Forge of Destiny

Threads 546-Fantasia 9

A void, desperate and primal. It was not greed. It was not the gold lust. It was colder, older than that. Cracked fingernails, bleeding from the beds, clung to the edge of a barren cliff, trapped and alone where no one could reach.

A flower of ice doggedly grew up from between the stones, reaching for the sky, bloody-minded, single-minded in its climb for ascension.

Grasping roots clung so tight but so carefully, fearful of strangling what lay in their grasp, refusing loss but so, too, refusing to bind.

Fear. Such fear of sliding back into the emptiness that came before.

Bao Qian thought he might sell away every asset he had, if it could keep her from living in that void he himself had tasted up on the glacial peak. It was a shame then that he did not think his valuations could cover it. Others had the more in-demand goods.

Those thoughts, he would organize later. Under the heel of his boot, he extended qi into the earth of the fields. They were brimming far more richly than he was used to, but so, too, was the earth in Fantasia subtly wrong in a way that scratched at the back of his mind. It was too fluid. The stone felt like wet sand. Soil felt like grasping a dust cloud. The earth was unreal, in the way a stage play’s projections were unreal, but it still reacted to the pull of his will as if it was.

That was good enough for now. Heʼd gotten used to keeping his balance on unsteady ground after all.

He could feel the frozen breeze of Ling Qiʼs qi spooling out across the distance, approaching the zigzagging trail of Jinli as the spirit dashed through the field. She wasnʼt trying to escape; that much was clear. Jinli was circling the hound like a hunter looking for an opportunity. He doubted she would be talkative while running.

Lanchi was still trailing behind him. ”Youʼre way behind. What are you even going to do?”

”Keep putting in the work. What else?” Bao Qian chuckled, though she eyed him strangely for it. Then again, he wasnʼt properly answering her question. He spread his feet, setting his center low. He eyed the hound as the spirit leapt from the earth, noting the depth of the hound’s connection to the soil attenuating rapidly with every centimeter of height in his jump.

He brought his hands together with a thunderous clap, and the too-thin earth of the liminal compressed and surged upward. A castle wall rose from the dirt, seamless and smooth, with a pleasing white and black whorl to its marbled surface.

The land godʼs hound crashed face-first into it with a confused yelp, scrabbling with his paws. He clearly expected to have gone right through the wall. Bao Qian hummed to himself as the hound scrambled to his feet. He scooped a hand through the gravelly soil, and rolled his shoulders as he pulled his arm back, squeezing the dirt down into a pellet of black rock.

The faint crack as it shattered on the houndʼs haunches rang in his ears despite the distance. Bao Qian really was fond of dogs, even if he had never gotten to have one. This one didnʼt strike him as particularly disciplined.

”H-hey, youʼre gonna…!”Lanchi exclaimed, scrambling back.

She would be fine. He let his qi pool out through the earth beneath them both, seeping through and around the dense roots of the crop field.

”Bring him to me, of course.”

His laugh drowned under the affronted boom of the spirit houndʼs bark.

***​

Ling Qi saw the wall erupt from the fields, the earth heaving and rolling like liquid. Yet the golden stalks of wheat were not displaced, only rising and falling with the heaving of the earth beneath. The boom of the hound’s impact and the canine yelp of befuddlement brought a smile to her lips as she soared over the wheat field.

She kept a wary eye on the pillar in the fieldʼs center. In person, it was tremendous. Its base would have covered the entire town center of Shenglu. She couldnʼt even see its top due to the angle, only sense the potent wood qi wafting from far above. Old Man Stonebones was only a local deity of the land, so likely, at most, he was about as potent as Zeqing had been, but that was still more than enough to be wary of.

Of course, she wasnʼt the only one who had heard that almighty crash. The streak of gold zigzagging atop the wheat stalks slowed, resolving into a confused girl jogging as she craned her neck to boggle at the sight behind them.

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Ling Qi eyed the sickle held loosely in her hand. It was plain with a handle of dark wood, but a blade of almost silver white that burned her eyes with its purity. She could tell at a glance that no defense in her arsenal would stop its edge.

So, she would have to forgo the Shu Yue greeting. Sad.

”What the heck?” Jinli stopped, squinting into the distance at the wall that was now melting like a spring mudslide back into the earth. She stood on foot atop a single stalk of wheat, which barely bowed under her weight.

”Regards from your sister. Lanchi thought you might need some help,” Ling Qi answered cheerfully.

