the issue at hand.”

“How safe are we here?” Yarani cut in. “I know our disguises are good, but what about the location? Any potential wards over the city?”

“It would be hard to give you any assurances,” Vana replied, now sounding more businesslike. “I can’t speak to your disguises, although my own artifacts don’t pick them up. The location should be secure. A few other people in my family know about it, of course, but they have no reason to care if I’m using it to stash some agents, and bigger things to worry about besides. Our other friends have also prepared a few surprises in case problems do arise. There are no wide-scale wards over the city that would cause issues, although I’d advise against walking into the temple of the Stormand asking around.”

“Dang, there went my first plan,” Yarani said drily.

I chuckled, and leaned against the wall, taking note of how everyone looked. Yarani and Lei seemed focused, while the rest showed clear signs of nerves or unease, and Elia clearly had trouble just staying in her chair. Her constantly tapping her feet on the ground and her fingers on her armrest was annoying, but I bit back the urge to complain.

“Well, we clearly need to confirm just where he is,” I said. “That’s the obvious first step. But besides that, I think we can’t afford to be too myopic. The situation is chaotic and fluid enough that ignoring everything else in the city would only bite us, but we might be able to use it.”

Tenira looked thoughtful. “Now that you are here after all, we need to reconsider our assumptions.”

“Exactly.” I smiled at her, then looked back at Vana. “I’ll give you what help I can in terms of dealing with the families and politics. In fact, it would probably be best if we have a long conversation later.”

She looked dubious. “Well, if that’s what you want.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not just pumping you for information.” I smiled and shrugged. “I do some of my best work with that kind of thing.”

Her expression cleared, and she nodded, more deeply this time. By some unspoken agreement, we’d been avoiding using names or titles. On the off-chance someone managed to listen in, our identities wouldn’t be immediately obvious, for all the good that did. But she clearly hadn’t forgotten who I was.

“Then perhaps the rest of us could start doing some reconnaissance,” Yarani suggested. “I know it won’t be the same as if you went yourself, but if you talk to us about it, we might still have a chance of stumbling on a good lead. And we’d probably split off, anyway, to cover more ground.”

“I can have a few people do some scouting, too,” Vana said. “It’s nothing we aren’t already doing, really.”

“Of course. Just be really careful. Only preliminary intelligence gathering, getting the lay of the land, nothing active or what would cause you to draw attention.”

Yarani inclined her head, and the others copied her.

“Actually, there is an opportunity here, if we’re quick,” Vana said. She tapped a finger against her chin. “One of the probable target locations I mentioned is going to be more accessible. We’ve already mapped out patterns of shift changes, and the priests there typically go out and minister to the needy on a regular schedule, mostly feeding some poor low-tiers.”

“Then we should hurry,” I said calmly. “But not rush into things unprepared. For now, why don’t you give us some background?”

Vana nodded and started talking. She laid out her thought process and what information she’d gathered quickly and clearly, explaining why and where Elis might be held and what we would have to be careful about. I paid attention not just to her words, but the way she spoke,    her reactions and attitude.

“Thank you,” Tenira said. “That should be all we need to get started.”

“If I may, I think we need to address another question.” Lei leaned forward, looking intently at Vana. “Do you know why they were after him in the first place?”

Vana hesitated, glancing again at Elia. “I suspect there are several reasons. You know that he was active as an investigator and intelligence broker in the northern Dominion?”

We nodded. “He doesn’t talk much about it, but apparently he was pretty successful,” Lei said.

Vana shrugged. “Well, I imagine that’s the main reason. They don’t like people like him outside their control in any case. And when it’s someone in a potentially sensitive or dangerous position, that’s even more true. Of course, it could also be that his specific bloodline was considered a threat. He didn’t keep it very quiet, after all. And given the associations …”

I snorted. “It really says something when these concepts in particular mark you as someone’s enemy. But I think you’re right.”

“Justice is an arbitrary concept and in practice depends a lot on a given society,” Elia said. She shook her head. “But given how things stand right now, you’re right that it is pretty telling.”

Vana looked hesitant. Finally, she let out a soft sigh. “It might also have had something to do with more specific details of his heritage. Especially his father. And yours, of course.” She nodded to Elia.

My friends leaned forward, her eyes narrowed. “We’ve been chasing down hints and breadcrumbs of his story for months now. I know he was involved in some surprisingly high-level political events here. Before his elite unite was suddenly transferred to a far frontier and he got killed in a skirmish, allegedly.”

Vana grimaced slightly. “I know. That’s because he was, though not a member of the Basement, working for it.”

I blinked. Elia’s eyes widened, then narrowed again, slightly. “And you’re only telling me this now?”

“I wasn’t aware of it when I first met you,” Vana responded calmly. “This was before my time, and it’s not talked about much among the organization. But after I started working more closely with your brother, I realized I’d heard about his father before, and I started chasing down more information. I mentioned it to one of my associates, who said that they’d heard the name before. I told our friend when he arrived, thought I think he might have known or suspected already, and was going to let him shake loose more details. Obviously, events didn’t work out that way.”

I sat back in my chair, frowning in thought. This was pretty interesting. It still didn’t answer how Elia’s father got outed or who exactly killed him, but there was definitely a chance this contributed to Elis’ situation. And on a personal level, this would only make Elia and Elis more inclined to keep working with the Basement.

“This is interesting,” I said, “and I really mean that. But it’s not going to help us right now.” I looked at our hostess. “We should get started. Would you come with me? We can walk and talk.”

Vana straightened up. “Of course.”

I quickly said my goodbyes to the others, then left the room and the building. I glanced around, then crossed the courtyard, Vana following me, and headed towards the left.

We walked in silence for the first minute or so, getting from the street to a side alley that passed beside a small park. Behind a low wall at the crest of the hill, it offered a good view of the lower regions of the city. I put up a discreet qi shield to stop our conversation from being overheard.

“Before we start talking about the general situation, there is one thing I’d like clarified,” I said.

“What is it?” Vana looked a little wary.

“I have no problem with the Basement taking Elis,” I said, keeping my tone even. “But Elia is not going to get caught up in it.”

Vana almost missed a step. Her face hardened. “Of course,” she said stiffly. “We are not planning to recruit her. May I ask what brought this on?”

“What you said about their father, of course.” I raised an eyebrow. “It’s quite clear that he was killed, and most likely because of his involvement with the Basement. That means someone, the wrong someone, knew about it. It might have been sheer luck and nothing you could have done about it, but it’s also quite possible that it was a security failure on your part.”

“I take your point.” Her tone was even colder now. “But I do not appreciate the insinuation. This is a mighty thin basis for making any accusation like that.”

“I am not making any accusations, or this conversation would go differently.” I shook my head. “I know this was years ago, and I’ve been generally impressed with your outift’s grasp of operation security. Still. Whatever leak this may have been will have to be stuffed, ‘Spark’. If my friend gets harmed because of your people, I will be … unhappy.”

I noticed that Vana clenched her fingers into her trousers, and her knuckles whitened, though her voice was still even. “Oh, really? And you think we will just let it? Perhaps you should choose your words with a little more care.”

We’d been slowing down, and now I stopped. “There’s something else you may have forgotten and should keep in mind.” I turned to face her more fully, leaning forward slightly, my voice calm, quiet, and even. “This is not an alliance of equals.”

We locked eyes and I held her gaze for long seconds. She broke it first, looking down.

“I appreciate the risks you’ve been taking on or behalf,” I said in a warmer tone. “We’ve both, our respective organizations, profited from this association, and on a personal level, I have absolutely no desire to end it. I respect and admire your commitment and skills. The Basement has proved itself to be both an excellent tool and good and valuable allies.”

But not essential. We could win the war with or without them. And a resistance organization in your enemy’s lands was an asset, one in your newly conquered lands a liability. I refrained from pointing that out.

“Of course, my lady.” Vana smiled, no hint of any tension remaining. “Much appreciated.”

“Good.” I returned her smile, injecting some cheerfulness into it. “Then let’s talk about the city and what we can accomplish.”

It was, I reflected, going to be a long day.

Chapter 177 (Draft)

I didn’t think anyone got much sleep that night. Which was probably just as well. My army was composed of cultivators who were all at least in the third stage, so it didn’t pose much of a problem. But with the aftereffects of the battle for the city, the continuing headache of what to do with it, and then the excitement about our possibly breached defenses, the whole area was swarming like a kicked beehive.

That might be why the gathered nobles and officers were looking at me with barely concealed annoyance or exasperation. In most cases, at least.

“You want to take the army out now?” Zheng, one of the eighth-stagers present, demanded. He had an impressive glower, helped by his big stature, weathered face and black and gray mane. “We’ve barely started settling in here!”

“We don’t need to settle in here,” I replied calmly. “This city is a strategic target, obviously, but now that we’ve taken it, we’re not in much danger of losing it. And with all of the destruction here, we run the risk of just getting bogged down with local problems. We’ll send supplies and reinforcements from cities we’ve already taken, and they can rebuild without us.”

Several of the gathered people frowned. Breaking the usual pattern, we’d met not in a conference room, but outside, under the clear and sunny sky. The cold wind and freezing temperatures would have made it unpleasant for weaker people, but it wasn’t enough to bother anyone here unduly.

“So we press on,” Hashar said. “Isn’t it a dangerous gamble? We risk getting cut off from reinforcements and easy contact with our bases to the north.”

I nodded at her. “You’re right, it is risky. But we still have a lot of our airships and planes, and a cultivator army isn’t that easy to pin down. Not to mention the intelligence we have about how the Zarian are beset by their internal problems. The factional strife has finally reached the army. It still wouldn’t do to write them off, of course. I think the Zarian have sufficiently proved how dangerous they are. But it’s still important. We’ll manage, especially with the help of our black stage cultivators.”

I smiled at the eighth-stagers present. They inclined their heads in return, and Ki even returned a small smile.

“That should not be much of a problem,” General Poteri agreed. After his campaign on the Earth Continent was finished, he’d been sent to the southern front. I suspected the army’s high command wanted a strategist to replace General Wei. Or maybe Kiyanu did. Not that I was going to complain. “The closer we draw to the capital, the more resistance from local elements we have to anticipate, however.”

“Most of those not already with the army are busy infighting,” Elia spoke up. “But our advance will definitely stir up the great families, too.”

“It will increase the time crunch for everyone,” I agreed. “That’s half of the point. Are there any other objections?” I looked around the room, but no one spoke up. I nodded and continued. “Good. Let’s make sure we move quickly.”

The meeting moved pretty fast from there, and ten minutes later, it disbanded as everyone headed off to their tasks. Several of the nobles stayed behind and tried to talk to me. I forced myself to remain polite and not brush them off too obviously. By the time I finally got out and stepped outside the estate, the army was packing up, soldiers preparing to move out. We were leaving a decently large garrison behind, and almost all of the strong cultivators in the city had died or been driven off, anyway.

I walked through the streets, which were no longer quiet but still not as bustling as they should have been, in silence, surrounded by my guard detail. After crossing through a gate in the outer wall, I found a nice spot on a hill where I had a good view over everything.

Only a minute later, I felt a familiar presence approaching. I turned and watched as the guards parted neatly to let him pass, shifting their formation slightly to watch both of our backs. Kajare wore a cultivator’s robes in the traditional Imperial style, and in clan Leri’s blue and silver. I wondered if he was making a point, or to whom.

“Nari,” he greeted me with a smile and stepped closer to kiss me on the cheek.

“Kajare,” I replied, returning his smile and slipping my hand into his.

“Are you alright?” he asked directly. He hesitated, then shrugged slightly. “This is the first time we’ve been alone and I’ve had the option to ask you since the battle.”

“Of course. I’m fine.”

“If you say so.” He smiled again. “I’m not sure I would be so calm after seeing Jideia personally. And you finally met your Mother again. Stop me if I’m out of line, but I knew you and she had disagreements. It must have been … stressful.”

I regarded him thoughtfully. Tenira and Yarani hadn’t brought this up. They’d been there, and recognized that I didn’t want to talk about it later. I was tempted to just brush him off. But the honest concern he showed stopped me.

“It was,” I replied. “We talked things out, after a fashion. Well, it involved me having an angry fit at her, to be honest. But we ended on a better note, and I think we’ve worked through a few issues.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Although I wish I could have been there to see you shouting at the Empress.”

I returned his grin and lightly bonked him on the head. “How boorish of you. Maybe I should just shout at you if you want to see that so much.”

“Be my guest. I’m always at your service, my lady.” He put his arms around me and drew me closer.

I gave him a quick kiss, then rested my head on his shoulder. “It feels like we haven’t had time together for far too long,” I said quietly. “Just to talk.”

“True,” he agreed. “I don’t mind being your link between the Terbekteri and your own forces, on the contrary, but it does seem to take me away from you and the others far too much.”

I pulled back, breaking the hug, and considered that for a moment. It was true that Yarani and Tenira followed me around a lot more these last months. But Kajare wasn’t just the symbol of the Empire’s alliance with the Kingdom, he was invaluable in maintaining it.

I knew Kajare would never complain about that. He was doing his duty. He probably did enjoy doing it, on the whole, but he’d do it regardless. In that moment, I really appreciated his quiet support.

We waited in companionable silence, watching the city and the landscape of the Dominion’s central lands stretching before us. The Whitecaps towered over the area like white sentinels dutifully guarding their people’s prizes. We could reach their capital in a few hours without hurrying too much, if there wasn’t a war going on.

We watched as the army encamped from the city, soldiers leaving it and forming up. This might well be the most perilous stretch of our trek so far, and the formation they took reflected that. Tenira, Yarani, Elia and Lei joined me and Kajare shortly, before all of us walked down to take our own places. I kept holding hands with my husband.

The signal to march out was given by several horn blasts, though it wasn’t as if everyone couldn’t tell what was going on, anyway. Even with all the Lighters, still a lot even after the detachments we’d left in various places, the army wasn’t that big. Hannibal had probably taken more soldiers with him over the Alps. Of course, I intended to succeed where the Carthaginians had failed, and I wouldn’t screw around in the countryside too much and waste my chance to take the enemy’s capital, I just need to not be an idiot about it, either.I smiled to myself as we got moving.

We were traveling carefully, and I could tell that the soldiers were on edge. That was just as well, on my opinion. We were now well and truly moving through the Zarian Dominion’s heartland, and it wouldn’t do to forget the danger. The Zarian hadn’t used teleporting much since we handed them a crushing defeat with it, but that was no guarantee that they couldn’t. We hadn’t used teleportation much ourselves, either. I preferred to keep that card up our sleeve. It still meant that even careful scouting couldn’t tell us all about what we might encounter, though I’m sure our scouts and Kariva’s specialists did their best.

While I could feel the tension of those around me, I simply felt relaxed. I enjoyed the nice morning breeze, the winter sun shining down on us, and listened to the plodding of shoes and spirit beasts on the trail we followed. My horse seemed to feel it as well, contained energy in her movements, showing me she wanted to run wild.

The city had vanished into a speck behind us when the monotony of travel was first broken. We were traveling through the foothills of the Whitecaps now, hilly country bedecked with forests, small streams and grasses and stretching into scraggly tundra-like steppes to the south.

It was inhospitable country, but a beautiful one. In a way, I felt far more connected to this than to the lush fields of the Empire’s north, more drawn to it. I no longer wondered why I had found more spirit-children among the Zarian than the Empire.

One of them was among the group waiting for us in a shadowed grove just off a stony hillside. They’d hidden themselves well, but my qi senses had been able to pick her out from a mile away. My group had ridden ahead (and slightly to the side) of the main army, and as I guided my horse between the trees, followed by my companions, I hoped we’d be able to keep this discreet.

“Imperial Princess,” the older woman bowed deeply. She glanced at my companions, bowing her head politely, and smiled as her eyes settled on Elia. “I think I’m beginning to see why you wanted to meet in person.”

“It’s not that I mistrust you,” I replied, dismounting and letting one of my guards take the reins, before I inclined my head to her. “But I’d rather be sure about these things, you understand.”

“Of course.” She glanced in the direction of the army. It felt like she was only in the fourth stage, but I wouldn’t bet on that, and she could clearly sense their presence anyway. “I see you didn’t bring many of your officers.”

“This isn’t common knowledge among them,” I answered, smiling wryly. “But even if they find out now, I don’t think they could do much harm. Still, if you don’t mind, let’s get down to business.” From the corner of my eyes, I caught Tenira and Yarani exchanging an ironic look, but ignored them.

“As you wish, Your Highness.” The spirit-child nodded at us. I wasn’t sure of her heritage, but I suspected it was a reasonably strong local spirit, nothing in Rijoko’s or even the Auditor’s league. She hadn’t offered her name, so I wouldn’t ask. “We were sent by Lady Vana, as I assume you know. She’s recently been titled steward of the house’s scrolls.”

I nodded. “Congratulations are in order. I imagine the new office helps with our business.” It was notable that she’d managed such a rise with the help of the Basement and our contacts. Elis had probably reached her by now, too, of course.

“Quite. We have made some progress, certainly.”

For the next few minutes, she updated us on how things were going. I listened quietly but intently, soaking up her information and storing it for later pondering, while I let my intuition play with the the pieces. The web of Zarian politics was just as tangled as you would expect, and the recent upheavals hadn’t made it easier, but I’d been briefed and she had a way of distilling information and making things easily comprehensible. Vana had clearly chosen her carefully for this task. I’d talked to her in her sleep last night, so this wasn’t unexpected. I didn’t think the details were going to be very important for me, anyway. It wasn’t my job to handle those.

“It seems like things are going reasonably well, then,” I finally commented. “Although this mention of overtures from the other factions worries me. The hope was that we could move quickly enough to catch them before they united against the imminent threat. Still, good work.”

I glanced at Elia, who nodded subtly. Apparently, she hadn’t sensed anything that would give cause for concern from our visitors. My other companions were clearly listening to us attentively.

“That brings me to the last part of my message, Imperial Princess,” the Zarian said. She inclined her head. “I am to tell you that Spark apologizes, but she would like to amend the plan.”

“Oh?” I raised an eyebrow. Our plan was pretty vague and left room for improvisation, but I wondered what she wanted.

“Yes, my lady. She requests a personal meeting with you.”

After a moment, I nodded. “Alright. I suppose there’s nothing for it. I assume she has made preparations?”

“Indeed. She has chosen a place where you will not be observed, though it is best if you arrive there … directly.”

I sighed, then turned to Aston. “Please find General San and make sure she meets us …” I paused, then pointed out a sheltered spot beside a hillock some distance away, hidden from view from the army.

Aston bowed and vanished. He’d contact Hashar telepathically, and I had no concerns about her ability to slip away.

“Thank you, Imperial Princess,” the Zarian said. “If you will excuse us, it is best my companions go now. I will come with you to guide you to our destination.”

“Of course. May the Moon guide your way.”

The other Zarian, who’d tried hard to be unobtrusive and never spoken up, melted into the surrounding trees. I glanced after them for a moment, then turned.

“Well, that was interesting,” Tenira said. “This isn’t going to be a quiet, peaceful little outing, is it?”

Yarani laughed. “When is it ever?”

I smiled, but didn’t respond, and only pulled a bit of darkness qi over us. After a moment, Tenira and Lei joined in. We quickly made our way to the place I’d chosen.

It only took half a minute for San Hashar to arrive, flitting through the trees at a fast pace but without making any noise. She sank to a knee. “Your Highness, you called for me?”

“Hashar, rise, please. We need to go to a meeting with an ally, and the best way to get there is teleportation. Our contact here knows the location. I hope you can get it from her?”

“That shouldn’t be a problem.” Hashar turned to the Zarian, eyeing her for a moment, and smiled politely. “May I?”

“Of course.”

She closed her eyes, and I knew Hashar was establishing a telepathic connection. The Zarian was probably focusing on the destination, and Hashar would try to get familiar enough she could bring us there.

A moment later, with little warning, the world around us started to shift. I stiffened and closed my eyes, enduring the familiar feeling of teleportation. It shouldn’t be too far away, but this was still disorienting.

When I opened my eyes again, I saw Hashar staggering slightly, but she straightened up quickly. Then I turned my attention to my surroundings. We stood in a clearing surrounded by trees, not too far different from our origin point, thought the view of the mountains on the horizon had changed. Vana waited for us accompanied by two guards in Siranum colors.

When she saw me looking, she bowed deeply. “Your Highness. It is good to see you again. I hope all is well?”

“You as well. Yes, it is, for the most part.”

She turned to my companions and greeted them quickly. But I could tell her heart wasn’t in it.

I frowned. “Why did you call us here? Bad news?”

“For the most part, things have gone well. But there is … one issue. I assume you know Elis went to join me in order to help our efforts here?”

“Yes. Where is he?”

She clearly took a deep breath. “They’ve taken Elis.”

I stared at her, then closed my eyes for a moment. Beside me, Elia sucked in air audibly. Lei stepped closer and took her hand, and I rested my hand on her shoulder briefly.

Oh, crap. I should have known things were going too well.

Chapter 176 (Draft)

Despite all odds, we’d managed to keep the city relatively intact.

As I stood looking out over the spread of the buildings, what felt like half of them damaged or scorched, I recognized that that was something of an accomplishment. Jideia’s presence had not done the area around the temple any favors, especially when he charged out to chase us. Not to mention the storm.

Winter had come to this region, and the people were certainly used to blizzards. But apparently, no one remembered one ever being as bad as that one. Snow and ice still covered the city, making the streets hard to traverse. It didn’t feel that bad compared to the damage the fighting and the rest of it had wrought. But I knew we were in danger of losing more people to the cold and exposure than the spirits or the storm. It was a strain on the already busy army, trying to not only sort out the mess of the noble families who’d fought, but also protect and manage the city. But we had enough strong cultivators it should be manageable to keep the people reasonably safe and comfortable, and I didn’t care if they wanted to grumble about menial work.

