tejoka

Chapter 164 (Draft)

I really needed to get out of the habit of making promises, especially if they were actually threats I would then have an obligation to carry through.

Of course, the Auditor’s son was probably regretting his actions right about now, anyway.

“Lei, if you would please stop kicking him?” I asked mildly. “Not that he doesn’t deserve it, but I’d like to get a better look at his condition, if nothing else. Seems like there’s some burnover.”

Lei stepped back, rollin...

Chapter 163 (Draft)

The village lay empty and silent around us, all life leeched from it as if a painter had just swabbed all the color away with a sponge. Or that was how it seemed, at least. If I focused, I could still sense hints of life, scattered and small, yet remarkably bright for all their casual unobtrusiveness.

I let my horse pick its way forward. She was a spirit beast, much tougher and stronger than a mundane horse, even if she looked like a normal gray, and she didn’t need my help to get aro...

Chapter 162 (Draft)

“Why do they call it the ‘Basement’, anyway?” I asked. “I can see where It’s kind of snappy, I guess, but it doesn’t exactly strike fear into the hearts of your enemies or lend itself well to passionate exhortations.”

Elis grinned. He leaned back against the stone balustrade of the platform we stood on, blinking against the sunlight shining directly into his eyes. “That’s more or less what I told them the first time I talked to a Basement leader, actually. I think it...

Chapter 161 (Draft)

Half of the people in the room looked like they could still scarcely believe how their lives had changed in the last few weeks or months. In my opinion, that didn’t speak highly of them, considering we’d held the city of Aliatin for a week.

I sank deeper into the cushioned seat of my chair. It was a throne, no other word could hope to fit as well. Made out of a dark imported wood and inlaid with gold and precious stones, the actual seat was high enough I was almost as high up as if ...

Chapter 160 (Draft)

“I have to admit I could get used to this,” Kajare said, stretching out on his divan with a grin.

“I think we’ll have to enjoy it while it lasts,” I answered, plopping myself down on an overstuffed armchair. “Alas, an unbroken string of victories is probably too much to hope for.”

We’d just taken the second major city in as many weeks. Of course, given that the Dominion covered the whole continent and more, it had a lot of major cities. We were far from done. But w...

Chapter 159 (Draft)

“You know, I almost feel sorry for the Zarian,” Yarani said.

“Why?” I asked. “Because their entire society is doomed to collapse sooner or later? Because they’ll witness its death throes harming their fellows even if they aren’t killed? Because the Dominion is going to be history?”

She blinked. “Uh, I didn’t think of it like that. I was thinking more about the soldiers who are going to die in a more immediate sense because of our efforts.”

I gazed out o...

Chapter 158 (Draft)

From his expression, I knew right away that Aston wasn’t bringing me good news.

That seemed par for the course. Although he was officially my bodyguard, he’d really been acting as my aide for a long time now. Not that I was going to complain about it. I definitely didn’t want to handle everything he did for me myself.

I sat up straighter and gestured for the scientist I was speaking to to wait. He appeared to have been too caught up in our discussion to notice Aston’s arri...

Chapter 157 (Draft)

I stepped forward, took a handful of earth from the pile, and threw it onto the small heap starting to form on top of the coffin. Then I stepped back. The residual dirt clung to my hand, but I resisted the temptation to wipe it off against my pants. Instead, I watched solemnly as the rest of the other people present each added their handful to the grave.

It was a small gathering. Besides me and Al, most of the others were other members of the Imperial guard. I’d been surprised to see ...

Chapter 156 (Draft)

“This is the most complicated piece of formation work I have ever seen, my lady. Few talismans channel that much qi, and they probably invented several completely new patterns.” San Hashar smiled. “It shouldn’t be a problem.”

I returned her smile as she took a step away from the table with the Basement’s gift on it. One of the main reasons I’d decided to come back was to get it to a good team for analysis. San Hashar had just arrived from the Earth Continent, as well, and ...

Chapter 155 (Draft)

Little An whooped, laughing and squirming enough that I had to carefully adjust my position to avoid overbalancing.

“This is great, Big Sister!” she called.

I grinned, not that she could see it. The wind rushed past my face, and I had to shake my head to get a few errant strands of hair out of my eyes. “Careful, or I might drop you,” I warned her.

My little sister didn’t seem to hear me. Instead, she turned her head from side to side, clearly watching the countrysi...

