tejoka

Chapter 106 (Draft)

When I opened my eyes again, the world was crisp and clear. I could sense the qi around me far better than I could ever remember, and my range had expanded considerably once again. My body seemed to brim with energy, and as I slowly got to my feet, it felt a little like I was floating through water.

I cracked my neck and examined my surroundings. I was still in Rijoko’s shrine, and since I didn’t see a clock or the sky, I didn’t know how much time had passed. Although it felt like...

Chapter 105 (Draft)

I paced up and down Rijoko’s shrine, my footsteps echoing in the silence. I had trouble keeping my gaze from the spot where Mother had just been.

There were a lot of emotions waging war inside me, and I took deep breaths, trying to keep them in check. Grief was making steady headway and would probably win my internal war soon, but I didn’t allow it to. I shoved everything aside, to deal with later, and looked around the shrine.

The other people here had fled to the side chambe...

Chapter 104 (Draft)

A/N: I finished this earlier than I thought, so I decided I might as well keep to my regular update schedule here, even if it's a little rough. There's still something of a cliffhanger at the end of this one, too.

As I continued hurrying through the palace with my badly-injured mother in my arms, I got the sudden thought that this had to be a bad dream. It was just surreal, completely out of touch with the expectations I’d had for the day. But the thought didn’t ...

Interlude: Tenira (Draft)

Note: This interlude should actually be placed before the latest chapters. It takes place during the time chapter 100 covers. I'll post it to RR and SH on Monday, and probably the next regular chapter there on Tuesday, at which point I'll also post the next chapter (104) here.

Leri Tenira looked out over the war camp, glancing at the tents’ worth of martial strength gathered beside the little town, ready to be ground up in the war of the millennium. It should have ...

Chapter 103 (Draft)

Cliffhanger alert. Don't say I didn't warn you. 

“… forty-eight… forty-nine… fifty!”

I took my hands from my eyes and glanced around, trying not to grin too broadly. I’d called loudly enough that I was sure Xiaodan knew I was finished. Other cultivators could probably hear that from farther away, but I didn’t really care. We were in a rather lonely part of the palace grounds, a secluded park on the upper terrace close to the mountains. There ...

Chapter 102 (Draft)

I smoothed down my robe and glanced at the mirror. I felt like I’d stepped back into an old, familiar role. One that I’d barely realized I’d gotten used to, before I stopped it, and which was now here waiting for me, just the way I’d left it. Except that I wasn’t quite the same. The recent experiences had changed me, perhaps only in small ways, but enough to make the lavish, blue and silver cultivator’s robes seem like they didn’t fit quite perfectly.

Although, of course, ...

Chapter 101 (Draft)

I found it a little scary that you could see the changes the war had brought to the Imperial capital from above. Thousand Lights City looked mostly the same, but not entirely. Factories had sprung out of the ground like mushrooms. Some of them belched dark smoke into the sky, even though we’d wanted to avoid using steam power or fossil fuels. There were more soldiers visible on the streets and on its fortifications, even this far from the front. And I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, b...

Chapter 100 (Draft)

Tenira avoided me after that. I tried, but never managed to get her alone. She was always busy, either talking to someone or in a planning meeting with the others, not just myself. She didn’t make much of an effort to hide it, and I didn’t force the issue.

I could have just summoned her to me and ensured we had a private chat, but I didn’t. I was afraid that being too pushy now would just push her farther away. The most I did was apologize softly at the end of a meeting with Kajar...

Chapter 98 (V2) (Draft)

This is the updated version, the core of the previous chapter 97.

When I turned around, I noticed that the two Adzurians were watching me. The man, leaning on the railing, raised an eyebrow. His clothing looked like something out of a movie or video game. Skintight leather and a half-mask, all black. His arms were bare and I had to force my eyes not to linger on the sharply defined ridges of his torso visible through the outfit, assuming it wasn’t just modeled to l...

Chapter 97 (V2)

This is the updated version, expanding on the beginning of the previous chapter 97.

I crouched down low, giving my technique less surface area to cover. It probably didn’t make much of a difference, but every little bit might count. Besides me, I heard Elia shifting her weight, and suppressed the urge to tell her to quiet down. In truth, sound was less of a problem than visuals.

One of the Zarian soldiers in the observation post we were observing looked our w...

Chapter update

Hi folks,

I hope things are going well for you.

I've significantly revised and expanded Chapter 97, especially the beginning. There will now be a new Chapter 97, while most of the previous one - with a few additions - will form the new Chapter 98.

That means that the Chapter 98 I posted here before will now be Chapter 99 (and so on down the road). I'll change the title accordingly after I've posted the two new/updates ones.

I hope to post Chapter 100 here on Patreon to...

Chapter 99 (Draft)

It took a while for things to settle down for us to start talking seriously. But after a few minutes, the ship was pulling away on a southern course, while Tenira, Kajare and me met in a small meeting room inside the ship. Glancing out the window, I could see Elia and some of the soldiers on deck. But Kajare was finishing a technique that would dampen the sound of our conversation, so we could discuss sensitive matters.

“Where are the others?” I asked first. “Are they alright?”<...

Chapter 97 (Draft)

I found it a little ironic that out of every time I’d been to the coast in the last year or so, this was the one that looked like what you’d imagine if you heard the word ‘beach’. The trees weren’t palms, but they did have large, green leaves that swayed a little in the breeze. The cloud cover had lightened, and the sun shone a few beams down that made the water sparkle. The sea was a deep blue-green color that fit the wide sand beach well. I couldn’t see any locals anywhere close...

Chapter 96 (Draft)

“I suppose it was too much to hope for that we’d be able to complete our journey in peace and without being bothered by the Zarian,” I sighed.

Elia shrugged and gave me a wry smile. “We’ve been making good time ever since we left the city. I think we’re doing well.”

“Not as good time as we might have if we’d just focused on traveling,” I grumbled, but without any heat in my words.

We had made good time. With our cultivation, we could move pretty quickly. ...

Chapter 95 (Draft)

I hesitated for a moment, then circulated a trickle of qi to my eyes to get a better look at the fire. By now, it was clearly visible from here. People were starting to move away, and when I swept my gaze farther out, I could see how the Zarian were organizing their response.

I couldn’t help but smile. None of them was even looking in my direction. Not really. But that was the point of using sunlight focused through qi lenses to do it. It meant I could set fire at a distance, and ther...

Chapter 94 (Draft)

I stretched and felt my neck pop. It felt good to work out the kinks, even if my qi-strengthened body didn’t really need it. Even after a few hours of remaining more or less in the same position, I knew I was ready to run or fight right away. Just one of the little benefits of cultivation, which most people didn’t think much about.

I retreated carefully, keeping an eye on the gate and the traffic from and to it, or just passing it. Not many people were allowed through. The Zarian ha...

Chapter 93 (Draft)

‘Is everything clear?’I asked.

‘Yes, Your Highness,’the guard answered, his visualized form in the dream nodding.

I would have preferred to talk directly to Tenira or one of the others, but none of them were asleep right now. Lei was supposed to be, I thought, but given the situation with my disappearance, it didn’t surprise me. I had to make do with one of the Imperial Guard.

‘Then I’ll help you wake up now,’ I said. ‘Focus o...