With eyes ablaze with desperation, Sorah gripped Elder Liu's shoulder tightly and said, "I must rescue our children from bondage, or wrathful gods themselves may damn me to their hells!"
Elder Liu studied his friend's face, reading the layers of anguish and guilt behind Sorah's raw determination. Liu waved his staff and reinforced the dome of swirling winds around the battered villagers. Safe for now within the eye of the storm, he turned to face Sorah fully.
"Your spirit remains as stalwart as your father's, but your injured body betrays the mind's urges," Liu said, gesturing to the blood seeping through Sorah's tattered uniform. "You must heal first before--"
"No!" Sorah interrupted, wincing as he forced himself upright using his staff. "Forgive my impatience, honoured friend, but every second delayed could allow the invaders to spirit more students into their wretched mines. Akara, Mari, Meili, Daichi...I swore an oath as their Master to protect each precious seedling that found its way to my garden doors!"
Sorah's shoulders heaved under the weight of so much helplessness and regret. Had stubborn pride cultivated such vulnerability here atop their isolated perch? How blindly he had scoffed just hours ago at Daichi's impatience to learn more offensive techniques; when their Avatar Guards now lay broken against Dravenik's towering Varzik and Quar’ellix horror looming so close.
Elder Liu's face softened with empathy. "Oh, my dear brother Sorah. Your loving heart does you tremendous credit, as well as these years cultivating compassion in our youths. But understand… your current skills are no match for a Titan Avatar. Remain in isolation until we--"
"Please! I beg this one allowance!" Sorah dropped suddenly to his knees, bowing with genuine humility towards the elder. "I know I’m not strong enough as of now, however, there might still be a chance yet. Allow me to bear responsibility for my oversights and collect my inheritance. Then I shall carve a path directly to lost lambs in need...or join our ancestors trying with righteous fury!”
Elder Liu drew a slow breath, weighing his next words carefully while chaos still erupted around them. Glancing up at the waiting Cloud Dragon, an idea formed.
"Very well. I will delay riding to reinforce Lady Kaiya against that Colossus nightmare,” Liu said. “Let histories show Elder Sorah volunteered bravely this hour despite grievous injuries! Now come, I shall take you upon my dragon to the Autumn Court where your father's legacy awaits."
Elder Liu helped Sorah limp out from under the wind dome’s protection towards his elegant Cloud Dragon. The fierce steed and master together manipulated surrounding wind streams to lift Sorah gently onto the saddle.
Moments later, the Cloud Dragon's powerful wings beat steadily, carrying passengers over burning tree lines further inland of the Aerithra Kingdom towards a secluded valley gorge shielded by scattered ancient pillars and toppled azure stones.
Sorah could scarcely believe Elder Liu had indulged this dangerous request.
Somewhere below, the Rice Guru waited high atop the mountain ruins comprising the Autumn Court sanctum--custodian of Master Aoi's resting place and his weapon imbued with a rare Aether Crystal. Nearly sixty years had passed since Sorah's own feet tread this hallowed sanctuary where his father's living essence now nourished the surrounding nature.
The Cloud Dragon circled lower and passed through a shimmering veil of leaves that parted seamlessly to allow entry to authorized kindred. Below sprawled a lush grove peppered with hot springs, fruiting orchards and vibrant overgrowth tucked surreally between craggy mountain slopes. This hidden paradise remained untouched by invading fires or wartime’s cruel erosion.
Most wondrous floated intricate shrines amidst scattering sakura petals, where Sorah glimpsed stone guardians that awakened to greet newcomers. These magical constructs projected directly from Master Aoi’s psyche across the ethereal realms he now wandered. Their movements created a synchronized tranquillity pulse protecting all sanctuary grounds.
Elder Liu directed the Cloud Dragon towards a central pagoda with curved tiled roofs resembling opening lotus petals near many carved totems depicting Sorah’s ancestors. There perched an odd-looking withered scarecrow figure wearing a conical rice-straw hat atop flowing wheat-coloured robes.
This mysterious entity leaned casually atop a rod while plucking morsels from various passing songbirds or nibbling succulent fruits off nearby branches. Despite lacking any discernible facial features save occasional squinting eyes, somehow it projected a knowing presence that had awaited their urgent arrival.
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“Greetings, venerable Rice Guru. Please accept my humble apologies for this unsuitable interruption," Elder Liu respectfully addressed the scarecrow guardian once landing.
The Rice Guru cocked its head appraising the visitors silently for uncomfortable moments with hands cradling overflowing food piles before bursting suddenly into crackling laughter.
“Ho ho! Well met, well met! Think nothing of it! We mountain dwellers welcome any fascinating gossip or traveller’s tales." The Rice Guru then grinned towards Sorah while reshaping the sackcloth folds of its face curiously.
"Ah if it isn’t young Aoi's boy now fully grown! Why I haven't seen your sulking mug around here since your teens. Hmm... seems you've endured quite the catastrophic maelstrom recently! No doubt desperate enough if you’re here asking my assistance?”
