Eager to finally have some insight on the Spectral remains, Baledagh paced about while Taduk explained things to Brother through Sending. Though he hid his trepidation well, Baledagh still held reservations regarding absorbing the Spectral remains. Thus far, Brother’s tests proved fruitless and inconclusive, only discovering that the leftover energy could be used in place of Chi and granted Baledagh insight into the Forms. While it appeared benign and the increased strength was enticing, he found the source distasteful despite Brother’s theory of Universal Energy. Even if Defiled and Balance drew from the same source, no one wanted to drink from a rotting cup. Also, there was always the risk of unforeseen consequences, such as spontaneously transforming into a disfigured, inhuman monstrosity consumed by murderous rage.

A valid concern, most would agree.

Since they couldn’t speak out loud and he couldn’t hear Sendings directed at brother, Baledagh waited for Brother to repeat the lesson for him. Their unique circumstances often made things more complicated than usual, but such was life. Baledagh and Brother’s life at least. Either way, it was entertaining to watch Taduk bob his head and wave his arms about in utter silence. Delight turned to disbelief, then anger and passion as his hare ears flopped to and fro while his expressive eyes and grand gestures added emphasis to his unheard speech.

At least it wasn't one of his rants about the inferiority of rabbits or superiority of hares.

In spite of his silly tendencies and lack of Martial skill, Taduk was a man worthy of admiration. Possessing an air of casual arrogance and general aloofness, at the heart of it all was a kind, charitable soul. Most of Taduk's efforts were focused on improving the general health of common men and women around the Empire, seeking to ease their pains and bolster their general well-being through low-cost treatments and supplements.

A shame things rarely worked out.

It's not that he was inept, Taduk was an ingenious Healer, always designing new pills and salves for Brother’s retinue to test. Unfortunately, no matter what new treatment he devised, the problem always boiled down to scarcity. For example, at Brother’s request, Taduk concocted a miraculous wound sealing paste which worked wonderfully for stopping bleeding. Unfortunately, its key ingredient was fox-glove root, a rare, precious herb, one which succeeded in cultivating the Energy of the Heavens. This meant mass production was out of the question, which was a real shame. Coupled with Brother’s Healing Panacea, the paste all but ensured the survival of most injuries short of instant death.

Since pacing about wasn’t helping his nerves, Baledagh settled down and studied the small hut, noting everything within Brother’s vision. After briefly joining the celebration, Mei Lin now sulked in her chair, upset at being left out while Taduk and Brother exchanged silent Sendings. A sweet girl unused to being ignored, she alternated between piteous pouts and petulant frowns interspersed with involuntary yawns. Charming as it all was, her performance went unnoticed by all but Baledagh and he remained unmoved, his heart still yearning for his tender, caring Qing-Qing. Though Brother was blind to Mei Lin’s faults, Baledagh thought her too spoiled and carefree, lacking Taduk’s best qualities and sharing his worst.

Then again, perhaps he was being overly critical. Any fool could see her love for Brother and his for her, enamoured by her adorable appearance and free-spirited nature. A talented herbalist and skilled huntress, she was formidable in her own ways, a worthy wife for the Undying Falling Rain.

Opposite Mei Lin laid the overcooked hero of the Empire, all but forgotten in light of Taduk’s mysterious discovery. His fate still uncertain, Nian Zu looked no better than when Baledagh first laid eyes on him, the infusion of Spectral remains showing no obvious impact. Back in Sanshu, Yo Ling seemed nigh unstoppable with six Demons at his beck and call, keeping all the heroes of Sanshu in check, yet this wrinkled geriatric defeated four Demons and two dozen wraiths. If Nian Zu had been present in Sanshu, then Yo Ling’s decades of careful planning would have been for naught all because of a single warrior.

This was true strength. Baledagh now understood he was nothing but a frog in a well, the Heavens wider and grander than anticipated. How many years must he and Brother train before reaching those heights? What skills did Nian Zu possess which allowed him to survive such an assault? Baledagh hungered for more knowledge and power, dreaming of the day when Brother and he were truly worthy of the title ‘Unrivalled Beneath Heaven’.

After an eternity of silence, it finally came to an end. “You understand everything, yes?” Taduk nodded emphatically as he spoke, prompting Brother to agree. “Good, good. Off with you now, you too my darling little Lin-Lin. I missed you both so much and I’m grateful for your help, but I need to concentrate on Healing Nian Zu before he slips away. Won’t take long, save a seat for me at dinner.”

