Amdirlain’s PoV - West Wind’s Court
Four days later, Amdirlain stood at the midpoint of a narrow valley neck, carved plateaus along its sides accommodating thousands of observers. She counted at least thirty distinct orders from the varying styles of robes spread across the valley walls. They were still streaming into position, racing along the walls, or descending from the sky. Klipyl waved from the valley’s upper ridgeline, signalling the last of those for the event were inbound.
Amdirlain waited calmly as they settled into position. She was about to begin when a trio of light beams crested the valley's top and dropped to the closest ledge. When the light vanished, Bai Hu and two well-wizened masters stood where the beams had struck.
Let’s get this show on the road.
“You came here for a demonstration, a promise of insight provided from without.” Amdirlain turned, looking over the crowd. The notes behind her words ensured everyone could hear. “Instead, the healers before will lead you through exercises and together, we’ll guide those open to look within. Many of you will have stepped through these exercises and failed to grasp them, so we’ll look to rectify that today. For those who seized them previously, you’ll deepen your understanding of the energy. Now, if you’d all undertake your favourite meditation style while you listen to the healers near you.”
She glanced at a cluster of beings whose diaphanous silk robes clung to their bodies.
“Styles permissible in public spaces, at least.”
At that, several laughed and stopped pretending to remove clothing. They followed the lead of others who’d knelt or settled cross-legged on the ground. A few thousand had adopted a standing meditation stance; the martial themes beating through many made it clear they’d prefer weapon katas if there had been sufficient space.
Kadaklan and other healers spread out before those on the plateaus, offering directions to start the first training drills. As the healers began, Amdirlain reached out with her mind.
As she touched upon the tens of thousands present, notes rippled within her thoughts, signally the stress on the Power as she stretched it further. She examined the energy within herself and its impact on the surrounding minds. The echoes allowed her to streamline the effort she expended as the net of energy lay across their surface thoughts. Golden light rose from her hands with the invocation of Universal Life, and she allowed them to experience the Power. For many among those gathered, it was a foreign experience; Ki turned not to martial endeavours but focused on healing.
Though it would have been simple to send notes skipping across their souls and push them into the alignment required, she persisted. The exercises continued for hours, with only a few scattered individuals helped across a threshold of understanding initially. Having repeatedly shared her perception of the Power, she added the perspective of the nearby healers working through the exercises to the mix, and leant further into Muse’s Embrace.
Light burst from the hands of more students and masters, the effect dotting the ledges with a white light that competed with the approaching midday sun. Large clusters broke through as if spurred on by the success of the others, but Amdirlain felt the impact within the crowd each time Muse’s Embrace increased. The feedback from the healers focused the Power and provided her with insights into regulating her own Ki’s effects.
As she removed the mental net from the last remaining students and masters, Bai Hu glided forward, with his companions following.
Aware of the eyes on them, she offered an appropriately respectful bow as Bai Hu approached. “I don’t know if today’s exercise was what you’d expected, Lord Bai Hu, but I hope the results find fertile ground to grow.”
He returned her bow to the same degree, freezing one Master in his tracks. “Thank you, Lady Am, you exceeded my hopes. You are as generous as your form is fearsome. Your gift of understanding will save many lives. I’ll encourage them to develop this ability and ensure the masters of even the smallest sect arrange proper classes.”
“That’s good to know,” said Amdirlain.
“Would you like another exchange before you depart?” asked Bai Hu.
Is that so he can get the lesson his administrators lured people here using?
“Are you trying to bait the North Wind by having two exchanges with me before he can have one?”
Bai Hu smiled broadly. “Would I do that?”
“I think the two of you have a brotherly rivalry,” noted Amdirlain. “One in which I’d prefer to minimise my involvement.”
“While I like to tweak the turtle’s nose, your style is interesting enough to want a second exchange purely for that purpose.”
“You asked for another exchange once I returned from my travels, so you’ll have to wait until then, Lord Bai Hu,” Amdirlain rebuffed lightly.
Amdirlain reduced her senses to a few hundred metres and signalled the others.
