That presence, that scent. The beast couldn’t contain itself. It wanted to tear everything apart. But its fast damaging core reminded it to rein its bloodlust. Soon, it thought to calm itself, very soon its wishes should be fulfilled. It had waited for five centuries now, two years couldn’t compare. With painful control, its killing intent disappeared, its white eyes turned dark once again. The coldness that started to freeze the capital’s inhabitants was retracted. The fur head lied down once again and closed its eyes. Soon, it repeated like a mantra, the same one it used for two centuries now.
***
Zao village was one of the many villages that surrounded the Lein Oasis. The air was still fresh and crisp there even though in the desert it had started to be heated and burning. After the desert and the small steppe in front of it were dressed the immense gates of the capital. Even though she didn’t really know, that’s where Seyran was gazing at now with a slight frown on her face. That killing intent so far away had disappeared as fast as it had appeared. It had been so violent that she really hadn’t thought its bearer would succeed in controlling it. But such a deep hatred; was the person really going to let it go just like that?
Seyran was actually standing in the middle of a muddy road, not concerned about the calmness she had brought in the previously busy market at all, or about the gazes that were still fixed on her for that matter. Actually, those people had long faded in the background as she had prepared her mind for what she had thought to be an incoming battle but turned out to be nothing.
Huang, perched on her shoulder had felt the danger in the air too, but who would have thought that it would disappear before even making itself clear? Not that the little bird felt like fighting anytime soon anyway. The lazy days it spent recently, it found them quite fulfilling somehow. However, the bird knew for sure it angered no one, no one to the point of wanting its death anyway. So, was it the one under its claws that actually did? She certainly seemed like the one targeted though. The bird tilted its head to look at the human girl that was still looking towards the north direction without blinking.
A little group of people started gathering around her, staring intently, taking in her beautiful clothes that were already dirtied and the little animal on her shoulder that was still holding the white stone in its claws. Yenaigai would really cry upon seeing her white feet touching so vulgar mud. Huang could remember the fuss the servant would make when Seyran just wanted to walk in the garden. He would plead to have her reconsidered or to have her draped something around her feet. Go figure why Seyran indulged him, but then the birdie concluded, it was certainly to have the servant shut up for he wouldn’t stop otherwise.
“You…” finally stammered one of the whispering villagers in her direction. It was an old woman dressed simply, that was holding a market bag. She was the one nearest to Seyran. “Did you just use a crystal stone?” she whispered-asked, looking left and right, quite fearful. Fearful of what, Seyran didn’t know.
“She teleported” one whispered loud enough to be heard by the others.
“She used the crystal stone,” another one said.
Suddenly there was a loud gasp and everyone started to scatter in fear. Just when Seyran was about to discover why they were now so panicked, a little hand suddenly grabbed her clothes and pulled her sleeves, wanting her to follow. Seyran’s first reaction had been to think about killing that daring little girl in tattered cloth. Let alone that she openly disrespected her, she was still tugging so forcibly at her clothes with her little hands. Then as fast as she thought along these lines, she buried such considerations. She wasn’t the Unzu’s queen anymore. That kind of bloody life, she wanted it behind her. And so, she was for the first time docile in a complete stranger’s hands, letting this unknown little girl pull her and have her run until they arrived at the back of a small house, out of sight.
The little one who didn’t know she had just escaped death happily giggled as she stopped there, then looking right and left and making sure no one followed, she made Seyran enter the house by the back door, effectively hiding her from prying eyes. She then turned around and Seyran finally saw her face. It was a chubby little child certainly not older than seven or ten years at most; she had a round face and when smiling like she was right now, one could see her missing tooth at the front of her row teeth.
Huang who had left the comfort of Seyran’s shoulder and flew by itself when the human followed the little one, posed its claws one more time on her as it landed. There didn’t seem to be any ill intents from the little human in front of it, otherwise, it would, of course, stay out of the matter. Least would it be good that it got entangled in someone else’s affairs! But this little human, anyway, what did she want?