I shivered slightly, turning away from the window in my dark bedroom. In recognition of the cold, I’d slept in a loose pair of pants and a long-sleeved shirt, but now I felt like I wanted something warmer. That was probably psychological. But I paused as I looked at my bed and smiled.

Our quarters had been hastily arranged in one of the noble mansions in the city that was most intact, and the bed was a little small for all of the people. Kajare and Yarani and I had pounced on each other as soon as we were alone. Tenira had joined us at some point after we were finished, obviously not to participate, but just to cuddle. I was certainly happy to share some comfort the way only a good group cuddle could. Right now, I saw her still cuddling with Yarani. Tenira wore a nighshirt while Yarani and Kajare didn’t. I quietly pulled the covers that had slipped up over them.

It was just barely dawn outside. I hadn’t slept much, which was a bit of a shame, since I couldn’t really fully sleep, anyway. But my dreams just hadn’t been as relaxed as usual. I sighed softly, crossing to the wardrobe and leafing through the clothes some servant had hung up. I only recognized most of it. If nothing else, that should show that our logistics were still working.

Once I was fully dressed, I debated going outside to cultivate, but I didn’t really want to meet people right now. Instead, I settled down on the floor, calming my breathing.

But before I could fully sink into my meditation and start proper cultivation, something roused me. I opened my eyes, blinked, and tried to find out what I’d sensed. Right now, I couldn’t feel anything out of the ordinary. At least, nothing I could put my finger on. But the hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I knew there was something. Frowning, I stood up.

“Nari?” Tenira asked, rolling over on the bed and gently pulled her arm out from under Yarani. “You’re already up? What’s going on?”

“Probably nothing,” I replied.

She looked at me for a moment, then started to get out of bed. Beside her, Yarani and Kajare stirred. I sighed, but clearly, no one was going back to sleep. At least they should all have gotten enough rest, considering our cultivation stages.

I turned my focus to the outside. I could sense Aston and a few other guards outside, guarding the room. They appeared alert, but that was their job. Imperial guards also secured the rest of the building, and there were a few soldiers and elites around, even at this hour. I couldn’t sense any of the eighth-stagers close by, which was probably good. They and the nobles had mostly found other accommodations. Besides that, I could sense a few servants and some citizens outside the estate, most of them probably asleep. I could go back to sleep myself and check, but that didn’t seem necessary.

Tenira opened the door and we piled into the hallway. I noticed the way the others all followed my lead, trusting into my intuition probably, without question. It made me feel a little warmer. But I focused my attention on my surroundings again and started slowly making my way through the building. More guards joined us on the way, probably alerted that there might be trouble.

We finally exited the door into an outer courtyard that was sheltered from view by the walls of the main building and two side wings of the palace. I frowned, then stopped, as I recognized what I sensed here. “Ceion?”

The presence I’d sensed grew more clear as the darkness affinity qi shrouding it was pulled back inside. Ceion smiled a touch sheepishly. “Sorry, my lady. I hope I didn’t alarm you.”

I shook my head and stepped closer, the others still following me. “It’s not a problem. What are you doing out at this time, though?”

He hesitated. “I couldn’t sleep and was feeling restless and on edge. I thought going for a walk might help. And I tried practicing my techniques a little.”

I frowned again, more deeply. Faint alarm bells were beginning to ring in the back of my mind. “You really thought creeping through the grounds here at a place like this without being watched was a smart idea?”

Ceion blinked. I could tell that he was startled. “Now that you mention it, that might not have been one of my better ideas, was it?” he said ruefully. “I’m lucky no one thought I was an attacker or trying to sneak out.”

I cocked my head. “Where were you going, Ceion?”

“Nowhere in particular. I was just taking a walk.”

I suppressed another frown, then glanced around. Suddenly, something else I hadn’t quite noticed before hit me. “Tenira, aren’t we supposed to put up little shrines to the Moon on the corners of any grounds we set up camp in? Why don’t I sense anything like that here?”

Tenira’s eyes widened slightly, and she bit off a curse. “You’re right, that should have been done. Someone must have forgotten.”

We exchanged a look, and I noticed that Aston had grown more tense. “Well, take care of that right away,” I said to him.

“Of course, my lady.” He nodded to two other guards, who sped off.

The place clearly wasn’t under attack. Jideia and his followers, like the Auditor, must have more subtle ways of accomplishing something like that.

I turned back to Ceion and sharpened my focus. Now that I was looking for it, I was starting to see the faint lines of qi binding him to me, or more accurately, something going through me. They were so faint I could barely even tell they were there, and yet, they somehow felt strained to me.

“Ceion,” I started, in a relaxed and hopefully calming tone of voice, “I should check on you, make sure your protections are functioning properly. Alright?”

He frowned, looking a little puzzled. He shifted slightly, and I recognized the tension in his posture. “Sure …” he finally said, sounding doubtful and just a little less focused than before.

I smiled at him again, careful to keep my body language relaxed, and advanced closer to him. My guards were good enough that they didn’t visibly tense, at least, as I saw out of the corner of my eyes. I felt in my companions’ auras that they were preparing for trouble, though. Hopefully Ceion wouldn’t notice or take it badly.

“Just stay still and relaxed and let me work,” I told him.

Gingerly, I placed a hand on his head, then, after a moment’s hesitation, a second one on the side of his neck. If it came down to it, I could channel a bit of darkness qi through it to really mess up his ability to take action against me, if he didn’t catch me off guard. I just hoped that wouldn’t be necessary. And if the Auditor managed to take him over, that would probably be the least of my worries.

I slowly channeled a bit of my qi into him, trying to guide it to wind itself around his aura like the rest that I could dimly sense. Ceion shifted, but didn’t pull away. I breathed a little easier and closed my eyes, focusing on what I could sense in his qi presence.

I only had a moment’s warning. Suddenly, qi roared through him, other but not quite foreign. I snatched my hand from his forehead as if it had been burned on instinct, but forced myself not to jump back.

Ceion’s hand came up and he grabbed my arm. At the same time, he shifted his weight and I could tell he was preparing for a kick. I moved inwards and shifted my arm.

He was strong, but Ceion’s body was no stronger than mine. Reinforced as mine was with my shapeshifting, I overpowered him pretty easily. I managed to put him into a hold, my left hand still close enough to his spinal column to act. I pulled some darkness qi out, laying it across his skin, but didn’t let it eat into him.

Ceion snarled and tried to shove me. I could hear him breathing heavily, strained and with irregular jumps and hitches. He started to shiver slightly, and I knew it wasn’t because of the cold air. I grit my teeth, trying to make out what I could from his aura and the sudden changes. It was pretty obvious the qi coming in was responsible for this. While I’d never had the opportunity to observe him using his bloodline’s ability up close, the similarity was obvious.

“Ceion,” I said calmly. “You’re still here. I’ve got you. We’re okay. I need you to fight this.”

Ceion snarled, but halfway through, the sound shifted into a whine.

I’m going to take this as a good thing. Obviously, he can’t get a full and smooth possession.I tightened my grip slightly and kept talking in a calm tone. “You’re being influenced or controlled. I think you can tell. I need you to fight this. I can help, but only if you’re doing it.” I paused, unsure how to continue. If he could, he would obviously be trying to fight this already. “Remember what your father has done to you,” I finally said. “Remember what you’ve been forced to do. This time, you can fight back. You’re not helpless, you’re free. Show him that. You’re no one’s victim.”

Ceion snarled again, but I could tell it wasn’t really directed at me. His aura shifted again slightly, and I could almost see the strain intensifying as his own mind redoubled its efforts to break free from the spirit’s qi.

“I don’t think this is working,” Tenira said from behind me. I could hear the concern in her voice. “Maybe we need something more.”

I nodded, then had to refocus as Ceion struggled again against my hold. I managed to get his elbow into my stomach and I felt the air driven out of me. My grip started to slip before I could tighten it again. I locked my joints in place and increased my weight.

“Aston, can you help?” I asked.

My guard captain was beside me in an instant, carefully catching Ceion’s arm and taking some of the pressure off me.

I felt his mind touch mine a second later and let him establish contact. Then I felt him reaching out to Ceion, bringing me along.

I sighed as I felt the turmoil engulfing the spirit-child’s mind. Like I’d been afraid of, it felt like parts of it were turned against itself. But I could also tell, looking at it more closely, that the impetus for that came from outside. Ceion’s defenses were actually pretty good, and Aston was skillfully wedging himself into the cracks and helping to pry off the spirit’s qi. Of anyone here, he had the most experience with something like this, and he’d even given Ceion a lesson or two in mental defense.

I frowned and took a deep breath. Then I put more of my darkness qi into it. Quickly but with a deft touch, I brought it around Ceion’s mind, pushing and quashing his connection to the Auditor. His qi seemed to shake at I started to cut it off from its source.

The Auditor didn’t just let me do as I pleased, though. I felt like someone punched me as more qi surged towards Ceion. But I gritted my teeth and held on. My own connection to Rijoko opened more widely, and my father’s qi flowed into and reinforced me. My attempted blockade wavered, but it held.

Everything else faded from my awareness as I focused on what I was doing. For long moments, I struggled against the Auditor. At first, I felt like I could barely hold on. But then Ceion’s will gathered itself and reinforced my own. Slowly, inexorably, we drove the Auditor off. And in so doing, we cut off all of the qi he’d sent over the connection to his son.

Finally, I opened my eyes, breathing heavily. I let go of Ceion and staggered back, until Aston steadied me.

There were tears in Ceion’s eyes when I met them again. He blinked, then shook himself. “Thank you, Inaris,” he said, his voice a little hoarse. “That was ….” He ran a hand over his face. “Can we drive him off it this happens again?”

“Yes, I’m sure,” I answered, smiling slightly. “Now that you’ve fought him off once, he’s going to have a much harder time trying that again. Just to be safe, I’ll also reinforce Rijoko’s protection over you.”

Ceion nodded. He still looked a little pale.

I took a few steps back. The other crowded more closely, and Yarani took one of my hands. “Was that all of it?” she asked quietly.

I shook my head slowly, then smiled. “Oh, I don’t know. I know much more about the Auditor now. I think Jideia just made a significant blunder.”

The others looked a little skeptical, but no one spoke up. I glanced back at Ceion. I was starting to think that my decision about him was really going to pay off.

Chapter 175 (Draft)

The hug didn’t last long, considering how intense it was. After a few moments, we both broke off as if we suddenly realized what we were doing. It had settled me down a bit, but I still felt badly off balance, and in a way, this only made that worse. It wasn’t like I was used to hugs with my Mother even when she was still around.

I glanced around at our surroundings so I didn’t have to look at her for a moment. I didn’t recognize the place, but it was very bare. A few spirits lingered in the distance, but too far to bother us, and otherwise, we were alone except for my companions that Mother had brought. I noted that a few soldiers seemed to be missing. Perhaps they’d run too far away already, and hopefully, they were safely getting back to the rest right now.

Everyone had dropped to their knees and was looking at Mother.

’Rise, please,’she told them, though she didn’t spare them more than a glance before she focused back on me. She smiled. ‘I think we have a lot to talk about, Nari.’

I returned her smile, though it felt a bit awkward. “That we do,” I replied. “First things first, where are we? Are we safe here?”

“As safe as can be,” Mother answered. She was shifting into a more physical form as we spoke. It was fascinating to watch. “We’re in a crossing of pathways. Mior showed me how to get around here. Jideia can probably get here, as well, but I doubt he’ll go to the trouble. Still, it’s probably best if we don’t linger here.”

I nodded. That made as much sense as anything else that had been happening recently.

“I didn’t expect to see you so soon, Mother,” I said with a small smile. “But hey, I’m not complaining. Thanks for the rescue.”

She nodded. “I’m hardly up to, say, the Pioneer’s standards, but I’m not in danger of unraveling. I won’t be doing that again anytime soon, though.”

She paused and glanced at the rest of the people with us, who’d been respectfully keeping back. Now, Tenira and my other companions were hesitantly approaching.

“It is a great relief to see you alive and well, Your Majesty,” Tenira said with a bow.

Mother raised an eyebrow and quirked her lips. “No need for excessive formality, I’m not much of an empress anymore. It appears, though, that other things have changed.” She glanced at me briefly. “I see you two finally worked things out. And congratulations are in order? I might even be able to make the wedding.”

Tenira ducked her head. Despite Mother’s light tone, there was a subtext here, and for a few moments, tension stretched between them. I remembered that for Imperial culture, and probably where Tenira’s soul journey sent here, this was a bit of a thing.

“Yeah, fine, we technically got engaged without my parent’s permission,” I said. “That wasn’t exactly feasible, though. How about you just give us your blessing now and we get on with things?”

Tenira blushed, but Mother just chuckled. “Of course. I’m happy for you two, and if you need me to say it, I approve unreservedly.” She glanced at Yarani. “That goes for you, too.”

“Thank you, my lady.” Yarani smiled and bowed her head.

Mother nodded, then turned back to me. “We do have more important things to talk about, unfortunately.”

“Of course.” Hesitantly, I stepped to the side.

Mother and I went a few steps further while the rest of the group withdrew to give us some privacy on some unspoken signal. It wasn’t really enough distance to stop a cultivator’s hearing, but then again, there was a lot of qi in this place.

“So, I hear I’m still technically Empress,” Mother began. “Sort of.”

I pulled a face and nodded. “Yes. We did the best we could with the situation.”

“And you did well. You did use that will I left, and I’m glad to see Kiyanu stepping up like this. I’ll be glad once you reach the eighth stage and get officially crowned, but in the meantime, things are fine like this.”

I relaxed a little, releasing some of the tension I’d barely been aware was there. And her last sentence made me remember that, like me, Mother had probably never wanted to be Empress, she’d just been born and raised to the position. “I imagine it can be a relief to let go of that responsibility,” I said.

Mother hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “Yes. Especially since I didn’t abandon the Empire to a dark future. I’m a little anxious, but also very relieved,” she admitted.

I met her gaze, then looked away. “Well, there was a civil war and everything …”

“Yes, I know. You handled that as well as I could have hoped for.”

I turned back to her and raised an eyebrow. “How do you know all this? Did Mior tell you? Or, wait, how much do you know of what’s been happening?”

Mother smiled faintly. “Yes, Mior has kept me appraised of events. I’m sure they’ve left out some details, and I certainly don’t know everything, but I’m aware in a general sense of the state of the Empire and the war. Great work, by the way. I never would have expected you to be this deep inside the Dominion after this short a time. I don’t think I could have done.”

“You probably couldn’t have,” I told her. “Or rather, we probably wouldn’t have if you’d still been there. The situation certainly provided a lot of pressure.” And I’d leaned harder into the whole industrialization thing than Mother ever had.

She blinked, as if surprised by the thought. “Well, I suppose you’re right about that. I certainly can’t argue with results. I still feel bad about leaving you to fight this war, even with Kiyanu’s help.”

I gazed out into the darkness, staying silent. There was a dim, diffuse light lighting everything, but expect for qi, it was as if we stood on a featureless plain. Any other spirits had disappeared.

“Inaris?” Mother asked. “I said, I feel bad about you bearing this sort of responsibility.”

I turned back to her. “Well, you should.”

She twitched, just slightly. “I understand if you feel resentful …”

Anger was starting to rise in me now, calmly coming closer to the surface. It had been there before, brought into focus from when I saw her again. I clenched a fist. “Oh, you understand, do you?”

Mother hesitated. “Nari, I didn’t do any of this on purpose, you know. I wouldn’t have.”

“And that makes it all better?” I took a step closer to her, feeling my lips pulling back in a snarl. “That you were just negligent, not noticing what was going on in your own court? That you put your damnable infatuation with Carston above any sensible caution and got surprised when it blew up in your face? The people who died in the attempted coup, trying to protect you and us? The ruin it almost brought?”

“Nari -”

“I had to drag things out of the fire by the skin of my teeth!” I stabbed a finger forward accusingly, knowing that I was getting louder, but not caring in that moment. “You left me with a shattered palace, half an Empire, and no plan! You left me in charge of our family!” I paused for a moment, breathing heavily. “I had to tell Al and An what happened, Mother! I had to watch Al stew in his anger and try to get An oriented! Somehow make sure they were cared for when I had to go off to war. I’ve probably screwed things up in a dozen different ways.” I closed my eyes for a moment, shaking my head. “I was nineteen, by this world’s clocks! I was - am - in no way ready to raise children. But I suddenly had the responsibility for two younger siblings dropped in my lap, in addition to all the other shit, and I don’t know who’s worst off for it!”

I came to a stop, still breathing heavily, and felt my nails digging into my palms. Mother stared at me, her eyes wise. For a minute, we just stood there in silence. I unclenched my hands and got my breathing back under control, but I didn’t take my attention from her.

Finally, she spoke quietly. “I know.” She bowed her head, seeming to sag slightly. “You are right to be angry. There’s little I can say to this.”

I let out a long breath, feeling some of the tension flow out of me along with it. “Okay.”

Mother shook her head. “I don’t think I quite deserve all of this vehemence, but I can hardly blame you for it. I did fail you. I’m your mom, it was my job to protect you. Instead, you were the one who saved my life. Like I said, you’ve done better than I had any right to expect. And I know it’s not easy, but I’m certain that you’re caring for Al and An.”

I twisted my lips slightly. “I have Kei Yating taking care of An. He’s her father, after all, even if you never acknowledged that. I still haven’t officially recognized it, but everyone knows.”

She smiled wryly. “Good. Yating deserves to be with his daughter, if nothing else. I’m probably lucky that man chose to stay with me all those years. He certainly would have deserved better.”

“Yeah. Seems like there’s some of that going around.”

Mother straightened up again and clasped her hands before her. “I’ve done quite a few things I’m not proud of in my life, mucked quite a few things up. Perhaps ironically, I think I was a much worse mother than an empress. You know …” She exhaled softly. “I think I feel the most guilt about you, even if I never allowed myself to properly express it, or even acknowledge it to myself. My feelings towards you were always … complicated.”

I narrowed my eyes and cocked my head to the side. “What do you feel about me?”

Mother met my eyes again. “Love, anxiety, pride, guilt. Love has always been strongest. Believe me.” Then her eyes slid off me into the distance. “But like I said, also guilty. I am sorry, Inaris.”

“This isn’t about failing to see the coup,” I said quietly. I knew what it was about. Probably the biggest reason she called herself a bad mother. I realized, to the surprise of some part of me, that I couldn’t agree with that assessment.

“No. It’s about how you came to be, and how I used you.”

“You already apologized for that, I think,” I said slowly, grimacing a little as I thought back to that day. “I always said I understood. Which is the truth. I do. It never felt like it was the right thing, but I feel like I can’t blame you for doing what you thought was best as the Empress.”

Mother nodded. “I get it.”

“Well …” I sighed and shook my head. Then, surprising myself almost more than I did her, I stepped forward and laid a hand on her shoulder briefly. “That’s not all. It’s okay, Mother.”

She looked surprised for a moment, then smiled. She put her other hand on my shoulder. “Thank you, Nari.”

“You said something else that day. I’ve been cursing the fact that I was unable to respond since then. But now that we’ve seen each other again, I can.” I hesitated for a moment, then pulled her into another hug. “I love you, too.”

I felt Mother cling to me more tightly for a moment, before she relaxed. We embraced each other for a short while later, before we simultaneously pulled away. She smiled, and her eyes were brighter.

I returned that smile. I couldn’t remember ever initiating a hug with her, although I now realized how stupid that was. I knew that even before my soul journey, we probably hadn’t told each other those words often, and certainly never afterward.

It didn’t make me forget about what I’d said before. I still felt anger and resentment. But I realized that that was okay. You could love someone without liking everything about them. After all, we were family.

As we looked at each other, I felt like we shared that understanding. That there were still issues, wounds and scars that had been covered before but laid free by what had happened. But that we wouldn’t let that drive us apart.

“You should go now, Nari,” Mother finally said. “We’ve been here too long already, and I need to conserve my strength.”

I nodded and stepped away from her, finally glancing at the other people in this place. They were all turned away from us, but I knew better than to think they hadn’t been paying attention. Mother and I had talked in English, but we hadn’t exactly hid anything else about our conversation. I found that I didn’t particularly care. They were all loyal enough that seeing us display human emotion shouldn’t hurt that devotion.

Mother and I walked back to the group. I caught Tenira’s gaze, and gave her and Yarani a quick smile. They both seemed relieved that things had ended peacefully despite the shouting.

“Can you show us how to leave and where to go?” I asked Mother. It was probably best if we didn’t come back to the temple, though I wasn’t entirely sure where we really were at the moment.

“I can take you,” she replied. She smiled again. “Please give Al and An my love, Nari. Hopefully, I’ll be able to talk to them in the not too distant future.”

I nodded. “Of course.”

Then Mother’s qi surged, and as it wrapped around the group, the place faded around us.

Chapter 174 (Draft)

By the time we neared the temple, we’d fought almost a dozen other spirits. Most of them, we’d killed, although some had apparently been smart enough to realize when they were outmatched and fled. I hadn’t personally killed any of the others, who weren’t as strong, anyway. That was probably a good thing.

The spirit’s qi roiled inside of me, integrating into my own and giving me a feeling of growing strength, but also agitating. I wasn’t a true spirit, after all, and however they absorbed qi, it clearly didn’t quite work for me. This combined with the almost static feeling in the air and the pressure of the spiritual qi around me made me slightly queasy. Of course, I settled my stomach down with a burst of focus, but it wasn’t a biological problem.

