I took a deep breath and surveyed the mountains spread out before me. They weren’t quite as big as the Central Mountains back on the Sky Continent, let alone the massive northern chain on this continent, but they still made for a nice view. The crisp mountain air seemed to clear my airways, whispering of early snow and untouched nature. Mostly untouched, at least. These mountains weren’t really wild, just sparsely settled compared to the surrounding regions.

“Any idea how much longer we’re going to travel?” Lei asked, coming to a stop beside me. His breathing was a little deeper than normal, the only sign of our quick ascent up this mountain.

“Can’t be longer than a few hours, probably less,” I replied, hiding my amusement. “We’re all strong cultivators here, we could probably comb the entire mountain range in a few days if we wanted to.” I glanced around, noting the guards spread around us. “Let’s continue. Maybe we’ll see more if we go up that peak.”

In truth, I reflected as I sped down the western mountainside and sent a small cascade of stones tumbling down it in my wake, Lei was right to ask. I didn’t have much of an idea of where we were going, but I didn’t mind. It was fun climbing and exploring the mountains. Far better than sitting in yet another strategy meeting. Why not treat the trip as a mini-vacation and enjoy it?

Once we crested the next peak and I stopped to look around, Lei shook his head. “How did you even know to come here? And how sure are you we’re not wasting our time?”

“Pretty sure.” I grinned. “Call it intuition.” I set off again.

My connection to Rijoko was a little clearer, and if I concentrated on it, I could get a bit of a sense of it. Enough to know I wasn’t wasting my time in coming here, but that my father wanted me to. Maybe more of an idle whim rather than a real goal, the feeling wasn’t very strong, but it meshed with my own judgment.

For the next few minutes, we concentrated on traversing the mountains. While it would have been easier to fly, there were aggressive flying beasts around, and I’d rather avoid making a scene, plus we might miss things from on high.

Back after I’d taken the Wei’s surrender, I’d been curious about the rumors and made inquiries. They’d all but confirmed that the brothers’ grandmother had been with a powerful spirit beast, with their mother as the result. Unlike with spirits, I didn’t seem to have any particular affinity or advantage when it came to my spiritual perception, but I supposed that made sense. As it was, my senses were good enough to guide us around any beast who might have thought to attack us, and the guards sometimes slipped off to take care of threats they apparently didn’t want to risk leaving at our backs. I knew there should be nothing here strong enough to threaten Aston, so we were pretty safe.

Except for our quarry, maybe.

“What sort of spirit beast are we even looking for?” Lei asked, gasping, as we took a short rest on the slopes of another mountain, watching a mountain lion stalk through the valley below us.

“I’m not quite sure, but we’ll know it when we see it,” I said. “From the impression I got, probably something fiery, and I’d guess a bird.” It could be one of those Flame-Tailed birds we’d met on our first journey here, though I hoped not.

The Terbekteri general’s dreams hadn’t offered me much concrete information, but I was confident we were on the right track. I closed my eyes and concentrated on my senses, sorting through my surroundings. After a moment, I caught the barest hint of ash coming from a peak to the north.

“Let’s keep going,” I said. “We’re almost there.”

We pressed on. I moved more slowly and was careful to keep behind cover as much as possible. We were descending a mountainside right now, and anyone from the mountains on the opposing side could see us. Luckily, there were enough trees to offer some cover.

“Actually, Nari,” Lei spoke up after a while. “I wanted to ask you something.”

“Sure.”

“When you leave again, can you take me along? This is nice and all, but I’d rather go back with you and work on developing our tech than the war here.”

I glanced at him, trying not to frown. “Of course. I’m going to Adzur first, but I can promise you that when I’m back on the Sky Continent, you will be, too.”

“Great. Thank you.”

I hesitated for a moment. “But you don’t actually need my permission, do you? You’re not my official follower or retainer or something. You could just pack your bags and leave.”

Lei gave me a sideways look. “Don’t be stupid, Inaris. You’re the crown princess and soon-to-be-empress. If you ordered me to stay here, do you think I could refuse? Besides, I wouldn’t want to leave when you’re counting on my help.”

I nodded. “Sure. Sorry.” I paused, jumping over a fallen log and checking that everyone was handling the terrain fine. “Do you want me to make things official in some way, though?”

He rolled his eyes and shook his head. “No, being your friend and confidant is bad enough, I don’t need a job title. I have a high enough status on my own, anyway.”

I nodded. He was my second cousin twice removed, I remembered. Fair enough.

Our conversation stopped as we approached our destination. By now, I was sure everyone in my party could sense that there was a strong presence up ahead. One crackling with fire, although it felt like it was banked, its glow dimmed. We were picking our way into a secluded glade in a small extension of a valley, the sides rising sharply at three sides before they met a forest. I took a deep breath and pushed past the cover of the woods.