“Did you use the crystal stone to come here?” asked the child excitedly, her lacking teeth making the sound of her words a little off tune but understandable still. “Show me, show me.”
However, Seyran made no move at all, her face still expressionless as she looked at the little girl in front of her. The other one, who was smiling and talking all on her own, started feeling a little strange and after some minutes, the smile turned into a frown then a scowl. No one liked feeling like a fool.
“Won’t you pay me? I had just saved you from doom!”
‘Is that so?’ thought Huang ‘ and just when was that?’
“Is it you Jiang’er?” came an elderly voice before an old woman showed up from the corner of the corridor. The woman was a little surprised to see someone else in the house as well, she looked at Seyran from head to toe and whatever conclusion she made of her presence, she told no soul, as she smiled brightly and asked: “Oh my, did you just come from the capital?” And without waiting for a response she continued “Come, you must be quite thirsty.”
“Grandmother” cut the child “she has a crystal stone. Won’t it help elder brother come back earlier? Quick, persuade her with me, she must give it.” Then facing Seyran she boldly said. “You can give me the crystal stone and I’ll count it as us been even.”
The face of her grandmother had long turned ashen under her words.
“Impudent child! What are you saying” admonished the elder clear fear evident in her voice.
Then Seyran remembered the white little stone she gave Huang. Turned out she was really here because of this little bird. As though it could actually hear her thinking, Huang was already saying in a panicky chirp.
“I’m going to bring us back-” It should be the same process, right? Just infusing a little qi on it should do the trick, but before it even got to finish its suggestion, she cut it off.
“Wait.”
Really, wouldn’t it just be bringing them to a further place from where they came from? She took the small stone under Huang’s claw, showing it to the elder in front of her.
“Is it this stone?”
The other one, hurriedly say.
“Place it back, hurry” in a frightful tone she continued. “They would take your life if they saw.”
“Who?”
“Are you stupid? The crown princess’s army!”
Huang contemplated the idea of flying away from this place before this old woman angered that demoness but glancing at her, it found that she was still expressionless actually, not caring one little bit about the insult.
Bitingly, and with authority in her voice now, the old woman declared.
“You can go.”
Still, Seyran made no motion to move at all, staring at the woman in front of her without so much as blinking her eyes at the woman’s outburst. The old woman really contemplated the idea of chasing this missy by force. In her opinion, this girl didn’t seem to have that high rank and if that little bird on her shoulder was her contracted beast, it wasn’t threatening at all and seemed easy to deal with. But then again she didn’t want to alert her neighbors and let them know that this transgressor had been in her house. What would she say to the crown princess’s army at that time then? Jiang’er that child! Bringing here a person who so blatantly broke the law was she planning to have them all died?!
Seyran finally talked, and that, with a voice that didn’t hide her mockery at all.
“and here I thought you talked about water.”
“This house has no water to give!”
“Grandmother,” the little girl said in a small voice at the face of her infuriated –slightly and scared?- grandmother.
The latter immediately hushed the child, shooing her inside the house, and standing in the middle of the corridor with Seyran, she waited for the stranger to go. But the other wouldn’t budge at all, so she scolded.
“Pah, coming in other people’s house and bringing misfortune. How were you raised! Hadn’t the crown princess passed an edict last year that stated whoever used a teleportation stone in any form should be jailed? What are you doing here, hurry and go turn yourself to the court.”
The old woman was really unwilling to have this intruder any longer in her house. Her poor children were taken away and never came back, was this stranger planning to blackened her grandchild’s future too?
Actually, Yande was a vast land, yes, but its habitable ground wasn’t. The country was formed by assembling what was in previous time, different clans. Large distance separated those different people and even if over the centuries they accepted that they were now one nation, it didn’t change the fact that some places were just too difficult to live in, thus from one town to the second, there were actually days of traveling. The capital may be at the center of the country but that it too, was quite far in the view of the desert’s inhabitants.