“I’ll cook something extra delicious then.” Bidding Taduk farewell, Brother took Mei Lin’s hand and brought her away. While the two of them happily chatted about nonsense, Baledagh refrained from interfering with their dalliance, his heart aching over his false memories of Qing-Qing. Their time spent together was too short and most of what he remembered was only an illusion, but he loved her all the same. No, maybe he loved the idea of her, though he definitely loved what little he knew of her. If given time, maybe he would have seen her flaws and felt differently, but cruel fate deprived him of the chance.

After returning to their tent, Brother sorrowfully explained Taduk’s reasoning in detail before handing over control and going to sleep, leaving Baledagh to mull things over with Aurie and the bear cubs. The difference between Heavenly Energy and Chi was minuscule yet substantial. In short, Heavenly Energy was the essence of everything. The Mother, alongside her four children Earth, Fire, Wind, and Water, created the world and everything in it using Heavenly Energy. To counter the Father’s meddling, She then taught all the beasts and humans how to manipulate Heavenly Energy by transforming it into Chi.

Though Chi is derived from Heavenly Energy, they are far from the same thing. Likening them both to fresh water and salt water, Brother explained it by pretending the world only contained saltwater, or Heavenly Energy. Since humans can’t survive on salt water, it then becomes necessary to distill it into fresh water, or Chi. Only then could humans ‘drink’ and survive. However, the Heavenly Energy loses something in the distillation process, and once released into the world, returns to being salt water, unless necessary precautions are taken. In the same vein, the Spectral remains could be likened to pure water, though Brother admitted this is where the analogy fell apart. The Spectral remains were pure Heavenly Energy, usable by Brother and Baledagh yet lacking all the shortcomings of Chi.

Truth be told, up to this point in the explanation, Baledagh was far from impressed. So it was Heavenly Energy instead of Chi. Who cares? What’s the fundamental difference?

Brother asked the same question, setting Taduk off into an angry, long-winded rant.

As stated before, Heavenly Energy was the essence of everything with the world. Supposedly, this meant that if you could harness pure Heavenly Energy, then the possibilities were endless, assuming you knew how to wield it. The prevailing theory was that upon reaching a state of perfect Balance, one could harness the pure Energy of the Heavens at will. Newly ascended Ancestral Beasts would instinctively use this pure Heavenly energy to create their perfect, human forms. Of course, bundled with the human form was a fragile human psyche and other things like reasoning, abstraction, and complex emotions, thereby preventing the Ancestral Beast from reaching perfect Balance and manipulating pure Heavenly Energy a second time.

A complex set of checks and balances to keep the world safe, or a cruel, cosmic joke of epic proportions? Only the Mother knew.

To think, Baledagh and Brother were wasting the fundamental essence of the world on mere Insight into the Forms and as a replacement for Chi. Extravagant didn’t even begin to cover it, a profligate squandering of resources of the highest value.

Going along with Brother’s theory about Spectres and Universal Energy, Taduk and Brother concluded that while the Spectres were beings of Heavenly Energy, it wasn’t all they were made of. Tentatively coined as Demonic Energy, they believed Blobby hungered for it and either didn’t want to or couldn’t consume Heavenly Energy, leaving the remains inside Brother’s mental plane – or as Taduk called it, their ‘Natal Palace’ – for reasons unknown. This meant that so long as Baledagh devoured enough Spectres for Blobby to purify, they would have Pure Heavenly Energy to do with as they willed.

It wasn’t just Ancestral Beasts which used Pure Heavenly Energy, Spectres did so too. Perhaps that’s why they gathered in such large numbers, the Defiled nothing more than vessels to store the necessary Demonic Energy required to come into existence. After this came a long rambling rant from brother about ‘electrons’ and elements like hydrogen which Baledagh had never heard of, but the big takeaway was that neither he nor Brother could use the Pure Heavenly Energy to do as they pleased. They both lacked the skill and experience required to control it, worse than rank amateurs at manipulating energy, be it Chi, Heavenly, or otherwise.

Worst of all, they’d given the last of their Pure Heavenly Energy to Nian Zu and replenishing it would be difficult. One or two Spectres barely yielded enough to fill the gaps between their teeth and even if they swept the entire Wall clean, he doubted they’d collect even half of what was spent on Nian Zu. Window and door tainted individuals were but a mere pittance compared to the most deeply Tainted individuals, so unless they could find another hundred-odd tea-drinkers, they were shit out of luck.