“My lady,” Aston murmured, “we are getting close to the source of the disturbance. It would be a good time for further information or a plan.”

I looked at him and raised an eyebrow, but nodded. “Right. I can still sense Jideia everywhere. So he probably isn’t in any particular spot here at all. If he is, I guess we’re probably screwed. Otherwise …” I trailed off, frowning at the temple and the clouds of qi in front of us. “Definitely still a few spirits, and a remarkable lack of priests. I feel like we should approach. There’s no point in wasting time bumbling around out here. We’re not going to learn more fighting more of those spirits.”

“As you will,” he agreed. “Form up and forward.”

The gathered soldiers, guards and elites, reacted to his command, and we advanced in good order. Probably. There was definitely a logic to how the people were positioned, but since I didn’t know the details of everyone’s skill set, it wasn’t obvious.

“Can you sense anything else that could help us?” Elia asked quietly, lengthening her stride to walk beside me.

I glanced at her. “No, I don’t think so. Do you?”

She frowned. “Not really. I can tell that the Sun, or whatever remnant or connection to her I have, doesn’t … like what’s going on there. But I don’t get the feeling she’s particularly fond of Jideia on their best day, anyway.” She sighed and shook her head. “I wish Elis was here. He’s more perceptive about things like that.”

I smiled at her, deliberately projecting calm assurance. “Don’t worry about it. And you know your brother, he’ll be fine.”

The temple reminded me of the one the priests had blown up, though it was both more compact and grander in scale. No other building in the city that I’d seen had been built from the same white stone, which seemed to reflect the churning clouds oddly. Shadows danced inside it, more sensed than seen, but everything was quiet. There weren’t even any spirits close to it. I guessed that we’d dealt with all of them covering this approach to the temple.

The ambient qi lying in the air thickened as we drew closer, and it felt like the ground beneath our feet was slowly but surely drifting away. I ignored the sensation. It was far less intense than some others I’d felt when I went to talk to spirits. No one in my group commented on it, and it didn’t feel like anyone else was unnerved enough they wanted to slow down, either.

Walking forward suddenly got harder. It felt like there was a veil of qi laid around the temple, or maybe another layer of it, just around the walls. It wasn’t a clearly defined like, just a scattered area. I channeled a bit of my own qi, trying to draw from my connection to the Moon, and stepped forward. The guards slowed enough so I was the first to step right up to the walls. I closed my eyes, following an impulse, and cycled my qi harder. Then I took another step forward.

I opened my eyes again and blinked against the sight. The wall had been faded out enough by the spell of the place that it wasn’t entirely physical anymore. I found myself standing surrounded by a view of worked stone, fading in and out of sight where I focused my eyes. They struggled to understand it, and after a moment, I just walked forward, passing beyond the wall.

Elia followed me through the wall after a few seconds. The rest of our party seemed to have more trouble with it. I frowned and looked more closely. Once again, Kajare had stayed behind to coordinate with the rest of the army and help the soldiers deal with their own objectives, but Tenira and Yarani had insisted on coming along. No one had wanted to allow Ceion to come, and I’d agreed to leave him behind, in part because I wasn’t sure how much we had really severed him from his father’s influence. Taking him into a contested temple of the Storm would probably be a bad idea. Now, I watched my consorts struggling through the boundary around the temple along with the Imperial guards and soldiers accompanying us.

I exhaled deeply and tried to push some of my own qi out and into the space around us. It was hard to tell how much purchase it found in the already qi-saturated location, but it actually seemed to help a little. At least, a short while later Aston pushed through the wall, followed by the rest of them.

“Please, my lady, stay where we can protect you,” he grumbled, his eyes already darting watchfully around our new location.

“Of course, don’t worry,” I replied without looking at him.

The inside of the temple looked much like it had from the outside, except that it felt like the space had expanded. There was still the actual white-walled temple building in the center, but somehow it seemed smaller, the spaces between larger.

“It’s a safe place our presence has been noticed,” I said, glancing at everyone. “Be careful,    but don’t attack anything until you’re sure we’re actually under attack. Let’s go.”

Then I slung my spear over my shoulder and started walking. All of the ambient qi might interfere with my storage ring, so I’d rather have my weapon ready at hand. Here, Fides seemed to give off the faintest of light, illuminating my surroundings, but letting them swallow its light before it could reach far. I heard the others following me, but didn’t turn around to look at them. Elia closed the gap to walk beside me, while Aston claimed the spot at my right shoulder.

We didn’t actually get directly towards the temple, but I wasn’t worried about that. I could tell that the local geography had also been affected by this phenomenon, whatever it was.

Actually, now that I was here, I could start to get a better idea of that. It wasn’t something I had seen before, but I still got a feeling for it. The temple was the focus of a larger working. One focus. It hadn’t been cut off from the rest of the city to take it out of it, not primarily. That struck me more as a side effect, although it would make it harder for anyone to interfere. Not that interference seemed possible, right now.

I paused, chasing that thought. Yeah, I’m afraid that’s so.Whatever was going on here, it was largely done. Now the question remained, what and why. I frowned to myself and quickened my steps. I couldn’t help the feeling that I was chasing snowflakes here while Jideia was bringing a blizzard somewhere. Except not something as contained as an actual storm.

Finally, we did reach the main temple building, though we were at a side entrance. I checked the door, but it was locked and warded. The wards seemed to have fared poorly in this environment, and a little judicious application of darkness affinity qi convinced them not to trouble us. Then I repeated my old trick and formed lockpicks made out of horn from my fingers, molding them into the old steel lock and quickly levering it open. The door swung inward without a sound.

The inside of the temple was empty. We emerged into a side chamber with an open doorway leading into what had to be the main hall. There was a stone bench bulging out of the wall circling the room and a glowstone in the ceiling, though it was dark and the only illumination came from outside. I glanced around, then stepped forward. The main room was about as empty. Indentations and the pattern of a faint covering of dust showed where benches and heavier objects had stood, though they’d been removed what looked like some time ago. The tall, narrow windows let in some light, and the room smelled empty. Not even like dust or abandonment or sterile, just like nothing. It was almost unnerving, given the qi in the room.

There was another open doorway leading out of the hall at its head, but the qi in the air seemed to swallow up whatever lay beyond it. I walked forward slowly, cautiously, holding my spear tight in my hand and keeping my eyes moving. It felt like the range of my senses hand shrunk, the deeper we went into the temple. But I still felt something from ahead. No priests, and I couldn’t quite recall when I’d stopped feeling any humans except for the people with me. Something else, vaguely reminiscent of the temple they’d blown up on our way to this city.

The place swallowed the sound of our steps as we crossed the room. Beyond, there was a square space, too big for an antechamber but still empty, and one entire wall was mostly missing, just formed by a few pillars to the sides. It gave us a good look at where the sensation came from.

A number of weapons lay there, arranged in a strange display. Swords, spears, a few shields. All of them were of good make, I could see that at a glance, most of them were enchanted or had been. Some of them bore a symbol I recognized as the sign of the new templars. The rest probably came from them, too. This sight shouldn’t surprise me, when I think about it. Jideia is something like a warrior god.

“Nari,” Elia said, her voice quiet, but still seemed to cut through the place. “We need to be very careful here. Maybe we should go.”

I frowned, but didn’t argue. Carefully, I stepped closer, scrutinizing the scene closely.

“Maybe we shouldn’t disturb whatever ritual piece that is,” Tenira commented.

I rolled my eyes. “Hey, I’m not stupid. I’m not going to mess with something like that without any idea what we’re doing. Even if it does allow Jideia to anchor his presence here more strongly.” I paused, frowning. I did feel like this thing was doing that. Well, thanks, father.

“By anchoring his presence,” Yarani asked, “do you mean …”

The place around us rumbled. It was very slight, something you could easily not notice in other circumstances. But by the way everyone tensed up, they certainly did. A low hum started to rise just on the edge of hearing.

“You mean maybe we shouldn’t bring two spirit-children, one from his enemy, right here in the middle of it?” Elia finished. “I’m starting to think so.”

I backed up, clutching my spear. The soldiers drew tighter around us, positioning themselves so they could fight effectively. A light flickered somewhere on the pile of weapons.

“Let’s retreat some ways, carefully,” I said. Suiting words to actions, I continued retreating, stepping softly and stretching out my senses. The others followed suit.

I was starting to think we might have been too hasty. Clearly, the Storm had known the Imperials were coming. It probably wouldn’t have taken a genius to figure out this might happen. And even if we’d managed to stop this ritual at this temple, it was only a small piece. I was starting to figure that out. Jideia had laid his groundwork well, starting some time in advance. The sacrifice he’d had performed in that one temple was only another part of it. Presumably, a large part of what he did was supposed to help with the other spirits, perhaps covering his back so they couldn’t as easily attack him when he put his presence into the material world.

Well, now I knew about it, and I could find a way to stop it. Or, failing that - and it did seem like stopping it wouldn’t be in the cards - take advantage and find a way to exploit it. Whatever else was going on, Jideia was making himself more vulnerable as well, I knew that. Still need to deal with this first, though.

We were just passing through the doorway of the room beside the improvised ritual chamber when the qi in the air changed yet again. I gasped, my knees buckling for a moment before I could straighten myself up again. A presence had suddenly coalesced in the temple, one new to me and yet darkly familiar.

The weapons melted and where they’d lain, a figure appeared, made of roiling qi and yet with clear definition and detail, of a long-haired, bearded man in archaic armor, his spear crackling with the electricity of a whole season of storms.

I didn’t take any time to think about it. I didn’t need to. As soon as I caught a glimpse, I bolted. My qi immediately reached out to my companions, and I ran.

Laughter followed me. ‘And so we meet. Not eager to face me, are you, girl?’

My people in tow, I fled, pelting out of the temple in moments. The qi around us was suddenly viscous like tar, dragging against us. In the back of my mind, I knew this couldn’t be Jideia’s full presence, or anywhere close to his full strength, but probably just a projection. He could still swat me like an dust mote, if my father didn’t intervene and pour power into me. Rijoko’s connection was active in my mind, almost humming with tension, but he didn’t send me anything. Except perhaps this drive to run, I didn’t know. It all happened in a moment, my thoughts simply racing frantically with speed much beyond the human norm.

The spirit took a step, crossing the room at once. A fraction of a moment later, we burst out of the building, crashing right through the wooden entrance doors into the courtyard. The qi around us shuddered, and still we ran.

Then suddenly, I felt a new arrival, and another person appeared. She entered in front of us, but we ran so she came between us and the Storm right away. I felt my thoughts crash to a halt for one instant as I parsed what my eyes and qi senses were telling me.

“Mother?!”

The woman in the white stage sent out a pulse of qi. It seemed to cut right through the molasses holding us, and at the same time throw up a wall in front of the Greater Spirit’s form, slowing him.

I’d slowed and come to a stop, somehow ending up closest to her, while the others had kept running for longer. Mother was beside me in an instant, her eyes lighting up, even though they looked to be mostly made of qi like the rest of her, before she turned.

“Come,” she said simply. “We need to go.”

A gale of qi crashed out from Jideia, but Mother’s power slowed it, and it never reached us.

Then Mother grabbed my hand, even though it didn’t feel like it physically touched anything, and pulled. It felt like someone had set a hook into the core of my body.

And then we were elsewhere.

I blinked, adjusting to another landscape of qi. In the back of my mind, I sensed the others had come as well. Of course, she was in the white stage, taking people along would be trivial.

But I just stared at Mother, struggling against a tide of emotions at seeing her again. Then she was before me again, right there, and we had our arms around each other, her form unimportant. I hugged her like I wanted to break her.

Chapter 173 (Draft)

In the time we’d taken to deliberate and prepare, things had gotten worse in the city. I’d expected that, although the extent of it took me aback. From close up, I could see the damage the city had taken more closely.

It was arguably not that much for a city in the middle of a war. But this one hadn’t come under siege, and it was even worse than many of the cities we had actually conquered. Smoke rose up from several fires, debris was strewn in a dark spot, and the snow hadn’t been cleared from some of the streets, making for icy slush and slippery footing for low-tier citizens. Few people were out, but I could sense them huddling together in several spots and what might have been underground bunkers.

Our soldiers were suitably careful as they advanced into the city. We’d managed to bring down the outer walls pretty easily, but I didn’t have any illusions about that being the hard part. The city was built in several terraces, and the outer walls had clearly not been expected to stand up to much in the last few centuries before the war. There were a few huts outside, though their inhabitants appeared to have fled, but most of the city’s poor quarters were actually inside them from what I could tell. A qi shield still covered the inner walls. If we had to, we’d send out planes and elites to take that down.

“My lady, let’s move,” Aston spoke up.

I nodded and started walking, resisting the urge to complain at how closely he and the other guards crowded me. I’d resolved to follow his instructions here, so I let him chivvy me up the street and further into the city in the route he thought best. The rear guard of soldiers followed behind us, with Elia and the others forming a second clump surrounded by guards    that loosely intermingled with Aston’s main detail.

It didn’t take us long to encounter the first signs of resistance. I narrowed my eyes and cycled some qi to them, trying to pierce the haze hanging over the city, as I saw the telltale flashes of qi in use. A few people were fighting some streets up ahead, around what looked like an old compound built of stone. They were maybe in the fourth or fifth stages, not too powerful, and it didn’t seem like an organized battle. Street fighting. Great. In these conditions. That’s just what we need, several factions all thrown together and trying to beat each other.

A squad of Imperial soldiers advanced on them. Most of the fighters turned to flee, though a few tried to take shots at them. An Imperial in the later part of the fifth stage put an end to that with a fireball just contained enough to spare the surrounding buildings. I frowned to myself. Now they were dead, hard to get information from. But I didn’t say anything. My own soldiers’ safety took priority, and especially with cultivators, putting someone down without killing them was always risky, even if you weren’t in an inherently precarious situation.

Yarani slid into place beside me. I noticed her tense bearing and the way she kept one hand always hovering close to where she had a blade sheathed. I gave her a small smile, but didn’t say anything. We continued walking, while I stretched my senses to try to get a better idea of what was going on around us.

“Aston, how are things looking?” I asked after a few minutes. We were still close to the outskirts, moving carefully and far more slowly than we could.

“We’ve advanced along all planned routes, my lady,” he answered promptly. “Resistance encountered has only been sporadic so far. However, there seems to be a higher concentration of fighters to the north, so the going might become harder there. We are here also coming up on what might be a base for one faction. We don’t a close-up view of the temple yet, and so far the situation around it seems unchanged.”

I nodded. “Thanks. Let’s get a move on, then.”

The soldiers pressed them closely together as we moved farther into the city, into a part full of byzantine little crossroads and curving streets. It was pretty clean and the houses seemed to be in good repair, or had been before the recent unrest, anyway. Like the rest of the city, they were mostly deserted. A few of our soldiers rose higher into the air on their flying swords in order to get a good view of everything, though they stayed low enough so they didn’t present much of a target.

Then I started to sense other people, and what seemed like far too suddenly, we came upon them. Aston raised his hand, I halted, and stared for a moment. They wore no armor, but clothing rich enough that I wouldn’t want to take it into a fight where it could get damaged. A few of them had stayed almost unnaturally clean, but most of their fancy clothing was decorated with dust, rips and tears, and a bit of blood.

“Halt,” one of them cried, gripping his sword more tightly. None of them were above the sixth stage, obviously no match for us. By the way they held themselves, they knew that.

“Identify yourselves,” Aston called.

They hesitated, then the same man spoke up again. “We serve the Liado. And you - you’re Imperials, aren’t you?”

I frowned slightly. According to our most recent information, Hose Liado was loosely allied with House Siranum, whose growing faction we wanted to win. More or less. Killing these people here would be a little counterproductive, not to mention wasting some of our strength.

“We are,” I answered. “If you surrender and let us pass without issue, we don’t need to fight.”

They exchanged looks and spoke in low voices, with a bit of qi shielding their conversation. After less than a minute, they relaxed their stances and started to shuffle aside.

“We’ve heard there’s something shady going on at the temple,” I said. “What can you tell us about that? We’ll try to deal with it before it becomes a problem for the whole city.”

The leader glanced at one of the others, then back to me. “Yes, the priests have been acting strangely for a while. None of us were there, so we can’t tell you any details and I don’t know how accurate our information is, though. But from the sounds of it, I suppose you want to head that way quickly.”

I nodded. “I understand. Then what can you tell me?”

“The temple has been walled off from the rest of the world somehow,” he said slowly. “No one is sure how, but it doesn’t seem like a lot of qi was used, so it has to be a very sophisticated technique. There have also been rumors about the Storm. Clouds are gathering over it. They say his qi is rising, building up to something.”

“I’ve heard this is happening in other temples,” another woman cut in. The leader shot her a look, but she ignored him.

I frowned. That didn’t sound good. “Alright. I see. Thank you for your cooperation.”

We started moving again. The soldiers pressed closer together and the guards put up shields of qi around me and my companions. But no one stopped to try to apprehend the Zarian fighters. Clearly, they all realized that we had bigger fish to fry right now.

I didn’t go so far as to contact the rest of our forces and arrange safe passage, though. Chances were they’d run into other Imperial strike teams, and they could try to deal with them then. Hopefully, the Zarian would be smart enough to surrender quickly. I didn’t think they posed much of a threat to the Imperial forces, at least, and I’d gotten what I needed from them.

We moved on from the district into another one leading right up to the inner walls. Here, the houses grew larger, rising in large complexes dotted with windows, flower boxes hanging from the occasional balcony, while the streets seemed narrower than before. The street leading to the gate was designed to zigzag back and forth. We were just moving onto the last stretch when more presences popped up to my qi senses.

I tensed, but after a moment, realized that Aston didn’t show any reaction. Frowning, I glanced around. Then the half-dozen people came into sight, crouched on the roof of one of the smallest buildings.

“Welcome,” one of them called down to us. They wore a hood and the voice was slightly muffled, so I couldn’t tell if it was a man or woman. “We’re glad to see you arrive.”

I glanced at Tenira, then Elia, raising an eyebrow, and received a slight nod, before I turned back to them. “We do our best,” I called. “How’s the situation?”

“Crazy,” the Zarian answered. After a moment, the hooded figure jumped down and landed on the street before the first guards, apparently unbothered by their vigilant postures and weapons. “House Siranum has established a stronghold further in, to the northeast. Several other families have pooled their resources and are clashing with them, with their biggest base to the northwest close to the docks. Then there’s the Temple. Lately, weaker spirits have taken to the streets outside it. They don’t go far, but they don’t like people getting too close to them. This has forced the fighting between the noble factions to detour to the north and south of the temple, and both sides are probing into the temple quarter, anyway. We’re keeping an eye on everything, but we don’t have nearly enough fighters to get involved in any of this. Then there’s the various other families and unaligned cultivators, doing the spirits now what, in most cases.”

I raised an eyebrow. I was glad the Basement had found us so quickly and could tell us this much, at least. “Thank you. What are these others after?”

The Basement representative shrugged. “Don’t know. Some are just using the opportunity to settle old grudges. Some might be trying to wait and throw their lot in with whoever wins. I think a few have ideas of fighting the Empire, or spying on it.”

“I see. Well, you’ve helped us a lot. I appreciate it.”

“Of course.” They inclined their head. “We’ll give you a few guides that should help you find your way. The rest of us will disperse and keep gathering information. I’m sending most of the low tiers out of the city, though. This is no good for them.”

“Naturally,” I agreed with a smile, pretending I didn’t see the hidden challenge in their eyes. I was pretty sure I was talking to a man by now, but who knew. “We’ll get them out through the routes we’ve already cleared. If your people agree, they’d be very helpful with coordinating evacuating the rest of the low tier people in the city, too.”

The Basement leader gave a short bow. “Of course, Princess.”

The leader quickly exchanged a few sentences with his companions, and then the group disbanded. Two of them joined us on the street, and one of them pointed the way up ahead to the city gate.

We moved more quickly now, in part because the streets widened and there was less damage visible. Still, I could sense various cultivators in the city, and I knew that while we were trying to stay unobtrusive, we couldn’t hide our presence completely, either. A few of the elites accompanying us spread out farther now. A few times I sensed them engaging with other cultivators. Lone fighter, clearly, the type the Basement member had talked about.

Those fights went well enough for my side. One time, it lasted long enough for two other elites to get there, and I could see and hear their clash even from several streets away. When that one was finished, one of the soldiers stumbled back with her left arm dangling and her side covered in blood. But one of the healers fixed her up quickly and she fell back to form part of the rear guard, but kept up.

Off in the distance, I could sense what had to be Siranum’s forces. “Let’s go left here,” I said to Aston. “We can circle around with that street, then cut northward over there. That should help us avoid them.”

“As you say, my lady. Li, fall in!”

Aston vanished for a few moments to coordinate with the elites, then returned to lead the way down the street I had indicated. Pieces of rubble had fallen on it, but the way was still clear enough even a cart could have passed with little trouble. We pressed onward, waited for a few seconds to let a group of a few powerful cultivators pass on flying swords further ahead, then continued. I kept focused on the concentration of cultivators I could sense to the northeast.

For a moment, I thought this was it, as those on the outskirts surged towards us in a subtle but unmistakable manner. But then the motion reversed and they withdrew farther towards their base. The rest of the group, as well. I let out the breath I’d held, forcing my muscles to untense. Maybe they saw us and decided not to court a confrontation.I shook my head. When I see Vana again, I need to bring chocolates, or wine, or something.