The five appeared on a mountain road surrounded by thick trees; higher on the mountain, the stone walls and green-tiled roofs of a series of buildings were visible.
“The trail loops back and forth up the mountain, and there is a guard trail just before the outer wards,” advised Sarah.
“Do they haul all the supplies up with carts or something?” asked Klipyl.
Sarah shrugged. “No idea.”
“Most of an order’s servants are normal people and the bound demons have had their powers limited,” explained Jinfeng. “Lesser demons that have been bound certainly can’t fly.”
Kadaklan grinned and stretched his arms above his head, spreading them wide as if welcoming the slivers of sunshine that reached them through the trees.
“You seem celebratory,” noted Klipyl.
“With all those people now able to heal others, I count today as a great day,” said Kadaklan. “Whatever the future might bring, there is a bigger chance that someone needing healing will receive it. Though I only played a minor part in guiding exercises, I still feel I contributed.”
“You and the other healers played more of a part than you’re probably aware,” said Amdirlain.
“How so?”
“The progress getting people to understand the application was going slow, so I included the perspective of a range of healers, including yourself, in the mix. That addition provided the right stimulus to allow most people to enact the proper Ki flows,” explained Amdirlain.
Kadaklan’s grin broadened. “That makes it worth enduring all these snowy days with the sun hidden behind grey clouds.”
He skipped along the path and then turned back, waiting for the rest to follow.
“Impatient to stride into the unknown,” quizzed Sarah as she looped arms with Amdirlain. “Your mental net felt a bit strained there.”
“Yeah, I need to push my Advanced Telepathy along. I was hitting my limit, touching all those minds. There were a lot more in attendance than I expected,” said Amdirlain. “I didn’t anticipate the organisers bringing in so many extra practitioners from the countryside. Kadaklan could have warned me how many healers would be involved before this morning.”
“Where would the fun have been in that?” Kadaklan asked. “You like rising to the challenge and could have handled them piecemeal.”
“Lord Bai Hu certainly would not have passed up the opportunity,” said Jinfeng.
Klipyl smiled at Amdirlain. “You looked all serene standing in front of everyone. Were you like that on stage on Qil Tris?”
“No,” muttered Amdirlain.
“She was all flirty, sass, and sparkles,” advised Kadaklan.
“You should have given them the ability to handle the trace recording before leaving,” declared Klipyl. “Then I could have seen one of your performances.”
“Would have still been a pale imitation without my Charisma coming through,” said Amdirlain. “Let’s see what reception we’re in for here.”
“Let’s stop at the wards. I might need to adjust my masking pendant to keep it from screaming about me,” said Sarah. “Unless you have any information, Am?”
“The wards focused on dragons sound the same, and they just signal an alarm,” reassured Amdirlain. “Though I don’t know if that alarm ties to anything further up the mountain—I don’t want to bump my senses into the North Wind’s presence. A hut with ten guards is located beyond a prayer gate just inside the wards. Let’s check with them if we’re welcome.”
“You were told he’s waiting for you here?” questioned Klipyl.
“That’s different to being ready and willing to host all of us,” replied Amdirlain. “I’m feeling a touch paranoid about people’s wording.”
She let the other set the pace up the mountainside; the path looped back and forth five times before it reached the prayer gate and guard post she’d sensed some three hundred metres from their arrival point. An observer from the guard post spotted them before the guard’s hut appeared.
A set of long shallow stairs ascended to the prayer gate marking the threshold of the wards. Four square columns divided the gate into one sizeable central arch and two lesser arches; above the arches were beams set with decorative artwork, capped by a triple tier of green-tiled roofing that barely extended beyond the decorated beams. The ornate Ming dynasty roofing style featured coiled serpents and matched the tiles atop the still-distant compound. Beyond the gate’s stonework, the path widened into a clearing that hosted the guard hut.
The ten guards were arrayed unevenly through the clearing. A trio of spearmen took the forward point while five swordsmen formed a staggered crescent behind them. The last duo were archers who’d set themselves towards the clearing’s rear,
Spears slow the initial rush, the swordsmen take advantage of any openings, and the archers harass troublemakers who don’t rush in but are lightly armoured to better run for help if needed.
