The silence was profound.
The only person who seemed to notice was Zéyì. Zyu Ji Sang sat in frosty irritation, making it clear that she had attended only under protest. Fàn Bì'ān was staring at her wordless adoration. Gong Lau Jan sipped bo lei tea(1) and gazed into middle distance, as if expecting someone else to start. And Zéyì felt tired and shaky. With the demonic and spiritual energies conflicting in her body, she had to spend some effort to keep it all contained. Eventually, however, the lack of speech became too awkward and she had to break it.
"Miss... Gong ze, will you tell us what happened?"
Zyu Ji Sang sat up straighter and even Fàn Bì'ān reluctantly pulled his eyes away from her.
Gong Lau Jan put down the tea cup.
"As I said before, I don't know everything. I was on a diplomatic visit to Joeng Tin Wong's(2) Palace at the time."
"Joeng Tin Wong?"
"My ji maa(3)."
"Really, dàjiě, have you not heard of the Dragon Empress of the Sea?" Fàn Bì'ān asked with a superior air. He ruined the effect by letting his eyes dart towards Zyu Ji Sang. She ignored him.
Gong Lau Jan, on the other hand, stared at him for so long that he grew uncomfortable and retreated a little across the room.
They were sat in one of the rooms of Fàn Bì'ān's palace, an impressive place constructed of basalt. Zéyì somehow felt that it looked oddly familiar. His servants had stopped in their tracks at their arrival, but the prince had transformed terrifyingly, his eyes turning to hot coals, fangs growing huge and sharp, his black nails becoming wicked claws. At this display of power, the servants bit their tongues and scattered. Fàn Bì'ān turned to his guests with a smile, instantly reverted to his usual appearance.
"Please, make yourselves at home."
And they had.
"So you were visiting your aunt."
"Every now and then, either myself or ze ze would go and visit, bring her news and gifts. It was my turn this time.
"The Zyu Kingdom had long been under our protection, before humans even gave it that name. Ze ze had grown up over thousands of years among its forests. She carved a deep valley, created swamps and a delta with good habitat for animals and spirits alike. When I was born, she took me everywhere. We watched mountains rise in the distance, the beach erode and reform, the forests change and renew. Eventually there were other spirits: Siu Lei(4) was a fox who became the guardian spirit of the forest that my stream flowed through. Zing Se and Zing Wai (5) were my baby cousins that I helped raise. Lou Ma Luk(6) had been around forever. He didn't really associate with us. I only ever saw glimpses of him at dawn and dusk."
Gong Lau Jan's eyes were flat as stones. For the first time, Zéyì began to grasp the true extent of the chasm of time that yawned between them. She had lived for over one hundred years. Everyone she had known and loved had died. Gong Lau Jan had been alive for millennia.
How much had she lost?
Gong Lau Jan stared into her tea cup as if seeking explanations. When she spoke again, her voice was as dark as the tea.
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Gong Lau Jan stood in her aunt's personal armoury at the Palace of Joeng Tin Wong. She had been polishing one of her aunt's nine crystal orbs, powerful artefacts that she wielded with terrifying force when the occasion required. These perfectly spherical white jades glowed softly in her hands. She tapped them gently with her long nails, sending ripples of clear sound across the room. Her favourite pearl earrings resonated in response. Her ze ze had picked them specially from the riverbed for her.
Something zapped across her heart and skittered through her brain.
Ze ze?
Almost dropping the orbs, Gong Lau Jan ran to the door, calling for a guard. "Bring the Third Head to me immediately! And tell Ji Maa I'm headed back to Zyu!"
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
As the guard hurried away, sudden weakness seized Gong Lau Jan's whole body and brought her to the floor. Moments later, someone knelt quickly beside her.
"Your Highness?"
It was Third Head Commander Zit Zan Faan(7). The Third Head was a squad of soldiers, ranked third strongest in the Ocean Empire out of nine. The First Head guarded the Emperor, while the Second Head guarded the Palace as a whole. The Third Head was the most elite of the squads that generally left the Palace. The Fourth to Ninth included the standing army, reserves and trainees.
Gong Lau Jan fought against the sudden loss of strength. As though she were wading against mud, she could feel herself sinking.
