tejoka

Chapter 57 (Draft)

It took a moment for me to settle and try to process what had happened. I now stood on the lower outskirts of the qi-soaked place I’d gone through, feeling the wind howling through the mountains and tousling my hair. My senses were sharper than they’d ever been.

I took a few steps forward, feeling the strength in my limbs. I’d definitely broken through to the middle part of the fourth stage. But there was more to it. I still felt a connection to something beyond myself. Less like ...

Chapter 56 (Draft)

I stayed standing where I’d met that spirit for a few minutes, trying to see if I could still sense him and waiting for something else to happen. Finally, I determined everything was quiet, and started walking again.

I’d been turned around by the more friendly spirit’s intervention, so I didn’t know if I was walking in the right direction. Not that I had a clear goal to be walking towards, anyway. Only a feeling of which bearing I might have come from, so I headed in the opposit...

Chapter 55 (Draft)

It felt like the world around me had shifted again. I could still sense the mist of qi hanging in the air, but its presence was muted now, almost overwritten by something else. Like a frame holding up something else, another layer of reality.

That didn’t mean it was clear. Just looking at it worsened my headache. Colors flashed, and pieces of images swirled through the air. Like three-dimensional paintings ripped apart and mixing together.

A few times, I saw something I thought ...

Chapter 54 (Draft)

The view of the mountains was beautiful enough to make me forget about the poison and Mother’s revelation for a moment. It had taken some more time until we could leave, and I didn’t know how long I’d waited in that room before that, but at some point dawn had come. Now, the sun was just leaving the horizon behind, sending its rays out over the Central Mountains.

I stood on a hilly outcropping a little further down from the real peaks, but with a great view over a valley in the mo...

Chapter 53 (Draft)

It took a moment for me to realize what was going on. My mind felt clearer now, more connected, although I was still exhausted. I felt like I’d been ill for a while and only just cleared it, although I doubted it had been more than a few hours.

Like usual, I remembered my dreams, although they were vague. Probably because they’d been fever-dreams, blurry and disjointed, interspersed with periods of semi-wakefulness. I knew I’d been moved, but I hadn’t been able to pay much atten...

Chapter 52 (Draft)

I closed my eyes for a moment. When I opened them again, the room had stopped spinning around me, at least. But I still felt sick, and like I was floating around isolated from the world around me.

Focus, I chided myself. I looked at one of the rings on my hand. It was a talisman supposed to protect me from poison, but it must not be strong enough. They wouldn’t use something weak to target me, and whatever it was had be pretty fast-acting.

I reached for my storage item,...

Chapter 51 (Draft - V2)

EDIT: NEW VERSION (30.09.2020)

Of course, I didn’t enjoy the party. Anyone who expected me to probably didn’t know me very well, although I assumed Mother knew that.

It occupied more than just the great hall of the city palace, but sprawled over most of the first floor, and probably to upper levels as well. I assumed a lot of politicking happened and deals were made in the side rooms while it lasted. And it was probably going to take hours.

I’d made my way thr...

Chapter 50 (Draft)

As we came closer, I could hear the sea of noise beneath me more closely. I couldn’t make out any individual words, or any other details, but it washed over me with the force of thousands of people. Even if it wasn’t loud yet, I knew I’d be much closer to everything soon.

I took a deep breath, and turned to the mirror I’d just conjured up. Usually, I avoided looking at my reflection. It wasn’t really dysphoria or anything — my body and appearance felt right and familiar. But...

Chapter 49 (Draft)

I felt like the scent of smoke was permanently stuck in the back of my mouth, etched into my pharynx like a scar of battle and war. A reminder of everything that had happened over the course of this affair, and the destruction and death I’d witnessed.

I shook my head, dispelling the melodramatic thoughts. I’d ordered the dead nomad fighters burned, as that went according to their beliefs. Or so I’d read, but I hadn’t had the time to learn as much about their culture before our d...

Chapter 48 (Draft)

It would have been epic, if I hadn’t been in the middle of it. Right now, I could only swallow nervously as I looked out over the battlefield. Instead of epic music, there was the creaking and snapping of equipment, raised voices, and the thud of boots on the ground. My qi senses strained to keep track of everything as cultivators unveiled their auras.

I closed my eyes for a moment, curling my senses towards myself and locking my knees. After a few deep breathes, it got easier to deal...

Chapter 47 (Draft)

I felt like a historical marshal watching their army march along to battle. Although I should probably sit on a horse for that picture, not stand on a flying sword.

I turned and watched the mountains rising up behind the soldiers. This mountain range really wasn’t big, but its sickle shape stretched across most of the horizon from here. The Central Mountains had peaks just as high, but not directly at the edge and everywhere. I doubted that this was made naturally, but who knew?

Chapter 46 (Draft)

I pressed my sleeve against my face, trying to hold in a sneeze. A group of thousands of people could raise quite a bit of dust, especially on a gravel road. But I wanted to walk along with the army for a while.

It wasn’t the whole army, of course, but a sizable fraction of it. Many soldiers were still scattered through the region, reinforcing garrisons and trying to prepare defenses against the nomads. I felt like the war had entered the next phase. We’d been marching for a few day...

Chapter 45 (Draft)

I started awake, sitting up before I realized I was in no danger. Sighing, I ran a hand through my hair. I needed to calm down. Then I took a deep breath and felt at my ribs. Everything was healed.

I looked around, taking note of the soldiers marching around me. I’d been lying on a mattress of air Aston carried two meters above the ground. He flew along beside it. Tenira was on her flying sword not far away.

It had taken hours to sort everything out at the site of the attack. On...

Chapter 44 (Draft)

At first, we moved slowly, carefully. The soldiers had drawn tighter around me and Tenira, and they now all carried weapons. I couldn’t make sense of who wielded what weapon, but they would know what they were doing.

Still, I couldn’t help glancing back. I saw dark shapes just above the forest’s canopy. They could just be ordinary birds, but they seemed pretty large. I wish I could take out my telescope or use a technique, but I needed to keep my attention on our march, and the so...

Chapter 43 (Draft)

I wouldn’t have thought I’d like being on a flying sword, but it was preferable to the litter. I’d definitely gained a new appreciation for the view from up here, the wind playing around my face and the feeling of freedom high up in the air.

It may have had something to do with the people gathered below us. I’d rather not face this sort of farewell on the ground, any more than I had to.

“You’ve gotten better, Inaris,” Tenira commented. She pulled up beside me, her ow...

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