By now, we were nearing the center of the city, and the temple. It was actually built on the southern side of the old town, which meant we had a pretty clear shot to it. Of course, I still led the strike force using side alleys and smaller streets, where we’d be less visible, at least. I didn’t focus much on which path to take, but I knew that wouldn’t be a concern. I could also tell that my father was vaguely paying attention, but not enough that he was sending me any messages.

Then we rounded a corner and there it was. I slowed down, focusing on the veil of qi hanging in front of us. It was invisible and indistinct, less of a clear border and more like someone had splashed something around and we were just coming on the edges. “Well, nothing for it,” I murmured. “Stay together and stay sharp.” Then I gathered myself and advanced.

Almost immediately, we met the first spirit. It was a weak one, probably not sapient, and shaped vaguely like a big cat. It puffed itself up and hissed at us. When we didn’t turn tail and ran, it gathered itself and jumped.

Aston plucked it out of the air before it could reach anyone. I sensed the qi gathering in his hands, building up, before the qi making up the spirit’s form wavered and it dissipated. A last hissing sounded, then he threw the remains, now bleeding streamers of qi, aside.

We pressed onward. I could sense other spirits watching us, but these appeared to be more cautious. None of them challenged us until the next street over. Here, two other weak spirits attacked, but my guards dispatched them quickly.

Then we crossed another alley and came to one of the main streets of the city. There, just a few hundred meters away, the temple of the Storm loomed. It was indeed almost covered in thick black clouds and an even worse sense of qi, almost like the oppressive feeling when a really strong cultivator unleashed their aura. The white walls looked washed out, and the gate seemed to tilt inward.

A roar interrupted my inspection. Another spirit jumped down from a nearby rooftop, growling at us. This one was shaped as a wolf-like monster, but with human eyes.

It sprang forward at the closest guard. The soldier twisted out of the way, sweeping his sword around. But the weapon passed harmlessly through the indistinct shape of the spirit, and it shifted forward. The solider barely managed to dodge, then used a technique to retreat.

“Wait,” I said. “Let me.”

As if it could understand me - which was possible, I didn’t know if this spirit was sentient, and considering it attacked us, I didn’t care all that much - the spirit turned towards me. I didn’t wait for it to attack, but advanced forward myself.

I dodged a swipe of its claws, then raked my own quickly grown ones through the spirit’s coat. They actually tore rents into its shape. The spirit surged forward and clamped its teeth around my shoulder.

I hissed then tore myself free, flowing under the next attack and coming up with the spirit’s neck in my hands. It tried to break free, but I only tightened my grip, quickly healing the injury. I shouldn’t be able to physically hold such a creature like this, but physics didn’t have much to say here. So I only increased the pressure and closed my fist.

The spirit slowly dissolved, its qi losing its structure. I drew some of it in with my next breath without really noticing what I was doing until I’d done it. That did back some suspicions I’d had, though. I shook my head, then turned back to the guards.

“Let’s continue,” I said. “We shouldn’t dawdle here.”

As if on cue, the clouds around the temple rumbled, and a blinding flash of lightning shot down to meet its highest spire.

Chapter 172 (Draft)

Of all the things I would have expected to find once we drew close enough to the Zarian city, seeing it burning wasn’t one of them.

It took me a moment to realize that it probably looked worse than it was. The whole city wasn’t on fire, there were just a few very intense fires giving off a lot of smoke. Perhaps something in whatever materials had fallen prey to the flames. Even so, anyone could see that this city was in bad shape.

I frowned, cycling some qi to my eyes to get a better look. Infighting between the noble families and the temple wasn’t unexpected, but I wouldn’t have expected it to get this big so soon. My intuition told me that something else had happened.

“What in the spirits’ names is going on here?” Kajare muttered. “That’s a lot of fire.”

I glanced at him and forced a small smile. “I was just thinking the same. I suspect that something happened to prompt this. But without more information, it’s hard to say.”

Both of us turned and looked to Elis, who stood on a flying sword a little behind us. He clearly noticed our gazes, but only shrugged. “I can’t tell you. I haven’t heard any reports from there in a little while, and you know getting messages has never been easy, even when the city isn’t disintegrating around the Basement’s ears.”

Fair enough. I nodded at him, then turned back around. The army was probably going to make camp any moment now, anyway. We were coming close enough to the city to prepare for a siege, and definitely close enough to threaten it in a strategic sense and keep them from diverting forces, which was half the point of this.

As if on cue, the soldiers following us stirred as the signal went out. I pulled my own flying sword up a little, hovering in the air, watching while they quickly set up camp, and trying not to sigh at the people hovering around me. I can’t even tell at which point I acquired a following. That’s kind of sad.And with everyone together, Elis coming along and even Ceion hanging around the periphery, it was generally getting a little crowded.

It took a little longer to set everything up than I’d have hoped, just another indication of how much our recent losses had cost us. A lot of the soldiers who’d become experienced veterans of our campaign south so far were now dead. Their replacements were not just weaker overall, they also lacked much of that experience. Something I definitely needed to keep in mind. Even in a cultivation world, ignoring psychological factors like morale and experience in favor of cold strength level calculations would only come back to bite you.

Finally, though, they’d finished, and I let the officers and my companions slowly trickle down and into the command post they’d set up, while I stayed in the air for a while. I found myself turning to watch the city. Something about it called to my attention, although it was hard to pin down. Or maybe I’d just gotten too used to interpreting everything as super intuition, it wasn’t like the situation didn’t warrant consideration enough on its own.

By the time I finally made it into the command center, ther was already an argument in progress with no signs of letting up. That was one of the less visible ill effects of our loss. We’d lost not just many of our officers, but with Wei Jun, also the top general and the leader who had been able to keep everyone focused working towards the same goal. Now, with not just army officers but nobles and eighth-stagers (sometimes both, of course), trying to stick their spoons into the broth, that had gotten a lot more difficult.

Before I could recapture their attention and try to beat down on the posturing, Ki Niyani spoke up, her words cutting above the din. “Are you all quite done?” She curled her lip disdainfully. “This is the command center of an army, not a place for squabbling children. I shudder to think what Her Majesty would say about the disrespect we are showing the Imperial Princess, not to mention each other.”

That brought at least a temporary halt to the arguing. I stepped further inside, inclining my head the slightest bit in a gracious motion I’d gotten some practice with recently. “Thank you Lady Ki,” I responded. “If that’s all, then, perhaps we could focus on discussing the strategic situation. General San?”

Hashar bowed. “Of course, Your Highness. As you could all see personally, events seem to be afoot in the city, but we have as yet little conclusive intelligence on them. Our Basement allies are doing all they can -” she talked over a soft snort coming from a corner of the room - “but we have not been able to get many details from them yet. We do have indications that the temple is involved.”

“If I may?” Aiki Ilia diffidently cleared her throat. At my nod, she continued speaking. “We managed to break through the formations warding the city against scrying, although only for a brief moment. Still, it seems apparent that there is a military curfew or similar measure in effect, while citizens are trying to flee the city towards outlying settlements at the same time. There also appears to be fighting between the forces of several noble families, though only sporadically and without much coordination. But the biggest concern is almost certainly centered on the temple of Jideia.”

I suppressed a sigh. I’d half-expected news like this, but that didn’t make it welcome. “Go on.”

“We don’t have anything like reliable intelligence, my lady.” She frowned in obvious displeasure. “But some of our sources, both Imperial and Basement, have indicated that matters of spirits are involved. Apparently, we have little but intangible sensations as evidence, but that this came up several times is telling.”

This time, I did sigh. Great. Spirit b.s. going on and we don’t know what, how or why. “Ceion, any insight?” I asked.

The spirit-child, who was lurking in the periphery of the room, stiffened as everyone turned towards him. He shook his head. “None, my lady. Whatever the Storm is doing, he must have started after my … departure. Or perhaps I was purposefully kept in the dark about any preparations.”

I nodded. It had been a slim hope, and even if he had had something to contribute, I’d have had to be suspicious about it.

“Then there’s not much else we can do,” I said. “Do you recommend moving in quickly, or waiting to see what unfolds?”

My question was answered only by silence at first, with various people exchanging looks and obviously hesitant to speak up. Not that I could really blame them.

“It depends on our objectives, my lady,” Hashar finally spoke up. “Do we prioritize keeping the city intact? Learning what the temple is up to? Or conserving our forces?” She shook her head. “I admit I dislike the thought of you going into a place in such a state, but you and your companions are presumably best suited to finding out what this spirit-related business is. That would require us to secure the city first, though.”

I refrained from rolling my eyes. She knew me well enough to know that while I was hardly suicidal, I sometimes acted recklessly. I wouldn’t like the thought of sending soldiers into danger while safely hanging back, but if the strategic reality demanded that, I would do it. This was different, though; as she’d pointed out, I was probably the most likely to make any sense of whatever sensations I could pick up, but that would require getting closer to the temple.

“I do want to know what they’re up to,” I answered after a moment. “That is a priority. Besides that, it strikes me that if they’re trying to do something, it’s probably better to stop it rather than let things run their course and them get whatever they’re after.”

“Plus,” Tenira added. “We probably can’t make the situation in the city much worse. Or at least, if we move in and secure it quickly, we can probably contain it and limit the destruction compared to what might happen otherwise.”

There were nods from several people. I considered it for a moment, then nodded, as well. Trying to limit collateral damage and casualties should definitely be another priority, and she wasn’t wrong. Especially since whatever the spirits of priests of the Storm were cooking up might not just have consequences for us. I could easily imagine him tolerating a lot of collateral damage to the city and Zarian citizens in general if it fulfilled a goal of his.

“Let’s prepared to move out as soon as possible, then,” I said. “I imagine with everything else going on, the Zarian won’t keep as close an eye on their formations and wards, or be able to respond as well as they might wish. Still, let’s not take unnecessary risks. I want bombing runs prepared and airships ready to come in if needed, as well as several of our newest generation siege engines set up. Only those slated for breaking qi shields. If the parts of the city are full of civilians, let’s not bombard them.”

A stir went through the room and several of the officers saluted. My own companions’ gazes sharpened, as we turned our minds to the new offensive. We’d have to be quick, but still careful. A misstep now could be costly.

From there, the gathered officers and leaders were a lot more on task. With the encouragement of Hashar and others, they actually managed to put together an operational plan pretty quickly. I held back, since I’d outlined what I wanted and it was now their job to turn that strategy into a reality. A few officers came and went from the command center, and many more qi constructs and electromagnetic waves carried orders and messages.

We’d wasted too much time, but at least we were making progress. I could sense the army forming up around us. I’d have to stay in the back again while they moved on the walls, but by now I was used to that.

I was just considering whether I should remove myself from the command center and get into position when Elis caught my eye. He tilted his head to the side and raised an eyebrow. I glanced around, then slipped forward, keeping to the edges of the room. Of course, people noticed me leaving, but no one raised a stir.

Elis met me in a side room where not many people lingered in the vicinity. He started weaving a qi shield immediately. I crossed my arms, but kept quiet. Tenira and Elia had followed us, and while Tenira looked curious, neither of them spoke, either.

“What is it, Elis?” I asked when I finally sensed that he was finished.

He turned to me and shrugged, thought I saw the slight grimace on his face. “I just wanted to say goodbye, Inaris.”

Before I could stop myself, I stiffened up. “You’re leaving?”

“No. Yes.” He hesitated. “I’m going south.”

I frowned. “That’s stupid, Elis. In case you haven’t noticed, we’re at war with the Zarian, and the situation in the Dominion is just a little skip short of civil war.”

“I know that.” He crossed his arms and shot me a baleful look.

“While Nari could have expressed it more diplomatically,” Tenira looked at me sideways, “she’s not wrong. Going into the Dominion now would be very dangerous.”

Elis shook his head. “Not as much for one man as for an army. Especially not a shapeshifter who knows his way around the region.”

I glanced at Elia, then back at Elis. I guess he has a point. But still. “It would still be a risk, and for what? Why are you so determined to go?”

He sighed. “I have to, Inaris. I can be a lot more help down there, working with the Basement, than sitting on my butt here. Vana could really use the help of a truth-teller, you know? Besides, there are a few other things I want to follow up on.”

“Personal reasons,” Elia put in. She sighed. “I don’t like him going off like this, either, but I understand.”

I nodded slowly. He did make a few good points. Then why do I dislike the idea so much?

“Please be careful,” Tenira said. “Everything else aside, you getting captured by the Zarian would be really bad. Going to rescue you would really put a damper on our plans.”

Elis grinned at her. “Don’t worry, Tenira, I can take care of myself.”

I shook my head. “I hope that you can. Very well, I suppose you don’t technically need my approval, but I won’t stop you. Take care.”

His smile faded as he just looked at me in silence for a moment. Our gazes locked by accident, and I could see something going through his eyes I couldn’t quite describe. I couldn’t quite make sense of what went on in my own head right now, either.

Then the moment broke and Elis gave me a roguish smile. “Don’t worry, Nari. Take care of yourself, too. And the others. I’m trusting you with my little sister.”

Elia snorted and I grinned back. “Sure.”

Elis nodded to us, then strode off. After he disappeared through the doorway, I exchanged a look with Elia. Then I shook my head and turned to go, as well. We had a battle to get to.

Interlude: Acura (Draft)

There was time, but it didn’t work right.

Of all the things she’d had in her mortal existence, Acura had never thought much about her sense of the passage of time. She’d had a good sense of it, usually known how long she’d been out meditating or what time of day it was when she’d been on a trip underground, even that time she’d explored the caves on the coast for three days straight. Like with so many things, it was something you didn’t really notice until it no longer worked the ways you expected it to.

Time did pass here, but it passed differently. She’d only recently become lucid enough to even be aware that she’d been in here for a time, yet it didn’t feel like it had been over a year. It felt like a moment or an eternity, or maybe both.

Of course, she wasn’t really in anywhere, it was more her own mind that had changed. She’d been told that before, but only just now was she really starting to understand it. As she dragged the scattered, disorganized remnants of her consciousness together and fit them into a shape that resembled the one she’d been before, she both felt more like herself and yet realized just how much wasn’t the same.

So, when Mior visited her again, it felt like it had only been a moment since their last visit, and yet Acura knew better. Days? Weeks? She wasn’t certain. Surely not months, though. She was confident of that.

‘How are you?’the spirit asked.

Acura tilted her head, or what passed for it. She was stuck in a weird halfway place between being a presence purely in qi and incarnating into a physical body, and her form was a roiling mess bleeding streamers of qi into the surroundings, which were also little more than just qi. The last time they’d talked, she’d resolved herself to the fact that Mior would be able to read her mind a lot better than she’d have preferred. In her current existence, she simply didn’t have anything approaching real defenses, and a mind in the process of reforming itself couldn’t obfuscate itself.

‘Well,’she replied. ‘I think. I hope. You can tell better than me, I think. Well, I do think. Not much, and not well, maybe, but still. Well …’

‘I see,’they interrupted gently. ‘You’re doing the thing again, Acura. Focus on my presence.’

She shrank back, condensing a little. ‘Sorry.’

‘It’s alright. Really. You’re doing very well.’

She hesitated. That was a new thing, too. She hadn’t been able to do hesitation until recently. It’s all coming back, isn’t it?But she managed to focus and direct her thoughts at the spirit for proper communication. ‘Why are you here, Mior?’

The spirit smiled. Once again, they’d chosen a very physical shape. ‘Basically for the same reason as always. I wanted to check up on you, and I wanted to talk.’

‘You’re doing this because of Nari.’That wasn’t a new realization, though she hadn’t expressed it before.

‘You’re quite focused on her, aren’t you?’the spirit mused. ‘All things considered. Yes, Acura, you’re right. I care for Inaris. She’s family. And she loves you and wants to see you safe and happy. Simple, right? But I also want to see you here, you know. It’s probably a little too early to talk about the situation and the future … but the thing is, you’ll end up being on our side, so to speak, so investing a little time and effort is more than worth it.’

Acura considered that for a short while. ‘And Rijoko? He doesn’t, really, but you actually care, don’t you?’

Mior laughed lightly. ‘You really are making great progress. Yes, I’m not Rijoko. I suppose I have enough human in me I can care like you do. I have empathy and I can form genuine connections with people. Rijoko is still perfectly fine with this, though. He understands well enough that it’s best for him if your daughter is happy.’

Acura nodded slowly. That made sense. Suddenly, she felt glad that Mior was there, and could support her like this.

She sent them that thought without putting it into so much words. It was a new aspect of communication in this form. People usually preferred verbal communication, because it was just more precise and easier to control. But she wasn’t quite sure how to articulate it, and she needed practice with this kind, too.

‘I’m honored,’Mior replied. Despite their light, almost ironic tone, Acura felt like the spirit was being sincere. They paused for a few moments, then abruptly, what they sent became brighter, sharper. ‘I think it’s time you moved away from this spot. Look at your surroundings. Do you understand where we are?’

Acura hesitated, then followed his words and turned her attention to the world around her. She knew they had to be in some qi anomaly. Probably one claimed by the spirits, by Jideia’s followers. The flows of qi wouldn’t fit otherwise. Now, though, she really focused on them. Maybe it was because of her own improved capability, but she understood the place in a way she hadn’t before. There was actual ground here, physical substance, though most of the place still seemed to be made of qi. She sensed other spirits some distance away, most of them very weak compared to herself or Mior. And she could feel the Moon. She wasn’t sure if he was actually here, but his essence lingered in the place. But more than that, she felt a little bit of it around her.

‘Good,’Mior sent, obviously observing what she was doing closely. ‘Ordinarily, I would have let you discover this on your own pace, but events are accelerating. You need to let go of your attempts at physicality, Acura. At the moment, you’re stuck between states, and that’s just not going to work. Your mind is as much qi as anything else now; you’re not contained by anything physical. Embrace it, and you’ll have a much easier time with your own mind.’

Acura stared at the spirit. Silence dragged on for a while, but she thought. She didn’t want to do what they suggested, but she trusted Mior, and there was really no reason not to try. She knew that those in the white stage could, like powerful spirits, incarnate into physical forms, though they weren’t limited to them.

Slowly, she let go of herself, of the parts she’d been trying to hold together. Only now did she realize what a strain it had formed. Her mind was still there, and she kept the qi that really mattered. But the physical construct she’d half-consciously cobbled together dissolved. Acura shuddered, but she drew her mind together with an attractive force made purely of willpower, making herself stay and grow.

She still didn’t know how long it took. But at some point, there she was, a consciousness loosely contained, still anchored to her place but not expressed in any physical structure. She still sensed Mior, who was watching over her, and the rest of her surroundings.

‘Very good,’the spirit congratulated her. ‘Truly, well done! How do you feel, Acura?’

She considered for a moment. ‘I think I’m better,’she finally replied. ‘Thank you, Mior.’She really did feel better, like she was able to think more clearly. She still knew she’d changed, though she couldn’t quite put her (no longer extant) finger on how, but this had clearly been a success.

‘You’re welcome!’Mior smiled. They were still incarnate, which actually helped her sense the spirit.

Acura spent a bit of time trying to get used to her new state of existence. She had a better sense of time now, but still wasn’t sure if it was a few seconds or a few minutes. She wanted to try to create a new physical body from here, now, but she hesitated. Rushing things seemed like a bad idea, and she really didn’t want anything to go wrong. She still felt vulnerable, even knowing that there was nothing she could do about that. At least in the short term. So she contented herself with trying out a few math and logic problems, recalling memories, and interpreting sensations from her surroundings. That part would probably be easier if there was a little more variety.

Finally, she focused her attention back on the spirit. Something they’d said niggled at her, and upon focusing on it for a moment, it snapped into place. ‘Why did you help me do this now?’she asked. ‘It sounded like you wanted to wait and let me flail around on me own. Did something happen?’

Mior’s mind was hard to read, but she still sensed the sober intensity dominating their thoughts now, probably because they let her. ‘In a manner of speaking. I would have preferred to let you set the pace, since I didn’t think there was any hurry. But since you’re doing so well, giving you a few tips doesn’t hurt. Things have happened, and I feel that even more important events may be coming, which I wanted you to see.’

Acura wanted to frown in response, but of course she couldn’t. ‘What events?’

The spirit cocked their head to the side. ‘It might be better to show you a few things. Come on, let’s go for a stroll.’

Moving without having a physical body, she discovered, was more involved than she thought.    Partly that might be because it was hard to pin down specific borders of where her location ended or began. Changing it required an act of will. With a few false starts, she managed to figure it out, at least well enough to keep pace with Mior as the spirit moved off through the qi anomaly.

If nothing else, she was starting to understand more about how those worked. Strong spirits and ascended cultivators could move among and around them, and since qi permeated everything, their borders were in many ways just as diffuse as a presence’s. Mior took what was presumably the easy path, gently guiding her along. She still had a hard time parsing exactly where they were going, or what route they took. She’d just have to trust them. Not that there’s anything new about that. Mior could have harmed me a lot already if they wanted to.

But after a while, the spirit slowed. They’d loosened their incarnation a little, though they hadn’t discorporated themselves completely. But Acura could sense some of their presence in the qi around it as much as in the cloudy, amorphous figure turning to her now. She’d seen the spirit like that before, several times, and the one time Rijoko had visited her, he’d done something similar. She only recalled that visit vaguely, but she knew he was extending his protection over her. In any case, no other spirits had even approached her and Mior so far.

‘Okay,’she said. She actually used the English word; she’d always had a verbally expressive mind and thought in words often enough, and Mior was good enough to parse the meaning out of any thought-speech. ‘Where exactly are we now, and why did you bring me?’

‘We’re not anywhere important. This is really just a little spot nowhere in particular.’

‘And why are we here, Mior?’