Previously in Yande, since going from one place to another was really a long distance traveling, people used teleportation stones. There were different kinds of it. The crystal stone was the one used by the contracted beast. It was the sturdiest and wouldn’t break if one used too much qi. It was also the one preferred by the nobles. Now that the population was ordered to walk on feet -albeit with horses' carriages or camels- on those capricious and long distance lands, wasn’t this torturous? After tasting the easiest ways who could be happy to return to the archaic ones? Such an unreasonable edict. Those people didn’t know how to use mana, so they relied on those stones to teleport them in long distance places but now they had to rely on their feet, braving by themselves the scorching heat of the desert, wouldn’t it make them think badly of this sovereign that instead of appeasing their lives was actually hardening it?
“No grandmother, we need to take the stone for brother otherwise, when will he come back?” said the little child by the corner of the wall.
“Aya” whispered the elder with pain in her voice “my poor boy, departing for the capital in such a terrible weather. He should be in the middle of the desert by now.” To her grandchild, she comforted “he should come back faster than you think now go.” She shooed the child once again.
Seyran looked at the anger on the woman’s face that failed to hide the warmth and pride in her voice when she talked about that other grandchild of hers and she quite bluntly asked.
“Does he have a core then?”
A little startled the woman answered nevertheless.
“Unfortunately no”
Maybe the way she thought about this world was a little harsh? Maybe her way of thinking was too much like in Unzu for her to grasp firmly the real role played by cores. Seyran’s readings left her the impression that men were the neglected part of the society, she had imagined their lives a little more like that of… slaves?
The grandmother looked at the fine clothes the other wore then said with a little disdain in the voice.
“For us, poor people core or not, a child is still a child.”
“I see” replied Seyran not caring about such thoughts anymore. “That teleportation stone, how is one supposed to use it?”
Had this girl used it without even knowing how? Still, the grandmother thought, the faster she answered, the quicker that stranger would go away. She shouldn’t arouse others’ curiosity for if it was learned she housed a lawbreaker the punishment would be harsh for her family to bear. So reluctantly she answered.
“The more qi your beast place on it, the farther it would bring you.”
“Is the royal manor far from here then?”
“In the capital?” the younger one appeared from the corridor to ask again, showing only her head as she was leaning on the wall. But she was shooed away by her grandmother once again nevertheless she, of course, didn’t go far away, just hid her head but stood by the wall, Seyran could still see her feet.
“The one in the forest” Seyran answered.
“Aya, the forbidden manor? Such a faraway place, why should one go there? Heard that it was a place the crown princess liked very much. One shouldn’t set foot there casually!”
‘What was this old geezer saying?’ Thought Huang. What such a faraway place? Wasn’t it equivalent to saying it used a huge amount of qi to make them come here? Wouldn’t the demoness suspect it did it with awareness then! It barely infused any qi inside okay, just a small, little portion, couldn’t even be called a portion?! This bird was very innocent!
“This woman is obviously wrong in the head” Huang hastily chirped. “Confusing it all, I say her words can’t be trust!”
Seyran completely ignored the chirping bird on her shoulder. She turned around; about to go then halted her footsteps as she realized she forgot one thing, so unused was she to it. With a slight bow from her head, she said in what she thought was a warm voice but turned out to be quite without sentiment actually.
“Thanking elder.”
By the corridor, she saw the wronged expression of the little girl behind the door that was still coveting the white little stone in her hand.
“Stingy, couldn’t even give a silver when helped.” Whispered-yelled the little child as she exited the house. The grandmother left a relieved sigh then turned around to reprimand her unruly grandchild about her wrongdoings.
***
The roads were full of people whispering about this human, Huang understood a little while later. She had left quite the sensation earlier for until now they were discussing her, yet their words weren’t really condemning, quite praising actually.
“If I had my crystal stone too”, some were whispering, “I too wouldn’t follow those ridiculous words!”
“Haya, such words don’t you care to be heard?”
“What caring!” the other whispered-yelled “those people already departed don’t call doom upon us!”