It took me a moment to actually see the spirit beast, sitting between several boulders. When it saw us, it hissed out a puff of smoke and flew upwards to perch on a rock, so we were roughly at eye level. Its mind brushed against our own.

“Greetings, honored elder,” I said with both my physical and mental voice, and bowed. “I hope we did not disturb you.”

Internally, I wrestled with my surprise. This bird was at least as powerful as I’d expected, maybe even equal to an early eighth stage cultivator, but it certainly wasn’t any type I’d seen before, or anything even indirectly based on a mortal bird species.

The spirit beast seemed to be made partly of fire. Flames enveloped the more physical body, but didn’t burn it. That body was vividly colored in gold and shades from yellow to red, with the only point of contrast being the eyes, which were a bright blue like the hottest part of a flame. I had no doubt what kind of creature I was looking at: a phoenix.

Although I would have expected the bird to be larger. Its — no, their — current form was pretty small, maybe the size of a chicken.

‘Disturb me,’ the phoenix said in my mind, with a noise somewhere between a snort and a screech. ‘As if you did not come here specifically to seek me out. Don’t hide behind false pretenses, girl.’ They scrabbled with their claws on the boulder, effortlessly cutting deep gouges in the rock. ‘I didn’t think any of you lot would come to me here, when I’m recovering my strength after going through another cycle. It would be easier to seek me out in the Central Mountains if you were a little more patient.’

I frowned, hesitantly taking a step forward. My guards had drawn closer around me and Lei, though no one dared step in front of me. Lei watched the spirit beast with interest, and I assumed they could all hear everything, but they remained silent. The phoenix sounded a bit grumpy. That was understandable if they were being bothered after recovering from a death and resurrection, probably what they meant with a cycle. But they didn’t seem aggressive, surprised to see me, or even unwelcoming, really.

‘I’m not sure I understand,’ I replied. ‘Were you expecting company, honored elder?’

‘Ancestor.’ One blue eye blinked. ‘You may call me “honored ancestor”, youngling.’

I blinked, and barely registered Lei muffling a chuckle beside me. It didn’t take me long to grasp what they meant, and suddenly, I saw the situation in a new light. This was probably why Rijoko had half-heartedly nudged me into coming here.

Seriously, I thought to myself, how many surprise bloodline reveals am I expected to accept? I really hope this is the last of them.

‘Of course.’ I bowed my head to the phoenix. ‘I am honored to meet my great-great-grandfather.’

Looking back, I really should have expected something like this. I knew the Wei’s bloodline from a powerful spirit beast was associated with fire. And the phoenix was the heraldic animal of the Empire. Actually, considering the civil war and everything, it was no wonder the new Wei didn’t dare boast about this bloodline too much. And they also had blood ties with the old Emperor. Through them, I’m even descended from the previous dynasty, right? Kind of ironic.

The phoenix regarded me for a moment. He — considering they had a child with a female cultivator, they were probably male, provided their kind had genders like humans — seemed pleased by my words. ‘As I am honored to meet you, my scion.’

I cleared my throat and introduced my companions, before we approached closer. Lei and Aston took seats on some of the rocks, while most of my guards spread out farther, guarding us and getting out of the way of the conversation.

‘Did you come for instruction? I don’t typically give my secrets away freely, even to my descendants. But you do not have fire in your aura, do you?’

‘No, I have light and darkness affinity qi,’ I replied. ‘But I also have a special ability that allows me to use all other kinds of qi, if not as easily.’

If I thought back to when I was using fire qi while I pretended to be someone else during my stay in that Zarian-occupied city, I had a pretty easy time of it. It was the only time I’d really used it, and I hadn’t thought much of it at the time, since I’d been relying on my familiarity with light qi. But maybe I did have some more talent for it than something like earth qi.

‘I see.’ The phoenix sounded thoughtful. ‘I should have expected something like that from the Imperial Princess.’

I raised an eyebrow, surprised that he knew who I was. I hadn’t actually mentioned it, and I was wearing simple blue robes without any identifying details.

My surprise must have shown, and he clacked his beak with a sound like chuckling. ‘I may not live among humans, but I am the Red Phoenix, child, not some ignorant pigeon. I make it a point to keep up with your doings.’

‘Of course, honored ancestor. I understand that you have some dealings with our kind, even if you do not choose to show me a shape like it.’

I was pretty sure the phoenix could turn into a humanoid form. Unless Wei Yong’s grandmother could lay eggs, which I rather doubted, they would hardly have a child together otherwise. I didn’t know if she wanted to get a strong bloodline for her descendants or simply had unusual tastes, but it didn’t really matter. I just tried not to think too much about it.