The spirit took a step closer, and managed to look like they’d tucked their hands into their pockets without actually having any clothing. ‘We didn’t need to go here in particular, but it works. What I want to show you is actually no there, exactly. But we can see the effects of what someone else is doing. It’s getting harder to look into the Zarian Dominion. Like gazing through a piece of half-molten glass. Someone is twisting things out of alignment.’

‘Jideia.’Acura fixed her attention on the spirit. ‘Is that a side effect, or is he just trying to hide whatever he’s getting up to?’

Mior spread their hands. ‘Who knows? I’m inclined to think the latter. He’s not using enough power to meaningfully shift the nature of all the qi in such a wide area. The rest would never stand for that even if he was stupid enough to try it. But still …’

Mior gestured, and it took a moment for Acura to sense what he was actually doing. The qi around them swirled, condensed, and yet faded. Dimly, she sensed that it had something to do with the nature of the place. They were at a point where paths crossed. Or something like that. But she didn’t have much attention to spare for that, and instead focused on what the spirit was showing her.

Acura would have sucked in a sharp breath if she could have. She recognized the building whose wavy shadow suddenly appeared in front of them, although it had clearly undergone extensive renovations. It hadn’t had that many statues or quite this much gold leaf in the pictures she’d seen. Still, this was definitely the temple of the Storm in Saria, one of the oldest cities in the Dominion and its current official capital. At the edge of the picture, she saw barricades and even what might be smoke rising, but that paled in comparison to the dark clouds gathered overhead. They loomed far down, seemingly almost close to the touch from the temple’s roof, although that had to be an illusion.

‘No lesser mortal has entered that temple in at least the last day,’Mior commented. ‘There have been a lot of priests and even quite a few temple knights, though. And now, not too long ago … well, you can feel it yourself.’

Acura shot the spirit an irritated thought and focused more closely on what she saw. There was indeed something odd about it, beyond the obvious. She concentrated on the qi the impression carried, clearly an imprint of the real thing. It was a chaotic swirl, and yet … she sensed something she’d never really sensed personally, before, but it was still unmistakable.

‘Son of a - Is that Jideia himself?’

Mior sighed. ‘Yep. As far as I can tell, his grubby little fingers are all over that place. I don’t think he’s incarnated in person there. But who knows …’

They stared at it in silence for a moment, while Acura tried to parse what this meant. It was hard, not just because she still found her mind a little sluggish and thinking exhausting.

Then, suddenly, the feel of it changed again. Mior’s imprint shuddered, then contracted a little. The sensation intensified to the point that Acura couldn’t possibly have missed it.

‘Well, I suppose that answers that question,’Mior commented, their mental voice tight and controlled to keep out emotional undertones.

Acura stilled for a moment, then suddenly compacted her qi presence. She was aware this might not be a good idea, but in that moment, she didn’t care. She tried it, and it worked. In the span of a few seconds that lasted far too long, she condensed her form into a humanoid shape. It felt oddly stifling, as if she was cramming herself into a small container, and yet freeing. A moment later, she exerted her will again, and turned the rough collection of qi into something far more real.

Acura opened her eyes, gazing around. She chuckled, listening to her voice echo through the weird space in between, flexed her fingers, then patted her face. Everything appeared just like what it should be.

‘Feeling better?’Mior asked drily. ‘That was very well done, again.’

‘Thank you.’Acura sighed, belatedly wondering about the lack of air in this place, before she pushed that thought aside. ‘I think we have bigger problems right now, though.’

Mior shifted to look again at the picture they’d created, which was shuddering and now dissolved into the ambient qi. ‘That we do,’the spirit said quietly. ‘I think Inaris has it worse than us, though.’

Acura grimaced, suppressing the stab of guilt she felt at that. She’d have time to sort that out later. But she knew Mior was right, and wishing she was there to take on these challenges instead of her daughter couldn’t make it so.

Chapter 171 (Draft)

The sunset painted the land in front of us in warm colors, giving it a beauty that would ordinarily be hidden. In the distance, high peaks speared the sky, but closer up, winding streams, hilly fields and the occasional cluster of trees spread out like tiles in a mosaic. There were a few villages dotted about them, but even with my cultivator senses, I couldn’t make out much human activity.

We’d veered off the straightest course south, and were instead coming in an arc, now traveling to the southwest. I could still make out the city at the base of the mountains, if I focused, but the Whitecaps looked different from this angle, the mountain range more elongated.

“We’re not moving quickly enough,” Yarani muttered.

I glanced at her, absently patting my horse’s neck as hers pranced beside me. “We’re doing what we can,” I said calmly. “I wish our advance was faster, too, but that’s just the way it is. We’re lucky we’ve been able to scrape up any army at all.”

“I’m still not so sure this was the right decision,” Tenira commented from my other side. “After our losses, just taking another army to the Zarian, and an objectively weaker one.”

I shook my head. “We need to press them, now, especially.”

Yarani nodded. “Nari’s right. Trust us, Tenira. We don’t want to give them the chance to get back on balance and really make their numbers count, and we can’t squander our momentum. Now, we still have the initiative. Even if they manage to push us back, it won’t mean losing territory we’re already entrenched in.”

“It’s not like there are many people living here,” Tenira muttered. “Alright, I suppose I see your point.”

I sighed softly, then nudged my horse forward. The others followed, and we kept moving. There was no real road here, so the Imperial forces didn’t move so much in a column as a horde, with surprising organization in the seemingly chaotic mass. My group, surrounded by guards, was almost at the head, with only a few of the generals and high-stage cultivators further ahead. A few airships kept pace overhead, though there were no planes in the air right now. There would be little point in them. Of course, that we weren’t expecting combat didn’t necessarily mean there wouldn’t be any. So far, the Zarian had never even tried very hard to ambush a large Imperial force, but I wasn’t inclined to think they couldn’t possibly do it.

“Are you expecting trouble?” Yarani asked.

I glanced at her and gave her a quick smile. While Kajare might be more helpful when it came to court or dealing with the Terbekteri, I valued having Yarani along in this war. Not any of my companions was ever less than helpful, especially Tenira. “Not really,” I answered. “But I’m trying to be prepared, anyway. We are getting pretty close to their core territory, and as we just discussed, with weaker forces than I would have liked.”

“Having the black stagers along should help. Even if they can’t fight, their senses work just fine, after all.”

I nodded. That was a good point.

We continued moving, still at a slower pace than an army should have been able to manage, though it wasn’t really slow. We had a lot of Lighters in this army. They were just the kind of troops that could be replenished most quickly, and they were effective here. They made good garrisons for villages and towns we took, if nothing else.

For the next half an hour or so, nothing interesting happened, and we made slow progress through the Zarian countryside. The monotony was only broken when I sensed the Red Pheonix approaching. His fiery form cut through the sparse cloud cover and he winged his way towards us, banking once and coming in on a shallow approach. Probably to give everyone enough time to see him and not feel threatened.

I reined in my horse and smiled. “Hello again, honored ancestor. You have news?”

The phoenix transformed into a young man again. He strode forward, ignoring the soldiers warily edging away from his path, and nodded at me. “Perhaps. I am not certain if there is anything important, but I intended to check in with you, anyway. Is everything going as you intended?”

“Yes.” I glanced back over the army. “Things are moving as smoothly as could be expected.”

“Good.” He smiled briefly. “I was half-afraid I would need to help you sort out some kerfluffle. In any case, there is a large temple to the Storm up ahead. Just a few leagues off your current route, if I’m any judge. Which I am. It is quite big, considering these quaint environs, and apparently of high significance. There was some activity there, including some priests, though that seems to have been tapering off when I left.”

I frowned. “Alright. That could be interesting. Thank you for the information. We had better not dawdle too much, if there is still something to find there.”

The Red Pheonix inclined his head, before turning and transforming again, rising into the sky. Apparently, he wasn’t going to guide us to the site. Well, it wouldn’t be too hard to find it, anyway.

I made the arrangements quickly, with Tenira’s help, and we soon set out out a faster pace than before. The army had changed its course slightly to head to the temple. It wasn’t like we had any particular path we needed to follow. But my group went ahead with the vanguard. I didn’t protest when Aston brought a few more people to fill out my guard detail, though there were enough elites coming that I wasn’t concerned about my safety. One of the eighth-stagers elected to come, as well, so we should be reasonably sure we wouldn’t bumble into an ambush, anyway.

The temple really was big, bigger than almost any I had seen, except for the great temple of the Moon. Its layout was completely different, consisting of two concentric circles and stonework between that that I just found odd. It took me a moment to understand it was probably deliberately chaotic and swirly, and another one to see the strategic and tactical sense. Hidden in the arrangement was a cunning set of fortifications, which would funnel enemies into kill zones and traps. Assuming they couldn’t knock down the stone, at least. In the center of the complex, though not the exact center, was the main temple building, which reminded me vaguely of old Greek temples. At least, it had a few decorative columns and a straight-edged roof, though that one was thatched with a material I didn’t recognize.

We made good time and arrived quickly. I swallowed my protests when Aston had our group slow down to send others ahead to approach the temple first. After they reached it without falling afoul of any attack, he let us go forward, too. I focused on my sense of the place, which confirmed that it was definitely dedicated to Jideia. The hairs on the back of my neck stayed prickly all the way in.

A few of the elites had gone around, in order to cut off any retreat if we found enemy forces holed up here, but it seemed like that wouldn’t be necessary. No one emerged from the temple complex, and I couldn’t sense any presences strong enough that they would be a danger. There were still people here, though. We made the final approach on flying swords, rising above the stone-lined paths, and I got a good look into the wide glass windows of the temple, which showed me a small group of priests. By the time we came to a stop in the front courtyard, before the steps up to the actual temple, the door opened and they came out.

I took a moment to study them. There were four priests and half a dozen people wearing casual clothes, ranging from the second to the early fifth stage. The priests sent my spiritual senses prickling. It was like they were coated in something that tasted of Jideia, though of course the actual sensation was not comparable to anything physical and hard to put into words.

Their apparent leader, a short man with salt-and-pepper hair, stepped forward and gave us a sweeping bow. “Imperial Princess. What an unexpected honor.” His tone was clearly sardonic.

“I’m sure. Good day to you, priests of the Storm.” I smiled slightly. “This temple and its surroundings are now taken by the Empire in pursuit of its war against the Zarian Dominion. We will take you into custody, but you have my assurance that you will be treated honorably and no harm will come to you.”

The group exchanged glances. Two of the weaker non-priest people took a hesitant step forward, then stopped when they realized the others weren’t coming and glanced back. My own forces had spread out enough to cover all of the grounds now, but half of them had concentrated in a knot here. The elites started to ascend to the temple from the sides, moving to encircle the Zarian without blocking their way down or putting themselves between us.

“Now, now.” He actually wagged his finger at me. Clearly, this one enjoyed his theatrics. “Let’s not be hasty, here. Why would we agree to this? Your Empire has no jurisdiction here.”

I bit down on my first reply, since asking him if he knew what war was and arguing the definition of jurisdiction or authority would clearly get me nowhere here. “Perhaps because it’s in your own best interests?” I suggested in a mild tone. “We are going to secure this area, we simply can’t forgo that. But no one wants any civilians getting hurt in the process. If you cooperate, go where we can keep an eye on you, and give us no trouble, we’ll let you go with our apologies once we’re sure there’s no threat here.”

The look they exchanged now gave me a sinking feeling. Then, incongruously, the priest smiled and bowed his head. “Very well, quite right. Friends, go to the nice lady, we wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt if that can be avoided.”

The ordinarily dressed Zarian looked surprised at that. “Brother -” an older woman started.

“I mean it, Liuna,” the priest interrupted. “Go.”

Hesitantly, the group did as he bid, coming down the stairs towards us.

The priests, however, stayed where they were, even as our elites slowly came closer. The other three had their hands folded or arms crossed and serene expressions on their faces, the kind someone put on to cover any emotions and make everyone, and themselves, believe they were calm. Clearly, the Imperial soldiers sensed something was up just as well as I did, judging by the caution they displayed. I glanced at Aston, but didn’t give any orders, trusting that he was better suited to handle it if there was a threat.

“A good start,” I told the priests. “But I was talking to all of you. Come here, please.”

The leader smiled again. “Unfortunately, we can’t do that, Princess. I suggest you cover your ears, though. This might get a little loud.”

Without hesitation, I pulled up a qi shield and retreated. My attention remained fixed on the priest, though, and what he was doing. Just as he finished speaking, I could sense a change in the qi of the place.

The next moment, the temple itself exploded outward in a detonation far too tightly channeled to be an accident. My ears rang under the noise and I lost my vision to the blinding flash for an instant. Large stones were hurled upward like marbles, and the ground all around us shuddered as the walls marking the temple’s perimeter and grounds shattered.

In the instant before the explosion reached them, I saw that the priests had already been consumed in pillars of fire.

After the shaking abated, I drew in a deep breath and jostled my shield lightly to dislodge the debris gathered on it, glancing around at the fresh scene of devastation. If that priest hadn’t felt the need to be dramatic and given us warning, that could have been an unpleasant surprise. Not that I’d really been in danger. I doubted this could have killed me even if my guards weren’t here.

But that wasn’t the point, of course. They hadn’t blown up this temple trying to catch us within it, I was fairly sure. They would have probably tried harder to get us into the epicenter of the detonation.

“Did any of you sense anything from within the temple?” I finally asked.

“Nothing that would explain where that explosion came from,” Yarani answered promptly. She’d stepped closer to hover at my left side. “They could have been shielding formation arrays or artifacts they used for it from detection within the temple, perhaps. Though that wouldn’t have been easy.” She frowned. “Or they might have been using chemical explosives …”

I shook my head and took a wary step closer. My qi senses told me that everyone had come out of that more or less unscathed. As dangerous as an explosion could be, all the fighters here were reasonably strong cultivators and had had cause to expect a threat, and enough time to shield themselves.

“There was no qi used in that explosion, perhaps not even to set it up,” a new voice said. “I could almost swear to that.”

I glanced at the cultivator who’d stepped over to join us and nodded courteously. Ki Niyani was dressed as the last time I’d seen her, and her attire didn’t show a single stray bit of dust. It was a little incongruous seeing the Forest Continent native here like that, given the much colder climate around these parts, but I knew that was stupid. Eighth-stagers didn’t have to worry about that.

“Thank you for the confirmation,” I told her. “If they are taking a page from our book, it’s certainly interesting. But not the most important question here, in any case.”

We all turned our attention back to the now-destroyed temple. The dust stirred up by the explosion still hadn’t settled completely, and I already knew Aston wouldn’t let me onto where the main temple had been before checking for hidden traps and structural stability. Even so, I doubted we’d find much.

“What do you think they were doing?” Tenira asked. “It doesn’t make much sense to me. What point is there in destroying the temple, even if they knew we were going to do that, too? Let alone in killing themselves over it? They knew we’d let them live.”

I shook my head. “I’m not sure. But …” I frowned, then heaved a sigh. “I get the feeling this had little to do with what we did, really. That was a sacrifice.”

We fell silent again, and when I glanced back, I saw them exchanging looks. I ran a hand through my hair. What is Jideia up to?

Chapter 170 (Draft)

I looked out into the sunset, which was currently dying the hills to the east in soft tones, and sighed. Clouds were gathering again for a storm, though it looked like this one was going to be a normal weather phenomenon, at least.

“I wish you didn’t have to go,” I said.

Kiyanu smiled wryly. “I need to, though. Someone needs to be back in the capital to talk with ambassadors, send envoys and wrangle diplomats and officers.”

“I wasn’t disputing that,” I said, shaking my head. “I just wish you could stay. I know you’re needed. And I certainly don’t want to do it in your place.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, Inaris, but I doubt you would do as well as me at this.”

I grinned. “I know, I definitely wouldn’t. That’s why you’re regent, and I’m hopefully going to learn to do better in time.”

“As soon as the war is over and I actually have you in the capital for any length of time, I’ll make sure to teach you.” His face sobered, and he sighed softly. “It almost feels presumptuous even to say that. Your mother should be the one to do that.”

I turned so I faced him more fully, feeling my own expression stiffen. “Yes,” I said softly. “But she’s not here to do it. And given what it means for my younger siblings, I’d feel silly complaining about how much I need her.”

Kiyanu took a step closer and laid a hand on my shoulder. “Needing her for practical or personal reasons is a little different, but both are valid, and you’re allowed to feel it, Inaris.”

I turned, dislodging his hand, and gave him a sardonic look. “Thank you for the pep talk, old wise one.”

He backed off slightly, smiling. “Alright. Anyway, you should be on the alert for possible fallout from the international stage here, too.”

“Right. I said this was going to be a headache and a half. With the Dominion’s leaders and its most powerful fighters gone, not to mention the way it seems to be teetering, of courseother countries are going to try to take chunks out of the new booty.” I twisted my lips. “I’d say something snide about cultivators, but frankly, countries in my old world might not act much differently.”

Kiyanu nodded. “I’ll do what I can to discourage them, but there’s only so much we can do. Or should. If nothing else, having other problems should help take some pressure off us.”

“Unless they decide to abandon the colonies completely,” I said.

“Maybe. That would be bad in the short term and disastrous for them in the long term. In any case, I think what we should realistically try for is an understanding with these foreign interests. At least with the most important ones. I think we have good inroads with the Confederation, if it or some of its members get grubby.”

I frowned. I didn’t like that idea, not just because it might amount to abandoning people in areas of the Dominion to the mercy of some foreign conquerors. On the other hand, I understood where he was coming from, and I knew he was right. “We can’t allow them to profit too much off this,” I said. “Or to just throw people to the wolves. But I get what you mean.”

Kiyanu shrugged. “It’ll be a balancing act, of course. This is really an example of what we were just talking about.”

“Well, I trust your judgment, for what it’s worth.” I sighed, shaking my head. “Safe travels, Kiyanu.”

“To you as well. I’ll see you tomorrow night.”

He nodded to me one last time, then vanished, and I sensed him traveling away with great speed. He’d probably make it to Thousand Light City before I found my way to where I wanted to go next. I stayed in the room for a moment, looking out the window again, before I turned and left, as well.

We’d already stayed in this town for far longer than we’d wanted to. But in the wake of the recent defeat, the generals were scrambling, trying to put together at least an imitation of a new army with which we could resume our march south. We couldn’t afford to dawdle. Every day that passed got the Dominion back into order and allowed Jideia to tighten his grip on it. We’d argued a lot about it, but ultimately decided to call a few eighth-stagers here, too. Even if they couldn’t fight directly, they still had quite a few potential uses, and couldn’t be countered by the Zarian eighth-stagers now.

I paused on a balcony spanning an inner courtyard, glancing down. A pair of them was just crossing it. The man looked up to meet my gaze and inclined his head. He was visibly old, with white hair and wizened skin, but still straight-backed, dressed in colorful robes. The woman was younger, and by her darker skin and attire, trousers and a leather vest over a dark blouse, a native of the Forest Continent. They were pretty characteristic of the people who’d come south in response to our call. I dimly remembered seeing the two of them at court, but I recognized them from the dossiers on all Imperial eighth-stagers I’d looked over. I should look for more detailed ones.

I swallowed a sigh and continued on. I really didn’t like that Kiyanu went and left them here with us, but I knew I should suck it up. None of those coming were opposed to the Leri clan or the regent, and even if they were, they wouldn’t do anything here.

When I left the building, I slowed, glancing around. Aston and the rest of my guard details were still there, of course, dutifully keeping watch. Besides them, only a few soldiers hurried about, going about some business. I couldn’t sense any of my companions close by, except Elia, who was cultivating on a terrace on the other side of the mansion. Kajare had thrown himself into his work, dealing with the Terbekteri fighters who survived the battle, and Tenira was probably in the other military base, too.

“Aston,” I said quietly, and waited until he’d come closer. “Did you make sure everything was done like I wanted?”

He inclined his head. “Yes, my lady. There were no major problems.”

“Good.” I smiled at him, then continued on. Aston fell into step beside me instead of going back to his position farther out.

There was more activity in the town that the mansion, I noticed. Clearly, even with the war, work still had to be done. People were cleaning up the aftermath of the recent storms, though I didn’t notice any real damage. They were probably used to this kind of thing here.

I focused for a moment, then kept walking at a good pace. Anyone looking at me would only see a plain brown-haired girls, and I pulled a bit of darkness qi over us to make people less inclined to notice us in the first place. It worked well enough, and we managed to avoid making a scene or disrupting everyone’s business. But we didn’t have far to go, anyway. I stopped before one of the houses built almost right up to the mansion, glancing at the discreetly placed sentinels and runes anchoring the warding and defensive formations. Then I stepped up to the door. When I gave it an experimental tug, it opened with a low groan, and I stepped inside.

Two doors down the corridor, Elis waited for me. He was accompanied by a young woman I recognized, though she wore less shabby clothing this time. They both rose when I entered.

“Hello, Elis,” I said in Zarian. “And Spark, wasn’t it? It’s good to see you again.”

The woman bowed. “And you, Your Highness.”

I studied her for a moment. I’d mostly recognized her by her aura. Although her features weren’t really different from the first time I’d met the Basement representative, she looked different. Her hair was brown now, and she must have used cosmetics to good effect, though I couldn’t see much of those now, which suggested this was her real appearance.

“You really called yourself ‘Spark’?” Elis asked, looking amused.

She shot him a look. “I told you that, didn’t I?” Then she turned back to me. “Please, my lady, take a seat, if you’d care to. Apparently we have things to discuss.”

“Yes, we should get down to business,” I agreed, settling down in a chair, while the other two did the same. Aston took position by the door. The room was sparsely furnished, almost bare except for the few chairs and table in the middle, and didn’t have a window, so light came from a glowstone affixed to the ceiling.