The conversations took new turns as Seyran was still leisurely walking ahead. She had taken off her dirty upper garment and folding it, she held it with her left hand. Huang, still perched on her right shoulder and contrasting vividly with her white dashing cloth was actually quite interested in what was being said. Those people, although when the human passed near them would hush their voices and looked at her, failed to recognize her as the one had who previously used the teleportation stone. Not many had had a clear view of her it seemed.
“To think that in one year time that she would be our queen, isn’t this country quite already doomed?”
“She's still restrained by the assembly, for now, I fear for our future!”
“To think that she’s a descendant of Yuuna the conqueror!”
“Who wants a prodigy as queen if she’s going to be this domineering?”
“Take care not to have your tongue pull out.” One warned upon looking at Seyran who was looking left and right now, trying to return to the market. Not caring about the small group of people she passed them. Even though she was trying not to attract attention, the way she walked and the look on her face couldn’t pass as those of ordinary people at all.
What amazed Huang actually was that she still had that straight face not even moving an eyebrow as to acknowledge those people’s words? Weren’t they talking about her? This whole queen topic, wasn’t she the subject? Yet she acted like those vile rumors weren’t about her at all! Was it about its noble self, Huang would have already burned those insolent people to ashes!
However, having heard more offending words thrown at her in her previous life, Seyran found that those one couldn’t compare at all, and what about 'queen' or 'crown princess', didn’t she say she wanted no part in it? And so, without considering her surrounding, she was once again at the market. It was once more busy and noisy. The merchants were quite loudly trying to attract the customer.
“Young mistress, come and see, this weapon had been smithed by the mistress of Mo family in person.”
“This elixir had been made by Jing young miss.” Was shouting another.
What really caught her attention after a little walk, were the sandals. There were ones made of clothes, and there were some made of wood.
“It is just five silvers,” said the merchant happily when she got closer to his store.
But she had no money on her body at all! So she turned around and after walking a little farther, She looked at Huang thoughtfully, then told it quite seriously.
“Go take it for me.”
“Eh, wouldn’t I be chase by that merchant?”
“Weren’t you quite happy to turn invisible back then?”
Thus, she had Huang turned invisible, and with little qi from the bird, what it touched could turn invisible too so it took what she wanted from the stores one after another. Huang was just a little bird so flying with things hook on its claws was really difficult but she left it no rest at all! Without remorse, she took whatever pleased her. After taking two pairs of wooden sandals and two pairs of clothes ones, it transported three set of men clothes. All of it, she placed them in her previously dirtied garment that she tied as an improvised bag. When the little bird thought its torture ended, that woman looked with interest at a bottle of red wine.
Seyran used to be someone who drank a lot, and since coming here she hadn’t drunk any wine or other alcohol at all and was missing it greatly. So, she had the little animal added it to her already big bag. Her mood was thus quite good and she was even glad to have given this little bird the white stone, to begin with.
Huang, for its part, felt wronged, very wronged and it was a blow to its pride. After used to heat her bath, now she used it to steal! Aya, where was this bird’s face left that it could endure so much?
‘Endure’ the little bird thought. ‘Endure just for the sake of surviving, for the sake of surviving’ so used was it to its mantra that it really forgot it could actually cultivate by itself now!
***
Yenaigai looked for his mistress for half of the day. Just where did she and Huang went exactly and this damned manor was so vast! This time did she take the time to do something about her feet? He hoped she did.
After not finding her in her courtyard or the book’s room, he went at the entrance of the manor, still looking for her but she was still nowhere in sight. Fear started to grip at his heart. Just where did she go? Was she really gone?
He shouted ‘princess, mistress’ with more force now, he even started calling ‘birdie, little bird’ hoping that the small animal would come pick at his forehead. But silence responded him, which just made him called them louder, with desperation in his voice actually, as though hell was opening its gates in front of him and he had no route to escape. Hours later, he was still there, not finding them anywhere. This time, this time, was he to talk to an empty room? With shaky feet, he approached the stone in the middle of his planting field. He touched the cold surface.
“Mother” he whispered seeing a smiling woman in his mind, “sisters” two lovely young women smiled at him in his memory “This time your son and brother is really alone, ah.”