Only now did Baledagh realize Brother’s greatest weakness: his terrible naming sense.

Looking at it another way, perhaps the expenditure was worth it. Though he looked no better on the outside, the Unyielding Nian Zu was no longer dying, gently drifting along the road to recovery thanks to their ‘discovery of a lifetime’. The old warrior was a fearsome ally, even if he only had a decade of life left in him.

Predictably, Brother only looked at the downsides, lamenting about how they’d found ‘one more reason for greedy bastards to want us dead’.

He wasn’t wrong.

Snuggling with his bear cubs while Aurie snored, Baledagh pondered the implications of their newly gleaned information. There was still so much to discover but he was already shivering with excitement. If Ancestral Beasts and Spectres could use Pure Heavenly Energy to create a body, then wouldn’t it be possible for Brother to create one for Baledagh? Though he loved his brother more than anything and stepped aside of his own free will, seeing a chance to have a body and life to call his own, how could he not long for it?

Perhaps one day soon, Baledagh would stand beside Falling Rain on the battlefield, two brothers finding fame and glory together.

But separate.

Like brother would say, that’s the dream.

...

Well, that and bear arms.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A harsh gale battered away at Gen’s exposed skin, setting his whole body to shivering. Dredging up what little energy he had left, he summoned his flames to ward off the chill, though there was nothing he could do against the stinging dirt and rocks thrown about by the strong winds. The flames wouldn’t last long either, but a few minutes of warmth was worth it considering this might be the last warmth he ever felt. The long journey from Sanshu to these cold, desolate wastes took a great toll on him, his boots long since worn out and clothes little more than rags as he dragged his armour behind him, driven by the mysterious commanding voice in his mind directing him ever northwards.

Marching ahead in a similar state of disarray, Mao Jianghong looked nothing like the dignified noble he’d once been. Though they left Sanshu as seven, they met up with stragglers and vagabonds on the journey north, kindred souls all fleeing Sanshu and following the same directive. North. Things started off well as they lived off the land and slaughtered everyone who crossed their path. Easy enough for their small numbers to fade into the shadows of the forest, avoiding detection and pursuit when necessary, even taking some time to have a little sport. It was a welcome vacation after the stress incurred from their defeat at Sanshu, and Gen enjoyed bonding with Jianghong, the two growing close as brothers aside from one minor scuffle after Gen affectionately dubbed the older man ‘Mao Mao’.

That was a mistake he wouldn’t make again. Gen’s abs still bore the scar from the disembowelment, only quick thinking and liberal use of fire keeping him alive.

After two weeks of running through the forests and dodging patrols and pursuers, their merry little band of warriors arrived at a mountain range. ‘North’, spoke the voice, so north they went, though better directions would have been much appreciated. Even after preparing a week's worth of food for all seventeen souls, they were still lost in the depths of the twisting mountain range eighteen days later.

By the time they stepped out of the mountains and onto the northern plains, their party had shrunk down to eight, leaving nothing, not even bones, behind.

The strong survive, the weak die. Such is life, and Gen would never be weak again.

Their hardships yet to end, their band of eight continued to shrink as they crossed the northern wastes, with nothing but bare plains for kilometres around. Not that they could see that far, with the sun having dipped below the horizon some time ago while seemingly never to return. Bone-chilling winds sucked away heat and moisture as they scrabbled across solid bedrock, forced to turn on the weakest just for sustenance to continue onward. No bird or beast in sight, these desolate lands offered no succour in the form of food or water, with neither shelter nor relief to be found for days. Inside this world of darkness, the days and nights melded together as they continued northward, their party whittled down one by one as the elements and hunger took their toll.

Now, only Jianghong and Gen were left, and Gen would be the next to fall.

The strong thrive, the weak die.

His throat drier than the most desiccated of deserts, Gen stared daggers into Jianghong’s back, envisioning slicing his would-be brother’s throat and drinking the sweet nectar which poured out. The human body held more blood than Gen would have believed possible, enough to sate his thirst for days if rationed well. Then there was the meat, tender, succulent flesh wrapped around sturdy bone, concealing creamy, mouthwatering marrow in its delicious centre. If he was careful, Jianghong’s skin would make for a comfortable poncho, shielding him from the caustic environment for days until the wind and stone stripped it bare. It’d be poetic in a way, the older brother sheltering the younger even unto death, a grand, touching gesture.

