Karasu had ranged well ahead of Sunwhisper and Ogumo, scouting for trouble. She was pleased to be in the sky again after such a lengthy captivity. The First Elder had captured her when she was young. killing her entire family and harvesting their cores. Thankfully, she had been more beast than sacred in those days, and hardly remembered what had been lost.
She wasn’t sure about the demon that had freed her. He was a cultivator, but not a human cultivator. That in itself was not remarkable, sacred beasts who were sufficiently advanced could take human form, but she had never heard of or seen anything quite like the creature that had asked her to follow him.
Sacred beasts did not develop in exactly the same fashion that human cultivators did. While they could channel mana from the environment, it was a largely passive act, a gradual ascension that took place over the course of seasons and centuries. Elixirs could spur advancement, but who would make an elixir for a crow?
Karasu did not study techniques, elemental or otherwise, and what she could do she did by instinct, the same as when she wanted to fly. Her eyes responded to her desire to see the world more clearly, and so she did. No training had been required, only sufficient advancement.
Sunwhisper and his passenger were very strange to look at, to say the least, and they were becoming more strange by the day. The demon was affixing what appeared to be limited soul bonds to whoever he touched with his new techniques, a practice she did not totally understand, but instinctively knew to be wildly dangerous.
He had asked her whether she could see the links he made, and she could, though they were faint enough that it was difficult for her to make them out against the background of the world soul, the sea of mana that encompassed all living things.
While they were on the road, Sunwhisper had continued to attempt to abuse his technique, as he did not appear to know its limits himself. He kept trying to extend his link with the spider to something outside of himself, to share whatever he was taking with the bond, and failing.
Apparently, he could not create a link with inanimate objects, plants, or animals and insects that had not advanced enough to gain self-awareness.
Karasu did not like that they were heading back in the direction of where she had been imprisoned, but if it came to that, she was the least likely of any of them to be taken prisoner. Her wings were strong, and she had no intention of coming down to earth until this was resolved. There was a caravan well to the south of them, mostly on foot, but they would not reach the tree for some time yet.
The brown haired girl looked up at her call. She was interesting too, in her own way. Her core was healthy, healthier than most of the cultivators Karasu had seen in Fringe Town. It had reacted to the spirit fruit Sunwhisper had given her like a desert flower reacted to rain. She was blossoming, but for how long? The man who was with her noticed Karasu as well, but he did not recognize her. To him she was merely a scavenger hoping to nibble on the flesh of a pure artist while she had the chance.
Not that she would mind.
The man had brought an oilcloth in which to wrap the body, and he released his ascendancy technique to do so. When the green light faded from his limbs, there was a hitch in his step, noticeable even from the sky. He sat beside the girl and shared water with her as well as a biscuit. Karasu flew low enough to hear what they were saying.
"It seems you have a future ahead of you after all." the man said. "Your brother can take you back to Fringe Village after we return and Lady Makoto has had her say. I am sure she will agree that the First Elder has first claim on your debt."
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"You are gracious," Janna replied.
They spent a few minutes in companionable silence, but when he tried to stand again, he could only raise himself slightly before he fell back against the tree.
"Are you alright?" Janna asked.
The man did not answer her. He grabbed the trunk of the fresh blossomed tree and dragged himself up like a mountain climber, but his legs refused to take his weight. He screamed at Janna.
"What did he do!"
"Who?" Janna stood, backing away from the older cultivator who was suddenly looking at her with rage in his eyes.
"Your brother…what did he do!"
"I don’t understand," she raised her hands defensively.
"Can he truly heal anyone, or was this some kind of trick?" The man lunged for her, but Janna slipped back from him and he fell on his hands and knees before her.
Karasu looked back to Sunwhisper. He loped like a wounded animal, one of his legs dragging after him. It was the worst she had seen him on this journey, though he had carried himself strangely ever since leaving the settlement. Had they tortured him? Every step was accompanied by a flinch, but he was coming down the hateful yellow road at speed, as much leaping as running.
"I’m sorry," Karasu heard him say. Ogumo was coming behind him, and the Red Spider was nowhere to be seen, so who was he talking to? He straightened as soon as he said it. Whatever had been paining him was gone in a single instant.
Karasu circled back to the tree. The man’s face was shiny with tears, but then his eyes flashed green, and he rose again.
"If this is the end of my road, girl, then I must find a way to return your brother’s kindness while I can."
Janna took an earth stance. Karasu noted with approval that the girl showed no fear.
"I was young once," the man said, "but I did not make the mistakes like you have made. I did what I was meant to do, I became the man that I was meant to become. But there is always someone stronger, and the heart of the world does not beat for us. I was born with an ill fate, and there was nothing I could do to change it. Your brother, he has some cunning, he has unusual techniques, but I will make sure he never advances beyond his present state. He is in the hands of the Azai now, and after he sees what I have done to you, he will wish for a death of his own, but it will not be granted."
"You want to kill me?"
"No. I don’t wish to take on your debt, but as long as you are still capable of giving service, there is no reason I cannot cripple you. You have dreams of wearing stars, why should a thief like you have a chance of becoming what I could not? A servant does not have to be able to stand."
Janna tried to strike first, and he broke her wrist. She barely grimaced, following up with a snap kick from the side. He grabbed her leg and threw her against the tree.
Karasu cawed.
Janna rose.
"I will not make this easy," she said, holding his gaze with her own.
"You already have." Green mana gathered like flames around his hands as he prepared to finish it. Then there was a strange sound, a hum followed so closely by a whistle that they may as well have happened at the same time. The man looked up in time to see the point of a spear forged of alien metal just before it entered his right eye and exited the back of his skull. Sunwhisper had not reached them yet, but he had sent his spear. It seemed like an impossible throw, but he had not thrown it. The weapon had leapt from his hand, cutting through the air in a line that was perfectly straight until it found its destination.
The man stood for long seconds after that, the spear having come to a stop halfway through his head. Then the emerald light fled from his limbs, diffusing into the soul of the world, and he fell to the earth.