Chapter 154 (Draft)

I was right. By the time soldiers reached where the attacker had to have been, he had disappeared and left no clues behind. Maybe it would have been different if the kilometers between us had been open field, but this was a city. And a foreign, newly occupied one at that.

I stayed at the scene of the crime, jumping down from the roof and joining Al and the soldiers around him.

“Well, at least no one else died,” my brother said. He conspicuously didn’t look at the body of his...

Chapter 153 (Draft)

I looked at the city stretching out in front of me, and I couldn’t help but wonder, for a moment, how I’d gotten here. Parts of it were still smoking, though luckily those were very small, easily contained ones, all things considered. A large hole gaped in the wall, with the stone that used to fill it scattered widely through the field outside and the street below the wall inside the city. A lot of rickety houses stood outside the walls, and their owners could probably count themselves lu...

Chapter 152 (Draft)

The three remaining members of the basement flinched slightly at my approach. I didn’t know how much of it was because of the attack or because they’d just seen me shrug off a hole in my torso. From their expressions, they were probably in too much shock to differentiate much, anyway. Not that it mattered.

I glanced at what remained of my assailant, lying in a small puddle of blood. Her eyes stared upwards, still wide open, her face distorted in a grimace.

“Now what am I goi...

Chapter 151 (Draft)

The whole way further into the city, Aston was looking like he’d taken an overdose of caffeine and awakened from a nightmare at the same time, unable to keep his hands still or his face as sober as usual.

I could understand why his professional paranoia had to be screaming at him, but there was nothing for it. The people we’d met were hardly in a league to threaten my guards, and none of us could sense any hidden traps. Besides, I didn’t want to dither around, look like a coward, ...

Chapter 150 (Draft)

“Once we cross this line, things are going to change,” Tenira said quietly.

I looked at her, suppressing a smile at the sight of her gazing thoughtfully south, the sun dancing in her hair. We’d been separated for too long lately. But the gravity of the subject swallowed my bout of levity quickly.

“It was called ‘crossing the Rubicon’, I guess,” I said. “After a general who took his army into his empire’s heartland and took power from their senate for himself. He ...

Chapter 149 (Draft)

By the time we’d sorted out the aftermath of the battle, Elis seemed to have clamped up. I tried to press him — gently, I didn’t want to alienate him — but he evaded my questions and gave noncommittal answers.

I could understand why he might not trust me, of course, but I still found it pretty irritating. The information he had on the Zarian could make our campaign a lot easier, and the insight into their social dynamics and current upheaval might be invaluable. Not to mention t...

Chapter 148 (Draft)

If I’d had any time to do it, I would have cursed at my misfortune in getting attacked again, and at the Zarian who were doing it. But I couldn’t spare the attention. I barely even noticed what the people around me were doing. The formations around the camp held all of my focus.

Trying to repair formations suffering damage from attacks on the fly would be a hellish challenge even for an experienced formations master. Even reinforcing them wasn’t easy. A little like trying to repai...

Chapter 147 (Draft)

I’d been skeptical that we were even going to find what Elia was supposed to be after, given the paucity of the description she had from the Sun. But it seemed to be enough, and as we traveled closer, I even got the now-familiar tingle of intuition that meant Rijoko was helping out, too.

Not that we had many places to look, I had to admit. Our destination was the farthest south I’d ever traveled, beyond the Yellow Graves proper. Two days after Elia first told me about it, we were ap...

Chapter 146 (Draft)

I’d been in the jungle too long. That must be why, getting out of it now, it took me a moment to get my bearings. I blinked, my eyes adjusting themselves to the differing light levels.

Not that I was entirely done with the jungle yet. For that matter, I’d spent some time in the other ecosystems of the Yellow Graves, though they all had a tendency to seem cluttered. The desert that technically covered more of the Graves’ land area, especially. It was a rocky desert instead of sand,...

Chapter 145 (Draft)

“Well, if the Storm had any intention to leave you alone, I somehow doubt he would now,” Kajare commented.

I glanced at him and shrugged. He’d spoken lightly, with more casual humor than I could probably have expected from an Imperial. But Terbekteri didn’t have a long tradition of venerating Jideia. In fact, he’d never been particularly popular there, from what I understood.

“If I thought he would, I wouldn’t be doing this,” I replied. Then I grinned. “At least ...

