Fate's Attendant 1.6

Hong Fei woke up feeling damp. His clothes, his hair, and his skin were slick with the previous day’s rain plus the dew that had accumulated overnight. The feeling wasn’t pleasant, but given the alternative—not waking up, ever—he decided it was acceptable.

Opening his eyes, he saw the first blush of dawn light touching the tops of the trees. The early morning risers were already calling to each other among the branches. It’d been their whistles and songs that had awoken him.

He’d fallen over on his side, so he carefully straightened up using his left arm. His right throbbed. When he rolled up the sleeve, he saw that the immediate area around the bite was discolored by bruising, and the rest of his forearm was swollen and inflamed, with painful red lines radiating across it.

The joints of his fingers, wrist, and elbow were stiff. He winced when he clenched and unclenched his fist. Yet, there was no pus leaking from the wound and no sign of fever or chills. Hong Fei had somehow managed to live for another day.

With a sigh, he used Fortune’s Favor to help him stand. Everything ached in the aftermath of using essence two days in a row, yet he tucked the pain away as best he could to focus on getting his bearings. He’d moved blindly after the fight with the giant centipede, not paying attention to the direction.

Fortunately, it wasn’t so easy to lose sight of a mountain, and once Hong Fei had a rough sense of his location, he headed toward where the giant centipede had come from. He expected to find fewer predators in that direction—the creature scaring them off while it’d been alive—and he also hoped to find Ling’s remains. While Hong Fei had delivered the killing blow, it wouldn’t have been possible without her having injured the giant centipede first. He wanted to pay his respects before moving on.

The forest grew steadily louder as the sun rose. The green shook off its slumber.

Hong Fei had to backtrack twice before he found the first evidence of the fight—a young tree snapped in half. That led him to a bush torn from the ground, which sent him onward toward an area of open ground churned by the frenzied clash of two spirit beasts. Even the less disturbed spots were furrowed by claw marks, now filled with rainwater.

There were places where the giant centipede’s ichor had splashed, but there were no blood, bones, or tufts of fur left behind, nor were there tracks to indicate that a wounded giant badger had dragged herself elsewhere. As near as Hong Fei could tell, Ling had fought and then disappeared.

Hong Fei scratched at his itchy scalp and thought that magic must’ve been involved. Otherwise, how would a giant badger vanish like that? A hope lit within him that Ling had found a way to withdraw and nurse her wounds.

The oldest of the trees nearby was covered in claw marks. Hong Fei leaned against the trunk and set aside Fortune’s Favor, which he’d been using as a cane. With his left hand, he withdrew Ling’s card to examine it.

The giant badger’s portrait was the same as before—all the color leached out. He rubbed his thumb across Ling’s face, and the image materialized in the air before him, similarly in white, black, and gray. What surprised him was that on this ghostly version, a series of numbers appeared below the portrait, “03:56:23.”

An instant later, the last two digits changed and continued to change. As regularly as a steady heartbeat, the 22 turned into 21, the 21 into 20, and later when they became 00, the digits in the middle changed to 55, and the last two digits started to decline again, but starting from 59.

Hong Fei’s brow furrowed in confusion and worry. Ling had explained that the numbers on the cards represented the people portrayed on them. Is this her life running out? he asked himself. The number of breaths left? How am I to know?

When he examined his own card, he saw that the numbers beside Fate Points had changed from 0 | 0 to 4 | 4. There was also a + symbol beside the quantifications of his Body, Mind, and Soul.

Ling had indicated the number 4 would somehow strengthen the magic imbued into the cultivator’s satchel. When he touched the 4 with a finger, though, the text that appeared was mostly incomprehensible: “Fate points may be used to summon new cards from the Void or to increase your attributes of Body, Mind, and Soul.”

Hong Fei searched the area again, and once more found no evidence of where Ling might have gone. It was like the giant badger had suddenly grown wings and left for the sky. He frowned at the clouds passing overhead as if they concealed his new friend. More likely, there was more rain tucked behind their gray cloaks.

The mystery was beyond him, he decided. The doings of cultivators were outside the ken of simple soldiers, no matter how competent they might’ve been at one time. His thoughts turned to Duke Yu and the journey ahead. Before he left the area, though, he touched the grooves left in the tree by the giant badger’s claws.