“I hope you’re familiar with the current situation,” Elis began. The atmosphere in the room was sober, now, and both he and Spark wore serious expressions.

“I read your reports,” I answered. “Beyond that, I don’t know much. You can bring me up to speed if it’s needed.”

He nodded. “We will. Alright then, to start, let me just reiterate that the Basement’s resources are limited. We’re already leaning harder on our helpers and informers than usual. Given the current situation in the Dominion, we most normal operations are harder, too.”

“But the Basement can recruit more people, can’t it?” I asked.

“Yes,” Spark took over, “but that’s not easy. Most of all, it’s not supposed to be quick. We still need to be sure what and who we’re dealing with and if they pose potential security risks. For now, we probably don’t have to worry much about Security Directorate agents, thank the spirits, but I wouldn’t go assuming that the Storm’s High Temple can’t make problems of the same sort.”

I nodded in understanding. It probably would be best to be cautious.

“So.” She leaned back in her chair and quirked an eyebrow. “From what Elis told me, you want us to give the Dominion a helping hand.”

Silence hovered in the room for a moment. I smiled slightly. “Close enough. What I have in mind is a more subtle and strategic approach than how you usually deal with your enemies, but the ultimate goal is still for the Dominion to fall.”

She nodded slowly. “Then your target is the High Temple?”

“That’s pretty much it.” I crossed my legs, projecting assurance. “I find that our generals are a little too hung up on the war against the Dominion’s armies. That’s understandable, of course; that is the kind of conflict they’re used to. But this war is not just a clash of soldiers, or even nations, really. And failing to consider the Storm and his power base would be a fatal mistake.”

“That’s obvious enough so far,” Elis commented. “But from the way you said that, I gather your generals are not involved in this scheme?”

I inclined my head. “I don’t feel that that’s necessary. Some agents of our intelligence efforts will be involved, of course. But I’m afraid the officers, and especially the nobles, might react less than considerately.”

“Which is why quite a few of them are currently in a meeting that’s slated to segue into a demonstration of your newest airplanes, and probably several arguments.”

I resisted the urge to flick my gaze to Aston. “I’ve heard somewhere that a good leader makes sure to keep their people busy.”

Elis snorted and Spark smiled with what looked like amusement.

“Correct me if I’m wrong,” I continued, “but the way I see it, the current chaos and High Temple’s position is at least in part an illusion. The great families still exist, even if they’ve lost their leaders. They still have quite a lot of power, and experienced politicians among their seventh-stagers.”

“Their problems are at least as much due to infighting as anything about the Temple,” Spark noted.

I nodded. “Precisely. Without the Princeps and black stage cultivators, the floor is open for new leadership. Which is why I’m talking to you. How likely is a new power block to form, and how much can we influence it?”

Spark frowned thoughtfully. “This is hard to say. The Basement could do quite a lot to influence events, but only in subtle ways. If there’s a faction really consolidating, there won’t be much we can do about it.”

“That’s alright,” I said. “I’d prefer for us to be at least somewhat in control of the thing, but a naturally occurring alliance that gets enough backing will do in a pinch.”

The two of them exchanged a look. “You want a faction to balance the High Temple’s power?” Elis asked.

I smiled and pointed at him in a gesture they probably wouldn’t recognize. “Exactly. Ideally, I’d like to have both the high-tier citizens and the priests so twisted about and in each other’s business that they harm themselves more than us. People have a tendency to fight over the furniture even when the house burns down around them. I just want to give that tendency a nudge. And besides, keeping the Dominion’s infrastructure reasonably intact and functioning will be better for us in the long run.”

They frowned in thought. After a moment, Spark nodded. “I believe I see what you mean. Yes, that’s not a bad plan.”

“I’m glad.” I sat back upright and scooted forward a little. “So. Do you think the great familiar are amenable to play with us?”

“Yes, I believe so. With the proper encouragement and careful handling, but it’s not like they can’t see that it’s ultimately in their own best interests. Do you want them united?”

“A few factions, nipping at each other’s heels, would be good, but one source of stability at least is needed.” I shrugged. “So, a winner, I suppose. Which one could we get to lead the dance most easily?”

Spark frowned slightly. “We can move the less exalted ones more easily, but for this, something more ambitious is needed. But I think that should work. House Siranum we will be able to move. We have some ins.”

“Good. Is that the one you come from?”

She jerked upwards, narrowing her eyes. “I beg your pardon? I am speaking for the Basement.”

“I know,” I agreed, keeping my tone even. “And I’m also aware that the Basement has to have contacts and patrons among the high-tier families. And some who tolerate its existence. You’re clearly not here because you were born on a farm, ‘Spark’.” I let my tone cool a little. “Please don’t insult my intelligence.”

She looked at me for a moment longer, her nostrils flaring slightly, before she smoothed her expression and bowed in her chair. In the manner the Zarian high tiers would use, I noted. “Of course, Your Highness. I apologize if I offered any offense, that was not my intention.”

“None taken,” I replied pleasantly.

“You were right in your guess,” she said, her lips quirking slightly. “I’m Vana Siranum, since there’s no point in hiding that now. I am a member of the family, if not particularly highly placed, due to my youth.”

“You are? Still?”

She nodded. “None of them are aware of my involvement in the Basement, Your Highness.    At least, I should certainly hope not.” She shrugged slightly. “I assume a lot of this plan will fall to me, but with the right help, I’m confident I can do it.”

I smiled again. “Great. Then let’s talk about the details.”

Even without Kariva’s take on it, I’d say this was going pretty well. While there were ways this could backfire, in the end, we still had the Imperial army bearing down on the Dominion. Even if they managed to salvage a coordinated, consolidated position, it didn’t change the balance of forces on each side. But anything that might throw a spanner in Jideai’s works, or buy us some time, was worth trying.

Chapter 169 (Draft)

Yarani put a hand on my shoulder. “Inaris. There’s no point in focusing too much on this and letting it drag you this far down.”

I raised my head, blinked, then shook my head. “I’m not getting depressed, Yarani. I’m just trying to take stock. Spirits, you know how many of our elites we lost?”

She sighed and glanced around. We stood in a conference chamber that currently saw a lot of use, with my other friends and companions here, as well as Kiyanu and some senior officers. But currently, the two of us were clustered in a corner, a little isolated from the commotion of the rest.

“I know,” she said. “I’ve seen the estimated figures. Is this about people you knew?”

I cracked my neck, turning around to face the room more fully. “I guess. I mean, I’m glad that Hashar survived.” I glanced at the general, who was currently talking to Kajare and Kiyanu, and smiled.

She’d teleported out after almost exhausting her qi reserves in the battle. The backlash had left her in the healers’ hands for hours after she got back, but there should be no permanent damage. I was glad she’d had the sense to run. Of course, she was a soldier, and knew she was one of the few experts in spatial magic we had. Her sense of duty would have prevented her from trying any stupid last stands even if she’d been inclined to that.

“But General Wei didn’t make it out,” Yarani said quietly.

I sighed. “Yes. We actually got confirmation of his death in the recent report. This is bad for more than just military reasons, Yarani. We might not have been exactly close, but he was still a blood relation.” I shook my head. “I’ve lost kind here, now, even if the connection isn’t commonly known.”

“Actually, you lost more than that,” Tenira said. She’d been quietly making her way to join us. “There were a few members of clan Leri, and they died, too, Nari. Distant kin, maybe, but still technically part of our clan.”

I pulled a face. “Oh. I’m sorry to hear that, Tenira. Crap. That doesn’t make things easier.”

“The Leri aren’t the only clan who have lost family members, here.” Tenira shrugged. “I imagine we’re going to see a response from the nobles over this. The war wasn’t exactly unpopular, but with a humiliation to wipe away and family to avenge …”

I couldn’t help rolling my eyes. This news should encourage people not to take the risk of joining the war, given how likely it obviously was to get you killed. But in this kind of culture, the prestige of the clan and avenging dead family members might really prove more important factors. Not that I would complain. In fact, Kariva and other people are probably going to try to steer the public reaction in this direction.

“We definitely need to hold some kind of ceremony,” I said. “I know most of the dead are going to be buried by their families, but even with sending the bodies north, we can still arrange something.”

“Way ahead of you.” Yarani smiled slightly. “Tenira and I have already started to talk about setting it up.”

I gave both of them a smile. “Great, then I leave the matter in your much more capable hands. Poke me if you need anything.”

Rising voices further into the room distracted me, and I turned to watch what was going on. It looked like several of the officers from the remnant of the southern army had come. They all looked a little bedraggled, even though they’d obviously changed into fresh clothes. It might just be their expressions and the shadows under their eyes. I slowly stepped forward, listening in on the conversations and reports.

“Your Highness,” Hashar murmured, suddenly appearing beside me. If I’d sensed a teleportation, I wouldn’t have questioned it, although really she’d only moved unobtrusively through the room.

“Hashar.” I smiled and brushed her arm with mine discreetly. “How are you holding up?”

She shrugged. “As well as anyone else, I expect.” Her lips quirked upward the slightest bit. “It helped knowing that you’re safely back here.”

I smiled. She’d spoken so softly that no one else should have caught it, and in the general hubbub, no one seemed to be paying undue attention to us, anyway. I caught Yarani smothering a smile, though.

“We were just discussing a ceremony for those fallen in the battle,” she spoke up. “As the senior surviving officer, General, your help would be welcome and appreciated. Of course, if your other duties are keeping you busy, we’d be quite alright handling it ourselves.”

The general smiled at her, a warmer expression than she showed most people, which banished some of the shadows in her eyes. “Thank you for the consideration, my lady. I think that is a splendid idea, and I’d be glad to be involved.”

Sensing that they might want to have a word alone, I extricated myself quietly from the conversation, instead continuing on towards Kiyanu. It was good to see that they got along. By this point, Hashar was pretty much a fixture of my future circle of confidantes, advisors, or whatever you wanted to call it.

Especially if Wei Jun wasn’t there positioned in the army anymore. The thought sparked a small pang of anger. Not that I was particularly affected, personally, and there was no reason to pretend. But I’d invested resources into him, started to cultivate a professional relationship and a place for the future, and it irked to see that going up in smoke. And I should write a letter to Wei Min, too. Ugh.

Following a sudden impulse, I veered to the side, passing by Kiyanu and a rotating group of senior officers, and instead stepped through a side door. This was an open addition to the complex, part corridor and part balcony, which let the sun through in intervals. The sky had cleared as if the large storm had never existed, although new rainfall was predicted for tomorrow. I sighed softly, stepping closer to the edge.

“More bad news?” Ceion asked.

I gave myself one moment more to look out at the landscape, before I turned, scowling at him. “What are you doing here? Come on!”

I grabbed him by the sleeve and pulled him further down the corridor, then around a turn and down a staircase. He really shouldn’t hang around where he could listen in to potentially sensitive discussions. Truthfully, I knew there wasn’t much he could learn from this meeting that would be harmful to us if he knew, even if Kiyanu hadn’t put qi shields in place. But I kept herding him away, until we reached a secluded, quiet little courtyard around the estate.

“It appears you lost quite a few fighters,” the spirit-child commented.

I scoffed lightly. “Not as much as the Zarian. I’m sorry to tell you this if you knew any of them personally, but all of the eighth stage cultivators in the Dominion have been killed.”

Ceion was quiet for a moment. Then he nodded slowly. “I’d heard as much. Thank you for confirming it, Your Highness.”

“Where’s your escort?” I asked abruptly.

“Keeping an eye on me, I’m sure.” He smiled with a hint of wryness.

I glanced at my own guards, who’d followed my unobtrusively and were now spread out around us. Aston didn’t look concerned, so I imagined he was right.

“I didn’t really know any of them, though I’d met a few,” Ceion said. He shook his head. “Still, all of them? The spirits …”

I nodded. “I’m sure they have their reasons.” I kept my tone deliberately neutral.

Ceion’s face twisted. “Yes. Don’t they always?”

We shared a moment of silence, both of us knowing the other’s thoughts went along the same lines as our own.

“You said you could give me guidance,” he finally spoke up.

I leaned against the outer wall, crossing my arms. “Sure. I stand by that.” I shot an irritated look at the pair of guards closes to us. “Aston, back off.Give us some space. He’s not going to attack me, and no one’s coming for us.”

Aston didn’t look like he agreed, but he bowed and motioned to the rest of the guard detail before starting to walk further away. I knew they wouldn’t let me out of their sight, but given cultivator speeds, there was really no reason to crowd too closely. If Isuro or one of the spirits wanted to attack, we’d have bigger problems, and having Kiyanu in shouting distance would take care of any lesser threats.

“Can’t blame him for being twitchy,” Ceion commented. “Not that you have anything to worry about, of course. I couldn’t take control of you if I tried to, I’m quite sure.”

“How does that work, anyway?”

He looked at me for a moment, then shrugged. “It’s a bit like possession, that’s true, although I’ve still got my own body. There’s a limit of distance and cultivation stage, but basically, it involves sending my qi into or around someone else, it’s a little hard to describe, to puppet their body.”

I nodded. “That sounds fascinating. So you still retain awareness of your own body while you’re doing this?”

He hesitated for a second, then sighed slightly, clearly deciding to keep talking. “Sort of, but only dimly. I have to actually move if I want my target to do something, which, as you can imagine, is a pretty limiting factor. Not the sort of thing it’s advisable to try in public. I don’t touch their minds in any way, though, beyond getting some garbled feedback from their senses.”

“I see.” I uncrossed my arms and smiled slightly. “I believe I get what you mean. It sounds like an unpleasant ability to use, though.”

Ceion pulled a face. “Oh, pleasure is the cost of power! Or something like that. How did it go again?” He grinned, shaking his head.

“Hm. You know, one of mine is the ability to enter the dreams of another person, as long as they’re close or reasonably familiar to me, and influence them. It goes for my own dreams, too. I haven’t had any real sleep, with actual dreams, in years. If I want to give my mind a break, the only thing I can do is meditation, and that’s not quite as good, or maybe less prudent things.”

Ceion blinked. “Huh. Somehow, it never occurred to me to wonder,” he admitted. “That sounds fitting, though.”

I smiled. “Anyway, you wanted my guidance?”

“I suppose.” He frowned slightly, and I had the impression he focused on my more tightly. “In my situation, what would you do? Would you trust you?”

“Huh.” I leaned against the wall again. “I suppose I have a religious obligation to answer that honestly. Even though I’m not a religious person and I can’t imagine ever actually worshiping the Moon.” I tilted my head to the side. “I don’t know what I would do. There are quite a few things about your situation that I don’t know, which might affect what your best course of action is.”

He nodded. “That’s fair, I suppose. But still?”

“Well, in your place, I would be very wary of trusting Princess Inaris.” I smiled slightly. “But that’s just me. I’m not a very trusting person, generally speaking. But I don’t think you’re stupid enough to trust anyone unconditionally that easily, anyway. In this case, you should probably be more focused on options and results. You don’t need to trust someone if you’re confident they’ll act in their own self-interest in a manner that suits you.”

“That just shifts the question around. If I understood you well enough to know that, I wouldn’t have asked this.”

“Fair enough.” I ran a hand through my hair. “I want to help you, and I want to get you on my side, not that of my enemies. You’re already an investment to me. I also believe you deserve protection, just like anyone would, and I think trying to coerce you into anything would not only be ethically problematical, but likely to backfire.”

Ceion regarded me thoughtfully for a moment, before he nodded. “I can see that. Thank you for being honest.”

“Of course.”

He still looked at me thoughtfully. “It’s not like I didn’t see how you were trying to manipulate me.”

I smiled slightly. “Trying? Given our situation now from where we started, I’d say I’ve been fairly successful.”

He grinned suddenly. “Indeed! Fair point, my lady.” He swept into an elaborate bow. “My respects.”

I repressed a frown. These sudden switches in demeanor were a little disorienting, which might be why he did them. “You’ve been doing that less often since you were here,” I noted.

He straightened up, his expression serious again. He didn’t seem inclined to pretend he didn’t know what I was talking about. “I suppose I have,” he admitted, his tone thoughtful.

I shook my head and started walking, taking note of how long he hesitated before he fell into step beside me. Pretty quick. That was a good sign.

“I would like to start trying something a little more actively to block your connection to the Auditor,” I said. “To make sure that he can’t compel you to do something against your will. What do you think?”

Ceion frowned. “If you can, that would be great. I don’t imagine he’s very pleased with me right now.” He hunched his shoulders slightly. “It’s not like I had much of a choice, but …”

“I understand.” I put a hand on his arm for a second, smiling. “Then I would suggest some focused meditation. I’ll try to guide you. Improving your mental defenses in general also couldn’t hurt. But the quickest and easiest way would probably to try to counter his influence with the Moon’s, to some extent.”

Ceion looked skeptical. “I’d be all for that meditation. But what do you want to do with the Moon? I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”

“Well, firstly, I would try to bless you in his name,” I explained. “I’ve done that to people before, and while I can’t swear that it does anything, it could hopefully give you some protection. Besides that, blessing the space we’re on, perhaps with setting up small shrines on the corners or something, might help to spread his influence and make it harder for his enemies to work theirs.”

He frowned thoughtfully. “Alright. That sounds reasonable. And I suppose the Moon can hardly be any worse.” He stopped. “What should I do?”

I stopped as well, quickly glancing around. We were in another shadowed corner, with no one apparently watching. “If there’s a specific ritual, I don’t know it. Generally, people kneel and I lay a hand on their heads and say a few words to give them a blessing.”

Without any noticeable hesitation, Ceion lowered himself to his knees and bowed his head.

I took a deep breath, then stepped closer, smiling slightly, and laid a hand on his forehead. I spoke in Zarian. “Ceion, I bless you in the name of my father, Rijoko. May the Moon guide your path and light your way in the darkness. May he protect you and leave your mind free and safe against all outside influence, so that you may spend your days seeking your own guidance and finding your own wisdom.”

This time, I actually felt a small bit of qi. It came from my connection with my father. Ceion didn’t show any reaction, but he’d kept his gaze lowered, so I didn’t see his face. I stepped back and watched him get back on his feet.

“Well, that’s that!” He grinned. “Never thought I’d actually find a use for spirituality, but there you have it!”

I returned his smile. This went well. I just hoped it would be of some use.

Chapter 168 (Draft)

The battle hadn’t raged long, but it was already one of the most devastating ones I’d ever seen. I could only make out parts of it, the rest blocked out by the haze of fires, shimmering air, sudden plant growth and dust as thick as any sandstorm. The foothills around the two clashing armies were torn up and tossed about, and many soldiers didn’t fare any better.

Tenira clenched me hand with a grip hard enough to break bone on most people. I gave her a reassuring squeeze, but didn’t take my eyes off the battlefield. The rest of my group was silent, as well, all of us watching disaster and knowing we couldn’t do anything to help.

The Zarian eighth-stagers didn’t mess around. In a way, the chaos of the battlefield was the only way that saved even some of our soldiers. While the Zarian army was obviously careful not to get in the way, their presence limited their allies’ options if they didn’t want to get them caught in the devastation.

But I could clearly see it was only a matter of time, and not much of it.

The Imperial elites had consolidated their strength. Some of them were holding off the eighth-stagers pretty well, although with the amount of qi they used, they couldn’t keep it up forever. I clenched my jaw as I watched a squad of Zarian elites homing in one of the knots of resistance, scattering them with brutal attacks.

“It’s going to be over soon,” Kiyanu muttered. “Whoever hasn’t made it out already is almost out of luck.”

I nodded. The Imperial army had already sent the signal to retreat, of course, but that wasn’t easy. Two thirds of the Zarian eighth-stagers had spread out northward, hemming them in and hunting them down.

A fiery streak caught me attention. I narrowed my eyes, watching closely as the phoenix, who’d just broken through the storm, arced away. He was pursued by what had to be a Zarian seventh-stager, but acquitted himself pretty well. Soon, they were too far for me to make out anything.

“They can’t possibly think they’ll get away with this,” Elia commented, her voice tense.

I shrugged. “Pretty sure the Moon is already getting the others Greater Spirits to do something about it.”

Of course, I didn’t say, I didn’t know how much good it might do, when right this moment they were grinding away the Empire’s strength in the south.

“Hush,” Kiyanu said. He leaned forward slightly.

Before I had the chance to respond, the feel of the qi in the distance changed slightly again. I unconciously leaned forward, too. Suddenly, the battlefield was even more brightly lit up than before, with several spots of brightness that would have been blinding from close up. I blinked, then cycled more qi to my eyes.

The Zarian eighth-stagers in the sky plummeted towards the ground, impacting over their own soldiers. One of them seemed to still be burning, the other was sputtering out. When he reached the ground, there wasn’t much of anything left.

I cocked my head, trying to study the sensation of the qi I felt as well as I could. Well, this is something.

“There’s nothing more for us to see here,” Kiyanu said. “Let’s go.”

I considered arguing, but he was right. The battle had been almost over before this, and now it definitely was. The Zarian had taken some losses, too, but I knew that wasn’t much compared to our own. And the rest of their elites were free to roam further afield now.

Kiyanu moved us through the air again, though this time, I had the feeling he was doing it more carefully. I pulled some qi of my own and wove a veil around us that should help hide us from detection by enemy soldiers. It probably wouldn’t stand up to a high stage cultivator, but it couldn’t hurt.

