Leaper-in-the-Heavens, the young woman formerly called Jing, daughter of Wader-in-the-Morning-Waters, the master of the City of the Sunrise Moon, stood staring at the spot where Tamer of the Divine stood just seconds before. A moment ago, she was filled with excitement. She was wealthy beyond her imaginings. She earned her true name, and it was a powerful one, denoting a cultivator whose path would reach the heavens one day.
Most of all, she and Tamer of the Divine, the man she’d known as Xu Xing, were about to go off on another adventure together, and this time, they would be alone, without his servant, Shi Lo. Leaper-in-the-Heavens did not dislike the woman, of course. She understood why Shi Lo wished to serve Tamer of the Divine. He was a man who attracted danger and violence, one who was far more powerful than he seemed and who had just altered the destiny of an entire city. Even before that, Leaper-in-the-Heavens had felt the draw of his inner power. He carried a sense of destiny about him; Tamer of the Divine was born to shake the heavens themselves.
She had it all planned out in her mind for some time. She would walk at his side, his erstwhile companion. They would grow closer, until the day came when they would become lovers. That would lead to marriage, and hand-in-hand, they would conquer the heavens themselves. Their children would spawn a new dynasty, and legends would be spun about their conquests and victories. Eventually, they would ascend into the heavens together, joining the ranks of the immortals and standing side-by-side through all eternity.
Things so far had gone more or less as she planned, too, at least until they’d taken a single step together – and Tamer of the Divine simply vanished. One moment, he was at her side. The next, he was gone, the sense of his spirit vanished utterly from her senses. She spun around, looking wildly around the throne room.
“Tamer of the Divine?” she called out, feeling a rising sense of panic within her. “Where are you?”
She blinked as her father appeared beside her, moving with the speed and precision that only a Heavenly-ranked cultivator could match. Wader-in-the-Morning-Waters was the master of the City of the Sunrise Moon, the most potent cultivator within its walls, but he was also her father, and his hand touched her shoulder gently.
“He is gone, Leaper-in-the-Heavens,” he said tenderly.
“Gone?” she repeated, her panic rising. “Gone where?” He could not be gone; they had a world to master together, a family to raise, an eternity to spend hand-in-hand…
“That I cannot say, daughter,” her father shook his head sadly. “Tamer of the Divine is a Divine Inquisitor, and his duty on this world ended. Now, he is called to another.”
“I do not understand,” she said, feeling tears forming unbidden in her eyes. She dashed them away with the back of her hand; she was a warrior, and she did not weep. “What is a Divine Inquisitor, faither? What duty?”
“A Divine Inquisitor is one chosen by the gods themselves to serve, Leaper-in-the-Heavens. They are given great powers, and they are sent from world to world to assist as they are needed. Tamer of the Divine was certainly sent here to destroy the Earthly Fires Sect and save this world from a plague of corruption that would have shattered the Wheel. This he did, and the gods summoned him to the next world.”
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“But – why would he go?” she protested. “We were going to journey together! We would grow as one, become masters of cultivation…” Her words trailed off as her father simply shook his head.
“It is not his choice, daughter. When the balance was returned in this world, he was whisked away, regardless of what he or any other may have wished. It seems that his final act was to sentence Bringer-of-the-Dawn to death; with that, the balance was restored, and he was free to move on.”
Leaper-in-the-Heavens heard her father’s words, but a cold realization in her gut told her that he was wrong. Tamer of the Divine had indeed been out of balance; she owed him a debt of her life, and each time she had worked to save his to repay it, he had deepened her debt by saving her once again. Bringer-of-the-Dawn’s last act had been an attempt on Tamer of the Divine’s life, and Leaper-in-the-Heavens prevented that. In saving him, she’d restored the balance between them – and allowed the gods to tear him away from her.
“When – when will he return?” she asked quietly, knowing as she did that it was a childish question and suspecting the answer.
“I cannot say, daughter. However…” Wader-in-the-Morning-Waters hesitated, and she knew her suspicions were correct. “I have never heard tell of the same Divine Inquisitor coming twice to this world. I do not say it is impossible, but there are as many worlds as grains of sand on the shore. His duties will likely carry him to far distant shores. He – he may never return, daughter.”
She nodded, blinking back another round of tears. “Then – then I must go to him,” she said as the conviction rose suddenly in her chest. “How may I do this, father?”
“I do not know. I have no idea how the Divine Inquisitors travel from world to world, and I have never heard of any who do. Perhaps an immortal, one who has reached beyond the bounds of mortal cultivation could do so, but…”
“Then that is what I will become,” she said firmly. She looked at her father. “Will you guide me along the path?”
“I will take you as far as I can, Leaper-in-the-Heavens. At some point, though, you must turn aside to tread your own path, for mine will not lead to immortality.” He shook his head. “I can sense that I will never rise above the Heavenly ranks. You must become more than I.”
“I will, father. I will begin by completing his tasks here. I will hunt down the remaining Earthly Fires Sect members. I will find the memory crystal that holds the key to the perverse process of beast core corruption and destroy it. I will correct the wrongs of this world, and one day, I will rise above it. When that day comes, I will find Tamer of the Divine, and we will travel together once more.”
“I pray to the heavens that you do, my child,” he sighed. “What a wonder it would be to travel the worlds, seeing things that no cultivator has even imagined! Yet, it may be centuries before you step on that path, and no mortal can see what the future will hold.”
Leaper-in-the-Heavens honored her father too much to disagree, but she aw her future quite clearly. She would be an immortal cultivator. She would leave this world behind and travel through the universe, seeing things of which those of Kuan could only dream. She would find Tamer of the Divine, and they would share those experiences together. She had decided, so it would be. There was no other path she would accept. It would require her to step beyond her mortal cultivation, to challenge herself and push beyond the limits of this world, but she was determined to make it so.
Even now, Tamer of the Divine likely experienced amazing wonders and terrifying dangers without her at his side, and that was unacceptable.
“Do not fear, Tamer of the Divine”, she thought silently. “I will find you soon enough, and we will enjoy the wonders of those new worlds hand-in-hand!”