"Something has happened to Ze ze... I've got to go," Gong Lau Jan forced out, her whole body trembling. "Commander-"
"Your Highness, this may be wrong of me to say, but you're not well-"
"TAKE ME THERE!" she cried out, mustering every particle of willpower she had to seize his robes. "Carry me, if you must!"
The Commander saluted. "Please excuse me, Your Highness." Commander Zit lifted Gong Lau Jan carefully, calling to the soldiers of the Third Head as he went. As they reached the boundary of the Palace, they transformed, dozens of loong shooting through the water at incredible speed. Gong Lau Jan's heart beat in her ears as she tried to force herself to not beg Commander Zit to move faster.
"Your Highness, we must pace ourselves," Third Head Commander Zit cautioned. Commander Zit was right; the Zyu Kingdom was over two hundred lei from Joeng Tin Wong's palace. A wave of nausea tried to force its way up from her stomach but she breathed it down.
Half a si(8) later found them rising from the ocean at the mouth of the Zyu River, the wide estuary was formed of granite and chert protruding into the water like a dragon's spine. Two statues stood on either side of the mouth, a loong and a human, looking out across the water.
Or at least, they had when Gong Lau Jan had left two weeks ago.
Now they lay in crumbled waste, fragments strewn across the shore.
The land was bone dry, the only water in the river bed coming from the in-and-out wash of the ocean. Even then, as it flowed upstream, with a sudden hiss, the seawater seemed to boil away to steam and vanish once it had passed the point where the two statues had stood.
As they stepped into the dry riverbed, the loong could feel the very water seeping from their bodies. They transformed into humanoid form to slow the dehydration.
Commander Zit immediately retreated back into the water, carrying Gong Lau Jan. "Your Highness?"
She looked up. Her grey-brown eyes were huge, though he doubted she was actually seeing anything. Blood already crusted her lower lip from the brief moment she had been in that strange dry area. He submerged her completely.
"Commander..." Her voice came out in a cracked whisper. "Ze ze..."
"I know it is difficult, Your Highness, but you must stay here. We will investigate." She slumped in the water as the Commander directed several of his troops to cautiously advance across the sand, timing how far they travelled before they returned, dried and trembling.
Next he sent troops into the air to test the atmosphere. The soldiers flew above the land, finding they could approach a couple of lei above the ground before the strange dryness affected them.
"We'll investigate by air then," Commander Zit decided. "You four stay here and guard Her Highness-"
"I'm going too, Commander," Gong Lau Jan interrupted robotically. She had risen up to her feet, although she swayed a little. Her eyes flashed green fire, and the pearls at her ears shone faintly green in sympathy.
"Very well, but you must follow my orders, Your Highness. Do you understand?"
Gong Lau Jan nodded wordlessly. Commander Zit transformed and respectfully lifted her once more.
As one, the Third Head rose into the air and began to advance landwards, scouring below them. They began to find that the effect of the dryness varied in height, with some areas exceeding the two lei limit first identified, while in other areas they could descend until they were less than a single lei above the ground.
They scoured the region for two si, retreating exhausted to the ocean once more. There they found members of the Fourth Head waiting, as well as the Vice-Commander of the Second Head, Maan Zi King(9). Commander Zit saluted wearily as he brought his troops in to rest.
"Commander Zit. What have you found?" Maan Zi King's dark blue eyes darted over the bedraggled Third Head before coming to rest on Gong Lau Jan.
"Vice-Commander. Our search has so far found the following - we have yet to find any life, including plants. The land and some of the air above has dried unnaturally. When we enter certain areas, we too are impacted by this dryness, experiencing almost debilitating levels of dehydration within an eighth of a si. Taking on a humanoid form allows us about twice that time.
"The area that is covered by this dryness is not uniform. In some areas we can travel closer to the ground from the air than in others. I have two theories as to why this might be. One, that the dryness is centred on certain points, extending outwards like a sphere. Two, that this curse has been cast by someone who is inexperienced or does not have sufficient power to produce an even coverage."
"A curse... You say there is no sign of any living things. I take it you have not found Her Majesty then."
For the briefest of moments, both commanders looked towards towards Gong Lau Jan. In the water, her appearance was improving, but more blood was caked on her lips and her skin was peeling in many places. Her grey-brown eyes, bloodshot and sticky with lack of moisture, stared unceasingly towards the land.
"We have not."