The trip back took longer than before, and it passed in silent contemplation. No one seemed to be in a mood to talk. I looked south, but quickly, I couldn’t make out anything anymore. I did note an airship and a few cultivators traveling in our direction. So far, they didn’t seem to have to worry about pursuit. That made me hope that at least some of our people would get out of this. It was still a disaster, of course. Even with the Zarian eighth-stagers dead. I wonder how they got them to do that? Maybe blackmail, or they gave them false assurances about being able to protect them. They weren’t that many, after all, and there are bound to be a few idiots in any group.

Kiyanu took us straight to the command post set up in the city. When he lowered us to the ground, I couldn’t help stepping gingerly over the stone of the courtyard. The whole city seemed to still be in a state of alert, and a lot of eyes were watching us. By unspoken agreement, we trooped directly into one of the large rooms of the headquarters building where we could talk with more privacy, except for Elis, who made a beeline to where the Basement had set up.

We ended up in a standard conference room with faded paintings hanging on the walls. I could sense several presences moving outside, and a few of my guards spreading out. They should alert Kajare and the others.

“Inaris, do you have anything more to say on this matter from the spirits?” Kiyanu asked.

I cocked my head, contemplating the question for a moment. “Not really. I do still feel some sensations, but nothing like a concrete message.”

Before we could continue the conversation, someone opened the door and cleared their throat. I turned to see a high-ranking officer I vaguely recognized. “Your Grace, we have important intelligence from our assets in the Dominion.”

Kiyanu straightened up and frowned. “Yes?”

“There seem to have been disturbances in several of the Dominion’s old cities. The capital has been placed under martial law. There seems to be some commotion at the Princeps’ Palace, and it has been locked down to all traffic. Similar has been done to several important families’ estates. We also have tentative report that fighting might have broken out in a few of those.”

Elia cursed in a low voice. Kiyanu’s frown deepened. He nodded. “Please check if we can get confirmation of that, Colonel. Keep us posted, and call a meeting of the generals in half an hour.”

“At once, my lord.” The officer saluted and departed.

Silence reigned for a few moments after he had gone. We exchanged looks. Tenira appeared thoughtful, frowning into the distance. I leaned against the wall, while Elia pulled out a chair and lounged on it, her legs kicked onto another chair.

Then the door opened again and Elis stepped inside without bothering to wait. He looked a little paler than usual, a slight frown on his face. He carried an untidy stack of papers in his right hand, which he laid on the next available table.

“We might have an issue,” he said. “If you can call it that. The Basement has disturbances from all across the Dominion’s heartlands.”

“We’ve just heard of that,” Tenira said, nodding. “Disturbances, martial law in the capital, the palace and major houses in an uproar and locked down.”

Elis leaned against the table and sighed. “Yes, I’ve heard the same things. That’s not all, though.”

“What else?” I asked sharply. Kiyanu took a step closer.

“We just got a report from an agent in the countryside to the northeast of the Whitecaps,” he started. “Around a few large towns. He’s not very far up, and it took a while for the report to make it to someone who could send it to us over the established quick channels. The Zarian might already have detected the use of qi for his communication talisman and apprehended him.”

Kiyanu nodded. “I see. That sounds like it was an urgent and important matter. What did he report?”

“He happened to see a powerful cultivator in the air, probably looking at the countryside or perhaps looking for something. Quite suddenly, the woman started falling from the sky, accompanied by what sounds like a shockwave and catching aflame. By the time her remains hit the ground, causing a minor earthquake and destroying a field, they were only scattered remains. With her clearly dead.” Elis took a deep breath. “He was adamant he recognized her as Lin Lian, one of the Dominion’s black stage cultivators.”

There was a moment of silence in the conference room after he’d ended. I forced myself to relax my suddenly tense muscles and took a deep breath.

Kiyanu sighed. “Well, isn’t that interesting. It fits with what we’ve seen before.”

“They’ve killed all the Dominion’s eighth-stage cultivators,” Tenira said quietly.

We all exchanged another look.

“That certainly would explain the news we’ve been hearing,” Elis agreed. “We’ll probably get more confirmation on other deaths from the Basement in time.”

“That will be good to have, but I think the matter is clear enough,” Kiyanu said.

I pulled a face. “You’re probably right.”

He glanced at me. “You don’t sound particularly happy, Inaris.”

“I’m not. I mean, there are, or were, almost a hundred black stage cultivators in the Dominion, and it seems like the spirits just killed them all out of hand for breaking our agreement.” I shook my head. “I’m aware they would have needed a majority of them to agree to it, or at least to sending envoys with the authority to negotiate. But some were almost certainly against it in the first place.”

“And the Greater Spirits killed them,” Elia said. “You’re surprised?”

I snorted. “No, not surprised. I know spirits don’t have human morality and I never expected them to adhere to it. I’m just uneasy.”

Kiyanu was frowning thoughtfully. “Who exactly did this, do you think? The Moon?”

“No. He might not have even involved himself directly. I get the feeling this was the other Greater Spirits.” I looked around the room. “And you can bet they didn’t do it without a reasons. There are other punishments they could have extracted for breaking the contract.”

The others suddenly looked more thoughtful. I could tell that Elis was excited, and Tenira didn’t seem particularly upset, either. If anything, the gleam in her eyes was speculative. But they clearly realized this wasn’t the time to start celebrating.

“And what do we do now?” Tenira finally asked. “How do we best take advantage of this?”

“Well, I suppose it’s obvious that we now have the decisive advantage in black stage cultivators,” Kiyanu said. He hesitated, then looked around, taking a step towards the center of the room. “Wait. Something is coming. Inaris?”

I didn’t answer, but looked to the door, where I now felt a familiar presence approaching. A second later, the door opened again and Mior strolled inside. The spirit was in a relatively solid form, but still looked like mist made of qi more than anything.

“You can’t use your eighth-stagers,” they said calmly, walking inside as if they had no care in the world.

I untensed a little and stepped towards them. “It’s good to see you. What do you mean, though?”

“What I said. The agreement is still in effect for you, as far as the Greater Spirits are concerned. Don’t let black stage cultivators fight unless you want to deal with the consequences.”

Kiyanu narrowed his eyes. “We appreciate the word of warning, honored spirit, but I have to admit it seems strange. Were you sent to tell us this?”

Mior nodded at the regent. “Yes, that’s right. The Moon sent me to let you know.”

Kiyanu and I exchanged a look. I knew we were thinking the same thing.

“Well, that’s just great.” I leaned against the table and shook my head.

“What does this mean for the war?” Elia asked.

“In the long term, it’s clearly an advantage for us,” I answered, frowning. “But in the short term, it makes things harder. Assuming we even get far enough to consider a long term, I mean. The Zarian just wiped out a good chunk of our strength, and didn’t take as many casualties. And, in practice, neither of us can deploy eighth stagers, still.”

“That’s not the only thing,” Elis said. He looked a lot less happy now. “I mean, I’m not sure if the Empire could survive the loss of all its cultivators in the black stage …”

“Hmm.” I ran a hand through my hair, still frowning in thought. “I think it probably could survive. Kiyanu would be dead, but I’d still be around, and so would the rest of the administration. With the other eighth-stagers dead, I think Kariva could hold things together in the capital long enough for me to go there and settle them. Of course, other nations would smell blood. We would maybe have to actually turn a few cities to glass to show that, eighth-stagers or not, you don’t mess with the Empire. Still …” I grimaced. “Let’s try to avoid that, shall we?”

Yarani chuckled, shaking her head. Kiyanu nodded shortly, while Elis shook his head. Elia was looking at Mior, who didn’t seem in a hurry to contribute anything.

“Right,” Elis said. “I was thinking about the Zarian, though. You know what this means?”

“Chaos, in all likelihood,” Kiyanu answered.

“In what way?” Tenira asked.

I glanced at her, then the others. “The Princeps just died. So did the heads of every great family in the Dominion, and quite a few of its government institutions. This makes the words ‘political crisis’ sound totally inadequate.”

“We already have reports of what might well be fighting in the capital,” Kiyanu added.

“Right. And the onlysignificant institution who has not been beheaded here has been the High Temple.” I shook my head. “The Storm is going to take advantage of this in a way that no one would have dared to dream of before. I expect that he and his followers are going to be practically ruling the Dominion soon enough. Maybe even officially.”

There was another grim silence after my last statements. Tenira stepped beside me and took my hand. I looked around at the others, feeling their reactions.

This was a complete disaster.

Chapter 167 (Post)

The Whitecap mountain range of the Storm Continent reminded me unpleasantly of the Central Mountains. I could only barely make them out from here, and only with the help of light qi and my spyglass, not to mention being pretty high up. But the fact that I could see them drove home just how far we had already come into the Dominion. The craggy peaks and white caps could have been just a view of the Central Mountains seen from a new angle, if I couldn’t recall exactly how each mountain was shaped. The pattern of rivers winding their way down was different, too. But there was also a city sprawled at their feet, only a dark blob from here. The first major settlement the Zarian had taken outside of their actual homes.

Sighing, I lowered my spyglass and stowed it in my storage ring, before I turned away from the view of the landscape. The city below me was still smoking in several places. It had come of out of the recent battle worse than most. Perhaps because the Zarian had fought with more ferocity and determination here. But General Wei had taken it almost a week ago, and I knew the fires causing that smoke were just about burned out. People were already starting to rebuild quite close to them. They’d burned hotter and far longer than normal, made from fire qi as they were, but at least the destruction was very contained.

There’d still been a lot of civilian fatalities here compared to the other cities.

Shaking my head, I got moving and headed down the stairs of the observation post. It was attached to one of several fortresses, this one placed right at the city wall. Like the others, it had clearly been neglected for a long time. Boarded up windows and incongruous stone and metal additions showed where the Zarian had tried to quickly get it back in fighting shape. I knew boarding those windows up was probably more efficient even than using enchanted glass and formation arrays, but the sight still seemed odd. Encouraging, though. The smell of wood shavings and alchemy components couldn’t quite mask the underlying dustiness. It was quiet for the amount of qi signatures I sensed, most of them clearly hard at work.

Tenira met me at the base of the stairs, and we exchanged quick smiles. It really was good to have her by my side again. Even if I could wish she had more new technology to bring with her.

“They’re asking for you in the mayor’s office, but I think that’s a matter that doesn’t really need your attention,” she said. “Just a snag with organizing the local police force. Lei also wants to show you something he’s cooked up, but that will keep, too.”

I nodded. “Anything interesting?”

“I think I’ll let you judge that for yourself.” She gave me a little smile.

I rolled my eyes, but didn’t press the point, and instead started walking again. Tenira fell seamlessly into step with me, and somehow or other, we ended up holding hands. There weren’t many people around, except for the everpresent Imperial guard team, though Aston had again taken a break. I could sense him cultivating not too far away.

I slowed down as we stepped back into open air and sunlight at the base of the fortress, where a small path of dirt pretended to be a proper courtyard. The sun was still shining brightly, but the wind had picked up even in the short time I’d been inside. I frowned, looking up at the sky. Clouds were gathering to the east. They looked pretty dark considering they were still this far away. Another storm? Hopefully, it wouldn’t reach the army before the battle they were expecting was fought.

I started to take a step forward, then stumbled, barely catching my balance. As if by itself, my head snapped back up into the sky, and I blinked. I’d rarely had an intense feeling like this before, especially this suddenly, but I could sense the spiritual qi involved.

“Nari?” Tenira took my arm. “What’s the matter?”

I shook my head. “I just got a sudden premotion. A strong one. Somethingis going to happen.” I hesitated, glancing around. “Tenira, raise the alert. I don’t think whatever it is is centered on us, but the Moon is clearly expecting some excitement to come.”

Tenira frowned, but visibly swallowed her questions, and instead reached for her communication talisman to pass this on. My attention was distracted from her quickly, as I saw Elia and Elis hurrying out of the fortress into the courtyard. They both looked tense. Elis was just buttoning the nondescript dark jacket he wore.

“Did you feel it, too?” Elis asked right away.

“I felt something,” I replied. “I’m not sure what, but something’s going to happen. Presumably, Jideia’s going to pull some sort of stunt.”

“That’s about what we figured,” Elia replied. “We both got a sensation from the Sun at the same time. It wasn’t very strong, but this kind of thing doesn’t happen often. I get the feeling all of the Greater Spirits are focusing their attention to this conflict.”

“Well, that just leaves the question …” I trailed off, frowning, as I watched Ceion coming from the other gate. I beckoned to him.

He hesitated, but then walked over to us. He bowed. “Your Highness. Lady Tenira, lady Elia, lord Elis.”

Elis snorted. “That’ll be the day when I’m really a lord.”

“I was under the impression that your family was nobility where you come from,” he said calmly.

Elia shot her brother a quelling look. “We lost our holdings, but yes, for what that’s worth, you’re correct. That’s not important right now, though.”

“We all felt something rather odd, from our spirit ancestors,” I said. “Did you notice anything?”

Ceion frowned slightly. “Yes. Like a shadow of something else. I’m not sure what to make of it.”

We all fell silent, clearly uncomfortable about this matter. Around us, more soldiers took up their positions around the fortress and the town, and bells tolled in the distance.

“Does anyone else think that storm is getting bigger?” Elis finally asked.

I looked up again, frowning. He was right. Just in the short time we’d been talking, the dark clouds on the horizon had expanded considerably. They clearly came from east-south-east, moving quickly. They also looked just a little darker than even one of the temperamental local tempests were supposed to be.

“The more important question is,” Elia said, “does anyone else think it’s heading right for the army?”

“Probably,” I muttered. It was hard to tell with something like this, but from what I could see, it had to pass right over where I thought the next battle was going to take place.

“From our last reports, the army had sighted the Zarian and they were both preparing to engage,” Tenira said. “This has to be related.”

“But I don’t think this is what our feelings are about,” I added. “Not just this, anyway. Hell, even if we were about to be completely crushed in the next battle, I don’t think it would raise that level of interest among the spirits.”

They exchanged uncomfortable glances. Ceion took a step back, looking like he was seriously considering getting himself somewhere else, even as most of the present guards focused their attention on him. Elia and Elis appeared not to notice, and instead communicated with silent glances.

Suddenly, I sensed another shift in the qi around us. I barely had time to take a step back and get Fides from my storage ring before a dark figure plummeted out of the sky next to us. The next moment, I stowed the spear again, relaxing at the familiar presence.

“Sorry to startle you,” Kiyanu said. He brushed his robe off, even though he’d touched down with barely any sound or disturbance in the air and hadn’t gotten any dust to speak of anywhere.

“It’s good to see you again,” I replied, even as the others quickly fell into deep bows.

“I noticed what I’m fairly sure was a disturbance,” the regent said, glancing at the storm quickly before returning his attention to us. “Do you have any insight to offer?”

I nodded. “A little, but nothing very helpful.” Quickly, I laid out what we’d all felt.

Kiyanu frowned. “That’s not a good sign, Inaris. You’re right, this has to be the Storm making a play of some kind, and it has to be connected to the battle.” He looked around, nodding at Aston, then back to me. “I think we’d better take a closer look.”

“That does seem to be wise,” I agreed.

“Good. Hold on.”

I barely had time to brace myself before I felt Kiyanu’s qi gathering around me again. The next second, it lifted me off the ground. I sighed and tried to relax into the sensation, letting him carry me. This was probably safer and quicker than any transportation I could manage myself.

The city swiftly shrunk beneath us, as Kiyanu moved us into an arc up and southward. I glanced around, noting that he’d apparently chosen to leave Ceion behind. Not that I could blame him, considering the situation. Aston appeared to be moving on his own power, and a few other guards were also escorting us, but only the stronger ones. Then I focused my attention on the region we were heading towards.

The Whitecaps swiftly grew bigger in my view as we approached them. The land in front of them was also mountainous, but only had hills compared to their high peaks. A river wound its way westward off to the side of our path. The rolling hills grew steeper and craggier the further south they were, and the city I’d noted before sprawled in a plateau at the foot of the mountains. Some kilometers south of it, still, there was a pass between two unusually high ridges, where several crags and valleys met to form an especially impassable barrier to further travel south. Looking closer, I could see the pass surmounted an open space between the two major ridges, forming a natural fortification. Or battleground.

Figures sparkling with qi were streaming into it, accompanied by Imperial airships and planes. On the other side, the Zarian army had taken position. Unlike our army, they hadn’t brought any kind of large machines or siege weaponry, but the faint feeling I got even from here showed they had gathered a lot of strength. Offhand, I couldn’t say which side could bring more qi to bear.

Kiyanu stopped a good distance away, so I had to cycle light qi to my eyes to have any hope of making out any details.

The fight was clearly just getting started, but it was still ferocious. The haze of various elemental attacks being used, not just all the qi, meant I didn’t get a good look at the overall shape. But the storm was unmistakable. It still approached quickly, creeping forward to fill the horizon with darkness. By now, there was the occasional bolt of lightning casting brief light within the clouds, too, though I couldn’t make out if they hit anything.

“That storm is clearly not just natural,” Kiyanu commented in a low voice. “It’s going to stir up the battle.”

He was proven correct quickly. Like passing beneath a curtain, when the storm front reached the area, the activity sputtered out briefly before resuming with a vengeance. Their lines of sight occluded, cultivators rushed to close with each other more. A few planes and airships managed to land, but many of them were just blown out of the sky, only two of the bigger airships apparently able to withstand the tempest. One of those listed to the side, and they both turned about and started to bolt, losing altitude as they clearly planned to set down somewhere behind the lines of battle.

Interestingly enough, except for the wind picking up sharply and the occasional gust of rain or sleet, we didn’t experience any effects here. The storm almost seemed to have slowed now that it reached its destination.

“Do you think it’s safe to get closer?” I asked. “I couldn’t see much even before, and this is not helping visibility any.”

Kiyanu shook his head, still staring at the battle.

A red haze spread around a particular spot, driving back the cloud cover, as the Red Pheonix took wing and arced over the battlefield. There were still some cultivators in the air, too, although fewer than before. The battle spread out over the uneven terrain, soldiers fighting bitter duels, trying to ambush each other in the confusion, and gaining and losing little ground. From here, it looked like nothing so much as an unholy mess.

Then I heard my companions suck in air sharply as new figures rose from behind the Zarian army, approaching in the blink of an eye. Somehow, none of those was difficult to make out. There were about half a dozen, and they gleamed in vibrant colors. Immediately, the Imperial elites started to withdraw, giving ground to their opponents while they banded tighter together.

Even from here, I could sense the edge of their qi presence.

Tenira mumbled a curse beside me. “This isn’t what I think it is, is it? They can’t be that stupid.”

“Desperate, maybe,” Elis muttered.

I glanced at Kiyanu, who was now grinding his jaw.

Then the newcomers attacked. They spread out so they boxed the Imperials in, clearly unimpeded by any attacks or attempts to control their movements. And in the next second, torrential waves of qi blasted into the battlefield.

“I’m afraid it is,” Kiyanu said tensely. “These are black stage cultivators.”

He grabbed my arm, and then we moved backward, further away from the fighting. I ignored it and took out my spyglass, trying to get a better look.

I stared, feeling my heart flipflop in my chest, as the Zarian eighth-stagers started to lay into the Imperial soldiers. With the Storm on their side, the Zarian army seemed to rally as well, pressing forward into their enemy.

They weren’t the biggest threat anymore.

Chapter 166 (Draft)

We’d only hosted him for a day, and already I was fondly thinking of the pleasant days I’d have when my ancestor was away again.

It wasn’t even mainly because of his attitude. Sure, he acted just as grumpy as the last time I’d met him, but he at least seemed to make an effort to be polite. He’d congratulated me on my consorts instead of being put out over the untraditional situation, didn’t demand any eccentric amenities, and even let himself be steered away from Ceion. The problem was more because he was just the way he was, from constituting a constant fire hazard to the mansion’s furnishings to an obliviousness to the finer points of human social behavior, like proper scheduling of one’s day. The other issue was that everyone seemed to want to meet the Red Phoenix.

“He’s probably single-handedly cutting our productivity by twenty percent, and he’s not even doing it on purpose,” I grumbled.

“Oh, don’t be grouchy,” Yarani chided me. “Having the Red Phoenix along to fight the Zarian is an absolute blessing. Not to mention how much he will help in getting other powerful spirit beasts, like those living in the region, to cooperate. We might even get some more spirit beasts fighting for us!”

I sighed and leaned against the wall. I’d fled outside, to a corner of the building adjoining a space they’d sent up as a training ground. “I wouldn’t get my hopes up in that regard. But you’re right, just the assurance that they’ll stay out of our way would be very good to have.”

Yarani smiled gently. “It’s all going to work out, Nari. I know you’re tense, with the way things seem to be coming together. But we’ll face what problems the Zarian or the Storm may throw at us when we actually encounter them, and until then, it’s best not to worry too much.”

I returned her smile. “I guess you’re right, Yarani. Thanks.”

“Besides.” Her smile widened and became more mischievous. “I may have gotten some intel from home outside normal channels. You know, just talk. And it seems like the research initiative regarding the Zarian artifacts is considered pretty much finished, especially since they’ll have to do without their head for now.”

I straightened up. “You mean …?”

“Yes. Tenira is coming south.”

I grinned. That was very good news. Not necessarily for the research initiative and our war effort, but that was definitely a lesser concern to me at the moment. “Great. I see you were falling all over yourself to run and tell me the news, too. I appreciate the consideration, Yarani.”

She gave me her usual unrepentant grin. “I actually wanted to let it be a surprise, but, obviously, you would have heard about it before she arrived. I suppose we should be fair and let Kajare know now, too.”

I rolled my eyes and pushed off of the wall. I’d given up sulking over the fact that people all seemed to have their own information networks and always knew important stuff before me, since they pretty much constituted my own information network in the end. And I just didn’t want or need the headache of trying to build those sorts of contacts myself.