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The middle guard of the spearmen stepped to the ward’s boundary, his spear lightly clasped and angled to rest against his shoulder. “Did you get yourselves lost, travellers?”
“Why do you ask that?” Jinfeng asked. With her left hand, she removed her sword, sheath, and all from her belt and wrapped thin cords around it; the gesture somewhat mollified the guards, but they still cautiously regarded the others with their lack of obvious weapons.
“You don’t have an escort from the lower compound,” replied the guard.
Jinfeng motioned to the sky. “We didn’t walk to the mountain. Might we have leave to pass and seek audience with the North Wind?”
It’s not entirely accurate, but that’s an understandable explanation, given all the flying practitioners I’ve seen.
“You know where you are. You’re pretty bold to turn up on the doorstep of his inner compound,” declared the guard’s leader.
“The nearest buildings are at the foot of the mountains kilometres away,” stated Jinfeng. “The map of Wudang Mountain didn’t show its connected nature.”
“The misinformation on your map is not our problem,” replied the guard. “You’re not meant to come here without a guide from the outer compound.”
Did Bai Hu not mention it as a test or because he’s clueless about the process for other beings?
“Might we speak to a clerk or higher official?” asked Jinfeng.
“Signal for an administrator,” instructed the leader, not taking his eyes from the group.
An archer returned the three arrows he’d been loosely holding to his quiver before drawing one with a bulbous head from a different quiver. He aimed into the clear sky and turned towards the peak. With the arrow’s release, a high-pitched whistle screamed from it, wailing as it sped towards the nearest of the upper buildings.
A short while later, a man in black-on-black mandarin robes arrived, his steps appearing effortless despite descending the path faster than a racing car.
He glanced at the guards’ positions before turning to Jinfeng, who was still holding her sheath across her folded arms.
“You are?”
Jinfeng bowed to the official. “Master Jinfeng of the Monastery of the Western Reaches.”
“What is your purpose here without a proper escort?” he asked.
“I’m guiding Lady Am, who seeks to meet with the North Wind,” replied Jinfeng, motioning discretely to Amdirlain.
The official eyed the group sceptically before addressing Jinfeng. “Do you expect me to know a Lady Am?”
“Perhaps you should pass the request for access to the mountain up your hierarchy,” proposed Jinfeng.
He aims to roadblock anyone who’d distract Xuan Wu from teaching while he’s here.
“You may join the queue of other petitioners at the North Wind’s Court,” declared the man.
“Lord Bai Hu said he was waiting here to meet with Lady Am,” insisted Jinfeng coolly.
Tucking his hands into his sleeves, the official lifted his chin. “I’ve heard no notification about special visitors being expected.”
“We only recently left the West Wind’s Court. We’re far too early for word to have arrived, or the West Wind is playing games. He hoped Lady Am would allow him another exchange of pointers before she left.”
The official seemed unmoved by Jinfeng’s explanation, and Amdirlain could sense his scepticism about the incredible boasting of mentioning the West Wind.
“Jinfeng, this fellow isn’t important enough to bother with. Let’s head for the East Wind’s Court,” offered Amdirlain. “He can explain to Lord Xuan Wu why we never met.”
Whatever lessons the Jade Emperor’s puzzle hinted at, I’ll learn somewhere else.
“Be on your way then,” replied the man dismissively.
Sarah snorted. “Hasn’t anyone told you that following the rules doesn’t also require blind stupidity?”
“Come now, isn’t it entirely his choice about when to be a moron?” asked Klipyl.
Jinfeng’s suppressed sigh transformed into a disgusted exhalation. “I hoped to speak to the immortals here about the best route to approach the East Wind’s court. Hopefully, we don’t need to make loads of extra stops in Nippon.”
They started to turn away when Kadaklan lifted a hand, his attention fixed on the official, and his usual relaxed tone firmed. “You didn’t ask the rest of us for names. I’m Master Kadaklan, an Immortal Phoenix of the South Wind’s Court. Don’t you think it might be best to contact your superiors? They probably have given orders to those tending the lower gates, not expecting us to arrive here directly.”