Chapter 144 (Draft)

When the army Commander called a halt, I dropped onto a convenient nearby fallen tree without bothering to keep up pretenses. We were moving quickly enough that even the increased toughness and stamina of my cultivator’s body couldn’t protect me from the strain of it, and I breathed deeply, sucking in much-needed oxygen.

But after a moment, I turned my head to look at Yarani, who’d plopped down beside me and was half lying off the tree trunk. If this was a strain for me, it had to...

Chapter 143 (Draft)

A/N: Sorry for the delay, I accidentally scheduled this post for today instead of yesterday.

To my own surprise, I’d discovered that I actually liked the Yellow Graves.

The sea would always have its place in my heart, but there was a beauty in forests, too. And there was just so much life here. A living, vibrant piece of nature. Maybe I’d hate the other parts of the Graves, if I actually got to see them, but still.

It might have had something to do wi...

Chapter 142 (Draft)

When I’d first seen the Yellow Graves, I would never have thought that I’d come back at the head of an army less than two years later. The jungle didn’t look quite the same, but that was probably because of the different season. Even this far south, spring was arriving, but winter had still left its marks, and the characteristic yellow trees looked sparser. The singing of birds was both familiar and strange, and I took a moment to listen to it and try to pinpoint different birds. I didn...

Chapter 141 (Draft)

I folded my binoculars and put them away in a pocket, then sighed softly as I gazed out over the walls of the town of Bastion. Then I turned around and met Kiyanu’s gaze.

“Something important must have happened if you’re coming to talk to me in person,” I said.

Kiyanu shrugged a little, glancing down at the courtyard. “I could just be coming to take a look, like you obviously have.”

I narrowed my eyes at him, then looked down as well for a moment. A company of Li...

Chapter 140 (Draft)

“You’re not leaving me enough air, Nari,” Al said.

I snorted but loosened my hug slightly. “If your cultivation couldn’t even stand up to a little hug from your big sister, I’d really have to worry. Besides, you can obviously give me cheek just fine.”

He laughed and gave me a squeeze before letting go. I took a step back and gave him another assessing glance. I was glad he’d made it out of the siege alright, without being in any danger. He still wore armor, even th...

Chapter 139 (Draft)

The soldiers reacted quickly, and the Dominion attackers had barely stepped out of the spot their teleportation brought them to before they were attacked. Of course, in that time they’d already done a lot of damage.

I backed away, suddenly grateful for Aston’s solid presence shielding me from the fight, but I didn’t run away. I needed to know what was happening. Besides, he probably agreed that I was safest close to the group of high-stage cultivators, or he’d already be trying ...

Chapter 138 (Draft)

Blue Valley City hadn’t suffered from the occupation, at least not visibly. The city still stood, its walls rising as high as ever, some chimneys sending up smoke. Obviously, the Zarian had changed the wards and defenses enough that we couldn’t simply barge in, but a casual observer might not have noticed anything from this distance.

Until you looked closely enough to see the Dominion’s flag raised over the city.

It was early morning, and the horizon behind the city was stil...

Chapter 137 (Draft)

“You’re growing up way too quickly,” I commented.

Elia, Lei and Yarani, who were talking further down, threw glances at me but ignored me. Since I’d spoken in English, they couldn’t understand me anyway. Al, on the other hand, just grinned up at me and straightened up further.

“I’d say I’m not growing nearly quickly enough.”

His voice had started to break, I noticed. The kid I’d first met coming back from my soul journey really wasn’t that child anymore...

Chapter 136 (Draft)

Seeing the Sky Continent again felt good, even if it also seemed like the appearance of expectations and responsibility to me. I watched the green fields unfolding in front of us, after the scraggly cliffs, and curled my fingers around my sleeves. Sometimes, it hit me like a sudden impact. All of this continent starting to spread out below us was mine in an intangible but real way. Thousands of towns and cities, millions of people. It was enough to choke anyone, and yet looking at the contine...

Chapter 135 (Draft)

The tense silence was broken by the ringing of the communications device, and it seemed like everyone let out a collective breath. It was an affectation, since this wasn’t actually a telephone, just a qi communication talisman, but I’d added the sound effect on a whim.

We were gathered in another sitting room, since the last one still bore the marks of the explosion, but it had come to resemble it quickly, complete with stacks of papers strewn around. Aston leaned against the wall c...