“You know, it’s nice to know that if someone ever gets too annoying, I have the army and can just use some soldiers to beat them up,” I mused.

“Threats of violence at this hour?” Yarani widened her eyes and placed a hand on her heart theatrically. “Oh, my. Such a perilous life I lead.”

“Who said I was threatening you?” I grinned. Then I started ambling away.

We made a slow circuit of the grounds, which were a lot smaller than what I’d become used to when we set up in one of the recently conquered cities. At least the reception here had been a lot friendlier, perhaps because the town wasn’t large enough to have much of an upper class of high-tier cultivators, and the common folk seemed pretty sanguine about the Basement. It was a nice day, the sun burning from an almost cloudless blue sky, though the weather was turning colder. And this far to the south, you almost never had any real warm days, anyway.

I looked out over the fields around the town. Mostly different crops than I would have seen in the Empire, at least around the capital. That made sense given the local geography in terms of elevation and climate. At this point, I’d given up wondering why something that clearly resembled Earth barley would exist in Aran, like other plants and animals. The fields abruptly cut off in one direction, at the border of the recently caused devastation. I had a feeling that perhaps some of the town’s outlying fields had been caught in it. Hopefully, they had enough remaining that feeding themselves wouldn’t be a problem, but they also had Imperial soldiers camping here. I made a mental note to see about getting a few army cultivators to help their plant cultivation. Certainly wouldn’t hurt to ingratiate us with the locals, too.

Then my attention was drawn to a few dark specks in the sky, which grew gradually larger. I tensed a little until I could make out the familiar shapes of Imperial airships. We’d stepped up building programs for them, too, and those had finally started to have noticeable effects. We had all the airships we could risk, now, which was usually the limiting factor in using them in war, anyway. Some of those would have been modified to carry our airplanes, which we still couldn’t have enough of down here. Unlike other supplies, getting those built in facilities on the Storm Continent just wasn’t feasible.

“The campaign seems to be going well,” Yarani commented. “General Wei is still pushing the Zarian.”

I grunted in response, but turned my attention away from the scenery and started walking again. “He hasn’t been at it long. It might be off to a good start, but let’s not count our victories yet.”

“I’d call another Zarian city taken a very good start,” she said with a hint of satisfaction in her tone. “I know they have a lot of them, but eventually even they’re going to run out.”

“There’s always the colonies,” I pointed out. “But I suppose we’re winning there, too, all things considered.”

“Hm.” Yarani was silent for a moment, looking thoughtful, before she spoke again. “Maybe, with Kiyanu here, you should take the opportunity to go north. Being here, involved with the war on this front, it’s easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. But we need to tailor our strategy to the whole conflict, not to mention international political considerations.”

I frowned, slowing down a little while I thought about it. “Not a bad idea,” I finally said. “But I don’t think I will. There’s just …” I shrugged. “Whatever Jideia or the Dominion is up to, it’s going to center here. I’d rather stay.”

“If you think that’s best.”

We kept walking for a while in silence. I could still hear a lot of what was going on in the area, but I made an effort to shut down my senses, or rather ignore them, and enjoyed the little illusion of tranquility. It was rare enough that I got some time away from people these days, even with one of my partners, without being buried in paperwork.

That might be why I didn’t realize who we were heading to meet at first. There was a double row of bushes and small trees planted in this part of the grounds, with the odd wildflower in the small grassy strip between them. The vegetation hid the other group from view until we were almost on top of them, and I hadn’t been paying attention to my other senses. None of the guards ranging around us in a wide perimeter had given any sign of danger, either.

Ceion froze for a moment when he saw us, hesitating just enough to let his companion get a breath ahead before she, too, slowed. An Imperial elite, judging by the aura and clothing, although she appeared pretty relaxed. I approved of keeping him under guard, but not making him feel too much like a prisoner.

The soldier bowed deeply, and after a moment of hesitation, the spirit-child followed suit. “Imperial Princess,” he murmured.

“Ceion.” I smiled. “I see you’re out enjoying the nice weather, too.”

“We were just coming back into the building,” he said.

“Aren’t you going to introduce me, Nari?” Yarani asked in a playful tone. She hooked her arm into mine.

“I believe you’ve seen each other before,” I said with a wry smile. “But of course, forgive my discourtesy. Ceion, meet Lady Tia Yarani, one of my consorts.”

“Indescribably charmed,” he answered, and bowed gallantly. But I could see the sudden tension in his posture after he straightened back up, and the wariness in the way he watched her.

“It does seem a little backward to only learn each other’s names after one of us has already touched the other’s body rather intimately,” she replied with another smile. “Of course, that was only qi, wasn’t it? And I daresay it ended better for me than most others. No harm done.”

He visibly took a deep breath. “I apologize for the way I used my bloodline ability on you, Lady Tia. I acted in self-defense, but I realize that is little excuse.”

Yarani’s smile slipped from her face like water off a stone. She looked at him in silence for a few moments, whatever thoughts passed through her head hidden behind an unmoving expression. Then she nodded. “I appreciate the apology, Ceion. Thank you. And it’s just Yarani.”

I wonder if he’s going to apologize for the guards killed in his assassination attempts.But I locked that thought away behind a calm facade and brushed it off. Showing resentment to Ceion now would be counterproductive. Feeling it would be, as well. Besides, he was far too interesting to let that be all of it.

“We were heading back, too,” I said lightly. “Might as well walk together a little, if you don’t mind a detour?”

“By the strangest coincidence, I don’t think I have any more pressing appointments on my schedule, Your Highness,” Ceion said drily.

I grinned at him and turned partway, setting off again. Yarani and Ceion fell into step with me, though he kept a wary distance, while his escort hung back. This was probably about as private as we were likely to get without making a concerted effort.

“It might snow here in the not too distant future. The weather here is a little colder than I’m used to, though it’s not a large difference,” I remarked. “How was it like where you’re from, Ceion?”

He raised an eyebrow. “A little colder still, Your Highness. Is that your way of asking where I was raised?”

“I certainly wouldn’t object to hearing about it. But you don’t need to talk about it if you really don’t want,” I said gently. “I’m not going to force you to answer any questions.”

“Well, that’s what a fellow likes to hear!” He grinned again. “I certainly approve of the attitude. In my position, one does wonder.”

“I can see how you would, though you must have seen the way the wind is blowing,” I commented.

“In regards to what questioning I expect? Of course. I did notice a rather conspicuous lack of thumbscrews.”

Yarani made a sound that I knew was a muffled chuckle. I only smiled and kept walking.

“I was raised in a small town close to the Whitecaps,” he said after a short while. “Very scenic panorama. Very off the beaten path. Great for privacy. But still close enough to the cities, and, of course, the temple.”

I hummed thoughtfully. “I imagine you weren’t raised in a farmer’s cottage,” I said. “An abbey or temple?”

He tilted his head slightly. “Close enough. They certainly provided a proportionately large number of temple knights now. But I actually was raised in large part by my family, the mortal part, at least.”

I glanced at him, seeing the subtle signs of tension in his posture at the subject matter. Despite his affectedly light tone, his expression wasn’t that of someone fondly reminiscing about their childhood.

“I imagine that means your mother?” I asked. “Siblings, maybe?”

This time, he did grimace slightly. “Yes, and yes, I suppose. My older brother Niordo.”

I managed to hide any reaction, but I recognized that name from when Elis had mentioned it.

“We heard that your aura wasn’t nearly as blackened, for lack of a better term, than one would expect,” Yarani said quietly. “Considering what we’ve seen you do.”

Ceion clenched his jaw, then forced it to relax. “I wouldn’t trust those sorts of senses very far,” he said lightly.

“That’s probably smart,” I replied. “But the point still stands. You know that two people died in the attacks you made, don’t you? I suppose you could argue both of them were enemy combatants, although the young rebel really didn’t constitute any sort of threat to you. I have to wonder how many other people we don’t know about. I’m sure you understand why.”

Ceion slowed down, and I smoothly stopped, until the whole group was standing in another tree-lined path. “I’m afraid I can’t help you,” he said stiffly.

I gave him as gentle a smile as I could manage. “The thing is, Ceion, I don’t think you’re a psychopath, or evil, or whatever you want to call it. Or even a murderer, arguably. I know you didn’t set out to kill either of them. But there’s not really any question that people suffered due to your uses of your bloodline ability, presumably not just during this war.”

“Can you get to the point, please?”

“It just bothers me.” I shrugged. “I don’t thinkyou wanted to do things like that. I’m a spirit-child, too, Ceion. I know how they influence you. How they can twist you and mold you into doing what they want.”

He crossed his arms. “So?”

“So the question is what youwanted. Is this your fault, Ceion? Did you want to kill these people, to hurt people?” I stared at him. “It’s a simple question. Yes or no.”

“Oh, spirits,” he spat. “Of course I don’t want to hurt people!”

I repressed a smile. “Then you did it because of others.”

He glared at me for a moment, then sighed. “That’s pretty obvious.”

“But you still acted,” I pointed out, leaning against a tree trunk and ignoring the others. “You still bear some responsibility for it. What I said before might be true, but that doesn’t change that fact. So, again, why did you?”

He looked at me again, his frown fading. “It was the mission,” he finally said. There was an odd undertone in his voice.

“And it never occurred to you to defy your mission?” I asked, but still gently, keeping my gaze on him and my tone soft.

He snorted, the tips of his fingers turning paler as he gripped onto himself. “The first time I tried to refuse a mission, my brother beat me to within an inch of my life. After that, I never tried again.”

There was silence for a second, only distant birdsong audible. Yarani shifted beside me, but I kept my gaze on Ceion. “How old were you?” I asked softly.

He shrugged. “About thirteen, I think.”

I regarded him thoughtfully for another moment, then smiled and pushed off. “Well. Thank you for the talk, Ceion. Sincerely. I won’t keep you any further, I know this has to have been uncomfortable enough already.”

He nodded and turned away.

“Ceion,” I said, causing him to pause. “I’m the daughter of the Moon. That means I have a knack for guidance. It seems to me like you need some, and my door is open. I know that, given our position, it’s not what you would ask for, but still. And you should know that I’m going to try to remove or counteract the Auditor’s hold on you as well as I can.”

He hesitated, opened his mouth, then clenched it shut and bowed before moving off at a fast pace.

Yarani and I stood watching him until he and his escort got out of sight, then started walking again, slowly. I took her hand, and she gave me a gentle squeeze.

“Nari,” she finally said softly. “I think …” She trailed off.

“What is it, love?”

She shook her head, then turned to face me. “I have something to ask, I think.” Her gaze was intent. “Be kind to him, Nari.”

I blinked. “Why?” I asked before I could think better of it.

She shrugged. “It seems like he needs it.”

Well, I could hardly dispute that. I didn’t have any response to it, so I just kept walking in silence. I had a lot to think about. But one thing stood out to me, something I should have understood and perhaps hadn’t given enough credit.

Yarani was a genuinely good person.

I’m lucky to have her.

Chapter 165 (Draft)

I plopped down on the sofa, pulling my outer robe off and throwing it haphazardly over the back of a chair. The hems dragged on the floor, but those were probably cleaned every day, so it didn’t matter. I leaned back and allowed myself a sigh.

Yarani followed me and Kajare in, closing he door behind her quietly. She then stayed standing and leaned against it, while he threw himself into another chair.

“You don’t want to stay with Ceion?” she asked, raising an eyebrow.

I shook my head. “No. Whatever he might have said, he’s not going to be feeling very well-disposed towards me at the moment. I think it’s better if I, at least, give him some space. Putting too much pressure on him would be a mistake.”

“Little bastard would deserve it,” Kajare muttered. “And he’s still going to be a prisoner, regardless.”

“Anyway,” I said, not responding to him, “I want him to realize he really is reasonably safe with us. I think I’ll give him a few days to understand we’re not going to torture him for information before I start really talking to him again.”

Yarani nodded. “That’s a good idea.”

I ran a hand through my hair. I’d originally planned to rendezvous with Kiyanu in Aliatin, but it looked like that would have to wait. I already knew Kiyanu wasn’t going to be happy with any of this. I definitely didn’t want to throw him and Ceion together right off the bat. Of course, I should probably still make a report to him. While I would usually prefer talking to him in a dream, in this case I was just as happy to only use written correspondence. Less room for heightened emotions or even harsh words.

“How are you doing, Yarani?” I asked quietly.

She blinked, looked at me, then snorted softly. “I’m alright, Nari. You don’t need to treat me like I’m spun from glass just because I had a brush with a spirit-child’s technique.”

“No one’s trying to say that, we’re only concerned because we care for you,” Kajare said. “You haven’t talked about it at all, just shut the topic away. Of course that’s not going to reassure us completely.”

She glared at him for a moment, then sighed. “Alright, alright. Thank you, Kaj. I know.”

“Kaj?” I raised an eyebrow.

“I decided it’s about time he got a nickname.”

“I told you not to call me that,” Kajare groused. “It means ‘fertilizer’ in my native language.”

Yarani pulled a face. “Alright. I’ll think of something else.”

“You’re still skirting the issue,” I noted.

She rolled her eyes, then shambled to one of the other chairs and flounced into it. “Well, I really don’t have any lingering adverse effects. It wasn’t exactly the most comfortable feeling in the world, but it lasted only for a few moments. And even that’s all in my head, anyway. It’s not like I was physically hurt, I just had my body moved without conscious input.”

I leaned forward a little. “That sounds a little fascinating, but still disturbing.”

“And it makes sense that any problem it would have is mental,” Kajare commented. “I mean, this is basically your body betraying you, or it could easily feel that way.”

And I imagined that was a particular blow to a soldier, who relied on it to work properly and under control.

Yarani shrugged, a slight grimace on her face. “You’re not wrong. I think I’m over it, though. In the end, it’s not like a stronger cultivator or spirit beast couldn’t hurt me much worse with me being just as helpless. That’s just the way the world works.”

“Hm.” I leaned back into my chair, studying her for another moment, but didn’t comment. Sometimes, I despised this world. Of course, I also had more than enough reason to love it.

“You’re wearing your ‘my old world was so much better’ face again,” Yarani commented.

I scoffed. “I don’t have a ‘face’ for that. And obviouslywe didn’t have anything like that there.”

Sighing, I stood up and walked to the window. It was long and narrow, the glass done in an old style that made it distort the view at the edges of its separate geometric forms and only gave a clear look through their center. The whole town outside the window looked old. It was a moderately big settlement, and there were some houses with at least six stories around, but the streets were still worn cobblestone, the streetlights might have been used with oil lamps, and the wall around it was actually crumbling in a few places.

This had never been considered dangerous territory before. Sure, you had to guard against the odd monster attack everywhere, but the town was deep in Zarian territory, with no qi anomalies nearby, and its surroundings were almost all cultivated fields. Now, it stood uncomfortably close to the swath of destruction the Zarian had wrought. You could see it easily from this window, like a dark splodge on an otherwise idyllic pastoral scene. No wonder the townsfolk all seemed so subdued, most of them clearly preferring to hole up in their houses.

I muttered a curse to myself, knowing they wouldn’t understand the language. I was feeling decidedly cranky, which generally wasn’t a good sign. It didn’t help that I still had a subtle but persistent feeling as if another shoe was going to drop. Maybe not right now, but sometime soon. I hated not knowing what my enemies were up to.

“If you’re thinking of calling up Mior for a chat,” Kajare said, “maybe you shouldn’t do that where Ceion can sense it.”

Startled, I turned to look at him. Then I nodded. “You’re right. That would have been my next move, but it’s not like it can’t wait.”

“Speaking of the spirit, are you going to be building temples to the Moon where the burned down ones used to be?” Yarani asked.

I moved away from the window, grateful for the change of subject. “Some. Most of the places are going to get a use for the Empire in one way or another. We might also build more shrines to the Moon elsewhere, but honestly, I’d rather not get too directly involved in that.”

“We could talk to Tenira,” Kajare said. “Maybe Clan Leri wants to sponsor a few new temples. If Kariva isn’t already doing it.”

I nodded. I was technically the head of the clan, so it wasn’t exactly far removed, but that was still a good idea. Especially considering the question of where exactly the money would come from. The bureaucrats had set aside an item in the Imperial budget for, basically, ‘royal whim’. I much preferred to spend that on new universities and research centers. The clan had funds of its own, especially considering the lands it still held across the Empire, on several continents. I knew those hadn’t been touched much in the last few decades.

The conversation trailed off here. Although the awkwardness had been broken, it didn’t seem like any of us had much to say. I started pacing up and down the room slowly, wishing we’d set up a proper laboratory in this dinky little town.

Something brushed over the edge of my awareness and I frowned. That was a familiar qi presence, wasn’t it? I stopped and looked out the window, cycling some qi to my eyes. I could just make out an orange spot on the horizon.

“It looks like we have company.” I didn’t wait to get the others’ reactions, but headed to the door and left the room.

Kajare and Yarani scrambled to follow me. The two guards posted outside the door straightened, then fell into step as I started walking.

Unfortunately, I didn’t know the layout of the estate well. While it wasn’t particularly grand by the standards of where we’d previously been put up, it was built low to the ground, sprawling. It took me longer than I expected to make my way outside without running.

It looked it might have been a mistake not to hurry more. Just as I stepped out of the estate’s main gate into the dirt square in front of it, a fiery presence descended from the sky. His aura was far stronger than I would have expected to feel it … and more combative. I froze for a moment, taking in the scene, before understanding dawned and I cursed.

Ceion was in a corner of the square, escorted by two soldiers. It looked like they’d just been heading into or out of the estate in the direction of the neighboring buildings housing an army command center and Elis’ operation, among other things. He’d frozen now, staring wide-eyed as a red streak winged down from the sky towards him.

I started moving before I’d settled on any kind of tactic. A meteor of flames bloomed from the sky, crashing towards them. My shield of darkness qi only barely caught it. The attack flickered, bursting through it. I threw up a second shield, catching the rest of the flames, and staggered to a halt.

It looked like everyone else had hesitated to attack with the irate phoenix now flying above the square. Considering this had almost wiped out my reserves, I could understand why. And now that I was there, they seemed to be okay with leaving it to me. At least, no one attacked or made any aggressive moves beyond putting up qi shields, though the soldiers around me and from other areas did draw together into a tighter formation. Of course, he’s supposed to be a friendly and I only had my intuition to go on that he was hostile.

The Red Phoenix screeched, whirling around. The fiery corona around him intensified, and fire pulsed around him.

I threw up my hand, trying to wrestle what control I could on the flames. That actually seemed to startle him more than my previous defense, and the phoenix aborted the technique before it was fully formed, beating his wings to descend further.

“Stop this!” I shouted. “Honored ancestor!” I took a deep breath, then gave a polite bow. “I am very glad to see you, but please, let us talk in private and stop making a scene.”

The spirit beast had grown since the last time I’d seen him. He was now just a bit smaller than an eagle, though his coloring hadn’t changed. He didn’t seem inclined to take those intense-fire-blue eyes from his target, and he clearly had no trouble using normal speech despite his current form. “You have one of the Auditor’s spawn infesting this place, child,”he declared. “I will take care of it for you.”

“No.” I placed myself between Ceion and the phoenix, pulling on more darkness qi. “This man is my prisoner.” I glared up at him challengingly. “He is mine to deal with. You are being very discourteous, grandfather.”

That finally seemed to give him pause, and the phoenix dialed back his aura to be a bit less oppressive, the fire banking. He descended in a flutter of feathers, his shape expanding amid a fiery haze as he closed in on the ground.

“This beast is your grandfather?” Ceion muttered in Zarian.

“Great-great-grandfather, actually,” I clarified absently as I watched the Red Pheonix step on the ground in humanoid form.

He seemed to have grown up in this form, too. Instead of a younger teenager, he now looked to be only a year or two younger than my biological age. He was now taller than me, and carried himself like he was even taller.

He bowed politely. ‘It is good to see you again, my scion. I apologize if I caused a stir.’

I smiled and waved my hand dismissively. “Not at all. Be welcome here, honored ancestor.” I turned. “I don’t believe you’ve met my partners. This is my husband, Prince Kajare of the Terbekteri and the Empire. And this is my consort Lady Tia Yarani.”

The two of them had followed me outside and were now coming closer. They both bowed as they were introduced, while he returned the gesture. I could sense Ceion relaxing as it became clear that we’d moved past the possibility of an altercation and into talking.

“Perhaps we should talk inside,” Yarani suggested.

“A good idea. We have some water from a spring located in a local qi anomaly with very dense qi, I’m told it tastes quite good,” I suggested. “Unless you want something more substantial.”

Aston and the guards started to spread out farther and disperse the onlookers, most of whom seemed to turn back to what they were doing anyway now that the show was obviously over.

The Red Phoenix snorted softly. “I suppose that will do well. I never could understand why humans insist on drinking poison like alcohol.”

“Me neither,” I confessed in the tone of one sharing a secret. “Let’s go in, then.”

Luckily, my ancestor seemed happy to take the lead, while Yarani and Kajare maneuvered themselves to escort him inside the mansion like good hosts. That left me to get a moment with Ceion and his escorts.

“Take him into the base near the gate,” I told them. “It’s probably better if you stay out of his sight for now.”

“You’ll get no argument from me on that, my lady,” Ceion agreed. He moved as if to wipe sweat from his forehead, even though my enhanced eyes could tell there wasn’t much of it in the first place. Still, the tension in his body language was obvious enough, and hardly surprising, though he had kept his calm remarkably well.

“What did you do the Red Phoenix to provoke such a reaction, anyway?” I asked.

Ceion smiled with little mirth and shrugged. “I haven’t the faintest idea.”