Even if it wasn’t by choice.

Better, actually. It’d be more satisfying that way.

Just as Gen was about to make his move, Jianghong stopped in his tracks and hissed for silence. Dropping all notions of infighting, Gen acted as the circumstances dictated, stepping close to Jianghong while scanning their surroundings. His enhanced sight saw nothing of note, only dark shapes and darker shadows stretching on into infinity around them. Even with Jianghong at his elbow, he could barely make out a hazy silhouette, his claws outstretched and prepared for anything from treachery to ambush.

Yield.

Surprised by the voice’s improved vocabulary, Gen took his stance and bared his teeth, searching left and right for the unseen foe. Yield your mother, he was the Emissary of Flame, Chosen of the Heavens, and he would yield to no one. Drawing on the last of his reserves, Gen grinned and set the world aflame.

Light flooded the plains and revealed the shocked gazes of strangers barely two strides away, their skin blackening in an instant as they met their deaths. A shame, they would have been so delicious, but there were many more to be killed. Howling with glee, he leapt over the burning carcasses and readied to meet his foe.

YIELD

Gen’s mind exploded with pain at the emphatic demand, driving him to his knees as he screamed in denial. “I will not yield!”

Over and over Gen repeated the words, a mantra to soothe his troubled mind. Time passed and he found himself in the darkness once more, slung across a beast of burden like a sack of rice. As soon as he twitched, a sharp point dug into the soft flesh of his neck, a guttural voice uttering a string of incomprehensible words, but the intent was clear. Struggle, and die. Flee, and die. Fight, and die.

With no other choice, Gen bided his time, listening for clues and searching for opportunity, but it was all for naught. The weapon remained pressed against throat, his captor fearful of Gen’s prowess and leaving nothing to chance. Soon, their journey was at an end and a calloused hand pulled Gen off the foul-smelling creature and dragged him to his fate. Eighty-five footsteps later, Gen’s captor freed him without warning. So shocked by his sudden release, he almost missed his chance to act. Summoning the flames, he found himself encircled by all manner of deformed creatures lying in wait, their glowing eyes adjusting to the light in a fraction of a second.

Demons. Not one or two Demons, not ten or twelve Demons, but dozens of them, hundreds even. Unnaturally still, their forms stretched out beyond the range of his flames, the dark shadows hiding even more of their kin. Their combined attentions made Gen woozy with fear and excitement as he gazed upon their magnificence, taking in the sight of pure power given flesh.

“Good, good.” A hoarse, grating voice spoke, shocking Gen out of his stupor as he searched for the source. “Little worm, this Sovereign sees you’ve found the truth, treading the razor’s edge between surrender and resistance, taking power without being controlled by it. To reach this on your own, talent and luck, talent and luck. A shame. A hundred years too young and too late, else you might solve this Sovereign’s issues. Earth’s Fire to counter Sky’s Water, how fitting, but a worm is still a worm, no matter how lucky or talented. Not yet a dragon, not even a snake.”

The light of Gen’s fire finally landed on the speaker, an ancient, wizened old man sat amidst the sea of Demons. Sickly in appearance, his wispy, white strands of hair dangled over empty eye sockets which saw too much, unimpeded by his pointed, crooked nose. Broken and twisted, his torso sat entombed inside a scorpion shaped Demon, leaving only his head and shoulders uncovered in an unnatural melding of man and Demon. “A confluence of chance and calamity here in the north,” the creature continued, “Little bird falters and fails, plummeting from on high. Predator usurps devourer, turning this Sovereign's piece against him. Butchers stumble and disappoint. Hidden lords emerge from hiding, while worthless allies are too cowardly to face them. Worst of all, the hateful rain saps away this Sovereign's strength. Too many surprises, too many variables, too many unknowns. Unacceptable losses if met head on, a reshuffling of the board is called for, a reevaluation of tactics. No matter, no matter, time is not something this Sovereign lacks. You, little worm, will learn as we journey west and south, enough time for you to grow. Yes, you will learn, little worm, and you will grow, or you will die. Such is life.”

Enthralled by the bottomless abyss contained within those empty sockets, Gen saw oblivion. “Who are you,” he asked, as his fires sputtered out and died.

“The Empire calls me heretic. These children call me Master. Those misguided fools call me Uniter.” With every word, his voice grew closer and closer until his hot breath brushed against Gen’s ear. “You, you call me... Mentor.”

Chapter Meme