Sorah flushed, embarrassed at forgetting decorum before his father’s loyal guardian. He bowed deferentially from atop the Cloud Dragon.
“Esteemed Rice Guru, forgive my haggard state. Crisis rages across our lands that drive me towards this forgotten shelter. Please grant passage so I may attempt to claim my father’s weapon. I’m finally ready to undergo the trial.”
The Rice Guru studied Sorah pensively while absently chewing a pod of beansprouts, eventually sighing before waving them closer. "Yes, I spied the burning skies and colossal beasts beyond our veil... troubling omens indeed." The scarecrow figure then hunched down eye-level before Sorah, poking his chest firmly with each emphasis.
"Now hear me, child! Your father's weapon remains sealed awaiting one capable of unlocking its peerless force.” The Rice Guru swept a gangly arm across the glowing glade. “I have maintained this sanctuary against the outside world’s ceaseless chaos. I warn any who attempt to breach sacred trusts... mine is an ancient order transcending mortal reckonings!"
Ignoring Sorah’s nervous gulp, the eccentric figure straightened cheerfully and stepped down waving for them to follow towards the central shrines.
"But come! If calamities beyond compel this reckoning, then far be it from me to barricade the inevitable! I shall guide you as custodian through the Ascension Gauntlet. Pass or fail, nought but your soul’s measure will decide worthiness this day!”
As Elder Liu helped his hobbling friend dismount, Sorah bowed appreciatively towards the senile Rice Guru for permitting this trial. He was desperate to save the young ones who had been captured by the invaders.
The sprawling Autumn Court grove was peaceful despite the utter carnage unfurling miles beyond its secreted borders. Sorah limped behind his eccentric guide while marvelling how ambient birdsong and chimes perfectly masked horrors raging across his homeland. Such resplendent harmony surpassing mortal limits must amplify his father’s resting sanctity.
While hobbling past a bubbling hot spring encased by magnificent azure crystal formations, Sorah felt hauntingly disembodied eyes observing their passage. Glancing sideways, he glimpsed ghostly silhouettes flickering amongst hanging vines and thickets. Clenching his teeth anxiously, Sorah realized these manifested spirits threaded directly from Aoi’s lingering guardianship over his final resting grounds. Even while housed beyond physical planes, the legendary master ensured unwelcome guests were monitored against upsetting its delicate equilibrium.
After several minutes following various stony paths embroidered by snaking tree roots, their party reached the inner sanctum portal represented by colossal twin-oaken doors engraved extensively with intricate leaf motifs and elemental iconography. The sentient doors creaked loudly as if awakening while pillars on both sides stirred to life, scrutinizing the ragged visitors.
“Ah, the ancestral sealed archive! Magnificent as always...that carving detailing surpasses mortal ingenuity,” exclaimed Elder Liu, openly admiring the awakened architecture. “Truly our records scantly hint what brilliance the universe offered your father or the lost Aether Civilizations predating diluted ages.”
“Only the most desperate or foolish dare challenge sacred taboos,” stated one towering sentinel before the wooden doors. Its peer then addressed Sorah gruffly, “You boy! Does credible purpose bring you, or does arrogance mock our watches?”
“Peace my guardians.” Sorah leaned wearily upon his staff as he met their stone gazes. “I appear only by gravest necessity seeking salvation for the innocents. If certain weapons lie sealed within that may turn fates’ vicious tides, then judge me worthy or condemn another unremarkable failure unfit to walk the blessed yards that my father once tread.”
The etched sentinels rumbled deeply in consideration before the doors. Elder Liu stepped forward and grasped Sorah’s shoulder pleadingly.
“Dear friend, I must return swiftly atop my dragon to reinforce Lady Kaiya, Elder Yanluo and our other brothers and sisters against further enemy waves. But heed well this warning - even we Elemental Masters dared not provoke your father’s arcane defences nor wake these guardians without dire cause.”
He glanced up gravely at the pillar guardians. “If you insist on invoking family birth rights, take care with tampering with forces Aoi himself barely harnessed in the end. Not all weapons yearn for new masters...”
Sorah smiled reassuringly, patting Liu’s hand. “Worry not for me, brother. My old bones have weathered worse storms chasing stray Cloud Butterflies. Though we masters boast Tai Chi techniques that manipulate mighty elements using chi pathways and Aether Steam, true power resides here–”
He tapped his chest firmly.
“Should these trials expose my core essence unworthy of inheritance, then fate deems those children’s songs fade to mournful silence. Pray my father’s peerless weapon judges otherwise. Now make haste to rejoin the others!”
Elder Liu frowned but stepped back respectfully. With a final look, he and his Cloud Dragon took flight swiftly towards the raging battle against Dravenik’s feared Varzik Titan Avatar beyond the grove’s illusion veil.