There was a 'crunch' sound behind him, comparable to a branch someone had stepped unto.
“My, my, my” said a mocking voice and Yenaigai whipped his head in the direction of the forest, to see a woman seated on a big lion. It was a beautiful young woman, in her teen’s days, dressed in yellow garment harboring an evil smile on her face. Her hair was tied with a little crown at the center, letting her bangs surrounded her. Behind the imposing animal were five persons dressed in black with armors covering their busts, holding all of them, different kind of weapons.
The one on the lion kept on talking.
“Is Lian young master crying to this day still?”
Yenaigai frowned, realizing who was in front of him. The tears that glittered in his eyes were long gone as disgust he didn’t bother to hide took its place. Contempt emitted from him. Wasn’t that the younger princess?
“Won’t you kneel in front of your masters?” she was still talking but she tsked with a smile on her face when the servant didn’t move at all. “Such a loyal dog” With a cold voice, she ordered, “Bring him to me.”
Yenaigai didn’t move an inch staring intently with unconcealed hatred at the people approaching him. The moment they entered into contact with the barrier created by the stone he was still touching, those people got repulse some meters away. Even then, the smile on that princess perched on her lion didn’t disappear. The black clothes people took out their weapons: three had swords, one had a hammer, and the last one two daggers. When they neared it again, the barrier manifested itself now with a light blue color, forming a circle with the stone at its center.
The one with hammer infused qi on her weapon, until it glowed a little, then with all her might, she smashed it against the barrier. A crack appeared, then it spread with broken sound and after some seconds, the whole barrier crumbled into pieces. The smile on that princess’s face grew wide, as though she was confirming a theory. Look, she wanted to say, what prodigy amongst prodigy; her barrier couldn’t even hold that small attack. With satisfaction, the youngster said to the now exposed Yenaigai.
“You, whose core had been destroyed, dare you to fight?”
Yenaigai didn’t answer, which annoyed the arrogant youth greatly. She wanted him to plead, wanted to see his fearful face called her cousin for help but this infuriating man was smiling as though she was but a child throwing a tantrum!
“Take him.” She ordered. It didn’t matter if he feared her now or not, he would, soon enough. She schooled her features, and her charming smile returned “You’re happy, aren’t you? Isn’t it just about going back home? Such an angry face…Tsk, Tsk, Tsk, One would think you had been wronged.” Looking at the entrance of the manor she said “Our beloved elder sister has awakened right? Isn’t it time to welcome her back? Her crowning is fast nearing after all!”
Xian Bai Ming was already imagining in her head how easy it would be to defeat that woman. She had just, after all, been told by the very president of the academy that she was the most stunning student she had had, so how could this woman measure her level? What use did her talent have if she hadn’t polished it? That one never went to the academy, so she was still unknowledgeable about matters of using qi correctly. Wasn’t this weak barrier proof enough? Her smile grew wider as she thought along these lines, ordering her lion by their mental link to go forward. She was going to search for that woman if she wasn’t going to show herself!
A red dressed middle-aged woman appeared with a fox by her side. Her hand was on the fox head, as a white stone that was still a little alighted was in the animal’s mouth. She ran in front of the giant golden lion and knelt to the young princess.
“Fourth Princess, the royal advisor asked that you returned with haste.”
“Oh my, right general, aren’t you a boring one?”
The woman looked at the chained young man that was forced to kneel, as a flicker of emotion passed in her eyes. This child she just came back and was already making such a fuss! Even the royal advisor didn’t dare be too forward in her actions towards this second princess yet she was daring enough to mistreat this young man that princess favored quite happily.
Seeing as the right general of the court was unwilling to get up, the beautiful woman let out an exasperated sigh and furrowed her brows.
“Mother had talked, let us return then!”.
Turning to look at the young man tied up, she ordered her lion by their mind link to come closer to him. She lifted his chin. His almond eyes were glaring daggers at her, not an ounce of respect in them at all!
“Elder sister had talked so much about your beauty, was her memory playing a trick on her? What about you is handsome??”