The man’s lips thinned further, but his eyes lingered on Kadaklan’s robes. A sensation like scales shifting came from the man’s mind, and his gaze narrowed further when a pulse on the scales yanked his attention to Klipyl.
The energy from the pair stifled his immediate rejection. “Many come claiming they have special arrangements. Are you sure you wish to risk the ire of my superiors?”
He ignored Jinfeng’s proposal of the same thing moments earlier. Was it sexism or something else?
Amdirlain listened closer and caught that it was a combination of Kadaklan’s standing as an Immortal and his occupation that changed his reception.
He didn’t just take Kadaklan’s word for it but he also didn’t open his Third Eye, he somehow weighed the energies in the clearing.
“It’s not a risk,” declared Kadaklan, ignoring the implicit threat in the official’s steel tones. “I give you my word, as an Immortal, that we are expected. Lady Am and Sarah know ways to baffle your Ki Sense, so you’ll get nothing from them.”
“Wait here.”
With that, he turned and strode up the mountain path, deliberately not using Ki Movement to retrace his steps. The other archer placed his arrows away. They were almost in sync as they unstrung their recurve bows and stowed them on their backs.
The sedate pace he chose caused Kadaklan to click his tongue in disapproval.
Sarah dropped a quintet of well-padded armchairs and a cooler full of iced wine before the prayer gate. As she sprawled into the nearest one, Amdirlain smoothly caught the bottle Sarah blindly tossed her way and sat in the chair beside her. Klipyl grinned smugly at the nearest guard and tossed bottles to the others before she perched on a chair.
“It’s always disappointing when those representing those greater fail to show the foundations of hospitality,” sighed Kadaklan. “It’s a little early to drink. Can I have some iced tea instead?”
More bottles appeared in the cooler, and Amdirlain floated one over to him.
An hour later, they’d seen no movement from the upper buildings. With it in the officials’ hands, the guards continued to wait patiently, at the ready, only shifting slightly to ease their stiffening muscles.
The lack of action changed after another hour when seven light trails blazed over the mountain’s peak, and a substantial presence wafted across Amdirlain.
As that awareness brushed by her, one light trail hesitated and adjusted its trajectory towards them. A figure appeared above the clearing in a flash of light as a Sword Light Power ended midair. The young lady had jet-black hair and stark white skin and wore a dress formed from a rainbow of kingfisher feathers; beneath their nine hues flashed bare skin through the slit that rose above her knees. In her left hand, she carried a staff with a shifting pattern of runes coiled around it. The brilliant sheen of her robes initially concealed the embroidered silver stars that decorated the outfit. As she settled to the ground, she addressed the guards. “You may relax, guardsmen. Lord Xuan Wu will receive Lady Am and her party as honoured guests.”
The archers stood at attention only slightly before the swordsmen mirrored them and moved their hands from their hilts. The lead spearman turned to face the new arrival and, tucking his spear back against his shoulder, snapped a salute.
“As you say, Lady Jiutian Xuannü,” replied the lead soldier. At his signal, the troops moved to a single file before the hut.
The group stood as Jiutian Xuannü advanced towards them with floating steps, her bare feet not quite touching the ground. “Greetings, Lady Am. I understand your companions are Lady Sarah, Master Kadaklan, Klipyl and Master Jinfeng, correct?”
Jiutian Xuannü nodded politely to each as she named them.
Some accurate information has come through at least.
Amdirlain nodded. “That’s right, Lady Jiutian Xuannü.”
“Have they kept you waiting long?”
The group offered her polite bows before Amdirlain replied. “We caused some confusion by just showing up. The official that came down didn’t recognise me or my name.”
“Then whoever it was hasn’t paid proper attention over the last year. They were told as soon as you started travelling. Some immortals can become so blinkered. Did they even introduce themselves?”
“No, but I can provide an image if you wish,” replied Amdirlain.
She shook her head, causing her curtain of hair to sway against the mountain’s breeze. “Perhaps later, if no one comes forward to own up to the dishonour that their reception of you caused. I take it that your arrival point was just down the path from here. There remains an energy residue.”