###

The sun was nearly overhead when Hong Fei gratefully came across a game trail leading toward the gorge. He heard the rushing waters of the Tistkil River and made his way closer, step by careful step. It wouldn’t do to go tumbling into the gorge because of his desire to be free of the forest’s grip.

On reaching the cliffside, Hong Fei’s head bowed in relief, and he stood for a time, letting the wind tug on his tattered clothes and unruly hair. He felt it cool his overheated body and dry the sweat on his skin. The river looked so inviting.

The road below was empty of travelers. It bent along with the river, and Hong Fei spotted a series of steps carved into the cliff’s face. His fist clenched in triumph. He’d done it.

The path directly adjacent to the gorge was unsafe for travel, so he temporarily re-entered the forest’s thick embrace and pushed ahead until he re-emerged about half a li later.

The steps leading down were roughly cut, and iron rings had been driven into the wall beside them, showing a good amount of rust. It looked like a thick rope might’ve been strung between the rings at one time.

Who knew when these steps had been used last? Hong Fei certainly didn’t see any sign of human activity at the top of them. If there’d been a trail or road here in the past, it was long gone now.

As grateful to the builders as he was, Hong Fei also cursed them for being barely competent. The steps were uneven, threatening to spill him over the edge. How dare they expect the people using these stairs to have two working hands? Didn’t they know injuries were common, especially when traversing the forest?

Hong Fei sat on the last step—the relief truly coming home now, weakening his legs until they gave out. He’d pushed his body hard, and yet it was all worth it. He was on the road once more.

###

The cold waters of the Tistkil ran past Hong Fei’s submerged arm, muting the pain. His stomach growled at him in disappointment, but what could he do without gear or cultivation? The fish swimming past were out of reach. Still, he couldn’t help eyeing their silver bodies.

Hong Fei heard a sigh from behind him, the sound weighty as if from a horse. Reaching for Fortune’s Favor, he rolled over his side to—

Ling stood before him, her face downcast. The giant badger moved to sit on the ground, and she placed her head on her forelegs as if awaiting his reprimand.

Words caught in Hong Fei’s throat. His breath sped up, and he licked his lips, unsure of what was happening. Perhaps, he thought, I’ve fallen asleep, and this is a dream.

He let go the hilt of his sword and reached out to touch Ling’s snout. Her fur was softer there than elsewhere on her body. She closed her eyes, and a second sigh followed, this one relieved.

This isn’t a dream, Hong Fei thought. Aloud he said, “I’m all right, and you are, too. Somehow.”

Ling nodded, and he laughed then—a bubbling thing out of his control. His shoulders shook, and tears appeared at the edges of his eyes. It’s the pressure releasing, he decided.

Ling moved closer to nudge him, concerned, and his hand reached out on its own to pet her head. The guard hairs bristled against his palm, but he welcomed the feeling, welcomed the solidity.

Eventually, Hong Fei got himself under control and propped up into a proper sitting position. “I thought that the giant centipede had killed you.”

Ling startled at his words. She stepped back, so that she could examine him, clearly surprised he’d run into the creature and survived.

“What?” Hong Fei objected. “I finished the work you started and killed it. Is that so hard to believe?” Then, he laughed again, this time genuinely. “I know it seems unlikely with me as I am now, but I’m known for my skill with the sword.”

Ling pointed at the satchel.

“Oh, of course, your portrait must’ve been restored. Do you want to see it?” Hong Fei drew her card and saw he was right: all the color had returned to it. And when he projected the card’s illusory image, the numbers along the bottom had disappeared. They’d been a countdown until her reappearance, which meant… “Do you have a way to retreat into a protected space to recover from injuries?” he asked.

Ling made a complicated face, yet she eventually nodded.

“Something like that, but not quite,” Hong Fei clarified.

She nodded again and seemed to run out of patience for his questions, because she pointed at the satchel once more. She tapped it with a claw to drive home her request.

“Is it that number?” Hong Fei asked, storing her card and retrieving his.

Ling pushed his hand down, so that she could read the card directly. Then she huffed in pleasure, and her rump shook as if dancing. She looked so much like a village matron celebrating good news.

