Chapter Eleven

“That was awesome!” Riley exclaimed, attacking the weeds of the High Gardens with a level of energy that should not have been possible given the state his body was in. Massive bruises purpled his body and dozens of small cuts traced their way across him, yet Riley was as energetic as always. “When do we get to do that again?!”

“Thankfully not for another week,” Heron groaned from where he rested against a nearby fence post. “Elder Qiang spends most of his time with the Core Disiciples or meditating. Truthfully, it’s unusual to have an Elder like him grace us with lessons in such a manner so any amount of time is a blessing.”

“‘Grace us with lessons’,” Egret snarked, mocking his twin. “More like encourage us to get fucking tossed around by Brother Ri Lee and his club.”

“Hey. She’s not a club,” Riley interjected, reaching back to pat the Heartwood Staff lovingly from where it was strapped to his back. “She’s a staff.”

“She?” The twins echoed, exchanging confused looks.

“Will you idiots please shut up?” Snake interrupted, heading off the inevitable argument between the twins and Riley over the gender identity of the staff. “Some of us are trying to meditate while we work. You know, like we’re supposed to?”

Riley glanced at the woman, noting her relatively pristine looks compared to the bruised and battered men. She was fast, I could barely even see her. Let alone hit her, he thought, remembering Heron’s sparring match with her after Qiang had taken some time to give Riley some pointers on how to wield a staff.

Pointers that basically boiled down to, ‘Here’s how to hold it, and here’s how to swing it. Figure the rest out for yourself and from the random bits of advice I sprinkle in around the usual insults.’

Riley shook his head, chuckling to himself. Man. He’s just like Coach!

“Are you mocking me, barbarian?” Snake growled, turning to face him. Azure sparks of chi flared sporadically around her hands, a forewarning to her preparing the half-finished Attack Technique that she had used against Heron earlier.

Elder Qiang said that she would need to finish her chi channels before unlocking the full power of the Water Moccasin Strikes, Riley thought, eyeing the woman warily. But that shit already looked fuckin’ terrifying as is. Some real Jedi shit.

Before Riley could respond to the incensed woman, a deep thrum shook the air and snuffed Snale’s chi from existence. The disciples turned as one to find a large construct, twice the size of Cook and with arms shaped like massive plow blades, barreling its way across the fields of the Hgh Gardens.

“Great,” Egret groaned. “Look what you did, Snake. You brought Plow over.”

“It’s not my fault!” Snake hissed, glaring venomously at Riley. “If the stupid barbarian had kept his mouth shut and just worked, nothing would’ve happened!”

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Before Riley could respond, and likely worsen the situation by tenfold, the construct came to a skidding stop before the disciples. A deep bass note thrummed forth from the construct and it gesticulated angrily at Snake, miming the use of her ability. Snake merely rolled her eyes and turned away from the construct. This was a very bad decision as the construct’s blue eyes turned a crimson red and its hulking frame took a menacing step towards the woman.

“Woah, buddy,” Riley said, stepping between the massive being and Snake. “You’re upset that we were about to damage the gardens, right?” The construct nodded, its expressionless eyes glaring down upon him. Jesus, that is fuckin’ freaky. “Listen it was my fault she used her chi. I want to know more about using chi I was asking her for advice on how to perform techniques like that. Snake was simply being by demonstrating her ability.” Riley bowed before the construct in the same manner that he had seen the others do before the elders. “I’m sorry for disrupting the peace of your gardens.”

A long silence settled over the Gardens, uninterrupted except for the soft whisper of the wind through the fields of crops. Sneaking a glance up, Riley saw Plow’s eyes returning to the normal blue of the constructs.

Thank Christ that worked, Riley thought, hiding a grin as he straightened up from his bow. Thought I was about to get pulped by a fuckin’ sentient tractor.

Plow thrummed once more, nodding politely at Riley before turning to shoot a final stern look at Snake before leaving, returning to its work at the other end of the Gardens.

As the construct left earshot, the twins let out a collective sigh.

“Damn, Brother Ri Lee,” Heron laughed. “That was some quick thinking. I thought for sure we were dead!”

“Ah, it was nothing,” Riley chuckled, scratching the back of his head abashedly. “When you get into the kind of trouble I do, as often as I do, you learn how to talk your way out of things pretty quickly.”

“Did you mean it?” The question was spoken quietly, barely more than a whisper.

Riley frowned, turning to find Snake watching him with an unreadable expression. “Mean what?”

“Did you mean it when you said that you wanted to learn from me how to perform techniques?”

“Of course,” Riley said, glancing back toward the brothers in confusion. The twins merely shrugged, clearly just as lost as he was. “I need to get better at this whole chi stuff if I ever want to see my family and team again. And you clearly are much better at controlling it than I am. I could learn a lot from someone like you.”

A faint tinge of red touched her cheeks before Snake hardened her expression. “Good. If I am to call you Brother, you must be strong and not just a barbarian with a big stick. Meet me in the arena at dusk and I will teach you what I understand about chi.”

Without further words, Snake left the Gardens, marching past them with her shoulders square and her back straight until she disappeared around a bend in the vast fields supported by the Guardian Mangroves.

“That was . . . strange,” Egret muttered, squinting at where the lithe woman had disappeared. “I’ve never seen Snake offer to help someone before.”

Riley shrugged. “Maybe you just never asked.”

A contemplative expression fell upon Egret’s face. “Huh.”

“Who cares if we never asked,” Heron bemoaned, gesturing at the rest of the field they still had to weed. “She just fucking left. That was a serious dick move on her part.” He paused, his brow scrunching together. “I said that correctly, yes? ‘A dick move’?”

“Perfectly,” Riley said, smiling proudly at the smaller man. “At this rate, I’ll have you talkin’ some D1 shit by the end of the month.”

The pair bumped fists, Egret rolling his eyes at the pair as they all returned to their grueling work. “Great. As if my brother wasn’t annoying enough. Now he’s talking like a barbarian.”

Riley laughed, enjoying the feeling of the weeds giving way before his powerful hands and the seemingly endless pool of energy that now rested at his core.

Now this the life. Good friends and a whole world of magic to explore. Kyle would be so jealous.