“Yes. The maps Bai Hu provided let us identify the location from above, but didn’t show the connection to the lower buildings,” Amdirlain explained. “We came here directly after a demonstration we put on for practitioners in his region.”
A filament of energy from Jiutian Xuannü reached up the slope, but her expression remained serene.
“You’re not to blame for the confusion. I’d say Bai Hu was playing his usual games. He advised us you’d gotten maps to aid your travels but didn’t warn Xuan Wu or myself that you’d teleported,” explained Jiutian Xuannü.
Amdirlain snorted. “Maybe he wanted to see who I’d shake up.”
“That would be quite like him, and he enjoys annoying Xuan Wu and myself.”
“We appreciate you coming along to clarify the matter for the guards’ comfort,” said Amdirlain.
Jiutian Xuannü smiled warmly. “I was returning from the North Wind’s Court and heard some bureaucrats arguing at the same time that I sensed you. Shall we go up?”
“If the wards pick me up, what will happen?” asked Sarah.
“The mechanism you used to bypass the sky keep’s wards will apply to those here. Even if the wards see through your deflection, they’ll only trigger an alert for Lord Xuan Wu or myself so you may freely enter without concern,” replied Jiutian Xuannü.
She nodded again to the guards and beckoned for the group to cross the prayer gate’s threshold. Sarah stored the chairs and caught up to the others. The energy in the wards slipped across her enchantment, unable to dip beneath its protection.
“I can see how the enchanters will need to change it,” noted Jiutian Xuannü. “I might tell them only that it doesn’t work on all dragons and tug at their desires for perfection.”
Klipyl snorted happily. “How would they test it without other dragons present?”
“That’s not my concern,” replied Jiutian Xuannü. “You are an interesting Shen, Klipyl. I’d like to hear your tale if you’d spare us the time.”
“Us?”
“Myself and the jade maidens,” clarified Jiutian Xuannü.
“The tale has an unpleasant beginning,” advised Klipyl.
“Then share only what you are comfortable with. You’ll find no judgment from me,” Jiutian Xuannü. “Both Lord Xaun Wu and I have been terrible creatures on our paths to enlightenment.”
“I’ll think about it,” Klipyl hedged.
“That’s all I ask,” said Jiutian Xuannü, before turning to regard Kadaklan. “You’ve come far since we last met.”
Kadaklan bowed respectfully. “That was many lifetimes ago.”
“If you’d all follow me,” prompted Jiutian Xuannü, and she lifted into the air, angling towards the tops of the trees at the back of the clearing.
Above the trees, the size of the palace on the mountainside became clear. The green-tiled roofs cut a winding course through the trees, stretching for kilometres; here and there, open courtyards broke the trail of green.
The group continued to skim across the trees and finally descended to ground level when the path approached a guarded entryway to a paved courtyard. The elaborately decorated archway had a black tortoise supporting the base on each side and a serpent climbing the pillar to the top. One guard stood on either side, and two ladies stood beyond them, speaking to the official from earlier. Though one wore similar dark robes to the official, the other wore robes of pristine white, and each had a long mane of black hair secured by jade pins that matched their robes.
The guards saluted and allowed the group through the gate into the decorative courtyard beyond.
The official blanched at Jiutian Xuannü’s presence before approaching to introduce himself and repeatedly apologise. Jinfeng gave him an icy stare but didn’t interject.
“If you mean it, then prove it,” said Amdirlain.
The man saluted and bowed over his hands. “What would you have me do?”
“Your Dao’s core is about order and bureaucracy, is it not?”
“Yes, Lady Am.”
“Spend time each week visiting a village to teach for free, and be pleasant when you do so,” instructed Amdirlain. “It’s important to take children’s questions seriously. While doing so, I want you to develop or improve an education plan to give children sufficient grounding to pass the imperial clerk's examination.”
His gaze widened, and with a sharp bow, he beat a hurried retreat.
Jiutian Xuannü calmly gestured towards the courtyard’s left side, drawing their attention to a set of black doors covered in embossed artwork of twisting serpents. “His current class is that way. We should join him there.”