A lot of the effect was lost from appearing several meters away and projecting her voice directly to Jinliʼs ears, but she would take what she could get. Tracking the wild flail of the sickle blade as Jinli spun around, and feeling the intent to cut even with the spiritʼs inexpert control, she was glad sheʼd chosen caution over amusement, though.

Jinliʼs eyes fixed on her where she had chosen to alight, standing atop a wheat stalk herself. ”What?! Who even are you?”

”I just said, didnʼt I?” Ling Qi tilted her head.

”No! You didnʼt!”

That was fair. Jinli was more attentive than her sisters, it seemed. She pondered for a moment on how to reply. ”My companion and I are travelers and guests in the realm of autumn, on a cultivation journey. I spoke the truth about your sister, though.”

Jinli narrowed her eyes at her, but finally scoffed. ”That dork. I told her to just come along. Never honest at all…”

Ling Qi waited a moment, glancing behind her toward the hound.

”But I didnʼt need any help! I was tiring out the hound fine. I just need him to hold still, so I can trim the herbs on his back.”

Ah, so that was what she was up to.

***​

Bao Qian did wonder what the harvest spiritʼs plan was. Had she merely stolen into the garden and been caught by its guard? Or did she have some other plan? Ling Qi would find out soon enough.

The farming godʼs hound loped across the field, bounding paws eating up distance frightfully fast. He shrugged off the outer layer of his robe, letting it fall around his waist, and fully set his stance.

Lanchi had scampered off; that was fine. He could still feel her footsteps on the ground.

The stony houndʼs paws dug into the loose earth. Boulder ground against boulder as the dog sank into a crouch, and launched himself toward Bao Qian with a booming bark like an avalancheʼs crash.

Bao Qian took a deep breath and advanced one step, then two, and spread his arms wide, his palms out and his fingers hooked like claws.

BOOM.

The impact reverberated in his bones as he caught the stone hound by the muzzle, slamming his hands inward to dig his fingers into rough, mossy hide. It was surprisingly soft on the surface, as if it were actual fur. He slid back, a centimeter, then five, and then no more. Dirt and gravel bunched up behind his dug-in heels.

The dogʼs gemstone eyes flared, facets shifting the light within, then twitched down to stare cross-eyed down his own snout in renewed confusion.

”A jolly boy, indeed,” Bao Qian ground out, feeling his arms starting to tremble as the houndʼs paws dug into the earth, spewing up dust as the spirit scrabbled, trying to move against his grapple. ”Letʼs play, then!”

He twisted his arms with a grunt of effort, heaving from his center as his tutors had taught him long ago, and another boom ruffled the wheat fields as he hauled the hound upward and slammed him on his side.

Maybe he hadnʼt let himself enjoy a spar in too long.

***

”The hound and the garden are one and the same then? Or at least, the hound is one part of it?” Ling Qi questioned. ”The part that grows the ginseng youʼre searching for.”

”And the other stuff, too, but…”

The earth shook, and both of them turned their heads to observe the stone hound now lying on his back, paws kicking wildly in the air. Bao Qian, a red and gold splotch of color in the distance, stood atop the houndʼs chest.

”Your boyfriend better not smash up all the herbs playing with the dog!” Jinli demanded.

”Spiritual herbs are not so fragile,” Ling Qi dismissed, ignoring the spirit’s implication. That was mostly true. Probably. Especially if they were growing on a spirit. ”Besides, how long do you think Old Man Stonebones was going to tolerate you running around his field?”

”Long enough!” Jinlii exclaimed, pouting. ”But whatever! Youʼre just delaying me now. If you wanna help, then get him to roll the doggy back onto his belly, and both of you can keep him still. I gotta be careful with my cut, or the harvest will be wrong and it wonʼt work for my elixir!”

So, the spirit wasnʼt planning to just consume raw reagents then. Good thing she hadnʼt discussed that much with Lanchi.

”I can do that much. Get him on his belly? Youʼve already seen where the herbs you want are?”

”Yeah, the ginseng is up behind his ears, and the stonemist moss is down in his shoulder seams. Now, cʼmooon. I donʼt have all day!” Jinli urged. Then, the spirit ran off, racing back toward the hound, the air whistling as it was split by the blade of the sickle.

The hound was now rolling about, trying to toss Bai Qian off without much success. He wriggled around on his back like a pinned puppy.

Ling Qi shook her head and laughed to herself as she rose back into the air, dissolving into mist to cross the distance herself.