Yenaigai grunted unhappily, disgusted to be touched by the likes of this woman. This princess had grown to be the replica of her mother it seemed.
She released him and with haughtiness asked
“Hadn’t she made a fuss that day? So bent was she on saving you that she crossed the queen, where is she now? Not caring about you anymore?” She mocked venting herself at him. “In the end, she didn’t save you, did she? How sad that the promising Lian’s young master turn out like that, how very sad.” With mirth in her tone, she laughed, then ordered her lion to infuse qi in the crystal stone she had placed as a collar around its neck. Since one of the masked black people was holding Yenaigai in a kneeling position by holding his shoulder, and the four others were touching a part of the lion’s body, they disappeared at the same time as the lion and the princess.
The middle age woman looked at the entrance of the manor, taking in the two giant animals carved in the rock. The royal advisor had said to let this woman alone and her plan would sail smoothly, but now that the fourth princess had taken with her the second princess’s man, and she, she had failed to prevent it, will say plan really go so smoothly again?
***
Seyran paused in her steps, feeling a little strange. She frowned not knowing what this sensation was. Previously, none of the barriers she erected would be broken no matter who or what was its opponent, so it took her a moment to realize.
“Bring us back” she ordered Huang giving it back the small little stone she was still holding.
‘And now I’m treated like a commodity’ But it didn’t dare voice it, just executed the order.
However, instead of the manor, they were in the middle of the desert, the sun was so scorching, but Huang knew that it wasn’t from the sky that this uncomfortable feeling was coming from.
“Huang” had whispered the demoness softly but her barely audible voice had scared the life out of the little red bird. Wasn’t she angry right now, it thought sweating profusely. With a concentration it never had actually had, this little animal thought hard about the manor and once again infused his red qi inside the stone under its claws, but now they appeared inside the forest instead.
Cold water coming out of nowhere flung the little bird away from Seyran’s shoulder. But really, chirped the bird full of wronged feelings, weren’t they close to that manor? Just a little walking alright, it had been really hard to concentrate so much okay?! However, the little birdie didn’t dare fly to land on her shoulder again, instead, all shivering, it advanced on the ground, skipping to keep up with the human’s speed.
Soon, they were out of the forest, and the manor giant’s gates were standing in front of them. Seyran approached and touched the stone where her mana and qi had once been infused to create a barrier. At the very beginning, it hadn’t been a strong barrier anyway and she wondered a little if she had once been this weak. Where were that powers of hers that she gave such a useless thing to that servant? Why go out of her way to make one, to begin with?
The surroundings were trampled on, those vegetables he took so much pride on were destroyed and scattered around.
“Go look if he’s inside”.
Seeing her strange expression, Huang didn’t waste time and flew inside the manor. Left alone, Seyran frowned at her beating heart. He was her servant no more, she had chased him but he just wouldn’t go. What was there to care about? Then she looked at the bag she was still holding that contained men’s clothing too.
“I can’t find him. This one just vanished like air.” Then it went on to criticize in its mind. ‘What faithful servant, what wishing to follow mistress, on the first occasion that human ran away, I say your race can’t be trust! And here my great self started acknowledging him, what a waste, what a waste’
Huang was full of curses for the deserter, how dare he left without leaving it a chance to escape too, come back you dread human, is this how you treat your savior?
The little bird, not having a direct link with Seyran since it wasn’t her contracted beast, didn’t really knew about the situation, thus thought Yenaigai simply ran away from that demoness. Even it, recognized that that human girl was scary, so of course, that boy wouldn’t be blind, it was thinking along these lines.
But Seyran, still touching the stone, titled her head to think a little. Should she try to retrieve him? What was the need to go out of her ways to save someone? Hadn’t her own family stabbed her, what of a mere servant? Then she remembered his pleading words. In the end wouldn’t it be lonely to have no one to talk to? She told herself as she made her decision.
To the bird that came back and landed on one of the rock statuses, she ordered it to try and see if it can’t identify the subtle remaining qi in the air; she was going to bring her cook back, as bad as his cooking may be!
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