Hong Fei smiled to see her so pleased. These were not the actions of someone who’d lost a natural treasure. Their dangerous endeavor had apparently been successful, after all.

“Auntie Ling, will you tell me what we’ve gained?”

The giant badger froze, and Hong Fei realized that he might’ve made a terrible mistake.

“Ah, should it be Sister Ling?” he asked. “Or Big Sister Ling? Surely, not Little Sister…”

The badger used a claw to shush him, and her eyes peered intently into his. Hong Fei couldn’t tell what she was looking for, but she must’ve found some satisfaction, because she removed the claw to draw a number 1 in the dirt.

“The first?” Hong Fei asked. “I should call you auntie?”

Ling nodded, and the corners of her mouth turned up in obvious pride.

Hong Fei’s own smile returned. “Then you can call me Nephew Fei.”

That bit of social order established, Auntie Ling pointed at the first number 4 beside the Fate Points, then the + symbol by Body. She gestured for him to follow suit, so he did—touching the 4 and the + in three separate sequences—until the image of his card appeared in the air, and a line of text appeared before it.

“Spend Fate Points to increase your Body attribute? Yes/No.”

Ling breathed out in satisfaction, and Hong Fei knew that she’d succeeded at the task she’d set herself. She pointed at the “Yes,” and he touched it as directed.

The coolness that had been dormant in his head since the previous day came to life and spread through him like the waters of the Tistkil River. It flowed through his meridians—loosening the bunched muscles as it went, releasing the painful adhesions, lubricating the joints, and nourishing the organs. The cool energy sank into his bones, and for the first time in a long time, Hong Fei felt well.

“What?” he whispered. Maybe he was dreaming, after all. His broken body healing—he’d been told it was impossible, that only the most miraculous of cures held tightly by the richest of cultivators would do it.

His right arm still ached, but his left fist clenched without pain, his legs didn’t ache as he moved to stand, and he was able to straighten his back without parts of his body sticking and popping… everything moved as it should.

Unknowingly, tears fell, and Auntie Ling patted him on the arm to assure him that he was better now. She gestured for him to continue, and it took a moment for the dazed Hong Fei to comply.

This time, all he had to do was touch the + for the effect to activate, and he felt his inner organs shifting, the ligaments in his body strengthening. On his card, the numbers beside Fate Points had changed to 2 | 4, while the number of Body continued to be 0.

A third Fate Point washed through Hong Fei, and this time it was his meridians that healed, the inner pathways used by essence to travel throughout the body. Cuts filmed over, and gaps were crossed. The broken shards of his inner cauldron trembled, and with the fourth point they slid toward each other. A sharp pain ran through his belly; it felt like someone cutting him open. At the same time, he felt a wholeness that’d been missing since the steppes.

Hong Fei realized that he’d closed his eyes. He opened them to see Ling watching him carefully. He’d cooled off earlier, laying by the river, but he was drenched in sweat again, his clothes sopping wet. He felt weaker than a newborn pup; he felt better than he had in a long time.

A chime rang through Hong Fei’s body, and the laughter about to spill from him caught in his throat. The essence in his bones and in his kidneys heated, the energy spilling out into his meridians.

Breakthrough! he thought in surprise.

The feeling was familiar. It was the same as the time he’d advanced from the Dustborn realm and taken his first steps into Body-Forged.

Quickly, he closed his eyes again and assumed a proper seated posture, circulating the essence through his meridians. The heat dispersed throughout him without pain. The knives cutting him apart were gone!

Cycle after cycle, he continued. Each time, he ended the circulation of essence at the lower cauldron. It felt fragile and barely formed, but that was familiar, too. The more he cultivated his essence, the stronger it would become.

What he’d just experienced was already a miracle. From this point onward, he knew how to handle the rest. Hong Fei laughed to himself. The conversation he’d planned to have with Duke Yu would have to be revised.

Hong Fei’s card lay on his lap, temporarily forgotten. Auntie Ling stretched her neck to check on the changes.

Hong Fei

Fate Points: 0 | 4

Realm: Body-Forged 3

Cultivation: 5

Alignment: N/A

Attributes

·         Body: 1

·         Mind: 2

·         Soul: 2

Traits

·         Sword Prodigy

·         Fate’s Attendant

Cards

·         Uncommon Badger

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