‘Cheeky girl.’ The bird shivered, and the air around him shimmered as if because of the heat, but the phenomenon spread until it had the form of a human. A second later, the haze vanished and I saw a boy with burning red hair and embers for eyes. ‘If you want my teachings, say it.’

I regarded my ancestor curiously. He looked like a young teenager, clad in a red robe, but there was still the occasional flaming feather adorning his forearms and neck, where I could see pale skin. His hair looked like the older Wei’s had that time, just more intensely so, and his face seemed vaguely bird-like. I had to force myself not to jump to investigate him more thoroughly and ask him questions about his mind and understanding of human culture.

‘I’d love to hear about your techniques,’ I replied. ‘But we actually came for a different reason. I happen to have learned that a general of Terbekteri, a man called Arnarle, and a group of his family and friends were after you. I wanted to ask about that.’

‘Oh, him,’ the phoenix snorted. ‘I don’t know what you want with that poseur. We can talk about him later. For now, tell me, what do you know of the nature of fire and light?’

I smoothed out my robes and sat down on a nearby rock, getting comfortable for a long conversation, before I answered.

My ancestor didn’t seem very impressed by my knowledge or my take on qi and the elements, but then, he seemed like the grumpy old mentor type. To my surprise, he didn’t just insist that I was wrong and try to correct me with a lecture, but offered thoughtful and thought-provoking rejoinders and elaborations. It was the start of a lively and fruitful discussion.

I had a different perspective, coming from a world where everything worked just fine without qi. But he had lived for a long time and seen many things in this world, both qi phenomena and cultivators’ attempts to understand the energy of their world. He broadly agreed with my assertion that the affinities of qi and their techniques, what they could do, were determined both by natural properties and what people commonly believed and associated with them. But he cautioned me not to draw too firm a line between the two, and not to be too arrogant in my grasp of natural principles. He still seemed quite interested in what I did know of the laws of physics, especially thermodynamics, though.

As the time went on, I gained a new appreciation for why cultivators would seek out old masters playing hermit atop some mountain for their teaching. He didn’t even make me prove my strength or do chores! And he did deign to teach me a couple techniques after a few hours.

My favorite was the one that let me throw fireballs that exploded on contact and threw a napalm-like substance through the air that clung to whatever it hit and burned them, even if Scattering Wrath of the Inferno was a stupid name. Although the jetpack imitation might be more helpful, especially since I was sure I could gain some insights for my fire variant of my Light’s Speed buff.

He shook his head as he watched rocks rain through the air and my guards scramble to put out fires in the grass and forest around us. ‘That was astonishingly fast of you. Most people would take days if not weeks to master these techniques enough not to burn themselves if they tried that.’

I couldn’t help a proud grin. ‘Thank you. They don’t call me a high-level genius for nothing.’ The grin faded as I watched the sun, which was starting to dye the sky orange. ‘And unfortunately, I don’t have nearly enough time, anyway. My in-laws will be expecting me soon.’

The phoenix sighed and perched onto another rock, clearly uncaring that he was not in his bird form. ‘I see. I suppose you want to hear about that Terbekteri officer now? He and his group did try to hunt me, though I had little trouble evading them. They barely caught my tail feather. I do not know how much good that is going to do you, though.’

I stood up and stretched my arms. Before I could ask further questions, I noticed that Aston was waiting for my attention. When I looked at him, he came over, a frown on his face and still clutching a radio in his hand. We’d left a relay further down.

“Bad news, Your Highness,” he reported. “It seems general Arnarle was killed in battle yesterday evening. Headquarters only got word recently.”

“Shit.” I kicked at a loose stone, then plopped down on a rock nearby. Great. Did Hajake move to clean up potential loose ends or is this just bad luck?

‘You wanted something from him, I take it?’ my ancestor asked, cocking his head.

I sighed. ‘Yes. I needed him to get information on and hopefully give testimony against my enemy. That’s why I came here, since I knew he was hunting a sapient spirit beast, which is just as illegal in Terbekteri as the Empire. I also planned to ask about a spat he apparently had with his brother, hoping to get some more material for blackmail. Looks like this is all moot now.’

‘Do I want to know how you knew this? No, it was probably your father.’ The boy regarded me for a moment longer, then in a flash of brightness that caused me to blink turned back into the bird. ‘Perhaps you should just go after your enemy directly. They tend to cause a lot less problems once they’re dead.’

I smiled wryly, standing up to leave. ‘I wish it was that easy.’

We quickly exchanged goodbyes with the phoenix before turning around to make our way back. There was no point in lingering here. I doubted I had enough time to really accomplish something before that meeting with Terki, but if Hajake was making moves, I didn’t want any more surprises.